NOVPUB773: Chapter 7: Revisiting the Dragon Palace of the Deep Sea_2
773 -7: Revisiting the Dragon Palace of the Deep Sea_2
Tang Xian readily spoke up, making Yu Xiaozhe think no wonder Miss Li was so head over heels for him.
Just look at that face, that demeanor; he was like an award-winning actor.
Jin Lu indeed showed a serious expression, having waited several months without a sign from the Sea God, and the first thing that comes is a matter concerning the fate of the entire island.
She earnestly said,
“I will definitely protect them well.”
Tang Xian nodded and said,
“I’m hungry, we can tend to another matter tomorrow, but today let’s kill a dog for a feast.
Are my Hell Flame Wolves…
no, that’s not right, the Hell Flame Wolves, still penned up?”
Jin Lu nodded, those Anai reagents made the Hell Flame Wolves unusually docile.
After the great battle between cats and dogs, the status of the Cat Clan had risen to just below that of the Snake Clan.
It was rare for Tang Xian to visit the southern islands, so naturally, he would not pass up the opportunity to eat dog meat.
Even though Jin Lu felt that the Hell Flame Wolves had been tamed, recalling the dog meat cooked by Tang Xian she had last time, she thought it over and decided to pretend they hadn’t been tamed at all.
That night, the scent of dog meat wafted through the territory of the Leopard Clan, right where the ruins were located.
Tang Xiaojiu ate to her heart’s content, her mouth glistening with grease, while Lin Sen and Yu Xiaozhe couldn’t stop praising the meal.
The ones Tang Xian took the most care of were Tang Feiji and Tang.
After all, for the underwater task tomorrow, these two would be the key players.
As for Tang Xiaojiu, children always get excited when they see someone familiar, calling the big cat sister affectionately.
The deep sea was too perilous, and naturally, Tang Xiaojiu couldn’t be brought along, so it was best to leave her with the tool leopard to look after the child.
The night passed without incident, but it was noisy, as many beast tribes wanted to come and behold the arrival of the Sea God.
Usually presenting their reverence to the stone statue, having the chance to worship the deity in person was certainly better.
Lin Sen and Yu Xiaozhe couldn’t imagine what image of Tang Xian, in those countless, ghostly eyes lurking in the dark woods around them, garnered such profound worship.
In fact, such admiration wasn’t exaggerated at all.
A last-days level being like the Sea God was indeed like a deity to ordinary creatures, especially with hundreds of years at sea, deepening their belief that only by worshipping the Sea God could they receive blessings.
In medieval times, the flock’s fervor for the ecclesiastical peak was intense—they would have loved nothing more than to kiss the ground trodden by the Pope.
If humans could be so fervent, what about beast tribes whose civilizations were far more primitive than medieval times?
Tang Xian didn’t pay attention to these wild beasts; he just thought that he had become a god too easily, with the Hell Flame Wolves being the sole opposing force.
This wasn’t good, as it led to a dietary monotony at night…
The next morning, Tang Feiji was kicked awake by Tang Xian, while Tang had been waiting outside the cave entrance early on.
Tang Xian first had a chat with Jin Lu, attending to some matters, before not delaying any further.
As dawn broke, he took Tang with him and dove into the Ashen Sea.
…
…
Tang Xian still vividly remembered the last time he traveled under the sea—it truly felt like a romantic experience.
Sticky all over, so that in the fight against Tang Feiji, he didn’t even have a piece of clothing on him.
In that aspect, Tang Feiji could boast.
After all, he was someone who faced Tang Xian openly, a privilege not even Li Xiaoyu enjoyed.
This time it was much simpler, but hiding inside the mouth of a colossal, pale dragon, all creatures of the deep sea kept a respectful distance, even the giant sea monsters capable of competing with Tang Feiji steered clear upon sighting that dragon.
The creatures of the Ashen Sea might not be as combative as those of the Hungry Sea, but in terms of combat prowess, they were not inferior at all.
To this day, even the first civilization, the Eden Tribe, was only a terrestrial civilization.
No one knew for sure how many monsters lurked in the sea or if they could fully account for all of them.
Just like the last time, after about three hours of descending through the darkest depths of the sea and brushing past numerous massive sea creatures, they finally saw an unbelievably unscientific location—the Dragon Palace.
The massive Sea Sentinel that visited the Dragon Palace intermittently to place Soul Crystals was still doing so, but that giant dragon was nowhere to be seen inside the palace.
When Tang came out, he was quite puzzled as to why the Dragon Palace wasn’t submerged by the sea.
It was as if some barrier was holding the sea water back.
But this question didn’t trouble Tang for long, since the sight of Soul Crystals scattered all over the place captured his attention.
He had never seen so many Soul Crystals before.
Coming from a background of myriad beasts, Tang didn’t regard Soul Crystals as treasure. 𝖓𝔬𝖛𝔭𝔲𝖇.𝔠𝔬𝖒
Although there were theories among beast tribes about devouring Soul Crystals to enhance themselves, most of the time, to them, Soul Crystals were akin to an organ.
So in Tang Xian’s eyes, this was a treasure trove, while in Tang’s eyes, it had the feel of something akin to Asura Hell.
Yet he said nothing, the more he perceived danger, the more he took the initiative to walk in front of Tang Xian, doing his best to protect him.
Tang Xian observed the dragon palace, and although it wasn’t his first visit, the shock was still profound.
Such a colossal palace would take a maritime giant quite some time to construct.
Observing the palace, Tang Xian was increasingly convinced that this place was not simply for storing Soul Crystals.
Picking up some Soul Crystals, he took out the extreme gloves that Ke Ye had recently modified and, after stuffing a few crystals into them, he said,
“Tang Feiji, did you tell me before that the furnace in the middle is used to absorb these Soul Crystals?”
“That’s right.”
“That seems a bit strange, doesn’t it?
All these Soul Crystals couldn’t even fill up that furnace, yet they keep piling up.
You told me before that these Soul Crystals are needed to maintain the appearance that the Sea God is still alive, but these crystals haven’t really been touched, have they?”
Tang Feiji did indeed use to throw some Soul Crystals into the furnace, following instructions he’d received before he arrived here.
He hadn’t thought about these issues before.
But what Tang Xian said was true.
The quantity of tribute increased far more than the amount consumed, which is why the Soul Crystals accumulated like mountains here.
Tang Xian approached the furnace, and the sheer size of the palace meant it took him a good while to reach it.
The size of the furnace was like the entrance to Sky Pit City, except where the pit’s entrance was pitch black, the opening of this furnace resembled the summit of a volcanic vent, looking down into it revealed nothing but a blanket of fire red.
Deep sea lava.
The temperature of this lava was extremely high, and the level of danger was perhaps even more terrifying than the gastric juices of those ferocious beasts.
Tang Xian frowned, deducing from the size of the entrance and the vastness of the palace that there might be an even wider space below — it wouldn’t be surprising.
He conjectured that the very bottom might not be lava at all, but rather another vast expanse.
However, blocking his path was a terrifying barrier.
Lava.
If it were just an extremely thin layer, that would be one thing, but if it were an expanse of lava, it would be impossible to cross.
Unless one was a creature like a cinder dragon, immune to fire elements, so Tang Xian pondered how he might reach the bottom.
All of this was mere speculation — maybe this place really was just a furnace, a reactor providing some vital signs for the Sea Demon’s body.
Thinking this, Tang Xian suddenly remembered that Galaxy seemed dead yet had lived for hundreds of years, and although the Judge did oversee the court, without having been severely injured, why would he have refrained from acting for hundreds of years?
Perhaps the Sea God was the most severely injured of the two, in a state on the verge of death?
If that was indeed the case, by reasoning backwards, could it be that none of the beast gods had died?
Or were they indistinguishable from the dead?
Tang Xian quickly put this question out of his mind — whether they were dead or not, they were unlikely to step forward to confront the Judge or the enforcers now.
The most important thing at the moment was to retrieve the Sea God’s heritage.
Looking at the entrance, Tang Xian wondered whether he should try dipping himself in the lava.
Ultimately, he hesitated, for beneath was too dangerous for Tang Xian.
To cross through a lava field with one’s physical body was something that nobody had ever achieved.
As Tang Xian was hesitating, Tang at that moment spoke,
“You, go down?”
“Yes.”
“I, protect you.”
“The magma, you might die.”
“I, Hell Flame Wolf, blood, not hurt.”
Tang’s words were still awkward, but Tang Xian understood their meaning.
His eyes lit up as he remembered the ancient records of the long-eared ape.
The long-eared ancient ape once injected blood from a lava beast into Tang — blood comparable to molten lava, almost claiming Tang’s life.
But Tang survived and now possessed a terrifying life regeneration ability enabled by the power of Eden, combined with this fortunate occurrence.
Considering this, Tang Xian thought that maybe Tang really could make it through.
“This is risking our lives; if you die, I’ll die in there too.”
Tang didn’t speak but pondered for a few seconds before suddenly leaping forward, jumping into the lava.
As if it wasn’t lava at all, but a natural hot spring.
Tang Xian was stunned…
Tang Mang was truly rash.
