章節 56: The Underwater Kingdom

Ye Qin and Wang Tao swam through the deep sea surrounded by schools of fish. Along the way, not a single monster was seen in sight even after swimming for dozens of minutes.

They were lead along by the fish and followed behind them. After another ten or so minutes, they could see what seemed like a kingdom underwater. The walls were tens of meters high, made up of some sort of colorful but sturdy sand.

Large shells were used as watchtowers with fish-men holding tridents in their hands. Their armor was made of small shells and seaweed as straps to keep them together.

Swimming by the entrance, the large door was opened to welcome them in. Entering the kingdom, the people who were mostly fish folk, looked at them before continuing with their daily activities.

All the men and women had human upper bodies, while the lower body was that of a fish. Rather than fish folk, it would be more appropriate to call them mermen.

The houses are made of sand, while a building was even a large pineapple!

Ye Win and Wang Tao headed straight into the center of the road. At the end of the pathway, a large palace with guards could be seen in the distance. The two stood by the door, while the guards looked at the fish around them, before letting them enter.

"..."

"They are just letting strangers enter just like that?" Wang Tao thought.

The palace was large. Just the courtyard in front of them was already bigger than an entire stadium. Sea creatures swam around everywhere, while others were walking in an orderly fashion.

The fish lead them to another room, located at the very top of a long staircase. It seemed to be the throne room where all meetings between ministers and the emperor happen.

Standing at the door, the fish opened the door. In front of them, many mermen and mermaids dressed in long clothes turned to face them.

Atop the throne, a large merman with a crown on his head looked down towards the two humans that entered the room. Beside him, a mermaid with a crown was sitting on equal standing.

Of course, she would be the queen or empress of the kingdom. Just below them, a mermaid stood out amongst the many mermaids they had seen since entering the kingdom. A small silver crown was placed atop her long pink hair.

So far, every merfolk they had seen had beautiful features. In other words, they are like elves who are said to all be beautiful whether they are men or women.

The king and queen stood out amongst their subjects, and even above that, the princess in front of them has a beauty that is even beyond her parents.

The fish that guided them left the room, and closed the door behind them. Ye Qin and Wang Tao walked through the middle and saluted with respect.

"Welcome humans, to the world of the seafolk." the deep voice of a man spoke in their language.

"Your majesty." the two boys said in unison before standing up.

"Oh? You're not surprised that I can speak your tongue?" the king asked.

"It was a guess, based on what has happened so far." Ye Qin replied.

"Hahaahaha, I see, the fish have told me of your arrival since you had arrived. Now let me ask you, why have you come here?" the king asked.

"Your majesty, I found an undiscovered ruin not too long ago. When we entered and crossed to the other side, we ended up where the fish found us." Ye Qin replied.

The king rubbed his chin, "I see, it's been many years since humans have visited. Do stay here as guests if you aren't in a hurry." he replied.

"Thank you, your majesty." Ye Qin and Wang Tao replied.

"We will end today's conference here." the queen spoke.

"Yes, your majesty." the ministers bowed as they left the room.

Now, in the room are the royal family of three, and the two boys who had wandered into their kingdom.

************

"You may stay in these rooms. Come to my daughter for anything, if she cannot solve it come directly to me." the king said as he left with his wife.

"We will see you later, your majesty." Ye Qin said.

"Okay." the princess replied. She then swam away, while the two brothers went into their own rooms.

***********

After a while, they left their rooms for a meal. Ye Qin and Wang Tao shared a meal with the royal family. The king asked many questions about the outside world, which the two took turns to answer the questions he had.

They also learned about many things surrounding the kingdom in exchange. They learned that there are a couple more kingdoms of seafolk, each ruled by a ruler. Monsters also appeared which were all sea monsters of course.

A couple of generations of kings ago, humans had wandered into their kingdom and shared their knowledge. The two races became friends through the said kingdom and exchanged many things. Apparently, the other three kingdoms didn't agree to be friendly with humans and even tried to chase them out.

They also learned of the ongoing war between the kingdom against the other three kingdoms. The two sides were even, even though it was three against one. That showed the disparity in power between the four kingdoms of the seafolk.

Ye Qin and Wang Tao didn't have much time left, they felt sorry for the king, but they couldn't help until the next time they venture into the kingdom.

The king gave them a map that showed locations that are infested with monsters. The areas marked were most likely holding some treasure, the seafolk were not strong enough to fight the monsters, hence they never tried to invade the marked areas.

Once the king learned that monsters appeared in the human world, he wasn't too shocked since monsters showed up in the sea at around the same time. He was surprised though when he learned that humans could control monsters to fight against other monsters.

With that knowledge, he knew it was better for the two boys to have the map rather than leaving it to soak up dust. After the meal, the princess requested to see their monsters.

Ye Qin and Wang Tao looked at each other before nodding. Finding a large space to summon their monsters. Ye Qin and Wang Tao were surrounded by multiple colored circles.

Roar! Roar!

Roar!

Ye Qin's seven dragons came out at once. All the seafolk with scales felt an oppressive pressure. They all felt chilly in their backs, the royal family, in particular, felt the most since they were close to the dragons.

Outside the palace, many seafolk could see the seven huge dragons and pointed at them.

"Mommy! Mommy, look dragons!" a little girl pointed.

Back in the palace, the Blackgold Python Tiger and the Tiger God's daughter appeared as well. They didn't give off an oppressive pressure as the dragons did. Since the seafolk were fish, the aura from the dragons affected them greatly.

Of course, it made sense, since the seafolk had scales just like the dragons do, who are also of much greater bloodlines.

"This..." the king stammered.

The seven dragons all turned and faced the king, looking at him with their large eyes.

"Youngster, this is.."

Ye Qin smiled. The queen and the princess held the same reaction as the king.

"Beautiful." the princess muttered.

The Qiulong lowered its head and shrunk as it allowed the princess to rub its head.

"Go ahead." Ye Qin told her.

The princess came out of her shocked state and slowly moved her hand closer to the Qiulong. When she placed her hand on its head, she slowly moved it to rub the dragons head.

The six other dragons were recalled along with Wang Tao's tigers. The Qiulong didn't return until the princess had finished having her fun.

"I see now, you should be completely safe even if you two head off to the marked spots alone." the king said.

"En." the two boys replied.

"Well then, let us see you off." the king continued.

"Yes." Ye Qin replied.

*************

At the entrance of the palace, Ye Qin and Wang Tao were seen off by the royal family. They began to swim away and headed towards the closest location marked on the map.

*************

After an hour of swimming, they arrived at the first location. Looking around, there were large corals and seaweed everywhere. A large cavern with purple walls and fish living on it could be seen if the seaweed were moved.

The two went inside, where everything was pitch black. Ye Qin and Wang Tao took out a pearl from their pockets.

It was a gift from the king for their meeting. The pearl not only looks exquisite, but it can also be used as a source of light. It didn't require any tricks or gimmick, just by being in a dark place, the pearl would light up on its own.

Inside the cavern, the two searched around. Small fish and other sea creatures swam away when they came closer. So far, it didn't seem like any monsters would attack them.

After a while, the Qiulong and the rest of the monsters were summoned. They split off to increase the amount of space that is covered. Of course, they didn't forget to create a map of the cavern that they had covered so far.

In the distance, Ye Qin and Wang Tao sensed hostility towards themselves. The monsters knew what their masters wanted. The monsters headed off into the far distance to destroy the hostile monsters that were aiming for them.

It seemed the monsters were all weaker ones. They also seemed to be quite hostile for some reason. Usually, all sea creatures would be intimidated by the suppression coming off from the dragons, since this was the case, it meant that there was something that they might be even more scared of.

Ye Qin and Wang Tao knew this at once. They both nodded to each other and swam as fast as they could. Passing by seaweed and a few small streams of water that went against the calm water, the two followed along to trace the source.

Later, the two sensed the presence of a powerful monster inside the cavern. Judging by the aura being emitted naturally in its hibernating state, they could see that it was much weaker than the Crowned Black Wing monster that they had fought against in the past.

They forgot about exploring the cavern and headed straight for the source of the aura. The monsters had gone far ahead of them and had already begun to engage the monster in battle. The two could sense the ongoing battle between their monsters from far away.

Moving at their fastest speed, it took ten minutes before they arrived. By then, the monster they were fighting was already at death's door.

It had major injuries all over its body, blue-colored blood leaked from its wounds, while transparent bones were sticking out from its injuries all over.

[Monster: Triple Headed Hydra]

[Level: 45]

[Grade: Rare]

[Type: Beast (Sea beast)]

[Element: Water]

[Additional Info: A small hydra with only three of its possible nine heads. With its growth, an extra three heads will grow each time, making it far more powerful.]

"Hmm, this thing is pretty strong, if there was a way to bring it back with us that would be great." Ye Qin said.

"It sounds possible, we'll need to do some extensive research on this topic. If we can do this, the future of humanity will be greatly influenced. Not only that, we'll make the history books. Of course, that's only if we succeed." Wang Tao replied.

"Yea, when we go back, we should study and think of something. Let's bring this thing back with us for now." Ye Qin nodded.

Wang Tao naturally agreed as his eyes were lit up.

The three-headed hydra stared at the two humans as if it understood what they were saying. The nine monsters stopped attacking and surrounded the hydra.

It seemed that the hydra had no choice but to follow them.

"Good, let's continue exploring this place." Ye Qin said.

The group then continued exploring the cavern at a fast pace.