Shaking the Sea!

Inside the Blacksmith Association's reception hall.

Lin Hao and Sea Horse Douluo sat facing Lou Gao. Short and stocky, Lou Gao listened gravely as Lin Hao described the requirements for the pill furnace.

The visit of a Titled Douluo had brought Lou Gao to greet them personally at once. They had met no obstacles whatsoever.

Only after Lin Hao finished did Lou Gao say solemnly, "The furnace you describe has demanding requirements, sir. I don't have some of those materials at all. I'm afraid the task may be beyond me."

"Don't worry, Chairman Lou Gao. I'll gather the materials myself. As for the forging, I know a little about that too. We can discuss it together."

Lin Hao was not surprised. Huo Yuhao had used a ninth-grade pill furnace to refine the Universe Creation Pill. Even with a higher cultivation level, Lin Hao could not expect to succeed with just any furnace.

To do good work, one must first sharpen one's tools!

A good pill furnace could make the refining process twice as effective with half the effort.

"You know how to forge too, sir?"

Lou Gao stared at Lin Hao in surprise. Blacksmiths were nowhere near as revered as Soul Masters on the Douluo Continent. He had never expected a prodigy like Lin Hao to know forging.

"Have you ever seen a Sea God Crossbow, Chairman Lou Gao?"

Lin Hao took one out and handed it to him.

Lou Gao's eyes lit up as he accepted it. "I heard long ago that a remarkable weapon had appeared near Vast Sea City, one capable of dealing tremendous damage to Soul Ancestors. But it only circulates among Sea Soul Masters. Outsiders can't get their hands on one."

"I never imagined you'd have a Sea God Crossbow!"

Lou Gao held it as though he had found a treasure and began studying it on the spot, his eyes shining.

"Marvelous. Absolutely marvelous!"

"Teach me. If you teach me how to make this, I'll do everything in my power to forge you a perfect pill furnace."

After studying it for a while and finding that he could not work out its structure or principles, Lou Gao looked pleadingly at Lin Hao.

"I'm afraid I can't. This is a secret of Sea God Island, never taught to outsiders!" Lin Hao said, feigning reluctance.

"Where is Sea God Island? How do I join?"

"I've been tired of being chairman of the Blacksmith Association for ages. And now there's a weapon as ingenious as this Sea God Crossbow. I haven't felt such a wonderful urge in years—not since I first began learning to forge."

"I'm a Soul Saint and one of the three great master craftsmen of this age. Sea God Island would let me join, wouldn't it?"

Lou Gao made up his mind without a moment's hesitation.

"Sea God Island is sacred ground for Sea Soul Masters. Outsiders can't live there, but I can allow you to become an external member."

"You would be stationed in Vast Sea City, serving as a link between Sea God Island and the mainland."

Sea God Island was home to Sea Soul Masters, and only those who had passed the divine trials could live there. Even as the Sea God Successor, Lin Hao could not break that rule.

But Lin Hao had already decided to take Vast Sea City. He began planning its future in his mind.

"Yes, yes! As long as I can join Sea God Island and learn how to forge the Sea God Crossbow, I'll agree to anything."

Lou Gao nodded eagerly, then pulled Lin Hao aside and began asking how the crossbow was made.

Lin Hao held nothing back as he guided Lou Gao through forging and assembling the Sea God Crossbow.

Along the way, he also mentioned powerful hidden weapons such as the Pear Blossom Rainstorm Needles and Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus. Lou Gao itched to get to work and could barely wait to light the forge.

Three days later.

With Lou Gao's affairs settled and an agreement to meet him in Vast Sea City, Lin Hao and Sea Horse Douluo finally set out for Sea God Island.

Returning to Sea God Island after so many days away, Sea Horse Douluo felt as though everything had changed.

Before they left, he had been a level ninety-two Titled Douluo without a single Soul Bone. Now he had returned as a level ninety-five Super Douluo with two Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones. He had truly shed his old skin and emerged anew.

The other Sacred Pillar Douluo sighed at the sight, wishing they could trade places with him.

"I never expected you to change so much in just four months at sea."

Bo Saixi met Lin Hao in the Sea God Hall, quietly astonished.

Three levels of Soul Power in four months. With talent like that, perhaps even the Sea God himself had not been so formidable.

"But the greatest gain from this journey was finding the long-lost Sea God's Heart."

Under Bo Saixi's stunned gaze, Lin Hao activated the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud deep within his brow.

Blue-gold light shone, as deep as the sea. The triangular Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud floated out from between Lin Hao's brows, spinning as it slowly descended into the diamond-shaped hollow at the head of the Sea God Trident, which stood in the center of the hall.

With a soft click, the Sea God's Heart returned to its place. A piercing scrape rang out as a vast surge of energy erupted.

It swept through the entire hall in an instant.

The hall, once shrouded in darkness, seemed to ignite with golden light.

Golden patterns spread across every corner of the hall. An unprecedented sacred presence burst from the Sea God Trident, becoming a towering pillar of light that shot up toward the ceiling.

A tremor like a dragon's cry came from the Sea God Trident. After ten thousand years of silence, the Super Divine Artifact that had looked like a mere fire poker finally revealed its true form.

Rippling golden light blazed so brightly it hurt the eyes. Divine radiance poured from the Sea God Trident.

All of Sea God Mountain began to tremble.

At the foot of the mountain, the seven guardian Douluo stared wide-eyed toward its summit.

Dark clouds now blanketed the sky, dimming all of Sea God Island. A beam of gold shot from the Sea God Hall, split the clouds, and illuminated the entire island.

At the same time, the seven Sacred Pillars lit up, as if cheering.

In the air appeared the Sea God Phantom, clad in golden armor and holding the Sea God Trident. His rueful sigh echoed in every ear.

"After all these years, I have finally returned to Sea God Island!"

The seven guardian Douluo dropped to their knees almost as one. Their reverent eyes blazed as they bowed to the figure in the sky.

"Lord Sea God!"

The same scene unfolded everywhere people lived on Sea God Island. Even the Sea Soul Beasts in the ocean were no exception.

Far away in the Demonic Whale Sea, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King stared wide-eyed, horror filling his gaze.

"The Sea God?"

"Impossible. The Sea God has been gone for ages. That's only a lingering image!"

"Just wait. I'll break through soon and become the new Sea God."

His enormous body parted the water as the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King swam toward deeper seas.

Bo Saixi looked at Lin Hao, who had restored the Sea God Trident, her feelings tangled. A complicated sigh stirred in her heart.

"Could this truly be destiny?"