Tang San Begins Sea God's Nine Trials?

"Though it wasn't named outright, the only soul beast on the entire continent with the Evil God Bloodline is the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger."

"Divine Trials cannot provide overly obvious clues, so I don't know where that soul beast is. Finding it will certainly be extremely difficult, and the search area will likely have to cover the entire continent."

After hearing Su Qi's explanation, Qian Daoliu nodded in deep agreement.

Before he could speak, Lion Worshipper volunteered, "Grand Worshipper, since Eighth Brother wants my help finding a soul beast, I will certainly spare no effort. Please allow me to leave Consecration Hall and act freely."

"Mm." Qian Daoliu looked at Lion Worshipper and reminded him, "Fourth Brother, remember this well. The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger possesses the orthodox Evil God Bloodline. Even if this type of soul beast has not reached a hundred thousand years of cultivation, it can still fight hundred-thousand-year soul beasts across ranks. Do not let your guard down."

"Don't worry." Lion Worshipper's battle intent surged as he smiled confidently. "I am now a Rank-98 Titled Douluo. Besides, I'm only looking for the soul beast, not hunting it directly. Once I find it, I'll immediately send someone back to report. I definitely won't act on my own."

"Eighth Brother, just focus on your secluded cultivation and wait for my good news."

With that, Lion Worshipper transformed into a phantom of a fiery lion. His figure flashed, and he vanished from everyone's sight.

As the fiery lion phantom faded, the blazing heat within Consecration Hall receded as well. Lion Worshipper had disappeared without a trace, even his aura gone.

After receiving the task of helping Su Qi find the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger, Lion Worshipper was not the only one who personally took action.

The other Worshippers also dispatched members of their respective clans to inquire about the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's whereabouts.

Meanwhile, in his capacity as Spirit Hall's Adjudicating Elder, Qian Daoliu ordered the reclusive families skilled in investigation and tracking to mobilize all of Spirit Hall's resources and connections in a full search for the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.

In just half a month, Spirit Hall had formed an enormous search net across the continent. Aside from the Far North, which ordinary soul masters dared not approach, Spirit Hall soul masters could be seen in every major soul beast habitat.

Without exception, they had all received orders to search for the soul beast.

Even Bibi Dong, because Yu Xiaogang had suffered misfortune, had no choice but to personally help Su Qi search for the soul beast.

The affairs of the Papal Palace were temporarily handed over to Yue Guan and Gui Mei.

Over the following year, Su Qi traveled back and forth between Douluo Hall and Consecration Hall.

He did not need to search for the soul beast himself. He only needed to focus on raising his soul power and reach the level-sixty bottleneck as quickly as possible.

The area around Douluo Hall contained an exceptionally abundant amount of soul energy, making it suitable for cultivating soul power with the Soul Meditation Method.

Every night, Su Qi went to Consecration Hall for secluded cultivation.

During the day, he went to Douluo Hall to engage in practical sparring with the Worshippers.

Thousand Jun Worshipper and Demon Subduing Worshipper, for instance, were both Rank-97 Super Douluos. When sparring with them, Su Qi could attack without reservation and need not fear accidentally injuring them.

While honing his combat skills through practical sparring, he also focused on becoming proficient in the use of his five soul skills. Occasionally, he would study some self-created soul skills as well.

And so, day after day, a year passed quickly.

Within the Heaven Dou Empire, Heaven Dou City.

It was four in the morning, and the sky had yet to brighten.

The entire imperial city was shrouded in the night, silent and still, with only the scattered torches of patrolling armored guards flickering.

In the dead of night, killing intent suddenly erupted!

Three black-clad agility-attack-type Soul Sage assassins, relying on soul skills that concealed their bodies and auras, charged directly into the inner palace. Their target was the ruler of the Heaven Dou Empire, Xue Ye the Great!

The three agility-attack-type Soul Sage assassins coordinated flawlessly.

They acted along three separate routes. Even when some palace guards with aura-locking soul skills detected them, they found it difficult to stop them.

In the end, several guard commanders stepped in, leading an encirclement with the strength of Spirit Douluos, and only then were the three agility-attack-type Soul Sage assassins captured alive.

Unfortunately, the assassins were death warriors.

Knowing their assassination had been exposed, they immediately bit down on the secret poison in their mouths. Their bodies were instantly dissolved and corroded by the intensely corrosive toxin, leaving not even bones behind.

As an imperial guest, Poison Douluo Dugu Bo rushed to the palace overnight to investigate, but he could neither identify the poison's source nor uncover the mastermind behind the assassins.

Within the entire palace, some were delighted that the assassins had failed to kill Xue Ye the Great. Naturally, others found it regrettable.

Especially Qian Renxue, who had planned this assassination. She was currently disguised as Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, yet could secretly mobilize Spirit Hall soul masters to assist her.

What she found regrettable was that this assassination had not only failed, but had also cost Spirit Hall three Soul Sages skilled in assassination. It had even nearly exposed her identity as a Spirit Hall infiltrator.

However, through this incident, Qian Renxue confirmed that many powerful soul masters were hidden within the palace.

When she launched the Heaven Dou Coup in the future, she would have to make thorough preparations and mobilize enough Spirit Hall soul masters to assist her.

After the palace assassination incident was brought under control, the palace guards returned to their respective posts and resumed their duties.

The guards responsible for guarding the imperial treasury had barely returned when they discovered that the national treasure, the "Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud," had vanished.

Upon learning of this, Xue Ye the Great immediately sent people to thoroughly investigate the entire palace and all of Heaven Dou City overnight, attempting to recover the stolen national treasure.

Yet no one knew that the thief who had taken the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud was not a person, but a god!

More precisely, it could not be considered theft. It was simply returning an item to its rightful owner.

Because the god who had made the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud disappear was Sea God Poseidon.

And the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud had originally been the manifested form of the Heart of the Sea, a token of inheritance left in the Mortal Realm by the Sea God.

Even Bo Saixi, the High Priestess of Sea God Island who possessed the Sea God martial soul, could never begin the Sea God's Nine Trials and inherit the Sea God's divine position without the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud acknowledging her as its master.

But once the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud acknowledged someone as its master, even without the slightest ability related to the sea, that person would still qualify to begin the Sea God's Nine Trials and become the Sea God's inheritor.

As the saying went, one day in the God Realm was one year in the Mortal Realm.

The Sea God had observed the Mortal Realm from the God Realm for one day before finally finding an opportunity to act.

Using the assassination incident planned by Qian Renxue as cover, he mobilized the Sea God's divine will contained within the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud.

Only then did he silently make the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud fly away.

The theft of the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud could be regarded as a chain reaction caused by the palace assassination incident, a karmic consequence created by mortals.

Acting at this moment allowed him to cleverly avoid the risks of a Deity interfering with the Mortal Realm.

After flying out of the palace, guided by the Sea God's divine will, the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud transformed into a streak of blue light and flew toward Nuoding Academy in Notting City.

A long while later, dawn arrived.

The sun rose in the east.

At the summit of the back mountain behind Nuoding Academy.

A youth in a blue school uniform sat at the edge of the mountaintop, gazing at the rising sun in the east as purple light flowed through his eyes.

The youth was Tang San, now eight years old. He had attended Nuoding Academy for two years.

Not long ago, Tang San had broken through to rank twenty soul power. With the help of his teacher Yu Xiaogang and Nuoding Academy's dean, he successfully absorbed his second soul ring and was now a rank-twenty-two Two-Ring Great Soul Master.

As he recalled the process of hunting the soul beast not long ago, Tang San used the violet qi produced by the morning sunlight to cultivate his Purple Demon Eyes.

As the violet qi dissipated, he blinked, and his pupils returned from purple to their original black.

His cultivation of the Purple Demon Eyes was complete.

Tang San was about to stand and begin refining his use of his Blue Silver Grass martial soul's second soul skill.

But the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud flying in from afar struck his forehead, sending blood splattering everywhere.

"Ah—!"

Tang San cried out miserably and was sent flying five meters before crashing to the ground.

The Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud that had struck him absorbed the blood splattered from his forehead and began recognizing him as its master.

Clutching his injured forehead, Tang San staggered to his feet. As he looked at the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud flashing with blue light on the ground, his consciousness was forcibly pulled into his spiritual world.

"Where is this?"

Tang San immediately activated his Purple Demon Eyes to observe his surroundings. When his gaze focused ahead, he saw a blue giant statue a hundred zhang tall, holding a trident.

A divine pressure like rolling ocean waves instantly enveloped his entire spiritual world.

Under the sudden mental pressure, Tang San instinctively circulated the Mysterious Heaven Technique to protect himself, his hands turning into Mysterious Jade.

His left hand habitually rested at his waist, ready to draw all manner of hidden weapons against an enemy at any moment. His right hand released his Blue Silver Grass martial soul, while two yellow soul rings appeared beneath his feet.

"Who are you? Why did you ambush me?" Tang San looked up at the blue giant statue, cold light flaring in his eyes as he remained vigilant to the extreme.

Seeing this, the blue giant statue smiled in satisfaction.

Tang San truly was worthy of being Shura God's candidate.

His vigilance was not the slightest bit inferior to Su Qi's, while his ruthlessness surpassed Su Qi's by far.

Only someone like this could more easily complete a Divine Trial!

The blue giant statue felt that he had not chosen the wrong person.

Tang San was indeed more suited than any sea soul master currently on Sea God Island to become his inheritor and begin the Sea God's Nine Trials!

"Child, do not be nervous. If I wanted to kill you, you would already be dead when the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud struck you. You are very clever. You should be able to judge whether I pose any threat to you, shouldn't you?"

The blue giant statue's voice came in layer upon layer like ocean waves, carrying a soul-shaking force.

Feeling the incomparable pressure of that divine aura, Tang San felt that the blue giant statue made sense.

Even if he fought to the death, he would absolutely be no match for it.

Since the blue giant statue had not tried to kill him, it meant the other party was not an enemy.

Having figured this out, Tang San withdrew the cold light and hostility from his eyes and asked respectfully, "May I ask your honored name? Why were you able to forcibly pull me into this place?"

"I am the Sea God, Poseidon, the man who once conquered the seas." The trident held by the blue giant statue suddenly struck the ground as he took the initiative to ask, "Tang San, do you want to become a god?"