"Young Master, you want to fight?"
"Yes!"
"…"
To be honest, Xue E really wanted to refuse.
Bai Chen was only six years old. At that age, most children were still being spoiled in their parents' arms.
Yet Bai Chen wanted to fight dangerous soul beasts.
Soul beasts were not like humans.
When human soul masters fought each other, they usually held back unless there was deep hatred between them. But if one exposed even the slightest weakness before a soul beast, it could very well mean death.
Still, when Xue E met Bai Chen's serious gaze, the words of refusal stuck in his throat.
He had always been like this.
Whenever his young master sincerely asked for something, he would eventually soften.
"Sigh… alright. But when you fight later, you must not stray too far from me, understand?"
"Understood!"
Bai Chen nodded firmly, secretly letting out a sigh of relief.
He quietly clenched his fists, biting his lower lip hard.
Just hold on a little longer.
Soon… the killing can begin.
Back when Bai Chen read Heavenly Jewel Change, after Zhou Weiqing gained the power of the Dark Demon Evil Tiger, the only side effect he seemed to experience was slightly stronger desires.
Because of that, Bai Chen had subconsciously believed the evil attribute didn't have serious side effects.
But now he realized he had underestimated it.
After devouring the evil energy from the Evil Tiger Shark, the evil power within his body was gradually becoming unstable.
The same whispers that had appeared during his martial soul awakening began echoing in his ears again.
They tempted him.
They urged him to start slaughtering everything around him—
to devour every living creature in sight.
Thinking about it carefully, Zhou Weiqing had only absorbed the energy from the Dark Demon Evil Tiger's inner core.
But by the time that energy reached him, it had already been weakened multiple times.
First, the Dark Demon Evil Tiger lost part of its power when it died.
Then its power split into two parts: the soul ring and the inner core.
After the inner core crossed into the world of Heavenly Jewel Change, it lost even more energy.
By the time Zhou Weiqing absorbed it, the power was already less than a tenth of its original strength.
That was why Zhou Weiqing never received a godly trial after absorbing it.
Bai Chen, on the other hand, had awakened the Dark Demon Evil Tiger martial soul directly.
The power he possessed was far stronger than Zhou Weiqing's.
Naturally—
the negative effects of the evil attribute were also magnified many times.
I'll have to be careful when choosing evil-attribute soul rings in the future, Bai Chen thought.
Even if weaker soul rings meant slower growth, that was still better than becoming an evil soul master because of uncontrolled slaughter.
Five minutes later, the hunting ship finally reached the next destination.
This time, more passengers stepped forward than ever before.
The reason was simple.
Tianhai City was a coastal city.
Among local soul masters, water and ice attributes were the most common.
Sea soul beasts were also especially suitable targets for those attributes.
So compared to other attributes, water- and ice-type soul masters were far more eager to join such expeditions.
For example, fire-type soul masters almost never came here to obtain soul rings.
Because of the large population and attribute compatibility, nearly half of the soul masters on the ship possessed water- or ice-type martial souls.
When the white-robed Soul Saint once again activated his martial soul to freeze the ocean surface, the largest battle of the voyage began.
After many soul masters jumped down from the ship, Bai Chen and his group also stepped onto the ice.
All around them, soul masters were already fighting the sea soul beasts.
Although the Soul Saint had created a massive ice platform, the ice mainly served as a battlefield for humans.
The sea soul beasts themselves remained mostly submerged beneath the water.
As a result, it wasn't easy for soul masters to quickly finish them off.
Soon, Bai Chen's group encountered their own opponent.
A series of sharp cracking sounds echoed from beneath the ice.
Xue E frowned and shouted,
"Watch your feet!"
Hearing the warning, everyone reacted immediately.
Bai Chen grabbed Na'er in one swift motion.
Black wings spread from his back as he leapt into the air, carrying her safely above the ice.
Meanwhile, Xu Xiaoyu raised his hand.
A pure white staff appeared in his grasp.
When he struck the ground with it, a barrier of ice crystals rose up around him and Xu Xiaoyan, blocking the shockwaves from the attack.
A beam of golden light suddenly shot upward from beneath the ice.
It pierced straight through the thick frozen surface and burst onto the battlefield.
The attack had originally been aimed at Bai Chen.
But thanks to his quick reaction, it missed completely.
Moments later, the attacker revealed itself.
It was a golden fish-like sea soul beast.
Its nose extended outward like a long spear, clearly its most dangerous weapon.
That spear had just attempted to impale Bai Chen's body.
Xue E narrowed his eyes and raised his hand, ready to kill it.
But before he could act—
Bai Chen moved first.
Instead of retreating after dodging the attack, he flapped his wings and rushed forward.
In an instant, he arrived beside the golden fish.
Sea soul beasts were creatures meant to live in the ocean.
Only in water could they unleash their full strength.
Once dragged onto land, they were little more than helpless prey.
And in the air?
Their disadvantage became even more obvious.
Bai Chen had wings.
The fish did not.
That alone sealed its fate.
The Evil God Hook flashed like lightning.
It pierced through the sea soul beast instantly.
Black mist spread from the hook, wrapping around the creature's body.
Within seconds, the fish was corroded into nothingness.
As it died, pure energy flowed through the hook and into Bai Chen's body.
He could clearly feel his soul power increase slightly.
Even his spiritual power seemed to grow.
Xue E stood nearby, completely stunned.
As a Soul Emperor, he immediately recognized what had just happened.
The creature Bai Chen had killed instantly was a hundred-year soul beast.
Normally, even a Soul Elder would need several exchanges to defeat such a beast.
But Bai Chen had killed it in a single move.
Bai Chen landed on the ice and gently set Na'er down.
Looking at his hand, he slowly clenched his fist.
What terrifying power.
The evil attribute was a holy-tier attribute, equal in rank to the sacred attribute.
Its level already surpassed most ultimate attributes.
And Bai Chen's attribute was even more extreme—
Ultimate Evil.
The power of this ultimate evil had just been demonstrated perfectly.
At this moment, Bai Chen could easily defeat hundred-year soul beasts.
Even thousand-year soul beasts would likely be no match for him.
Only ten-thousand-year soul beasts might finally allow him to taste defeat.