"A small problem?"
Lin Yuan's expression shifted slightly.
"Uh, perhaps it isn't quite that small," Phoenix Ancestor explained awkwardly:
"As you said, our original plan was to break the seal ourselves and return to the Endless Sea."
"And for that very reason, the exotic beasts themselves are capable of breaking the seal."
"While sealed, we all take the form of petrified statues. This allows us to avoid pollution and erosion as much as possible."
Phoenix Ancestor pointed at the surrounding statues:
"The true bodies of the three of us are inside these. The same goes for the other exotic beasts, except they lack the strength to separate off a sliver of their power and manifest outside like us."
"I see." Lin Yuan nodded. He had already suspected as much, and now it had been confirmed.
"That's where the problem lies," Phoenix Ancestor continued:
"The Petrification Seal protects us, but it also binds us."
"In this state, we remain conscious, yet cannot move."
"As time passed, some exotic beasts could no longer bear this suffering and chose to break their seals early."
"However, under the erosion of pollution, they were soon twisted and mutated."
"Some of those twisted exotic beasts fled to the Endless Sea, while others remained here and began wreaking havoc."
"Although the three of us could project a sliver of our power, it wasn't enough to contend with those that stayed. We could only suppress them using the Sealing Barrier here itself."
"We succeeded in suppressing them, but the pollution on them didn't disappear. Instead, through year after year of erosion, it severely damaged even the seals."
"Under these circumstances, we cannot rashly break free of our seals, or we might be completely consumed by the pollution."
"The problem can only be resolved by eliminating those sources of