Throne of the Tides

Standing on the lake in the Realm of Ten Thousand Streams of the Water Elemental Plane, Xiao Yu felt that everything around him seemed to have changed. His senses became incredibly sharp, sensing the dampness of the air in the Water Elemental Plane and the coolness of the surrounding lake water.

If he used to feel like he was controlling a body while his soul was possessed when he played games, now he feels like his soul has traveled through time; he was a Water Elemental from birth.

Is this the realistic feeling brought by the new physics engine? Xiao Yu raised a hand and watched the water flow through his body. He could clearly feel the surrounding lake water being gradually absorbed by him and integrated into this strange shell.

How interesting! A smile suddenly appeared on his face, which was made of water.

So next, it's time to rearrange his skill system. Since he had no understanding of the mutated species, the Boiling Water Elemental, Xiao Yu had always been haphazard in his skill selection. This resulted in his skills and talents not being quite compatible, and the skills themselves not synergizing well enough to achieve a 1+1 greater than 2 effect. Thanks to this version update, all of these issues can be corrected.

First, regarding level 5 skills, Frostfire Bolt remains Xiao Yu's top priority. This skill ensures stable damage output and can be effectively used regardless of the situation.

For his second skill, the level 10 Nova skill, Xiao Yu once again chose Frost Nova. As a crowd control skill, Frost Nova is quite effective.

For his third skill, a level 15 shield skill, Xiao Yu again chose the Biting Wind Protection.

The first three skills are basically unchanged. The only difference is that Xiao Yu does not plan to make Frost Nova a BOSS skill this time.

For his fourth skill, a level 20 lord skill, Xiao Yu chose to Summon Boiling Water Elemental. He was going to fight the Naga in the Great Sea. Because of the new physics engine, fire elementals were obviously no longer usable in the sea; they might even extinguish themselves shortly after being summoned. So Water Elemental were a better option. At the same time, Xiao Yu directly turned this skill into a BOSS skill.

The advanced BOSS skill now offers two options.

Choosing option 1 greatly improves the quality of summoned elemental minions; you can now summon elite-template elemental minions. The template of your elemental minions will increase as your template level increases.

Option 2 greatly increases the number of elemental minions you can summon; you can now summon a significantly larger number of elemental minions. The number of elemental minions increases with your template level.

Given the choice between improving quality and improving quantity, Xiao Yu decisively chose the former. No matter how many low-quality troops there were, they would be instantly wiped out by large-scale area attacks. Improving quality was more worthwhile.

The fifth skill, a level 25 skill, is a choice between Elemental Absorption, Body-Burning Blast, and Boiling. Xiao Yu originally chose Body-Burning Blast due to the circumstances, and this skill had proven effective several times. However, this time Xiao Yu was going to enter the Great Sea in his true form, so this skill obviously could not be used anymore. Xiao Yu decisively chose the first skill, Elemental Absorption.

Elemental Absorption: Absorbs free water molecules from the surrounding air, restoring 20% of health over 10 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes. (The surrounding environment will affect the effect of this skill).

This skill might not be very useful for ordinary elemental creatures, but it's incredibly powerful against boss-level elemental creatures. Xiao Yu's current 20% health is about 50,000 to 60,000, and it will only increase in the future. It's definitely a life-saving skill. However, this skill might be limited in dungeons.

The sixth skill, a level 30 area-of-effect skill, is a choice between Frost Storm, Flamestrike, and Maelstrom. Xiao Yu originally chose Flamestrike, but as mentioned before, after the game engine update, this skill is obviously useless in the sea. Even if it can be used, its power will probably be pitifully small. The third Maelstrom, is more suitable.

Maelstrom: Summons a massive whirlpool that deals continuous damage to enemies within an area and drags them towards its center. Range: 30 yards (Water Elemental are unaffected by this ability; if cast in water, the area of effect is increased by 100%).

Xiao Yu directly upgraded this skill to a BOSS skill.

System notification: Your Maelstrom skill has been upgraded to Deep Sea Maelstrom.

Deep Sea Maelstrom: Stirs the ocean with powerful elemental force, dragging all visible creatures into the Abyss in agony and torment. No one can resist the power of the sea. Skill range: 100 yards. (Water Elemental are unaffected by the skill's effect. If this skill is cast in water, its range will increase indefinitely with your elemental power.)

Looking at his skill selection, Xiao Yu realized that most of his choices this time were hybrid skills. There was no way around it; both ice and fire skills had their weaknesses. The former dealt too little damage to monsters with high ice resistance, and the latter dealt too little damage to enemies with high fire resistance. Moreover, they couldn't be used in the sea. Relatively speaking, hybrid skills were more useful.

Having selected several skills, Xiao Yu's next task was to gather his followers.

Upon opening the lord interface, Xiao Yu issued a summons to his subordinates.

Water Elemental Plane Channel: Azathoth (Water Elemental Prince): "In the name of me, Azathoth, the Immortals, gather your forces and come to me at the Throne of the Tides within three days!"

He sent it three times in a row to make sure that all the Immortals in the Water Elemental Plane could hear it. Using this summoning function might cost some points, but fortunately it wasn't much. Luckily, he still had some savings, so he could afford to spend those points.

Then he set off towards the Throne of the Tides.

The Throne of the Tides is located in the Great Sea on the Water Elemental Plane, thousands of kilometers away from where he is now. Fortunately, he can travel by water. The Realm of Ten Thousand Streams is composed of thousands of rivers, some shallow and others as large as the Yangtze River. Because Water Elemental move very quickly in water and are not limited by water resistance, these large rivers form a transportation network on the Water Elemental Plane, much like highways.

Xiao Yu randomly chose a river, jumped in, and floated downstream. After drifting for a day and a night, the next morning, Xiao Yu heard the sound of a waterfall.

Before you lies an incredibly magnificent waterfall. In the mica rock strata of the Realm of Ten Thousand Streams, a fault appears here, a steep cliff dividing the Realm of Ten Thousand Streams and the Great Sea into two worlds. The rivers flow into the Great Sea from here, and the steps formed by the mica rock become a huge waterfall complex. The Throne of the Tides is hidden in the ocean beneath this continuous waterfall complex.

Although named the Water Elemental King, Neptulon is actually a sea elemental. Among the three factions of the Water Elemental Plane, the Water Elemental live in the Realm of Ten Thousand Streams, with their capital at the Riptide Valley; the ice elementals live in the Frostlands, with their capital at the Polar Cavern; and the sea elementals are scattered throughout the Great Sea, with their capital at the Tidal Abyss. Because Neptulon became the Water Elemental King, the Tidal Abyss also became the Throne of the Tides, which is now the capital of the Water Elemental Plane. Following the river into the Great Sea, Xiao Yu immediately felt a completely different sensation from the river waters of the Realm of Ten Thousand Streams. The surroundings became deep and heavy, and looking up, the seawater stretched endlessly, seemingly without end.

Those unfamiliar Marine Life looked strange and unfamiliar, much larger and more ferocious than those in the Realm of Ten Thousand Streams. It seemed that they had reached a higher level. Xiao Yu thought to himself, "No wonder the Water Elemental can't compete with the sea element. Just from the perspective of living environment, the Water Elemental's living environment is undoubtedly the most comfortable."

Following the map's guidance, he swam towards the Throne of the Tides, avoiding the enormous sea monsters. In the distance, through the deep curtain of the sea, the outline of a massive mountain made of coral rock was revealed. The light emitted by the strange elemental crystals illuminated the surroundings, making the entire Throne of the Tides as magnificent as Poseidon's palace.

A series of soft laughs suddenly rang in his ears, and something swam swiftly past him. Xiao Yu abruptly stopped in his tracks. "Who's there?"

The seawater churned before him, outlining a woman-like figure, and a deep blue elemental creature appeared before him—a siren.

Sirens and water nymphs are somewhat similar, both possessing alluring and captivating appearances. However, their colors are completely different. Their bodies, formed from deep seawater, give them a more textured and eerie quality.

Ashali (Siren): "Your Highness, Water Elemental Prince, I am Ashali, a subject of Lord Neptulon. Are you here to attend the Elemental Elders' Council?"

The Elemental Elders' Council? Xiao Yu was taken aback. This was the first time he had ever heard of such a thing. Although he had lived in the Fire Elemental Plane for a long time, Ragnaros was not one to enjoy democratic politics. So, back in the Fire Elemental Plane, it was usually a matter of superiors giving orders and subordinates following them. He never expected that the Water Elemental would have a council. This was quite novel.

Azathoth (Water Elemental Prince): "That's right, I'm here for the meeting. Please lead the way."

Ashali (Siren): "Come with me!" With that, she nimbly turned and headed towards the Throne of the Tides.

The siren was noticeably faster, and Xiao Yu struggled to keep up. As they traveled, they could see that the Throne of the Tides was surrounded by sea elementals, sea giants, siren priests, and various creatures enslaved by the sea elementals, such as merfolk, lobster people, giant crabs, and dragon turtles, creating a heavily guarded atmosphere.

Xiao Yu even saw a lot of Water Elemental, huddled together in a chaotic mess, talking in the Water Elemental.

There were also many other guys running around everywhere; Xiao Yu knew without even guessing that these must be players.

Is this the start of a war? Or is the Water Elemental Plane daily military exercises? Filled with doubt, Xiao Yu followed the sea monster to the entrance of the Throne of the Tides.