"Chief."
The four Domain Lord merfolk warriors knelt before Kashel with perfect military precision, their scaled forms pressed against the crystalline floor of the throne room.
They represented the entire military strength of the merfolk civilization, a sobering reminder of how far their once-mighty people had fallen.
The merfolk possessed three locations of critical importance: the Ancestral Temple, the Abyss Prison, and the Mirage Sea.
The Ancestral Temple was the main hall where they currently gathered, the heart of merfolk governance and spiritual authority.
The Abyss Prison served dual purposes: it housed captured outsiders in its upper levels, while its deepest chambers concealed the entrance to their most sacred vault. Currently, it held the imprisoned trial participants whose presence represented the merfolk's last hope for salvation.
The Mirage Sea was a mysterious region where reality itself seemed to twist and fracture, a natural proving ground for those seeking to temper their willpower against illusions so vivid they could shatter the unprepared mind.
Each of these three critical locations was guarded by a dedicated Domain Lord warrior. The Domain Lord who had been stationed at the Abyss Prison now knelt among the four assembled before their new leader.
In addition to these strategic positions, the merfolk also maintained a guard team responsible for protecting their civilian population and maintaining order throughout their underwater domain.
Kashel himself had previously served as captain of that guard team, a position that now felt like a lifetime ago, though mere hours had passed since his unexpected elevation.
This organizational structure revealed a disturbing truth: the merfolk suffered from a catastrophic generational gap in cultivation talent. Beyond Kashel himself as their only Domain Lord of any real promise, the strongest warriors barely reached the third level of Domain Lord cultivation, and most possessed far less power than that.
The merfolk were born with adult Universe-level bloodline potential!
Under normal circumstances, such genetic gifts should have created a civilization of extraordinary power, one where Domain Masters were common and World Masters led armies. Instead, isolation within the dying Divine Kingdom had gradually eroded those advantages, generation by generation, until their once-magnificent heritage had been reduced to a pale shadow of its former glory.
This was the greatest problem facing the humans trapped within the Lord of the Dry Sea's collapsing Divine Kingdom: no matter their original potential, the realm's failing connection to the universe's fundamental laws slowly strangled their growth until advancement became impossible.
"Let's proceed!" Kashel commanded, pushing aside his doubts and uncertainties. "We go to the Abyss to retrieve the Sea-Suppressing Pearl, then continue to the Mirage Sea."
The Mirage Sea was a naturally formed danger zone within the Dry Sea Divine Kingdom, a region where spatial distortions created by the realm's instability manifested as layered illusions. Anyone who entered fell victim to these phantasms almost immediately, experiencing visions tailored to exploit their deepest fears and desires.
The phenomenon proved useful for honing willpower and mental fortitude, if one survived the experience. Yet despite countless attempts over thousands of years, no merfolk warrior had ever successfully reached the core of the Mirage Sea to discover what treasures or dangers might lie at its heart.
"As you command, Chief," the four Domain Lords responded in perfect unison.
"Master, the Domain Lords have left the prison," Rimuru reported quietly through their private mental link.
"Excellent!" Han Jue's eyes lit up with barely contained excitement. The opportunity he'd been waiting for had finally arrived.
"Diaman, it's time," Han Jue transmitted to the neighboring cell.
Diaman nodded solemnly, his expression grim with determination. He'd been preparing himself mentally for this moment ever since Han Jue had first proposed their escape plan.
"Sizzle!"
The metal cage emitted a sharp, acrid sound as chemical reactions consumed its structural integrity. Diaman produced a small crystal vial filled with viscous purple liquid, a corrosive solution that dissolved the D-grade metal bars as though they were made of soft wax rather than reinforced alloy designed to hold Universe-level prisoners!
The other captives stared at Diaman in shocked surprise, clearly wondering what kind of absurdly powerful substance could affect such high-quality construction materials.
None of them could guess the bitter truth behind Diaman's possession of this treasure.
Diaman's heart bled at the necessity of using this irreplaceable resource. The venom had been concocted by a World Master-level pharmacist from the Cuimu Empire's most prestigious alchemical academy, a substance powerful enough to incapacitate even Domain Lords through its supernatural corrosive properties.
He'd possessed only one vial of this precious substance, his absolute last resort for emergencies, and he'd just expended it to escape from a prison cell.
After dissolving his way free, Diaman ignored the desperate cries and pleading questions from the other prisoners. He moved directly to Han Jue's adjacent cage and applied the remaining droplets of venom to those bars as well, releasing his unlikely ally with careful efficiency.
"What's your plan exactly?" Diaman asked quietly once Han Jue stood free, his voice carrying obvious uncertainty despite his outward cooperation.
"Don't worry," Han Jue replied with a confident smile that suggested he held far more cards than he'd revealed thus far.
He hadn't expected that before he could even contact Diaman about arranging an escape, the prince had already independently reached out through subtle signals, proposing they work together to break free of the Abyss Prison!
Diaman felt profoundly uneasy about this entire situation.
He was essentially gambling everything on a single desperate bet: that Han Jue genuinely possessed the capability to extract them both from this underwater realm alive and intact!
Han Jue's calm expression and the hint of amusement in his eyes inspired far more confidence than the howling desperation of the other captured trial participants. Even the two Universe-level cultivators imprisoned alongside them wore expressions of grim resignation, as though they'd already accepted their eventual fate.
This stark contrast left Diaman completely uncertain about whom he should trust with his life. In the end, he'd simply chosen to ally himself with someone he'd at least spoken with before, better a familiar gamble than an unknown one.
"Crack!"
Outside their cell block, the Universe-level sea beasts and shark guards detected the disturbance almost immediately. They swarmed inward like a living tide, scales gleaming in the bioluminescent lighting as they converged on the escape attempt.
"This..." Diaman drew his elegant spear from his spatial ring, his expression darkening with combat readiness. He prepared himself for a desperate last stand, knowing that even if they survived this wave of guards, the Domain Lord stationed nearby would respond within moments.
"Relax. Allow me," Han Jue said calmly, placing one reassuring hand on Diaman's shoulder to stop the prince from launching any reckless attacks.
He'd already promised to extract Diaman safely from this place, and he intended to honor that commitment. Besides, he had other uses for the prince once they escaped, diplomatic connections that might prove valuable in future negotiations.
"Han Jue, have you lost your mind?" Bai Zhou, who had been imprisoned several cells away, finally couldn't restrain himself any longer. His voice carried genuine concern mixed with frustration. "Lord Hafa told us to wait for rescue! Why are you risking everything on this foolish escape attempt?"
"Did you actually contact Lord Hafa?" Mijiti asked with sudden excitement, her flame-red hair seeming to shimmer brighter with renewed hope. "Is help coming?"
Bai Zhou ignored Mijiti's question entirely, keeping his intense gaze fixed on Han Jue with obvious disapproval and warning.
A pale blue sword materialized in Han Jue's hand, the familiar weight of his preferred weapon settling into his grip with comfortable precision. Without wasting breath on further explanations, he exploded into motion.
"Whoosh!"
Bai Zhou's eyes widened in genuine shock as he watched Han Jue's technique unfold with impossible fluidity. Over a dozen ethereal afterimages surrounded the charging sea beasts, each phantom form moving with its own independent purpose and devastating lethality.
Han Jue's mastery of spatial techniques had clearly transcended anything Bai Zhou had previously witnessed, and that said something, given Bai Zhou's own exceptional comprehension of temporal laws.
The Universe-level sea beasts fell like wheat before a scythe, their defenses meaningless against sword strikes that seemed to exist simultaneously in multiple locations, cutting from angles that should have been physically impossible.
'Sea Split!'
Han Jue executed one of his signature techniques, channeling Force energy through the blade with such intensity that the very fabric of space seemed to tear along its edge. The devastating strike bisected a Universe-level sea beast instantly, killing it before the creature even realized it had been fatally wounded.
This represented the perfect fusion of Han Jue's swordsmanship and his mastery of the Origin Law of Water, techniques that complemented and amplified each other to create devastating synergistic effects.
The power of spatial laws coalesced within his blade, granting him the ability to fight opponents of significantly higher cultivation ranks with genuine confidence rather than desperate hope!
These dozens of Universe-level sharks and sea beast guards were like helpless prey before Han Jue's assault, making it nearly impossible to believe that he was merely a Stellar-level cultivator rather than a Domain Master in disguise.
"Swish!"
Blazing a bloody trail through the guards with brutal efficiency, Han Jue and Diaman departed the prison complex, leaving everyone inside staring at each other in bewildered silence.
Shortly after their dramatic escape, Kashel arrived with his four Domain Lord subordinates in tow.
"Where are the prisoners?" Kashel demanded, staring in disbelief at the corpses of sea beast guards and the two conspicuously empty cages.
His mind struggled to process what had clearly happened here. These were Universe-level guardians, protected by D-grade metal constructions designed specifically to hold powerful cultivators!
"Alright, so how exactly do we escape from the Dry Sea Divine Kingdom?" Diaman asked anxiously once they'd put some distance between themselves and the prison complex.
"Don't rush things," Han Jue replied calmly, his tone suggesting this was all proceeding according to some plan Diaman couldn't yet perceive.
"I have a proposition for you," Han Jue continued after a brief pause. "Would you be interested in adding a new species to your empire's domain?"
"What?" Diaman's confusion deepened at this seemingly random tangent. "What are you talking about?"
"The merfolk are essentially humans from the Divine Kingdom," Han Jue explained patiently, as though this should be obvious. "But their genetic potential has been modified by special environmental pressures and exposure to unique treasures over countless generations. If given the opportunity to escape into the wider universe, I believe they would seize that chance without hesitation, even if it meant pledging loyalty to a foreign power in exchange for survival."
Diaman fell into deep thought, his analytical mind racing through the political and strategic implications.
After a long moment of consideration, he looked up and said cautiously, "I can potentially arrange for the merfolk to receive territory within the Cuimu Empire's outer frontier regions. But will they genuinely agree to such an arrangement? What makes you so confident they'll accept vassalage to my family?"
"I think the chances of success are exceptionally high," Han Jue said with absolute certainty.
"...Then why are we running away?" Diaman's bewilderment reached new heights. "Couldn't we have simply waited inside the prison for the merfolk's Domain Lord to appear and then opened negotiations directly?"
"Ah." Han Jue laughed awkwardly, realizing he'd perhaps been overly dramatic in his planning.
"Ahem, of course we needed to establish our strength first before entering into negotiations," he explained with the smooth confidence of someone improvising justification after the fact. "Otherwise, what leverage would we have? The merfolk need to understand that we possess both the capability to escape independently and the resources to offer them genuine alternatives. That way, any agreement we reach will be founded on mutual benefit rather than desperate coercion, right?"
"That seems... plausible?" Diaman nodded slowly, though his expression suggested he wasn't entirely convinced by this reasoning.
Inside the Abyss Prison, Kashel stared at the scene of devastation with mounting horror.
Although he didn't know precisely where the two escaped prisoners had fled, he couldn't afford to waste time searching for them right now. The merfolk had more pressing concerns than a handful of escaped captives, concerns that determined whether their entire species would survive or perish.
These outsiders couldn't possibly escape the Divine Kingdom anyway, not without assistance from powerful Immortals capable of breaching dimensional barriers. Eventually, they would need to negotiate for rescue, and at that point, the merfolk could leverage their position to demand assistance in exchange for releasing the prisoners unharmed.
Soon, surrounded by his Domain Lord subordinates, Kashel arrived at the very bottom of the Abyss.
The group stood before an imposing black stone gate that seemed to absorb light rather than reflect it, its surface covered with ancient protective formations that pulsed with residual energy.
Kashel took a deep breath, steadying his nerves for what came next.
Following the previous Merfolk King's carefully preserved instructions, he raised the ceremonial scepter and inserted its crystalline tip into a small aperture carved into the gate's surface, a lock that had remained sealed for countless generations.
"Boom!"
The black stone door ground open with ponderous inevitability, revealing the chamber beyond after millennia of isolation.
Inside lay an altar of extraordinary craftsmanship.
The octagonal platform rose from the floor like a natural formation, its surfaces carved with intricate designs that suggested profound understanding of water's fundamental nature. Atop this altar rested a translucent blue orb that seemed to contain entire oceans within its crystalline depths, the genuine Sea-Suppressing Pearl that had sustained their civilization through its darkest epochs.
The altar's perimeter was inscribed with countless incomprehensible symbols that seemed to shift and flow like living water. Kashel's gaze was drawn to these markings almost against his will, and for a brief instant, he felt he glimpsed profound mysteries hidden within the fundamental Origin Laws of Water.
But when he focused his attention more directly on the symbols, trying to grasp their meaning, the understanding slipped away like water through his fingers, leaving only frustration and a dull headache in its wake.
"Chief, removing the Sea-Suppressing Pearl will cause this world to gradually destabilize and eventually collapse," one of his subordinates warned gravely. "We must secure a safe destination for our people before taking this irreversible step."
"I understand," Kashel acknowledged with a solemn nod.
He stepped forward deliberately, approaching the altar with reverent determination.
Positioning himself before the ancient artifact, he placed both hands on the Sea-Suppressing Pearl's smooth surface and lifted with all the considerable strength his Domain Lord cultivation provided!
"Bang!"
The stone altar cracked apart with a tremendous sound, creating a massive fissure from which streams of mysterious energy began leaking into the surrounding space, the first visible sign of the Divine Kingdom's approaching dissolution.
Kashel ignored the ominous implications and clutched the Sea-Suppressing Pearl tightly against his chest, feeling its power resonate with his own cultivation.
The Sea-Suppressing Pearl represented a fusion of water and space, a natural treasure born from the Dry Sea Secret Realm's unique dimensional properties. It possessed the ability to stabilize spatial boundaries and could dramatically enhance a World Master's inner world or an Immortal's Divine Kingdom when properly integrated into those constructed realities.
After being obtained by the Lord of the Dry Sea during his rise to power, the artifact had been placed within his Divine Kingdom to maintain stability and structural integrity. As an unexpected secondary benefit, it also enhanced the genetic talents of any humans residing within that realm, the source of the merfolk's naturally powerful Universe-level bloodline.
Holding this treasure now, Kashel felt his understanding of the Origin Law of Water becoming clearer and more profound with each passing moment. The artifact's presence seemed to resonate with something deep within his cultivation foundation, offering insights he'd struggled to grasp for decades.
This was truly worthy of being called the merfolk's greatest inherited treasure, an artifact passed down through millions of epochs!
"Let's proceed to the Mirage Sea," Kashel commanded, carefully storing the Sea-Suppressing Pearl in a specially prepared container. "We need to investigate whether anything valuable remains in that region before this realm completely destabilizes."
"Yes, Chief!" His subordinates responded with renewed determination, their voices carrying hope that had been absent for far too long.
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