On the battlefield.
After a period of rest, everyone had recovered a lot.
At this moment, a blue light shot out from the seawater, and Shi Po's figure appeared on the deck.
Her face showed a hint of urgency; it was clear that after receiving Lingyu Princess's message, she was extremely anxious.
She immediately returned, not bothering to continue tracking the Thousand-hole Squid, but because the distance was quite far, it took her a considerable amount of time despite her full effort.
Seeing Hong Ye and the others on the deck now, her hanging heart finally relaxed a little, and only after confirming that Lingyu Princess was unharmed did she completely put her mind at ease.
"Princess, are you alright? Are you injured?"
Inside the cabin, Shi Po asked with a look of concern.
She could tell that Lingyu Princess's face was pale, clearly indicating that her Mental Energy had been affected to some extent.
"I'm fine. I didn't expect to encounter another powerful Yao Beast besides the Thousand-hole Squid."
Lingyu Princess shook her head slightly. She sat cross-legged on the bed, and after taking a Medicinal Pill to calm her Qi and focus her mind, her complexion had regained some color.
She herself hadn't sustained any injuries; it was just that her Mental Energy was greatly depleted, and she was a bit tired.
"It was my oversight. I didn't expect there to be other Yao Beasts nearby. Fortunately, nothing major happened."
Shi Po said in a deep voice.
She was also a member of the imperial family, and in terms of seniority, she was a generation older than the current Southern Qi Emperor.
In her eyes, Lingyu Princess was the future successor of the imperial family, and nothing could possibly go wrong with her.
"Princess, where is that Yao Beast? It shouldn't have gone far. I'll go kill it to avoid any more trouble."
Thinking of the Yao Beast that had suddenly attacked, a hint of killing intent flashed in Shi Po's eyes as she slowly spoke.
"It's already dead."
Lingyu Princess shook her head and said softly.
"Dead!? Did you kill it, Princess? Or was it Hong Ye and the others?"
Shi Po said, somewhat surprised.
For Lingyu Princess to send a distress signal, it was clear that the Yao Beast must have been beyond their ability to handle; otherwise, she wouldn't have done so.
But how could that Yao Beast have died?
"It wasn't me, nor was it Hong Ye. That Yao Beast was very strong, especially with its extraordinary Mental Energy influencing ability. Hong Ye and the others had their minds controlled within a few breaths."
"Even my Dragon's Might talent was basically ineffective."
"Controlled Hong Ye's mind in a few breaths? Even Dragon's Might was ineffective!?"
Upon hearing this, Shi Po raised her eyebrows, her surprise growing even more pronounced.
Although she hadn't awakened the Dragon's Might talent, she was very familiar with its effects. Besides its deterrent effect, it also had a very good effect on breaking illusions and mental manipulation.
For even Dragon's Might to have little effect, it was clear that the Yao Beast's mental power was extremely formidable.
Among Yao Beasts, only a very few possessed the ability to influence Mental Energy.
And without exception, these Yao Beasts were all quite troublesome, making people unable to guard against them.
If that was the case, then who killed the Yao Beast with such a strange ability?
Could it be that another Yao Beast happened to appear, and they fought to a mutual defeat?
"Lin Sheng was the one who killed that Merfolk Yao Beast."
At this moment, Lingyu Princess said slowly, with a complex look in her eyes.
"What!!"
Upon hearing this, Shi Po's surprise grew even more, and she even thought she had misheard.
"Princess, are you sure that boy was the one who made the move!?"
She said with an astonished expression, her tone serious.
"I saw it with my own eyes; this cannot be false."
Lingyu Princess began to recount the entire incident from beginning to end.
After listening to her account, Shi Po remained silent for a long while before slowly speaking.
"I didn't expect this child to possess such ability. It seems I may have misjudged him before."
She frowned. With her discerning eye, she could naturally tell that Lin Sheng had not hidden his cultivation; he was indeed only at the sixth stage of Bones Transformation Realm.
"To kill a Yao Beast at the Bones Transformation Realm, this child likely harbors no small secret. Hidden so deeply, it's no wonder that person valued him. If he Breaks Through to the Divine Form Realm, perhaps he could contend with a Grandmaster of the first Realm."
Speaking of this, she looked at Lingyu Princess again, as if pondering something, then said softly.
"Princess, this child's talent is exceptional, rarely seen in the world. He is indeed far superior to the likes of Moyunzi."
After learning of Lin Sheng's strength, her attitude and thoughts had undergone a great change.
"Indeed, this talent and combat power, I am ashamed to say I'm inferior..."
Lingyu Princess nodded, recalling Lin Sheng's demonic figure and the fierce scene of him killing the Merfolk Yao Beast with a single palm. She was still extremely shocked.
Only then is he worthy of being my Lingyu's man...
She lowered her gaze, closed her eyes, but had already made a decision in her heart.
On the other side, inside the cabin.
Lin Sheng sat cross-legged, his attention fully focused on the ethereal panel before him.
"【Beast Name: Deep Marsh Ghost Shark (Yao Beast)】"
"【A strange Yao Beast living in the deep sea, with a human body and fish tail, a terrifying face, entirely dark blue, and extremely high intelligence. Although its Physical Body is far inferior to Yao Beasts of the same rank, it possesses powerful Mental Energy and is skilled at influencing and manipulating minds, with strange attack methods; due to a fortuitous Opportunity, it consumed the flesh and blood of an Ink Sea Dragon Horseshoe Crab in the deep sea, increasing its strength to a higher level. Influenced by the Dragon Horseshoe Crab's imprint, it pursues owners of Ink Sea Dragon Horseshoe Crab blood...】"
"【Integration Requirement: Mental Energy 5, Physique 10】"
"【Integration Effect: Agility increase 15, Strength increase 10, Mental Energy increase 5, Perception increase 5】"
"【Talent: Sea Ghost】"
"【Talent: Corrupt Whisper】"
"【Talent: Ji Hai Magic Blood】"
After reading the information about the Merfolk Yao Beast on the ethereal panel, Lin Sheng took a deep breath.
After a long while, he exhaled heavily, his eyes flashing with brilliance.
Nothing else, just the five-point Mental Energy increase. This was, without a doubt, the highest Mental Energy increase among all the integrated Yao Beasts he had.
It was almost comparable to the sum of those few Mental Energy-type Yao Beasts.
"Five points of Mental Energy..."
He slowly chewed on the words, his eyes filled with shock. From the attack methods of this Merfolk Yao Beast, he had already guessed that its Mental Energy increase would not be low, but he hadn't expected it to be as high as five points.
One must know that, apart from the terrifying Thousand-Eyed Nether Lord, the Mental Energy increase of this Merfolk Yao Beast was already the highest among the known exotic beasts.
It was even one point higher than the Ling Shu Jade Soul Elephant from back then.
However, that Jade Soul Elephant didn't seem to be fully grown yet; if it were, it might not be inferior to this one.
Putting everything else aside, the gains from this trip to the Misty Sea Area, just from this Merfolk Yao Beast alone, completely exceeded his imagination.
"I wonder how much the cultivation of the Supreme Heavenly Demon Scripture will improve after a five-point Mental Energy increase?"
Lin Sheng thought, eager to immediately go into seclusion and cultivate to see his current cultivation efficiency.
Suppressing the thoughts in his mind, he focused on the Merfolk Yao Beast's information.
This Merfolk Yao Beast was clearly also attracted by the Ink Sea Dragon Horseshoe Crab's imprint.
The Thousand-hole Squid was the same.
This trip might attract other Yao Beasts as well.
He just didn't know how many Yao Beasts had consumed the flesh and blood of the Ink Sea Dragon Horseshoe Crab.
He could feel that the Merfolk Yao Beast carried a considerable amount of Ink Sea Dragon Horseshoe Crab's essence blood.
And just like the Purple-Patterned Spinefish from before, it possessed the Ji Hai Magic Blood talent.
He then looked at the other two talents.
"I wonder what these two talents are like? I imagine that as a Yao Beast, its talent abilities shouldn't be weak, but I'll have to test them myself to know for sure."
With that thought, he no longer hesitated and immediately chose to integrate the Deep Marsh Ghost Shark.
The five points of Mental Energy requirement were nothing to him; he could meet it without needing to integrate other Mental Energy-type exotic beasts.
With a thought, the blood orb in his hand rapidly shrank at a visible speed.
In just a few breaths, it had completely disappeared.
At the same time, Lin Sheng's body also began to change, with dark blue patterns appearing on his skin, constantly twisting and condensing.
His entire body now exuded an indescribable, eerie aura.
Before integrating, he had already used his strength to seal the cabin, preventing any aura from leaking out.
After a while, Lin Sheng opened his eyes, a bluish-purple glow flashing within them.
At this moment, Lin Sheng felt an unprecedented clarity and fullness in his mind.
The improvement in Mental Energy was a profound and wondrous sensation.
In short, Lin Sheng now felt an unprecedented sense of comfort.
The five-point increase in Mental Energy was undoubtedly significant.
This feeling required adaptation, and after another while, that wondrous sensation gradually began to dissipate.
He had basically adapted to the huge increase in Mental Energy.
"What a wonderful feeling!~"
Lin Sheng stretched his neck, a smile on his face.
The next moment, the dark blue patterns on his skin began to coalesce at a visible speed, forming thin, cicada-wing-like dark blue scales that covered his entire body.
Instantly, Lin Sheng felt the moisture in the air like never before.
The inherent salty smell of the ocean also gained a more alluring scent.
Lin Sheng stretched his body, the scales on him constantly shifting like flowing water.
"Strength and speed have both increased, but not significantly."
At this moment, he had activated the Sea Ghost talent, but the boost it provided was quite limited, even inferior to the Dragon Elephant Power talent.
Suddenly, Lin Sheng seemed to sense something, and raising his palm, a ball of water immediately gathered in his palm, constantly expanding.
At the same time, the cabin became extremely dry.
This Sea Ghost talent also had the effect of controlling water flow, and it was even slightly stronger than his current Ji Hai Magic Blood.
"Sea Ghost, Sea Ghost. I suppose it can only exert its maximum effect in the ocean."
Lin Sheng thought, his body's abnormalities receding. He opened the cabin door and walked straight out.
In the seawater, Lin Sheng stretched his body, and dark blue scales emerged all over him.
At this moment, he truly felt the effect of the Sea Ghost talent.
With a thought, a giant wave several tens of feet high rose from the surface of the sea.
In the ocean, his water control ability was fully unleashed, allowing him to easily stir up huge waves, and his speed also greatly increased.
After several consecutive tests, he had a basic understanding of this talent.
He then activated the Merfolk Yao Beast's second talent, Corrupt Whisper.
As the thought settled, strange mouthparts soon appeared on his body, about eighty to ninety percent similar to those on the Merfolk Yao Beast at the time.
Soon, a large school of fish quickly swam towards him, circling him continuously.
Among them were even high-level Spirit Beast-tier sea beasts.
"Indeed, this Corrupt Whisper talent is the Merfolk Yao Beast's method for manipulating minds."
After testing for a while, Lin Sheng released the mental control.
The sea fish circling around him suddenly awoke, and upon seeing Lin Sheng, they immediately scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing in panic into the sea, quickly disappearing.
Compared to the Sea Ghost talent, this Corrupt Whisper talent was undoubtedly more valued by him, as the Sea Ghost talent could only manifest its power when in water.
The strength of the Corrupt Whisper's effect was directly proportional to the Mental Energy attribute; the higher the user's Mental Energy attribute, the stronger the effect.
The Merfolk Yao Beast's Physical Body was weak, yet it could easily suppress Divine Transformation Realm Martial Artists like Hong Ye and Bai Can, and even Shui Zhi, who was in the Late Stage of Divine Form, had virtually no power to resist. It relied precisely on this Corrupt Whisper talent.
Especially when the influence of Corrupt Whisper was compressed to target a single person, the effect was even more significantly enhanced.
If it weren't for his strong Physique, anyone else facing that Merfolk Yao Beast's move would likely have found it hard to escape harm.
With the Merfolk Yao Beast's five-point Mental Energy increase, his Mental Energy attribute had already been greatly elevated. The effect of using this talent, even if not as good as that of the Merfolk Yao Beast, would not be far off.
One must know that in battles between experts, a momentary lapse is enough to decide the outcome.
Currently, the effect of the Dragon's Might talent on high-Realm Martial Artists has been greatly diminished.
This Corrupt Whisper talent, however, compensated for this point; in a way, it could be seen as an enhanced version of Dragon's Might.
"Next, it's time for the Ji Hai Magic Blood talent."
His gaze fell on the Ji Hai Magic Blood talent.
After integrating the Scarlet-Eyed Flame Dragon, this talent could already be activated.
Without hesitation, he directly chose to activate it.
In an instant, Lin Sheng's Qi and blood within his body began to boil.
And his consciousness was once again pulled before the Ink Sea Dragon Horseshoe Crab.
Looking at the colossal creature emerging from the bottom of the sea, its might was even stronger this time. Three eyes, one red and two yellow, stared at him, and the terrifying aura of a void beast swept from all directions, completely enveloping him.
Roar—
A low, primal roar sounded, and the Ink Sea Dragon Horseshoe Crab had already opened its gaping maw, biting towards him.
At the same time, Lin Sheng's consciousness had returned to clarity, breaking free from the Ink Sea Dragon Horseshoe Crab's will influence.
Hoo...
Exhaling heavily, Lin Sheng suppressed the restless Qi and blood within his body.
"Indeed, this Merfolk Yao Beast consumed far more Ink Sea Dragon Horseshoe Crab flesh and blood than the Purple-Patterned Spinefish, and the influence of its will was even more terrifying. If it weren't for the additional five points of Mental Energy, I probably wouldn't have escaped so easily this time."
"However, the improvement of Ji Hai Magic Blood this time is also considerable."
After canceling all integrated exotic beasts, Lin Sheng began to test the effects of Ji Hai Magic Blood.
He closed his eyes, and the sense of affinity from the ocean was noticeably clearer, almost doubling, and the range of his perception reached about 2 kilometers.
Such an improvement was considerable, and the effect of water control also significantly improved.
Although it was still inferior to the Sea Ghost talent, which could easily stir up giant waves several tens of feet high, it had the advantage of being more flexible.
If he were to consume more of the Ink Sea Dragon Horseshoe Crab's essence blood, it might be enough to rival the Sea Ghost talent.
The Ji Hai Magic Blood talent had great potential.
More importantly, it was his own talent, requiring no reliance on integrated exotic beasts.
If possible, Lin Sheng still hoped to improve it.