Chapter 301: Section 89: Let me make a big fuss!
Facing Man Ying’s inquiry, the Fishman youth thought to himself, “I have so many of these imprints on me, I’ve gotten too lazy to count them.”
But on the surface, the youth still showed excitement, “Of course I want to!”
Man Ying nodded, “I see potential in you, but you know, although you’re Black Iron and your cultivation is sufficient, you’ve only just joined the Man Yu Tribe, your experience is too shallow.”
The youth hurriedly asked, “Then what should I do?”
Man Ying smiled and hinted, “You should know what Sword Scar did when he started.”
The youth’s face suddenly showed difficulty, “I don’t have enough wealth…”
...
Man Ying laughed, “Perhaps you could ask for help from your relatives and friends. You need to know that this opportunity is rare, this year an anomaly occurred.”
The youth hesitated.
“Think about it,” Man Ying patted his shoulder and walked away.
Watching his departing back, the Fishman youth pondered, “If that’s the case, then the news must be true. Unable to trace me, the tribes had no choice but to repurchase them from the five-headed elder.”
“It seems the tribes paid a hefty price; otherwise, they wouldn’t have set their sights on a newcomer like me.
The treasuries of the tribes were nearly emptied, plunging the upper echelons into panic, scheming to extract resources from every channel to refill their coffers.
Black Iron Fishmen were strong and often had their personal wealth.
The tribes unilaterally began charging fees, on one hand promoting more to join the Fish God’s trials to fill the vacancies, and on the other hand replenishing the treasury, it was killing two birds with one stone.
The perpetrator of it all—the Fishman youth then contemplated, “Perhaps, it’s time to probe the innermost Divine Temple.”
The Fishman youth certainly wouldn’t spend resources to buy Divine Arts imprints from Man Ying. It wasn’t that he couldn’t afford it, but once he publicly obtained the Divine Arts imprints, if a spell checked him, the imprints wouldn’t reveal themselves either.
With that, the youth would have exposed his secret ability to conceal the Divine Arts imprints, and his identity as the culprit would be clear as day.
Pearl Bubble was a fine thing, but the method used by the Justice Pirate Group was too rudimentary, far from being adaptable enough.
Although the youth decided to explore the Divine Temple, there had never been a good opportunity.
The strategy that Black Iron Fishmen should at least work in pairs made it very inconvenient for him to move.
It wasn’t until three days later that the Fishman youth found an opportunity to act alone at night.
He transformed into a Sea Loach, clinging to the seabed mud, and headed straight for the Divine Temple; even if he encountered other Fishmen along the way, he would still avoid them to one side, displaying a very natural panicked demeanor.
Once the Fishmen moved away, he continued on his journey.
And so, he arrived smoothly at the front of the Divine Temple.
The Divine Temple was located at the very center of Sea Eye City, resembling an oval amphitheater. It was supported by over a hundred pillars, the surfaces of these massive columns covered with heavy moss, some entwined with seaweed.
There were no guards around the Divine Temple, but instead, a constant spell was detecting everything. As soon as hostility was detected, an alarm would be triggered immediately.
With Pearl Bubble in his mouth, the Sea Loach youth successfully passed through the columns and entered the Divine Temple.
There were many rooms inside the Divine Temple.
The youth was cautious and did not randomly explore these rooms.
Because it was normal for a Sea Loach to wander the streets, but it would be strange to barge into rooms. It was like stray cats and dogs, who might rove the streets, but rarely trespassed into a person’s home.
Besides this reason, the youth also knew that there were many Cultists in those rooms right now.
About a month before the Sky Pillar rose, believers from other lands would start arriving for pilgrimage. The five-headed elder would welcome them, allocating rooms in the Divine Temple to these Cultists.
These people came from various races, including the Human Race, Naga, Dwarf, Elf, and even Lobster-man, among others.
As long as they worshiped the Fish God, they would be treated well.
But when the Sky Pillar rose, these Cultists would face it in prayer. They often prayed for more than ten days in a row, close to without sleep. If they were lucky enough, or rather, devoted enough, they might even receive the deity’s blessing. These Cultists could be drawn into the Sky Pillar, with a chance to enter a Half-plane.
Most Cultists never returned, while the few who did came back greatly rewarded. Some advanced in cultivation, some regained their youth, some healed from injuries, some acquired rare Combat Skills, and some brought back valuable treasures.
These Cultists, able to feel the pilgrimage deep under the sea, had a certain strength, and their faith had reached at least the Devout Level.
Thus, the Cultists mastered various Divine Arts to some extent.
Some Divine Arts were powerful; some were cunning and tricky.
The youth didn’t want to provoke these troubles. For enemies of the same level, he would rather face a fighter than Spellcasters.
Because fighters were straightforward, easier to anticipate. Law Enforcers had myriad cunning ways, a single slip could spell disaster.
So, when he was assassinating the owners of the Divine Arts imprints, he prioritized targeting the Man Yu and Poison Arrow Tribe, putting the spell’s white-eyed Fishmen last.
The youth certainly had not forgotten about that secret chamber beneath the sea.
Thus, he also knew that among these Cultists, there was an Undead Mage cum Desecration Priest hidden.
His previous assassinations of members of the three tribes had another purpose: to cast suspicion of the murder on these Cultists.
Unfortunately, he had not succeeded.
These Cultists were very disciplined; once they had moved into the rooms of the Divine Temple, they practically never left.
The Sea Loach youth was also trying to incite conflict among the three tribes; if the tribes started fighting among themselves, he could take advantage of the chaos. If things went well, he might severely weaken these enemies without fighting a single soldier.
But he still hadn’t succeeded.
The three tribes cooperated closely and were always on guard against any attempts at provocation, maintaining a firm relationship.
The youth thus discovered that the Fishmen of Sea Eye City were very different from those outside the Sea Eye; their intelligence levels were much higher. Perhaps this was the benefit of worshiping a deity.
The Sea Loach youth made his way through the corridor to the central open space of the Divine Temple.
The first thing he saw on the open ground was an enormous creature lying prone.
It was a sea beast with a physique akin to a giant dragon.
It had five serpent heads, a body like a dragon’s, with a pair of front claws, a pair of back claws, and a thick tail that was at least 2 meters long.
Its entire body was a deep green, covered with thick, tight snakescales.
At this moment, it lay atop a hoard of treasure, snoring and emitting a strong aura of gold.
This was a Golden Level sea beast!
The youth was not surprised; these days, he had gathered enough intelligence about this so-called “Five-Headed Lord.”
Its core identity was not that of a Golden Level five-headed serpent but rather the offspring of a Holy Beast.
Its mother was the Holy Beast of the Fish God.
It used to reside in the Divine Temple, but for the recent decades, it lived in the Half-plane, delegating one of its offspring, the most powerful five-headed serpent, to be stationed at the temple.
The five-headed serpent could communicate with the mother serpent and obtain Divine Arts imprints, which gave it an extraordinary status.
But unlike its mother, this five-headed Golden sea beast was extremely greedy, collecting any valuable items it liked.
Previously, during the Holy Beast’s tenure, the Divine Arts imprints were distributed for free. However, when the five-headed serpent took over, it seized the opportunity to accumulate wealth and started the trade of selling imprints.
It is commonly said that dragons love collecting treasure.
But now, seeing the temple’s yard filled with mountains of treasure, the youth understood: even without the bloodline of a dragon, sufficient greed would lead to an unhealthy obsession and coveting of wealth.
To be honest, the youth had never seen so much treasure.
Pearls, Gold Coins, silver coins, shell money, etc., were piled up like mounds, one after another.
Crystals emitted a brilliant iridescence, and cups, horseshoes, lamps, hunting rifles, and a variety of ancient antiques were dazzling to behold, with Magic Tools scattered within them.
The majority of the items were raw materials.
Lobster-man shells, aquatic plants, undersea ores, etc., each emitted an aura from Bronze Level to Silver Level.
The resources available under the sea were actually quite abundant.
Although the Fishman Tribes were not highly civilized and lacked powerful individuals, their ability to breathe and live under the sea was an enormous advantage that the Human Race, Elves, and Dwarfs could not compare to.
Bringing out just one-tenth, no, one percent of the raw materials would be enough to cause a sensation in the Human Race’s markets.
The youth also discovered many barrels of alcohol.
Each of these half-person-tall wooden barrels was made from quality wood with a unique sealing process.
They were all filled with high-grade alcohol.
At least Black Iron Level, many reached Silver Level, and some bottles even possessed a Gold Level aura.
Some of the barrels had come apart.
Broken wooden staves from the barrels still retained a strong scent of alcohol.
The five-headed sea snake had clearly drunk a lot of alcohol; with its ability to control water, drinking under the sea was extremely convenient.
Man Ying once hosted a celebration banquet, rewarding tireless contributors like Preserved Mustard Greens, with the most ordinary rum being served at the event.
Now, the youth discovered that the Fishman Tribe still possessed fine liquor, of quite high quality. It was just that he wasn’t qualified enough to have Man Ying bring out better alcohol to entertain him.
“A bottle of rum, if sold in Sea Eye City, would cost at least three times more than on land! And it is priceless.”
“The alcoholic drinks here are all luxury goods.”
“This time, to appease the five-headed serpent and exchange for more Divine Arts imprints, the three major tribes might well empty their wine cellars.”
The youth suddenly had an idea.
He didn’t intend to take these treasures away.
That was too risky.
Perhaps there were tracking-type Divine Arts left among these treasures.
The youth thought, what would be the five-headed serpent’s reaction if he destroyed these treasures? And what would the three major tribes do?
“The five-headed serpent will surely suffer heavy losses and becomes furiously enraged, continuing to extort the three major tribes!”
“It’s a sea beast; its intelligence is not high.”
“The three major tribes are already severely injured, shamelessly selling Divine Arts imprints in secret. If they are extorted again, they might truly end up penniless and bankrupt.”
“Let’s do that!”
Destroying these treasures was not difficult.
Because many of them were Magic Tools.
Those fine wines, fundamentally speaking, were Magic Potions.
Whether Magic Tools or potions, they all contained Magic Power, only that due to unique crafting, their inherent magic was balanced and stable.
But if this balance was disrupted from the outside, the magic would become chaotic.
Chaotic Magic Power, if not suppressed promptly, would clash violently, very likely causing an explosion!
The youth cautiously approached the five-headed serpent, making sure it was completely intoxicated, then decided to take a risk.
He transformed back into Fishman Form, but this time, instead of mutating into a brown-scaled variant, he became a Man Yu.
Recently, he had slain many Man Yu and had already gathered that Bloodline.
The Poison Arrow Bloodline was almost complete, as well.
He had also made one-third progress with the White-Eyeball Fishman Bloodline.
The Man Yu youth was very strong. He moved silently, stealthily transporting barrels of rum, along with a large quantity of Fire Element Ore.
He tried to place all these items as close to the five-headed serpent as possible.
After busying himself for a while, he finally arranged everything properly.
Around the five-headed serpent, a low wall was almost formed, surrounding it at the center.
During this, the youth made some noise, but the five-headed serpent slept soundly, completely unaware.
The youth began to withdraw, reaching a stone pillar where he once again mutated into a Dragon-man form.
“Time to make a big scene!”
The youth was both nervous and excited, holding his breath, he began to build up strength.
In the span of a few breaths, between his loosely clenched Dragon Claws, a ball of flame light began to brew.
The golden-red flame was splendid and unmatched.
The five-headed serpent still hadn’t reacted, but the youth could sense movement coming from the rooms around the Divine Temple.
The aura of Combat Skill was intense; it was inevitable he’d be exposed once he used it.
“Have a taste of this!”
The youth thrust forward his Dragon Claw, and the flame light shot out instantly, like a fiery meteor, illuminating the entire Divine Temple square and fiercely crashing into the treasures beside the five-headed serpent.
Combat Skill—Flame Burst!
Boom!
It was like a thunderous explosion.
“`
This was the explosion of Flame Burst.
Then,
Boom!
The explosion of Flame Burst destroyed the majority of the magic tools, the magic power became extremely chaotically intertwined, immediately triggering a chain of explosions.
“Retreat!” The youth fired a Flame Burst, then immediately shape-shifted, turning into a Sea Loach and dashed out of the Divine Temple.
Cultists of the Evil God cried out in alarm. The lucky ones hit the walls and ran, while the unlucky stayed behind to keep the five-headed snake company, getting caught up in the explosion.
“Aow—roar!” The five-headed snake, which had been in a deep sleep, never expected an explosion to occur right beside it.
It was in the very center of the explosion, bearing the brunt of its deadly force.
Intense pain struck, and the five-headed snake instinctively howled in agony towards the heavens.
Boom!
The chain of explosions continued, though with much less intensity.
The five-headed snake vented its pain through its howls; seconds later, it realized, “I’ve been attacked!”
“Where’s the enemy?”
The youth had already run out of the Divine Temple, very smoothly. He had long planned his escape route.
Then, with a crash and a rumble, the Divine Temple—collapsed!
Those cultists who hadn’t managed to flee were first hit by the blasts and then were crushed under the falling stonework, making it difficult to account for the dead and wounded.
For a moment, the five-headed snake was stunned.
Then, with a jolt, all five of its heads looked down, its vertical pupils dilating in a frantic search for its treasure.
Countless coins melted from the high temperature into a single mass.
Those precious antiques turned into numerous fragments.
The magic tools suffered the most damage, the scent of fine wine spread throughout, mingled with the odor of the scorched flesh from the five-headed snake’s own body.
“Aow—roar!” The next moment, the five-headed snake was furious, enraged!
Gone, all gone.
My treasures, my wine!
“Who is it?”
“Which despicable, shameless wretch dares to do this?”
“Come out, I will tear you to pieces!!”
The youth, hearing the five-headed snake’s furious roars, suddenly felt a shock in his heart, burrowed into the seabed’s mud and sand, took the opportunity to roll away, dodging a Fishman Patrol Team that had heard the commotion and hurried over.
“My God, what have I seen, the Central Divine Temple has collapsed!”
“Darn, this time the culprit didn’t just kill people, he tore down the temple!!”
“Calm down, Great Five-Headed One!”
More and more Fishmen rushed over, unable to afford their shock and anger they attempted to console the five-headed snake first.
“That murderer? Have you still not caught him? Useless trash, what use are you?!” After saying this, one of the five-headed snake’s huge heads opened its mouth wide and directly swallowed a Fishman!
“Great One?!” The Fishmen screamed in shock.
“My treasures are gone, and you are all guilty! You all deserve to die!” The five-headed snake hissed, as one of its heads rose up, spewing out a stream of purple venom.
The venom rapidly spread along the seabed, poisoning any Fishman contaminated by it on the spot.
The cultists of the Evil God wildly fled from the temple.
Bang, bang, bang.
The five-headed snake took large strides, also leaving the ruins of the temple, charging into a nearby stone building.
Its massive body knocked down numerous houses. Its fearsome claws left deep impressions in the ground.
The eyes of the five-headed snake were a stark red, its rage had peaked, and it had lost all reason!
(ps: The updates of this book are normally once a day, but this month I took several leaves of absence, hence I’ll be posting additional chapters at the end of the month to fill in the gaps. The extra chapters later on are my way of apologizing: the updates have been unstable, sorry about that! The instability mainly stems from me working on revising the first volume in November, adjusting the pace within. At the same time, I adjusted the outline and details; many things were connected in complex ways, which was very brain-consuming. Mid-month, you should be able to see the revised first volume, which I believe will have a more comfortable pacing and also significant content additions. Stay tuned.)
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