I Must Have Misunderstood Something About Devouring

Although Ma Hongjun's seven-headed Fire Phoenix was fast, it could not compare with Bai Chenxiang, and it was also considerably slower than a Demon Soul Great White Shark swimming at full speed. As a result, he fell far behind the others.

Fortunately, Tang San's Spiritual Power had surpassed its limits. Before he even arrived, he had already "scanned" the target waters.

Suddenly, his expression changed, and a wry smile crossed his face.

"Stop chasing! It's a waste of effort!"

"Why should we stop? What did you see?"

Ma Hongjun had been flying with gusto, looking forward to a fierce fight with the Evil Orca King. Tang San had suddenly thrown a bucket of cold water over his enthusiasm, leaving him rather annoyed. "Are you saying that isn't the Evil Orca King?"

"Mm!"

Tang San's eyes flashed, but he said nothing more about it. He stared at a spot in the sky. "Your Xiangxiang is here!"

"Fatty!"

Sure enough, a second later, Bai Chenxiang's figure appeared in the sky. With another flash, she reached Ma Hongjun's side. "That wasn't the Evil Orca King. It was an Ironclad Turtle. He swallowed a piece of Whale Brain along the way, and the Demon Soul Great White Sharks tracked the scent and mistook him for their target!"

"An Ironclad Turtle swallowed Whale Brain?"

Ma Hongjun's eyes widened in bewilderment. "Since when did Whale Brain become so cheap that even low-level soul beasts could eat it?"

He immediately turned around. "Brother Three! The Evil Orca King is obviously playing us. Are you really going to take that?"

At those words, the corner of Tang San's mouth twitched. Even at a time like this, you still don't forget to stir up trouble?

Still, in all his years since making his debut, this was the first time he had suffered such a humiliating setback. And his opponent was merely a hundred-thousand-year soul beast. But was this soul beast really just a soul beast?

"I was careless. I actually underestimated my opponent. It seems that to hunt down this orca king, we'll have to..."

Before he could finish, his gaze suddenly shifted behind him again.

There, over the sea several hundred li away, another green flare rose into the air.

"This... don't tell me someone else picked up Whale Brain?"

Ma Hongjun looked thoroughly disgruntled. "Brother Three, are we chasing this time or not?"

A thousand li away, in an unnamed stretch of sea.

Ren Tao floated in the water. Along the way, he had planted pieces of Whale Brain while evading the Demon Soul Great White Shark packs tracking him, and now he was completely lost.

Yet on his journey, he had actually picked up several Evil Spirit Orcas that had escaped. They had either been drawn by the scent of Whale Brain or found Ren Tao through "ripple" detection, and before long, a small band of "battered remnants" had gathered.

Though they were all covered in wounds and utterly bedraggled, reuniting with their kin was an unexpected joy.

"Your Majesty, you said this is the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's Whale Brain? I never imagined anything this delicious existed in the world!"

Old Seventeen was still alive, though half his tail was missing and his intestines were spilling out. Even so, he had dutifully brought along the clan's only two surviving young females, making Ren Tao see him in a new light.

Those two young females, in particular, were not yet adults, but they were practically the clan's only hope of continuing its bloodline.

"That's right. To think we'd get to eat the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's Whale Brain. This life was worth living!"

Another one-eyed orca was also wolfing down his food.

The two young females had each received a piece of Whale Brain as well and were chewing cautiously. Today's bloody battle had frightened their souls clean out of them.

"But Your Majesty, since you're this strong, why didn't you lead everyone to wipe out the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King earlier? Why wait until now?"

A young orca who fancied himself exceptionally clever was showing off his intelligence. Though he, too, worshipped the Evil Orca King, he still could not understand.

"Even food can't stop your mouth!"

Ren Tao could barely resist cursing. Ordinarily, he would have sent this fool flying with a flick of his tail, but times had changed. Every orca that survived the battle was precious. "Enough idle chatter. We can't stay here long. Only by escaping to the outer seas will we have a thread of hope!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The orcas answered in unison, their gazes filled with heartfelt admiration and awe as they looked at Ren Tao.

Their king's strength was already unfathomable if he could kill the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King. More importantly, even in such a desperate moment, he had not hoarded the Whale Brain for himself and had still remembered his kin. For that alone, they would willingly obey even if he ordered them to die on the spot.

But they only thought this to themselves. Evil Spirit Orcas were simple and violent by nature, incapable of uttering such flattering words.

The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's Whale Brain truly was miraculous. After eating it, the wounded orcas showed clear improvement and recovered some strength, so the little band continued fleeing.

They traveled in fits and starts, leaving small pieces of Whale Brain in many places.

Yet along the way, they never encountered a large-scale encirclement by the Demon Soul Great White Shark packs. Ren Tao took this as heaven's blessing. As the saying went, those who survived a great calamity were bound for good fortune. After escaping this disaster, his luck had clearly improved.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and they finally reached the outskirts of these waters.

In truth, the seas of the Douluo World were countless times more expansive than its landmass. Sea God Island was actually only located in the inner sea. Only after traveling several thousand kilometers farther out would they reach the truly boundless ocean.

That day, Ren Tao finally stopped. He had seen no sign of the Demon Soul Great White Sharks for two days straight, and the creatures and soul beasts in the sea had become markedly different. He felt that he must have escaped.

"Big Brother, what do we do next? When are we going to get revenge on the Demon Soul Great White Sharks?"

Hu Dong asked, while the other orcas stared at Ren Tao as well.

Over the past few days, although they had spent most of their time fleeing, Ren Tao had still stolen moments amid the bustle to name all the surviving orcas. He had also stopped calling himself their king, changing his title to Big Brother. This was the beginning of standardized management.

From this day forward, the Evil Spirit Orca pod would no longer be that loosely organized group. He intended to turn it into a clan with ambitions.

His orca underlings now had the following names:

Hu Dong, Feng Ba, Zhen Jiu, Ha Jun, Tae Hee, Jun Hyuk, Jun Ho, and the two young females, Jenny and Yeonnie.

That was right. Of a pod that originally numbered more than two hundred orcas, only these nine remained. Luckily, there were so few, or he would have run out of names from Korean dramas.

"You need to use your brains. Are the Demon Soul Great White Sharks our enemies? They're nothing but cannon fodder!"

Ren Tao was not trying to show off his intelligence, nor did he intend to spare the Demon Soul Great White Sharks. It was just that someone else would deal with them in the future, someone truly ruthless. Why dirty his own hands?

"Our real enemy is Sea God Island. Once I've devoured the Whale Pearl, I'll lead you back to slaughter our way through Sea God Island!"

Wow!

An unusual light shone in every orca's eyes as they looked at their leader.

Then they erupted into enthusiastic cheers!

Under the orcas' admiring gazes, Ren Tao slowly swallowed the Whale Pearl.

A faint light enveloped a vast stretch of sea almost instantly. As though basking in warm, pure sunlight, Ren Tao felt an unprecedented sense of ease and comfort.

His little orca brothers and sisters swiftly spread out ten li and formed a ring, guarding their supreme king. They closely searched the surrounding waters for over a hundred li, nervous and excited, anticipating more surprises from their leader.

But soon, Ren Tao's brow furrowed.

After devouring the Whale Pearl, he had unknowingly changed from the Evil Orca King's form back into human form. Meanwhile, one bizarre, dazzling scene after another appeared in his mind.

A giant winged whale soared through the air, at one moment battling the vast skies, at another gliding like a fish through shallow waters. Countless torrents of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning descended from above, yet this giant winged whale opened its enormous maw and devoured every one of those wondrous phenomena.

In the end, between the boundless sea and the vault of heaven, only a single figure remained, so immense that words could not describe it.

Its wings were like clouds hanging from the heavens. Every feather blazed like a star, shimmering with dreamlike streams of light. Behind it, even the starry sky seemed to dim, with the shadows of countless celestial bodies faintly visible.

"The sea of the Great Dao nurtures the sacred embryo. Super evolution activated!"

It seemed to be a voice, yet it was more like a thought, drifting ethereally into Ren Tao's consciousness and showing him even more scenes.

"That's... not right, is it? I must have misunderstood something about devouring!"

Ren Tao knitted his brows tightly, his eyes slightly open, and murmured to himself.

The contract is signed! Thank you to all the readers for bookmarking, recommending, and supporting me with tips! I'll keep working hard. Fighting!