Xu Tianxi's face twitched as he stared, baffled.
"Fighting your benefactor as a greeting—what kind of etiquette is that?"
The Tongtian Baxia rolled his eyes and shook his dragon-like horns.
"Well… in the sea, this is how we do things. Might be just a tiny bit different from human customs?"
"A tiny bit?"
Xu Tianxi was speechless.
"This isn't a tiny difference—it's a whole new species of weird…"
Still, for soul beasts, this kind of logic made strange but plausible sense.
"WHOOOSH—!"
Back in mid-air, Xu Xiaoyun stabilized his stance. His palms—shoved back by force—suddenly clapped together. The Black Tortoise projection behind him radiated bloody red light from its eyes. Stormwinds erupted over dozens of nautical miles, forming layered barriers of soul power to shield his body.
At the same time, his nine soul rings pulsed—and changed.
His first five soul rings lit up simultaneously, fusing into a single dazzling black ring.
Divine Beast Bloodline Inheritance: Soul Ring Fusion.
A dark golden Black Tortoise Shield, laced with gold tracery, expanded to a hundred meters wide. It split into thousands of illusory shield projections. Under the boost of soul power, Xu Xiaoyun's body also grew—titanic, like a pillar of heaven, radiating an unshakable aura of defiance and resilience.
His demeanor shifted.
From a serene old master to a commanding figure wreathed in storm and might, his robes flared without wind. Xu Tianxi saw light flicker in his eyes, as though filled with countless reflections of past battles and memories. He gently ran his fingers along the Black Tortoise Shield, his gaze sharpening with determination.
"It's been so long since I fought at full strength... I nearly forgot: the title I once gave myself in my reckless youth—was 'Eternity.'"
"I am Xu Xiaoyun of the Xuanming Clan, Title Douluo: Eternity.
Tongtian Baxia Ancestor—please grant me your instruction!"
"Black Tortoise—Roar!"
Golden Black Tortoise shields absorbed the ocean's endless water elements and solidified in the blink of an eye into a vast divine fortress—golden ramparts that rippled across the sea like a heavenly citadel, churning the waves into chaos.
"Release!"
Xu Xiaoyun thrust his palm forward. The vast golden shield wall exploded outward, sweeping across the ocean like a divine judgment. It split sea and sky alike, unstoppable.
A deep beastly roar echoed across the sea. Behind him, the Black Tortoise projection turned solid, blood-red light burning in its eyes, exuding boundless martial intent. Like a second body for Xu Xiaoyun, it surged with overwhelming battle spirit.
Where its roar reached, space itself tore apart—the sky ripped with jagged, gaping cracks.
Xu Tianxi had never seen anyone capable of shattering space in the Douluo Continent—until now.
"Impressive...!"
From far on the horizon, a colossal creature emerged—its full form unseen, but clearly much larger than the Ice Devil Titan King. It strode across the waves with a dragon's head and a turtle's body, limbs thick and kirin-like, exuding a mountainous presence.
It spoke in a deep, ancient voice, steady as the abyss.
Xu Tianxi immediately felt its gaze—a surprisingly kind look aimed first at him and the young Baxia, before the beast turned its full attention to the oncoming attack from Xu Xiaoyun.
"WUUUUUUM—!"
The Tongtian Baxia Ancestor lifted a forelimb, and the space around him twisted violently. Countless azure beams of light poured out like ink spilled upon the sea and sky, painting a path of brilliance in the murky ocean.
Then came something truly terrifying—dozens of black hole-like vortices appeared around the Ancestor, devouring the surrounding space, drawing in the ocean's energy, unleashing unimaginable quantities of soul power.
Thousands of water tornadoes shot into the sky, then condensed into divine serpentine dragons of water and spirit, elegant and ferocious. They surged toward the golden divine wall.
"BOOM—BOOM—BOOM—!!"
The clash was apocalyptic.
Waves towered into the heavens as if a tsunami had struck. No one would believe two nearly-limit-tier powerhouses were unleashing a world-shaking duel in such an isolated part of the sea.
And this? Was only their second exchange.
After the storm calmed, the space ruptured by Xu Xiaoyun had already been healed by the water-blue light, the sky whole once more. The vast golden walls had vanished. Xu Xiaoyun had been knocked thousands of meters back.
In contrast, the Tongtian Baxia Ancestor had not moved an inch.
Victory and defeat were clear.
Xu Tianxi and the young Baxia had both been protected by their respective elders. Other than being sent flying and drinking several mouthfuls of seawater, they were unharmed—though both gagged and coughed it out afterward.
The battle was simply too much.
Xu Tianxi, now certain this was beyond anything he'd ever witnessed, turned to the small Baxia and said with a grin:
"Brother Turtle—you're a 90,000-year soul beast. Well-traveled and wise. You've probably drunk more seawater than I've eaten salt. Analyze that for me, will you?"
The small Baxia proudly lifted his head, gave him a look that said you sure know how to flatter, and chuckled:
"No worries, little bro. My grandpa's done this plenty. He's got lots of experience in power control. He won't hurt your master."
Still, Xu Tianxi frowned:
"But my master isn't a sea soul beast. He's human. What if your grandpa sees his nine soul rings and thinks he's killed other sea soul beasts—and decides to take revenge?"
Given how casually Xu Xiaoyun had spoken of killing sea soul beasts before, Xu Tianxi was pretty sure the Xuanming Clan had a habit of it. Those two 100,000-year soul rings on Xu Xiaoyun? Probably came from marine soul beasts.
If the Tongtian Baxia Ancestor was a protective patriarch and decided to kill Xu Xiaoyun on the spot…
It'd be over.
With over 600,000 years of cultivation at minimum, and an elemental domain in the sea, the old Baxia was unbeatable. Xu Xiaoyun's Black Tortoise Martial Soul might be mighty, but it couldn't outmatch someone who was the sea.
Xu Tianxi grew anxious. But the young Baxia remained relaxed, smiling:
"Relax. Grandpa hates getting involved in outside affairs. As long as your master hasn't killed one of our clan, Grandpa won't go all out. So what if he killed a few soul beasts? We eat plenty of them ourselves."
"Whew... that's a relief."
Seeing the two elders preparing for a third exchange, Xu Tianxi finally relaxed.
The young Baxia glanced at his grandfather's expression, and with a hidden spiritual link, shared a quick message. The Ancestor's eyes softened slightly.
"Hehe. Gotta say, your master's pretty impressive—he lasted two moves against Grandpa. That's better than my dad. Grandpa always trains my dad using moves like this."
"Maybe he sees your master as promising and wants to pass on some insight."
"Insight, huh… makes sense."
Xu Tianxi's mouth twitched.
"By the way—how old is your grandpa? Does he have… 700,000 years of cultivation?"
The young Baxia blinked.
"More than that. Grandpa's past 800,000 years now. He just passed his eighth tribulation a few thousand years ago."
"What?! He's that strong?!"
Xu Tianxi was stunned.
Only beings like the Silver Dragon King and Beast God Di Tian had comparable cultivation. Anyone with that kind of age surely had dual soul cores, and with the Baxia bloodline on top of that… could he match Di Tian?
Could Di Tian's Dragon God Claw even hurt this old turtle?
"Of course! Grandpa always says there are only a few sea soul beasts left who can spar with him. It's just that he sleeps all year, so no one knows how strong he really is. But trust me—he's terrifying."
The young Baxia puffed out his chest with pride.
"That's great. Sparring with a powerhouse like that—it's a golden opportunity."
Xu Tianxi's eyes sparkled with excitement.
There was no way Xu Xiaoyun could defeat the Tongtian Baxia Ancestor, but if he gained something from the fight, it'd be a massive benefit.
Even if Xu Xiaoyun couldn't follow the path of dual soul cores, any insights the Ancestor gave him could greatly improve his combat strength.
"This is the third move. Be careful."
The Tongtian Baxia Ancestor finally spoke.
He raised his dragon head and let out a profound roar. From the coral-like blue horns on his head, a radiant azure light bloomed, forming a massive hundred-meter-wide orb of water that shot toward Xu Xiaoyun.
The orb shimmered between illusion and reality. A great dragon seemed to coil around it. Neither Xu Tianxi nor the young Baxia could track its path.
"Is that… spatial power?"
Xu Tianxi guessed.
"Good!"
Xu Xiaoyun shouted, unfurling his arms. His sixth and seventh soul rings fused, becoming a single blood-red 100,000-year soul ring, flaring to life.
"Martial Soul Avatar—Black Tortoise Domain!"
Gold radiance enveloped Xu Xiaoyun. His power surged dramatically. The golden Black Tortoise Shield flew from his hands, blooming with dazzling light mid-air. It spun, distorted, evolved.
Behind him, the Black Tortoise projection soared into the sky—vanishing into the enormous light orb.
Torrents of seawater surged up with his motion, drawn into the sky.
This was the innate divine talent of the Black Tortoise—summoning water to empower itself. In the ocean, no same-level opponent could defeat it!
"Ninth Soul Skill—Black Tortoise Divine Seal!"
Xu Xiaoyun's ninth soul ring lit up. A determined look crossed his aged face. All his soul rings except the eighth merged into the ninth, drawing power to the peak.
He pointed with one finger—an energy channel opened, linking to his Martial Soul Avatar.
"ROOOOOAR—!"
A colossal Black Tortoise Divine Beast, over a thousand meters long, emerged. Xu Xiaoyun stood atop its head. The serpent tail hissed, spitting countless water jets. Its turtle head drew water into a sky-sealing divine seal—radiant halos filled the sky.
"Black Tortoise… not bad."
For the first time, the Tongtian Baxia Ancestor showed a flicker of emotion.
In his long life, he rarely found humans who could even take two of his moves. A pity—Xu Xiaoyun's cultivation still wasn't enough.
The aqua-blue orb and the Black Tortoise Divine Seal collided.
But this time, there was no deafening roar—only silent dissolution.
The two forces met and rapidly disintegrated, dissolving into a rain of spiritual water, falling peacefully back to the sea.
"I'm still far from matching the Tongtian Baxia Ancestor's divine might…"
Xu Xiaoyun let out a long sigh. Even his strongest blow had been gently neutralized by the Ancestor's spatial technique.
He retracted his Martial Soul and soul rings, landing softly on the sea.
Earlier, when the Ancestor arrived, he had used spiritual transmission to notify Xu Xiaoyun: this would be a three-move exchange. What he could learn from it depended on his own comprehension.
The Tongtian Baxia Ancestor shook his head slightly.
"Though you haven't reached the level of a Limit Douluo, you endured three of my moves. That's enough to be proud of. The Black Tortoise bloodline within you is not bad. I hope you go further."
With that, he turned to Xu Tianxi and the young Baxia, and spat out a beam of blue light. It landed before Xu Tianxi.
"The Tongtian Baxia Clan always repays debts. This is a scale I shed during my tribulation. It can protect you from one life-threatening calamity.
Xiao Tian seems to like you. Come visit our clan sometime."
Then, with a swirl of light, the Tongtian Baxia Ancestor took the young Baxia and vanished from the sea.
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin