262. System's Prank

Spirit City.

In the Pope's Palace, it was not the usual Qian Renjue who sat on the throne, but Hu Liena.

She had a bitter expression, staring at the towering stack of documents, feeling overwhelmed.

Standing next to her was Ling Yuan Douluo, who was watching Hu Liena intently, like a construction site supervisor.

"Sister Ling Yuan, don’t your eyes get tired?" Hu Liena slumped over the table, completely disheartened.

"No, His Highness asked me to keep an eye on you, so I must stay focused," Ling Yuan Douluo replied, her tone making it seem like the most natural thing in the world.

"Ah! Senior brother is too much! He really treats his junior sister like a workhorse!" Hu Liena pouted.

"His Highness just went to rest in the inner hall for a bit. He’ll be back soon," Ling Yuan Douluo said softly, trying to comfort her.

Meanwhile, in the rear hall, Qian Renjue, having stolen a moment of leisure, sat cross-legged in the training room.

Surrounded by an aura of darkness, the four-meter-long Evil God Hook behind him glowed with a faint red light. The evil aura around him grew thicker.

After several days of careful consideration, Qian Renjue decided to use the special item card, which could increase the age of a soul bone, on the Evil God Hook.

As his surging soul power settled down, the aura around him also subsided.

At that moment, the Evil God Hook had surpassed the hundred-thousand-year mark, and its curved tip gleamed with cold light.

Qian Renjue opened his eyes, a satisfied expression on his face. "It seems... I made the right bet?"

Swish!

The Evil God Hook stretched out in front of Qian Renjue, its long, jointed segments slicing through the air.

The surrounding space rippled as if disturbed.

The ten-thousand-year-old Evil God Hook had only given Qian Renjue one new ability, but in his eyes, it was incredibly useful.

Space Jump!

It allowed him to travel between two pre-marked points at will!

The key was that it ignored distance and required no additional soul power.

The only drawback was that it could only be used twice per day—essentially one round trip.

"With this, whether for escape or other situations, the efficiency will be much higher!" Qian Renjue muttered as he touched the end of the Evil God Hook.

He drove it into the void before him, feeling no resistance as a wisp of grey energy leaked from the tip, marking the space within the training room.

"Tch, it seems that even just making a mark can break open space."

Qian Renjue flicked his tail thoughtfully. "Maybe this skill could be used in combat as well."

He shook his head, setting the idea aside for now. A smile spread across his face. "With this skill, I can be less worried about certain things."

Without waiting any longer, Qian Renjue pulled out a small, intricately designed triangular talisman from the system space.

It was the Soul Hunting Teleportation Talisman, a reward from when he had returned home with Qian Renxue.

According to the system, it was a spatial talisman from a higher world, capable of breaking open the void and transporting him near suitable soul beasts.

It was even a round-trip ticket, allowing him three return trips.

However, Qian Renjue still remembered the system's trick: this thing had a tendency to malfunction and drop him near key figures from other places.

Previously, he had been concerned about unforeseen dangers, but now, as long as it wasn’t instant death, he could use Time Reversal to recover.

Additionally, he could make a quick getaway with Space Jump.

Feeling more confident, Qian Renjue no longer hesitated. He immediately infused the talisman with soul power.

Buzz—!

A strange wave rippled from the triangular talisman, quickly enveloping Qian Renjue’s entire body.

The space around him began to collapse inward, and his body was pulled in. In the blink of an eye, the training room was empty.

A strong sense of weightlessness overwhelmed him.

Suddenly, his surroundings brightened again. Before him was an expanse of clear blue sky, devoid of clouds.

"Something’s wrong!"

Before he could take in the view, Qian Renjue realized something was off. Why was he "falling" towards the sky?

The wind brushing past his cheeks carried a salty scent.

This wasn’t just any blue sky—he was actually above a vast, endless ocean!

Swish!

Without hesitation, Qian Renjue activated his martial soul.

Two purple and four black soul rings flashed into existence.

Silver-haired and red-eyed, with pitch-black six wings on his back, he cast off all unnecessary emotions, his mind becoming crystal clear.

Since the talisman had brought him here, there had to be a soul beast nearby.

But which one?

Hum!

The Evil God Hook pierced the void, exuding grey energy. At the same time, Qian Renjue glanced down at the boundless sea beneath him.

He was hovering high in the sky, surrounded by an endless expanse of blue. It was like he was floating alone in a transparent mirror.

Scanning the area, he quickly noticed something peculiar.

The color of the ocean directly beneath him was much darker compared to the distant waters—strikingly different.

In his gleaming red eyes, the deep sea reflected an ominous shadow. Something massive was slowly rising from the depths.

The once-calm waters began to churn violently.

"This is... the Demon Whale Sea race!"

No sooner had Qian Renjue spoken than a massive column of water, fifteen meters in diameter, shot into the sky, crashing into the air as if forming an air bomb aimed directly at him.

Boom!

Qian Renjue quickly drove the Evil God Hook to tear through the void, shredding the air bomb to pieces. At the same time, he channeled soul power into the talisman in his hand.

As the strange glow from the talisman began to reappear, pulling Qian Renjue into a collapsing space, a deep, rumbling roar echoed through the air.

Waves rose with immense force.

Qian Renjue immediately felt a sharp pain in his mind, dizziness overwhelming him.

Biting the tip of his tongue to stay focused, he cursed, "Is this the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King? The system is really playing with me!"

A colossal figure, like a small island, surfaced from the depths, its body radiating a deep blue light.

In that moment, the sea flipped upside down, as if the sky had become the ground, and the ocean the sky.

The enormous creature was over two hundred meters long, its entire body shimmering like a sapphire. It had two gigantic eyes, but only the right one was intact—the left was a dark hollow.

Its remaining eye gleamed coldly as it fixed on Qian Renjue, who was attempting to escape.

The massive creature barely moved, but already, its enormous tail lifted from behind, glowing with twisted blue light as it slammed into the sea.

Billions of water droplets shot into the sky, each like a fierce arrow that could easily pierce Qian Renjue’s body.

But by then, Qian Renjue had already disappeared.

——

Back in the training room of the Pope's Palace.

A golden figure slowly reappeared. The silver hair and red eyes faded just a moment before cold sweat broke out on Qian Renjue's forehead.

Even he felt an overwhelming urge to curse at this moment.

"Damn system!"

"You call a Deep Sea Demonic Whale King a suitable soul ring? I'm only at level seventy!"

Qian Renjue had no doubt that if he hadn’t escaped quickly, he would have been ripped apart or crushed into a pulp, either experiencing death or true annihilation!

A million-year-old sea soul beast was truly terrifying.

It was still far beyond his reach.

Qian Renjue wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his racing heart slowly calming.

Looking at the spatial talisman in his hand, he channeled more soul power into it.

He refused to believe that the system would drop him next to something even more dangerous than the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King.

The space collapsed again, and the training room was left empty.

Qian Renjue's feet touched solid ground.

Before him was a blinding white light, and cold winds swirled around him...