Douluo Dalu - Volume 01-48

by Tang Jia San Shao

  What was going on here? Could it be that the Vast Sea Barrier absorbed the power of the ocean?

  Through careful observation, Tang San confirmed his estimate. What astonished him the most was that after this Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud absorbed the energy of the ocean through its own Vast Sea Barrier ability, his own body also began to change.

  After his injuries last time, the scorching heat from his spirit bones had reduced a lot, but now with the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud absorbing the energy of the ocean, that scorching hot feeling began to return, and even grew even more intense. But that scorching heat didn’t make him feel unwell, on the contrary it made his body seem to become enriched. Even though the spirit power within him didn’t suffer any influence, Tang San felt his mind and qi become clear, his reaction and attention swiftly upgrading.

  Tang San basically had no way of understanding the reasons for this. The Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud wasn’t one of his spirit bones, and even less one of his spirit abilities, but rather a spirit tool’s ability. How could spirit tools cause this kind of effect? Why could only his spirit power activate it, and after it absorbed the energy of the outside world it would also influence his body. This might not be explainable as mere “fate”?

  He naturally didn’t know that ever since the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud absorbed a drop of his blood, it had already become a part of his body. Even though it wasn’t a spirit bone, it was still another kind of phenomenon.

  The water in this area of the sea wasn’t deep. According to Tang San’s calculations, once the Dragon Abyss Boat had sunk roughly two hundred meters, it already struck the seabed.

  Everywhere on the seafloor were beautiful corals, extremely gorgeous under the muted blue light of the Vast Sea Barrier. Of course, these were only the circumstances when viewed from inside the barrier, from the outside this area was still pitch black.

  Smiling slightly, Tang San said:

  “It seems my new method should be feasible. Come on, let’s go outside.”

  “Outside?”

  Everyone looked shocked at him, for a moment still unable to parse the meaning of what he said.

  Tang San smiled slightly,

  “Of course we’re going outside, since the Vast Sea Barrier is water repellant, and moreover doesn’t fear the water pressure, even though we can’t move the Dragon Abyss Boat, why can’t we just walk?”

  Ma Hongjun’s eyes opened wide,

  “Walking across the seabed? Does that work too?”

  Thinking normally, this was the ocean, and moreover the bottom of the ocean, how could they exist here? But thinking carefully about what Tang San said, it really was feasible.

  Tang San smiled:

  “Why not? Isn’t walking on the bottom of the ocean quite interesting? Let alone when we still have the stealth ability of the Vast Sea Barrier, even if we didn’t, those Demon Spirit Great White Sharks wouldn’t come trouble us at the bottom of the ocean.”

  While speaking, he had already opened the Dragon Abyss Boat’s hatch. Holding Xiao Wu, he was the first to leap out.

  Until they left the ship, and truly stood on those slippery and wet corals on the bottom of the ocean, everyone still didn’t dare believe that everything they saw was real.

  Even though they couldn’t see very far, this dimly lit place really was the bottom of the ocean! When they just moved away from the Dragon Abyss Boat, including Tang San, everyone’s hearts held some apprehension. But after discovering they really could breathe here, and moreover didn’t touch a single drop of seawater, everyone still gradually relaxed.

  Oscar said pensively:

  “Little San, since this Vast Sea Barrier can let us hide in the ocean, wouldn’t it be a lot easier to land on Seagod Island if we used it to hide while flying?”

  Tang San shook his head:

  “No. I tried it once. If the Vast Sea Barrier is used while flying, the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud will quickly drain my spirit power. I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s because of the speed. That time flew for roughly the time of three breaths, and the Vast Sea Barrier swallowed close to half my spirit power. It’s basically impossible to support us that far. Even if I used it while walking on dry land, the spirit power consumption would still be enormous. Overall, this ability is most suited to stationary defense.”

  Dai Mubai said:

  “Then can your spirit power hold up while we walk all the way to Seagod Island? In fact, since this is the ocean, if you can’t keep up when we’ve gone halfway, we might be done for even with the Dragon Abyss Boat. Because then we will be in the territory of the Devil Spirit Great White Sharks.”

  Tang San looked at the blue light distributed outside the Vast Sea Barrier,

  “Before submerging, I didn’t have any certainty either. By my calculations, if I had your help, walking shouldn’t be a problem. But now I can tell you with certainty, we can absolutely easily land on Seagod Island. Because for some reason, in the depths of this ocean, the Vast Sea Cosmic Barrier is absorbing the energy of the sea, actually considerably reducing my own consumption. Bringing us to Seagod Island is absolutely no problem.”

  Zhu Zhuqing said:

  “Then this means the Vast Sea Cosmic Barrier should be a spirit tool suited to use in the ocean?”

  Tang San pondered, then said:

  “Very possible. There’s no time to lose, we’ll land on Seagod Island before anything else. Don’t walk too quickly, keep together, I’ll use the blue silver emperor to control our distance.”

  Seven strands of Blue Silver Emperor flew out. Tang San directly tied Xiao Wu on his back, both hands pulling her slender legs close. The other six strands of Blue Silver Emperor each twisted around the other six. Withdrawing the Dragon Abyss Boat, he then urged the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud, and they began to walk forward on the seabed.

  Walking on the bottom of the ocean was a lot harder than walking on dry land. The ground was uneven, giving people a feeling of a mountain range. Fortunately everyone were strong, and they could advance swiftly even when faced with extremely difficult terrain.

  Tang San had already made certain their direction while they were sinking. This Seagod Island was a fairly large island, more than four times the area of Purple Pearl Island. As long as they headed in the right direction, they would definitely reach it.

  Gradually, everyone felt the seabed rising. They knew that, having experienced numerous difficulties, they were finally about to step onto their goal. When the light around them gradually grew brighter as they approached the shore, Tang San walking furthest ahead suddenly halted, whispering:

  “Hold your breath.”

  As everyone else also stopped at the same time, holding their breaths as Tang San said, an enormous white shadow quietly swept past twenty meters ahead, just like a specter in the sea, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

  That was a more than ten meter long white shark, its whole body appearing perfectly streamlined, its white skin with a kind of faint luster, incomparably fast. Where it passed, the seawater seemed to ripple strangely.

  The words Devil Spirit Great White Shark appeared almost simultaneously in everyone's minds. Their luck really didn’t count as good, the Devil Spirit Great White Sharks hadn’t gone out to hunt. Only fortunately they had the Vast Sea Barrier’s stealth ability to shelter them, and they didn’t truly come into conflict with such a powerful sea spirit beast.

  Moving forward again, Tang San deliberately raised the pace. This was the ocean, and they moreover didn’t know quite what degree the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud’s stealth ability reached. The sooner they got out of the water, the safer they would be.

  Finally, the ground under their feet gradually turned to sand, and their surroundings brightened. Everyone step by step left the sea.

  As they saw the light of the sky, including Tang San, everyone couldn’t keep from cheering. The Shrek Seven Devils plus Bai Chenxiang, these eight youngsters without the ability to swim, had successfully crossed the ocean, arriving at their goal, Seagod Isl
and.

  Precisely because their journey wasn’t untroubled, at this moment they felt particularly accomplished. Everyone looked at each other, all seeing their faces brimming with excited smiles.

  Tang San was the calmest one. Setting foot on Seagod Island, he immediately felt that this place was different. Nevermind the scenery, what struck him first was the temperature.

  By all reason, now that it was already winter, even if the temperature at sea would be a bit higher than inland, it would still feel cold. But, after they set foot on Seagod Island, the first feeling was warmth, like spring.

  As far as the eye could see, Seagod Island was completely green. This enormous island gave them a feeling like they had returned to the Douluo Continent. Wherever they looked, they basically couldn’t see the limits. The island was covered with plants, very many they couldn’t name.

  The air held a blatant scent of the ocean, fresh, humid, refreshing, with the faint raucous of seabirds on the wind.

  The beach glittered in the sunshine, pure white and exquisite specks of silvery light like tiny crystals. The first time here, the first one felt was pure calm, the sea and the sky of one color, gulls soaring above. The sky was dark dark blue, a lofty blue, pure blue, transparent blue. Like Tang San’s eyes, unspeakably moving.

  Looking at this shocking scene, the excitemetn in everyone’s eyes was gradually replaced by wonder. Tang San softly held Xiao Wu to his chest,

  “Xiao Wu, this place is very beautiful. Once we’ve finished what we have to do, we’ll get dad and mom to spend their old age here, ok?”

  The soulless Xiao Wu naturally wouldn’t answer him, but Tang San still seemed to see the harmonious scene of their family on this silver beach and jade sea.

  On the verge of truly facing the Seagod Island’s challenges, after a brief excitement, everyone rested a while, replenishing their strength and recovering the previously consumed spirit power.

  Very soon, Tang San tightly held Xiao Wu and opened his eyes, his gaze sweeping across his companions. What he saw was resolute gazes. To them, all of their previous experiences was only the prelude. This moment would count as the true beginning of their experience on Seagod Island.

  Light flashed in Tang San’s eyes, the Vast Sea Barrier that had always protected them returning to the spot between his eyes. Viewed from outside, the eight of them seemed to appear on the beach out of nowhere, appearing along with the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud vanishing.

  Without need for words, automatically forming up with a tacit understanding, Dai Mubai walked furthest ahead, Ma Hongjun last. On the sides were Oscar and Zhu Zhuqing, Tang San bringing Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong and Bai Chenxiang in the middle. The hearts of the group of eight were now filled with courage, stepping across that soft as silk beach, heading towards the depths of Seagod Island.

  Having faced so many twists and turns on the way here, they were already prepared for any challenge. That wasn’t just courage, but even more a kind of conviction.

  The refreshing moist atmosphere was enchanting, but right now everyone’s minds were already on high tension. Just as Tang San was about to release his blue silver domain, a somewhat stunned voice came from the forest straight ahead.

  “People?”

  Along with a low shout, seven or eight shadows suddenly leapt out from the trees, blocking everyone’s road forward. These people all had different appearances, but their clothes had a uniform characteristic, that was training gear, light yellow. The oldest was in his forties, the youngest was about the same age as Tang San and the others. Altogether eight people, forming a line blocking the Shrek Seven Devils and Bai Chenxiang’s path into the forest ahead.

  Tang San had heard Ji Xiang speak of the color of the Seagod Island Spirit Masters’ clothing. The sea Spirit Masters of Seagod Island could be ranked by the color of their clothing, but this wasn’t a spirit power ranking, but rather through the difficulty of the Seagod trials they faced. The more difficult their trial was, the higher their status on Seagod Island, and the color of their clothes was thereby differentiated. From lowest to highest, they were arrayed according to the color of spirit rings.

  These yellow clothed sea Spirit Masters in front of them were clearly second class spirit masters just higher than white clothed ones. Above them was still purple, black, and red. According to what Ji Xiang said, on the Seagod Island, only the high priest was entitled to wearing red. That was also the person Clear Sky School master Tang Xiao described to Tang San, the number one power on Seagod Island, possessing the Seagod spirit. Ji Xiang had lived on the island for more than ten years, but never seen that legendary high priest himself.

  Eight versus eight, but these eight people looked at Tang San and the others with gazes filled with astonishment. They couldn’t imagine how people would suddenly show up here.

  Halting, Dai Mubai said brightly:

  “We admire the fame of Seagod Island, and hope to pass the trials and join the island.”

  The leader of the other eight, just that oldest middle aged man, looked Dai Mubai up and down a few times, then said with a frown:

  “You’re land Spirit Masters?”

  Dai Mubai looked distracted a moment,

  “You can tell?”

  The middle aged man said coldly:

  “You of course can’t sense it. But we sea Spirit Masters can still see it. Leave immediately. Seagod Island doesn’t welcome you. Even if I don’t know how you stepped onto our island, you can leave the way you came. Otherwise, don’t blame us for being impolite.”

  Tang San stepped up next to Dai Mubai, frowning slightly:

  “Can’t Seagod Island be joined through passing the trials? Why do you keep people away?”

  The middle aged man snorted coldly,

  “It seems you still have some understanding of Seagod Island. Me letting you leave is for your own good. Dry land Spirit Masters passing the trials to join our island is basically impossible. The lord Seagod’s trials for land Spirit Masters isn’t something you can pass. Leave if you don’t want to die. It’s good for the young to be brave, but if it’s only impulsiveness, you will still forfeit your lives.”

  Tang San and Dai Mubai looked at each other. The two of them couldn’t help having a good opinion of this middle aged man. Tang San smiled slightly:

  “Senior, since we’ve come, we won’t easily leave. No matter what the trial, we wish to try it. As you said, impulsiveness is to forfeit our lives, but if we lose our courage, we’re still not suited to be Spirit Masters.”

  Tang San spoke the last sentence as resolutely as slicing iron, his voice filled with something of a spiritual force shock. Among the people they were talking to, besides the middle aged man, the other seven sea Spirit Masters subconsciously retreated two steps. Seeing that divine light in Tang San’s eyes, they were even more astonished.

  The middle aged man scowled,

  “I’ll give you one more chance. Leave, or take the lord Seagod’s trial? I want to warn you, if you accept the trial, there will be no chance to withdraw halfway. Even if you lose your life because of it. It seems your cultivation should be pretty good, however, the lord Seagod’s trials are unrelated to cultivation. A simple one might have you grab a grain of sand, but a difficult one might have you go challenge a hundred thousand year spirit beast. Are you really prepared?”

  Beside Xiao Wu, the Shrek Seven Devils and Bai Chenxiang spoke practically with the same voice:

  “Yes, we accept the trial.”

  The middle aged man looked deeply at them, muttering a few words to a young yellow clothed sea Spirit Master next to him. His way of speaking was very peculiar, as if a strange sound wave buzzing, making Tang San and the others unable to hear his voice.

  That young yellow clothed sea Spirit Master agreed deferentially, and swiftly turned and left. The middle aged man said to the Shrek party:

  “I hope you don’t regret it. Follow me.”

  Speaking, he brought those yellow clothed sea Spirit Masters and turn
ed to walk into the forest.

  The Shrek Seven Devils immediately returned to their previous formation, following behind these yellow clothed sea Spirit Masters, vigilantly entering the forest.

  Who knew from when the trial would begin? Having already set foot on the island, no matter the circumstances, they would stay alert at all times.

  If the air on the beach was described as moist and pure, then the air within the forest was filled with the freshness of nature. Breathing the air here seemed even better than in the Star Dou Great Forest.

  The Shrek Seven Devils’ vigilance seemed unnecessary, advancing through the lush forest, they didn’t seem to encounter any situation. Leaving Tang San a bit pleasantly surprised was that, even on this Seagod Island, the ground in the forest was filled with Blue Silver Grass. However, as he tried to connect with the Blue Silver Grass through the blue silver domain, his spiritual force seemed to discover a kind of peculiar energy pervading the forest. Even though he could connect with the Blue Silver Grass, he still couldn’t examine anything through the blue silver domain. As if this forest was protected by an incorporeal force.

  The middle aged man walking ahead suddenly halted, turning, he looked at Tang San with a burning gaze,

  “Don’t try to use spiritual force to examine anything. This is Seagod Island, everything here is blessed by the lord Seagod.”

  Tang San’s heart was shocked, this was just a yellow clothed level sea Spirit Master on Seagod Island, but he could actually sense his spiritual force probe? Or did it mean there was some special force here that let him sense him releasing his spiritual force?

  The middle aged man kept leading them forward. Not long after, passing through the forest, the scene in front of them immediately shocked the Shrek Seven Devils.

  Ji Xiang hadn’t clarified much about Seagod Island to Tang San, only simply mentioned the Sea Spirit Masters, because he was afraid of blaspheming the Seagod. Now, appearing in front of Tang San’s eight was actually a pool, a pool like a sea within a sea. Most strangely was that the inland pool that should have been flat, actually surged with large waves like the sea, without any wind.