"What is your relationship with that person?" Old Turtle was very curious and truly admiring since without the guidance of the Merfolk Soul, that person actually managed to reach this place.
"No particular relationship, I just promised someone to bring him back." Cultivators place the utmost importance on promises, and Ye Qiu was no exception. If it wasn’t for the Merfolk Inner Core, even if he found this place, it would probably take him much more effort.
This palace was incredibly vast and constructed with utter extravagance, to the point where even Old Turtle, a spiritual beast who had cultivated for a thousand years and seen much of the world, couldn’t bear to blink along the way.
"So the merfolk have moved all the treasures of the deep sea here!" Old Turtle was itching to act; even if there were some items it couldn’t use, it still collected them.
"Over here." The signal from the soul token was getting clearer, indicating that they were getting closer to that person. However, perhaps because they did not follow the direction suggested by the Merfolk Soul, they had encountered obstacles.
"I’ll scout ahead." As they encountered more and more Arrays, Old Turtle put away its playful mindset and swam to the front of Ye Qiu. Its tough skin and flesh meant that even if there were dangers, it could withstand more damage than Ye Qiu, a Human Cultivator.
"Why so many Arrays in their own palace? What’s the purpose?" After getting injured twice, Old Turtle grew more impatient.
"Mostly obstructive Arrays, not too dangerous, probably meant to prevent little merfolk from coming over," Ye Qiu analyzed.
Unfortunately, both he and Old Turtle—one a Sword Cultivator and the other a spiritual beast—were not very proficient in Arrays and could only force their way through, wasting a lot of time.
"Do not enter." As they reached the entrance of a hall and were about to open the doors to enter, an old and weak voice came from inside.
"Is it Elder Li Yuan?" Ye Qiu stood still and asked.
"Who are you? I can feel my soul token on you," the voice inside continued.
"Junior Ye Qiu, a cultivator from the Tianyan Sect. This soul token was given to me by the owner of the Curious Goods Shop in Blue Sea City, Li Xin, who asked me to find his father."
"Err...ah..." While Ye Qiu was speaking, the person inside let out a pained cry, and the soul token in Ye Qiu’s hand dimmed a little more.
"Elder... Elder... How are you?" The person inside had just warned him not to enter, so Ye Qiu didn’t dare to act rashly and called out anxiously.
"Do you have the Merfolk Inner Core that I gave to Li Xin on you?" The voice asked, growing weaker.
"Yes, how did Elder know?"
"I’ve been trapped in an Array, and since you entered this secret realm, the Array has become even more powerful." The person inside chuckled, surprisingly in good spirits, "Young fellow, I see you’re only at the Nascent Soul Early Stage, don’t come in, there’s no escape. After you go back, tell that boy Li Xin to take good care of his family affairs and not to come looking for me anymore."
Ye Qiu disagreed: "Elder Li Yuan, how can you know that I can’t break this Array without trying? Moreover, I’m not alone now. Since I’ve promised Li Xin to bring you back, I won’t go back on my word."
"Don’t waste your effort. Inside here is a Transmission Array that connects to the Upper Realm. The merfolk laid down the Heaven and Earth Net to prevent anyone from opening this Transmission Array, so don’t make a futile sacrifice."
"Transmission Array?" Hearing this news, both Ye Qiu and Old Turtle were shocked. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵·𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮·𝓷𝓮𝓽
Elder Li Yuan gave a self-deprecating laugh: "Don’t entertain vain hopes. The merfolk wanted to take a shortcut directly through the Transmission Array to the Upper Realm, and what happened? They almost got their entire race annihilated. Same for me; if not for taking a shortcut, I wouldn’t have ended up trapped here."
"Why can’t the Transmission Array be used? Is there a problem with the Array?"
"The Transmission Array itself is fine; the problem lies on the other end of it. When I arrived here, I saw merfolk who had retreated from the other end of the Transmission Array, all of them severely injured, and not long after their return, they died. Before they died, they destroyed the Transmission Array and laid out powerful Arrays around it, fearing someone would repair the Transmission Array."
After hearing Elder Li Yuan’s words, both Ye Qiu and Old Turtle fell silent, never expecting that the downfall of the merfolk was for this reason.
"Is there a problem in the Upper Realm?" Ye Qiu wondered, and then immediately shook his head to deny it, "No, our sect had contact with the Upper Realm a year ago, and there was no abnormality."
Elder Li Yuan Liao Ran: "Since there’s no problem with the Upper Realm, then it must be that the other end of the Transmission has been taken over. Merfolk are treasures in full measure, and even if their cultivation is low, many in the Upper Realm covet them. I guess this is a conspiracy aimed specifically at merfolk!"
As he spoke, the Merfolk Soul in Ye Qiu’s hand cried out more painfully, as if its agony had been touched upon.
"Elder, Li Xin said that you disappeared three hundred years ago, how did you survive in the water for so long? Also, why didn’t you take this Merfolk Inner Core with you in the first place? Wouldn’t entering this secret realm be easier with it?" Out of curiosity, Ye Qiu couldn’t resist asking these questions.
Inside, Li Yuan laughed, "I thought you wouldn’t ask. It’s nothing complicated. Although the Array that trapped me has limitations, I have studied Arrays for a while and set up a small water-barrier Array inside. As for the Merfolk Inner Core, who told you there was only one?"
Ye Qiu thought about it and realized it made sense. Elder Li Yuan had said earlier that there were several merfolk who returned from the Transmission Array, so naturally, there was more than one inner core.
"So lad, go look for other things. I’ve studied the array and still can’t get out; what can you, a Sword Cultivator, possibly do?" Elder Li Yuan sighed as if resigned to his fate.
"Elder, the one thing a cultivator must not do is resign to fate," Ye Qiu said earnestly, then turned to Old Turtle and said, "Old Turtle, this matter doesn’t concern you. If I can’t get out after going in, please take this object to a cultivator named Ye Sheng in the Tianyan Sect." Ye Qiu had experienced missions before where he didn’t complete the task before dying; hence, he spoke without arrogance.
Old Turtle held the Storage Ring in confusion, its mung bean-sized eyes meeting Ye Qiu’s. "Do you trust me that much? Aren’t you afraid I’ll run off with these things?"
"I’m not afraid; I trust you," Ye Qiu said with a very serious demeanor.
But Old Turtle didn’t accept, instead reverting to its original form: "Forget it, I’ve cultivated for a thousand years, yet you’re the first human I’ve met who trusts a spiritual beast . Since you trust me, I, Old Turtle, will accompany you for this journey."
As it spoke, without waiting for Ye Qiu or Li Yuan to object, it opened the door of the hall and barged in, and at the same time, Ye Qiu could also see the situation inside.
The hall was very spacious, at the center was a complex Array that had been destroyed. Elder Li Yuan was nearby, trapped there; the Array was continuously attacking him with Heavenly Thunder and Earth Fire.