The End

"What's going on with this giant softshell turtle? Why do I get hurt when I hit it?" Jiang Che asked.

"I'm not sure. Perhaps it's some kind of mutated soul beast," Li Kuisheng said.

"Do you still have the strength to fight?" Jiang Che asked.

"It'll be a struggle," Li Kuisheng said with a cough.

The worst had come to pass. Now they could only see whether they could find a chance to escape.

The giant turtle's scarlet slit pupils suddenly contracted in the murky seawater. Jiang Che shielded Li Qianqian behind him and tightened his grip on the Blue Silver Longsword.

The giant turtle opened its mouth and let out a low, muffled roar, sending ripples through the water.

Its black, disk-shaped body slowly rotated in place, and six tentacles extended from it, reaching out to coil around the three of them.

Sensing the six approaching tentacles, Jiang Che made the Blue Silver Emperor in his hand grow rapidly to clash with them.

After absorbing Razor Kelp's soul ring, the Blue Silver Emperor's leaves had become as sharp as blades, leaving slash after slash across the tentacles as they swept past.

At the same time, identical wounds appeared on Jiang Che's body.

Damage reflection?

"Then let's see who can outlast whom!"

"First Soul Skill, Profusion!"

The wounds on Jiang Che's body healed.

"Keep going!"

The six blue silver vines surged in length again, twisting together with the giant turtle's tentacles in a deadly struggle.

Every cut of the blade-like leaves left wounds on the giant turtle's tentacles, and identical marks on Jiang Che's body.

But his wounds healed, while the giant turtle's remained.

The giant turtle let out an even lower, muffled roar. Its tentacles began retracting, noticeably slower than before.

Jiang Che could even feel the force of their retreat weakening. If his guess was right, damage reflection was not without a price: each time it reflected damage, the giant turtle's own expenditure doubled.

However, Jiang Che was not having an easy time of it either. Although he still had plenty of soul power left after repeatedly using his first soul skill, the toll on his spiritual power was considerable.

But he did not dare show it. He could not lose the battle of presence.

His only hope now was that the giant turtle would recognize the difficulty and retreat.

If he fought this giant turtle to the death, he would definitely be the one to suffer.

Although the giant turtle's only means of attack were those six tentacles, its hard shell and almost absurd damage reflection were enough to leave Jiang Che at his wits' end.

Li Kuisheng had the same thought. "Don't push it too hard."

Li Kuisheng's voice came from behind him, weak but lucid. "Defensive soul beasts have a stubborn instinct for self-preservation. Don't drive it into a corner. I'm afraid it might have some way to self-destruct."

The giant turtle stopped attacking. Its half-open mouth suddenly closed, and the scarlet light in its slit pupils went out for an instant. Then its enormous body abruptly sank, stirring up a surging undercurrent as it headed toward the Wind Sea Plain.

It fled.

Jiang Che's taut shoulders and back slowly relaxed, but he did not put away the Blue Silver Longsword, remaining alert to his surroundings.

He pulled Li Qianqian upward, while Li Kuisheng barely managed to muster what little soul power he had left to keep up with Jiang Che.

The moment he broke the surface, the feeling of torrential rain pelting his face actually seemed unreal to Jiang Che.

The people aboard the fishing boat had long since lowered a rope ladder, and the Li Family's sailors jumped into the water one after another to help.

Jiang Che pushed Li Qianqian onto the deck, then braced himself against the gunwale and vaulted aboard. Dripping all over, he slumped onto the deck, gasping for breath.

The elderly fisherman stared at Jiang Che, dumbfounded. "Lord Soul Master, you truly are extraordinary."

With someone supporting him against the gunwale, Li Kuisheng tilted his head back to look at the dense curtain of rain and said softly, "We're even."

Jiang Che wiped the seawater from his face. "Bullshit. Your Li Family still owes me five hundred Gold Soul Coins."

Li Kuisheng was baffled. "Since when did we owe you money?"

"You'd better ask your men," Jiang Che said.

The Li Family's men gave Li Kuisheng a full account of what had happened on the boat earlier.

After hearing them out, Li Kuisheng could only find it funny. "Don't worry. Our Li Family won't leave those five hundred Gold Soul Coins unpaid."

On deck, the downpour was about to let up. The sea breeze swept past with its salty, fishy dampness, and water pooled along the gunwale splashed over the side.

With the help of a Li Family maid, Li Qianqian lay on a dry plank at the cabin entrance, wrapped in a thick blanket. Her face was frighteningly pale, but her breathing had steadied.

Jiang Che leaned against a mooring post opposite her. Under the effects of his soul skill, the wound on his right shoulder had formed a scab and faintly itched.

With his eyes closed, he replayed the battle in his mind, pondering the giant turtle's damage-reflection mechanism. He had never heard of or seen a soul beast with such a special ability.

"Humans in this era have explored less than ten percent of the ocean! There are still soul beasts in the ocean that humans know nothing about."

Someone helped Li Kuisheng sit beside him, his left arm temporarily splinted between two wooden boards. He bared his teeth in pain, but still did not forget to grumble, "Damn it, running into a thousand-year soul beast even in this godforsaken place. We won't be able to put out to sea anymore..."

"Hey! Kid, what's the deal with your second soul ring?" Li Kuisheng looked at Jiang Che and asked curiously.

Jiang Che gave him a sidelong squint and said with an air of mystery, "Heaven's secrets must not be revealed!"

"Fuck!" Li Kuisheng cursed.

As they spoke, Li Qianqian's eyelids moved. Her lashes fluttered twice before her eyes snapped open.

"The young master's awake! The young miss is awake!" the maid exclaimed.

Li Kuisheng immediately turned his head, forcing what he thought was an affectionate smile onto his face. "Qianqian, are you all right? Come on, let your brother take a look..."

Li Qianqian opened her eyes groggily, her mind still a little muddled.

"Brother, where are we?" Li Qianqian asked quietly.

"We're out of danger now. Qianqian, are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?" Li Kuisheng said.

Li Qianqian raised her eyes and looked around, catching sight of Jiang Che at the opposite gunwale.

"Brother Jiang Che, why are you here?" Li Qianqian asked in confusion.

"I was passing by. I saw you were in danger, so I came over to help," Jiang Che said mildly.

Li Qianqian's still-misty almond-shaped eyes darted around, then locked precisely onto Jiang Che by the gunwale. As though injected with chicken blood, she threw off the blanket and scrambled over to him.

"My savior! Were you the one who saved me?" Li Qianqian's voice was crisp and bright, nothing like that of someone who had just woken up. Both hands seized Jiang Che's right arm, pressing directly on his wound.

Jiang Che sucked in a sharp breath. "Hiss-"

Li Qianqian quickly let go, only to shift over and cling to his left hand instead. Tilting her face up, her eyes sparkling, she said, "Brother Jiang Che, I never imagined you were so powerful. That was a thousand-year soul beast! Even my brother couldn't deal with it, but you did."

A little dazed by this barrage of questions, Jiang Che tried to pull his hand back. But Li Qianqian clung to him like an octopus, and his first tug failed to free it. He could only give a dry cough. "Qianqian, let go first..."

Li Kuisheng stood petrified, the corners of his mouth twitching.

He wanted to say that he had actually just been careless and failed to dodge, and that otherwise he could certainly have driven the giant turtle away too. But very soon, he suddenly noticed something was wrong.