The middle sea had yielded little for the time being, so they turned their attention to the lower depths.
In the lower sea, darkness reigned absolute. The water was icy and piercing, pressing down with suffocating weight that seemed to crush the very soul.
Upon entering this abyssal zone, Bai Zhou and Qian Yu were immediately attacked by a Domain Lord-level sea beast.
It was an octopus with sixteen writhing tentacles. Upon closer inspection, it bore a striking resemblance to the Desert Sea Octopus they'd encountered earlier, seemingly its ancient ancestor. Its posture radiated ferocious aggression, each movement promising violence.
"Swish!"
Six blades of light materialized behind Qian Yu, combining under her telekinetic control to form a massive sword that gleamed with deadly intent. In a single fluid motion, she struck, instantly severing one of the Domain Lord Octopus's tentacles.
Two short blades appeared in Bai Zhou's hands, wielded with hurricane-like speed. Within a single second, he unleashed hundreds of attacks, leaving countless scars across the Domain Lord Octopus's body, yet failing to penetrate its formidable defenses.
"Hmph."
Bai Zhou took a step back, adjusting his stance in the water, and snorted coldly.
This Domain Lord-level octopus possessed truly formidable defenses. Qian Yu, controlling a fifth-tier Spirit Reader weapon and combining her secret techniques at full power, had barely managed to sever one of its tentacles. The two short swords in Bai Zhou's hands were merely third-tier Force weapons, clearly insufficient to break through such resilient hide.
"Bai Zhou!" Qian Yu called out worriedly, her voice carrying obvious concern.
"It's alright." Bai Zhou took a deep breath, and then, in his hands, a ridiculously oversized sword appeared.
A sword over ten meters long and nearly a meter wide!
Compared to Bai Zhou's height of less than two meters, the disparity was clearly significant. The weapon seemed more suited to a giant than a human cultivator.
"I spent most of my accumulated wealth, along with my teacher's personal intervention and a favor owed, to acquire this weapon," Bai Zhou muttered to himself, gripping the massive hilt with both hands. "It surpasses the fifth tier. I wonder if you can withstand its edge?"
"Wind Slash!"
Bai Zhou roared, grasping the greatsword with both hands and slashing at the Domain Lord octopus with explosive force.
This secret technique had been custom-made for him by his teacher, designed specifically to empower him to kill a Domain Lord even at the Universe level!
"Swish!"
The sword strike seemed to erase time itself.
Bai Zhou's body transformed into dozens of phantoms, time phantoms that represented his profound understanding of the fundamental Origin Laws of Time, even surpassing Han Jue's understanding of the fundamental Origin Laws of Space.
With that single devastating strike, the first-level Domain Lord-level octopus was severely damaged, its vital core exposed and vulnerable.
"Swoosh!"
Qian Yu delivered a finishing blow with surgical precision, then caught the panting Bai Zhou before he could sink deeper into the water.
"How is it?" Bai Zhou asked weakly, his breath coming in ragged gasps.
"Dead," Qian Yu replied simply.
Bai Zhou smiled faintly and was about to say something when his eyes suddenly widened at several figures appearing nearby.
Humans from the Divine Realm?!
The first group that entered here hadn't mentioned encountering such beings!
"Humans?"
Mijiti's face was solemn, having never expected to encounter such a situation in these depths.
At this moment, the three of them found themselves surrounded by a group of hairless humanoids, their bodies covered with fish scales instead of skin, wielding long tridents with practiced ease.
What were these creatures? Merfolk?
Han Jue observed them carefully, his analytical mind racing through possibilities.
"It seems this is indeed a branch of the merfolk," Rimuru said after a careful inspection, his voice emanating directly into Han Jue's mind.
The leader of these merfolk was a third-level Domain Lord, a formidable presence by any measure.
"Outsiders, hand over our tribe's Sea-Suppressing Pearl!" the leader shouted loudly, his voice carrying an undertone of barely restrained violence.
"Sea-Suppressing Pearl?" Mijiti frowned, genuine confusion crossing her features. He couldn't be referring to that iron ball, could he?
"Why should I return my rightfully earned spoils to you?" she demanded.
Having said that, Mijiti remained unwilling to yield, not caring at all that they were surrounded. Her pride as a cultivator wouldn't allow submission to mere intimidation.
Han Jue calmly positioned himself protectively in front of his two companions, while simultaneously observing the positions of these merfolk and planning an escape route in advance. Despite his confidence in his abilities, he didn't think he could fight against a Domain Lord and win, not yet. Strategic retreat was always preferable to pointless death.
"Bold!"
As expected, one of the subordinates next to the Domain Lord merfolk shouted angrily, gripping his long trident tightly and stepping forward as if to attack.
Mijiti was not willing to be outdone. She also gripped her long spear tightly, flames beginning to dance along its length as she prepared to clash with him directly.
"Wait."
The Domain Lord stopped his subordinate's action with a single word, looking at Mijiti with what might have been admiration, or perhaps hunger. His expression was difficult to read.
"This woman is quite good!" he declared suddenly. "Capture her alive and present her to the clan leader as an offering!"
"Boom!"
Flames swept outward like a tidal wave. Mijiti struck the instant she heard those words, thrusting her spear forward with explosive force. Fire ignited the surrounding water in defiance of natural law, instantly incinerating the weaker merfolk to ash before they could even scream.
The Domain Lord remained expressionless, unleashing his domain to pin Mijiti down with overwhelming pressure. He snatched her up with one massive hand as easily as one might catch a flailing fish.
"What a fool," Han Jue sighed inwardly, his mind racing through tactical assessments.
Even if Mijiti could somehow defeat that Domain Lord through some miracle, what would it accomplish? Were all these other merfolk here just watching for entertainment? They would intervene the moment she gained any advantage.
And with a mysterious entity, possibly an Immortal or something even stranger, perhaps inferior to Hu Yan Bo in power, lurking somewhere in these depths, wasn't it peculiar that creatures within the Divine Realm could give birth to Domain Lords, and possibly even Realm Masters?
The very fact that humans from the Divine Realm had appeared meant these merfolk had likely formed a complete civilization beneath the waves. The waters behind this situation ran far deeper than they initially appeared.
With the Domain Lord's strike, Mijiti was captured alive, and Han Jue and Rimuru immediately gave up any pretense of resistance. Fighting here would accomplish nothing beyond their deaths.
The surrounding merfolk stepped forward and detained the two of them without ceremony, binding their wrists with some kind of organic restraint that seemed to grow from the merfolk themselves.
Han Jue tested the bindings subtly, confirming he could instantly break free from these restraints if necessary. Having verified this, he decided to wait and observe what the merfolk were planning. Patience was often more valuable than rash action.
While he certainly couldn't defeat the Domain Lord merfolk in direct combat, he was confident he could avoid being instantly killed. And as long as he couldn't be killed instantly, he could always retreat into the Ice Wasteland, his spacecraft and ultimate trump card.
Even a resurrected Lord of the Dry Sea would find himself powerless against what the Ice Wasteland contained.
The spacecraft was equipped with star destroyers, E9-class laser cannons, and numerous other weapons. No matter how powerful an individual might be, they would be crushed to their knees before such overwhelming firepower. Technology had its own supremacy in the universe.
This was Han Jue's greatest source of confidence in venturing into an Immortal-controlled Divine Realm!
Confidence was certainly confidence, but he never took action without reasonable assurance of success or survival. Boldness without caution was simply stupidity wearing a brave mask.
"Bring them back to the clan!" the Domain Lord merfolk ordered. "The clan leader has instructed that these outsiders must not be killed under any circumstances."
That final instruction was interesting. It suggested these captures served some specific purpose beyond simple imprisonment or execution.
The merfolk's stronghold was located in the middle sea, an unexpected revelation that suggested the transformation of the Dry Sea Secret Realm had been far more complete than anyone realized.
They rode upon a Universe-level sea beast, somewhat similar in appearance to the cloud sharks from the original Dry Sea Secret Realm but far more massive. It was incredibly fast underwater, its streamlined body cutting through the water like a living torpedo. After a long journey that seemed to stretch for hours, they led Han Jue and the other two to a sprawling underwater city.
"Take them to the abyss first. I'll go see the clan leader," the Domain Lord merfolk ordered.
A team of well-equipped Universe-level merfolk warriors arrived and escorted the three captives toward what appeared to be a large prison facility carved directly into the underwater rock face.
The merfolk confiscated their intelligent computers and other devices with professional efficiency, cutting off any contact with the outside world. They were thorough, clearly experienced at handling prisoners.
Han Jue took careful note of his surroundings as they were led deeper into the facility. The cells were constructed of D-grade metal, the same type of material as that iron ball they'd found earlier. With their current strength alone, escape from such construction would prove extremely difficult, if not impossible.
"Brother Han Jue?"
Hearing a familiar voice, Han Jue was genuinely startled. He looked up sharply.
Across from Han Jue's cell, imprisoned behind similar metal bars, was a familiar figure: Xie Peng from the Blue Silver Clan.
"Why are you here?" Han Jue whispered urgently, keeping his voice low.
"In the secret realm, we encountered a seafloor rift and were swept into it," Xie Peng said helplessly, his expression carrying the weight of days or weeks of captivity. "That led to our imprisonment here."
Han Jue then noticed that the surrounding cells held numerous other individuals, all seemingly participants in the secret realm trials. Dozens of faces stared back at him from the shadows, their expressions ranging from despair to grim determination.
What were the merfolk doing with all these people? The answer to that question would likely prove crucial to their survival.
"Bang!"
Rimuru smashed against the cage with surprising force, causing the metal railings to deform slightly under the impact. The AI had manifested its slime form to test the prison's structural integrity.
"Brother, don't even try," Xie Peng said dejectedly when he saw this futile attempt. "There's a Domain Lord guarding outside this entire cell block. Otherwise, we would have escaped long ago."
Although their intelligent computers had been confiscated, most of them still had various backup plans and hidden tools. The cage itself wasn't the real obstacle trapping them here, it was the ever-present threat of the Domain Lord guard who would immediately respond to any escape attempt.
It could only be said that the merfolk were fortunate they hadn't captured any trial participants who had an Immortal backing them directly. Otherwise, this place would have been obliterated before Marquis Cang Yuan could even arrive to investigate the disappearances.
Rimuru stopped his aggressive testing after hearing this explanation, withdrawing into a quiet corner of the cell. It was impossible to tell what calculations were running through the AI's processing systems.
"Rimuru," Han Jue called out quietly, making sure his voice wouldn't carry beyond their immediate vicinity.
The intelligent computers could be confiscated, certainly, but intelligent life itself couldn't be taken away so easily. Rimuru's core consciousness resided in dimensions these merfolk couldn't even perceive, let alone access.
Their captors had made a critical oversight in their otherwise thorough prisoner processing. That oversight might prove to be their downfall.