Sea-Summoning Mountain-Fixing, the Journey Home

The Sea of Consciousness suddenly churned.

The Sea Spirit Turtle's phantom loomed overhead like a mountain, its icy eyes fixed on his spiritual body.

Its tail swept sideways, sending towering waves surging into the sky.

The boy crossed his arms to block, only to be forcibly shoved back several yards, his feet plowing two trails of white spray across the Sea of Consciousness.

Before he could steady himself, the dragon-shaped turtle head opened its enormous jaws, revealing rows of ghastly white fangs.

Its eyes brimmed with hatred.

Xu Tinglan's heart trembled. He had not expected the spiritual backlash of a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast to be so powerful.

He had thought that, after cultivating the Mysterious Underworld Tide Technique and steadily building his spiritual power over the years, he would be capable of facing this Cambbei Sea Spirit Turtle.

Yet the backlash phantom was practically beating him into submission.

Even his spiritual body was beginning to go numb.

Holding the Mysterious Underworld Shield, he threw himself against the Sea Spirit Turtle's head, but failed to inflict any significant damage.

This turtle was terrifyingly tough.

Time ticked by.

In the blink of an eye, two hours had passed.

Xu Tinglan felt lightheaded and increasingly exhausted.

Standing atop the Sea of Consciousness, he felt as though the backlash phantom before him was as mighty as a mountain, utterly invincible.

Was a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring really this difficult to absorb?

He was deeply unwilling to accept it.

He had finally found the Cambbei Sea Spirit Turtle recorded in his ancestral records, and it was even of an age suitable for him.

Stormy waves of fury surged within the boy's heart, and his eyes reddened like blood.

"This is my Sea of Consciousness. How dare you beast run wild here!"

Far North.

Xu Tinglan sat cross-legged in the snow. His face was pale, devoid of all color.

Faint black markings had emerged across his face.

The old man stood beside him, watching with a slight frown. His hand clenched, then loosened.

Just as he hesitated, the situation quietly began to turn around.

Unconsciously, Xu Tinglan had begun circulating his inherited cultivation technique, the Mysterious Underworld Tide Technique.

Soul Power flowed through his meridians.

The faint sound of ocean tides rose and fell, at first like distant waves gently swelling, soft and lingering.

Gradually, it turned into raging surf crashing against the shore, its roar shaking the air.

As the tide rose and fell, his breathing followed its rhythm. Every inhale and exhale aligned with the tides of heaven and earth.

Within the Sea of Consciousness.

Xu Tinglan stood atop the crest of a wave.

The Sea Spirit Turtle no longer appeared as enormous as a mountain in his eyes. Man and beast exchanged blows, neither able to gain the upper hand.

He discovered in delight.

The Mysterious Underworld Tide Technique had broken through to the third level, transforming from [Undercurrent] into [Tide].

This also meant that his inherited technique had progressed from merely entering the gate to truly mastering its halls.

Compared to before, his spiritual power had become solid once more.

This was a qualitative transformation.

It was no longer ethereal and unstable, but seemed to possess tangible substance, with extraordinary resilience.

The Sea Spirit Turtle roared. He let the tide recede and waited quietly for his chance; when the spiritual backlash weakened, he turned and surged forward like a rising tide.

"Let him be strong, let the clear breeze brush the mountain ridge; let him be fierce, let the bright moon shine upon the great river."

Xu Tinglan murmured softly.

No matter how the Sea Spirit Turtle raged like wind and rain, he remained unmoved.

Six hours later.

Xu Tinglan truly had no way to shatter the soul backlash, but he had ground that remnant soul away completely through sheer persistence.

After all, one side was water without a source.

It could never replenish itself.

The pain in his body quickly faded by more than half. Xu Tinglan silently absorbed the Soul Power contained within the Soul Ring.

The Yin Yang Treasure Liquid he had consumed earlier also began to take effect.

The medicinal potency hidden within his body was activated.

His fourth Soul Ring.

Slowly took shape around him.

Its black color resembled an abyss.

Xu Tinglan opened his eyes, a delighted smile appearing on his face.

"Success!"

After absorbing the Soul Ring.

His body grew taller, his shoulders and back opening up as his slender frame stood straight like a verdant pine.

His bones stretched and cracked, while his flesh became denser.

Even his breathing became deep and unhurried.

Kong Deming nodded approvingly.

"Not bad."

"It seems this Soul Beast truly was extraordinary. Absorbing it actually took six hours."

Xu Tinglan smiled.

His eyes held the vigor unique to youth, yet there was no arrogance in him.

"It was worth it. As expected of a Soul Beast recorded in my ancestral records—the Soul Skill it provided is indeed powerful."

The spiritual imprint within a Soul Ring would inform its owner of the Soul Skill's effects.

Curiosity appeared on Kong Deming's face.

"Oh?"

Xu Tinglan activated Martial Soul Possession.

His fourth Soul Ring lit up. In that instant, nearly forty percent of his Soul Power was consumed.

His body expanded by three meters, muscles bulging as heavy Black Tortoise Seals covered his entire body.

Ink-Wash Cold Mist swirled around him, while Mysterious Underworld Shields manifested on either side, steady as mountains and radiating a baleful aura.

Dark clouds rolled across the sky, gradually thickening with time.

In the [Sea-Summoning Mountain-Fixing] state, his physical strength was greatly enhanced, and he was immune to all negative conditions.

The momentum of rain-summoning descended, and after a moment, a curtain of rain fell.

He could draw upon this power, causing his Soul Power to flow forth like a spring and greatly multiplying his recovery speed.

Meanwhile, opponents within the rain curtain would have any Ten-Thousand-Year-level enhancement-type Soul Skills on their bodies locked down, rendering them unusable.

After hearing Xu Tinglan's explanation, the old man's expression became quite vivid.

"Forcibly locking in one's own enhancements is already domineering enough, yet it can even invalidate an opponent's physical enhancement Soul Skills."

"Mountain Anchor—what a Mountain Anchor!"

Kong Deming quickly realized just how powerful this Soul Skill was.

Enhancing oneself while remaining unaffected by negative conditions—it was truly a divine skill for a defensive Soul Master.

Xu Tinglan stepped beyond the range of the old man's Soul Power protection.

In the land of extreme cold, he could only feel a faint chill. A droplet of water spun round and round in his palm.

It did not freeze.

He was very satisfied with this Soul Skill.

Some top-tier assault-type beast Martial Souls even possessed abnormal negative effects such as armor-piercing, annihilation, and shattering.

But after gaining his fourth Soul Skill, he no longer needed to worry about them.

Not to mention that he could also lock down an opponent's physical enhancements within the rain curtain.

After absorbing the Soul Ring,

Xu Tinglan stored the Sea Spirit Turtle's body in his storage Soul Tool.

This rare Ten-Thousand-Year-level ingredient could not be wasted.

Seeing that Kong Deming was still holding the God-Sealing Platform,

he knew that after it stored a living creature, it could no longer be placed inside a storage Soul Tool.

"Godfather, how do you plan to deal with the Soul Beast Embryo?"

Kong Deming lowered his eyes to the God-Sealing Platform in his palm, stroking his beard as he pondered.

"If it is the Ice Empress, then a twin Martial Soul Title Douluo might still be able to absorb it."

He paused.

"But if it is the Snow Empress..."

"The spiritual backlash of nearly seven hundred thousand years is likely more than anyone can withstand."

Kong Deming had to admit that compared with his other abilities, his spiritual power was indeed his weakness.

After all, his true cultivation was only at rank ninety-four.

Xu Tinglan instinctively thought of ten thousand years ago.

Tang San, as a twin Martial Soul Title Douluo, had only managed to absorb the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King under the protection of the Sea God's Light and the Trident.

Moreover, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King did not possess an ultimate attribute.

He did not dwell on it further.

He was only a Soul Ancestor. Even absorbing the Sea Spirit Turtle, which possessed a thin Divine Beast Bloodline, had been incredibly difficult and had nearly ended in failure.

This Snow Empress Embryo was still far too distant for him.

But this time,

Huo Gua could forget about stealing anything again.

Silver radiance spread behind Kong Deming, and Silver Moon Sky enveloped them both.

In an instant, they had arrived high in the sky.

"Let's head back first."

"This trip was also thanks to your good fortune, kid, that we obtained this Soul Beast Embryo."

If Xu Tinglan had not come here to acquire a Soul Ring.

They would never have encountered the people from the Star Luo Empire, and would not have obtained the Left Leg Bone and the God-Sealing Platform's Soul Beast Embryo for free.