"Hm?"
Li Zhexian looked toward a distant stretch of ocean.
Yu Tianheng asked,
"Zhexian, what is it?"
The corner of Li Zhexian's lips lifted as he tilted his head back and took a gulp of wine.
"I've found the target."
"No need to rush—you all stay here. I'll go ahead."
With that—
His figure flickered.
He transformed into a sword qi that tore through the sky.
Its speed far surpassed the sound barrier, leaving behind a sword-shaped wake across the sea surface that gradually faded.
Though the ocean was fraught with danger, he felt no concern for Yu Tianheng and the others.
Over the years,
these companions had long since grown into formidable figures in their own right.
What's more—
Qian Daoliu was accompanying them in secret.
Watching the direction in which Li Zhexian vanished, Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong withdrew their gazes and turned with some concern toward Xiao Wu.
"Xiao Wu, are you alright?"
Xiao Wu's pink eyes shifted away from where the white-robed youth had departed.
"Huh?"
"Tang San…"
She froze for a moment, then broke into a bright smile.
"What about him?"
She had once thought—
that hearing the name "Tang San" would stir ripples in her heart, which was why her close friends had tacitly avoided mentioning him.
But at this moment,
she was surprised to find—
her heart was utterly calm, without the slightest stray thought.
Those days at Shrek Academy
were far less comforting than staying now—
drinking wine and gazing at the moon with her sisters.
"I'm fine!"
Xiao Wu still wore her lively scorpion-tail braid, smiling like a blooming flower.
"Didn't Li Zhexian always say it?"
"Everyone has their own fate."
She linked arms with Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong.
"As for me now!"
"I just want to be with my good sisters forever!"
On the other side of the deck,
Feng Buyu and Huo Wushuang each had an arm slung around Oscar's shoulders.
"Little Ao, how is it?"
Oscar laughed freely, his face showing no trace of worry, only serenity.
"The Shrek Seven Monsters ended a long time ago."
His gaze swept across the brothers who had lived and died beside him. Raising an eyebrow, he smiled.
"I don't know what I'd be like now if I had stayed at Shrek."
"But I'm certain of one thing—I like my life now much more."
As he spoke,
he clinked his wineskin against those of Feng Buyu and Huo Wushuang, then lifted his head and took a hearty swig.
Looking at the sea view, eating the delicacies they had fished up—saving the fattest fish belly for Li Zhexian—the group drank heartily.
With a slight flush on his face, Oscar took out two small items from his soul tool and caressed them gently.
One was a palm-sized conch shell—holding it to one's ear revealed the sound of rolling waves.
The other was a necklace strung from multicolored shells, gleaming brilliantly in the sunlight.
He—
Oscar.
Now the King of Mercenaries, the sworn brother of Lord Sword Wine.
He had married the gentle girl he once rescued.
He had a daughter who blew softly at the scar by his eye and said, "It doesn't hurt, it doesn't hurt."
This life—
He was utterly content.
With nothing more to ask for.
...
In the Demon Whale Sea Region, a great battle erupted.
Tang San's Spirit Power surged as the phantoms of his two Martial Souls—the Blue Silver Emperor and the Clear Sky Hammer—alternated behind him.
His Sea God divine armor radiated dazzling golden light.
The Golden Trident in his hand swung again and again, golden blades of light stirring the waves as they slashed toward the Deep Sea Demon Whale King.
The Demon Whale King let out a ferocious whale cry, dark-red energy surging violently around its body.
Its island-sized tail slammed down on the sea surface—
towering waves transformed into countless vicious water dragons, rushing forth to tear the golden blades apart.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
This entire sea region suddenly collapsed.
Then the seawater boiled and surged skyward, turning into a torrential downpour spanning several miles.
"Human—your divine power is still shallow!"
The whale's tail smashed through the curtain of rain.
Like a collapsing mountain, it thundered down toward Tang San.
Tang San's figure flickered at extreme speed.
At that instant, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Steps was pushed to its absolute limit, leaving countless afterimages between sea and sky.
His heart tightened.
The Deep Sea Demon Whale King was far stronger than any Spirit Beast he had encountered before.
"Compared to it, even hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beasts are as weak as newborn cubs!"
As this thought crossed his mind,
while feeling grave, Tang San could not help but feel a trace of self-satisfaction.
He now dared to covet a Spirit Beast overlord of this level.
Li Zhexian might be glorious on land—
but in truth,
at most he merely toyed with hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beasts.
On this point,
he had already left him far behind.
...
"Interesting."
Ji Dong nodded with a faint smile.
The Asura God also spoke, a rare occurrence.
"Sea God, your successor is quite confident."
Back in the Slaughter City, Tang San had briefly caught his attention as well.
In the eyes of the gods, all living beings are equal, and opportunities are the same.
Yet—
Tang San's performance paled greatly in comparison to Li Zhexian's.
Perhaps Tang San was indeed a rare genius, but set against Li Zhexian, he was undeniably dim by comparison.
The Sea God did not respond to the two God Kings.
On the light screen,
Tang San's faintly self-satisfied expression
made this ancient deity feel a subtle heat on his face.
He could only sigh silently in his heart: I only hope that later… you won't embarrass me too badly…
Ji Dong's smile grew even wider.
The Sea God had turned his attention to Li Zhexian too late.
Unlike him, Ji Dong knew Li Zhexian's true strength.
There was no suspense whatsoever in the clash between Tang San and Li Zhexian.
In fact—
even if the Sea God personally intervened, the outcome would still be hard to reverse.
...
Boom! Boom!
Another earth-shaking collision erupted.
Countless pillars of water shot skyward.
Tang San's feet plowed across the sea surface, his body forced backward, carving out two ten-thousand-meter-long white wakes.
He braced himself with the trident, steadying his form, his chest rising and falling slightly.
On the other side,
the mountain-like back of the Deep Sea Demon Whale King now bore several savage wounds, dark-blue scales shattered and curled upward, dark-red blood slowly seeping out.
Torrential rain poured down,
blurring their lines of sight.
Man and beast stood locked in confrontation across the rain curtain, killing intent colliding in the air as though it had substance.
Just as both sides paused briefly to catch their breath, preparing to lunge once more—
their movements halted simultaneously, as if seized by some invisible sensing.
They abruptly turned their heads toward the same direction.
At the junction of sea and sky—
a white-robed youth lay lazily across a long sword, one hand propping up his face, the other hanging casually at his side, clutching a wine gourd.
A smile curved at the corner of his lips as he leisurely watched the battle below.
Tang San: "..."
The Demon Whale King: "..."
The rain gradually subsided.
An eerie silence fell over the sea.
After a long, heavy pause—
the hatred and wariness on Tang San's face completely faded,
coalescing instead into the cold pride of one chosen by a god.
He slowly raised the Golden Trident in his hand, divine golden light flowing once more over his godly armor, his voice calm and steady:
"Li Zhexian."
The Demon Whale King's fins stirred the seawater unconsciously, dark currents surging in response.
In its blood-red right eye, wariness and the urge to retreat emerged.
Fighting the Sea God's successor had already been taxing enough—now another variable had entered the fray, to its disadvantage.
However—
in the next instant,
the Demon Whale King keenly sensed that the killing intent radiating from Tang San had grown even colder.
"Oh?"
A trace of surprise flashed through the Demon Whale King's blood-red eye.
"Interesting…"
...
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