Chapter 941: The Third Prince |
"This..." The Peak Battle Master who had just recovered turned deathly pale, "Your meaning is, that guy will come back?"
"Not only will he come back." The Captain bitterly shook his head, "He'll come back bringing the entire Sea Emperor Clan's wrath, chasing us down."
Everyone exchanged glances, the joy of having just survived a disaster instantly washed away completely.
"What are we waiting for then? Get the ship moving now!" someone urgently cried out, "While they haven't caught up yet, let's run as far as we can!"
"We can't run away." The Captain pointed at the distant sea surface gradually calming down, "This sea area is the Sea Emperor Clan's territory. No matter which direction we go, we're under their surveillance. Unless..."
He paused, not finishing the latter half of his sentence.
"Unless what?" someone pressed.
The Captain glanced at Li Qingran, hesitating to speak.
"Just say it already!" The crowd was so anxious they stamped their feet.
The deck fell into a deathly silence.
The wind and rain gradually subsided, but the dark clouds pressing on everyone's hearts were heavier than the earlier storm.
If you cut the weeds but don't remove the roots, they'll sprout again with the spring breeze.
But with insufficient strength, they couldn't really blame Li Qingran for anything.
Just then, the severely injured Legendary Battle Master staggered to his feet, coughed twice, and said in a deep voice, "What's there to fear?"
He looked at Li Qingran, "With a powerhouse like this lady here, won't we just kill however many Sea Emperor Clan members come? You all saw that sword strike just now, nine hundred-thousand-year World Rings! Even if the entire Sea Emperor Clan swarmed out, they probably couldn't keep us here!"
Upon hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up.
"That's right, that's right!"
"With this senior here, why should we fear any Sea Emperor Clan!"
"Didn't that so-called Serpent Clan powerhouse just get beaten into fleeing in defeat? Even ten more would just be delivering themselves to their deaths!"
For a moment, the atmosphere on the deck became lively again. The looks everyone gave Li Qingran, besides wariness, now held a bit of expectation and calculation.
Li Qingran blinked, the corner of her mouth twitching.
In the end, she couldn't hold back, muttering softly,
"Don't rely on me for everything... I really don't want to fight."
Her voice was very light, but everyone present were Battle Masters with exceptional hearing.
These words floated into everyone's ears without missing a single syllable.
The deck instantly fell silent.
Everyone exchanged glances, their expressions a spectacle.
The elven-looking woman standing beside Li Qingran, hearing this, couldn't help but cover her mouth with a light chuckle, her eyes full of mischief.
"You jest, miss." The Legendary Battle Master forced a dry laugh, "With your level of power, even if ten more Sea Emperor Clan powerhouses came, it would just be a matter of swinging your sword a few more times."
"Exactly, exactly!"
"Senior is too modest!"
Everyone chimed in agreement.
Li Qingran rolled her eyes, too lazy to explain.
She wasn't being modest, she genuinely didn't want to fight.
She'd had enough fighting all the way from Demon Tower City to the Sea God Temple.
Fighting is so tiring~
She'd rather spend that time lying down sunbathing, thinking about her husband.
Besides, she let that Sea Emperor Clan member leave precisely because she was afraid of offending the Sea Emperor Clan too deeply, thinking letting one life go would even things out. Who knew the Sea Emperor Clan would be so troublesome.
But if she said this, these people definitely wouldn't believe her.
Forget it, too lazy to explain.
She pouted, leaning against the ship's railing, gazing at the gradually clearing sky, muttering softly, "Husband, where have you gone... Do you know your little wife is being used as a laborer..."
...
Meanwhile.
Deep beneath the sea.
The icy seawater was like solidified ink, pitch black where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
A disheveled figure frantically dove deeper into the abyss, blood still seeping from the explosive wounds on his body, making the sea beasts along the way restless, yet not one dared to truly approach—the pressure from deep within that bloodline, even while severely injured, was not something they could offend.
This was precisely the Serpent Clan powerhouse who had been beaten into fleeing by Li Qingran's sword.
He passed through a deep-sea trench, and ahead, a deep-blue glow gradually brightened.
It was a palace built upon an undersea mountain range.
Massive coral reef stones piled into walls, shells of ten-thousand-year-old clams paved the tiles, countless luminous pearls embedded throughout, illuminating the entire palace as bright as day.
Around the palace perimeter, squads of Sea Emperor Clan Soldiers holding tridents patrolled back and forth, the aura they emitted far surpassing those who had surrounded the steamship earlier.
The Serpent Clan powerhouse didn't stop, heading straight through the palace gates, swimming deeper inside.
The further in, the colder the seawater became.
Not a temperature cold, but a chill emanating from the depths of one's heart.
Passing through the final corridor, he arrived at a grim, cold side hall.
The hall had no lights, only a few luminous pearls making the surrounding relief carvings flicker between light and shadow.
Those reliefs depicted scenes of Sea Emperor Clan powerhouses throughout the generations battling deep-sea behemoths, ferocious and terrifying.
On the stone chair in the center sat a man.
Human torso, serpent tail.
The scales on the tail shimmered with a faint gold, denser and harder than the scales on the Serpent Clan powerhouse's body.
His eyes were half-closed, his fingers tapping the armrest of the stone chair intermittently, emitting a dull "thump, thump" sound.
"Third Prince."
The Serpent Clan powerhouse knelt on one knee, head bowed very low, body trembling uncontrollably.
The Third Prince opened his eyes, deep-blue pupils like two dancing ghost fires, landing on the Serpent Clan powerhouse.
"Injured?"
His voice was very flat, betraying no emotion.
But the Serpent Clan powerhouse trembled even more violently.
"This subordinate... this subordinate is incompetent."
"Speak."
The Serpent Clan powerhouse swallowed hard, gritting his teeth,
"This subordinate was ordered to lead troops to intercept and kill that human ship heading to the Sea God Temple. Originally, everything was going smoothly, those human Battle Masters were no match. But... but just as we were about to succeed, a young girl suddenly appeared on the ship."
"Hmm?" The Third Prince's brow slightly raised.
The Serpent Clan powerhouse lifted his head, eyes full of terror, "That girl looked no more than twenty-something, yet she had... had nine hundred-thousand-year World Rings!"
"What?!"
The Third Prince abruptly sat upright, his serpent tail lashing out fiercely, shattering the stone table beside him to pieces.
"Nine hundred-thousand-year World Rings? Are you certain you didn't missee?"
"This subordinate guarantees with my life!" The Serpent Clan powerhouse said trembling, "That girl swung her sword once, and the elite under this subordinate's command were nearly all dead or injured. Even... even this subordinate almost died under her sword."
He pulled aside his shattered scale armor, revealing the ferocious sword scar on his chest.
On the scar, residual Sword Qi still sizzled, preventing the wound from healing.
The Third Prince stared at that sword scar, his expression shifting uncertainly.
Nine hundred-thousand-year World Rings.
Nine!
What kind of monster?!
Even he, with the resources of the entire Endless Sea, had only managed to condense five hundred-thousand-year World Rings.
What was that girl's background?
The Third Prince took a deep breath, suppressing the shock in his heart, leaning back into the stone chair.
The hall fell into a deathly silence.
He was thinking.
In recent years, as news of the Sea God's Divine Position spread, the entire area around Sea God Island had been in an uproar.
The humans had indeed sent no pushovers.
Nine hundred-thousand-year World Rings...
Even within the Sea Emperor Clan, that was top-tier combat power.
But—
A sharp glint flashed in the Third Prince's eyes.
He was determined to obtain the Sea God's Divine Position, absolutely could not let any human interfere.
For this, he had schemed for hundreds of years, rallying powerhouses within the clan, accumulating strength, all for the crucial moment to seize the Divine Position.
Now he was ready to undergo the Divine Trial.
How could he let a suddenly appearing young girl disrupt his plans?
But a direct confrontation...
He shook his head.
A Battle Master with nine hundred-thousand-year World Rings was not someone he could contend with.
Even if he exhausted all the forces under his command, it would likely just be sending them to their deaths.
What to do?
The Third Prince closed his eyes, his fingers tapping the armrest again.
Thump, thump.
The atmosphere in the side hall was oppressively suffocating.
The Serpent Clan powerhouse knelt in place, not daring to breathe loudly.
After a long while—
The Third Prince opened his eyes, the corner of his mouth curling into a cold smile.
"Go."
He raised his hand, pointing toward the depths of the side hall, at that massive bronze door entwined with countless chains.
"Release Xindra."
The Serpent Clan powerhouse jerked his head up, eyes full of horror.
"Th-third Prince?!" His voice trembled, "That... that's Xindra! The monster personally suppressed by the Sea God! You... you want to release it?"
The Third Prince looked at him coldly.
"Did you not hear my words?"
The Serpent Clan powerhouse's face turned ashen, his entire body trembling, yet he didn't dare utter half a word of refusal.
He knew all too well what Xindra was.
It was a sea monster cursed by the Golden Dragon God.
Legend had it that tens of thousands of years ago, this sea monster wreaked havoc across the seas, devouring countless lives, and even the Sea God could do nothing about it.
In the end, the Golden Dragon God intervened, using his own Vital Essence as a medium, descending a divine curse to seal it beneath these deep seas.
But even so, they couldn't kill it, only imprisoning it in the deep-sea abyss, never to escape for eternity.
The Sea God had left a divine decree—no one was to release Xindra, otherwise, it would inevitably incur Divine Punishment.
"But... but Third Prince..." The Serpent Clan powerhouse said tremblingly, "If we release Xindra, we will definitely anger the Sea God! At that time—"
"At that time?"
The Third Prince coldly cut him off, slowly standing up, his serpent tail dragging on the ground with a rustling sound.
He walked before his subordinate, looking down at him from above, "Once I seize the Sea God's Divine Position and obtain the Sea God's inheritance, naturally, I'll have a way to control Xindra."
He paused, a flash of madness in his eyes,
"As for Father... once I become the new generation Sea God, he will only be proud of me!"
The Serpent Clan powerhouse opened his mouth, unable to speak.
Mad.
The Third Prince was mad.
But he knew he had no choice.
"Go." The Third Prince turned around, gazing at that bronze door, his deep-blue eyes reflecting the densely packed sealing runes on the door, "Go to the First Prince and steal the key, enter the gate, open the seal, let Xindra, swallow that ship, and everyone on it, completely!"
The Serpent Clan powerhouse swallowed hard with difficulty, deeply kowtowing.
"Yes."
...