Visit from Sea God Island

The North Sea was thrown into turmoil by the changing of the Sea Princess.

Meanwhile, in the West Sea, the Sea God Douluo had been gone for a month without returning, and no news of him had come, which stirred up huge waves.

Fortunately, Bo Saixi usually kept to herself and few people could meet with her on ordinary days, and the news was strictly kept secret by the Seven Sacred Pillar Douluo.

Now that there is no leader, it is natural to choose the tallest among the short ones, and the strongest of the Seven Sacred Pillars, the Sea Dragon Douluo, has become the person in charge.

After a thorough search, information about the fierce sea battle between You Chen and Bo Saixi that day could not be kept secret.

With the succession of the Sea Princess in hand, and after inquiring from some Sea Soul Beast about a mysterious Soul Master who recently slew three Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts that had attacked the Mermaid Clan's territory, Sea Dragon Douluo has basically confirmed the development of the situation...

The thought of that terrifying possibility made Sea Dragon Douluo tremble slightly.

But...

'I am the Seven Sacred Pillar Guardians — Sea Dragon! How dare I retreat here!?'

A determined light flashed in Sea Dragon Douluo's eyes.

Faith and loyalty once again became his spiritual strength.

If the high priest has truly met with misfortune, then he will be the one to support Sea God Island and continue on its journey!

Before that...

"We must ascertain that powerful figure's current attitude towards us and Sea God Island... Besides, with such a massive upheaval in the North Sea, if we, Sea God Island, don't send someone to inquire and offer our regards, everyone will sense something is amiss. That Deep Sea Demonic Whale King is probably about to break through Sea God Island's barrier. Especially at times like these, we must project an image of confidence..."

Sea Dragon Douluo had considered praying to the Sea God for another divine oracle. However, Bo Saixi had just performed that procedure at the Sea God Hall not long ago. It would take a considerable amount of time for the altar to be replenished with faith power. It couldn't be performed again in the short term.

Moreover, the Sea Dragon Douluo did not succeed to the position of Great Enshrinement, so this practice was against the rules.

For faith, maintaining this solemnity and restraint is essential.

You could say they don't know how to be flexible, but the principles, content, and rules of a religious sect cannot be changed abruptly in a short period of time. Instead, they need a long time to evolve naturally with changes in social relations and the spread of culture.

Otherwise, believers' acceptance of the dogma could easily waver in the process, even leading to sectarian splits.

Even if the Sea Dragon Douluo wanted to inherit the position of Great Enshrinement, it wouldn't be possible to do so so easily. He didn't even bother to look for the missing former Great Enshrinement, and yet he ascended to the position so readily, giving the impression of seizing power without real connection. This makes it difficult for him to gain the trust of others.

Besides, the biggest problem is that... the succession of the Great Enshrinement is not just a nominal succession, but requires a ritual to worship the Sea God to complete the transfer of the position.

Such fluctuations could not possibly have escaped the notice of the surrounding Sea Soul Beast.

In the past, the change of the position of the Great Enshrinement was to deter dangerous Soul Beast like the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King who did not submit to the Sea God and Sea God Island, and to tell them that although the old Great Enshrinement had aged, a new and young Great Enshrinement had been born, who was enough to restrain and intimidate them.

But things are different now.

Bo Saixi is far from being old enough to step down, and Sea Dragon Douluo is far from being strong enough to assume the position of Great Enshrinement.

This will instead make the Sea Soul Beast realize that Bo Saixi has a problem.

Therefore, no matter what, this trip to the North Sea is imperative.

Sea Dragon Douluo knew that discussing resistance in front of such a powerful figure was meaningless.

If that mysterious powerhouse decides, even they, the group of Sacred Pillar Douluo, can only cower inside the Sea God Hall, and even moving around on Sea God Island is fraught with danger.

Unless they receive help from the outside world, it's a huge question whether Sea God Island can even survive!

What power can Sea God Island borrow?

The Sea Dragon Douluo immediately thought of the Spirit Hall and the Clear Sky Sect, the only two forces on the continent that openly possessed ultimate combat power.

However, let's not even mention the relationship between the former and them. If they knew Bo Saixi was missing, they would be lucky if they didn't come and take a bite out of her.

As for the Clear Sky Sect? That sect has closed itself off, and Tang Chen has long since disappeared.

So in reality, they couldn't leverage any external support.

That's how it is.

The Sea Dragon Douluo gathered the remaining six Sacred Pillar Douluo and solemnly shared all the information, speculations, and thoughts he had.

"You mean the Great Enshrinement has been defeated by that mysterious powerful figure who killed the Evil Orca King!?"

The Sea Maiden Douluo, who deeply respected and admired Bo Saixi, a fellow woman, was enraged. She slammed her hand on the table and retorted, "The Great Enshrinement is invincible in the ocean! In this Douluo Continent, apart from the great gods, how could anyone defeat her without making a sound!?"

The other Sacred Pillar Douluo remained silent, but also displayed similar expressions.

Sea Dragon Douluo's expression darkened slightly.

In fact, he had not been unprepared for this situation.

As the strongest Sacred Pillar Douluo, he is the one who can best understand Bo Saixi's power.

He himself wouldn't have easily believed it if he hadn't personally investigated and deduced all the information and intelligence along the way.

The Sea Spear Douluo, whose strength was firmly ranked second, glanced at the Sea Dragon Douluo and said calmly, "Alright, although it is indeed hard to believe, the Sea Dragon is not the kind of person who speaks without reason. If even this premise cannot be confirmed, then there is no need for this meeting to continue."

Sea Star Douluo echoed in a deep voice, "If Lord Sea Dragon's prediction is correct, then now is the time for our life or death. Sea Maiden, now is not the time for you to be emotional."

"Tsk."

The Sea Maiden Douluo smacked her lips, but seeing that everyone nodded slightly after the two Sacred Pillar Douluo spoke, she remained silent.

Sea Dragon Douluo nodded and said in a deep voice, "Based on the intelligence from the Sea Soul Master and Sea Soul Beast, that mysterious powerhouse has most likely taken control of the Mermaid Clan and the North Sea. We must find out the Mermaid Clan's current attitude."

He turned to look at the Sea Maiden Douluo: "The situation is unclear right now. I must go to the North Sea to find out what the Mermaid Clan, or rather that mysterious powerhouse, is thinking about our Sea God Island. I need you, with your mermaid bloodline, to help me contact the Mermaid Clan."

"I see."

The Sea Maiden Douluo nodded solemnly.

Although the journey to the North Sea is extremely dangerous, the people present are all strong individuals with unwavering faith and loyalty, and they will not retreat here.

Especially when it comes to the revered Great Enshrinement, the Sea Maiden Douluo feels a strong sense of duty.

"Sea Dragon".

Sea Spear Douluo said, "This journey is fraught with danger and we may very well face a powerful figure capable of defeating the Great Enshrinement. You are the strongest among us, so you should stay on Sea God Island and I will go instead."

After speaking, he glanced at the others, his expression cold, and said, "No objections, right?"

"I have an objection."

Sea Ghost Douluo coldly said, "If that mysterious expert really makes a move, it will be the same no matter who goes. I think Sea Maiden Douluo alone is enough. There's no need for anyone to negotiate or come back to report. As long as she doesn't return within the stipulated time, that fact is enough for us to confirm the situation."

Even though the Sea Maiden Douluo was prepared to die, she was still so angry when she heard the Sea Ghost Douluo say that he was treating her like a tool that her face turned pale and then red, "Old Ghost, what kind of nonsense are you talking about?! I really want you to come with me!"

"Quiet!"

With a low shout, Sea Dragon Douluo stopped the impending argument and said in a deep voice, "Let me explain my thoughts. First of all, it's impossible for Sea Maiden to go alone this time. At this stage, every Sacred Pillar Douluo is crucial and cannot be easily abandoned. If one day we really need to retreat to Sea God Island and that mysterious powerhouse or the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King comes, only by combining the strength of all seven of us can we resist. You should all understand this."

This is no exaggeration.

The area surrounding Sea God Island, having accumulated the collective power of all living beings over a long period, has developed a home-field effect similar to the Sanctuary in Saint Seiya.

Seven Sacred Pillars and the Great Enshrinement can gain a certain amount of power around Sea God Island. The Sacred Pillar Douluo relies on the Sacred Pillar, while the Great Enshrinement relies on the Sea God Island itself and the Sea God Hall for support.

The Seven Sacred Pillars receive far less blessing than the Great Enshrinement, and they cannot directly draw upon the divine power of the Sea God Hall like the Great Enshrinement. However, they can connect their powers with each other by relying on the Sacred Pillar of the same origin, forming a special battle formation.

The seven Sacred Pillar Douluo, united by the connection of the Sacred Pillar, were not as powerful as the Great Enshrinement under the blessing of Sea God Island, but they were still able to rival ordinary Limit Douluo.

Of course, this only applies to direct combat.

The reason why the Sea Dragon Douluo was more wary of the mysterious powerhouse was because the Limit Douluo was more agile than a giant monster like the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King. Moreover, judging from the opponent's ability to conceal himself, he could completely avoid direct combat and instead defeat them one by one.

Therefore, if we consider the issue of opposing the mysterious powerful being, then they basically have no means of countermeasures other than relying on the Sea God.

Whether or not we take this trip, it makes no difference.

Sea Dragon Douluo continued, "Moreover, we are only visiting the Mermaid Clan on this trip. Judging from that mysterious powerhouse's previous behavior, he may not necessarily show himself. But even if that mysterious powerhouse doesn't take action, the Mermaid Clan's strength should not be underestimated. If any conflict arises, only I, with my strongest strength, am confident that I can bring the Mermaid back safely."

Ultimately, it was decided that Sea Dragon Douluo and Sea Maiden Douluo, along with a group of Sea Soul Master, would form a formal diplomatic delegation to visit the North Sea.

"That's how it is, Your Majesty. I'm very sorry to have disturbed your cultivation."

In response to Li Ya's apology, You Chen waved his hand, indicating that it was nothing, and said, "It is indeed no small matter for Sea Soul Master from Sea God Island to come and visit. Reporting this situation to me is exactly what I asked you to do from the beginning."

"Thank you for the divine grace of the Lord."

Li Ya still dared not overstep her bounds, maintaining her expressionless face, which had gradually become almost blank from the pressure of her actions, and said, "Your Majesty, the spies of the Sea Knife Fish Clan have been confirmed. This time, the team is led by Sea Dragon Douluo and Sea Maiden Douluo. With the current strength of the Mermaid Clan, defeating them is not difficult, but if we want to kill or capture them, we cannot guarantee the success rate."

You Chen glanced at Li Ya speechlessly. When did this new Sea Princess become so ruthless?

He shook his head and said, "Li Ya, what kind of image do I have in your heart? Since they came to visit in accordance with proper etiquette, killing them like this will not only fail to serve as a warning to others, but will also cause turmoil among the tribes that originally depended on the Mermaid Clan."

In fact, given You Chen's personality, he wouldn't care whether the vassal groups of the Mermaid Clan were in turmoil.

Soul Beast devouring each other to cultivate is one of the laws of the world; however, Soul Beast that are more Kindness God King and law-abiding tend to absorb the essence of heaven and earth to cultivate.

The Mermaid Clan have no need to devour Soul Beast. During this period, You Chen's cultivation resources mainly came from the hunting quotas of the seven vassal clans.

Maintaining stability for these ethnic groups naturally becomes necessary.

Moreover, during this period, in addition to consuming the ocean's cultivation resources to refine his body and digesting the experiences and insights from Bo Saixi, You Chen also began to secretly do something in the North Sea —spread faith.

He used the North Sea as a testing ground in order to truly unite the faith of the people of the Douluo Continent in the future.

However, he was unsure of the specifics of the Divine Realm laws, and whether his spreading of faith in the ocean would give Poseidon a reason to intervene.

Therefore, he did not spread the word widely, but instead first got a portion of the Crystal Palace's Sea Soul Beast to believe in him.

You Chen doesn't dare to do most things that involve plundering the Sea God's faith for the time being.

His current goal is simply to see if he can sense the existence of the so-called power of sentient beings' thoughts.

After many attempts, You Chen has discovered a good solution—building a statue.

Whether it's because his strength is still insufficient, or for some other reason, he himself is not yet able to gather the thoughts of all living beings, or perhaps he has already gathered them but cannot directly observe them with his naked eyes and Divine Sense.

However, through objects such as statues, one can indeed discover the concentrated power of the collective thoughts of all beings.

The reason he was able to confirm that this energy was the power of the thoughts of all living beings was because he possessed Pure Divine Power and could use it as a reference.

A single drop of Pure Divine Power can be divided into 10,081 strands of divine power; a single strand is the smallest unit of divine power.

Under You Chen's Divine Sense observation, the collective thoughts of all living beings that had been condensing on the sculpture during this period of time were roughly similar to the feeling he got from a wisp of divine power.

The Pure Divine Power sent by the system can be used directly by him or distributed to others.

But the spiritual power of the beings in this sculpture is different; only he himself can access it.

This means that the thoughts of these sentient beings are directly directed at him.

Although he didn't intend to waste his Pure Divine Power for the time being, after discovering that there was a way to gather the thoughts of all living beings, You Chen no longer cherished the thoughts of all living beings on this sculpture.

However, even though it was the collective spiritual power of these powerful Sea Soul Beast, which were basically over ten thousand years old, it amounted to only a few strands.

Of course, there were only a few possible reasons. You Chen didn't care much. Since he could already regenerate, a slower pace didn't matter.

You Chen only used a wisp of Pure Divine Power as a reference, but he had no scruples about the power of all living beings' thoughts and used it all for testing.

After trying it out briefly, he quickly discovered that although the energy properties of this collective will power were similar to those of a wisp of divine power, they were actually quite different.

The most significant difference is... intensity.

With just a wisp of divine power, You Chen didn't expect to achieve the omnipotence of divine power, such as adding a time limit to his Soul Ring.

His main experiment was to use divine power and the power of sentient beings' thoughts to replace or amplify the effect of Soul Power, and this resulted in a significant difference.

Subsequently, the focus shifted to using the collective mental power of sentient beings to perform Soul Skill, or as cultivation resources to enhance Soul Power and physical constitution.

After completing these experiments, You Chen's curiosity was satisfied for the time being, and he temporarily put aside his research on divine power and focused only on collecting the thoughts of all living beings.

He's now very curious about the situation where there are multiple statues. For example, would the collective power of the thoughts of all beings cause a convergence, or would the range of his direct manipulation of the collective power of the thoughts of all beings expand as a result?

For the time being, he only wanted to take good care of this small plot of land and did not want to attract unnecessary attention from the Sea God, so he could develop it in peace for a while longer.

After all, the Angel God who collected the faith of the continent is not still alive like the Sea God. He can plunder the faith power that was originally occupied by the Spirit Hall without any scruples, and even achieve a more exaggerated radiation range than the Angel God of the past.

Therefore, what he said to Li Ya was his true thought.

It's one thing for Bo Saixi to come after him, but he has no intention of launching a direct attack on Sea God Island right now.

"So the Overlord had such deep considerations?"

Upon hearing You Chen's words, Li Ya's eyes lit up, and she nodded, saying, "In that case, how should I deal with them? Should I show a tough attitude, or pretend to be as I have in the past and play along?"

You Chen smiled and walked towards the door of the secluded cultivation room, saying, "Since my cultivation has been interrupted, I might as well come out and take a stroll. Li Ya, this time, I will personally entertain these two distinguished guests."

As he said this, a hint of malice flashed in You Chen's eyes.

"Lord Sea Dragon, things might not be as you think, right?"

Having already entered the waters controlled by the Mermaid Clan, the Sea Maiden Douluo laughed and said, "Look, didn't the Mermaid Clan welcome us very generously? They even specially chose an island as the meeting place, instead of their more comfortable underwater palace. It may seem less solemn and formal, but as someone with mermaid blood, I know that this is actually a manifestation of their willingness to consider our needs!"

"Is that really the case?" Sea Dragon Douluo had a bad feeling.

The Sea Maiden Douluo looked helpless and said, "Sigh, you're exaggerating too much. I always thought, how could the Great Enshrinement be defeated at sea? I reckon it's just that the enemy was indeed quite capable, so he was injured and temporarily stayed with the Mermaid Clan to recuperate! The reason the Mermaid Clan is treating us so warmly is probably because the Great Enshrinement arrived first! See, doesn't that make sense?"

As the two talked, they arrived at the agreed-upon island.

Led by a team of mermaid guards, and with two Sacred Pillar Douluo leading the way, followed closely by a group of Sea God Island Soul Master, they officially arrived at the meeting place, an open-air courtyard in a huge manor that had been prepared in advance.

This island is not far from the Crystal Palace, so naturally, it is the place where You Chen lives and cultivates on a daily basis.

The open-air courtyard is as large as the area of an ordinary mansion. In the huge, deep pond, several beautiful mermaids are swimming happily, displaying their graceful water dance.

A few meters away from the pool, a mermaid wearing a golden crown, whose scales were more beautiful and delicate than those of the mermaids in the pond, stood silently with her back to them, in a posture similar to that of a snake woman.

The Sea Maiden Douluo's gaze quietly drifted to the mermaids performing like dancers in the pond.

The Sea Maiden Douluo has half mermaid blood flowing through her veins. Seeing these mermaids posing in the water like actors on a stage, she was not in a good mood.

I even felt somewhat offended.

Even if it's to welcome guests from Sea God Island, there's no reason to perform such a show that demeans the dignity of one's own kind.

She wanted to question the newly appointed empress about how she had become Sea Princess, and if she couldn't do it, she should replace her.

However, considering the purpose of this trip and the hidden dangers, the Sea Maiden Douluo did not make a move, but silently glanced at the Sea Dragon Douluo.

Although the Sea Dragon Douluo couldn't fully grasp the hidden meaning of the mermaid dance like the Sea Maiden Douluo, he vaguely sensed that it was a bit strange for the Sea Princess to have her own kind posing and flaunting themselves here.

But more than anything else, he was concerned about the mysterious powerful figure. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was the Sea Princess who had appeared.

As the leader of this trip, it was naturally not up to the Sea Maiden Douluo to speak. After giving the Sea Maiden Douluo an affirmative look, he stepped forward and solemnly said, "Sea Princess Highness, whenever the position of Sea Princess changes, Sea God Island will reaffirm the agreement with the Sea Princess and the Mermaid Clan. We have come for this purpose."

Rustle.

The fish tail wriggled on the soft, damp grass, its scales rubbing against the tender green blades, making a soft sound.

Li Ya turned around, revealing a stunningly beautiful face that seemed to confirm her identity as Sea Princess.

Her calm face, seemingly devoid of emotion, showed no fluctuations, but instead exuded an empress-like majesty.

"The agreement between the Mermaid Clan and Sea God Island is hereby destroyed."

She spoke in a calm tone, uttering words that shocked everyone on Sea God Island.

"This..."

Although the Sea Dragon Douluo was taken aback, he managed to regain his composure. He soothed the Sea Maiden Douluo, whose agitation was now barely concealed, with a look and asked in a deep voice, "If this is Sea Princess's will, then although it is regrettable, we have no choice but to accept it. But before that, may I ask what the reason is?"

Ring ring ring~

Li Ya did not answer, but remained silent. Suddenly, a clear bell sound came from the direction of the passageway connecting the courtyard to the manor houses.

The group from Sea God Island entered in a grand procession through the side gate that connects the island directly to the courtyard, without passing through the main gate of the manor. The owner of the voice clearly came from inside the manor.

Sea Dragon Douluo frowned immediately, wanting to see which member of the Mermaid Clan was so impolite as to suddenly intrude at such an important meeting between the two forces. Perhaps he could use this to question the Sea Princess and gain some room for negotiation.

Then... Sea Dragon Douluo's body trembled, cold sweat poured out uncontrollably, and his anger boiled and surged uncontrollably.

Having learned from yesterday's experience, I have a feeling the next chapter will be rejected too... My writing skills are just awful. I'm wondering if I should rearrange the order of the text, since, as everyone knows, the order of the text doesn't affect reading.