Three days later, on a vast sea, Wang Zhong’s six-winged purple light wings unfurled, and he stood in mid-air, holding a giant sea snake soul beast as thick as a water bucket in one hand, shaking it.
The sea snake soul beast, jolted awake from its unconsciousness, its pair of golden snake eyes filled with terror and panic. Although not the absolute most powerful being in the ocean, it was a ten-thousand-year-level soul beast with formidable strength, augmented by its astonishing cold snake poison, making it a rare opponent.
But just moments ago, a human, whose origin was unknown, had allowed it to attack without sustaining any damage. Instead, it had been knocked unconscious by two punches.
“With my current wood martial soul strength and physical prowess, ten-thousand-year-level sea soul beasts cannot even break my defense.”
After tossing the sea snake soul beast back into the sea, Wang Zhong glanced at the skin-like wood armor on his body, stroked his chin, and muttered to himself.
It had thought it would die here today, becoming this human’s soul ring and soul bone, but it never expected the opponent to let it go.
Without using its already limited intellect to ponder why, the sea snake turned and fled at its fastest possible speed, becoming a blur.
Wang Zhong was still one level away from becoming a Soul Emperor and did not covet this ten-thousand-year sea snake. Letting it escape, he took out a small boat from his soul guiding device and retracted his six-winged purple light wings before landing in it.
Although the six-winged purple light wings could fly, Wang Zhong did not want to waste soul power unnecessarily over the sea. The sea chart marked the habitats and ranges of various soul beasts, but who could guarantee that powerful sea soul beasts would not appear in areas that were once safe?
Caution was paramount.
“The strength of sea snakes is too weak; there’s no accumulation of experience to speak of.”
“Therefore, my next target will be sea soul beasts with an age of fifty thousand years or more.”
Sitting in the boat, Wang Zhong held the sea chart, carefully considering where to go next.
Finally, he set his sights on a rocky reef area about a hundred nautical miles away, where a fifty-thousand-year-old Octopus King was marked.
Thus, three days later, Wang Zhong arrived at this reef cluster.
The reefs rose from the sea like a forest, like a stone forest growing in the ocean.
Rowing the small boat into it, Wang Zhong used his spiritual power to scan the calm sea surface. Beneath it, countless tentacles coiled around the roots of the reef forest, making him chuckle.
Indeed, whether land soul beasts or sea soul beasts, once they reached a certain age, they developed some intelligence.
As Wang Zhong’s small boat sailed in, the giant octopus had already awakened from its slumber. But surprisingly, it did not immediately launch an attack. Instead, it waited for Wang Zhong to venture deeper into the reef forest.
When Wang Zhong rowed his small boat into the center of the reef forest, directly above the Octopus King, it made its move.
Thick tentacles detached themselves from the clinging reefs, broke through the sea surface like sea snakes, and coiled towards Wang Zhong’s small boat.
“I thought you wouldn’t make a move, you fellow.”
“You couldn’t hold back after all!”
Instantly retracting the small boat into his soul guiding device, Wang Zhong leaped onto a reef, dodging the surging tentacles. Looking down from above, the reef forest was now suddenly filled with a "sea" of red.
The red "sea" writhed like a wild snake, exuding an extreme sense of strangeness and wildness.
Failing in its initial strike, the Octopus King’s tentacles did not give up. Tentacles from all around rushed forward, coiling towards Wang Zhong again.
And this time, the attack was faster and covered a wider area.
A Overlord Spear materialized in his hand. Wang Zhong swept his spear horizontally, and masses of tentacles fell like rain, plunging into the sea.
But the Octopus King’s tentacles were unimaginably numerous. The few lost in an instant were immediately replaced by others.
The Overlord Spear danced in his hand, creating afterimages. A rain of tentacles fell into the ocean within the reef forest.
However, Wang Zhong’s spear was fast, but he was ultimately just one person, with two hands. While the Octopus King was only one entity, its tentacles seemed endless.
In just a moment, the reef Wang Zhong stood on transformed into a colossal ball of tentacles. A thick tentacle squeezed forcefully towards the center, intending to crush Wang Zhong into a pulp.
“Eight Inner Gates!”
“Fifth Gate Open!”
Wang Zhong’s low roar came from within. A terrifying wave of soul power erupted from the inside of the tentacle ball, and its immense explosive force tore the tentacle ball apart.
Another rain of tentacles!
This outcome thoroughly enraged the Octopus King, which had been hidden within the reef forest. Losing so many tentacles at once was also a considerable injury for it.
Its enormous head, glowing like a red lantern, emerged from the sea, resembling a small red island. Its large, red, slit pupils were now filled with fury.
Tentacle after tentacle emerged again. However, this time, they did not surround Wang Zhong. Instead, they plunged straight into the seawater.
As the tentacles were lifted from the water, several water spheres, each no larger than a fist, appeared, suspended on the massive suckers.
Wang Zhong’s brow furrowed. His spiritual power detected the density of those water spheres. They were highly compressed spheres, akin to the fire element bombs of the Flame Snake.
One water sphere detached from a tentacle and shot towards Wang Zhong like lightning, but he easily sidestepped it.
However, this was just the beginning!
The Octopus King’s tentacles vibrated simultaneously, launching a barrage of water spheres in an instant!
They filled the sky and covered almost the entire world.
With such a dense barrage of attacks, Wang Zhong could not dodge them all and was hit by one water sphere.
Boom!
A terrifying explosion echoed through the heavens and earth, its power imaginable.
After the explosion, the reef where Wang Zhong stood vanished. He unfurled his six-winged purple light wings and floated in mid-air. The wood-like skin armor on his body now bore several cracks.
“Such powerful force!”
Calming the surging blood within his body, Wang Zhong took a deep breath.
“I cannot let it continue this endless assault, or I won’t be able to withstand it!”
With a flap of his six-winged purple light wings, he transformed into a purple lightning bolt, darting back and forth. The Overlord Spear in his hand swept horizontally, severing the skyward-thrusting tentacles one after another.
After losing nearly two-thirds of its tentacles, the Octopus King finally became afraid. It immediately retreated into the sea, fleeing like a sea snake.
However, compared to the sea snake, it was in a much worse state. Of its original hundreds or thousands of tentacles, more than half were severed, leaving only a dozen or so, a truly pitiful sight.
Such injuries might be fatal to other sea soul beasts, but for the Octopus King, they were merely superficial wounds. As long as its brain was intact, it could regrow them with time.
Of course, a period of weakness was unavoidable. Surviving this was already a stroke of luck.
Within the reef cluster, Wang Zhong allowed the Octopus King to escape. He leaped back and forth, occasionally scooping up some intact octopus tentacles from the sea and storing them in his Ruyi Hundred Treasure Pouch.
While the battle with the Octopus King provided him with a better understanding of sea soul beasts' combat styles and habits, his greater reward was these octopus tentacles.
Wang Zhong enjoyed eating fish and naturally had a fondness for seafood.
Octopus tentacles, a deliciously elastic ingredient, how could he possibly let them go?
After collecting several complete tentacles, Wang Zhong patted his Ruyi Hundred Treasure Pouch with satisfaction. These tentacles were enough for him to eat for some time.
“The ten-thousand-year-old sea snake before didn’t impress me, but this fifty-thousand-year-old Octopus King indeed had some strength.”
“Its endless, perfectly coordinated tentacles surged like a tidal wave, and even I found myself struggling to cope for a moment.”
“It’s truly a prime example of ‘two fists are no match for four hands’.”
“However, while the sheer number of tentacles was troublesome, it wasn’t the main problem, as tentacles are too fragile for me.
“What truly gave me a headache were the water spheres formed by compressed seawater! The power released upon their instant detonation was extremely potent.”
“One tentacle can generate dozens, and with hundreds or thousands of tentacles generating them simultaneously, filling the sky, if I were to endure those water spheres head-on, even the Eight Extremes Heaven and wood armor wouldn’t be able to withstand it.”