Hainü City.
In the exquisite City Lord's mansion, a mermaid, whose appearance bore a four-point resemblance to Haidie, was restlessly rolling on a large transparent bubble.
She was the City Lord of Hainü City, the Hainü Douluo.
"Where exactly did Adie go? It's been so long, and she hasn't returned."
"The guards I sent out haven't found any news of her yet."
Hainü rested her chin on her hands, a trace of worry surfacing in her pale blue eyes.
"Could something have happened to her!"
The sudden thought made her uneasy, and her alluring yet slightly childish face was filled with deep unease.
"But that doesn't make sense either."
"If Adie were really in danger, why wouldn't she send a distress signal?"
"Maybe she didn't have time!"
Her upper body suddenly sat upright, and this speculation made her heart tremble.
"No, no, I can't think like this."
"Adie is a Soul Emperor, how could she not even send a signal? She must be fine!"
However, such thoughts couldn't convince herself. Hainü Douluo bit her finger, pondered for a while, and finally said, "But it's already been two months, almost three, and Adie still hasn't returned."
"No, I can't wait any longer. I need to report this matter to Lord Poseidon."
Just as Hainü Douluo made up her mind and was about to head to the Sea God's Hall to inform the High Priest Poseidon about Adie's situation, a voice filled with joy rang out.
"Auntie, I'm back!"
This familiar voice made Hainü Douluo's eyes light up, and a great joy suddenly spread across her face.
A moment later, Haidie's figure rushed in from the doorway and threw herself into her arms, her smooth side face rubbing against her cheek.
"Adie, where did you go!"
"Do you know how worried I was!"
Hugging Haidie, Hainü Douluo complained with mock displeasure.
The merman race had both males and females, and with lineage came kinship. Haidie was Hainü Douluo's direct relative.
"Heh heh!"
"I went out to play for a bit, sorry. Auntie, don't be angry, okay?"
Haidie revealed a row of clean, white jade teeth and explained with a smile.
"Don't do this next time."
"Running off without a word, I was almost going to tell Lord Poseidon!"
Hainü glared at Haidie with dissatisfaction, pouting to express her displeasure.
"Mhm."
"I got it, I got it! I won't do it again." Haidie nodded repeatedly, making a promise.
"Where did you go to play that took so long?"
"That's a secret!"
"Ah, you bad girl... are you keeping this a secret from your auntie too?"
"I've doted on you for nothing..."
"Heh heh."
The two beautiful and cute mermaids chased each other playfully, their laughter and noise soon filling the entire City Lord's mansion.
On the sea, a small boat was drifting with the waves.
Wang Zhong sat on the boat, holding a sea chart, and frowned in thought.
The sea chart clearly marked the areas of the ocean, indicating what kind of soul beasts were present, their age, species, and numbers.
Each coastline was also very clearly demarcated.
However, the places marked with deep coastlines were inhabited by various powerful sea soul beasts, either alone or in groups.
"Deep Sea Demon Whale King, Demonic Orca King, Magic Soul Great White Shark..."
"These are all hundred-thousand-year-old behemoths. With my current strength, it seems unrealistic to snatch a coastline from them."
Wang Zhong had immense confidence in his own strength. If he were on land, he would dare to clash even with a hundred-thousand-year-old soul beast.
But on the sea, for him, a soul master accustomed to land battles, it was extremely uncomfortable. Furthermore, sea soul beasts, being naturally at home in the ocean, had an even greater advantage. Engaging in battle on their home turf was clearly unwise.
"Either adapt to sea combat as quickly as possible, or find another way."
After examining the sea chart, Wang Zhong put it into his soul tool and rowed the small boat in a certain direction.
Originally, Wang Zhong had planned to buy or rent a boat at the dock, but after looking for a long time, he found nothing suitable.
The defensive capabilities of those boats were extremely poor, and it was rare to find a boat that could withstand the attack of a hundred-year soul beast. As a last resort, Wang Zhong had to use his second soul skill to simulate a small wooden boat.
At least, this wooden boat, condensed from soul power and wood, was hundreds of times stronger in defense than those. An ordinary ten-thousand-year-old soul beast, even if it broke its teeth, would not be able to tear apart this fragile-looking small wooden boat.
After about two hours, a small, uninhabited island appeared in front of Wang Zhong. It was less of an island and more of a large reef jutting out of the sea.
The island was circular, with a diameter of only about a hundred meters. Two coconut trees and other trees grew sparsely on it.
Due to the constant washing of the waves, the edges of the island were very smooth, but fortunately, Wang Zhong could anchor his boat there.
This would be Wang Zhong's residence at sea for a period. Although Han Hai City might have been better in terms of conditions, Wang Zhong felt that constantly traveling between towns and the sea was too troublesome.
It would waste too much time!
He dragged the small boat ashore, placed it aside, then circled the island, found a place to sit down casually, and began to stare at the sea, lost in thought.
The deep coastlines were necessary for cultivation, but the sea soul beasts living there were a factor that could not be ignored.
"There's no other way, so all I can do now is to forcibly seize one!"
"To forcibly seize a coastline from the sea soul beasts and make it a place for cultivation."
"But I am a land soul master and am extremely unfamiliar with sea combat, or rather, unaccustomed to it! To compensate for this shortcoming, I must improve through extensive practical combat."
Thinking of this, Wang Zhong took out the sea chart again. Among the marked points, some sea soul beasts were not as strong as ten-thousand-year-olds, but they still occupied some deep-sea areas that he thought could be used for training.
"Logically speaking, the most suitable way to quickly accumulate sea combat experience would be to participate in the Soul Dou tournaments for sea soul masters in the vast ocean. However, my goal is the habitat of those few hundred-thousand-year-old soul beasts."
"Although the combat styles of sea soul masters and sea soul beasts are similar, there should be significant differences in their essence. Instead of wasting time, it's better to directly find sea soul beasts for tempering."
"Deep Sea Demon Whale King, Demonic Orca King, Magic Soul Great White Shark, I can't touch these three for now."
"It won't be too late to go after I've completely adapted to sea combat."
"Therefore, my next target will be this one."
Wang Zhong's finger pointed at the sea chart. To the southwest of his location, about a hundred nautical miles away, a soul beast was marked: a ten-thousand-year-old sea snake type soul beast.
"Although ten thousand years is a bit low, I'll use it to try first and see the difference between sea soul beasts and land soul beasts."
"The accumulation of experience must be from weak to strong..."