A Merman

The Extreme Domain Sea lay to the southeast of the Lu Yu Continent.

Its waters were vast, stretching for hundreds of thousands of li, with countless islands scattered across it like stars. The Extreme Domain Sea Mystic Realm was located on one of those islands.

The island was enormous.

When Chu Zeming led his junior brothers and sisters there, many people from other sects were already gathered before the Mystic Realm. The entire Extreme Domain Sea Island teemed with people and cultivators.

After landing, Chu Zeming set Yue Lian down on the ground.

Although Chu Zeming had later cast a barrier around him, he had deliberately flown very fast over the past two days. The biting wind had still chafed Yue Lian's fair face.

The other disciples, led by Ning Weiyu, crowded around him and fussed over him. Seeing Yue Lian's delicate, beautiful face slightly reddened, they could not help but feel distressed. Though they said nothing aloud, they began to harbor a trace of resentment toward Chu Zeming.

—Senior Brother is narrow-minded. He's jealous that Junior Brother is favored, so he deliberately targeted him.

Chu Zeming pretended not to see their looks and sneered disdainfully inside.

The wind had reddened his cheeks, saving him the cost of rouge. Since he loved pretending to be a woman so much, then he could keep pretending. Did he think Chu Zeming did not know how those romantic rumors from the past few days had spread...?

"You can bully me all you want, but don't bully Junior Brother."

Ling Tian's voice suddenly rang out.

Chu Zeming raised a brow and looked at Ling Tian.

He remembered that, in the book, Ling Tian did not seem interested in the innocent and captivating little junior brother. Why was he suddenly warning Chu Zeming not to bully him?

Had the world's romantic storyline changed?

So Ling Tian was here to defend Yue White Lotus too?

Chu Zeming leaned forward slightly, his eyes fixed directly on Ling Tian's, as though he wanted to pierce through the surface and see what he was truly thinking.

"What? You like him too?"

Ling Tian's face flushed crimson, and his eyes nearly spat fire. "Is there something wrong with you?"

Then he flicked his sleeve and left.

Once more, he drifted apart from the other disciples of the Nine Purities Vastness Sect. With his baby face stiffly set, he stared blankly at the sky, thoroughly withdrawn into himself.

Xuan Mo followed beside his senior brother and looked at Ling Tian. "Senior Brother, I feel like Ling Tian has been acting rather strangely lately."

Chu Zeming nodded. "Mm."

He really was strange.

But that had nothing to do with him.

Withdrawing his gaze, Chu Zeming began meditating on the spot.

The Mystic Realm would open in three days. The journey had consumed too much of his energy, so he needed to recover it quickly. Otherwise, once inside, he might not be able to compete with disciples from other sects.

Seeing this, Xuan Mo hurriedly sat down as well and began regulating his breath in meditation beside Chu Zeming.

The other sect disciples were visiting the Extreme Domain Sea for the first time and were curiously looking around when a cool, slightly husky voice transmission suddenly sounded. "Why aren't you hurrying to adjust yourselves? Do you want to get thrashed by other sects once you go in?"

The sect disciples were all stunned.

Chu Zeming lazily swept his gaze over the surrounding disciples, then continued, "Although I'm leading this expedition, don't expect me to be like the other senior brothers and elders, personally protecting you in every little matter. Three days from now, when we enter the Mystic Realm, I'll give each of you a Teleportation Jade Token. If you encounter danger, teleport yourselves out. But if you do, any treasures will have nothing to do with you."

After saying that, Chu Zeming ignored them and closed his eyes again.

The disciples looked at one another, disbelief written all over their faces.

What did Senior Brother mean by that? He was not going to care whether they lived or died once they went in?

How could he do that?

The Nine Purities Vastness Sect was merely a relatively small third-rate sect. Compared to the great sects, its strength was already inferior. Senior Brother wanted them to enter on their own and face those sect geniuses and cultivation monsters?

They wanted to say something, but when they saw their senior brother surrounded by rampant Sword Qi that kept others from approaching, they swallowed the words that had reached their lips.

They had no choice. They were no longer in the sect, so they could only submit to Chu Zeming's tyrannical power.

With bellies full of grievance, the sect disciples also sat down where they were and began meditating earnestly to rest.

Thus, among the many excited cultivators at the entrance to the Extreme Domain Sea Mystic Realm, all wearing eager anticipation on their faces, the Nine Purities Vastness Sect disciples stood out from the crowd. Taking the road less traveled, they all meditated on the spot, cultivating with gloomy expressions!

"What are they putting on airs for..."

"They're only a small sect. It won't matter how much they sharpen their spears at the last minute."

"But there are two people in their sect who are really good-looking..."

"Junior Sister, you can't judge people by appearance alone. They're just embroidered pillows. Once they enter, they'll be beaten into pig heads."

Many voices discussed them in low tones.

Chu Zeming pretended not to hear.

Yue Lian was also too lazy to pay attention to those discussing him. Rarely, he began cultivating as well. Being hung from a sword sheath for three days of travel seemed to have dealt him quite a blow.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, and the Mystic Realm officially opened.

A massive white vortex appeared before everyone. All of them were invigorated and itching to move.

Once the entrance to the Mystic Realm fully unfolded, countless cultivators turned into streams of light and rushed into the white vortex. In the time it took to blink, the once bustling plaza had become empty.

Seeing that everyone had already charged into the Mystic Realm—

The Nine Purities Vastness Sect disciples clutched their jade talismans anxiously.

Why had Senior Brother not yet given the order to depart? All the good things would be snatched up by others first.

What if they missed a treasure suited to them because of these few minutes? Their thoughts showed on their faces, and some disciples could not help looking at Chu Zeming with resentment.

Chu Zeming sensed their gazes. A cold smile rose on his flamboyant, unrestrained face, but he did not expose them. Instead, he said slowly, "Next, I'll tell you a few things that need attention after entering the Mystic Realm. Listen carefully and remember every word."

"But... before we left, the elders already told us what to watch out for," one disciple muttered quietly.

Chu Zeming cast a cool sidelong glance at the disciple who had spoken and said flatly, "If you don't want to listen, you may enter the Mystic Realm ahead of us."

His tone was icy, and his gaze terrifying.

For a moment, none of the disciples dared speak. They held their breaths and lowered their heads.

—Fine, we'll listen. We're already later than everyone else, so what difference does it make how much later we are?

Chu Zeming withdrew his gaze and said, word by word, "What I'm about to tell you differs somewhat from what the Sect Master and elders said. Remember it firmly. Don't let treasures cloud your judgment. First, if you see any graves or bones after entering the Mystic Realm, show some respect. Bow or burn incense—do whatever you can; second, if you encounter some strange old man dressed in rags, don't look down on him. Treat him better. Perhaps he is the opportunity destined for you; third, if you seize a treasure, are pursued by others, and fall off a cliff after being driven into a dead end, don't despair. It may be precisely at such a time that an even more precious peerless manual or inheritance appears; fourth, keep your dog lives intact. Senior Brother will not come save you."

What Chu Zeming said was strange, and the disciples looked at one another. When they raised their heads and saw his frost-covered face, their hearts trembled, and they hurriedly called out, "Senior Brother, we'll remember."

Only then did they fly into the Mystic Realm one after another.

At that moment, they did not yet know that, after the Mystic Realm ended, they would worship without end this flamboyantly beautiful man whose face was darker than his robes, this cold and merciless man who had told them to keep their dog lives intact and would not save them.

Before entering the Mystic Realm, Yue Lian hesitated for a long time. In the end, he did not heed Ling Yunzi's instruction to stay by Chu Zeming's side at all times, choosing instead to enter alone.

Watching Yue Lian's retreating figure enter the Mystic Realm, Chu Zeming could not help feeling surprised.

For the first time, he felt that Yue Lian was finally acting like a man.

But being a man was one thing. Opportunities still had to be fought for.

With a sweep of his sleeve, Chu Zeming also turned into a streak of light and flew in.

Because he had needed to instruct his junior brothers and sisters, Chu Zeming entered the Mystic Realm many steps later than disciples from the other sects. He had to make up for lost time—

The instant he entered the Mystic Realm, the scenery around him changed.

The landscape was beautiful, with birds singing and flowers fragrant.

This Mystic Realm was boundlessly vast and enormous. Forests, rivers, deserts, and Gobi wastelands... it seemed some spatial-overlay restriction had been used, causing the Mystic Realm's interior to become a world of its own.

After entering the Mystic Realm, Chu Zeming headed straight for a cold pool in a dense forest a thousand li away.

He remembered that, in the book, Yue Lian had been unbearably delicate. After killing a Magic Beast in the Mystic Realm and getting blood splashed all over himself, he had made the original host take him somewhere to bathe.

Then, with astonishing luck, he had found a great treasure at the bottom of a cold pool—the Azure-Blue Pearl, which could help cultivators increase their chance of advancing.

After all, he had only read the text. Chu Zeming knew little about the exact location of the cold pool in the dense forest. He spread out his divine sense and searched that vast forest for an entire day before finally finding, among more than a hundred cold pools, the one that radiated rich spiritual energy, whose water was icy and whose depths could not be seen.

Taking a deep breath, Chu Zeming jumped straight in.

The pool water was bone-piercingly cold. His black robes clung tightly to his skin, and his waist-length ink-black hair undulated in the water like seaweed. Xiao Hei, in his arms, suddenly floated upward, then bit down tightly on Chu Zeming's collar to keep its powerful buoyancy from carrying it to the surface.

Slender silver-white fish emitting a faint glow swam around him. As though they had never seen a cultivator before, they curiously gathered before Chu Zeming and lightly touched his porcelain-white cheeks.

Gradually, the dark pool water, deep as ink, began to brighten. A fist-sized pearl suffused with dark green light appeared before Chu Zeming.

Delighted, Chu Zeming reached out to grab it.

Suddenly, the waters around the Azure-Blue Pearl began to ripple, as though the entire body of water were trembling.

Immediately afterward, a terrifying claw with sharp black nails appeared without warning and slashed viciously toward Chu Zeming.

Chu Zeming abruptly withdrew his hand and reacted with extreme speed, retreating dozens of meters.

When he looked up again, he saw an ugly creature with a terrifying aura, covered from head to toe in spikes, with a human body and a fish tail. It suddenly appeared before the Azure-Blue Pearl in the posture of a guardian. It wore no clothes, its entire body covered in scales.

Its pair of dark blue eyes, like two clusters of ghostly flames, stared fixedly at this human cultivator who had suddenly invaded.

Chu Zeming: Fuck.

The book had never mentioned a merman guarding this cold pool.

Author's Note:

Author: Surprised? A special love, for a special you.

Chu Zeming: I don't want your love, thanks.