Chapter 581: Divine Domain Descent Spell
The roar of the tide thundered in his ears.
The fishman youngster slowly opened his eyes, finding himself once again within the great whirlpool.
The colossal vortex swirled around him yet exerted no pull whatsoever.
He descended steadily.
The deeper he went, the dimmer the light grew.
A colossal shadow, like a mountain, loomed in the depths of the ocean floor, waiting for him.
"Once again, I prayed in my sleep..."
"This is a vision guided by the divine spell, Spiritual Navigation..."
The fishman youngster's consciousness was unclear, his thought processes slowed to a fraction of their normal speed.
The shadowed mountain silhouette was swallowing him whole.
A sense of dread and terror deepened within the fishman youngster's heart.
“No, I refuse to sink any further...”
“This means I'm drawing closer to the Charming Blue Goddess.”
“Wake up! Wake up now!”
He roared inwardly.
The roar began feeble and sluggish, but as he kept shouting, it rapidly intensified, soon becoming deafening.
Amidst his own roar, the fishman youngster in reality suddenly snapped his eyes open.
He jolted awake.
Huff, huff, huff...
He gasped for breath, a trace of terror still lingering on his face.
His breathing gradually steadied, his pupils slowly returning to their normal size, and his vision cleared.
Before him lay the simple furnishings of the captain's cabin.
The fishman youngster had lived here for many days. This familiar scene brought him a faint sense of security, quickly easing the lingering fear in his heart.
No drowsiness.
The fishman youngster entered the bathroom.
Warm water cascaded over him from head to toe, while he examined his own body and sorted through his thoughts.
“The concentration of my Surging Wave fishman bloodline has risen to 79%.”
“Just as I anticipated, when both my body and soul are in a state of digestion, the divine blessing transforms into an enhancement of the god level fishman bloodline's concentration.”
Even so, the fishman youngster wouldn't risk praying again.
He'd taken Cang Xu's warnings to heart, committing them to memory.
"According to the bloodline chart, the legend level requirement for the Surging Wave fishman bloodline is 90% concentration. The god level concentration benchmark is 97%."
There was no way around it, the fishmen were a lower level race.
In contrast, most upper level races could reach legend level at a 80% concentration standard, while the threshold for saint tier level was even lower.
This disparity manifested externally: upper level races produced saint and legend individuals far more frequently than lower level races.
The fishman youngster's mind stirred, and the warm water cascading over his head shifted course. It transformed into countless threads, enveloping his entire body and solidifying into a full-body armor.
It closely resembled the effect of the Flowing Wave Armor he encountered during his duel at Snow Bird Harbor.
But fundamentally, he was wielding the racial magic, Water Current Manipulation.
Having surpassed the standard concentration required for the saint level, the Surging Wave bloodline granted the youngster this entirely new racial magic.
It allowed the fishman youngster to freely manipulate any liquid around him. The range of control was vast and would continue to expand as the youngster's level increased.
Notably, this control extended beyond merely altering flow direction or speed.
Temperature, for instance.
Just now, with a mere thought, the warm water enveloping the fishman youngster rapidly cooled to room temperature.
The fishman youngster took a deep breath.
He didn't breathe through his mouth or nose, but through gills.
The heightened bloodline concentration also brought physical changes.
Gill lines now spread not only across his cheeks, but also across his chest and back, each featuring a pair of massive gill arches.
The water's temperature continued dropping, quickly shifting from room temperature to icy cold, even carrying a hint of chill.
Yet the fishman youngster felt increasingly comfortable, his mood naturally lightening into ease and joy.
It was like an exhausted traveler, after a long journey, returning home covered in dust and dirt, finally lying down on his own bed in his own bedroom.
Safe, at ease.
“In water, I feel as though I've come home.”
A resolute gleam flashed in the fishman youngster's eyes.
Suddenly summoning his focus once more, the water enveloping his body shattered violently the next instant, dispersing into countless tiny droplets.
The droplets continued to evaporate, transforming into wisps of air currents.
Within the bathroom environment, the air currents continuously liquefied, becoming visible mist.
The earlier relaxation and pleasure vanished.
The fishman youngster's eyes were filled with cool composure: “The higher the bloodline concentration, the more complete this fishman life form I transform into becomes. The sensations it brings me are unlike those of the human race."
“Take this affinity for water currents, for instance.”
“If I linger too long in this affinity, my nature will gradually shift toward that of a Surging Wave fishman.”
“This is something I must remain vigilant against!”
The fishman youngster stepped out of the bathroom. He didn't need to dry himself; a mere thought caused the water droplets clinging to his body to flow away effortlessly.
His Surging Wave fishman bloodline concentration was nearing legend level standards, yet this time, the fishman youngster felt little anticipation or excitement.
Clearly, continuing this way would likely push his bloodline concentration straight to 100%!
Even if it didn't, it didn't matter.
For now, it was sufficient.
“What needs consideration now is the direction of my next active prayer.”
“Should I go big and pray directly, letting me leap to the saint level?”
The fishman youngster had already become a gold level clergyman, but gold level and saint level were entirely different matters.
He was filled with hesitation over this choice.
Cang Xu advised him to focus on advancing his fighter and magician levels. Both of these levels were still at the silver level.
Unlike the clergyman cultivation, the battle qi and magic power gained from fighter and magician levels were the fishman youngster's own innate strength.
Should the unexpected occur, should the Charming Blue Goddess awaken and attempt to seize control of his body, these two sources of power would be his most crucial bargaining chips!
The fishman youngster found Cang Xu's reasoning compelling.
The aggressive path was to push forward relentlessly, striving for the saint level.
The prudent path was to elevate his fighter and magician levels.
“There is another option: advancing my clerical position.”
“I currently hold the position of Charming Blue Archbishop, mastering over a hundred divine spells and wielding them with proficiency.”
“Among these spells is the Resurrection Spell.”
“But I lack the Divine Domain Descent Spell!”
“And what we need most urgently right now is precisely Divine Domain Descent.”
The fishman youngster hadn't forgotten his predicament—he and his ship were trapped within the Ocean Mother Nest.
Intelligence gathered through Cang Xu revealed that the Ocean Mother Nest was actually part of the Charming Blue Divine Domain.
This situation had been deliberately created by the Charming Blue Goddess herself, who had cast Divine Domain Descent.
Therefore, to slip away unnoticed, he would need to use Divine Domain Descent to teleport himself and his ship out.
“Best to master the Divine Domain Descent first, ensuring I can leave at any moment, that's the safest bet!”
“Time's been ticking since I left the mercenary corps.”
“Wonder how much progress Zi Di and Zong Ge have made?”
“With their skills and the Deceptive Disguise spell, they should be fine.”
The fishman youngster lacked concrete, accurate intelligence and misjudged Zong Ge and the others' situation.
He remained optimistic. Even after mastering the Divine Domain Descent, he didn't plan to return immediately.
“If I can become a saint, I'll have more leverage in future atonement negotiations with the Empire. The interests I can protect will be far greater!”
The Ice Sculpture Capital.
A luxurious mansion.
In a dimly lit chamber, a magic recording played on loop.
The subject of the footage was a magician clad in robes, hood drawn to conceal their features.
“He” was bound in place by several gold level Chains of Confinement, unable to move, gradually being suppressed.
But at that very moment, the silver level magician wielding the Chains of Confinement was instantly killed on the spot.
The magician protagonist immediately broke free, even picking up the Chains of Confinement as his spoils of war.
The magic footage abruptly froze, capturing the moment the magician protagonist bent down to retrieve the Chains of Confinement.
Had Zi Di been present, she would have recognized the magician protagonist instantly, it was none other than herself.
Seated within the chamber was none other than the Imperial Secret Spy Agency's supreme commander in the Ice Sculpture Capital, codenamed [Usurper].
[Usurper] had replayed this footage over a dozen times. His brow remained furrowed, growing ever deeper with each viewing.
“What method could instantly eliminate my agent?”
“Afterwards, my men combed every inch of the shop, literally digging up the floorboards, yet found not a single clue.”
“Compared to that, the methods used after the target was teleported are crystal clear.”
Having planted traps within the Wisteria shop, the Imperial Secret Spy Agency naturally recorded the magic footage.
Yet they remained deceived.
This time, it was again the work of the Deceptive Disguise spell and Anti-investigation and Prophecy spell.
The Deceptive Disguise spell alone couldn't fool lifeless alchemy recording devices. But when combined with the Anti-investigation and Prophecy spell, it also countered these investigative and recording methods.
“So far, every available investigative method has been employed, yet no flaws have been uncovered.”
“If we can figure out this technique, we might just crack the method Wisteria remnants used to conceal themselves.”
"It's a shame, it's not that I lack more powerful means. But using them would cause too much commotion, inevitably drawing an official investigation from the Ice Sculpture Kingdom."
The leader, [Usurper], hadn't truly grasped the full potential of combining the Deceptive Disguise spell and Anti-investigation and Prophecy spell. This left him with many regrets.
He sighed, relinquishing his efforts, and began observing the second segment of the magic footage.
This footage depicted the harrowing struggle Zi Di faced after being teleported away. Shortly thereafter, Yuan Ci piloted a submarine to break through the ice and rescue her, the very sequence of events captured here.
“The remnant Wisteria elder, Yuan Ci, has reappeared!”
“That water rat truly knows how to hide.”
[Usurper's] gaze darkened as he recalled a particularly unpleasant experience from his past.
“Just wait a little longer. How much longer can you hide?”
“The Warm Snow Cup is about to begin. Then I'll be able to truly unleash my power, deploy ample manpower, and conduct a massive search of the lake bottom.”
“I don't believe you can stay hidden!”