While cleaning the battlefield, Fang Chang discovered the bodies of two Title Douluo-level experts, likely killed by the aftermath of the heavenly tribulation.
Now, among the eight Title Douluo on Sea God Island, three are crippled, two are dead, and one is severely injured and unable to recover in the short term. The other sea soul masters have also suffered heavy losses, leaving them far from their former strength.
Of the other three major clans in this sea region, the Demon Soul Great White Shark clan and the Evil Soul Orca clan have been wiped out. The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, being lazy and rarely venturing out, poses little threat.
Thus, the Sea Spider clan has become the true overlord of this sea region. As long as they avoid the Deep Sea Demonic Whale territory, they will have no rivals for the time being, and Fang Chang can rest easy for now.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but want to return to the mainland.
It has been nearly three years since he entered the sea. He wondered how Xiao Bai and the others were doing in the Star Dou Great Forest and whether his Spider God Church still existed.
The more he thought about it, the more uneasy Fang Chang felt.
A few days after the battle on Sea God Island, he temporarily handed over his authority to Little Gold and bid farewell to them, heading toward Ocean City.
Three years had passed since his last visit to Ocean City. Fang Chang was now a 300,000-year soul beast with the ability to temporarily transform into a human form, so he no longer needed to hide as before.
Under the cover of night, Fang Chang, in human form, hid his extra pair of arms using "Flexible Size."
Then, he found a poor fisherman who was finishing his evening catch, knocked him out, and "borrowed" his clothes.
Thus, he swaggered into Ocean City.
As soon as he entered the city, Fang Chang noticed the tense atmosphere. Most of the citizens had gathered around the location of the Ocean City branch of the Spider God Church.
There were also many soul masters present, two of whom made Fang Chang particularly cautious.
He cautiously approached the area while asking a street vendor about the situation to find out what was happening.
He learned that it was related to his Spider God Church.
About three days ago, a group of arrogant soul masters arrived in Ocean City, claiming to be from the Spirit Hall's Elder Hall.
As soon as they entered the city, they approached the city lord and ordered him to demolish the Spider God Church branch within three days and arrest all its followers.
But how could a small city lord dare to get involved in such a high-level conflict? Neither the Spider God Church nor the Spirit Hall were forces he could afford to offend.
Moreover, after the incident with the Chimera Jellyfish three years ago, most of Ocean City's soul masters and ordinary citizens had become followers of the Spider God Church. How could he possibly arrest them all? So, he had no choice but to delay the matter.
Today was the final day of the deadline set by the Spirit Hall. Seeing that the city lord refused to act, they decided to forcefully demolish the Spider God Church branch themselves.
Upon hearing this news, the citizens spontaneously gathered inside and outside the Spider God Church branch, vowing to protect it at all costs.
Now, they were in a standoff with the Spirit Hall.
As Fang Chang spoke, he had already arrived within a few hundred meters of the Spider God Church branch.
From a distance, he saw hundreds of young ordinary humans sitting cross-legged outside the building, with many elderly, women, and children inside.
Some held hoes, shovels, or kitchen knives, while others leaned on canes or held children, but their gazes were unusually resolute.
Watching this scene, Fang Chang felt a mysterious power rise within him. Although it didn't directly enhance his combat strength, it seemed to have some profound effect.
Facing them was a group of only twenty to thirty people, but all of them were high-level soul masters.
Among them, two leaders stood out—one was a genuine Title Douluo, and the other was an 89th-level Soul Douluo, very close to the Title Douluo level.
Just to deal with an unguarded Spider God Church branch, they were willing to invest such resources? It seemed that in the eyes of the Spirit Hall, the Spider God Church had become a significant threat.
"Get out of the way! Do you all want to die?"
A burly Soul Saint from the Spirit Hall's side shouted at the humans while activating his Martial Soul True Body, transforming into a five- to six-meter-tall giant toad.
As he spoke, an overwhelming pressure of soul power emanated from him, bearing down on the ordinary humans. Fortunately, he held back somewhat, or else just this pressure alone would have killed most of them.
On the Spider God Church's side, some ordinary humans showed fear under this pressure, but seeing that no one else left, they had no choice but to stay.
"Didn't you hear me?" The toad, seeing no response, spoke again, increasing the pressure even more.
Most of the ordinary citizens outside the hall were pressed to the ground, but after a short while, they struggled to sit up again, still blocking the Spirit Hall's path.
Without saying a word, their attitude was firm: they would not yield!
The toad Soul Saint was at a loss and turned to look at the two leaders behind him.
Although the Spirit Hall was powerful, attacking ordinary humans who weren't even soul masters was a major taboo in the soul master world. Moreover, there were hundreds of people here, and countless eyes were watching in the city.
"Elder, what should we do...?" The 89th-level Soul Douluo respectfully asked the Title Douluo.
Although their soul power was only two levels apart, those two levels created a vast difference in strength and status.
The Spirit Hall elder frowned. He had heard that Ocean City was a tough nut to crack, but he hadn't expected it to be this troublesome.
The more he saw, the stronger his determination to eradicate the Spider God Church became.
In just a few years, the so-called Spider God Church had gained so many loyal followers. If they were allowed to thrive for a few more years, what would happen?
He took two steps forward. The ordinary humans looked at him as if he were their mortal enemy, their eyes filled with hatred.
He took a deep breath and whispered to the Soul Douluo behind him, "Do it. I'll take responsibility. These people have been brainwashed by the Spider God Church and must not be left alive."
"This..." The Soul Douluo hesitated for a moment but quickly agreed and began instructing the other soul masters under his command.
The Title Douluo elder, however, stood to the side and watched quietly, clearly not intending to take action himself.
The atmosphere between the two sides grew tense. Twenty to thirty high-level human soul masters simultaneously activated their soul power, their colorful energy auras shining brightly, creating an intimidating spectacle.
Then, dozens of soul power attacks gathered in their hands, all aimed at the hall in front of them—and the ordinary humans below it with little to no soul power.
But just as they were about to strike, an unexpected voice rang out from the crowd: "Stop!"
Following the voice, a young man about 1.7 meters tall had somehow appeared in front of the ordinary humans at the Spider God Church branch.
The soul power pressure from the twenty to thirty high-level soul masters had no effect on him whatsoever.