Encirclement

The Abyss Stairs were not actual stairs, but a treacherous region formed by a chain of enormous underwater cliffs with staggering, almost vertical drops. Here, the dark seawater was divided into tier upon tier of unfathomable "platforms" and "abysses." The currents were complex and ever-changing, the undertows fierce. Holes and fissures riddled the sheer cliff faces, offering both perfect ambush sites and deadly traps.

Led by the sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale, Jingtian's party of "people" skirted several abyssal lairs emanating terrifying auras, crossed a dangerous stretch of restless seabed where blazing magma periodically erupted from fissures, and finally reached the edge of the area marked in their intelligence.

Before they even approached the heart of the battlefield, fierce collisions of Soul Power, the muffled booms of exploding energy, and the Deep Sea Demon Whale's roars of fury and defiance reached them through the thick layers of water like distant, rumbling thunder. Mixed in were the sounds of Demon Soul Great White Sharks slicing swiftly through the water and the calm—or cold-blooded—commands of human Soul Masters.

Jingtian immediately signaled the party to halt. He strengthened Guixu Assimilation, enveloping every member on his side, while pushing his perception to its limits. Like the most precise radar, it penetrated the complex waters and obstructing terrain, "scanning" toward the source of the sounds.

The scene before him was fiercer than he had expected, and even more... sinister.

The battlefield lay at the relatively broad bottom of a V-shaped gorge between two enormous underwater cliffs. The gorge narrowed overhead, letting in almost no light. Only a few luminous minerals and deep-sea creatures on the cliff walls provided dim illumination.

And there, on that gloomy gorge floor, an immensely powerful Deep Sea Demon Whale, dark gold verging on black and as massive as a moving hill, was charging wildly in every direction! This was the eighty-three-thousand-year beast! Crisscrossing wounds covered its body, most notably an enormous gash along its left side that almost exposed the bones glimmering faintly gold within! Blood gushed like fountains from multiple wounds, staining the surrounding seawater deep crimson.

Yet its ferocity had not diminished. Instead, pain and desperation had unleashed it completely! Every sweep of its tail raised terrifying undertows that sent loose stones raining from the gorge walls; every blast from its mouth carried raging frost and water blades, keeping its enemies from approaching recklessly. Its fighting had no order, but it brimmed with the madness of a creature determined to take its enemies down with it. Clearly, this was what Mo Yuan's intelligence had described as "hot-tempered and experienced in battle."

Its enemies, however, were no pushovers either.

Five human Soul Masters—three Soul Douluos and two Soul Saints—stood on several relatively safe ledges high above the gorge, launching precise, lethal ranged attacks from their elevated positions. A Soul Douluo wielding an enormous blue bow, around rank 88, served as the main attacker. The arrows streaked like soul-reaping blue light, each shot aimed precisely at the dark gold Demon Whale's wounds, eyes, or other vital spots, forcing it to keep spending Soul Power on defense or evasion. Another, a rank-86 control-type Soul Douluo, repeatedly released enormous blue energy webs, attempting to entangle the Demon Whale and restrain its movements. Although the whale's violent strength tore them apart time and again, they greatly hindered its speed and agility. The last, a rank-85 defense-type Soul Douluo, held up an enormous aqua-blue light shield, protecting the others from the whale's occasional upward blasts of area attacks and showers of scattered stones.

The two Soul Saints continuously released support Soul Skills, boosting their teammates' speed and attack power, or emitting disruptive mental fluctuations to unsettle the Demon Whale's already fraying mind.

Under the command of an exceptionally large sixty-thousand-year leader whose eyes brimmed with cunning and cruelty, eight Demon Soul Great White Sharks split into two groups and darted up and down the gorge like the finest hunting hounds. They did not clash head-on with the Demon Whale. Instead, they used their speed and agility to ambush it repeatedly from its blind spots—below or behind its flanks—adding fresh wounds with their sharp, serrated teeth or attacking its relatively vulnerable fins and eyes. Whenever the Demon Whale whirled around in fury, they immediately scattered, leaving the other group to continue the harassment. Their tactics were executed with exceptional skill. Clearly, they were a thoroughly trained team specializing in taking down large prey.

For all its brute strength and ferocity, the dark gold Demon Whale was completely countered by its enemies. It tried to charge up the cliffs and attack the Soul Masters, only to be driven back by energy webs and arrows while still having to guard against the sharks appearing and disappearing below. When it tried to eliminate the irritating sharks first, the Soul Masters' ranged attacks forced it to neglect one threat for the other. Its wounds continued to worsen, its Soul Power was being consumed at a frantic pace, and its room to maneuver shrank step by step. It was like a primordial beast caught in a trap: still terrifying, but its defeat and death seemed only a matter of time. Its roars now carried a trace of the frustration of failing strength, along with an even deeper, despairing fury.

"Master..." The sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale sent a mental fluctuation filled with worry and urgency. It recognized the dark gold Demon Whale, seemingly a peer from its clan renowned for valor.

"The main attacker and the controller must be eliminated first." Jingtian's cold thoughts rapidly analyzed the battle. The three Soul Douluos had clearly defined roles, forming a perfect chain of ranged suppression. He had to break that chain first! The sixty-thousand-year Demon Soul Great White Shark leader was also highly intelligent, directing the sharks as effortlessly as moving its own limbs. It posed another enormous threat.

"The plan." Jingtian's thoughts flowed like combat orders, instantly entering the minds of the two Demon Whales behind him and forming a simple but clear image of the battle.

"You, the sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale, charge with all your strength from this position on the gorge's flank—the marked spot. Create chaos and draw the attention of the sharks below and that defense-type Soul Douluo. You don't need to fight to the death. Just disrupt them."

"You, the seventy-thousand-year mother whale, take your child and hide here, in the safer recess on the other side. Wait for my signal. Once the Soul Masters above fall into disarray, protect your child and use your strongest area breath attack to cover that region—the cliff wall beneath their platforms. Create falling rocks and chaos to disrupt them, and give the one below an opening."

"I'll handle the target, the dark gold Demon Whale. Carry out your orders. No acting on your own, and absolutely no backing down."

Two mental fluctuations answered with firm obedience.

"Move."

There was no more hesitation. An opening in battle vanished in a blink.

A trace of resolve flashed through the sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale's eyes. Its enormous body silently slipped out of the concealment field, then accelerated sharply toward the position Jingtian had designated like a cannonball long poised to fire. With unstoppable momentum, it slammed into a relatively narrow passage midway through the gorge! Two Demon Soul Great White Sharks were prowling there!

Boom—!

The sudden collision and the Demon Whale's furious roar instantly shattered the battle's rhythm! Caught completely off guard, the two Demon Soul Great White Sharks were battered senseless. One even slammed straight into the cliff wall, its bones broken and tendons torn! The sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale did not linger to fight. It immediately twisted its body, raising violent undertows as it rampaged through the sharks, while roaring defiantly at the Soul Masters' platforms above!

"It has reinforcements?!" "Another Demon Whale! Defend!" The Soul Masters above were startled. The defense-type Soul Douluo immediately turned the light shield to cover the others, watching the direction of the charge warily. The sharks below also fell into momentary disorder. Their sixty-thousand-year leader gave a piercing hiss and immediately dispatched half the sharks to attack this newly arrived "disruptor."

The dark gold Demon Whale was startled by the change as well, but the savage light in its eyes immediately burned brighter. Though it did not understand what was happening, its enemies' confusion was its opportunity! With a furious roar, it ignored its injuries and blasted a thicker, more concentrated breath of frost upward, aiming straight at the control-type Soul Douluo!

"Hmph, a dying struggle!" The control-type Soul Douluo sneered, about to unleash a Soul Skill in response.

At that most critical instant, as fresh chaos tangled with the old and every enemy's attention was drawn to the sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale's surprise attack and the dark gold Demon Whale's counterattack—

"Dan-Devour—triple shot."

Hidden in the shadows of his original position, Jingtian gathered eerie light at the tip of his Ninth Tentacle. Three dim streaks, more concentrated and swifter than any he had unleashed before, shot out soundlessly, carrying the will to kill as though they had transcended the limits of space!

His targets were not the three Soul Douluos. Their attention had indeed been diverted, but their instinctive Soul Douluo defenses and protective Soul Power remained, and they were farther away. After crossing such a long distance, Dan-Devour might lack the power to kill them instantly.

Jingtian's targets were the two Soul Saints standing at the edges of the platforms, wholly focused on supporting their teammates and possessing the weakest personal defenses, as well as... the sixty-thousand-year Demon Soul Great White Shark leader, which was hissing orders to divide its forces, most of its attention fixed on the sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale!

To shoot the rider, first shoot the horse; to capture the bandits, first capture their king. Eliminate the support and weaken the enemies' overall endurance and condition. Eliminate the sharks' commander and plunge the pack into chaos!

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Three faint sounds rang out almost simultaneously.

"Aaargh!"

The concentration on the two Soul Saints' faces instantly transformed into unbearable pain and bewilderment. Their support Soul Skills cut off abruptly, and they crumpled as though their spines had been pulled out. Their Soul Power went berserk, and their life auras rapidly ebbed away.

"Hiss—?!"

The sixty-thousand-year Demon Soul Great White Shark leader was waving its tail fin toward the sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale when, in the next instant, its enormous body shuddered violently. The cunning, cruel gleam in its eyes was instantly replaced by boundless terror and agony! It felt as though its soul and life core had been tossed into concentrated sulfuric acid, dissolving and corroding at a maddening pace! It managed half a shrill, distorted hiss before rolling in agony. The silver light on its body rapidly dimmed, and its command over the other sharks broke off instantly.

Both supports down! Shark king gravely wounded!

"What?!" "Watch out! An ambush! It's that strange poison!" The three Soul Douluos above reacted instantly, their expressions changing dramatically! At last, they realized more than one Demon Whale had arrived! That bizarre attack, which had instantly robbed their companions of the ability to fight, reminded them of certain disturbing rumors!

But it was already too late.

"Now!" Jingtian's thought rang like a battle horn, reaching the mother whale at the same moment.

The seventy-thousand-year mother whale hiding on the other side had long been ready to strike! At his command, she surged out of the recess, carefully shielding her calf behind her body. Then she unleashed a long-gathered, wide-reaching blast of high-pressure water mixed with a storm of ice shards at the base of the cliff beneath the Soul Masters' platforms!

Rumble—!!!

She did not attack the Soul Masters directly—the light shield would have blocked it—but struck the "foundation" beneath their feet! Under such a ferocious bombardment, the battered cliff wall finally gave way. Huge chunks of rock cracked apart and collapsed, crashing toward the platforms! Although they failed to hit the Soul Masters directly, as they leaped aside in time, the collapsing rocks and billowing sediment instantly engulfed the entire area. Sight and perception were severely disrupted, and their formation was completely scattered!

The dark gold Demon Whale below did not understand exactly what had happened, but its battle instincts were exceptionally sharp, and it immediately seized this once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity! It stopped blasting upward and poured all its fury and strength into a single full-force charge, aiming straight at the remaining sharks, which had fallen into brief confusion after their leader was wounded and the falling rocks disrupted them!

Boom—!!!

Like a mountain toppling, the dark gold Demon Whale's enormous body slammed into the sharks with the last of its savage strength! Two Demon Soul Great White Sharks that failed to dodge had their bones broken and tendons torn on the spot. Several others were hurled away by the terrifying shock wave, and their formation collapsed completely!

"Retreat! Hurry! The intelligence was wrong! There's more than one Demon Whale! And that bizarre thing is here too!" The Soul Douluo wielding the enormous bow screamed through the sediment. Abandoning the mission entirely, he turned to flee the gorge that had suddenly become a death trap.

The control-type and defense-type Soul Douluos also wanted to retreat, but with sediment filling the waters below, rocks falling continuously, and visibility obscured, they momentarily panicked.

Just then.

Amid the sediment, an enormous shadow deeper than darkness, emanating endless cold and deathly stillness, appeared without warning ahead of their retreat route like a nightmare rising from hell. It blocked the relatively spacious exit above the gorge perfectly.

Jingtian had cut off their escape.

Nine tentacles slowly unfurled in the gloom. The pitch-black Ninth Tentacle locked onto the three shaken Soul Douluos like the gaze of the god of death.

"Only now do you want to leave?" Jingtian's cold, indifferent thoughts, seeming to rise from the deepest netherworld, pierced their terror-stricken minds like the sharpest icicles. "Don't you think... it's too late?"

Before his words had faded, the Ninth Tentacle had already become a lethal streak of black light, striking first at the giant-bow Soul Douluo, the greatest threat and the most panicked of the three!

At the same time, the dark gold Demon Whale's furious roars, the dying hisses of Demon Soul Great White Sharks, and the sixty-thousand-year Demon Whale's answering roars rose from below.

In the hunting ground of the Abyss Stairs, the roles of attacker and defender reversed in an instant.

And the one who would end this encircling hunt had already bared all his... venomous fangs.