Soul devouring

Three Titled Douluos, and a hundred-thousand-year soul beast... They certainly think highly of me. A ripple of mockery stirred in Jingtian's cold consciousness as he slipped through the complex waters. But deeper killing intent and urgency swallowed it instantly. Damn it. Using my origin only gave me enough to make three... Every one has to strike where it counts.

He stopped letting his attention wander and pushed his perception and speed to their limits. He had temporarily shaken off the pursuers behind him—Sea Star and Sea Spear's group—but that terrifying pressure locked onto the direction of the Soul-Devouring Undercurrent was drawing closer like an invisible tsunami, making his soul tremble. That was Xiao Bai's main force.

He had to rendezvous with Tieshan and Mo Yuan and finish his preparations before they arrived.

The edge of the Soul-Devouring Undercurrent was a death zone beyond description. It was not completely dark, but filled with countless chaotic, distorted, brilliantly colored energy vortices. They writhed, collided, and annihilated one another like living things, letting out soundless howls. Here, seawater was no longer a stable medium, but a raging energy slurry, sometimes scorching as magma, sometimes cold as ancient ice, interspersed with spatial fissures and soul power turbulence capable of easily tearing apart a Soul Saint's flesh. Perception was compressed to within a hundred meters, while sound and light were utterly distorted and devoured.

This was a natural deathtrap of the deep sea, and the... final hunting ground Jingtian had chosen for Xiao Bai.

"Master!" When Jingtian's enormous form emerged like a phantom from a twisted, dark-purple vortex, Tieshan and Mo Yuan, who had been waiting there in mounting anxiety, sent out simultaneous pulses of thought. Yinyi, Lijia, Wojiao, Xiliu, and the young whales gathered around as well, their eyes filled with dependence and tension.

"Report." Jingtian dispensed with pleasantries and asked directly. His gaze swept over the whales. Tieshan's injuries had recovered somewhat, but he was still far from his peak; Mo Yuan's aura remained weak; Yinyi was in relatively the best condition. The newcomers, Lijia and Wojiao, had terror in their eyes, while Xiliu trembled outright. This was no army capable of fighting a hard battle, but it was everything he had.

"Master, the main pursuing force is expected to arrive within two hours," Mo Yuan reported quickly. "I can already sense Xiao Bai's aura very clearly. Also, the shark king's deputy, Baiya, who entered the cavern earlier—after he went deeper inside, his aura fluctuated violently for a moment, then... disappeared. I can no longer sense him."

Disappeared? Jingtian's thoughts stirred. Had he triggered a trap deep inside the cavern, or... had Huiban disposed of him somehow? Or had the peculiar conditions of the underground river's fissures merely concealed his presence? Whatever the case, it was a variable, but he could not spare it any attention now.

"Good. Mo Yuan, take Yinyi, Lijia, Wojiao, Xiliu, and the young whales and immediately hide in the Energy Subsidence Zone southeast of the Soul-Devouring Undercurrent's core. The energy there is chaotic, making it relatively safe, and it will let you use your demon whale water-control abilities to create localized disruption. Your mission is to protect the young whales and wait for your opportunity. Once the battle erupts in full, use your breath attacks and soul power to churn up every energy vortex in that area with all your strength. Create wider chaos to cover our retreat or pursuit. Do not engage the enemy unless you come under attack yourselves."

"Yes!" Mo Yuan immediately accepted the order. He knew this was the best arrangement for protecting the future of their kind while providing support.

"Tieshan, come with me." Jingtian turned and led Tieshan toward a most peculiar area within the Soul-Devouring Undercurrent, where the energy turbulence resembled an enormous, swirling millstone. Here, countless chaotic energy currents were drawn by an invisible force field, slowly but inexorably rotating and grinding. Anything that strayed inside would gradually be pulled apart, broken down, and ultimately annihilated.

"Master, is this... the Vortex Heart Death Grind?" A trace of wariness flashed in Tieshan's enormous eyes. He had heard of these waters' fearsome reputation.

"Exactly. This is the main course we've prepared for Xiao Bai." Jingtian's thoughts were ice-cold. "Your mission is to use your strength and defenses to draw her attention, occupy her, and provoke her here for as long as possible. Don't clash with her head-on. Use the terrain to maneuver around her and lure her into the deepest part of the vortex heart. Your defenses and vitality are the only assets here that can briefly withstand her attacks."

"Understood, Master! I'll drag that white shark into her grave!" Tieshan growled, fierce fighting spirit blazing in his eyes without a trace of fear.

"Remember, your life matters. You can only take revenge if you live. The moment you feel you can't hold out, retreat toward the Subsidence Zone where Mo Yuan and the others are. I'll cover you." After that warning, Jingtian began to act.

He no longer conserved his strength. Drawing once more on his dwindling origin soul power, he swiftly laid a series of simple but vicious trigger-activated poison traps along the edge of the Vortex Heart Death Grind and several key routes leading to Mo Yuan's hiding place. These traps were not meant to kill, only to delay, disrupt, and mark the enemy, creating opportunities for him to strike.

Then he chose a shadowy crevice above the Vortex Heart Death Grind, where several enormous energy vortices converged. Pushing his Guixu Assimilation to its limit, he concealed himself completely within it. His field of vision—his perception—was relatively broad here, allowing him to overlook most of the area below, while the raging, chaotic energy fluctuations masked him perfectly. It was the ideal sniping position he had prepared for Xiao Bai.

The three Specialized Dan-Devour pellets had long since been bound to his soul and stood ready to launch. The first, the Armor-Piercing Pellet, was intended for Xiao Bai. The second, the Explosive Pellet, was reserved for her deputy or a Titled Douluo. The third, the Shotgun Pellet, would clear the field or create an opportunity for a killing blow.

Time slipped away, second by second, amid deathly silence and the terrifying pressure drawing ever closer.

Two hours felt as long as ten thousand years.

At last—

They're here.

Jingtian's perception caught them. Against the distant backdrop of chaotic energy, a pure, vast, inviolable blue radiance barged into the outer reaches of the Soul-Devouring Undercurrent like a divine sword cleaving chaos! Wherever it passed, the raging energy turbulence seemed to be "purified" and "smoothed," opening a briefly stable passage.

Xiao Bai had arrived.

She still bore that divine body of white jade, flowing with pale-golden light, floating above the chaotic energy like a deity descending upon a filthy land. Sea Ghost Douluo and her deputy Baiji followed closely to her left and right. Behind them came dozens of elite Demon Soul Great White Sharks with savage auras, the youngest over fifty thousand years old. They maintained a battle formation to counteract the environment's effects.

Xiao Bai's gaze swept across the entire Soul-Devouring Undercurrent like the most precise searchlight. At last, without the slightest deviation, it locked onto the Vortex Heart Death Grind and... the figure deliberately releasing a trace of savage soul power to attract her attention—Tieshan!

"Found you, little whale. Where's your master? Is he hiding his head and showing his tail, only daring to send his underlings to their deaths?" A hint of mockery colored Xiao Bai's cool voice as it rippled across the plane of the soul. She did not even spare a second glance at the Subsidence Zone where Mo Yuan and the others hid. Perhaps, to her perception, they were merely a few weak, chaotic traces of stray soul power, beneath notice.

"Roar! White-skinned worm! Come down and fight if you've got the guts!" Following the plan, Tieshan unleashed a savage, provocative soul roar. With a sweep of his body, he deliberately swam deeper into the Vortex Heart Death Grind.

"Courting death." Xiao Bai's eyes turned cold. To her, this demon whale of over eighty thousand years was merely prey struggling on the verge of death, yet he dared show her disrespect. She could not even be bothered to pursue him herself. Tilting her head slightly, she said, "Baiji, Sea Ghost, take a squad and capture that whale who doesn't know what's good for him. Alive. Get him to reveal that poisonous creature's whereabouts. The rest of you, spread out and search. Drag that poisonous creature and his remaining accomplices out for me!"

"Yes!" Baiji and Sea Ghost Douluo answered and moved out, selecting ten elite Demon Soul Great White Sharks averaging over seventy thousand years in age. Like arrows loosed from their strings, they lunged at Tieshan below! Xiao Bai herself remained suspended where she was, her vast spiritual perception slowly spreading like an invisible net over the entire Soul-Devouring Undercurrent. She was searching for the Poison Lord who had forced her to pursue him for so long and cost her several subordinates!

They've split their forces, just as expected... But it's still not enough. Hidden in the shadows, Jingtian watched coldly. Xiao Bai had not entered the fray herself. He had expected that, but it was also his greatest problem. His Armor-Piercing Pellet had to strike Xiao Bai herself to deliver its full value.

I have to force her to move, or... create an opportunity that leaves her no choice.

Below, battle had already erupted within the Vortex Heart Death Grind.

Tieshan roared, relying on his formidable defenses and the Vortex Heart Death Grind's complex terrain—its omnipresent pulling and cutting forces—to maneuver around Baiji, Sea Ghost, and the ten elite sharks. He avoided head-on clashes, continually provoking and baiting them, trying to draw his enemies deeper into the vortex heart. As a shark king nearing a hundred thousand years, Baiji far surpassed Tieshan in speed and strength, but even he could not secure a quick victory in this bizarre environment. Sea Ghost Douluo moved like a phantom, repeatedly unleashing disruptive soul skills and mental assaults in an attempt to control Tieshan.

The battle was exceptionally fierce. The aftershocks of colliding energy stirred even greater chaos within the Vortex Heart Death Grind. But clearly, this was still not enough.

Just then, something changed!

Boom!

A violent energy explosion suddenly rang out from the Energy Subsidence Zone, not far from the Vortex Heart Death Grind! Several enormous demon whale breath attacks, mingled with frost and water blades, burst without warning from the chaotic energy backdrop. Rather than targeting the battlefield, they slammed viciously into weak points in the energy barrier between the Subsidence Zone and the stable outer region!

It was Mo Yuan! Following Jingtian's earlier contingency plan, the instant he sensed the battle erupt and Xiao Bai's attention being drawn away, he decisively ordered their planned disruption into action!

Those breath attacks were not overwhelmingly powerful, but their timing and placement were fiendishly precise. The already fragile energy balance broke, and the turbulence across a vast area instantly ran wild! Like an ignited powder keg, chain reactions of energy detonations spread in every direction! One surge headed straight for the area where Xiao Bai and the main force behind her hovered!

"Hmm?" Xiao Bai frowned slightly, displeasure flashing in her eyes. She did not even move. The pale-golden halo surrounding her merely rippled, and the charging torrent of berserk energy struck what seemed to be an invisible levee, dispersing and purifying itself.

But this had clearly angered her, and it had successfully drawn her attention.

"More rats hiding over there?" Xiao Bai's icy thoughts swept toward the Subsidence Zone. This time, she sensed more than one demon whale's aura there! "Hmph. You overestimate yourselves. Since you're so eager to die..."

She seemed to have lost patience, or perhaps she felt her subordinates' gradual search was taking too long. At last... she moved.

There was no earth-shaking display, only a simple sweep of her tail. The next instant, her perfect white-jade body had transformed into a streak of pale-golden light too fast for the naked eye to catch, hurtling toward the Energy Subsidence Zone! Her speed reached an extreme, as though she ignored the barriers of space and the chaotic energy fields!

She would strike personally, crushing those skulking ants who dared provoke her with the force of a thunderbolt!

An opening!

At the precise instant Xiao Bai began moving, her attention fully shifted toward the Subsidence Zone and her speed surged to its limit—when her high-speed movement might produce an extremely brief blind spot or lag in her perception of the surrounding environment—

The eerie light in Jingtian's eyes suddenly blazed as he hid in the shadowy crevice above the Vortex Heart Death Grind!

"Now!"

His Ninth Tentacle shot out like a venomous snake that had long since locked onto its prey! At its tip, the Dan-Devour pellet, containing all his insights into Po Jing, purified and compressed to the utmost, became an arrow of absolute darkness deeper than the surrounding gloom, as though it could devour even souls. Silent, yet faster than thought, it shot with unerring, predictive precision toward the streak of pale-golden light that was Xiao Bai, just beginning her charge and about to reach peak speed!

This was no straight-line shot. It was a predictive interception! He had calculated her speed, her route, and that fleeting flaw that might appear from her extreme speed and shifting attention!

At the same time, another of Jingtian's tentacles moved without pause. The second Dan-Devour pellet, imbued with his origin, followed close behind like a second cold gleam demanding a life, shooting toward the shark king's deputy nearing a hundred thousand years—Baiji—who was fiercely battling Tieshan inside the Vortex Heart Death Grind!

Two arrows loosed together!

One to slay the sovereign!

One to cut down the general!

At this moment, the ultimate hunt of the deep sea reached the end of its unrolled map—and the hidden dagger lay revealed!