The Sorrowful Mermaid

With his "Blood Sea Pagoda" domain unleashed at full strength, Ren Tao stood above the tide of Sea Soul Beasts like an emperor. Consciously or otherwise, every Soul Beast moved aside, opening a path for him and Hu Dong.

They soon reached the area where they had just detected the Sea Witch and the Human-Faced Sea Anemone.

The Sea Witch played the Sea-Calming Divine Melody, sending broad ripples outward and creating another forbidden zone. Opposite her stood the Human-Faced Sea Anemone. Lights of bluish purple, deathly white, crimson, and ocher radiated around its towering body, forming one peculiar field after another and shutting out Ren Tao's spiritual probing.

Jenny and Yeonnie, behind the Sea Witch, seemed to occupy a separate space-time. They were completely unaware of Hu Dong and Ren Tao's arrival and showed no reaction, not even glancing their way.

Ren Tao's gaze lingered on the Sea Witch, then shifted away.

"Don't get close!"

As he spoke to stop Hu Dong, a faint bloody glow began to rise from Ren Tao's body. A thin layer, like a curtain of light, seeped into the seawater, turned vivid red, and rapidly spread outward.

This was the second application of the Blood Sea Pagoda domain, born from the combination of the Lovesick Heartbreak Red and crystal blood dragon ginseng. Ren Tao called it the Dragon Blood Killing Array.

Its nature was violent and scorching, making it particularly effective against sinister, evil things. Its sheer intensity also made it highly corrosive.

When the Dragon Blood Killing Array reached the vicinity of the Human-Faced Demon Sunflower, still more than ten meters away, it suddenly seemed to strike something, producing a crisp sound.

With a pop, the curtain of light burst, and the images within shattered and dispersed one after another.

In the end, only a pale green anemone "flower" remained, baring its hideous face and sneering at Ren Tao.

"How could you possibly see through my illusion?"

Faint spiritual fluctuations radiated from it as it transmitted those words mentally. At the same time, its body never stopped moving, layering a string of phantoms over itself as it fled in every direction.

Yes, every direction. Between its spiritual fluctuations and its swift movements, the naked eye could not distinguish which way it was actually fleeing.

"You're just buying time. A question like that is an insult to my intelligence!"

Ren Tao had no desire to answer its question. Apart from its unusual techniques, this anemone always struck him as mentally unwell.

A faint golden thread abruptly appeared out of nowhere, piercing a string of phantoms before finally penetrating the Sea Anemone Flower's head. Amid a piercing shriek, the flower's life came to an abrupt end.

Even Hu Dong could not quite restrain himself and, in a rare display, spoke up mockingly.

"Big Brother, do you think this anemone even has a brain? You can see it, but you can't sense it, and it doesn't even have a smell. Only an idiot would fail to see through an illusion like that!"

"Sea anemones are cnidarians. They don't have a central processing system, let alone a brain."

"Huh?"

His boss's vast knowledge once again overturned Hu Dong's understanding. His mouth hung open, and only after a long pause did he remember what he had wanted to ask.

"Then why did you still break its illusion, Big Brother?"

"Illusions need energy to sustain them too. These Sea Anemone Flowers also carry its spiritual imprint. Once I devour a few more, I'll be able to find its true body!"

"Oh!"

Hu Dong understood. He began swimming swiftly about, searching for the illusions left by the Human-Faced Sea Anemone.

"Big Brother, over here..."

Several li away, they discovered another illusion.

"And here..."

After devouring three Sea Anemone Flowers in succession, Ren Tao discovered that a subtle connection based on spiritual power had formed between him and the Human-Faced Sea Anemone.

Devouring transmitted information as well as energy. Most of the time, however, the instinct to devour blocked that information out, since it could impact his own consciousness. This time, Ren Tao retained part of the Sea Anemone Flower's consciousness. To control its illusion through the flower, the Human-Faced Sea Anemone necessarily had to maintain a spiritual connection with it.

At that moment, Ren Tao dimly glimpsed a sea of blood. Unlike his own Blood Sea Pagoda, this bloody sea was filled with the murky aura of slaughter, evil, depravity, and desire. Filthy and rotten, its very aura alone was intensely polluting to the mind.

At the center of the bloody sea stood the enormous figure of the Human-Faced Sea Anemone. It seemed to be in a trance now, not even noticing Ren Tao's spiritual "prying."

Following the Human-Faced Sea Anemone's gaze, Ren Tao saw the Sea Witch's... inner world.

As it turned out, the Human-Faced Sea Anemone had already invaded the Sea Witch's consciousness. There lay a vast, desolate stretch of sea, its waters a lifeless, ashen gray. Great numbers of mermaid corpses had been washed ashore by the waves, while weeping mermaids still lingered in the water, shedding crystalline tears.

Boom!

A thunderclap exploded within Ren Tao's Sea of Inheritance. Excitement and exhilaration swept through his entire body, utterly at odds with the desolate scene before him, giving him the illusion that his mind had split in two.

A torrent of information flooded his mind, and he suddenly understood why his evolutionary instinct placed such importance on mermaids.

The desolation he saw in the Sea Witch's inner world was merely a metaphor, signifying that the Mermaid Clan belonged to evolution's past.

Distilled down to its essentials, the information amounted to just a few things:

Cursed creatures, evolution's past, the Forbidden Power, and the ability to purify.

Because they were cursed creatures, merfolk fat was made into everlasting candles, their tears became merfolk pearls, and they could even produce exquisite textiles such as merfolk silk. Every last scrap of their worth was exploited to the utmost. More tragically still, their upper halves were human and their lower halves fish, leaving them unable to spread their legs...

Was there any torment in this world more terrible than that? Ren Tao instinctively clamped his legs together.

Yet precisely because they were cursed creatures, mermaids carried evolutionary genes within their bodies. They were masterpieces of creation.

In other words, this genetic recombination was inherently perfect. Their creator was a god, or something higher still, and had naturally eliminated the errors and risks that genetic recombination might otherwise produce. It was a perfect template. Moreover, it possessed the ability to wash away mutations, making it ideal for eliminating the potential mutations Ren Tao wished to avoid during his evolution.

By that reasoning, it could truly be called perfect!

It took a long, rambling explanation to put into words, but his spiritual comprehension was completed in an instant. The outcome all of this pointed toward was:

Once he devoured the Mermaid Princess's genes, his autonomous evolution would enter its second stage, opening up a mysterious realm even the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King could not reach.

What was he waiting for, then?

Unable to wait any longer, Ren Tao beat his wings and plunged into a pitch-black Ocean Trench deep beneath the sea.

Whoosh!

Great expanses of ink-black seawater churned aside. As he advanced, Ren Tao's Dragon Blood Killing Array collided with the seawater, the two corroding and battering each other as bursts of red light and white vapor erupted.

The searing dragon blood evaporated the bloody mist in the seawater while counteracting the murky aura within it, as though an invisible battle were being fought. During this clash, the Human-Faced Sea Anemone finally came to its senses and raised its head to "look" toward Ren Tao.

Multicolored Sea Anemone Flowers and dazzling tentacles surged toward him, layered upon one another like waves.

Ren Tao ignored them all. Bone spikes and golden threads lashed out with all his strength, piercing through them as he pressed forward without hesitation.

It was as though he were performing the one great feat of his lifetime, determined to capture the first impregnable fortress of his life and erect his first monument in this world!

As he broke through the obstacles, the anemone's phantom grew dim. Countless golden threads pierced the spiritual barrier and seeped into the Sea Witch's inner world.

At that moment, the Sea Witch witnessed a bizarre sight.

Over the boundless sea, beneath the gloomy sky, a figure clad entirely in gold descended from above. The bloody light around him shone brilliantly, evaporating the aura of death and bringing endless warmth and light to this desolate world.

"Let me save you, sorrowful mermaid!"

Passing through the Human-Faced Sea Anemone's spiritual shadow, the sorrowful mermaids and the world shrouded in death suddenly shattered, replaced by Ren Tao's Sea of Inheritance.

Endless waves beat against the shore, while Ren Tao, dressed in gray, walked barefoot through the mountain woods.

An unfamiliar yet refreshing song rang beside the Sea Witch's ears. It was a tune she had never heard before, a little melancholy and a little sunny.

No matter how she listened, it sounded like youth.

After listening for a while, the Sea Witch raised the Black Flute and played a beautiful melody in harmony with the song.

"So this is what you call devouring? Just this?"

The Sea Witch's tone carried disdain as she communicated with Ren Tao mentally.

"Although I didn't explain it clearly, haven't you misunderstood something about devouring?"

Ren Tao thought it over. That particular joke fit perfectly here.

Apparently, the book got a trial recommendation on QRead today?

But I searched for ages and couldn't find the recommendation slot.

I came back dejected to write. Making the book good matters more than anything!

Keep going, author! Haha~