CHAPTER 361: CHAPTER 361: THE MERMAID’S KINGDOM

Jiang Yuan seriously suspected that he had exited the bottom of Crescent Lake and entered some kind of teleportation array, otherwise, it couldn’t explain why such a large underground cavern disappeared in an instant.

There was absolutely no sense of direction; even if Tian Qu led him through it once, he probably couldn’t find the way again, which indeed could ensure the safety of the tribe.

Swimming upwards for less than a minute, the blue became increasingly pale as if daylight was breaking through.

"Do I have to swim to the surface first?" This feeling was exactly like when he accompanied his parents on a seaside vacation, diving and then resurfacing, following the mermaid’s swift movement, he had already broken through the "surface" as soon as the thought occurred.

It was difficult to describe that feeling, as if plunging directly from the water into a medium that was neither water nor air.

The moment his entire body entered the other side, Jiang Yuan only felt the world turn upside down; the seawater "upended" the position he was in and rotated to the lower end, his head buzzing dizzily for a few seconds.

Once he recovered and looked again, the originally azure seawater was overhead like a deep blue sky, while he was "floating" in mid-air.

Looking down, the scenery was very similar to the human world, with mountains, rivers, forests, and grasslands on the "ground," along with clusters of grand buildings of various designs.

Astonished again, he raised his head to look up, where the "blue sky" had drifting "clouds" slowly passing by. Most stunningly, a full moon hung in what Jiang Yuan perceived as the "east," emitting bright moonlight that illuminated the entire "sky" and "land."

"How is it? Is it not quite what you imagined the undersea world to be?" Tian Qu swam over, seeing his face full of surprise and smiling proudly, "Actually, we are indeed underwater. Welcome to the Mermaid Kingdom."

It’s indeed magical!

Jiang Yuan was shocked for quite a while before recovering; the world is vast and full of wonders, tonight truly opened his eyes!

"It’s a pity though. The elders said that long ago, when mermaids and humans could freely interact, the undersea world was very bustling. Cultivators from different races would visit, bringing many wondrous things from the land.

Unfortunately, some bad people mixed in among them and closed the paths. They would abduct and sell naive young mermaids and also steal our treasures, resulting in a complete separation between the mermaid race and human cultivators. We’ve grown up now, but it was only the last time we exchanged some land fruits and vegetables with you that we could tangibly see the land’s plants recorded in books."

Leading the way, Tian Qu kept Jiang Yuan’s eyes very busy.

This view was exactly like the descent of an airplane, diving from mid-air, with the closer to the "ground" the clearer and more beautiful the scenery becoming.

"So am I the first human in so many years to visit the Mermaid Kingdom?" he asked, looking at the buildings adorned with coral, pearls, various gems, and shells, regretting yet again that the system did not come with a camera function.

"Of course." Tian Qu saw his continued astonishment, pulled out a memory stone, and smiled, "Do you need me to help you keep a souvenir?"

Indeed!

The cultivation realm doesn’t have cameras, but it has memory stones!

A bit belatedly, Jiang Yuan asked him to help shoot a video for a keepsake, "The Mermaid Kingdom is in the Wilderness World. Strictly speaking, most of those who pit you are demon cultivators rather than human cultivators, they just transform into human shapes."

"Really?" Tian Qu thought for a moment and nodded, "It should indeed be more demon cultivators, but there are also human cultivators. I heard the clan leader say that long ago, there were many humans living in the wilderness, and later some conflict seemed to have occurred, driving the humans out."

Oh? There’s such gossip?

According to this, the conflict between human cultivators and demon cultivators led to the former being expelled, could the nighttime sinking of the Wilderness World be related?

Instantly diverging his thoughts and linking the two together, he was pondering more gossip to collect more information, which might be useful in the future, when he heard a lively noise.

"The Mermaid Kingdom is home to many different tribes, and our tribe is not very large, having suffered relatively little harm from human cultivators, so we’re more curious than rejecting.

Tonight is the birthday celebration for Yaoguang, and it’s also the day when same-age tribe members in the tribe come of age, though we’ve invited you to witness the ceremony, you will definitely be watched closely, so..." Tian Qu mischievously smiled and said: "Please don’t be awkward, Mr. Jiang."

Indeed, according to Yaoguang’s saying, most mermaids have heard too much about the bad deeds done by human cultivators, they’re unwilling to go to the surface, so they haven’t seen humans, once you enter their kingdom, won’t you be observed?

He glanced at his storage bag, hoping the fresh fruits and vegetables brought according to the trade list would suffice; since they were curious, shouldn’t one make an impression? Otherwise, what’s the difference from watching a monkey?

Following Tian Qu, he arrived in front of the most grand and luxurious building at the center of the tribe, where mermaids dressed in colorful attire turned to look at them together.

"Yaoguang didn’t lie, there really is a human cultivator coming to the banquet!"

"But humans are really bad, could he be coming to deceive our children?"

"Not all humans are bad, we mermaids also have evil ones. I heard that Yaoguang asked for the High Priest to divine a hexagram, it showed great auspices inviting her human cultivator friend to witness the ceremony."

"I also heard that it was this human cultivator who gave Yaoguang that feathered robe! It’s so beautiful, I want one too!"

"Really? What do we need to trade for it? I want one too!"

......

Mermaids living in abundance and peace love to pursue beauty, and due to the characteristics of their race, most of their tails are exposed, making it difficult to escape the limitations of upper body attire no matter how its style changes.

Thus, when Yaoguang appeared wearing a feathered robe almost rare in the Wilderness World, she became the focus of the entire tribe.

Now, knowing that the human cultivator capable of acquiring feathered robes had personally come to witness the ceremony, most of the girls couldn’t contain their inner excitement and gathered around to observe the human they’ve never seen before, trying to strike up a conversation about the price of the robe.

"Wow! Humans actually have two tails!" A young mermaid rushed forward, seeing Jiang Yuan walking normally landing, she was amazed, "Your tail is split in the middle and wrapped up, does it not hurt?"

Another slightly older one slapped him, "How silly! Those are called legs, not tails! My mom says they use legs to walk on land."

The little mermaid looked down at her own tail then at Jiang Yuan’s legs, whispering, "Is this what mermaids who take magic potions to go ashore transform into? That must hurt a lot!"

Whether it hurts or not, how would Jiang Yuan know?

He was surrounded by mermaids swinging their colorful tails, shimmering in the moonlight with dazzling colors making his eyes a bit dazed.

Not knowing what to say, he had to take out some strawberries, tomatoes, cherries, and other pretty and delicious fruits from his storage bag to give them.

"Wow! These fruits taste so good, what’s their name? We’ve never seen them in our kingdom, are they unique to the land?"

"We’ve eaten these delicious fruits, shouldn’t we give something in return? Can we, like Yaoguang, trade with human cultivators for tasty and fun things in the future?"

Mermaids who’ve never tasted land fruits were all ecstatic, soon each holding pearls, coral, amber, and various exceptionally exquisite shells as tokens of gratitude for him to accept.

Jiang Yuan identified at a glance that these were rare treasures in the outside world, usable for medicine, forging into magical treasures and weapons, even the cheapest large and beautiful shells would be worth several hundred spirit stones, yet he merely offered fruits and vegetables grown on level one land, how could he accept?

"This is everyone’s sincerity, you should accept it." Yaoguang, wearing the feathered robe, gracefully came over and smiled, "It’s not just in thanks for the fruits you’ve given, they have something to ask of you."