CHAPTER 364: CHAPTER 364 CRAB CLAW

Following the leader, they filed into the forest beside the village. The towering underwater trees were like sharp swords pointing to the sky, completely different from what Jiang Yuan had imagined underwater plants to be.

Moreover, although it was called a forest, the vegetation was too uniform. After entering, he discovered it wasn’t as pretty as it looked from above.

"These are barren trees that we plant to make furniture." Yaoguang noticed his curious gaze seemed a bit disappointed and covered her mouth with a smile: "The entrance to the Secret Realm is just ahead. You’ll be amazed once we transport over!"

Sure enough, not far ahead was a giant tree, with a tree hollow at least three meters high, guarded by mermaids in armor.

As he stepped into the tree hollow, Jiang Yuan felt darkness before a sudden burst of light!

Looking intently, a scaled-up version of the Undersea Forest Secret Realm appeared before his eyes.

The jellyfish-like plant canopies flourished, with shimmering deep blue strands swaying with the water; plants stacked like conch shells displayed a riot of colors, slowly spinning as they opened purple canopies...

Bright but not dazzling hues were emitted everywhere, so beautiful one couldn’t help but slow their breath, afraid to disturb such a sight.

[...Special materials...]

[...Special materials...]

The system relentlessly popped up identification details following his gaze, revealing every grass, tree, flower, and fruit he saw were all unique materials never seen before!

This was practically a treasure trove!

Jiang Yuan’s gaze grew ever more fervent, his breath quickening. If he could gather and take them back, alchemizing more elixirs and quickly completing system tasks... how satisfying that would be!

"How is it? Wasn’t it worth coming?" Tian Qu saw him dumbfounded and boasted: "This is our clan’s greatest treasure trove. Apart from the Coming of Age Ceremony where newly adult mermaids have the opportunity to enter, usually only Alchemists or Priests who have ascended to a certain realm are occasionally allowed in to seek spirit medicine or useful materials.

Last year, I brought Yaoguang in for the Coming of Age Ceremony. This year, she brought me in. I probably won’t have another chance to explore the Secret Realm again. Speaking of which, you’re quite lucky. Being the first human cultivator to visit here, you can broaden your horizon."

Jiang Yuan took a deep breath, constantly reminding himself "This is the clan’s treasure," "know when to stop," "don’t be greedy"...

After a while, he finally suppressed the greed to take more, and asked in a soft voice: "Can I take a little bit of everything? Mainly because I’ve never seen such magical and beautiful plants, I really like them a lot."

"Everything?" Yaoguang was startled, "How long would that take you? Should we perhaps split up and act separately? Meet here at the sound of the bell. I still want to win the top three prizes and can’t wait to find the Clan Leader’s hidden Jade Pendant!"

The event allowed teammates to enter precisely to aid in finding the Jade Pendant and increase fun. Collecting alone would waste too much time, leaving Yaoguang without a helpful assistant.

Just as he was torn, his peripheral vision caught sight of a line in the mass of system prompt information—[Jade Pendant: A game prop personally placed by the Mermaid Clan Leader]

Based on this contextual judgment of the specific location, Jiang Yuan took a few steps forward and put his hand into a pale green flower with spikes. It looked somewhat like a mushroom; the flower was deep, with silky liquid hard to hold, and after several attempts, he retrieved a ring-shaped Jade Pendant from inside.

"Wow!" Yaoguang’s eyes widened, "How did you do that? The Clan Leader always hides the Jade Pendants so well, many contestants don’t find even one most of the time, and we’ve just entered... hahaha! You’re amazing!"

If not for maintaining some decorum as a grown woman, she would have hugged Jiang Yuan and spun around to express her overwhelming joy.

Tian Qu also looked shocked, then somewhat regretful, "If only I had known you earlier. If I’d invited you to help at my Coming of Age Ceremony last year, we definitely could have made it into the top three!"

Jiang Yuan handed the Jade Pendant to Yaoguang, feeling a bit embarrassed about using cheating tactics, but since it was a game, and the Clan Leader didn’t explicitly prohibit using search magic or tools, it was fair to find them based on one’s abilities, and using the system’s scanning wasn’t against the rules.

Noting her human friend’s astounding search magic, Yaoguang stopped wildly running about, and the three stood side by side, picking a few leaves and fruits, not taking much, sharing the bounty evenly.

They didn’t specifically search for it; wherever the system identified a Jade Pendant, Jiang Yuan would retrieve it for Yaoguang.

Occasionally, they encountered oddly shaped demon fish attacks. The ones that could be chased off were done so, while the ones that insistently attacked to their demise were mostly dealt with by Tian Qu using mermaid sonic attacks.

After weaving through the treasure-laden forest, busy for most of the night, the bell tolled, and they exited in a file with their abundant haul. Ultimately, Yaoguang ranked first by acquiring four Jade Pendants, receiving the Clan Leader’s largest Treasure Chest.

"It’s all thanks to you that we got first place today. I’ll offer you the spoils as a gesture of gratitude!" Yaoguang handed it to Jiang Yuan, then expectantly said, "Starting tomorrow night, we’ll celebrate for three consecutive days. Everyone will sing and dance with such excitement! Wouldn’t you stay a few days?"

Jiang Yuan also liked it here, but with the Immortal Peach at Wo Hu Temple potentially maturing at any moment, and having promised to ally with the Yin Mountain Female Corpse, there was no reason to break his word, so he had to politely decline.

Seeing dawn approaching, Tian Qu escorted him back through Crescent Lake just in time to return to his courtyard before the Wilderness Ascension.

The soft dawn light filled the yard as Jiang Yuan sorted through the Storage Box, pondering if it’d be gratifying if someone else like Li started in the Wilderness World, having special materials at their fingertips, unlike him, who had to face countless obstacles to find an island.

After settling the supplies in the Storage Bag, only the Treasure Chest from Yaoguang remained. He carefully examined it, thinking it worthily reflected the Mermaid Kingdom’s pursuit of beauty, as even the chest was crafted so exquisitely.

Engraved with intricate patterns, the chest was embedded with pearls and colorful scallops, with even the handles crafted in a mermaid’s likeness.

Opening it revealed a completely filled treasure trove that was nearly dazzling.

[Undersea Treasure Map: One of the treasure maps passed down in the Mermaid Kingdom. Within the vast ocean, the Mermaid Kingdom is like a small bubble, beyond which the seabed is filled with opportunities and challenges. Clues depicted on the map can guide one to find lost shipwrecks and treasures beneath the sea]

[Crab Claw: A magical treasure made with the intermediate demon beast, Rock Crab’s claws. Attack Power +500; Defense +200; Evasion +10% can be equipped]

Apart from pearls that could be used to refine elixirs and undersea spirit medicine, the most eye-catching to Jiang Yuan was a pair of large red armor-like crab claws.

In the roughly half-meter chest lay what appeared imposing and mighty; only after taking them out did he realize the chest design was clever, allowing the nearly three-meter-long crab claws to shrink automatically when placed inside!

Eagerly clicking to equip them, he hurried into the Cloud Grocery Store, standing before a large Copper Mirror to click display equipment, and the mirror reflected a wickedly eerie yet harmonious creature—a giant, fierce ghost’s skull paired with a beast body and nearly three-meter-long red crab claws.

Except for the legs, which still retained their original appearance, Jiang Yuan almost didn’t recognize himself in the mirror.

Moving his arms and hands, the gigantic crab claws were exceptionally agile and unaffected, then he took out the long-prepared Soul Refining Banner.

The Soul Refining Banner roiled with dark, yin-fiend energy, its human-like yet beast-like form making it impossible for anyone in the courtyard to fathom that the core was actually himself!

"Hurry and ripen, Immortal Peach! I can’t wait any longer!"