Tsloch Sea!
After losing control over the Abyss Ring and the loss of the Dralh Sea branch, the Cooter Clan had fully migrated to the Tsloch Sea from across the various water bodies they controlled.
They artificially terraformed the place to be large enough to accommodate the entirety of the Cooter Clan.
The Dralh Sea had eight channels feeding into it, bringing water and Pranic Beasts from across the continent. One of the channels came from the Red-Draft River, which covered a quarter of the Continent.
That was why the Dralh Sea was one of the richest regions in terms of resource abundance. It wasn’t a blessed land, but still generated enough resources for even the Cooter Clan’s vast requirements.
That was why the Cooter Clan didn’t do anything dangerous like the Mammoth Clan, for they were steadily accumulating strength at a consistent pace and were well on track to reaching the Mystic Grade.
However, Brangara happened, and things went to shit. The Cooter Clan hadn’t recovered since then.
Before the Empyrean Snappers could flee, thanks to Gannala’s help, they gathered at the Tsloch Sea and helped terraform it.
Tsloch Sea existed in the past, but was on par with the Dralh Sea in terms of size. After its expansion, it occupied an area close to fourteen times the Dralh Sea’s.
The Kappeet Channel funnelled water into it from the Dralh Sea, and an underwater tributary fed into it from the Red Draft River. Apart from this, there was a series of geysers active in the Tsloch Sea, with some of them filled with geothermal activity.
Four hundred kilometres from the Tsloch Sea was an active volcano, erupting at least once every few days. And once a decade or two, it had a large eruption, pouring lava into the current expanded Tsloch Sea.
It did pollute the water, but also mixed into it an abundant variety of minerals. These could be extracted by the Empyrean Snappers and turned into a variety of Spirit Pools.
"We’re finally here." Wally was emotional as the group entered the Tsloch Sea, spotting large ships strewn about in the sea waters.
Once the Empyrean Snappers left, the Cooter Clan turned desperate. Hence, they did three things in total.
First was to create more of their kind, in preparation for war. Their birth rates exceeded even the Mammoth Clan’s. Second, every single Cooter Clansman refined medicines, of all varieties accumulated by the Cooter Clan in three millennia.
They stockpiled medicines like crazy and used them like water to strengthen themselves on all fronts.
Without the Empyrean Snappers, there were no Spirit Pools. This was where they researched heavily into Mystic Mist Arts and created the means to make their own Spirit Pools.
These Spirit Pools couldn’t be accumulated through the minerals available in nature, as Subtle Terrain Domination was needed for that. However, they could use it on two existences—Pranic Beasts and Free Humans.
There were Pranic Beasts like the Brully that had an obvious mineral deposit in its body. Such Pranic Beasts were targeted and tortured, so that their Spirit Container would shatter. When this happened, the fragments of the Spirit Container coursed through the blood.
As this blood flowed through the body, it interacted with the mineral deposit, forming a fluid medium. Upon using Mystic Mist Art at this exact moment, the content was extracted to form a Spirit Pool.
The Cooter Clan was over-reliant on the Empyrean Snappers as they had never faced any pressing situation. And when they did, they quickly figured out an alternative.
Not only did they become less reliant on the Empyrean Snappers, they also improved Mystic Mist Art at rates significantly greater than in the past. It was a matter of survival, and thanks to necessity, the Cooter Clan advanced as a whole.
"Our Deities have returned!" A Cooter Clansman on a ship’s deck observed the cloud of mist approaching them. His Mystic Mist Art turned active spontaneously, which informed him of their arrival.
"You’ve returned!"
"Thank goodness!"
"The Cooter Clan is back on track!"
Tears streamed out of their eyes without end as the Cooter Clansmen on the nearby ships kneeled on their decks and hollered in relief, "The Deities are back!"
"My Deity!" He looked to be about middle-aged, possessing Silver Grade strength with an 8-Life Stage cultivation. Skating on the water with all his might, he arrived before Danhral with utter excitement, "You’ve returned!"
"Indeed, child." Danhral expressed gracefully. Internally, he was embarrassed because the Empyrean Snappers had behaved no differently from cowards. Even though they did the right thing, which was how they retained most of their strength, it was still the most shameful action they had committed in their history.
"I’m grateful," The Cooter Clansman was called Kaikai. He was one of the younger siblings to Wally’s mother. Upon seeing Wally, he instantly prostrated on the water, "You’re healthy!"
"I am, uncle." Wally nodded and helped prop up Kaikai.
"If you’re here," Kaikai asked in excitement, "Have you reached that state of being?"
"Not yet, but I’m close." Wally smiled confidently, "I am here to help prop up the Cooter Clan. Once I’m done with the arrangements here, the Cooter Clan can focus on strengthening themselves while I can peacefully return to training."
"The entirety of the Cooter Clan exists to act at your disposal." Without hesitation, Kaikai announced.
The leaders of various Settlements came to the same conclusion as the Empyrean Snappers. They gathered around their central figure, Wally, making the decision to unanimously follow Wally into a new era for the Cooter Clan.
"I hope you can fill us in on what the Cooter Clan has been up to in recent years." Wally asked as under his command, the Empyrean Snappers boarded the closest ship.
Taking the helm, Kaikai steered the ship, beginning to speak, "We have hit ten million in numbers and are expecting to increase it even further. Since more than five million of them are children, our previous nurturing practices cannot be applied anymore."
"And hence, we did that." The ship travelled for a few hours and arrived before a colosseum-shaped structure. An entire island, spanning an area of 64 square kilometres, had been turned into such a structure.
The walls were made of stone, equipped with an assortment of crystal deposits that emitted heat, light, sound, absorbed moisture, and a variety of other effects. The surface on the island was pure stone, with small pools of water with various properties. "It’s an academy."
They had been mixed with a diluted content from Spirit Pools. These served as target practices for the Cooter Clan children, "They will gain experience controlling fluids with different properties. This will assist them in both battles and refining medicines."
At one edge of the island were dorms. On the other were amphitheatres. Open classrooms were in line with the aesthetic preferences of the Cooter Clan. "The students can freely join and leave whichever class they prefer."
"When they turn fifteen, they’ll have to select a total of ten subjects of their choice. And they’ll have to pass the tests on these subjects." Kaikai explained as the ship drew closer to the school, "To appear for the tests, they have to reach the peak of the Spirit Stage."
"Depending on their performance on the tests and the subjects they had chosen, they’ll be granted a suitable Spirit Pool. They will then be helped into reaching the Body Stage." Kaikai explained.
"What about those who fail?" Wally asked.
"These are desperate times," Kaikai pointed at a tall column on one, narrow section of the island. As he spoke, a student was pushed from the top of the column, resulting in a freefall for a height of 200 metres, "And hence, we cannot afford to pamper the ones lacking talent and drive."
At the bottom of the column was a sea of protruding rocks amidst shallow waters. The student splattered on the rocks as his blood splashed around, mixing into the water. A group of Iron Grade Pranic Beasts, resembling sea cucumbers with a pair of crustacean pincers, rushed through the bloody waters.
Their fleshy, mucous-covered mouths bobbed open and shut, consuming the flesh particles dissolved in the water. Each of these creatures barely reached an arm’s length, moving as a school. The school passed through the shallow waters, and when they left, there was no trace of blood anymore.
"Each academy trains close to eight thousand Cooter Clansmen," Kaikai said as the ship moved past the island.
Wally squinted his eyes, noticing similar-looking islands scattered all over the place. Seeing his gaze, Kaikai nodded, "We have academies scattered all over the Tsloch Sea in less dangerous areas. This helps the students train without worries and also gain experience fighting in the safer waters."
As the ship continued to journey forward, a small port came into view. The port was situated on an island barely a kilometre in area. Stretching out from one side of the island was a jetty, enough for one ship to dock and load/unload cargo.
On the other side was a ring-shaped structure, barely peeking a metre over the sea level. It was fully made out of coral.
Gentle Coral Spirit Pool!
The Cooter Clansman building their body out of the Gentle Coral Spirit Pool were able to secrete a solvent that would harden quickly when exposed to an external environment. Using it, the Cooter Clansman could build underwater structures.
The Gentle Coral structure was naturally replenishing when underwater, allowing it to withstand wear and tear. The mineral was extremely common in aquatic habitats, and there were a few in ever Cooter Clan Settlement with this build.
It was an Iron Grade mineral with little to no combat strength. Its users selected this when they didn’t have any other choice. They were usually used to patch up holes in the ships for an impromptu fix during the journey.
With the disappearance of the Empyrean Snappers, they were used to build nests.
It was a vat within the water, reaching a depth of four kilometres where it joined with the sea bed. It had a thinner base and a wider top. This way, the buoyant force maintained the vat’s structural integrity.
Arriving at a halt on the port, Kaikai led the Empyrean Snappers and brought them to a platform extending into the vat, "This is one of our recent developments."
In extremely large numbers, to a nauseating extent, were heads of an aquatic Iron Grade Pranic Beast, covering most of the water surface in the vat that occupied an area of twenty square kilometres.
Advanced Iron Grade Pranic Beast—Melcarp!