Chapter 501: Chapter 490: Sword Cultivator Father
Ye Qiu, holding the Merfolk Inner Core, progresses cautiously with Old Turtle, constantly vigilant of their surroundings.
"Its singing voice is getting louder and seems filled with lamentation?" Old Turtle concluded after listening for a while.
"Something is strange, what is it lamenting?" Ye Qiu frowned.
"Could it be because the other merfolk have left, but it hasn’t?" Old Turtle speculated.
"I don’t understand, but I think we have arrived." Ye Qiu stopped, carefully examining the area.
Old Turtle slipped off Ye Qiu’s shoulder into the water, which was unnaturally cold and stagnant, making it hard to move. He gritted his teeth, deeming the merfolk masochistic for having lived in such a place before.
"But where is the entrance?" Old Turtle searched around but found nothing.
"Now, it must tell us." Ye Qiu pulled Old Turtle back and gently touched the lingering residual soul on the inner core with his Divine Sense.
It seemed that reaching its former habitat made the residual soul more active, expanding in waves within Ye Qiu’s mind.
"Is it here?" Ye Qiu moved to a cliff’s edge, reached inside, and immediately triggered a mechanism.
Rich Spiritual Energy washed over them, pulling both Ye Qiu and Old Turtle in. They staggered, struggling to stabilize their forms.
"This is the place, be careful."
Ye Qiu and Old Turtle were certain they had entered the legendary merfolk secret realm, as the Spiritual Energy here was significantly richer than the outside world, and the water was much warmer, gently flowing. They felt as though they had turned into merfolk themselves, swimming freely in this environment.
"No wonder merfolk are so formidable, having such a treasure trove of a haven." Old Turtle couldn’t help but marvel. If he had such a place for Cultivation, why bother struggling for a thousand years just to remain in the Nascent Soul Stage?
"Let’s go." Ye Qiu held the Merfolk Inner Core and swam forward.
Old Turtle hurriedly said, "Why are you rushing? Be careful of dangers, and don’t forget that the human from before hasn’t come out yet!"
"It’s leading us, it’s fine." Ye Qiu’s Divine Soul was incredibly powerful. Upon entering, he had sensed the presence of an Array, but all were avoided thanks to the residual soul in the inner core.
However, his interest in this secret realm grew, wondering what has sustained the residual soul for so many years without dissipating, and why, upon reaching this place, it fiercely led him forward.
The merfolk secret realm was indeed not a place just anyone could enter casually. If not for the Merfolk Inner Core, he might have exhausted significant effort himself.
And the further they followed the residual soul in the inner core, the richer the Spiritual Energy in the water became, almost comparable to a Spiritual Spring. Considering the size of this sea area, one could imagine the immense amount of Spiritual Energy needed to sustain it.
"Tsk tsk, the richness of this Spiritual Energy, perhaps even the Great Thousand World is nothing compared to this!"
Reminded by Old Turtle, Ye Qiu momentarily paused, thinking, indeed, with the richness of the Spiritual Energy here, why would the merfolk even need to seek out the Great Thousand World?
Logically speaking, with abundant spiritual energy and fewer dangers here, this place should be more suitable for the younger merfolk to grow up. The merfolk couldn’t be that foolish. Thinking this way, Ye Qiu became increasingly doubtful about the claim that the merfolk had migrated to the Great Thousand World.
After swimming for about two hours, their vision gradually cleared up, and they started to see a lot of corals, seaweed, shellfish, shrimps, and crabs around, some of which had even developed a sense of awareness.
"This must have been the hunting area for the merfolk. Because the merfolk disappeared, the creatures here gradually gained awareness. However, since there is no Heavenly Tribulation here, they are not recognized by the Heavenly Dao, and their awareness is very weak." Old Turtle swallowed a silver-white fish in one gulp, feeling very refreshed.
"The abundant spiritual energy here is wonderful, even the fish taste better than those outside."
The man and the turtle continued swimming forward and gradually came across a small gorge where the spiritual energy was even more plentiful, and there were signs of rock peeling off the walls on both sides.
"This must have been the place where the little merfolk practiced fighting, but the spiritual energy here seems excessively plentiful!"
Ye Qiu stopped, then drew his sword and slashed vigorously towards the lower part of the gorge, suddenly, a surge of spiritual energy gushed toward him.
Old Turtle’s eyes shone like green beans, and he pounced on it eagerly: "A Spirit Vein, there’s actually a Spirit Vein here! No wonder the spiritual energy is richest here!"
A rare smile appeared on the usually stern and cold face of Ye Qiu, for it was a Spirit Vein, and now he no longer needed to worry about not having enough Spirit Stones to buy equipment for his son.
"Don’t rush to dig it out; this Spirit Vein isn’t going anywhere. Let’s go further ahead; the Merfolk Soul seems very anxious," Ye Qiu said, grabbing Old Turtle and continuing forward.
Old Turtle knew his priorities; as the Merfolk Soul had led them through unobstructed and displayed all the treasures of the merfolk tribe before them, it was only fair to fulfill the wish of the merfolk in return.
After crossing the small gorge, Ye Qiu and his companion reached the source of the Spirit Vein, which was directly under an incredibly magnificent palace.
Old Turtle felt a pang of bitterness; he had cultivated laboriously for thousands of years, but his resources were pitiful compared to those of the merfolk.
"Even the palace’s exterior is made of Deep Sea Ice Jade; the luxury of the merfolk is simply too extravagant." At this moment, Old Turtle seemed like a lemon spirit, incredibly sour.
"Let’s go inside and see; the Merfolk Soul seems even more anxious, and this soul token has also undergone a change. The person I’m looking for is inside," Ye Qiu said, with a grave and cautious demeanor.
"These pearls were produced by Clam Spirits that cultivated for at least a thousand years. They are of no use to me, but Ye Qiu, do you want to scrape them off? They seem to be very precious Artifact Refining materials for Human Cultivators."
Ye Qiu, originally uninterested in these shiny things, perked up at the mention of Artifact Refining materials; even if he had no use for them, his son certainly would.
With that in mind, he grew increasingly interested in this palace, wondering if his son could make use of this Deep Sea Ice Jade.
"I wonder if there are any Merfolk Silks here; the merfolk love weaving Merfolk Silk, but they are stingy and unwilling to trade any."
Merfolk Silk, impervious to water and fire, is highly coveted by Old Turtle; although he has strong defensive power himself, he prefers to avoid injury whenever possible. He had long coveted Merfolk Silk, but even after deceiving many, even the naive little merfolk refused to part with it.
Legend has it that a merfolk only weaves one piece of Merfolk Silk in their lifetime, which indicates how precious it is.
"Let’s go this way; the person I’m looking for is in danger." The soul token flickered on and off, clearly indicating a life-threatening situation. Since the shop owner had given him this opportunity, he felt it was only right to ensure the person’s safety and bring them back safely.