After the massive explosion, a giant crater appeared on the boundless ocean where Ao Tian and the Demon Empress had been fighting. As countless tons of seawater rushed back to fill the void, it formed a massive whirlpool, and the other "party" to the battle was right at its center.
At this moment, because the Demon Empress had been at the very epicenter of the blast, she had sustained significant injuries. Her Soul Power was circulating somewhat sluggishly, and she was being dragged by the whirlpool's suction, constantly sinking toward its core.
Watching the surrounding seawater stained by her own blood and feeling the sharp, stinging pain from the wounds on her body, the Demon Empress was now furious. That brat Ao Tian was truly detestable; he would rather die than let her have a single bite of Dragon Turtle meat.
After this entire battle, she hadn't found any information on the gods, hadn't eaten any Dragon Turtle meat, and hadn't gained a single benefit. Instead, she had suffered a body full of injuries for nothing; this was a massive loss for the Demon Whale Sea Area. But now that Ao Tian was dead—burned to nothingness by the Life Fire right in front of her (the chaotic Soul Power fluctuations from the explosion had masked the aura of Ao Tian's escape)—what else could she do? She could only console herself.
However, feeling the pain from her wounds and the dizziness caused by being forced to spin in circles, the Demon Empress felt that the more she thought about it, the angrier she became. She felt that every step she took back was a loss, so someone had to be held responsible for this.
It is unknown how much time passed, but once the Dragon Nest Sea Area had stabilized again and the Demon Empress's Soul Power had finally recovered somewhat, an immeasurable dark purple light bloomed from the seabed, throwing the sea area into turmoil once more.
The Demon Empress surfaced, surging with Soul Power as endless purple light spread toward the surrounding waters. Wherever the light touched, the sea solidified, and the countless Sea Soul Beasts that had been lingering around the perimeter, hoping to return home once this big shot left, suddenly met with disaster.
Then, the Demon Empress opened her massive maw, and countless Sea Soul Beasts of all sizes were pulled in by a terrifying suction force, entering her belly.
The other surrounding Sea Soul Beasts saw the Demon Empress start eating the small fish without a word and were instantly terrified. However, their cultivation was far inferior to the Demon Empress, and they couldn't break through her suppression at all, so they could only silently await their final fate.
Fortunately, after the Demon Empress had finished her "lunch," she stopped. She looked at the remaining Sea Soul Beasts and said:
"I hereby issue a decree to the sea: my daughter, the Princess of the Deep Sea Demon Whale Clan, is currently wandering away from home. Anyone who encounters the Princess and brings her back to the Demon Whale Sea Area will receive the friendship of the Demon Whale Sea Area."
The Dragon Nest Sea Area was originally a habitat for dragon-type Sea Soul Beasts, and the intelligence of these Soul Beasts was generally high. Thus, those with higher cultivation, around ten thousand years or so, could understand the Demon Empress. They had originally thought that surviving today was already a stroke of luck, but they hadn't expected such a "good thing" to happen, and for a moment, they were all restless.
Of course, the "good thing" these Soul Beasts were thinking of was certainly not the friendship of the Demon Whale Sea Area, but something else entirely.
The Sea Soul Beasts all knew what kind of creatures the Deep Sea Demon Whale Clan were; they were the bullies of the sea, just like the Evil Spirit Orcas and a few other species. Because their cultivation method relied primarily on devouring, they were essentially the same to the sea as Evil Soul Masters were to human society. Therefore, the most likely outcome of the "friendship" of the Demon Whale Sea Area was being delivered to their doorstep and swallowed in one gulp.
The "good thing" they were thinking of was that the Princess of the Deep Sea Demon Whale Clan had run away. If they could eat the nutrient-rich Princess, it would surely be of great benefit to their own cultivation.
Seeing the greedy glint in the eyes of the surrounding Soul Beasts, the Demon Empress was very satisfied. She knew this would be the effect, and this was exactly the effect she wanted. After all, how could the Deep Sea Demon Whale Clan grow without slaughter?
This was definitely not the Demon Empress coming out to find her daughter and then acting out because she was frustrated by missing out on delicious food and fun. This was the deepest love a mother could pay for her daughter's bright future!
Watching the restless Sea Soul Beasts, the Demon Empress lifted her restrictions on the surrounding sea area and shouted:
"Go! Bring my Princess back to the Demon Whale Sea Area!"
Seeing that the pressure was gone, the Sea Soul Beasts quickly fled the area, lest the Demon Empress get hungry again and eat them. As for whether they would hide for a while before going home, or actually go looking for the Princess, no one knew, but there were always some powerful Soul Beasts who wanted to snatch chestnuts from the fire.
Meanwhile, in the far west of the Heaven Dou Empire, a small, treasure-blue whale suddenly shuddered, feeling a chill in her heart, though the sensation quickly faded. The little whale looked around, found nothing, and muttered in confusion:
"Strange, why did I feel like some beast wanted to harm me?"
She used her innate, bloodline-derived, super-strong water affinity to carefully sense her surroundings and found that there was indeed nothing threatening nearby. Then, she thought about the mischief she had caused over the past few days; other than playing a game of "hiding in plain sight" and diverting attention to trick her old mother into going south, she hadn't done anything else! And her mother would surely not blame her for such a small matter.
So, with nothing happening, she continued to play. The little whale looked toward the island revered by the sea as a holy land, curious about what the god—whom her father said was "nothing special" but whom the entire sea worshipped—was actually like.
Because of her curiosity, she went. She set off toward the island called Sea God Island, and then... she was blocked by a small shark from the Demon Soul Great White Shark clan and couldn't make it onto the island.
Yun Ming was unaware of the Demon Empress's "love" for her daughter. At this moment, they had just descended from the waves, thinking they had moved away from the danger zone and could take a rest.
Oscar looked at Yun Ming with shining eyes and said:
"Boss, has your cultivation already reached such a terrifying level?! You were actually able to teleport a ship directly onto the waves!"
Yun Ming looked at the somewhat exaggerated Oscar and said calmly:
"I borrowed some external force to achieve it; it's not worth mentioning. Otherwise, I would have been able to do it the first time."
He had purely borrowed Ao Tian's Soul Power to catalyze the space, while he himself was responsible for the control, completing a one-step teleportation. His own cultivation was still far from that level; to achieve this on his own, he would have to wait at least three or four years.
Only Ao Tian, inside the Atlas Divine Spear, was grumbling to himself: Not worth mentioning, my foot. With such powerful space energy, he didn't think other Space Element Soul Masters at this realm could control it—no, even those with two more Spirit Rings might not be able to do it.
Hearing Yun Ming's reply, Oscar thought of the black light from earlier and wisely shut his mouth. With so many people around, it was better not to make such things public.
Seeing the ship gradually moving away from the Dragon Nest Sea Area, and knowing that neither he nor Yun Ming had obtained their Spirit Rings—and that they had just encountered a life-and-death crisis—Oscar spoke up again:
"It's a pity our luck wasn't very good this time! We came out to hunt for spirits, and we didn't catch a single target Soul Beast."
Seeing Oscar's sigh, Yun Ming comforted him, saying he would find him another one later. But little did they know, they had only traveled a few nautical miles when a Soul Beast arrived to deliver itself to their doorstep.
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: DaoistReader