The Hundred-Thousand-Year Sea Soul Beast Alliance

"I must have misunderstood something about Devour..."

Ren Tao frowned, muttering to himself as he recalled the scene he had just witnessed. A faint blush slowly crept over his face.

According to that information of unknown origin, the Whale Pearl had actually unlocked a legacy of autonomous evolution. Its precise direction was unknown, but there was a clear method of advancement.

That method was "Devour!"

In the vision within his sea of consciousness, the giant whale with two wings possessed such immense power that there was nothing it could not devour. Mountains and rivers, stars and thunder, things tangible and intangible-anything it found displeasing went down "in one gulp." Thus, it had forged its own Sea of the Great Dao and a sacred embryo of heaven and earth.

Of course, for Ren Tao at his current stage, this was an impossible task. Before he could devour anything, he would most likely burst from overstuffing himself.

Or he might end up like the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, swallowing a "tough customer" he could not digest, only to die with his intestines ruptured and his belly rotting.

So he now had strict requirements for "Devour." First, the target had to be a super species. As Ren Tao understood it, that meant something at least on the level of a Demon Soul Great White Shark. Second, species he had already devoured would have no further effect. In other words, devoured genes could only take effect once. Once incorporated into the evolutionary process, duplicate genes could not trigger another evolution.

Third-and this was the most astonishing point-his instinct for autonomous evolution actually gave Ren Tao an intense sensitivity to suitable devouring targets.

The vision he had seen in his sea of consciousness demonstrated exactly that.

When a strange Human-Faced Bird-Body Beast appeared, an irresistible urge welled up in Ren Tao's heart, like an old bachelor who had been starved of affection for decades suddenly laying eyes on a beautiful woman.

Moreover, the process of devouring produced an indescribable pleasure.

This left Ren Tao, a man of upright values and outstanding character, feeling ashamed.

What the fuck? Was this devouring or mating?

However, as he gradually withdrew from the vision in his consciousness, Ren Tao came to understand two more things.

First, by devouring the Whale Pearl, he had acquired three of the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's skills: Devour, Thunder, and Soul Power Armor.

Devour and Thunder were easy to understand, being practically innate skills of the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King. As for Soul Power Armor, its ultimate purpose was actually to transform into a dragon-in other words, to become a god.

The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's evolution ended there, so it had designated godhood as its final goal.

But because Ren Tao's primordial spirit was human, and he also possessed the Evil Orca King's Soul Power, he had unlocked a much longer evolutionary path. Its ultimate goal was that cosmic life-form whose full appearance he could not make out, and more skills would presumably be unlocked later.

This was great! At least he would not have to hang himself from a single tree. Even if he became a dragon, he probably would not get to hop around for long. The Golden and Silver Dragon Kings were living examples.

Second, he now understood why the Whale Pearl had been used to repair the Sea God's Heart in the original Douluo story.

The Sea God most likely had selfish motives. He did not want anyone to obtain the Whale Pearl's Super Evolution, so he had conveniently used it to repair the Sea God's Heart, keeping the secret firmly sealed in his own hands and killing two birds with one stone.

Furthermore, the energy contained in this Whale Pearl was far more powerful than in the original story. This was most likely because the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King in the book had lost more than half his energy when Tang San absorbed his Soul Ring and Soul Bone, whereas Ren Tao's Whale Pearl was an intact energy body, complete with all its original components.

After devouring the Whale Pearl, Ren Tao felt power filling his body. Even in human form, he felt no restriction on his strength. In fact, he vaguely sensed that he had already reached a limit.

Right, in the Douluo World, a hundred-thousand-year soul beast had strength equivalent to a Titled Douluo, while a two-hundred-thousand-year one was equivalent to a Super Douluo. But what level was a Super Douluo again?

Above Super Douluo, there were Peerless Douluo, Demigods, Quasi-Gods, False Gods...

This was a bit of a mess!

Ren Tao patted his face, doing his best to rein in his thoughts, then slowly emerged from his meditative state.

Outside, a shaft of light seemed to pierce the surface of the sea.

Within the hundred-li radius covered by the nine Evil Spirit Orcas, the seawater suddenly churned, and a vast surge of energy enveloped the entire area.

Every Evil Spirit Orca saw Ren Tao descending from the heavens, wreathed in divine radiance. His dazzling brilliance nearly blinded them.

In truth, however, this was merely a projection manifested by the spiritual world.

At the same time, a gentle voice sounded in their minds. "Come back, all of you!"

"Big brother!"

Unable to contain their wild joy, the Evil Spirit Orcas closed their eyes and sped toward Ren Tao, letting out a cacophony of cries as they went.

"Congratulations, big brother! You've broken through the hundred-thousand-year limit! Big brother is mighty!"

"Mm!"

Ren Tao waved calmly, rising above the sea's surface and looking at his reflection in the water.

For the first time since arriving in this world, he saw his human face~

His tall, slender body possessed a restrained sharpness absent from his previous life, and every muscle brimmed with power. His features resembled those of his former self, but had become deeper and more sharply sculpted. Whenever his eyes shifted, a gleam somewhere between pitch-black and dazzling gold flashed within them. His long hair streamed behind him, while clothes formed from Soul Power fluttered in the wind. He naturally exuded the commanding aura of a sovereign ruling all beneath heaven.

Of course, that did not rule out some deliberate embellishment on Ren Tao's part.

He was also at least ten centimeters taller than in his previous life. Now standing at 1.9 meters, Ren Tao had the nine-head-tall proportions of an anime character. His perfectly proportioned figure left even him staring in a daze.

"What do you think of my appearance?"

The Evil Spirit Orcas cheering below suddenly fell silent.

They had not expected their boss to ask such a baffling question.

Compared with overwhelming strength, did appearance even matter? Most importantly, he was in human form!

"Boss, how strong are you now?"

Ha Jun swallowed with difficulty and asked the question on every orca's mind.

He was Old Seventeen, the most senior old "whale" present. He had also brought back the only two females in the pod, which gave him considerable standing in Ren Tao's eyes.

"No idea!"

Immersed in the joy of his complete transformation, Ren Tao answered casually, then added, "I'll know once I find someone to fight!"

"Roar!"

The Evil Spirit Orcas erupted in cheers again.

The past few days of fleeing had been far too depressing. They had spent the journey trembling like dogs driven from their homes, hunted by Demon Soul Great White Sharks they had once deemed beneath their notice. Every last one of them had nearly gone mad from pent-up frustration.

"None of you may fight. Evil Spirit Orcas must not kill indiscriminately except when hunting for food. Have you forgotten what I said?"

"Yes, big brother!"

Putting his words straight into action, Ren Tao quickly returned to his orca form. His human form might be handsome, but it was far too slow.

Leading his followers, he swam several hundred li before encountering his first hundred-thousand-year soul beast.

It was an enormous sea star, each arm over ten meters long and shimmering with faint golden light. He occupied a vast coral reef and showed little alarm at the sight of the Evil Spirit Orca pod. He merely moved his arms lightly and turned to look at them with curiosity.

"Hahaha! You're dead, Sea Star!"

The brothers Jun Hyuk and Jun Ho let out piercing shrieks, dangerous light flashing in their eyes.

Bloodthirsty as Evil Spirit Orcas were, with their powerful boss backing them up, they immediately exposed their savage nature.

"I'm just a peace-loving sea star. Who are you? What do you want?"

Light glimmered in the golden Sea Star's eyes as he looked at Ren Tao in puzzlement. With a hundred thousand years of cultivation, he naturally recognized at a glance who posed the real threat.

"They're joking. I'm the Evil Orca King from the inner sea. How about a little spar?"

Ren Tao tried to soften his expression and look less frightening. This was the outer sea, where the Evil Spirit Orcas' notorious reputation probably had not yet spread. He absolutely could not drag their name through the mud again.

"I'm not particularly interested in fighting. I'm just an ordinary sea star."

The golden Sea Star looked earnestly at Ren Tao. "But there's a Giant Octopus nearby. They're very strong. How about I take you to spar with them?"

"Oh?"

Ren Tao's large eyes flickered. He had not expected the soul beasts of the outer sea to enjoy such harmonious relations.

A thought stirred, and inspiration suddenly struck him. "Sure! I'd like to establish a Hundred-Thousand-Year Sea Soul Beast Alliance. Would you be interested?"

I've been carefully planning the upcoming plot and have also written some side stories. Once I figure out how to post bonus chapters, I'll put some of them up!

20220129: A reader pointed out an error here. A two-hundred-thousand-year ferocious beast corresponds to a Super Douluo. I mixed up Super Douluo and Limit Douluo, and have now corrected it. Thanks to the reader for the reminder!