A Fortuitous Encounter

Mo Lin released several puppets to control the sails and row when the wind was weak, sailing in the direction indicated by the compass. Since he had already told Bibi Dong that he might not return to Spirit Hall within three months and had arranged the handover of the plate armor and raw materials he produced, Mo Lin was in no particular hurry. He prioritized a steady voyage, and the ship did not travel quickly.

The boundless sea was beautiful, but it was also dangerous. Although he was not sailing toward Sea God Island, there was no ruling out the possibility of encountering powerful marine soul beasts.

Sitting in the cabin, Mo Lin cultivated his soul power while sensing the flow of the ocean currents and air currents. He was now only one final step away from Rank 40.

Suddenly, both the air currents and ocean currents changed. Yet the change was remarkably gentle, and Mo Lin could not sense any killing intent. Out of curiosity, he still left the cabin to investigate.

The moment he stepped onto the deck, Mo Lin was stunned by the sight before him.

Hundreds of dolphins leaped from the sea before diving back into the water, repeatedly circling alongside the ship.

Mo Lin recognized these dolphins. They were called Spirit Dolphins, a gregarious type of marine soul beast. Whenever one encountered them, there were usually at least a hundred.

Perhaps because soul masters on Douluo Continent generally chose to hunt land soul beasts, the marine soul beasts in these waters seemed to have only ever encountered fishermen. The group of Spirit Dolphins Mo Lin had encountered showed him no hostility whatsoever. Judging from their actions, they seemed more like they were escorting him.

It had been twelve years. Mo Lin had not experienced the splendor of nature like this in twelve years.

In his previous life, Mo Lin had loved animals, especially getting close to all kinds of them. Yet on Douluo Continent, the conflict between soul masters and soul beasts was almost impossible to reconcile. Apart from certain soul beasts that had taken human form, hatred was the only emotion between soul masters and soul beasts. Peaceful coexistence and even mutual assistance like this were things that almost never happened.

Perhaps because he did not want to grow too attached to the scene, Mo Lin chose to return to the cabin after watching for a while.

However, that was when the sudden change occurred. A ten-meter-high tsunami abruptly rose and crashed toward Mo Lin's ship.

"Palm Thunder!"

White lightning struck the tsunami and resolved the crisis, but what lay behind it left Mo Lin utterly shocked.

"Kraken?!"

This soul beast shared both its name and appearance with the sea monster from Norse mythology: it was a gigantic octopus.

This type of soul beast was supposed to be a deep-sea creature. Even if it occasionally surfaced, it rarely appeared in broad daylight.

Mo Lin looked at the enormous octopus, fifty meters across.

"Judging by its size, this Kraken should have around twenty thousand years of cultivation—ten thousand more than the Cave Demon Spider Tang San may absorb. Although my soul power is still just short of Rank 40, fighting a soul beast at this level should be just enough to help me break through to Rank 40. In that case..."

After recalling all the puppets into his soul tool, Mo Lin leaped directly into the sea and released a large amount of Yin Five Thunders. Against a soul beast so much larger than himself, he had to weaken his opponent first.

After Mo Lin entered the water, he was surprised to find that every Spirit Dolphin was staring intently at the Kraken.

"So that's it. This Kraken must be too hungry, so it chose the Spirit Dolphins as its lunch. Perfect. That'll save me quite a bit of effort."

Mo Lin swam to the very front of the dolphin group, releasing Yin Five Thunders while observing this army of Spirit Dolphins.

The leading Spirit Dolphin had roughly eight thousand years of cultivation. There were also three at five thousand years and seven between one and two thousand years, while the remaining hundred or so were all below a thousand years. A Spirit Dolphin pod of this level and size was already something few soul beasts or soul masters could afford to provoke.

"Looking at it this way, this Kraken is practically an idiot! Is it here to hand us a free kill? Aren't octopuses supposed to be pretty intelligent?!"

"Ee-oo—ee-oo—"

The leading Spirit Dolphin looked toward Mo Lin and let out several cries, seemingly asking whether Mo Lin intended to help them.

Mo Lin felt that this dolphin had probably encountered quite a few humans before. He nodded, pointed in the Kraken's direction, then sealed his seven apertures and dove straight down.

"Qi Body Origin Flow!"

Bolstered by Qi Body Origin Flow, Mo Lin's entire body began releasing vast amounts of Yin Five Thunders, which he controlled as they gathered around the Kraken.

The Spirit Dolphins also launched their attack. More than fifty dolphins opened their mouths in unison and fired high-pressure water jets, while the rest swam toward the Kraken, intending to engage it in close combat.

Mo Lin was in no hurry to entangle the Kraken with Yin Five Thunders. He intended to wait until he had enough Yin Five Thunders to envelop the entire Kraken before making his move.

The Kraken had kept its head and eyes above the surface. When it saw half the dolphins dive underwater, the scientifically ignorant fool chose to spray out a massive amount of ink to block their vision.

Not only did this fail to affect the dolphins, which relied on echolocation, it also helped conceal the Yin Five Thunders Mo Lin was gathering beneath it.

More than fifty high-pressure water jets blasted the Kraken's enormous head. Aside from the jets that accurately struck its octopus eyes and interfered with its vision, the rest failed to penetrate its defenses. Still, they served as an effective distraction.

The remaining fifty-plus dolphins each bit down on the octopus's tentacles. Several millennium-level dolphins successfully tore chunks of flesh from the Kraken, but to a fifty-meter-wide Kraken, that was no more than scraped skin. Ordinary octopuses already possessed rapid regenerative abilities, and this soul beast octopus's recovery was even more terrifying. Within seconds, the places bitten by the dolphins had returned to normal.

However, this did not affect the Spirit Dolphins. Some of the weaker dolphins successfully tore off several chunks of flesh as well by taking turns biting the same spot. As time passed, the damage dealt by the dolphins gradually surpassed the Kraken's rate of recovery.

The Kraken finally realized that the food in its eyes was not so easy to deal with. It hurriedly sank beneath the surface and swung its eight arms to lash at the dolphins, but its enormous size meant that its tentacles could not move nearly as fast as the dolphins could swim. It could not hit them at all.

After two years of cultivation, Mo Lin could now continuously use only one type of thunder technique for ten minutes. He estimated that by the eighth minute, he would be able to wrap the Kraken up completely.

Besides doing that, Mo Lin had also been observing the Spirit Dolphins' movements. In his view, the discipline displayed by this dolphin pod was terrifying. Moreover, this discipline was not acquired through training; it was something etched into their DNA. Their entire coordination was exceptionally smooth, without a single mistake. Those meant to harass harassed, and those meant to attack attacked. If lower-level soul masters fought them in the sea, then even sea soul masters would have no chance against them without at least two or three times their numbers.