Deep-Sea Witch Ursula

Lin Wan returned to Old Drus's familiar little stone house. After settling the luggage, Lin Wan took out a heavy little cloth pouch from a close-fitting bag. It was filled with more than a hundred Gold Soul Coins.

"Grandpa Drus," Lin Wan said, pressing the money pouch into the old man's hands, "please take this money."

"Th... this much?!"

Old Drus's hand trembled, and he nearly failed to hold onto it. On the Douluo Continent, an ordinary family without a soul master would not spend more than a few Gold Soul Coins in an entire year.

Staring at the dazzling golden glow, Old Drus's voice changed pitch.

"Lin Wan! Where did you get so much money? No, no! This is far too valuable! You'll need plenty of money for your cultivation too! Take it back!"

Lin Wan pressed down the old man's hand as he tried to return it. "Grandpa, listen to me. Part of this money was given by Master. He said he had arrangements for my cultivation resources and told me not to worry. The rest was sent to me by Lin Zao through someone else. He's doing very well at Martial Soul Hall, and he receives an allowance too."

"There are a few things I'd like you to use this money for." Lin Wan continued, looking into Old Drus's stunned eyes.

"Many of the houses in the village are too old and rundown. They let in wind during winter and leak rain during summer. Find some trustworthy villagers, buy better lumber and stone, and use the winter slack season to properly repair the worst houses in the village, so everyone can live a little warmer."

"And the orphans at the east end of the village—Tiedan, Er Ya, and the others—their clothes are practically falling apart. Use this money to make each of them two sets of thick, warm cotton clothes, then buy some meat so they can eat their fill and stay warm this winter."

"Keep whatever is left. If anyone in the village suffers a sudden illness or disaster, it can help in an emergency."

As Old Drus listened to Lin Wan, his eyes instantly reddened. His lips trembled, and for a long while, he could not speak.

He had never expected that after Lin Wan had only just begun to make something of herself, the first thing on her mind would be the whole village and those helpless children.

"Lin Wan, you... you child..."

Old Drus's voice choked up as his rough hands clutched the money pouch tightly.

"On behalf of everyone, Grandpa thanks you!"

"Grandpa Drus, please don't say that."

Lin Wan steadied Old Drus's trembling shoulders. "I grew up in Cold North Village too. This place is my root. I'm happy to be able to do something for everyone. Don't worry about the money. Master and Lin Zao truly aren't short of it."

Seeing Lin Wan's unquestionable gaze and feeling the weight of that heartfelt kindness, Old Drus finally nodded heavily and held the money pouch tight against his chest.

"Good! Good! Grandpa understands. Don't worry! I'll make sure every single coin is spent where it matters, on the villagers!"

The vast, boundless world of Douluo was far more expansive than land-dwelling creatures could imagine.

The deep seas occupied most of this world. They were the kingdom of Sea Soul Beasts, a place older, more mysterious, and even more ruthlessly governed by the law of the jungle than the world of land soul beasts.

Beneath an abyss ten thousand meters deep, where even sunlight could not penetrate, all light had long vanished. Only strange luminous creatures and minerals dotted this eternally dark place like ghostly flames.

The water pressure here was enough to crush steel in an instant. Ordinary Sea Soul Beasts could not survive in such a place at all.

Yet in this silent region, a new resident had quietly appeared.

A mass of viscous, enormous matter, like a living shadow, slowly writhed before finally condensing into a creature with the upper body of a human woman and countless thick, slick tentacles below.

Her skin was a deep violet, covered in bizarre suckers and scale-like patterns. Her long dark-green hair, like living snakes, drifted soundlessly in the undercurrents.

Her face was bewitching yet sinister, and her narrow eyes gleamed with an eerie green light.

She was the deep-sea witch Ursula from the world of The Little Mermaid, drawn by Lin Wan using a special character card and brought into this sea in her complete power and form.

Ursula's strength had also been rationalized by the system as that of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Sea Soul Beast.

"Hmph. An unfamiliar ocean, unfamiliar rules."

Ursula's low, hoarse voice echoed through the deep sea.

Having just arrived in this unfamiliar sea, Ursula did not act rashly. She first sensed the powerful beings that existed within this vast ocean.

The sea soon gave her an answer.

She sensed many presences lurking in these waters that were stronger than her.

"A hundred thousand years does not seem to be the pinnacle here."

In the world of The Little Mermaid, Ursula had once been a feared undersea witch. She had nearly overturned the Mermaid Kingdom and ruled those waters.

But because of that hateful, foolish Mermaid Princess Ariel and that damned Prince Erik—

Her plans had fallen just short of success!

But this time was different. This was a brand-new world, a world of limitless possibilities.

She, Ursula, would never repeat the same mistake!

Power. She needed greater power!

Soon, a familiar and wicked scheme once again surfaced in Ursula's mind.

Since she could not immediately become the strongest predator, she would first become the most useful dealer.

Ursula decided to return to her old trade and become the deep-sea witch who granted every request in these waters once more.

"Desire is the sweetest bait, no matter where one is." Ursula let out a low, pleased gurgle.

Her enormous body swam through the darkness, countless tentacles sweeping over the rugged seabed like probes.

At last, Ursula stopped before a natural cave formed from the bones of some ancient colossal beast.

Huge, bone-white ribs formed an archway, while a mysterious and dangerous aura seeped from the depths of the pitch-black cavern.

"What a familiar scent—the hall of death and bargains." Ursula smiled in satisfaction.

This place reminded her of the Fishbone Cave she had once operated on the edge of the Mermaid Kingdom, so she decided to name this cavern Fishbone Cave as well.

At the same time, to commemorate her two capable servants from the world of The Little Mermaid—the blind eel Hu Shan and the lame eel Jia Shan—Ursula decided to find two eel assistants in these deep waters as well.

Ursula's powerful spiritual power swept across the nearby waters and quickly locked onto her targets.

They were two exceptionally gifted deep-sea electric eels. Each was over ten meters long, covered in blue-violet scales, and surrounded by terrifying crackling currents. Both had reached the level of Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.

At the edge of this relatively barren abyss, they were already overlord-level beings.

But to Ursula, they were still nothing more than small fry.

Ursula appeared directly before them. The pressure of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast instantly forced the two proud electric eels to the ground, where they trembled uncontrollably.