Douluo Dalu: Volume 32: Seagod’s Trials

by Tang Jia San Shao

  “You don’t have to trouble him anymore. From the start of Seagod Island until now, this is the first time this situation had appeared. What you have to go through is not nine top tier tests. Rather it is nine Seagod tests.”

  The voice approached, and as the last word entered the Shrek Seven Devil’s ears, from a distance a red spot of light gradually expanded, the group felt as if the space slightly distorted and in the next instant, by the Seahorse Sacred Pillar was an extra person.

  Her height was about the same as Xiao Wu, her whole body covered by a bright red gown, her ocean blue hair loosely hanging behind her, although not as long as Xiao Wu’s, when let down was still nearing the surface of the ground. Her beautiful appearance looked no more than a thirty year old, her beauty mostly seemed to originate from her disposition, nobility, elegance and her warm gentleness. In her right hand was a three meter long scepter, this scepter was golden like the gold which appeared from the sky previously. On it were numerous carvings, and by its base was a spear like protrusion. Five inches below the speartip a golden gem was embedded.

  If purely based on appearance, she was definitely an exquisite beauty, and her disposition was not something anyone could compare to. Even the Supreme Pontiff BiBi Dong could not match her.

  The most shocking thing about her was still her eyes. Her clear blue eyes seemed deeper that the oceans, and within them seemed to encompass the experiences of the ancient. These pair of eyes, was it something a thirty or so year girl should have?

  “Junior pays his respects to the high priest.” Seahorse Douluo bowed slightly as he payed his respects towards the lady in red, “This subordinate was unable to properly complete Lord Seagod’s instructions, please mete out your punishment, high priest.

  The red garbed lady slightly smiled, and the waters in the oceans seemed to move with her smile.

  “This is not your fault. This is also my first time seeing such a sight.” Her gaze shifted and everyone present felt as if she was staring at them. And her gaze finally stopped on Tang San, or perhaps more precisely the mark of the golden trident on his forehead.

  “Young one. I have waited over a hundred years, until finally during my dying years I meet you. Can you tell me your story?”

  As the one closest to her voice, Tang San could feel his heartbeat suddenly accelerate, however that was not due to her beauty, rather it is due to her voice which which seemed to come from the depths of the soul. Although she looked like a normal human girl, Tang San clearly understood, the one that stood before him now was the one who as famous as his great-grandfather, and the one who once defeated his great-grandfather as well as Spirit Hall’s high priest Qian Daoliu, this person was the Seagod Douluo, Bo Saixi.

  Just as he had not expected the five lords under Bo Saixi to have become Seven, Tang San had not expected that this powerful person who reached rank ninety-nine was actually a lady, and one that seemed to have eternal youth and looked barely thirty. Her true age, at the very least would have to be over a hundred and twenty years old.

  “Junior Tang San pays his respects to senior. My grandfather’s taboo name is Chen.” Tang San bowed over ninety-degrees, respectfully bowing towards this person in-front of him who represented the highest authority in the Seagod Island, the Seagod Douluo.

  However, he had not imagined that the Seagod Douluo Bo Saixi’s figure would actually lightly flash and appear in front of him and not accept his respects.

  “There is no need for this courtesy. You are Tang Chen’s great-grandson?” Bo Saixi’s voice sounded slightly surprised

  Tang San respectfully spoke: “Indeed.”

  Bo Saixi’s eyes revealed a glow with a trace of sadness. “Time truly passes quickly! Even his great-grandson is already so big. I never expected that the person I am waiting for is actually his great-grandson.”

  Tang San did not speak, he only silently listened to Bo Saixi’s words, his strength could not even come close to matching this ranked ninety-nine Seagod Douluo in front of him, but he could feel that, the Seagod Douluo Bo Saixi had no ill intentions towards him.

  Bo Saixi quickly gathered herself, with both her eyes looking at Tang San, “Tang San, look at me.”

  Tang San looked towards Bo Saixi’s eyes. His eyes clear, with not a hint of retreating, Bo Saixi solemnly said: “From now on, you must remember. On this Seagod Island, no one is qualified to receive your courtesy, that includes myself.”

  “Ah?” Tang San looked at the Seagod Douluo with great surprise, he did not understand why this indisputably powerful person would say something like that to him.

  Bo Saixi turned towards the Seahorse Douluo, “Ou Ya[1], pass on my orders. All the way until they have completed Lord Seagod’s tests these eight people are all VIPs of the island, no one is to cause trouble or neglect them, other than not being able to help them with their tests, help fulfil all their requests to the best of your ability. Let them reside in your Seahorse city. Also, help me tell the other six to gather at the Seagod Temple for a meeting.”

  “Understood.” The Seahorse Douluo Ou Ya respectfully replied. Although he had not seen the high priest for ten years, on this Seagod Island, Bo Saixi was a supreme existence. Only if the Seagod himself personally appeared could she be second.

  Bo Saixi’s gaze once more landed on Tang San, smilingly she nodded towards him, “Very good, very good, I believe that you will be able to pass Lord Seagod’s test. If there is anything you need you can request it from Ou Ya. Remember, for your Seagod’s Nine Tests, you must complete at least one a year, otherwise it is considered to have been failed.”

  Tang San asked: “If i were to fail, and am unable to pass the test, will I end up the same as the other Black Tier tests participants and die?”

  Bo Saixi’s expression changed and Tang San felt his vision blur as Bo Saixi suddenly appeared only a few centimeters away from him. Her originally warm eyes suddenly became cold, and an incomparable amount of pressure suddenly oppressed Tang San making it hard for him to even breathe.

  “Tang San, remember this, never let the thought of failure even surface in your mind. I can tell you this, for your test, it involves the survival of Seagod Island, if you were to fail, the consequences is not something as simple as death, it would be much much worse than death.”

  After these works were spoken, all they felt was a flash of red light and in the next moment, the Seagod Douluo who was originally standing in-front of Tang San had disappeared.

  Dai Mubai, Ma Hong Jun, Oscar and the rest seemed to let out a breath at the same time, their faces were all pale and beads of sweat were on their faces.

  “She is just too strong, even though that was just that one instant, it felt like my body was being squashed.” Oscar fearfully spoke.

  Tang San did not speak, rather he engraved the words Bo Saixi spoke before she left deeply in his mind, carefully trying to understand the meaning behind her words. Realising that the reason that this Seagod Douluo appeared was because of his Seagod’s Nine Tests, which was enough to shock even her and even say that his test involved the whole Seagod Island, but just why was this so? In terms of strength, he was indeed slightly stronger than the rest of his companions, but this Seagod’s Test was obviously going to be significantly harder than the rest of theirs. Just why was this so? At this point in time, Tang San’s heart was filled with doubt.

  At this moment, the Seahorse Douluo’s voice resounded, “Dear distinguished guests, please come with me.”

  A rich blue light emanated from the Seahorse Douluo’s hand, with a light wave a strange scene appeared. The seawater in the sea suddenly rose and solidified in the air, in just a little while it had transformed into a bridge which led not back where they came but rather deeper into the forests of Seagod Island.

  Seahorse Douluo’s attitude was extremely respectful due to the words Seagod Douluo had spoken earlier. For a person with a title douluo’s strength to treat them with such respect made the Shrek Seven Devils feel unaccustomed and
as such their gazed all landed on Tang San.

  Tang San gathered his thoughts, he knew that this was not the time to think too much about these things, as such he returned a bow to the Seahorse Douluo as he said: “Sorry to trouble senior.”

  When he stepped onto the sea water bridge, he was surprised to find that the bridge under his feet felt solid even though it was clear sea water. This sensation made all of their hearts fill with novelty and curiosity.

  Upon reaching the shore, there were ten yellow-robed oceanic Spirit Masters respectfully standing in two rows, following the group's advance.

  The Seahorse Douluo did not take the lead, rather, under his constant request, Tang San walked in front instead.

  As the Seahorse Douluo walked, he smiled as he said: “Dear distinguished guests, I welcome you all to stay at Seagod Island, most likely you all will be staying here in the time to come. There are not many rules here in Seagod Island, after you all enter the Seahorse City, you all can decide when you want to begin your tests. Other than this young lady who has already completed her test, the rest of the distinguished guests will have to complete at least one test a year. As you all can feel when you accepted the tests, they have to be carried out in order. When one is complete, you will naturally know what the next one is. Until all of them are complete, if any of you have any needs just let us know, we will try our best to help fulfil them. There is one more thing you have to take note of, other than the forbidden central area in the Seagod Island, you are all free to roam the island as you please, also please do not try and hide the marks of your forehead, it is a symbol of your identities here.”

  Tang San nodded his head, saying: “Thank you senior for your instructions, we will be under your care in the future.”

  The Seahorse Douluo Ou Ya smilingly said: “Mister Tang is being too courteous. You are the distinguished guest of the High Priest, if there is anything you need just speak and it will be arranged.”

  After advancing for an hour, as they left the forest what greeted their sights was actually a city.

  This was a small city, with city walls of only five meters high. As they left the forests, due to being on higher ground, they were able to easily see the whole appearance of this small city. This city was by comparison much smaller to those in the Heaven Dou Empire. The most notable thing in this city was the large column in the city center. This column looked fairly similar to the Seahorse Sacred Pillar, only much larger and on the top of the building was a huge statue of a Seahorse.

  The Seahorse Douluo Ou Ya said: “The Seagod island has in total seven Sacred Pillar cities. This is the Seahorse City I am in charge of. That building you all can see is the City Lord’s mansion. There are in total about one thousand people in Seahorse City, all of whom are the most loyal followers of Lord Seagod.”

  Dai Mubai asked: “We have heard that there are about three thousand Oceanic Spirit Masters on the Seagod Island. If your Seahorse City already has one thousand people, then does it mean that the other cities have much less Oceanic Spirit Masters?”

  The Seahorse Douluo smilingly replied: “That is not necessarily so. This so-called three thousand Oceanic Spirit Masters refer to the three thousand five hundred Seagod Fighters who protect Lord Seagod. Every city has five hundred of these Spirit Masters to protect them. But after these Seagod Fighters reach the age of seventy, they can retire. Also there are those who are younger than eighteen years old who have not undergone the Seagod’s tests and as such are also not part of the Seagod Fighters. Hence, every single city has about a thousand or so people. In fact the amount of people in this city of mine is considered to be few. The largest Sea Dragon City already has over two thousand people. Dear distinguished guests, let us enter the city together.”

  This was indeed a small city, the city gates had only the basic four. Although it was the city gates, it seemed more like the manor doors. As the group approached the city gates, there were two white and two yellow robed forming a total of four Oceanic Spirit Masters standing guard. Once the saw the black robed Seahorse Douluo appear, they immediately bowed respectfully and welcomed the group into the city.

  However, although Seahorse City was indeed small, it could be considered to be very well equipped. The roads were although not very wide, they were extremely clean. The two rows of houses by the side were although not very big, they were made out of mostly wood and stone. And although there amounts of shops were not extremely numerous, they were still present.

  Seeing the shops in this city, it was hard to imagine that this was actually on an island, it felt as if it was a normal inland city.

  The Seahorse Douluo said: “Distinguished guests can reside at the City Lord’s Manor for now. I cannot be away from the Seahorse Sacred Pillar for too long so normally I would be cultivating by the pillar. The people here are able to be self sufficient, with some simple farming and with the resources of the ocean it is enough for us to survive. As such there is no need for money on Seagod Island, normally goods are exchanged through barter. Of course, we of the Seagod Island also have people who specifically work on our exports and would leave to trade with the nearby cities every now and then and also purchase whatever essential goods.”

  Tang San said: “I heard that the Seagod Island Spirit Masters are not allowed to leave the Seagod Island.”

  The Seahorse Douluo lightly smiled as he replied: “The Seagod Island fleet is not necessarily made up of Oceanic Spirit Masters from Seagod Island, but rather Oceanic Spirit Masters not part of Seagod Island, or even voluntary land Spirit Masters who failed the test. Every specified period of time, they will come and deliver some commodities and trade for some resources of this island.”

  Ma Hong Jun questioned: “This does not seem quite good. It’s too unstable, if those people decide to not deliver goods to Seagod Island, and since Seagod Island’s Spirit Masters cannot leave, wouldn’t things become troublesome?”

  Seahorse Douluo looked at him briefly. “All the Oceanic Douluos are children of Lord Seagod, none of them would forsake us. The Seagod Island is the sacred ground of the Oceanic Douluos.”

  Tang San lightly nodded his head, the situation regarding these Oceanic Spirit Masters was indeed different from the mainland. From the Purple Pearl Pirate Group it could already be seen, this Seagod Island had the absolute faith of the Oceanic Spirit Masters, unlike Spirit Hall which relied of power to rule. These Oceanic Spirit Masters were much more united which was also why Spirit Hall had been unable to stretch its influence to these Oceanic Spirit Masters. Of course, this was also related to why the Oceanic Spirit Masters did not bother with the matters of Spirit Hall, just as the land Spirit Masters were restricted at sea, these oceanic Spirit Masters were restricted on the land, and their strengths greatly reduced. As such these two sides had been at peace.

  Upon walking into Seahorse City, Tang San’s group drew a lot of attention, but in the presence of the Seahorse Douluo, the Spirit Masters in the city did not dare approach them. Especially due to the disturbance in the skies over Seagod Island, and the visions they all saw in this Seahorse City, it was practically impossible for Tang San’s group to not raise attention, especially since the marks on their foreheads were so obvious. If you paid a little attention, you would be able to hear the voices of surprise from the residents of Seahorse Island.

  The City Lord’s Manor was smaller than imagined, inside, other than the Seahorse Douluo Ou Ya, there were ten other Oceanic Spirit Masters who had passed the Purple Tier test and could be considered the core force in the Seahorse City. The City Lord’s Manor was divided into three levels. Under his insistence, the room originally belonging to the Seahorse Douluo was given to Tang San. The third floor was although not small, but there was not many rooms, a single living room was already over two hundred square meters but there was only one bedroom. As such, the rest of the Shrek Seven Devils were arranged to stay in the Second level.

  After the Seahorse Douluo settled down the group, he immediately left, obviou
sly to go and pass on the High Priest Seagod Douluo Bo Saixi’s orders.

  Ma Hong Jun sat on a sofa in the living room of the third floor, letting out a long breath he said, “It’s really not bad, I never thought that after coming here things would go so smoothly. Third brother, this is all thanks to your blessings!”

  The group all sat down, before Tang San mused: “We have successfully entered Seagod Island, but this is only the start. The most important thing to us now is still whether we are able to complete these tests. At the moment only Xiangxiang has passed, and amongst the seven of us left the lowest level is the Black five tests. From the Seahorse Douluo reaction, the tests we are going to face are not going to be simple. We still have to think about the long term, but for now we need to deal with this first test. What are your first tests?”

  Dai Mubai said deeply: “My first test is very strange, it is called Traversal. The light of Seagod. What about the rest of you?”

  Zhu Zhuqing was stunned for a moment before saying: “Mine is the same as well, our first test is the same!”

  Ma Hong Jun, Oscar and Ning Rongrong have not inspected what their first tests were and so immediately gathered their minds and used their mental energies to interact with the mark on their forehead before the contents of their first test slowly appeared in their minds.

  “The same, mine is traversal of the Seagod’s light as well.”

  What surprised all of them was that their first test was actually all the same, including the Ning Rongrong who had the Top Tier Seven Tests. It was the same test of traversal of the Seagod’s light.

  “Little San, what is your first test?”

  Tang San’s eyes were slightly strange as he looked at Xiao Wu, slowly realising why Xiao Wu only had one test but yet the difficulty was just as high, “My test is traversal, twofold, of the Seagod’s light.”

  The group exchanged glances at each other before looking at Tang San again, all of them at a loss of words.

  Zhu Zhuqing said: “The first test, Traversal, of the Seagod’s light, the instructions are to head to the Forbidden core of the Seagod Island and climb to the hundred and eighth step. Then you will be deemed to have passed the test. You can quit midway and the time limit is one year.”