The golden sun rose from the eastern sea horizon, driving away the last traces of darkness over the ocean.
The azure seawater was dyed a golden-red, refracting dazzling light across the massive surface of the ice.
A night had passed.
As the golden sun fully revealed itself, Xu Zihuang, completely enveloped in a purple halo, finally completed the absorption of his second soul ring.
Following a crisp sound like shattering glass, a purple soul ring suddenly expanded, then contracted, and began to pulse in the same rhythm as his original first soul ring.
Two luxurious purple soul rings seemed to add an extra layer of nobility to Xu Zihuang out of thin air.
“Young Master.” As Xu Zihuang opened his eyes and stood up, everyone’s gaze naturally shifted toward him.
Xu Zihuang looked around, noticing the concerned expressions of Wang Xiao and Yao Yang not far away, and nodded slightly.
Just as Yao Yang had predicted, his second soul skill indeed originated from one of the Evil Orca’s two powerful crowd-control soul skills.
With this second soul skill, he was gradually taking on the mold of a true control-type soul master.
His soul power had also directly jumped to rank twenty-two, nearing rank twenty-three.
At his current cultivation speed, he was almost guaranteed to break through rank thirty before he turned eleven.
It was just that since his first two soul rings were already purple thousand-year rings, it would be hard for him not to draw attention when using his martial soul in the future.
When he started fusing the soul ring last night, it was already the early hours of the morning.
In reality, it took Xu Zihuang less than three hours to fuse the three-thousand-year Evil Orca soul ring.
On the other sides, Lin Long and Meng Lang still hadn’t successfully finished their fusions; their processes were far less effortless than Xu Zihuang’s.
However, their soul power fluctuations and auras were stable, indicating they weren’t in any danger.
Wang Xiao and Yao Yang held the center, and the Imperial Dragon soldiers guarding the perimeter hadn’t relaxed their vigilance either.
The men dissecting the two ten-thousand-year Evil Orca corpses were still busy.
In contrast, the two three-thousand-year Evil Orcas that Xu Zihuang and Meng Lang had taken soul rings from were much smaller and had already been processed.
Only large patches of blood and some broken bones were left on the ice.
Massive amounts of clearly textured whale meat had been frozen by several ice-attribute soul masters and moved to the warship’s storage room.
A rich aroma drifted into Xu Zihuang’s nose.
A plump Imperial Dragon soldier carried a large piece of pan-fried Evil Orca meat on a tray to Xu Zihuang, chuckling.
“Young Master, this is the Evil Orca tail meat your subordinate pan-fried with butter.
Please, have a taste.”
As he spoke, he also pulled a set of table and chairs from his storage soul tool, placed the tray on the table, and thoughtfully pulled out the chair for Xu Zihuang.
“You’ve gone to a lot of trouble.” Xu Zihuang smiled and nodded, sitting down without standing on ceremony.
He picked up the silver cutlery resting on the edge of the tray and began to eat delicately.
Sitting on the ice, watching the rolling ocean waves and the sunrise while dining—it could only be described in one word: Classy!
“This is what your subordinate should do.” The man was very eager to please.
He pulled a glazed cup from his soul tool and poured a glass of fragrant green fruit juice.
His name was Rong Jin.
Strictly speaking, he wasn’t an official member of the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion.
He had been serving in Xu Zihuang’s family mansion since the day Xu Zihuang was born, dedicating decades to the family.
Rong Jin’s cultivation wasn’t strong, only hovering in the forties, and he was one of the men left behind to guard the warship earlier.
However, his culinary skills were absolutely exceptional.
Over the past dozen days of sailing, Xu Zihuang’s three meals a day had been entirely handled by him.
Xu Zihuang didn’t feel repulsed by Rong Jin’s flattery; some people were just naturally like this.
At the very least, Rong Jin’s willingness to follow Wang Xiao into the rescue operation without hesitation was enough to prove his loyalty.
The golden-brown whale tail meat carried the rich, milky fragrance of butter and its own unique savory flavor, melting tenderly in his mouth.
It suited Xu Zihuang’s taste perfectly.
Paired with a refreshing glass of green fruit juice, Xu Zihuang found this breakfast incredibly satisfying.
But right at that moment, an exclamation of surprise rang out from the direction of the two ten-thousand-year Evil Orca corpses.
Although they had left the deep-sea area, danger could still strike at any time.
The five Evil Orcas they encountered earlier were the perfect example.
One second ago, Xu Zihuang had been taking a light sip of the green fruit juice in his glazed cup; the next, he was on his feet, fully alert.
His purple eyes instantly turned brilliant gold, and two purple soul rings rose from beneath his feet, generating intense soul power fluctuations.
The surrounding Imperial Dragon soldiers also instantly prepared for battle.
“It’s nothing!
I just found a soul bone inside this Evil Orca’s corpse!” A young man standing near the massive tail of the twenty-thousand-year Evil Orca realized he had lost his composure upon seeing everyone’s battle-ready stance and smiled awkwardly.
As he spoke, he held up a pitch-black leg bone.
The deep black light was restrained, but its strong, violent energy fluctuations were enough to shock anyone.
It looked as if it were swallowing all the light around it.
Though called a leg bone, its shape didn’t look like a human foot; it more closely resembled an orca’s tail fin.
The crowd subconsciously held their breath.
Even Xu Zihuang, upon seeing the soul bone, couldn’t help but feel a surge of heat in his chest.
A soul bone was an incredibly rare treasure, vastly more precious than a soul ring.
The stronger the soul beast, the more powerful the soul bone it produced.
And the quality of a soul bone produced by a ten-thousand-year Evil Orca was self-evident.
Among ten-thousand-year soul bones, it was absolutely in the highest tier.
Evil Orcas possess boundless strength; fusing this soul bone would not only grant the soul master a powerful soul skill but also qualitatively leap their leg strength.
It was perfectly suited for power-focused assault-type and defense-type soul masters.
Who wouldn’t want a one-in-a-million treasure like a soul bone?
Although this Evil Orca right leg bone was more suited for assault and defense types, that was only relatively speaking.
No matter what kind of martial soul a soul master possessed, fusing such a top-tier soul bone would provide a massive boost to their overall strength.
The young man looked intoxicated as he held the soul bone with both hands.
After a moment’s hesitation, he immediately handed the soul bone to Wang Xiao, who wasn’t far away.
He didn’t let it go to his head.
Although it seemed like he was handing the decision-making power over the soul bone to Wang Xiao, everyone knew in their hearts that this soul bone was destined for Xu Zihuang.
Everyone understandingly shifted their gazes to Xu Zihuang and Wang Xiao.
“Elder Wang, please keep this soul bone for now.
In the future, whoever makes a great contribution will be rewarded with it.
Being able to obtain this soul bone is entirely due to everyone’s hard work.
This soul bone rightfully belongs to everyone.” Meeting Wang Xiao’s gaze, Xu Zihuang spoke up proactively.
He knew that even if he chose to fuse this soul bone right on the spot, the group wouldn’t raise any objections.
But his vision was never limited to just this.
With his talent, as long as he matured, what kind of soul bones wouldn’t he have access to?
Just the hundred-thousand-year immortal herbs in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well alone could be traded for several sets of hundred-thousand-year soul bones.
He had no intention of abiding by the Tang Sect’s nonsense rules; when he was strong enough, he would just clean out the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well entirely.
There was no need for him to rush and waste a soul bone slot right now.
For him at present, the most important thing was to reinvigorate the remnants of the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineer Legion and turn them into a major asset.
“As expected…”
Wang Xiao nodded with a complex expression, a mix of joy and worry.
This path will not be easy to walk.
Yao Yang, who was nearby, looked thoughtfully back and forth between Xu Zihuang and Wang Xiao.
Then, seemingly coming to a sudden realization, the corner of his mouth curved into a subtle smile.
As for the rest of the Imperial Dragon soldiers, the fervent devotion in their eyes was practically overflowing.