Dragon Blood Soul-Control Art

By the time the Shrek Seven Devils arrived, the tide of Sea Soul Beasts had almost completely dispersed.

This beast tide had been rather strange. Most of the Soul Beasts were only a hundred or a thousand years old. Even ten-thousand-year beasts had been rare, and Tang San and the others had not encountered a single hundred-thousand-year beast.

Except for this one before them~

The seabed was a scene of devastation, with animal remains still drifting all around. Some were still twitching, leaking scarlet blood into the water.

Yet amid this desolate scene, a Human-Faced Sea Anemone standing three or four meters tall had a purplish-black Spider Crab pinned beneath its basal disc. Its head was lowered, as though it were feeding.

"Stop!"

Tang San had already scanned the area with his Spiritual Power and concluded that there was no danger. Aside from a few Sea Soul Beasts clinging to their last breaths, this hundred-thousand-year Human-Faced Sea Anemone was the trickiest thing here. Of course, that was only relatively speaking.

Failing to detect its presence earlier in the Hundred-Ring Mountain Trench had frustrated Tang San, but finding it now was not too late. It was only a matter of time before this Sea Soul Beast became his Eighth Soul Ring.

What worried Tang San more now was Ren Tao.

He had clearly been nearby just moments ago, blazing with light and ascending into the sky, stealing all the limelight. Yet in the half an incense stick's time it had taken Tang San and the others to arrive, he had somehow escaped beyond the range of Tang San's spiritual perception.

Normally, Evil Spirit Orcas were not as fast as Demon Soul Great White Sharks. Either he was hiding nearby with some special Secret Art, or he had encountered another stroke of fortune and obtained a miraculous escape technique. Only that could have allowed him to slip away so calmly.

"Boss Dai, help me guard this Soul Beast. Fatty, come up with me and take a look!"

As Tang San spoke, he gave Dai Mubai a meaningful glance.

After fighting side by side for so long, the Shrek Seven Devils already understood one another without words. Dai Mubai immediately grasped Tang San's meaning and returned a knowing look.

Tang San and Ma Hongjun immediately rose upward. With the help of the Seven-Headed Fire Phoenix and the Flight Leg Bone, they reached the air above the sea and swiftly swept through a wide circuit. But all they saw was an endless expanse of water beneath pouring rain. Where was any trace of the Evil Spirit Orca Group?

"Let's look farther out!"

Tang San unleashed his Spiritual Power to its fullest, carefully searching every corner for fear of missing something.

This was the first time he had felt the Sea God's fury. Although he did not know the reason, Ren Tao had undoubtedly done something earth-shattering, something that had made the Sea God lose his composure and call out directly. So even if it meant putting off absorbing his Soul Ring, Tang San had to find out what Ren Tao had done first.

Ma Hongjun answered, then flew off in a different direction from Tang San.

Beneath the surface, Dai Mubai watched Tang San and Ma Hongjun leave before letting out a long sigh.

"I've rarely seen Little San this agitated. I don't know what happened, but I'm afraid we're in trouble!"

Dai Mubai looked at Zhu Zhuqing and spoke quietly.

"I hope Brother San will be all right!"

Zhu Zhuqing clasped Dai Mubai's hand. Tang San had always been the backbone of the Shrek Seven Devils. Now that he was in trouble, unease had spread through the entire team.

"Look... what is the Human-Faced Sea Anemone doing?"

Xiao Bai suddenly called out, drawing everyone's attention.

They all looked toward the Human-Faced Sea Anemone~

The Human-Faced Sea Anemone had turned its head and was giving them an eerie smile. Light flickered across its bluish-purple face, filling it with a chilling aura of death.

Even stranger, only now did they see clearly what the Human-Faced Sea Anemone was eating-

It was eating its own tentacles, along with an earthy-yellow "Sea Anemone Flower" growing on one of them. It had already gnawed away half of it.

Simply put, it was devouring its own body.

"Ah!"

A chill swept through Ning Rongrong's body. She cried out and instinctively hid behind Oscar.

"Has this anemone... gone mad?"

A few minutes later, Tang San and Ma Hongjun returned one after the other. They had found the Evil Spirit Orca Group, but Ren Tao was not with them. Tang San had also detected the Sea Witch, but she was now alone, heading toward Sea God Island.

"Did you find him?"

Xiao Bai was the least able to contain herself and asked first.

Tang San slowly shook his head, regaining his usual composure. "Whatever happened, improving our own strength matters most. I'll absorb its Soul Ring first!"

In the eyes of the Shrek Seven Monsters, although the Human-Faced Sea Anemone was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, once they had seen its true form and felt its aura, they all thought it was as good as dead.

"Foolish Soul Beast, your only worth is to become a human's Soul Ring. And you've encountered the bane of Soul Beasts, no less. Do you realize that not a single Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast around Tang San has escaped that fate?"

Oscar's mocking voice rang out coldly, carrying clearly across the scene.

The atmosphere abruptly turned cold. The seawater still flowed, yet it felt as though everything had reached the freezing point.

Tang San almost thought he had misheard. He turned his neck inch by inch and stared hard at Oscar.

Those words were tearing open Tang San's old wounds. Everyone in the Shrek Seven Devils knew that Xiao Wu's sacrifice was a thorn in his heart. What was Oscar trying to do by bringing it up now?

But apparently, someone else did not see it that way.

"Exactly. From beginning to end, Tang San has never been a worthy lover. If I were Xiao Wu, I would never have done that!"

Tang San finally lost his restraint, a dangerous light bursting from his eyes. "Ning Rongrong, what are you saying?!"

"The truth! You've always been an extremely selfish person. To you, everyone else exists only as a backdrop. You cherish and protect Xiao Wu so much because she'll sacrifice herself to fulfill you, while you gain a fine reputation. Honestly, what you want is absolute control and possession, one hundred percent. Do you dare deny it?"

Ning Rongrong seemed unable to see Tang San's murderous expression. She just kept talking and talking.

At that moment, Ma Hongjun felt as though his heart had stopped. He had not been this frightened even when facing the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King. He hurried over. "Rongrong, shut your mouth! Have you gone mad?"

"Why should I shut up? Am I wrong? Dai Mubai may be a womanizer, but at least he isn't that hypocritical. Tang San is different-he plays the whore and still wants a monument to his chastity!"

Dai Mubai froze for a moment. "Rongrong, that's enough! Are you trying to start a fight within the Shrek Seven Monsters?"

Zhu Zhuqing curled her lip and suddenly said, "What's wrong? Rongrong isn't wrong. That's exactly the kind of person Tang San is! Have you ever seen him do anything for the Tang Sect, for the Clear Sky Sect, or even for Holy Soul Village? No, have you? He's only ever had himself in his heart."

"No, no, no, that's not true!"

Ma Hongjun blurted out instinctively, "Little San equipped us with Godly Zhuge Crossbows, and he's never been stingy with all kinds of heavenly treasures either..."

"Hmph! Who doesn't know how to buy people's loyalty? The Heaven Dou Empire even gave Tang San the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud. So what? Let me ask you one thing, Fatty. Back when you helped Tang San wipe out the Spirit Hall Branch in Gengxin City, what did you say?"

Zhu Zhuqing's words were like knives, each syllable stabbing straight into the heart. As the future princess consort of the Star Luo Empire, she had long since seen through such schemes and power games.

"I... I..." Ma Hongjun glanced at Tang San and swallowed with difficulty. "I didn't say anything!"

"No, you did! You said that many of them were actually innocent. They had joined Spirit Hall only to make a living. They had neither influence nor much ability, and you killed them for Tang San's sake. But did Tang San ever care about your feelings? Did he ask you how you felt?"

"Well... I..."

Ma Hongjun turned around with difficulty. Facing Tang San's gleaming eyes, sharp as blades, he guiltily lowered his head.

By now, Xiao Bai had already slipped quietly into the distance. Watching these former companions turn against one another in an instant and hurl accusations without mercy, she did not know where she should stand, much less what she should say.

Her gaze merely flickered, as though countless thoughts had passed through her mind in an instant.

"What exactly are you all trying to do today?"

The light in Tang San's eyes kept shifting, turning white, then blue-gold, then purple. His emotions were clearly on the brink of losing control, and he could erupt into some shocking action at any moment.

The Human-Faced Sea Anemone had also stopped eating. It watched the Shrek Seven Devils with keen interest, seemingly curious and unsure of what they were doing.

Tang San took a deep breath and lowered his head dejectedly, but light like purple lightning had already gathered in his eyes.

When he raised his head again, Purple Pole Divine Light surged forth, ignoring the distance between them and striking the Human-Faced Sea Anemone directly.

Bang!

The Human-Faced Sea Anemone's body was blasted apart. Its colorful tentacles flew everywhere, and fragments of its flower disc littered the seabed.

"Ren Tao, it's you, isn't it? You hid within the Human-Faced Sea Anemone's aura, which is how you escaped my detection. Today, I'll tear you into ten thousand pieces!"

Clap, clap! Clap, clap!

Ren Tao emerged from beneath the sand and silt. As he clapped, the anemone tentacles clinging to him fell away with a pattering clatter. "What a splendid performance. Tang San, you know better than anyone that everything they said is true. The Shrek Seven Devils have never been as steadfast as you imagined, because all of it has been your will alone. Let me teach you something: learn to understand others, put yourself in their shoes, and face yourself honestly. That's how you get along with people!"

"No, you're lying! You manipulated all of this. You bewitched them into saying things they didn't mean!"

Tang San kept gathering power, but there was another reason he did not attack immediately. If he failed to clear this up before Ren Tao died, an irreparable rift would form within the Shrek Seven Monsters.

Even if he never brought it up again, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Oscar would never feel the way they once had.

"The Dragon Blood Soul-Control Art merely guides each person to discover the thoughts buried deepest in their heart. I never bewitched them, and everything they said is true."

Ren Tao's expression was calm. After entering the second stage of autonomous evolution, he finally had the confidence to crush Tang San head-on. So from this moment onward, the true counterattack began!

"Tang San, before I defeat you, are you satisfied with the gift I've given you? Haha, hahahaha!"

Ren Tao threw his head back and laughed until tears spilled from his eyes.

To the two hundred and eighty Evil Spirit Orcas who died, I'll send every one of your enemies to hell!

I didn't sleep well last night while thinking through the plot, so I got up late today. Please forgive me, readers!

As always, I'm putting my heart into writing. Please support me!