Chapter 194: Advancing to Soul Douluo
Since Xiaobai had already engaged the Evil Demonic Orca King, Su Mo didn't compete with her and began hunting other Evil Demonic Orcas instead.
With his current strength combined with Ning Rongrong, Su Mo was no weaker than a Title Douluo.
Puff, puff, puff—
He darted across the battlefield, his figure weaving swiftly through the chaos. Every few seconds, another Evil Demonic Orca was pierced through or slain by him.
While hunting the orcas, Su Mo never forgot to protect Ye Lingling.
With Ye Lingling's healing support, the Devil Soul Great White Shark clan barely suffered any casualties. Anyone injured was swiftly healed back to fighting condition.
Thanks to this, dozens more Evil Demonic Orcas soon fell to Su Mo's spear.
Combined with those slain by the white sharks, the Evil Demonic Orca clan's numbers dropped drastically.
"Damn it!"
Locked in battle with Xiaobai, the Evil Demonic Orca King let out a furious roar upon seeing the state of its tribe.
"Die!"
Boom—
Driven into a rage, the Orca King launched into a frenzy.
Pfft—
Xiaobai, who already wasn't a match for the king, was swiftly injured and thrown back under the ferocious assault.
Buzz—
Ye Lingling acted immediately, casting healing on Xiaobai.
But Xiaobai was a hundred-thousand-year soul beast; Ye Lingling's healing had little effect on her.
Swish—
At that moment, Su Mo flashed forward and stood between Xiaobai and the Orca King.
"I'll handle the Orca King."
"You go help with the rest."
He spun his Nine Treasure Soul-Hunting Spear, speaking over his shoulder to Xiaobai.
"Are you sure you can handle it?"
Though injured, Xiaobai still hesitated upon hearing Su Mo's intention to face the king alone.
"Just leave it to me."
Su Mo replied with firm confidence.
"Alright, be careful then!"
Seeing his resolve, Xiaobai chose to trust him without further doubt.
"Despicable human, go to hell!"
The Orca King, seeing Su Mo step in, flew into a deeper rage and lunged toward him. After all, it was Su Mo who had slaughtered the most of its kin.
"Hmph."
Su Mo said nothing more and charged forward with his spear.
Boom—
Soon, he and the Orca King were locked in a fierce duel.
Though he couldn't use spatial power, Su Mo's combat prowess had increased. However, his mobility had decreased, making the battle a hard-fought stalemate.
He couldn't suppress the Orca King, but neither could the Orca King overwhelm him.
With Xiaobai returning to hunt the lesser orcas, the situation continued to worsen for the Evil Demonic Orca tribe.
The Orca King was helpless to stop the tide.
"Ahhhh—"
"You all deserve to die!"
"Let's die together!"
Seeing its clan nearly exterminated, the Orca King went completely berserk, abandoning all defense in a suicidal charge at Su Mo.
The crazed attacks made things harder for Su Mo.
"Rongrong, I'm coming!"
Fortunately, Xiaobai noticed the danger and rushed back to support him.
The remaining orcas were easily handled by her tribe.
Now, the Orca King was facing a two-on-one.
No—make that three-on-one!
With Xiaobai assisting, Su Mo could go all out without fear.
"Traitor! Siding with humans—shameless!"
"Then let's die together!"
Realizing it couldn't win, the heavily injured Orca King let out a final roar.
Buzz—
It began self-destruction!
Its body rapidly expanded.
"No! It's going to self-destruct! Run!"
Xiaobai's expression changed dramatically.
A hundred-thousand-year soul beast's self-destruction wasn't something she dared to withstand.
"Self-destruct? Not on my watch!"
Su Mo coldly snorted.
Swish—
He immediately disengaged from his fusion with Ning Rongrong and blinked to the Orca King's side.
Due to its inflating form, the Orca King couldn't react in time.
Su Mo pressed both hands to its belly—
Buzz—
Massive amounts of Yang Spring and Yin Spring energy surged into the Orca King's body.
Normally, it would've been impossible for Su Mo to get this close, but the Orca King's impaired mobility gave him a chance.
Su Mo wasn't sure if this would stop the self-destruction—but it was worth a try.
Swish—
As soon as he finished, he blinked away, rejoining Ning Rongrong and Ye Lingling to observe the outcome.
If it didn't work, he was prepared to teleport them all out instantly.
He had no interest in personally experiencing the explosion of a hundred-thousand-year soul beast.
"Ahhh—"
"Damn human! What did you do to me?!"
Inside the Orca King's body, the Yin-Yang spring water wreaked havoc.
Its soul power, which had been concentrating toward a critical mass, now surged into chaos. Though its body kept swelling, the terrifying tension of imminent detonation was gone.
Boom—
In the end, the Orca King's body still exploded—but this time it was just a body rupture.
A massive shockwave blasted outward.
Faced with the shockwave of the Evil Demonic Orca King's self-destruction, Su Mo didn't teleport away with Ning Rongrong and Ye Lingling. Instead, he simply activated the Vast Sea Barrier, shielding himself and the two girls.
Because Su Mo had sensed that the Orca King's self-destruction had been disrupted by his intervention—though the beast still exploded in the end, the power was significantly weakened.
Buzz—
As expected, the explosive wave struck the barrier with a deep hum, but it was successfully blocked.
[Sea God's Fourth Trial: Assist the Devil Soul Great White Shark Clan in eliminating the Evil Demonic Orca King — Completed. Reward: Sea God Affinity +10%!]
Shortly after the Orca King perished, Su Mo received the system notification that the fourth trial of the Sea God's Nine Trials had been completed.
"Su Mo! I finished my fourth trial—I've advanced to Level 70!"
Beside him, Ning Rongrong cried out in delight. "And because of my exceptional performance, I even received a God-Given Spirit Ring!"
Even though she had known she'd break through to Soul Sage after completing this trial, experiencing the breakthrough firsthand still filled her with joy.
Receiving a God-Given Spirit Ring only added to the excitement. This time, Ning Rongrong was determined to condense an even higher-quality ring.
"I also leveled up—now I'm at Level 63!"
Ye Lingling said happily.
Though her gains were less impressive compared to Su Mo and Ning Rongrong, she was still thoroughly satisfied.
She had never imagined that her cultivation could progress so quickly.
"Su Mo, Rongrong, Lingling… thank you!"
"I finally avenged my brother!"
At that moment, Xiaobai came over, full of gratitude, tears in her eyes as she thanked the trio.
Buzz—
Su Mo's gaze turned toward the site of the Orca King's explosion. Seeing a red spirit ring floating above the sea, he instantly flashed over.
"As I thought… the Orca King didn't truly die by self-destruction—it was me who killed him."
Su Mo looked at the hundred-thousand-year red spirit ring with excitement.
If the Orca King had truly died through self-destruction, the ring wouldn't have remained—it would've been obliterated with its body.
Beside the ring, a hundred-thousand-year spirit bone had also manifested.
Without hesitation, Su Mo sat cross-legged above the sea and began absorbing the spirit ring.
He had purposely held off advancing to Level 80 just so he could use this Orca King's ring as his eighth spirit ring.
Having already absorbed two hundred-thousand-year rings before, this time the process was significantly faster.
In just half a day, Su Mo fully absorbed the Orca King's spirit ring.
Then, over the course of another half-day, he absorbed the spirit bone as well.
It was a left leg bone—precisely the one piece Su Mo hadn't yet acquired.
Which made sense. When a hundred-thousand-year beast drops a spirit bone, it's always one the spirit master doesn't already have.
After absorbing both ring and bone, Su Mo's spirit power surged to Level 82.
Not far now from Title Douluo!
Naturally, he also gained two new spirit skills and two bone skills.
The bone skills: Orca Fang Slash and Orca Demonic Axe—both powerful kick-based, long-range attacks from the left leg.
The spirit skills were equally formidable:
Soul Hunt Devil's Gaze — a preemptive control skill that forces a target into stunned fear for three seconds.
Soul Hunt Mirror Shatter — condenses everything around into a mirror, which can be used for defense or to shatter and destroy anything within.
These were all skills the Orca King had previously displayed.
"No skill for my Soul-Hunting Spear, huh?"
Su Mo muttered, but didn't mind.
These new abilities were already extremely strong.
And his spear didn't need more skills. Just imbuing it with time-space cutting power made it lethal enough.
"Rongrong, Lingling—sorry to keep you waiting."
"Let's return now."
Su Mo smiled at the girls, then teleported them back to Sea God Island.
"Unbelievable! He didn't take me along?!"
Realizing she had been left behind, Xiaobai stomped her foot in frustration.
She had been loyally guarding Su Mo throughout his absorption process!
"Hmph… let's go."
Left with no choice, Xiaobai led her clan back to the island on their own.
———
"Congratulations on completing the fourth trial."
As soon as they returned, Poseidon Douluo Bo Saixi greeted them with a calm smile.
Watching Su Mo, and recalling how he fought the Evil Demonic Orca King, Bo Saixi felt a strange twinge of emotion.
Back when she first saw the contents of Su Mo's Nine Trials, even she had thought the difficulty nearly impossible.
But now… she wasn't so sure.
In fact, she was starting to think the upcoming trials might not be that hard for Su Mo.
Even before absorbing the Orca King's ring and bone, he could match the King's strength with Ning Rongrong's support.
Now that he had completed the absorption, Su Mo was surely even more powerful.
Which meant the fifth trial—defeating the Seven Sacred Pillar Guardians within a day—might not be that difficult either.
Among those seven, Bo Saixi knew very few could truly threaten Su Mo.
That alone left her frustrated.
She didn't want Su Mo to complete the Sea God's Nine Trials so easily.
She didn't want him to complete them at all.
But… she had no way to stop it. So she could only stew in silence.
"Your next trial is the fifth: challenge the seven Sacred Pillar Guardians within one day. You may begin whenever you're ready."
"Just like the previous trials, you have one year to complete it."
Bo Saixi's tone was formal and impassive. She then looked at Ning Rongrong and Ye Lingling:
"Your fifth trial is to assist Su Mo in his challenge."
"In other words, if Su Mo fails, you both fail as well."
After the congratulations and explanations, Bo Saixi turned and left.
"Challenge the Seven Sacred Pillar Guardians?!"
"That's insane! They're all Title Douluo-level powerhouses!"
Ning Rongrong finally processed the fifth trial's content and cried out in alarm.
"Su Mo, are you confident?"
Ye Lingling looked to him, concern in her eyes. She hadn't expected such a difficult challenge.
For her, this fifth trial was also the last. Succeeding would mean the completion of her Black-Level Five Trials.
So naturally, she cared deeply about Su Mo's odds.
"Don't worry. Even without fusion techniques, I can challenge a Title Douluo now."
"We've got a whole year. We'll make it happen."
Su Mo responded with a confident smile.
———
(End of Chapter)
Get early access to my chapters and read more frequently by joining my Patreon! You'll unlock 20 chapters immediately and can enjoy up to 65 chapters weekly. Support my ongoing work and become part of my reader community.
Patreon: patreon.com/anish_44
Support via Ko-fi: ko-fi.com/anish_44