Yu Tianming could clearly see a tall, muscular man seated cross-legged atop the stone pillar.
He wore only a pair of black pants, his upper body bare, and his deep blue curly hair, just past shoulder-length, draped loosely.
On his sturdy back was a tattoo of a dragon that looked nearly identical to the one carved into the Sea Dragon Sacred Pillar.
At the moment, he had his back to everyone, seated in meditation atop the sacred pillar platform, as if cultivating.
Yu Tianming knew that this man was none other than the Sea Dragon Sacred Pillar, the head of the seven sacred pillars of Seagod Island.
Because they had come from the C-shaped gap in Seagod Island, they happened to arrive at the Sea Dragon Sacred Pillar, the closest one to the central Seagod Hall.
Here, the yellow-robed middle-aged man who had led them clearly became much more respectful. He first reminded them, "This is the strongest of the sacred pillars on Seagod Island, the Sea Dragon Sacred Pillar. The one you are about to meet is its guardian."
Then he looked respectfully toward the distant sacred pillar and explained, "The Seagod granted divine power to the seven sacred pillars. They can transmit the will of the god through these pillars or use them to test visiting soul masters. You will receive your test from the Seagod here at the Sea Dragon Sacred Pillar."
Once he finished speaking, the Sea Dragon Douluo seated atop the pillar slowly turned around.
His deep blue eyes fell upon Yu Tianming and the others, and a low, powerful voice echoed across the Sea of the Sea and into their ears.
His tone was calm, yet filled with strength. "Soul masters of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan? Only after crossing the Sea of the Sea and arriving before me are you qualified to receive the Seagod's trial."
With nothing more to say, the Sea Dragon Douluo closed his eyes again.
As he fell silent, the Sea Dragon Sacred Pillar, carved with a blue dragon, suddenly lit up. A blue light barrier spread out from the sacred pillar, enveloping the four of them within.
The once calm pool of water now surged like a stormy sea with the spread of the light barrier.
Though there was no wind, the surface of the water moved on its own, forming a clockwise vortex.
At a glance, it seemed as though the deep abyss in the center of this shallow-to-deep sea would swallow all the water.
But upon closer inspection, the water level had not dropped at all.
Instead, it appeared as though someone was constantly stirring the sea, causing the water level to rise and the waves to crash more violently against the shore.
Dugu Yan glanced at the others. "Ever since that light barrier appeared, I've felt my soul power become sluggish and hard to circulate. It'll be difficult to use soul skills here."
Yu Tianming's tone was serious. "Not just that, I can't fly anymore. If we have to swim across this turbulent sea, it won't be easy."
Ah Zhu, who hadn't spoken since arriving, suddenly asked an unrelated question. "The Sea Dragon Douluo recognized us as soul masters of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Could he be connected to our sect somehow?"
At her words, everyone turned to look at Yu Tianming.
After all, in terms of knowledge of the sect's secrets and connections, who could compare to the Young Master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan?
Feeling their gaze, Yu Tianming shook his head helplessly. The Sea Dragon just happened to share the same martial soul quality as the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, but there was no special relationship between them.
"Don't overthink it. Though Seagod Island is isolated from the world, the Sea Dragon Sacred Pillar has likely heard of the Three Great Sects."
Then he looked at Ah Zhi. "Instead of speculating, let's act. Ah Zhi, you go first as a sea-type soul master. I'll bring up the rear."
Ah Zhi nodded and immediately activated her martial soul. Her legs turned into a long fish tail.
After taking the immortal herb, her martial soul had evolved, making her tail longer and more covered in fine, scale-like keratin. Aside from the fins on top, the rest looked very much like the tail of a true flood dragon.
With her martial soul active, she leapt into the water.
The raging currents that surged toward her all lost their force upon contact, brushing gently past.
Despite the turbulent waves, she only lightly flicked her tail, and the currents seemed to help her forward, swiftly carrying her to the Sea Dragon Sacred Pillar.
Seeing how easily Ah Zhi crossed, Dugu Yan transformed her lower body into a dark green snake tail and leapt into the water as well.
But unlike Ah Zhi, the moment she entered, the fierce currents pushed her back to shore.
Her jade-like serpent body collided with the rocks, producing a metallic clang.
Blushing slightly, Dugu Yan explained, "The force of the current is strong. Ordinary soul masters will struggle to resist it."
With that, she dove in again.
This time, her smooth jade-like waist began swaying widely in the water, and her tail flicked like a bacterium's flagella, swiftly cutting through the turbulent currents.
As she fought upstream, she gradually closed the distance to the Sea Dragon Sacred Pillar.
Yu Tianming thought to himself, 'Seems like the evolved Jade Phosphor Serpent has enough strength and defense. She could easily walk the path of a power-type soul master.'
Seeing Dugu Yan fight so hard to move forward, Ah Zhu looked to Yu Tianming, eyes full of worry. "Young Master, I'm a fire-type agility attack soul master. I don't have Ah Zhi's affinity for water or Miss Yan's physical strength. Could you…"
Her voice trailed off, and tears welled up in her eyes. "I've become a burden to you…"
Seeing her like this, Yu Tianming pulled her into his arms and gently said, "You've always taken care of me. This time, let me carry you across."
While they spoke, Dugu Yan finally reached the sacred pillar.
She turned to wave at Yu Tianming but froze when she saw him holding the maid in his arms.
Her expression darkened, and she crossed her arms before her chest, calmly staring at them.
Yu Tianming, sensitive as always, sensed her gaze despite the suppression on Seagod Island.
He patted Ah Zhu. "Yan Yan's already across. Let's go together."
Ah Zhu noticed Dugu Yan's gaze and quickly let go of Yu Tianming.
Dugu Yan was the main wife; she was the maid. The hierarchy was clear—how could she remain in the Young Master's arms?
Yu Tianming chuckled and activated his martial soul, transforming into a three-headed, two-tailed half-beast form.
After a year of cultivation, his soul power had increased from Rank 55 to 59. Since he hadn't absorbed his sixth soul ring, only his arms, head, and wings could undergo dragonification.
For those sensitive to numbers, the fact that a Rank 55 soul master could gain four levels in a year was astonishing.
Even geniuses like Hu Liena, with top-tier innate soul power and cultivation resources, needed two years to go from Rank 12 to 20 and three years from 22 to 30.
Yet Yu Tianming, already at such a high level, improved as fast as she did at low levels. Truly terrifying.
Though his lower body hadn't dragonified, he now looked very much like a bipedal dragon.
His dragonification differed from ordinary Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon soul masters. Though he lacked dragonification skills, he had passive boosts to both physical and elemental strength.
Every additional dragonified body part further amplified those boosts.
Even if a true dragon stood before him, its physical might might not surpass his.
Ordinary clan soul masters only received slight physical boosts upon dragonification. Only the five soul skills gained between Rank 30 to 70 granted overwhelming lightning power—boosting it by 500%.
But Yu Tianming's elemental strength boost was passive and not limited to one ability. How could others compare?
After activating his martial soul, he lifted Ah Zhu into his arms.
Ah Zhu glanced at Dugu Yan in the distance, then at Yu Tianming beside her.
She gently wrapped her arms around his neck, her lower body transforming into a crimson flood dragon tail that coiled around him.
She knew she couldn't afford to falter now and slow down the team.
With everything ready, Yu Tianming leapt into the sea with Ah Zhu.
As if displeased with him helping someone across, the Sea of the Sea's current suddenly intensified.
The rushing waves crashed against the shore rocks with thunderous booms.
The unexpected current shift nearly threw Yu Tianming off balance.
But with the triple body reinforcement of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, the Qirong Tongtian Chrysanthemum, and his dragonified martial soul, plus the water affinity from the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass, he quickly stabilized himself.
With a flick of his tails and powerful limbs, he swam toward the sacred pillar platform.
As they approached the deep abyss beneath the sacred pillar, a giant blue dragon tail suddenly burst from the water.
Due to the suppression on perception, Yu Tianming had been caught off guard and was swatted back toward the shore.
Only then did he realize a real sea dragon lived in the depths below the Sea Dragon Sacred Pillar.
Just like the Sea Horse Sacred Pillar had a soul beast sea horse, it was only natural for a sea dragon soul beast to guard this area.
Though flung back to the edge, Yu Tianming wasn't angry.
That sea dragon's aura was at least eighty thousand years old. If it had wanted to harm them, they would've been gravely wounded. Clearly, it was just raising the difficulty.
Since he had no trouble swimming in this current, he simply swam back toward the sacred pillar.
As he neared the deep abyss once more, he patted Ah Zhu's rear. "Get off me."
Blushing, Ah Zhu unwrapped her long tail from his waist.
All three women had serpent- or dragon-like martial souls. Their tail lengths were impressive after transformation.
Ah Zhu's tail wrapped around his waist one and a half times, with extra to spare.
Soon after they separated, the massive dragon tail swept through the water again.
This time, Yu Tianming tossed Ah Zhu toward the sacred pillar and lunged at the tail.
The sea dragon's body was massive, covered in tightly packed scales the width of a bowl.
As the tail swept by, Yu Tianming managed to grab a few long hairs on its back and was dragged into the water with it.
Dugu Yan, still glaring at Ah Zhu, anxiously leaned over the sacred pillar's edge with the other two.
Ten breaths later, a piercing dragon roar echoed from the abyss.
Then Yu Tianming surfaced and climbed onto the sacred pillar.
Looking at the Sea Dragon Sacred Pillar, he said, "Lord Sacred Pillar, I only pulled out a few of the sea dragon's tail hairs. That's not too much, right?"
Then he put the few long white hairs into his storage ring.
The Sea Dragon Sacred Pillar didn't answer, instead walking silently to the platform's edge and gazing into the abyss.
He looked around thirty years old, with a firm expression and a tall frame over two meters—like Yu Yuanzhen and Yu Tianming.
He looked to be only in his thirties, with a rugged face and a height over two meters, just like Yu Yuanzhen and Yu Tianming. But there was a unique aura about him—like an ancient boulder covered in moss, or a steep, imposing mountain—silent yet heavy with presence.
Even though Yu Tianming, after transforming into his dragon form, was physically more than twice his size, his aura still fell short by a significant margin.
At this moment, although Sea Dragon Douluo had fallen into silence, Yu Tianming wasn't afraid of him retaliating over the sea dragon's defeat, since the Seagod's Light had already acknowledged him.
Before long, the sea dragon reappeared in the water—not its tail this time, but its massive dragon head.
Its head rested on the edge of the sacred pillar platform, letting out a low, slightly aggrieved hiss as it looked toward the group.
The Sea Dragon Sacred Pillar, who had remained silent and stern all this time, actually revealed a gentle smile upon seeing its expression.
He stepped forward and began stroking the scales on the sea dragon's massive head. The dragon responded with soft, whimpering cries, like a wronged little girl.
Man and dragon seemed to be engaged in a wordless exchange.
Seeing this, Yu Tianming didn't think of Return of the Condor Heroes, but rather of Tang Hao and the Blue Silver Grass, or Tang San and the Soft Bone Rabbit—those father and son's human-beast romances. A chill ran down his spine as goosebumps broke out all over.
He thought, 'Instead of getting all lovey-dovey with that dragon, how about giving it to me as my sixth soul ring? Once I become a god, I'll make sure the two of you can be together for all eternity.'
Sea Dragon Douluo didn't linger in the interaction. After a few gentle strokes, he patted the sea dragon's head.
The sea dragon obediently withdrew from the sacred pillar platform and dove back into the deep blue sea below.
After calming it down, Sea Dragon Douluo looked at the blue uniforms embroidered with dragon patterns worn by Yu Tianming and Dugu Yan's group and fell silent once more.
(End of Chapter)
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