Chapter 596: The Eighth Trial of the Paradox

In the sky, dark clouds gathered, and the light across the entire Sea God Island dimmed. Just at this moment, however, the Sea God Hall lit up. The magnificent sacred hall erupted with intense golden light; the brightness pierced through the darkness, illuminating Sea God Mountain and seemingly lighting up the entire Sea God Island. A thick golden pillar of light shot straight into the sky, piercing the dark clouds.

At the same time, the Seven Sacred Pillar Guardian Douluo of Sea God Island also lit up. Seven golden beams of varying thickness surged up from different directions, merging into one with the golden pillar of light erupting from the Sea God Hall.

The radiance lasted for a full ten seconds before subsiding. The dark clouds in mid-air had been illuminated by the golden sphere of light they condensed into, turning completely into golden clouds. That golden sphere of light slowly deformed in the air, gradually taking on a human shape.

Vaguely, one could see that the human figure was illusory—a stunningly beautiful woman dressed in pitch-black combat armor. Most importantly, this human-shaped light projection held a golden trident that seemed capable of piercing the heavens and splitting the earth.

Standing before the Sea God Hall, the Seven Sacred Pillar Guardian Douluo looked up at the sky. They knelt down almost simultaneously, their devout gazes filled with fervent light as they worshipped the phantom in the air.

The same situation occurred in every inhabited place on Sea God Island. Seeing the omen in the sky, the island's residents walked out of their rooms without hesitation, knelt in open spaces, and bowed toward the massive phantom.

This was the phenomenon of the Sea God Inheritor being officially recognized by the ocean. Within the sea, it seemed all living things sensed the aura of that golden phantom. At this moment, the ocean suddenly fell into a standstill; the raging waves calmed, and all things in the sea stopped swimming. Their bodies turned instinctively toward the direction of Sea God Island, trembling in respectful worship. Only the Deep Sea Demon Whale King opened its massive single eye, its gaze filled only with horror and unwillingness.

Thousands of tiny golden rays appeared from all directions. Some of these rays came from Sea God Island, but more came from the ocean. This was the Faith Power that Bo Saixi had spoken of—the faith of all things in the ocean toward the Sea God.

The more Faith Power there is, the smoother Lingqi's future cultivation will be.

The reason Tang San in the original work kept laying out plans across the Douluo Continent was likely related to collecting faith. He also relied on the faith of the people across the entire continent to gradually cultivate the Level One God, the Sea God, into a God King.

"Lingqi, that's Lingqi," Shui Yue'er said excitedly. That's right, the face and figure were exactly the same as Lv Lingqi's, only the expression was one of inviolable, sacred majesty.

Inside the Sea God Hall, on the Sea God Platform, Lingqi held the trident. The Sea God Trident, over a zhang and two in length and shining with infinite golden light, was right in her right hand.

At this moment, the black color on the Sea God Trident had completely vanished, leaving only brilliant golden light. Every golden pattern was so clear, extending all the way to the tip. The trident's central main blade was two feet long and half a foot wide, while the side blades shimmered with the same water-like golden light as their master.

Below the platform, a flash of light appeared on Ye Lingling's forehead, and the mark of the Top-tier Seven Trials gradually faded. This signaled that her Top-tier Seven Trials had been fully completed.

"Ye Lingling, Top-tier Seven Trials, Seventh Trial completed. By relying on excellent support abilities, helping partners overcome one difficulty after another, and demonstrating astonishing talent and extremely outstanding healing abilities. All seven trials passed. Granted Red Level Authority on Sea God Island, bestowed with the authority of Second Priest, rewarded with three levels of soul power, all Spirit Rings' cultivation increased by five thousand years, and bestowed with one God-Bestowed Soul Ring. Having passed all Top-tier Seven Trials, additionally rewarded with one God-Bestowed Soul Ring."

Lingling's Top-tier Seven Trials rewards could be called generous.

After accepting the rewards, her level had already risen to eighty-five. Among Healing-type Spirit Masters, there was no one better.

Moreover, her Spirit Ring configuration had changed to an astonishing Purple, Purple, Purple, Black, Black, Black, Black, Red!

"Two God-Bestowed Soul Rings, but I'm already at eight rings now. Since that's the case, I'll keep one for my own future advancement to Title Douluo, and give the other to Xun Yu to take back." Ye Lingling put the God-Bestowed Soul Ring away. God-Bestowed Soul Rings could be given to others, and the first person she thought of was, of course, her boyfriend.

"Lv Lingqi, Sea God Seventh Trial, pull out the divine artifact Sea God Trident, passed. Reward: Sea God Affinity increased by fifteen percent, total affinity ninety percent, obtained recognition of the Sea God Trident, possess usage rights of the Sea God Trident." Lingqi waved it casually. "Hehe, not bad, it feels quite handy."

The Sea God Trident only weighed one hundred and eight jin in Lingqi's hands, even lighter than the General Hegemon Fangtian Halberd of Lv Bu in the Dynasty Warriors world, so she naturally held it with zero difficulty.

What was important was that the Sea God Trident attacked enemies with at least one hundred and eight thousand jin of force, and as a divine artifact, it could isolate the opponent's soul power, forcing the opponent to rely solely on their physical body to withstand it.

To tell the truth, given the physique of Spirit Masters on the Douluo Continent, very few could achieve this.

When a Limit Douluo uses their full soul power, although they can instantly increase their own strength to several hundred thousand jin, without the support of soul power, a few tens of thousands of jin is their limit—about the same as being crushed by a dump truck.

"Congratulations, Lv Lingqi. Having passed the Sea God Seventh Trial, you have truly obtained the Sea God's recognition," Bo Saixi said to her with a smile.

"But don't be happy too soon; the following Eighth Trial is the true test for you."

"Your Eighth Trial is to kill the Deep Sea Demon Whale King and reach nine rings. With your current strength, this is extremely difficult. Unless you immediately absorb the ninth ring, but if you do that, Lord Sea God's original intention cannot be fulfilled. He let you go kill the Deep Sea Demon Whale King with the original intention of absorbing its power to increase your foundation for becoming a god."

Bo Saixi poured a bucket of cold water on Lv Lingqi. To be honest, even though Lingqi had obtained the Sea God Trident, she didn't think that highly of her chances.

After all, she hadn't even reached nine rings yet; how could she defeat the Deep Sea Demon Whale King? Unless she gave up the Deep Sea Demon Whale King's Spirit Ring and just found any Spirit Beast to break through to nine rings and become a Title Douluo, she would only have a slim chance of winning, but that would undoubtedly be a waste.

"Senior, is that Deep Sea Demon Whale King really that powerful? How does it compare to the Demon Orca King?" Ye Lingling asked.

Although she was a top student and very knowledgeable about the information on most Spirit Beasts on the continent, she wasn't as clear about creatures in the sea.

Bo Saixi said calmly, "They are not on the same level at all. Even if Xiaobai and the Demon Orca King joined forces, they wouldn't be a match for it in a single exchange. Even I might not be its opponent, because its cultivation has already neared one million years and it has begun to Huolong. If it can successfully Huolong, it will be a true Sea God Dragon."

"What?" Ye Lingling was shocked. "Are you saying that Deep Sea Demon Whale has already cultivated for nearly one million years?"

Bo Saixi shook her head and said, "That's not quite it. That fellow has cultivated for about thirty-some thousand years, but by relying on its devouring of other sea Spirit Beasts and its own special skills, it has successively broken through nine tribulations, which is equivalent to cultivation at the near-million-year level. Besides fearing Lord Sea God, it is the true hegemon of the ocean."

After hearing this, Ye Lingling and Lv Lingqi both felt heavy-hearted.

They could understand Bo Saixi's meaning: to defeat the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, Lingqi must first absorb the ninth ring. But if she did that, even if she won, she couldn't fully obtain the Deep Sea Demon Whale King's power, as she wasn't a Twin Spirits user after all.

This... has formed a paradox.

(End of chapter)