Once they had settled on their targets, the hunt began in earnest.
As a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, Xiao Bai could handle Thousand-Year Soul Beasts like the Evil Spirit Orcas with ease.
Like a ghost, she silently approached the 1,600-year-old Evil Spirit Orca that was foraging in the Seaweed Forest.
Only when Xiao Bai's enormous shadow completely engulfed it did the Evil Spirit Orca sense danger. It let out a terrified shriek and turned to flee. But it was too late!
Xiao Bai didn't even use a powerful Soul Skill. She simply accelerated and rammed into it, her massive head slamming into its flank like a battering ram!
At the same time, her razor-sharp tail fin lashed out like lightning, striking the Evil Spirit Orca squarely on the head.
Boom!
The seawater shook violently. The poor Thousand-Year Evil Spirit Orca couldn't even finish its scream before the two bone-crushing blows shattered its bones and gravely injured its internal organs, instantly robbing it of the ability to fight back. Its massive body sank limply toward the seabed, with only a faint trace of life remaining.
"Son of God, that's enough," Xiao Bai sent through their mental link.
Seeing this, Li Qing didn't hesitate for a moment and immediately summoned the Mysterious Origin Water-Controlling Flag.
The flagpole instantly turned hard and sharp in his hand. He aimed it at the Evil Spirit Orca's vital point and thrust down with all his might!
After ending the Soul Beast's life, a deep purple Soul Ring slowly emerged from its corpse, radiating dense Thousand-Year Soul Power.
Li Qing sat cross-legged and began guiding the Soul Ring.
The process was far from easy. The energy of the Thousand-Year Soul Ring surged into his meridians like a wild horse, while the lingering, violent shock of the Evil Spirit Orca's soul battered his consciousness again and again.
But Li Qing held his mind steady. The Mysterious Origin Water-Controlling Flag hovered above his head, casting a gentle blue glow. Runes flowed across its surface, emanating the majesty of one who commanded all waters and greatly suppressing and soothing the Soul Ring's raging water-element energy. His body, tempered by Whale Rubber, was also strong enough to withstand the impact.
Bo Saixi and Xiao Bai stood guard nearby, tense with worry.
Bo Saixi gripped her scepter tightly, ready to intervene at any moment.
However, the worst-case scenario they had imagined never came to pass. Though Li Qing's little face occasionally contorted in pain, his body trembled slightly, and sweat beaded on his forehead, his breathing remained steady and his Soul Power absorption proceeded in an orderly fashion.
After roughly half a day, the Soul Power surging around Li Qing gradually settled. The purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring fitted securely around the Mysterious Origin Water-Controlling Flag, its light dimming as it settled into place. The absorption had succeeded!
Li Qing opened his eyes. A flash of purple passed through his gaze as he felt the surging Soul Power within him and the first Soul Skill he had just obtained. A satisfied smile spread across his face.
Bo Saixi and Xiao Bai both watched in astonishment, unable to hide their surprise.
Though they had been mentally prepared, witnessing a six-year-old child successfully absorb a Thousand-Year Soul Ring as his first ring was still so far beyond their understanding that it shook them to the core.
Bo Saixi, in particular, gave Li Qing a long, thoughtful look. She now had a much clearer sense of the origins and potential of the Mysterious Origin Water-Controlling Flag.
After a brief rest, Xiao Bai followed the same method and quickly found the 3,000-year-old Evil Spirit Orca sentinel.
Absorbing the second Thousand-Year Soul Ring proved even more difficult than the first.
The 3,000-year Soul Ring contained far more energy, and the impact was much more violent.
Bo Saixi's heart was in her throat. Sea God's Power had gathered at her fingertips, and she was ready to forcefully interrupt the absorption at any moment.
Xiao Bai also circled anxiously around Li Qing, releasing her pressure to drive away any other Sea Soul Beasts that might be drawn by the fluctuations of energy.
At that tense moment—
Roar!!!
A furious roar, carrying a terrifying pressure, erupted in the distance like a clap of thunder!
The currents throughout the entire sea grew chaotic and began to boil!
In the depths nearby, a colossal shadow came hurtling toward them at astonishing speed!
The seawater parted of its own accord wherever it passed, as though welcoming its king!
It was a giant Evil Spirit Orca, even larger than Xiao Bai!
Its skin was a dark red, as if soaked in blood, and its body was covered with hideous scars. Its eyes were like two enormous red lanterns, blazing with savagery and bloodlust!
The Soul Power radiating from it was as unfathomable as an abyss. Its cultivation had astonishingly reached 150,000 years!
It was the chief of the Evil Spirit Orca clan and one of the overlords of these waters—the Evil Orca King!
It had clearly been drawn by the energy fluctuations and the smell of blood released when its kin died.
When it saw that the culprit was its old nemesis, Xiao Bai, the Demon Soul Great White Shark King, and sensed that two more of its kind had died nearby, rage swallowed its reason in an instant!
"Xiao Bai! You damned stupid shark! You've killed my people again and again! Today, I'll tear you to pieces!" The Evil Orca King unleashed a deafening mental roar, its enormous body exploding forward at a terrifying speed completely at odds with its size.
It opened a maw wide enough to swallow a mountain, baring interlocking teeth like guillotine blades, and charged at Xiao Bai with enough force to destroy everything in its path!
The seawater compressed to an extreme wherever it passed, forming a terrifying vacuum shock wave!
Facing the Evil Orca King's deadly blow, launched in a fit of fury, Xiao Bai did something that left it utterly baffled.
She didn't dodge or even take a defensive stance. She simply hovered motionless in place, her enormous blue eyes holding a hint of... pity and amusement?
The Evil Orca King froze for a moment, then grew even more furious. Has this stupid shark been scared witless? How dare she show such contempt for me!
But when it drew close enough to make out the details on Xiao Bai's back, its blood-red eyes suddenly contracted, its pupils shrinking to pinpoints!
It saw her!
Standing on Xiao Bai's broad back, besides the human child currently absorbing a Soul Ring and radiating the Sea God's aura it loathed, was a human woman in a long dress!
When it recognized the woman's face and felt the terrifying aura pouring from her—a presence as unfathomable as the abyss and yet imbued with sacred majesty—the Evil Orca King shuddered, and its charge came to an abrupt halt!
Its enormous body slid through the seawater under its own momentum, stirring up countless currents.
It recognized her!
The High Priestess of Sea God Island, the Sea God's representative in the mortal world, the 99th-level Peerless Douluo—Bo Saixi!
A terrifying being that even the mad Deep Sea Demonic Whale King would rather not provoke without good reason!
"I-is that... you..." The Evil Orca King's imposing aura instantly wilted. Its rage and arrogance vanished without a trace, replaced by deep wariness and a trace of fear.
It instinctively shrank its enormous head, its voice turning stammering and hesitant. "H-High Priestess... w-what are you doing here..."
Before you continue