Setting Out in Fifteen Days!

The fifteen days of preparation passed in the blink of an eye. Everything was orderly from top to bottom, and everyone entered a state of readiness for battle and departure.

Over this period, Kong Deming worked day and night to construct three massive, top-tier Soul Battleships. Each vessel had a hull cast primarily from Deep-Sea Black Iron, reinforced with dozens of layers of composite Soul Tool formations. Their barriers were sturdy, their formations stable, and their resistance to corrosion, impact, and Soul Power explosions far surpassed warships of the same grade on the continent.

Each ship could permanently accommodate a hundred soldiers. With exceptional endurance, they could race across a hundred li of sea every hour at full speed. Speed, defense, and combat power were integrated into one, making them supreme weapons for long-range ocean warfare.

Meanwhile, the three hundred Judgment Knights under Qian Xunzong had all finished preparing. Every knight in this elite corps, personally trained and forged by Qian Xunzong, possessed the genuine cultivation of a Soul Sage. Their foundations were solid and their combat power refined. They wore sacred gilded armor, wielded standard-issue Holy Light Longspears, and radiated pure Light Soul Power.

The entire corps possessed a solemn presence, biting battle intent, strict discipline, and flawless coordination. They were currently Spirit Hall's most central and elite close-combat assault force, capable of sweeping through an entire battlefield.

The dock ten li outside Cloud-Treading Villa was solemn and silent, devoid of any clamor. Three hundred Judgment Knights stood in neat formations, their golden armor reflecting the morning sun and their spears rising like a forest. The overwhelming pressure of the corps spread in every direction, carrying an innate aura of iron-blooded slaughter that inspired awe.

"Good. Everyone, set out and board the ships!!!"

Once everyone had assembled, Qian Xunzong gave the order. The three hundred knights moved in perfect unison, marching aboard and orderly taking up their respective positions across the three warships. Each performed his duty and stood ready, waiting only to set sail.

Qian Xunzong did not board with the Judgment Knight Corps. Instead, he traveled separately with a group of core confidants. Gui Mei and Yue Guan followed closely beside him. Shen Ye wore black robes and had a cold expression, his aura deep and profound. Having been tempered through several battles, Ma Jinyan had grown increasingly steady and reserved, with a resilient temperament. Yun Yan was gentle and refined, yet full of strategy, while Mo Hengchuan stood silently, his foundations vast and powerful.

The group boarded the Cloudstep Light-Carriage floating in midair, maintaining roughly the same speed as the warships. Zheng Yue remained behind to guard Cloud-Treading Villa.

The warships cleaved through the endless emerald waves. The salty, chilly sea wind howled past them, while the clear sea stretched all the way to the horizon. Sunlight glittered over the waves like scattered gold. The scene appeared peaceful and leisurely, but endless dangers lurked beneath it. Anyone familiar with the Douluo Sea Region knew that the open ocean had never been a gentle paradise, but a savage and perilous land.

Undercurrents surged beneath the surface, while shadows lurked in the dark depths. Countless Sea Soul Beasts of varying ranks and terrifying ferocity inhabited these waters, treating passing ships and fleets as prey delivered to their doorstep.

If an ordinary Soul Master fleet rashly entered these waters, it would face certain death. It would be impossible for them to resist the successive encirclements of beast tides. Qian Xunzong's group, venturing deep into the open ocean this time, was destined to endure one dangerous battle after another.

After roughly two hours, the fleet sailed beyond the protected range of the near sea and fully entered the ocean region. The atmosphere around them suddenly turned cold and oppressive.

The formerly gentle surface of the sea began to ripple with strange waves. Massive black shadows darted rapidly beneath the dark waters, swimming back and forth in countless dense layers.

Deep, hoarse, savage beast roars rose one after another from the depths. They surged and overlapped, carrying intense bloodthirsty killing intent. Heavy Soul Beast pressure pierced through the seawater, striking the hulls and tightly enveloping the entire fleet.

The Sea Soul Beasts inhabiting this region had long noticed the intrusion of unfamiliar living beings. Their territory disturbed, they immediately gathered into groups and launched a wave-like assault without fear of death, crazily surrounding and attacking the three giant warships.

"Attention! Sea Soul Beast attack!!"

The first to approach the warships were several thousand Nether Ink Squids. Their bodies were black as ink, their soft forms incomparably agile, and their long tentacles covered in sharp barbs whipped wildly through the air. They swarmed forward and viciously lashed against the warships' defensive light barriers.

Close behind them came Blade Sea Serpents over three feet long. Their bodies gleamed with a dark-blue toxic sheen, their fangs were pale and sharp, and they moved with extreme speed. They repeatedly shot out of the water and sprayed highly corrosive venom. Sizzling corrosion filled the air without pause; even hard reefs could be instantly melted by the poison.

Beyond them, all kinds of Sea Soul Beasts continuously surged from the depths: enormous Capsize Giant Fish, Ironclad Sea Shrimps with shells as hard as iron, and Mist Jellyfish carrying paralytic venom appeared one after another.

Had this been any ordinary Soul Master fleet from the continent, their ships would already have been destroyed and their people dead, buried in the seabed without even the slightest room to resist.

But these savage Sea Soul Beasts were destined to achieve nothing today. What they faced were the supreme Sea-Calming-Class Soul Battleships built by Kong Deming. No matter how frenziedly the beast tide ravaged and charged in waves, it could not shake the warships in the slightest.

The full-area defensive formations of the three warships operated at maximum capacity around the clock. Thick, condensed dark-gold light barriers wrapped around the entire hull, while layers of black-iron defensive patterns glimmered faintly and interwove into an airtight absolute bulwark of unimaginable strength.

Countless Sea Soul Beasts below ten thousand years charged, rammed, bit, and sprayed poison in succession, but every attack fell upon the defensive light barrier and failed even to break the warships' basic defenses. Many sea beasts exerted too much force and were instead shattered by the barrier's rebounding power, their bones broken and bodies split apart as they screamed and fell into the deep sea. They could not pose the fleet even the slightest tangible threat.

At the main ship's control platform, Kong Deming stood with his hands behind his back, calmly and confidently watching the beast tide rise and fall across the sea.

Gui Mei, Yue Guan, Yun Yan, and Mo Hengchuan watched intently beside him. The two had spent years within Spirit Hall and had seen countless battles between Soul Masters and riots of Soul Beasts, but they had never witnessed such standardized, large-scale weapons of oceanic slaughter. Their eyes were filled with curiosity and astonishment.

Kong Deming turned toward them, his tone carrying calm certainty:

"Gentlemen, there is no need to worry. These three Sea-Calming-Class Soul Battleships of mine are Level-Eight Soul Tools.

"The formations have been reinforced layer by layer, the hull materials are top-notch, and their defensive power is extraordinary. Even a Soul Douluo would find them difficult to breach! Sea beasts below fifty thousand years cannot break their defenses. They fear neither poison nor impact. These seemingly surging beast tides are nothing more than trash fish throwing away their lives."

Of course, simply holding a defensive position had never been the true combat power of these top-tier Soul Battleships.

Along both sides of every warship, as well as at the bow and stern, eight Level-Six Fixed-Installation Soul Cannons and four Level-Seven Fixed-Installation Soul Cannons were mounted in staggered positions. All of them were weapons of war crafted by Kong Deming, their power far exceeding standard weapons of the same type on the continent.

Their explosive force, penetrating power, and killing power were all pushed to the limit. They could directly wound or even kill high-level Sea Soul Beasts at the fifty-thousand-year level, making them true weapons of slaughter.

Facing the endless, fearless tide of Sea Soul Beasts, there was no need for the three hundred Judgment Knights to expend their strength. Kong Deming alone sat at the main ship's central command, both hands controlling the master console. Streams of Soul Power flashed from his fingertips as he precisely linked all cannon formations across the three warships, perfectly controlling every Soul Cannon's charging and targeting.

His cold gaze swept across the Sea Soul Beasts surrounding them from all sides. Then he shouted in a deep voice, his powerful roar reaching every corner of all three ships: "Begin full-area bombardment!"

The instant the command fell, earthshaking cannon fire erupted.

Orange-gold cannon beams tore across the vast sea as a destructive net of firepower spread over the entire ocean. Every bombardment raised towering waves dozens of zhang high, and violent energy shockwaves swept wildly in all directions. Any low-level Sea Soul Beast caught in the cannon fire was instantly annihilated, leaving not even bones behind. The clear blue sea was dyed dark red with blood in an instant.

This sight completely shocked Gui Mei, Yue Guan, and the others.

Yue Guan's pupils shrank, his face full of disbelief as he muttered, "This... this is a Soul Cannon? Its power is this terrifying? A normal Soul Emperor's full-force strike is simply not worth mentioning before this artillery fire!"

Gui Mei stared fixedly at the enormous beast tide that had been instantly wiped from the surface of the sea. His heart trembled as he said in a low voice:

"I had only heard His Lordship mention how powerful Soul Tools were, but I never imagined they could reach such a level. There is no need for Soul Masters to fight at close range. Mere tools can crush entire swathes of Soul Beasts. This kind of combat power truly overturns everything we know!"

Yun Yan nodded slightly, his gaze solemn. "Standardized large-scale destruction, clearing beast tides... Mr. Kong's attainments in Soul Tools are indeed astonishing. With such heavy weapons guarding us, ordinary dangers in these waters are nothing to fear."

All of them possessed broad experience. They had witnessed Titled Douluo taking action and seen clashes between top-tier soul skills, but this was the first time in their lives they had encountered a weapon of slaughter capable of such relentless, wide-ranging, and consistently overwhelming destruction.

The scene of indiscriminate cannon fire crushing everything was far more visually shocking and oppressive than a duel of individual soul skills, allowing them to fully witness the terrifying foundation of top-tier Soul Tool weaponry.

The low-level beast tide was wiped out in great swathes, but the high-level Sea Soul Beasts in the deep sea remained unwilling to concede. Several forty- to fifty-thousand-year Dark-Armored Giant Sharks and Azure-Wave Giant Whales relied on their formidable bodies and powerful Soul Power to force their way through the dense cannon fire. Their enormous forms carried towering waves as they brutally crushed toward the warships, intending to break through the defensive barriers through sheer brute force.

Seeing the high-level Ferocious Beasts attack, Kong Deming's expression remained unchanged, as steady as ever. He once again took control. "Level-Seven main cannons, lock onto the high-level targets. Precision strikes. Eliminate them!"

Several condensed, brilliant golden-red cannon beams shot through the air and precisely struck the high-level Sea Soul Beasts. Terrifying explosive force instantly tore through their thick scales and defensive Soul Power, shattering their hard flesh inch by inch and sending blood and meat flying.

These forty- to fifty-thousand-year Ferocious Beasts, which dominated their respective waters and dared not be provoked by anyone, had no ability to resist before the Level-Seven Soul Cannons. Their miserable wails echoed across the sea as they sank directly into the depths after suffering grievous wounds, dying completely.

Witnessing this, Gui Mei could not help praising them. "Holy shit! It can instantly kill even high-level Sea Soul Beasts at the fifty-thousand-year level? The power of these Level-Seven Fixed-Installation Soul Cannons is way too terrifying. The path of Soul Tools can actually be this strong. This has truly opened my eyes."

Yue Guan nodded repeatedly, the amazement still lingering in his eyes. "I had only known before that Soul Tools were convenient and practical. Today, I finally understand that true top-tier Soul Tool weapons are such terrifying instruments of war!"

The entire sea interception battle lasted half an hour. Layer upon layer of sea beast tides charged in turn, yet they could never approach the warships by even half a step. From beginning to end, they were unilaterally crushed and slaughtered by Soul Cannon fire. The battle was utterly one-sided.

The entire fleet suffered zero losses. The three hundred Judgment Knights did not need to act at all, yet every obstacle in the sea was cleared away, and the dangerous ocean voyage became a smooth road. Everyone inwardly marveled that with such top-tier Soul Battleships supporting them, the difficulty had been greatly erased.