Three days later, in a rolling, uncharted sea.
Tonight, the sky was dotted with stars as a majestic warship, over a hundred meters long, slowly sailed by.
When navigating the sea, sailors usually relied on the sun during the day and the stars at night.
However, due to the low visibility, the warship had visibly slowed its pace in these waters.
Starlight and moonlight intertwined, pouring through the glazed window into a spacious room on the warship’s top deck.
Lying on a wide bed, Xu Zihuang’s long eyelashes fluttered slightly before he slowly opened those eyes, as clear as purple crystals.
Although he was born into the Sun Moon Empire’s royal family, in terms of appearance, he actually resembled his mother more.
He didn’t have the typical dark skin of the Sun Moon royals; instead, he looked like a handsome, elegant young noble that perfectly fit the public’s aesthetic.
Sitting up and tossing aside the blanket made of fluffy soul beast fur, Xu Zihuang smiled bitterly and pinched the bridge of his nose with his right hand.
“I was still a bit too impulsive back then.”
A stabbing pain assaulted his mind intermittently.
While he could absolutely suppress Hai Xiao elementally, Ultimate Lightning was not easily controlled.
Among all attributes, lightning is known as the most violent.
It was only because he possessed the mental-attribute body martial soul, the Golden Eyes, which allowed precise control over his soul power and martial soul, that he barely managed to condense that small lightning net.
Thinking of this, Xu Zihuang’s expression suddenly became complicated.
At the very end, he clearly felt the oppressive force of Hai Xiao’s Eighth Soul Skill weaken in an instant.
How could he not see that Hai Xiao had accommodated him until the very last moment?
He didn’t harbor any ill feelings toward a man like Hai Xiao.
In his eyes, Hai Xiao merely suffered from foolish loyalty, but that was just a difference in their stances.
As a lord, who wouldn’t love a subordinate like that?
“I wonder how long I’ve been unconscious.” Feeling the faint swaying coming from the floorboards, Xu Zihuang walked out with steady steps, pushing open the heavy wooden door.
The powerful physique forged by various heavenly treasures since childhood proved its worth now.
His soul power had already recovered on its own; it was just his mental energy that was severely depleted.
The biting, salty sea wind instinctively made him wrap his purple fine clothes tighter around himself.
Standing on the top deck’s cabin allowed him a commanding view of the entire warship and the boundless dark sea surrounding it.
Reborn and free, a surge of hot blood welled up in his heart.
From now on, the sky was high enough for the bird to fly, and the sea broad enough for the fish to leap!
Not long after, a series of hurried footsteps approached from behind.
It was Elder Yu, dressed in black martial attire.
The several Imperial Dragon soldiers trailing him had also removed their armor, changing into close-fitting clothes.
“Young Master, you’re awake?!” Elder Yu looked at Xu Zihuang with pleasant surprise.
Noticing Xu Zihuang’s thin clothing, he hastily pulled out a black fur cloak from his storage soul tool and draped it over Xu Zihuang’s shoulders.
This cloak looked thin and light, but its thermal insulation was excellent.
The collar was adorned with dense black feathers that shimmered under the moonlight, clearly indicating it was no ordinary item.
“It’s fine, Elder Yu.
My body isn’t that fragile.”
Xu Zihuang waved his hand, helplessly stopping Elder Yu, who was about to rummage through his soul tool for more items.
“How long was I out?”
“Young Master, you’ve been unconscious for three days,” Elder Yu said with an awkward smile.
“Would you like to rest in your room while I inform the Commander to come see you?”
“No need, I’ll go see Elder Wang myself.” A flash of brilliant gold crossed Xu Zihuang’s eyes.
After speaking, he walked directly toward the deck area.
Just now, he had used his Golden Eyes martial soul to observe the color of the seawater and the currents.
He realized they seemed to have entered the deep sea.
Here, they could be attacked by powerful sea soul beasts at any moment.
As the Commander, it was better for Wang Xiao to remain at the center to hold the fort.
He didn’t want to put everyone in danger over something trivial.
“Young Master…” Elder Yu quickly followed behind Xu Zihuang, not forgetting to order his subordinates to stay in place and stay alert.
Xu Zihuang’s guess was correct.
Over the past three days, they had been attacked by sea soul beasts several times, including some at the ten-thousand-year level.
Fortunately, everyone was strong, and with the powerful soul tools on the warship, there had been no casualties.
On the broad deck, Imperial Dragon soldiers in casual clothes constantly patrolled.
If not for the chilling aura of slaughter they consistently exuded, it would be hard to tell this was a powerful elite soul engineer legion.
Noticing Xu Zihuang walking over, everyone respectfully saluted, but no one abandoned their posts.
Wang Xiao, who was sitting on a wooden storage crate in the center of the deck, stood up and, alongside Yao Yang, who wore luxurious silver-white soul master robes, went to greet Xu Zihuang.
“Young Master.”
“Zi Huang.”
Xu Zihuang nodded affectionately in acknowledgment.
He had far too many questions, but for now, he could only ask them one by one.
First and foremost, what confused him the most was his second martial soul, the Purple Brilliance Heaven-Destroying Dragon.
He indeed possessed the pure Purple Brilliance Heaven-Destroying Dragon bloodline, but he couldn’t explain why his martial soul possessed the Ultimate Lightning attribute.
After spending a short time with Yao Yang, he could feel Yao Yang’s heartfelt concern for him.
Furthermore, from Yao Yang and Wang Xiao’s close relationship, he knew Yao Yang likely had deep ties to his parents.
He had no intention of hiding these matters—not from Yao Yang, nor from Elder Yu and the Imperial Dragon soldiers following behind him.
These were people entirely worthy of his trust.
He had no interest in playing the fool to hide his strength in front of them; he wanted to tell everyone: I am a genius!
“Elder Wang, Brother Yang, I want to know if the mutation of my martial soul is related to my mother.” Xu Zihuang extended his hands from beneath the black cloak, asking the two thoughtfully.
His slender, fair left hand was gradually enveloped in a deep purple light-flame, turning as translucent as jade.
The flame danced in the wind, looking no different from normal fire, but it carried a terrifying aura of destruction, as if it could extinguish all life.
Meanwhile, black-purple lightning surged in his right palm, emitting heart-palpitating energy.
Just as I thought.
Wang Xiao’s eyes lit up.
A long-lost smile appeared on his fierce face as he nodded and said, “Young Master, the change in your martial soul is indeed related to the Princess Consort.”
Hearing this, Yao Yang also shifted his gaze to Wang Xiao.
Could it really be…
He didn’t know the details of Xu Zihuang’s mother’s background, but powerful lightning-attribute martial souls were rare across the entire continent.
And the only one that could rival the Purple Brilliance Heaven-Destroying Dragon was probably the martial soul passed down by that ancient family in the native Douluo Continent.
Wang Xiao’s face showed a look of reminiscence, his gaze turning somewhat bitter as he looked at Xu Zihuang.
The Princess Consort was already dead, so there was no need to hide these things anymore.
“The Princess Consort hailed from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon family—the very same family that, ten thousand years ago, was hailed as the number one beast martial soul sect in the world.”
“What?!” Xu Zihuang looked at Wang Xiao in astonishment.
This made sense, yet it exceeded his expectations.
Now he finally understood why his mother had never mentioned her background to him.
The union of his parents likely wasn’t well-received by either side.