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Perhaps fortune smiled upon him—just as Chu Chengzhou was preparing to "clock out" and return to the Sea God Island that evening, his spiritual senses caught a tremendously powerful aura emanating from the deep ocean far ahead.
Though still too distant to identify the species, the sheer intensity of its presence confirmed one thing: this sea apex beast was at least 500,000 years old.
Instantly intrigued, Chu Chengzhou urged Xiao Guang forward without hesitation.
For the past half-month, he'd spent every daylight hour roaming the seas. He'd encountered numerous sea soul beasts over 100,000 years—but the vast majority were barely past that threshold, with very few exceeding 200,000 years.
Those simply didn't meet his standards. Moreover, their species rarely aligned well with Ning Rongrong's Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul. So he'd left them be.
It wasn't as if sea soul beasts were truly "unprotected." After all—Poseidon, the Sea God, watched over them all.
Poseidon's generosity wasn't born of naivety. Beyond his status as one of the Five Supreme God Kings, his true power lay in his countless followers across the four seas.
Hunting a soul beast for necessary soul rings? Permitted.
But wantonly slaughtering them just to harvest soul bones or practice sinister arts? That would earn Poseidon's wrath.
That was precisely why, even after Nine Breaths Qi Absorption had ascended to a Rainbow-tier, godly technique—one that let him "devour others to cultivate"—Chu Chengzhou had refrained from mass slaughter in these waters.
---
Xiao Guang moved swiftly. Within moments, the unknown apex beast came into clear view within Chu Chengzhou's spiritual perception.
"Hmm… looks like a giant sea cucumber?"
Below, at a depth of over 8,000 meters, lay a cylindrical soft-bodied creature—six to seven meters long, covered in blunt, stubby tentacles, its entire form shimmering in dark gold.
Chu Chengzhou raised an eyebrow, then quietly swallowed.
His earlier estimate had been too conservative. This dark-gold sea cucumber was likely 600,000 years old.
Sea cucumber, huh?
A legendary tonic!
If ordinary sea cucumbers were already considered nourishing delicacies, then a 600,000-year apex beast sea cucumber? That was divine-level nourishment!
With this, maybe he wouldn't get utterly drained next time Qian Renxue decided to "test his limits."
Undoubtedly, compared to other apex beasts of equivalent age, this dark-gold sea cucumber was pathetically weak in combat.
But even the weak had survival strategies. Chu Chengzhou was certain: this sea cucumber's cultivation to such a level owed less to luck and far more to its environment.
At 8,000+ meters deep, the water pressure was lethal to nearly all creatures. Most apex beasts couldn't even descend that far—let alone fight under such conditions. They'd be helpless lambs.
But this sea cucumber? Its extreme pressure resistance meant that even the weakest combatant could overwhelm or even kill intruders simply by surviving where others couldn't.
Fortunately, this posed no issue for Chu Chengzhou.
He didn't need to dive personally—his current spiritual power range for Void Illusion Realm far exceeded 8,000 meters.
In Humanized Spirit State, his spiritual power—now transcending mortal limits and firmly rooted in the Divine Origin Realm—surged forth. He activated Void Illusion Realm.
In an instant, his consciousness pierced through kilometers of ocean, descending into the mind-sea of the slumbering dark-gold sea cucumber.
The next moment, the 600,000-year-old apex beast had its will rewritten—now a devout believer of the "Great Lord God."
"BOOM—!"
Soon after, the ocean surface erupted. A towering water column shot skyward as the sea cucumber blasted out of the deep, then transformed into a hideously ugly middle-aged man, flying through the air to land before Chu Chengzhou.
Unlike land-based 100,000-year soul beasts—which undergo permanent human transformation—sea soul beasts of that age could only temporarily take human form. But apex beasts over 200,000 years, whether land or sea, could freely shift between beast and human forms at will.
"Get on!"
Chu Chengzhou pointed to Xiao Guang's back, beckoning the transformed sea cucumber.
---
Sea God Island
As twilight approached, a white-gold dragon descended from the dusky sky, landing gently on the ring-shaped shore at the foot of Sea God Mountain.
The ugly man dismounted. Before Chu Chengzhou could even recall Xiao Guang, a figure in a long gown, wielding a jeweled staff, glided down from the mountain—Bo Saixi.
"High Priestess! Good evening~"
Chu Chengzhou greeted her cheerfully.
Not having seen her in half a year, he now noticed something remarkable: Bo Saixi had already formed soul cores.
Through his spiritual vision, he clearly saw a large soul-force vortex swirling on her body—proof she'd condensed not just one, but two soul cores.
However, since there was only one major vortex—not a network of various-sized vortices across her body—it was clear she'd formed her dual cores via Resonance, not the far superior Yin-Yang Complementary method.
Bo Saixi's gaze, however, wasn't on Chu Chengzhou—but on the ugly man beside him.
With her level of power, she instantly recognized him not as a human soul master, but as a temporarily human-formed sea apex beast.
"This is sacred Sea God territory—no outsiders are permitted," she said coldly, her eyes narrowing with disapproval as she turned to Chu Chengzhou. "I only allow your presence here because your… girlfriend… is the Sea God's chosen heir."
(Though truthfully, that wasn't the only reason. A beast of such power, if unchecked, could potentially inflict catastrophic damage on the island.)
"Oh! You mean this?" Chu Chengzhou finally understood. So that's why the ultimate homebody Bo Saixi left her temple!
"Don't worry—it won't live past tonight!"
"Hmm?" Bo Saixi frowned, puzzled.
"Rongrong and the others hit Level 80 ages ago. I've been busy these past days searching for suitable eighth soul rings for them.
Today, I got lucky—found this giant sea cucumber! It even possesses healing-type and damage-immunity innate soul skills. Seemed perfect for Rongrong's Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda martial soul, so I brought it back."
On his way home, Chu Chengzhou had already interrogated the sea cucumber about its abilities.
After all, soul bone skills always mirrored the innate and learned skills of the soul beast that dropped them—and the soul ring's resulting skill also heavily reflected those same abilities.
And for a support-type soul master like Ning Rongrong? Healing and damage immunity were absolutely worth having.
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