After a brief rest, Su Cheng's complexion had improved, and the blood on his face was wiped clean.
He looked at Di Tian and asked, "By the way, you've been in this forest for so many years. I bet you've collected quite a few rare herbs, right?"
"There are indeed some things like ginseng kings and other small treasures. What are you planning? Even the most precious of these are just ordinary herbs. Would they really be useful for you?" Di Tian frowned, thinking Su Cheng was injured and wanted some spiritual herbs to heal.
"Why do you ask so many questions? Didn't I just give your sacred beast a treasure capable of changing its fate? We're all friends here, don't be stingy. Just give me a few herbs. Anyway, those herbs are pretty much useless to you beasts."
"… Follow me."
Before long, the two arrived at Di Tian's treasure vault.
Su Cheng didn't hold back, using his senses to perceive the medicinal properties of the various herbs, casually picking a few.
As Su Cheng took more and more, Di Tian's expression gradually shifted from indifference to annoyance.
Just when the Beast God was about to question Su Cheng, the latter took out two rare immortal herbs from his soul guide, along with several alchemy tools, and began concocting a potion on the spot.
Di Tian was astonished as he recognized the Singular Velvet Sky-reaching Chrysanthemum and the Eight-petal Immortal Orchid in Su Cheng's hands. Instinctively, he asked, "What are you doing?"
Although he couldn't identify the exact species, Di Tian could sense the immense medicinal power within these herbs.
"I'm only using the herbs I got from you as secondary ingredients. The main components are from my own stash."
"…"
Di Tian was speechless.
He had never imagined that his collection of ten-thousand-year-old treasures would one day be used as mere supplementary herbs.
As he watched Su Cheng carefully mix the ingredients, creating a complex potion that emitted powerful energy fluctuations, Di Tian grew more and more surprised.
The wide variety of herbs blended perfectly, without a hint of wasted energy or conflicting properties.
In the final step, Su Cheng even added a drop of Dragon God's Blood, which made Di Tian's eyes light up with envy.
Finally unable to hold back, Di Tian exclaimed, "What are you making this for?!"
He could clearly see that Su Cheng's alchemical skills were extraordinary.
Even with so many secondary herbs, Su Cheng was able to fully extract their medicinal properties, which was no small feat.
But the issue remained: no matter how skilled the concoction, the sheer power contained in the potion would be far too much for anyone to handle.
Perhaps only someone on Di Tian's level could have any hope of absorbing all that energy.
"I'm preparing it for fishing."
"Fishing? Wait—" Di Tian's expression changed. "You're not planning to target that Deep Sea Demon Whale King, are you?"
"That's one way to put it. That creature can't be left alive," Su Cheng replied casually.
If he let the Deep Sea Demon Whale King go, allowing Tang San to use it as a spirit ring or spirit bone in the future, it wouldn't affect much, but eliminating it would be better than not.
Half a day later, Su Cheng shook the bottle of rose-gold potion in his hand, looking somewhat fatigued.
Creating this concoction hadn't been easy for him.
If it weren't for the powerful calculation ability of his Trajectory Magic Eye, even with his deep knowledge of herbs, he wouldn't have been confident in succeeding on the first try.
And since all the materials were one-time-use, there wouldn't be a second chance.
Aside from this main potion, Su Cheng had also taken the time to make a large amount of medicine to replenish mental energy, which he would use as a reserve when operating the Trajectory Magic Eye.
Though these medicines wouldn't provide much energy compared to the vastness of his own spiritual sea, they were still better than nothing.
Half a month later, two human and a beast stood on the deck of a large soul-guided ship, looking out over the vast blue ocean.
Su Cheng and Ah Yin stood toward the back, while the Three-Eyed Golden Lion stood at the front, its golden fur rippling like a blazing fire in the sea breeze.
Su Cheng had no intention of hiding Ah Yin's presence because there was no need.
It wasn't like he could keep Ah Yin hidden within his spirit for the entire journey—that was out of the question.
Initially, the Three-Eyed Golden Lion had shown strong curiosity toward Ah Yin's sudden appearance, but soon lost interest, distracted by the fascinating world around it.
"This is the ocean? It's so much larger than the Lake of Life."
Standing at the edge of the ship, the lion's eyes were filled with awe.
This was to be expected.
As a creature that had never seen the sea in its thousands of years of life, it was naturally overwhelmed upon witnessing such a majestic sight. The power of nature had left it deeply shaken.
Su Cheng and Ah Yin exchanged amused glances. Then Su Cheng stepped forward and grabbed the lion by the scruff of its neck.
"Hey, what are you doing—Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa!!"
Before the golden-furred beast could finish its sentence, it felt the ground disappear from beneath it.
The next moment, the ship was gone, and its two-meter-long body was suspended in mid-air, too terrified to struggle, though it continued to yowl.
Ah Yin wrapped her arms around Su Cheng's waist, and the three of them floated above the sea in an odd posture.
Su Cheng ignored the lion's frantic cries, lowering his gaze as if he could see through the depths of the ocean, all the way to the powerful soul beast hidden below.
"Alright, enough barking. Let me show you something even more exciting."
Saying this, Su Cheng uncorked the bottle of potion he had made with two immortal herbs and Dragon God's Blood and carefully poured a tiny drop into the sea.
As soon as the potion touched the water, the ocean seemed to erupt in chaos.
Countless powerful sea soul beasts swarmed toward the spot, but Su Cheng used his domain to hide their presence, waiting in silence.
"Whhoooo—"
A deep whale song echoed, and a powerful aura approached from the depths of the ocean.
At that moment, every sea soul beast in the vicinity, no matter whether it had a thousand or ten thousand years of cultivation, retreated in fear, unwilling to remain a moment longer.
The ruler of the deep had awakened.
Under the threat of life and death, they didn't dare linger.
As the aura surged upward, Ah Yin could sense the overwhelming power of the creature from the deep.
A soul beast nearing a million years in cultivation, far stronger than she was at the moment.
Of course, she wasn't afraid of it in a one-on-one fight. As long as it wasn't a god-level being, no one could truly threaten her life.
"You really lured it out. Are you going to kill it here? Such a pity for a soul beast that's nearly a million years old, so close to becoming a god," Ah Yin said, her eyes complex.
"Is that what you think?" Su Cheng replied with a chuckle.
Soon after, under Ah Yin and the Three-Eyed Golden Lion's astonished gazes, Su Cheng casually tossed the bottle containing the medicine, formulated with countless precious treasures, directly into the sea.
"On the contrary, I'm helping it. The medicine was meant for it to consume. Why else would I add Dragon God's Blood? Without some real substance, how could I help it break through the bottleneck, survive the heavenly tribulation, and succeed in becoming a Sea God Dragon?"
Noticing Ah Yin's surprised expression, Su Cheng freed one arm to wrap it around her, smiling as he said, "The show is just beginning."
Before his words even settled, faint waves suddenly appeared on the surface of the sea below.
Gradually, those waves turned into surging tides, and soon the entire sea area was stirred up, forming a massive whirlpool with a diameter of over a kilometer.
The Deep Sea Demon Whale King, as if it had gone mad, began to absorb all the seawater in this area into its stomach. It then expelled the excess water, retaining only the most precious part, which it rapidly absorbed.
It had no idea why something so delicious had suddenly appeared in the sea, or why it felt so irresistibly attracted to it.
But at this moment, it had no time to think. All it wanted was to use every means possible to devour and digest the precious and mysterious energy entirely.
No one knew how much time had passed before the entire sea suddenly fell silent.
The wind and waves calmed, and the world became eerily quiet. Even the clouds in the sky seemed to have frozen in place.
In the next moment, an even fiercer wind arose, and the sound of thunder boomed from an unknown source.
"Whooo—"
The gigantic whale leaped from the sea, tracing a large arc in the air before splashing back into the water.
A deep and majestic whale song echoed, filled with complex emotions—excitement, exhilaration, anticipation, and an unmistakable sense of profound fear…
On the surface of the colossal whale's body, faint blue patterns began to emerge, resembling fish scales that blended with its skin. The Deep Sea Demon Whale King's body was undergoing rapid and mysterious transformations.
Its body elongated, scales hardened, horns grew on its forehead, wings sprouted from its ribs, and its single remaining eye emitted a blazing light, cold and imposing…
At the same time, countless bolts of lightning began to spread across the sky, covering an area of over a kilometer.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The endless lightning flashed and disappeared in an instant, only to be replaced by new bolts of lightning that turned the entire space into a blinding white.
The speed at which the lightning appeared and vanished was incredibly fast, as if the entire process of destruction and rebirth happened in a single moment. Yet, the violent destructive force and god-like energy fluctuations were at their absolute peak.
Ah Yin's delicate face turned pale, a flicker of instinctive fear crossing her eyes. The Three-Eyed Golden Lion, which Su Cheng still held, trembled uncontrollably. Its cries turned into low whimpers, and its golden fur stood on end like a spiky hedgehog, making it resemble a fluffy golden ball.
Under the different gazes of the group, bolts of lightning struck the Deep Sea Demon Whale King from head to tail, leaving no corner of its massive body untouched. Even the seafloor below was illuminated by the dazzling lightning.
Each time the whale was struck by the overwhelmingly powerful lightning, its massive body would tremble violently. Its outer skin began to crack inch by inch, and newly formed, hardened scales were blown away in all directions. Then, the lightning dug deeper into its muscles, reaching even its nerves and bones…
Although the whale let out cries of pain continuously, it showed no intention of trying to escape.
No one understood better than it did—once locked by a heavenly tribulation, escape was impossible. Running would only hasten its death.
And so, the endless lightning continued to rain down, until the whale's outer skin turned completely red with blood, then was torn away piece by piece. Its muscles were charred black, and its life force ebbed lower and lower…
"This is…" Ah Yin couldn't help but mutter under her breath, instinctively clutching Su Cheng's clothes tightly.
"The soul beast's godhood tribulation," Su Cheng answered softly.
This was the suppression of soul beasts by the laws of heaven and earth, a method to prevent them from becoming gods.
This heavenly tribulation was countless times more terrifying than the numerous tribulations fierce beasts had to endure as they grew.
Even with the Deep Sea Demon Whale King's profound foundation, it would still struggle to withstand such divine punishment.
However, it wasn't relying solely on itself—it also had Su Cheng's medicine.
Without Su Cheng's aid, constantly stimulating its deeper potential and life force, even with its extraordinary physique, it would have struggled to survive this trial.
Su Cheng had put a lot of thought into formulating the medicine.
For a creature as large and powerful as the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, replenishing its life force was meaningless—no earthly elixir's vitality could surpass its own.
Thus, the medicine wasn't meant to replenish, but to stimulate.
Whether human or soul beast, no matter how advanced their cultivation, most of them couldn't activate their deeper potential.
As long as the Deep Sea Demon Whale King's latent strength could be fully excavated, allowing its new life force to surpass the destructive power of the lightning, it would have a good chance of surviving the tribulation.
Moreover, the medicine also enhanced its cultivation.
Even for a soul beast like the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, the combination of two immortal herbs and supplementary ingredients would be enough to break through the final barrier in its cultivation.
This was why, after it absorbed the medicinal power from the sea, it had so quickly triggered the soul beast's godhood tribulation.
And the most crucial component of the medicine was that drop of Dragon God's Blood.
Though there wasn't much of it, that single drop was what enabled the Deep Sea Demon Whale King to take the final step towards becoming a true dragon, transforming its very essence. By leveraging the tribulation's baptism, it had a chance of successfully ascending to godhood!
However, the godhood tribulation, which even Di Tian wouldn't dare to challenge lightly, was far from over.
Because a soul beast's godhood tribulation didn't end with just a lightning trial.
After the lightning tribulation… there was still human interference…
"When I mentioned fishing before, I wasn't referring to this guy. It's merely the bait," Su Cheng said calmly.
At this point, his expression suddenly shifted, and he looked toward the sky. "Look, the real big fish has arrived."