80,000-year-old Deep Sea Blue Whale, 200,000-year-old Deep Sea Devil Ray, 400,000-year-old Evil Spirit Orca.
Surrounded by the My World Pixel Soul Beasts with absurdly high age levels, Dong Qianqiu immediately chickened out and unhesitatingly tucked herself into Chen Ming's arms.
"This... seems a little dangerous..."
Seeing Dong Qianqiu cower against him, Chen Ming couldn't help chuckling and teasing her.
"Isn't this your territory? Why are you so scared?"
"I... I just don't feel safe after rebuilding my cultivation in human form... If this were before I took human form, I could've knocked the sense into any Evil Spirit Orca or Deep Sea Demon Whale with a single swipe of my tail!"
Dong Qianqiu immediately tried to save face, finding herself a plausible excuse. It had to be because she was rebuilding her cultivation—she was merely avoiding the enemy's strongest point. She definitely wasn't scared.
"Right, right. You're the strongest."
Chen Ming couldn't help laughing, but still played along. Di Qiu'er looked around, finding the deep-sea environment rather unremarkable.
The three of them kept dodging the incredibly powerful Soul Beasts as they continued descending.
"Chen Ming, look! A giant lobster!"
Di Qiu'er had sharp eyes and spotted the creatures moving along the seabed: giant lobsters, crabs, shrimp, abalone, and more.
"I knew this was all you cared about. Come on, let's catch some seafood to eat."
Chen Ming looked as if he'd expected this, then led the three of them off to catch seafood.
Di Qiu'er lunged like a hungry dragon and snatched a huge crayfish.
Since the crayfish came from a different mod, unlike the Douluo Continent mod's creatures, it dropped meat when killed.
The crayfish also wasn't affected by this dungeon's rule that only Soul Beasts over ten thousand years old could appear.
Chen Ming landed on the seabed and gathered a bunch of shellfish and abalone, while Dong Qianqiu nimbly caught fish.
Dong Qianqiu held an Ice Spear in her hand and cleanly killed a fish with a swift thrust.
Just as the three of them were happily preparing dinner, a terrifying pressure swept over them. Dong Qianqiu and Di Qiu'er both sensed a deadly threat.
All three turned toward the source of the feeling. A colossal creature appeared, a brilliant purple-gold Soul Ring circling beneath it: the million-year-level Deep Sea Demonic Whale King.
Dong Qianqiu's face instantly went pale with fright. Had her mother faced such a terrifying creature back then? It was so scary...
"Demon Empress! I'll fight you! You'll pay for my mother's life!"
But her anger quickly turned into strength. A Yellow Soul Ring appeared around Dong Qianqiu, and she charged straight at the creature, ready to fight to the death.
The next second, a flash of silver streaked past. Chen Ming, in his silver-haired, violet-eyed form, appeared in front of her.
Dong Qianqiu felt herself crash into a soft, delicate body. Chen Ming held her and moved away from the million-year Deep Sea Demonic Whale King.
"Calm down. This is a dungeon. They're just creatures without any self-awareness."
As he spoke, he carried Dong Qianqiu rapidly away from the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King. She soon calmed down.
"Oh, right. I almost forgot..."
Realizing that this wasn't the seabed where she lived, Dong Qianqiu awkwardly scratched her head, her cheeks growing warm with embarrassment.
After Chen Ming set her down, Dong Qianqiu was about to thank him when she froze, staring in confusion at the two silver-haired, violet-eyed figures.
"Your Majesty? Why are there two Qiu'er Majesties?"
Dong Qianqiu felt like her brain was about to short-circuit. She hadn't even blinked, so how had there suddenly been two Di Qiu'ers?
"It's me, Chen Ming. This is my second form."
Chen Ming spoke up, then changed back into his original black-haired, black-eyed form.
"Chen Ming, you can transform too? That's amazing! You look so much like Her Majesty Qiu'er. No wonder you're siblings."
Dong Qianqiu marveled. Chen Ming waved dismissively, then said:
"Let's look around a little longer, then we'll go back and make dinner."
"Oh, okay!"
The three of them explored a little more. Soon, Dong Qianqiu fixed her gaze on a ten-thousand-year-old Demon Soul Great White Shark.
"Chen Ming! I found one of my people! That's wonderful!"
Dong Qianqiu was thrilled. There was only one Demon Soul Great White Shark left in the sea now—her. The Demon Empress had slaughtered the rest.
Now she was seeing one of her kind again. Even if it was pixelated, it was still one of her people.
"Yeah. It looks pretty stupid, just like you."
Chen Ming stroked his chin and studied it for a moment. It looked intelligent just from its eyes. He then turned to Dong Qianqiu and teased her.
Dong Qianqiu immediately bristled at that and pounded Chen Ming with her little fists. Her punches were soft and had no strength behind them.
"You're the stupid one!"
Dong Qianqiu swam over. Since she had transformed from a Demon Soul Great White Shark, the shark didn't attack her.
"Chen Ming, can I take it home? It's too dangerous for it to stay here all alone."
Dong Qianqiu wanted to take it away and raise it. She looked at Chen Ming hopefully.
"Sure. Here's a Poké Ball. Try catching it."
Chen Ming took out a Poké Ball. Dong Qianqiu immediately swam over and took it. After he explained how to use it, she eagerly hurried off to catch the Demon Soul Great White Shark.
Di Qiu'er kept gathering food from the seabed. There was no way this little bit of seafood would be enough to fill her up.
Not long afterward, the three of them returned to the Overworld. As soon as they left the dungeon, a wave of weakness swept over them.
"What's going on... I'm so dizzy..."
Dong Qianqiu went limp against Chen Ming, unable to muster any strength. Chen Ming immediately checked the Status Window.
He found that his body temperature was severely out of balance. After soaking in the freezing seawater for so long, he'd gotten the Cold Level 3 effect.
"We've caught a cold..."
Chen Ming said as he helped the soaking-wet Dong Qianqiu onto the bed. He collapsed onto it too, unable to move a muscle. Di Qiu'er followed close behind and flopped down on top of him.
"A cold?"
Dong Qianqiu's cheeks were flushed. Her body felt icy, and she curled up tightly in Chen Ming's arms. She hadn't expected that even after becoming a Soul Master, she could still catch a cold.
"What kind of ridiculous game mechanic is this..."
Di Qiu'er complained weakly. Chen Ming used the power of the fire element to warm them, and she started feeling better. Dong Qianqiu and Di Qiu'er clung tightly to the soft, warm human heater.
"Qiu'er, did you bring any milk or milk tea?"
Chen Ming asked the question of the day. Di Qiu'er immediately looked embarrassed and averted her eyes.
"I... accidentally drank all the milk tea..."
"Damn..."
Chen Ming gave up struggling. All he could do was use the fire element to keep warm while Di Qiu'er and Dong Qianqiu lay on top of him. Weakened as they were, all three of them fell asleep before they knew it.
P.S. First update for March 2, 2,000 words.
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