While the sea soul beasts were grumbling, Ren Tao had actually slipped away to find Sea Witch, because he needed her help with something.
Sea Witch looked a little depressed. A faint sadness lingered on her face, and her eyes were slightly red; he wondered whether she had been crying in secret. Her large tail swayed in the water as she gazed out toward the ocean, turning a deaf ear to the clamor around her.
She did not even notice Ren Tao approaching.
"Princess Xin Luo!"
Ren Tao waved in greeting. "Why do you look so sad? You're making Lady Bo Saixi think I bullied you!"
He had meant it as a deliberately lighthearted joke, but Sea Witch's back stiffened. She tilted her head slightly without looking at him, as though pondering something.
"Tell me, is there anything I can help with? After all, last time I devoured your... well, I owe you a small favor!"
As an innocent young man inexperienced in the ways of the world, Ren Tao, like most boys, could not bear to see a girl looking so sorrowful. Thus, although he did not entirely mean those words, they slipped out before he could stop them.
"Can I trust someone who's always thinking about devouring me?"
Sea Witch's voice was rather cool, but her words were not an accusation. They were a hesitant question.
Now Ren Tao was certain something had happened to Sea Witch. Although he knew nothing about matters of the heart, he had an exceptional gift for reading expressions and gauging moods.
"Who else can you trust besides me? If there were someone, you wouldn't have gone days without saying a word!"
Ren Tao walked over and sat on the stone ledge beside Sea Witch. Quite naturally, he dipped his feet into the pool and swung them idly.
Only then did he realize how pathetic his circumstances were: he still had not managed to put on a pair of shoes.
Was there some kind of bug in his Soul Power Armor? It had never produced any battle boots!
Ah.
Sea Witch stared at Ren Tao with her large eyes, visibly stunned for a second. She could not understand how this man could be so bold, coming over just like that to wash his feet in the same pool where she was washing her tail.
But the next moment, she accepted it. He was the Evil Orca King, after all, naturally unrestrained. He had even killed the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King. What would he not dare to do?
"My people are all gone!"
After Sea Witch said this, her eyes grew even redder. Her composure began to crack, as though she would burst into tears the next second.
No, don't cry! Take your time!
Ren Tao encouraged her with his eyes. Sea Witch struggled to control herself and finally held back her tears. Lowering her head, she spoke rapidly. "After I parted ways with Jenny and the others, I didn't return straight to Sea God Island. I wanted to take this chance to visit my grandfather... but my people were all gone. That place had become a dead sea, just like what I saw in the illusion!"
So that was it!
Ren Tao blinked. He knew this did not bode well. The Human-Faced Sea Anemone's illusion drew out the emotions buried deepest in a person's heart. Sea Witch had always feared something would happen to her people, so it had conjured scenes of merfolk dying in droves. But none of this could have come from nowhere, especially now that he knew the merfolk represented evolution's past, with a forbidden power hidden in their bodies that suppressed mutation.
"How long has it been since your grandfather last contacted you?"
"Many years... we used to exchange letters, but the seas were dangerous, and many messengers were devoured. Eventually, we lost contact!"
Sea Witch turned her head and secretly wiped her eyes. She was a Titled Douluo, after all, and did not want Ren Tao to see her vulnerable side, but her voice still trembled.
"The High Priest and the others can't leave Sea God Island, and I don't trust anyone else. I was wondering if you could help me find out where my people moved?"
Where they moved?
I'm afraid they didn't move at all.
Ren Tao nodded. "I happen to be heading out soon, so I'll keep an eye out for you. But I might not make progress quickly. I have far too much on my plate myself..."
"That's all right. Thank you!"
As Sea Witch spoke, she reached inside the front of her little emerald-green top and took out a Storage Pouch.
Ren Tao's eyes lit up immediately. A Storage Pouch soul tool! This was the first time he had seen one since coming to this world. Living in the deep sea and spending all day with sea soul beasts, no matter how respected he was, he remained as poor as poor could be!
"There are fifty pearls inside. I don't have any soul coins, since I never need them..."
Sea Witch looked a little embarrassed. "Payment for helping me find my people!"
"Well..."
Ren Tao instinctively wanted to refuse, but his hand was far more honest. It reached out and seized the Storage Pouch. "Oh, you really shouldn't have!"
Greed was written all over his face!
Ren Tao scorned himself inwardly. You bumpkin who's never seen the world!
A trace of amusement flashed through Sea Witch's eyes, but she immediately turned away and stopped looking at Ren Tao.
"Looks like you planned this ages ago. You even had the payment ready, just waiting for me to come, huh?"
Taking payment for a job was as natural and proper as heaven and earth. Ren Tao quickly adjusted his mindset. "As it happens, I have a favor to ask you too!"
"Hm?"
Sea Witch's large, sky-blue eyes had only just settled on Ren Tao's face when a sudden sting came from her arm. The Devouring Golden Threads had swiftly pricked her.
"What are you doing?"
Before she could finish, her consciousness had entered Ren Tao's Sea of Inheritance.
This Sea of Inheritance was now well over ten times larger than before, and its entire surface had turned a translucent gold. Amid the surging waves, several ruby-like reefs emerged beside the shore. Purple clouds danced across the sky, and most importantly, there was now wind here.
It lent the place a greater sense of vitality and unpredictability.
This place had possessed a spiritual vitality before, but now its currents flowed. White swirls of wind swept swiftly from the nearshore waters into the distance, then wound their way back, filling the place with even more exuberant life.
It had truly become a wondrous realm that nurtured life.
These transformations had all come after he absorbed the White-Haired Woman's energy. Ren Tao vaguely felt that he had moved another step closer to the "Sea of the Great Dao" required for Super Evolution, with the faint beginnings of "Dao Resonance" taking shape.
Sea Witch was in no mood to pay attention to any of this. Annoyed, she said,
"Are you going to devour me again? Wasn't what you devoured last time enough?"
"No, I have something important to tell you. Only here can we evade the Sea God's scrutiny!"
"Oh."
Sea Witch gave Ren Tao a couple of looks. "Aren't you afraid I'll inform the High Priest? How can you entrust something important to someone you aren't on good terms with? You're an enemy of Sea God Island, after all!"
"It's actually nothing that important. I just need you to help me purchase some sea products!"
Sea Witch pursed her lips. By then, Ren Tao had already used Mental Link to convey roughly a quarter of the materials he needed for the second evolution stage to her.
"They really are sea products? What do you need these for? Never mind, forget I asked. We could buy them from the merchants who deliver supplies to the island, but have you forgotten? Neither of us has any money!"
Right, no money!
But none of this could stump Ren Tao. The next moment, Sea Witch and Ren Tao returned to the outside world, still sitting in the pool.
Yet Sea Witch suddenly discovered something new in her hand. It was an emerald-green bone, like jade, surrounded by a misty radiance that spread in layer upon layer, like one dreamscape after another.
"This is the Dreamscape Skull, courtesy of the Human-Faced Sea Anemone. Use it to pay for the goods!"
Ren Tao spoke as though he did not care in the slightest, but both he and Sea Witch knew exactly what was going on.
On the surface, Sea Witch had given him pearls, but the Storage Pouch was actually far more valuable. As for Ren Tao, he felt that a little bribe might allow him to turn Sea Witch into his eyes and ears.
Yes, a very clumsy scheme.
More importantly, he could hardly return the Storage Pouch to Sea Witch, could he? Right now, this Storage Pouch was more useful than a soul bone.
"It's too precious!"
Sea Witch gently stroked the green bone. Although called a skull, it was actually very small, like a fist-sized piece of jade. As for why a brainless soul beast like the Human-Faced Sea Anemone could produce a Dreamscape Skull, that was a question for Tang Jia San Shao, the creator of the Douluo World's setting.
"It would definitely look lovely made into a hair ornament!"
As Sea Witch spoke, she even held the skull up against her head.
This woman... that's a precious soul bone from a hundred-thousand-year soul beast!
Ren Tao grimaced, glanced around, then quietly slipped away and returned to the group of hundred-thousand-year sea soul beasts.
Everyone else was cursing loudly, but a knowing smile appeared on Shui Ling'er's face.
E Laosi quietly sidled up to Ren Tao and spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear.
"That Sea Maiden Douluo is your woman, right, Boss?"
What utter nonsense!
Ren Tao drove his elbow into E Laosi, knocking him away.
Just then, raindrops began falling from the sky, and golden light began rising above the Sea God Hall.
The Sea God's Will abruptly appeared within Ren Tao's perception. "You won't be smug for much longer!"
Is that so? Then let's wait and see!
Some readers have suggested making Sea Witch the female lead. Honestly, I haven't decided whether to add a romance storyline yet.
Still, the author has a pretty good impression of Sea Witch too. At the very least, she's a positive character who helps the male lead. Let's leave it at that for now and see how things go!
Before you continue