"Half an hour?" Wang Nan asked, puzzled.
"That's right. Recently, these Sea Soul Beasts have been attacking the city with unusual regularity. They usually start around noon every day and retreat after no more than two hours."
The behavior of Spirit Beasts is mostly instinctive. Such regular actions must have other factors involved.
"Didn't Dongyang City send anyone to investigate?"
"Guest, look at what you're saying. How can matters concerning Spirit Master adults be something we worry about?"
Wang Nan smiled but had other thoughts on his mind.
Seeing that Wang Nan didn't speak again, the man started talking about various matters in Dongyang City. Wang Nan listened from the side, and before he knew it, half an hour had passed.
Sure enough, just as the man had said, the Sea Soul Beasts retreated quickly. There was a bustling sound from the city wall, which should have been the Soul Masters who were previously responsible for defending against the Sea Soul Beasts withdrawing from their posts.
"Alright, I should leave now."
"Guest, do you need any spirit tools for traveling? I can help you get in touch."
"No need." Wang Nan waved his hand, stood up, and walked out of the restaurant, heading toward the north of the city.
Upon reaching the outskirts of Dongyang City, Wang Nan no longer held back. He pushed off with his feet, and the space around him subtly distorted. In just one step, he crossed a large distance.
This was not his first Spirit Ability, but a rudimentary application of spatial power.
Spatial power is a power that only Titled Douluo can master. To achieve a breakthrough to Titled Douluo, one must understand spatial power to condense a Soul Core within the body and overcome the bottleneck of level ninety.
When Wang Nan followed Xuan Zi to Heaven Dou City, it wasn't just about traveling. As a level ninety-eight Super Douluo, every step Xuan Zi took while traveling contained the application of spatial power.
Wang Nan followed closely behind, and coupled with his own Spirit Abilities like spatial flicker, the two complemented each other, yielding considerable gains.
Now, when he used it himself, although the distance was short and each step consumed a great deal of spirit power—making it far less practical than his first Spirit Ability—it was undoubtedly the foundation for mastering spatial power.
He traveled eastward along the coast until there were no signs of human habitation. Then, Wang Nan's mental force spread unreservedly into the Ice Sea.
Compared to on land, mental force encountered an invisible obstruction in the deep sea, but for Wang Nan, such an obstruction was not severe. Soon, several uninvited guests appeared in his perception.
Wang Nan originally just wanted to see if there was anything peculiar in the sea that caused these Sea Soul Beasts to attack Dongyang City so regularly. However, he didn't find any regularity but instead discovered the Evil Soul Masters he had noticed earlier.
There were no people around, and no aura of Sea Soul Beasts in the sea. Wang Nan simply flashed and followed the Evil Soul Masters.
"Haven't we reached the target location yet?"
"Elder Five didn't give a specific location either, otherwise, he wouldn't have sent us out to help him find it."
"However, Elder Five also didn't have specific requirements; any relatively special Spirit Beast would do."
"It's so cold here. Where can we..." One of the Evil Soul Masters was speaking when he suddenly stopped, glanced at his companions, and quickly swallowed the latter half of his sentence.
In a world of ice and snow near the Ice Sea, the Evil Soul Masters weren't wearing their usual black robes.
They chatted briefly before falling silent. Wang Nan followed them for a long time and didn't hear any very useful information, so he could only make a rough guess based on his memories.
The Holy Spirit Cult had methods that utilized Souls, so they were always searching for various powerful Spirit Beasts. In his recollection, there were once several Evil Soul Masters who entered the Star Dou Great Forest to search for traces of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear.
Now that they had come to the Ice Sea, they were likely searching for Sea Soul Beasts.
The speed of Spirit Masters wasn't too slow. Wang Nan could already see the Tianhun Empire's defenders in the distance, so he no longer intended to hide. Just as he was about to make a move, a figure suddenly leaped out of the sea.
It was a boy of about fifteen, broad-shouldered and strong. Though young, the muscles on his back were already bulging, and he had long reddish-brown hair. A subtle glow seemed to flow beneath his skin, making it as clear as jade.
No Spirit was visible around him, only five spirit rings encircled him. Yellow, purple, purple, black, black—this was a spirit ring configuration that exceeded the theoretically optimal ratio.
The Evil Soul Masters reacted instantly. Their Spirits lit up, illuminating the entire coast with a myriad of colors. Two of them even had the cultivation of Spirit Emperor.
However, the young boy showed no panic and did not use any Spirit Abilities. He pressed his palms together, and a layer of crystalline luster emanated from his body. For a moment, his entire being seemed to merge with the world of ice and snow.
The expression on the boy's face changed slightly.
Wang Nan knew that the boy must have sensed him.
From the young boy, Wang Nan felt the sensation of mental force, spirit power, and his own self, even the entire world, merging into one. Although this fusion was still very nascent, being able to master such power at his age was already remarkable.
The young boy lightly tapped his foot, and his body charged into the formation of the Evil Soul Masters.
Wang Nan was not far away, watching the young boy's fists dance with fierce power. With every punch, a silver-white light flickered around him. Even if an attack landed, it didn't affect his movements in the slightest.
After only a quarter of an hour, the Evil Soul Masters had already fallen to the side. The young boy, shirtless, cupped his hands toward Wang Nan.
"Senior, please show yourself."
Wang Nan had grown somewhat accustomed to being called "Senior" by others, so he no longer concealed himself and simply walked out.
"Long Aotian of the Body Sect greets Senior."
Long Aotian was slightly stunned when he saw Wang Nan but still bowed. Although Wang Nan looked young, for Spirit Masters, appearance was never the standard for judging age. Long Aotian only knew that Wang Nan's strength was far above his own.
He hadn't actually sensed Wang Nan earlier. It was only when he merged with the surrounding world that there was a certain area that didn't merge with him, which must have been strange.
"You are from the Body Sect?" Wang Nan glanced at the Evil Soul Masters nearby, then his gaze fell on Long Aotian.
His muscular physique made him look like a brute, but the fact that he immediately stated his background upon speaking clearly showed he had other intentions.
"Precisely." Long Aotian didn't elaborate further.
"This is within the Sun Moon Empire. What are you doing here?"
"This..." Long Aotian hesitated but still spoke. "My Body Sect has a secret technique that requires cultivation in the deep sea. However, I cannot elaborate on the specific details."
Wang Nan did not press further. Since it was their secret technique, he did not intend to delve deeper.
However, at this moment, a black shadow rapidly approached, and a fist continuously enlarged in Wang Nan's vision.