The exchange of thoughts was extraordinarily fast. To the outside world, only an instant had passed. Liya had just been standing to the side, watching Lin Xiao, who had stopped in his tracks, when in the next moment, she was blasted away by a tremendous surge of mental power and slammed heavily against the nearby wall.
Lin Xiao's entire right arm was now completely covered in scales. Faint purple lights glowed at his fingertips, and soon, these lights formed uniform threads, weaving a hexagonal star-shaped magic array.
The Ocean's Heart, the most precious treasure of the mermaid clan that had been placed within a mental barrier, vanished in the blink of an eye.
The scales on his arm shattered piece by piece. As if struck by an enormous backlash, Lin Xiao's body was sent flying backward. Even with the resistance of the seawater, he crashed heavily into the wall, leaving several conspicuous cracks.
A trace of dark red blood overflowed from the corner of his mouth, quickly dissolving into the seawater, leaving only the pungent smell of blood.
Turbulent waves surged inside and outside the palace. Countless merfolk rushed out of their rooms and looked toward the palace. Liya finally managed to steady herself and stared at Lin Xiao in disbelief.
But Lin Xiao could no longer pay attention to anyone else's reactions. Jade-green patterns began glowing beneath his skin as the power of the Life Gold surged along his meridians toward his head.
Within his spiritual sea, conspicuous cracks spread everywhere. Indescribable pain struck, instantly twisting Lin Xiao's features.
The mental shocks left behind by countless dying merfolk slammed into Lin Xiao all at once. The fact that his spiritual sea hadn't instantly collapsed was already thanks to the Life Gold's protection.
At this moment, even simply controlling his body to leave this place was beyond him. He could only let the massive waves raised in the palace sweep his body out of the palace.
An aged voice echoed within Lin Xiao's spiritual sea. Streams of jade-green light gathered from all directions, flowing toward the cracks in his spiritual sea to mend them.
The gray mist that permeated the area churned continuously, mixing with the jade-green light and spreading throughout Lin Xiao's entire spiritual sea.
"Hahahahaha—"
Above the sea surface, the Great Elder suddenly burst into loud laughter, causing a faint unease to rise in the Sea Princess's heart.
In the next moment, she saw a magic array appear in front of the Great Elder, and a blue hexagonal crystal slowly emerged.
"This is impossible!"
The Sea Princess's expression changed drastically. She immediately threw aside the spear in her hand and placed both palms in front of her, gently closing her eyes.
But when she opened them again, her palms were empty.
"You stole the Ocean's Heart?"
The Sea Princess's face instantly darkened.
"What do you mean by 'stole'?" The Great Elder brought her palms together, the Ocean's Heart resting between them and emitting a faint blue glow. "The Ocean's Heart has always belonged to our clan. If you can use it, why can't I?"
"Leave the Ocean's Heart behind!"
The Sea Princess shouted sternly. There was no time to wonder how the Great Elder had taken the Ocean's Heart from her palace. With a wave of both hands, huge waves surged forward, and her figure rode the waves toward the elder.
Countless merfolk around them began to chant in low voices. Their mental power spread out, connecting, forming a gigantic net that enveloped the Great Elder.
"Hmph. I have already achieved my goal on this trip. There's no need for you to see me off."
The Great Elder gave a cold snort and suddenly turned to ride the waves away. But since she had taken the Ocean's Heart, how could the Sea Princess let her leave?
"Chase her!"
With a light command, her mental power spread completely. The immense pressure of a 600,000-year soul beast covered the entire ice sea surface. Within dozens of li, soul beasts with weaker cultivation instantly lost consciousness. Only a few powerful soul beasts managed to retain a shred of clarity and hurriedly fled into the distance.
Hundreds upon thousands of merfolk leaped out from beneath the sea, their tail scales shimmering with various colors. Dense mental power connected with the Sea Princess, quickly locking onto the Great Elder's position as they gave chase.
The Great Elder frowned slightly. A pale blue light completely enveloped her body, faintly mixed with traces of dark purple. Her figure continuously dove in and out of the sea, leaping back and forth.
Along the way, countless sea soul beasts lost consciousness under the influence of the two's mental power. The clouds in the sky seemed to lower further and further, and peals of thunder rang as if right beside their ears.
After swimming an unknown distance, the Great Elder suddenly stopped and looked at the Sea Princess.
"Leave the Ocean's Heart behind!"
Seeing this, the Sea Princess accelerated once more. However, the Great Elder's gaze was not on her; instead, she glanced left and right before softly uttering two words.
"Activate the array."
As soon as the words left her mouth, dark red patterns suddenly lit up beneath the churning sea surface. Before the Sea Princess could clearly see what they were, the body of a mermaid behind her suddenly began to swell.
"No—"
The Sea Princess had just turned around when she saw that the mermaid's body rapidly inflated like a balloon. Scales on the fish tail were forcefully burst open by the swelling flesh, exposing the fragile blood and meat beneath.
Specks of blood fell and merged into the sea, making the blood-red patterns on the seabed even more vivid.
In just a few breaths, that mermaid seemed to have all her blood drained. Her pale body exploded, scattering countless pieces of flesh and blood that floated on the sea surface.
A translucent phantom that ordinary people could not see rose into the air, only to be immediately collected by a black flag that appeared from nowhere.
The Sea Princess was adept at mental power and shared a bloodline connection with her clansmen. While others could not sense it, she clearly knew that the soul of that mermaid had been taken by something.
"What have you done?"
Fury filled the Sea Princess's face.
The Great Elder completely ignored her reaction. Instead, she spread her arms and looked up at the sky.
"Lord Mother, the great undertaking you wish to accomplish—I shall test it for you."
As soon as she finished speaking, the red patterns beneath the sea became even more pronounced. Streams of blood-like red light rose and surged into the Great Elder's body.
"Boom—"
A thunderous explosion rang out in the sky. Dazzling lightning illuminated the Great Elder's face, leaving only a ferocious expression on that once-beautiful visage.
The Sea Princess seemed to realize something and abruptly looked up at the sky.
"Tribulation lightning? You've gone mad!"
This was definitely not ordinary weather. As someone who had already survived several heavenly tribulations, the Sea Princess had sensed the abnormality in the clouds.
The Great Elder said nothing. She raised a hand and pointed—another mermaid exploded, her fresh blood flowing along the great array on the sea floor toward the elder.
"Retreat! Everyone retreat now!"
The Sea Princess quickly turned back and shouted at her clansmen, yet mermaid after mermaid still exploded right before her eyes. Only the Great Elder's aura grew increasingly powerful.
The dense, bloody qi around her seemed to materialize. Her cultivation visibly skyrocketed, and the clouds in the sky grew thicker and thicker.
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