Chapter 18 (continued)

Telingewei pressed his lips together. The moment he had a firm grip, the white dragon shot forward. It was thrilling.

"Chirp-!!!"

Their rapid dash whipped up a fierce wind.

The Companion Beasts couldn't keep their eyes open and had to squint.

The white dragon laughed, leaping high above the sea, then warned them, "I'm going underwater."

Telingewei scooped up all the Companion Beasts with one hand and set them in front of himself, shielding them, while his other arm held tight to the white dragon. "All right."

The white dragon said, "Here we go!"

The white dragon plunged back into the water.

Bubble, bubble.

Bubbles filled the water beneath the crystal-clear surface.

The fish in the distance had yet to react, still swimming leisurely back and forth through the sea.

Only when the white dragon drew close did they frantically flick their tails and flee into the distance.

The white dragon sank to the seabed.

His beautiful, broad tail spread slightly and swayed in the water like a shimmering silk skirt.

He swam along the current near the seabed.

Every so often, he leaped out of the water so Telingewei and the Companion Beasts could take a breath.

After a few rounds, the Companion Beasts finally began to enjoy diving beneath the sea and leaping back out.

Whenever the white dragon broke the surface, they took a breath in time with him, letting out little cries of surprise. "Chirp-"

When they occasionally surfaced for air, they would spot whales and dolphins in the distance leaping out to breathe.

The whales and dolphins sent tall spouts of water into the air, scattering them into rainbows above the sea.

The little ones copied them, taking great mouthfuls of seawater and spraying it out to make tiny rainbows.

"Chirp, chirp!"

The little ones were having the time of their lives.

Telingewei held the little ones close, feeling the currents and surfacing for air alongside Xie Juanhan.

There was wonder deep in his eyes too.

They were already far out at sea.

The ocean stretched endlessly in every direction.

The white dragon followed the current, swimming a great distance.

It was almost noon when they spotted an island in the distance.

The island curved inward, forming a cape.

This time, the white dragon didn't need to follow the current to know that the water there would slow and swirl around.

Any heavier objects would fall out of the current and sink to the seabed.

"That's the place," the white dragon said cheerfully. "Let's see if we can find anything good!"

The little ones cheered him on. "Chirp!"

The white dragon said, "Let's go!"

Carrying them on his back, the white dragon reached the cape in the blink of an eye.

Sure enough, the bay by the cape was deep and still.

The sea was no longer like translucent glass. Instead, it was a strange blend of deep blue and green, so dark that they couldn't see the bottom.

As they swam across the surface, they could even see their reflections.

The water was cold here too, with a stark difference between the temperature at the surface and beneath it.

Xie Juanhan set Telingewei and the little ones down and returned to human form. "This should be the place. I'll go down and dig around."

Telingewei said, "I'll come with you."

The little ones grew anxious and chased after them. "Chirp, chirp!"

Xie Juanhan kicked his legs and swam nimbly beneath the surface.

Telingewei had to exert a little more effort, moving around a few times before he sank into the sea.

The little ones had long fur and light bodies. They stuck their bottoms up and struggled for ages to sink, only for the seawater to buoy them back up.

Xie Juanhan glanced back and smiled.

He left the little ones alone and swam toward the seabed.

When he reached the bottom, he found a thick layer of silt.

The silt was soft and fine. When he reached in and dug around, it mixed with the seawater and clouded it.

But his guess had been right.

The current had brought plenty of floating debris. After only a few scoops, he felt something hard.

He pulled it out and saw that it was a stark white fish bone.

It gave off a faint trace of energy.

It was a bone left behind by a magical beast fish.

Xie Juanhan pressed his face close to the silt, carefully sensing the energy fluctuations beneath it.

Telingewei struggled down to him, coming face-to-face with him, and reached out to dig beneath the silt too.

Just then, Xie Juanhan smiled at Telingewei.

His snowy-white face seemed to glow softly in the seawater.

Telingewei looked at his face, and only after two seconds did he notice the round object in his hand.

It was a Demonic Core.

A translucent blue Demonic Core that had lost more than half its energy.

The two dragons surfaced.

The little ones were still struggling, bottoms up, trying to dive into the depths.

"Look, a Demonic Core." Xie Juanhan patted their bottoms to get them to look.

Beside him, Telingewei was breathing a little heavily after spending so long underwater. "A level-two Demonic Core. It must have been in the sea for two or three years."

"That's what I thought too." Xie Juanhan held it up for a look. "You can tell it came out of a dead magical beast naturally, without being processed, and then drifted along the current for a long time—a Demonic Core."

Telingewei said, "It can be treated as a low-quality level-one Demonic Core. Selling it for three to five silver coins shouldn't be a problem."

Xie Juanhan tossed the Demonic Core in his hand. "I'll keep looking."

With that, he tried to put the Demonic Core away.

Unfortunately, his robe had no pockets at all.

Telingewei watched him, then silently took two cloth bags out of his Dragon Scale Space.

Xie Juanhan was pleasantly surprised. "When did you bring those?"

Telingewei said, "They're light and don't take up much room, so I usually tuck a few in there."

Xie Juanhan said, "Good habit. I'll learn from you."

After examining the Demonic Core for a moment, Xie Juanhan eagerly pulled Telingewei back underwater to look for more.

The bottom was covered in soft silt. As soon as they reached in and stirred it up, the silt spread through the seawater and clouded a large area.

Under those conditions, they could hardly rely on sight to make out objects on the seabed.

But they didn't rely on sight to find Demonic Cores anyway.

The two dragons used their magical senses to search bit by bit.

Xie Juanhan had an absolute advantage in the water, and he worked more than three times as efficiently as Telingewei.

Before long, he had dug up several Demonic Cores.

All the Demonic Cores had lost varying amounts of energy, but there were so many that their haul was still considerable.

Xie Juanhan stuffed the Demonic Cores into a bag and surfaced for air, carrying the bulging bag.

The little ones were still trying to dive down.

After struggling for so long, they could finally get beneath the surface, but not very deep.

Each time they dived a few meters, the seawater pushed them back up.

They were like dumplings in the sea, spinning around for ages before floating back to the surface.

Watching them huff and puff with effort, Xie Juanhan smiled. "Here, you can play with the Demonic Cores."

Xie Juanhan took a handful of Demonic Cores from the bag, deliberately picking out the larger ones, and gave one to each little one.

The little ones hugged the Demonic Cores with their paws. "Chirp, chirp."

Xie Juanhan said, "Pretty, aren't they?"

Natural Demonic Cores came in all sorts of shapes and sizes.

After drifting in the sea for so long, most had been worn smooth and round by the water.

Several of the little ones admired their sparkling Demonic Cores, holding them up to their eyes for a while, then hugging them against their bellies before holding them up for another close look.

They repeated this over and over.

In the end, they stopped trying to dive altogether and floated lazily on the surface, bellies up, hugging their Demonic Cores.

Neither Xie Juanhan nor Telingewei bothered the little ones.

They dived to the bottom and searched the seabed area by area, looking for Demonic Cores.

Gradually, they gained experience and became more efficient at searching.

Whenever they sensed energy fluctuations like those of a Demonic Core beneath them, they reached in and found one about eight times out of ten.

Working on the seabed was exhausting.

Yet neither dragon felt tired.

At noon, they didn't take a break, merely eating a little Chimerao jerky stored in their Dragon Scale Spaces.

Then they continued diving into the sea to work.

They combed through the seabed inch by inch, searching all the silt beneath them.

By sunset, they surfaced to rest, each carrying a bag of Demonic Cores.

Xie Juanhan inspected the Demonic Cores.

The Demonic Cores in the bags varied in size, color, and level.

Most of them, however, were level-one Demonic Cores.

Xie Juanhan held a Demonic Core in his palm and said, "The energy fluctuations of high-level Demonic Cores are too obvious. If the creatures in the sea found them, they'd certainly swallow them."

Telingewei suspected much the same. "Luckily, some weren't swallowed."

The two poured the Demonic Cores out of the bags and counted them.

After a full day's work, they had collected six level-four Demonic Cores, nineteen level-three Demonic Cores, and a large handful of level-one and level-two Demonic Cores.

Telingewei said, "These Demonic Cores are enough to hire the dwarves to build a house."

The Demonic Cores had drifted in the seawater for so long that much of their energy had dissipated.

But there were simply too many of them.

Once they got back, they could take them to the Adventurers' Association and exchange them for normal Demonic Cores. They would get at least five or six.

Xie Juanhan immediately understood what he meant. "No, we'll split them equally."

Telingewei turned to look at the Companion Beasts hugging their Demonic Cores. "Just leave a few for them to play with. I don't need the rest."

Xie Juanhan still disagreed.

Telingewei insisted. "You take the Demonic Cores, and I'll take the whale oil. We each take what we need."

They were on fairly good terms now, and there really was no need to settle everything precisely in one go.

Seeing that Telingewei really wasn't forcing himself, Xie Juanhan cheerfully raised the bag of Demonic Cores as if making a toast. "Thanks. Then I won't stand on ceremony."