The air seemed to freeze in that instant, as if an invisible hand had seized it by the throat.
Merely the rise of the first soul ring plunged the entire Demonic Whale Palace into silence.
"Gold... golden soul ring?" Lan Fozi's eyes widened. The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King and the Demon Empress also seemed stunned, but before their minds could fully restart,
another golden radiance enveloped Ning Rongrong.
A brilliant golden soul ring slowly rose, like the first sun emerging from the depths of the sea.
"Another golden... million-year soul ring!?" The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's mind had only half-rebooted. Looking at the successive golden rings around Ning Rongrong, his tone carried incomparable shock.
She was not like Lan Fozi—she had a very clear understanding of soul ring colors.
This was the foundation accumulated over three hundred thousand years of life.
Moreover, even if she hadn't known before, she had learned some things from the Star Dou Great Forest side earlier.
But this left the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King quite puzzled.
Normally, golden soul rings only appeared after a human became a god—specifically, the final tenth divine ring above the ninth soul ring, symbolizing transcendence.
For example, the Sea God Bo Saixi, who ascended to godhood two thousand years ago, had a golden tenth soul ring.
But it wasn't this outrageous.
The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King was not unaware of the levels of soul rings on Ning Rongrong. Indeed, she had two million-year soul rings, but they absolutely were not the first and second.
"You... how did you achieve this?"
The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King felt his scalp go numb. Humans were truly unfathomable!
"Guess?" Ning Rongrong casually brushed it off. She sat upright in the chair as another golden soul ring rose beneath her feet, then the second, the third...
The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, the Demon Empress, and Lan Fozi were so shocked they couldn't speak.
"Nine million-year soul rings—this is impossible!" The Demon Empress was at a loss for words.
Before returning to the Demonic Whale sea region, the Demon Empress had been in the seas near the Sun Moon Continent.
Soul tools were more developed there, but compared to the overall strength of soul masters on the Douluo Continent, there was still a significant gap.
But it shouldn't have been this extreme.
Not even twin martial souls could have every single soul ring as a million-year one.
No—even twin martial souls couldn't achieve this.
The entire continent didn't have nine million-year soul beasts for anyone to kill.
"How about it, everyone?" Ning Rongrong held the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda that shimmered with colorful radiance, her tone calm. "I told you, I don't need your soul rings."
"Nine million-year soul rings on my martial soul—should be convincing enough, right?"
Hearing this, the Demon Empress and Lan Fozi exchanged a glance, unsure what to say. The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's mouth twitched:
"Ning Rongrong, among all the human soul masters I've seen, when it comes to being outrageous, I, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, am willing to call you the strongest."
"So you came here just to show off to my family?"
With three hundred thousand years of life, he knew quite a bit about things in the human world—for example, in certain novels, there were shameless characters like this.
"No, of course you can interpret it that way if you want." Ning Rongrong spread her hands. The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda in her hand vanished, and the nine golden soul rings floating around her also gradually dispersed.
"I'm mainly here to remind you of a few things." Ning Rongrong lowered her voice as she spoke. "The divine trials do not disappear just because the god has fallen."
"Tang San's Sea God trials are still ongoing."
"What does that have to do with me?" The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King was puzzled.
"It might have something to do with you, or it might not." Ning Rongrong continued. "Do you think there could be a divine trial that directly sends your whole family—or you, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King—away?"
"Young Sect Master Ning, please watch your words." The Demon Empress was somewhat displeased. What did she mean by a divine trial targeting her family? Was that even human language?
"Just say whether it's possible or not." Ning Rongrong shifted her gaze to the Demon Empress. "You, Lady Demon Empress, shouldn't be unaware of the enmity between the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King and the Sea God."
"Your husband is a soul beast with ninety-nine-thousand-year cultivation—just one step away from godhood. And your family is the closest to Sea God Island."
"This is impossible. A mere Sea God..."
"I understand what you mean." Before Lan Fozi could speak in anger, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King raised a hand to stop her. "This token can notify you and let you come over?"
"Mm, exactly." Ning Rongrong nodded. "Think of it as insurance. Earlier you told me Tang San's strength is heaven-defying. I don't want Tang San—or especially the god behind him—causing me trouble."
"Consider it repayment for your favor this time. I think nine golden soul rings should be convincing enough, right?"
"Of course, if you feel I'm monitoring you, feel free to destroy the token."
Ning Rongrong spread her hands, indicating she didn't mind.
"I understand." The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King cupped his hands toward Ning Rongrong, then said to his daughter, "Since this is Young Sect Master Ning's sincerity, Lan Fozi, take it for now."
Lan Fozi was silent for a long moment before reluctantly nodding.
Seeing the matter settled,
Ning Rongrong tore open space and directly left the palace.
"Father, Mother, do you really trust a human?" Though Lan Fozi was the daughter of the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King and the Demon Empress, she was no child of ten or eight. As a soul beast who had survived a tribulation of lightning, she held no friendliness toward humans.
Moreover, carrying this token felt unsafe.
"I don't trust other humans, but Ning Rongrong should be trustworthy." The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King said. "She's right. If Tang San's Sea God Nine Trials haven't stopped, then the last two or three trials will likely target either you and your mother—or me."
"To be honest, even on the open sea, I don't have much confidence against Tang San." Ever since visiting the human world, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's perspective had changed dramatically.
Rumors in the human world spoke of the ceiling of the soul master realm: Tang Chen, Bo Saixi, Qian Daoliu.
But that was the past.
The current ceiling might be changing.
And Ning Rongrong was absolutely the most outrageous one among them.
Thinking of this, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King let out a long sigh. "Lan Fozi, no matter what, keep this thing safe. It might save your life in a crisis."
"The reason I trust Ning Rongrong has nothing to do with whether she's human or not—it's because of another matter."
"Another matter?" Lan Fozi was puzzled. "I know the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's reputation is indeed good, but that's often only when the benefits aren't big enough."
"Ten-thousand-year soul rings and soul bones—I don't believe any soul master could resist the temptation. Even if she doesn't need them herself, what about her family?"
The Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan wasn't just Ning Rongrong alone.
It was impossible for the entire sect to all start with million-year soul rings.
The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King did not refute his daughter. Instead, he brought up an unrelated topic: "Not long ago, Xue Di told me that Ning Rongrong gave up a first-level god position that was within easy reach."
"The Ice God position? Xue Di?"
"Yes, the Ice God's position." The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King sighed. "In short, just keep that token safe. Your father won't harm you."
"Father, since you've said this much..."
Lan Fozi stored away the token from the stone table, feeling quite helpless in her heart.
Carrying a knife at your own daughter's throat—aren't you afraid it might come down someday?
In the human world, she was close to level 96 Title Douluo anyway.
Who would dare kill her? And who could kill her head-on?
She felt her own strength was far safer than a token that might get her head chopped off while sleeping at night.
But who told her to have such an unreliable father? She could only spoil him—what else could she do?
Maybe it really could save her father or mother's life one day.
(End of chapter)