Chapter 557: Sacred Dragon King

Chapter 557: The Sacred Dragon King

The Mermaid Princess presided within the Temple of the Sea God.

With the very grandeur reserved for foreign emissaries and esteemed dignitaries, she entertained Li Wei and Sheng Xi.

Together, they tasted the subterranean wonders and exquisite delicacies unique to the mermaid race.

Host and guests alike drowned in mutual delight.

Yet, though the banquet pulsed with warmth and vibrant cheer, Li Wei’s heart remained anchored to the true purpose of their voyage.

The moment the feast concluded, he sought out the Mermaid Princess, intent on securing an audience with the Sacred Dragon King.

This time, the princess offered no further evasion.

"Since you both burn with such impatience to behold Lord Sacred Dragon King, then pray, follow me."

With a fluid shift of her form, she glided out toward the threshold of the Temple of the Sea God.

Enveloped in the princess’s water-warding bubbles, Li Wei and Sheng Xi traversed the brine-soaked halls as though treading upon solid earth, entirely unaffected by the depths.

The pair hastened to keep pace with her receding silhouette.

The Mermaid Princess guided them deep into the subterranean bowels beneath the Abyssal City.

There lay a colossal, naturally formed grotto of eroded stone.

As they drew near, Li Wei noted that the presence of the mermaid kin had utterly vanished.

To the merfolk, this place was clearly a forbidden sanctuary.

Swimming to the maw of the cavern, the princess paused, awaiting their arrival.

Li Wei alighted before her, his gaze boring into the dark opening, wondering if the Sacred Dragon King truly abided within.

"The realm below is of a peculiar nature," the Mermaid Princess murmured. "It is a fragment of the Abyssal City, yet detached from it entirely. Peril may well await you."

Li Wei nodded slowly. "Understood."

Sheng Xi nodded in silent tandem.

Witnessing their resolve, the princess spoke simply, "We enter."

She turned and vanished into the mouth of the cave.

Li Wei followed without delay.

Crossing the threshold, he felt a strange sensation, as if piercing through a veil of space itself.

In the next heartbeat, to his profound astonishment, his lungs drew in pure air.

The abyssal cavern held a hollow chamber, a pocket of atmosphere sealed beneath the tide.

Stripped of the sea’s buoyancy, Li Wei began to plummet through the void.

A ribbon of current drifted to his side, coiling about his waist to suspend him gently in midair.

Glancing over, he saw the Mermaid Princess aloft, draped in several streamers of woven seawater that granted her flight.

Whish!

Sheng Xi, too, breached the cavern's threshold.

Once the pair collected their senses, they took flight under their own power.

They no longer required the princess's watery aid.

Looking down, Li Wei beheld a subterranean gulf of staggering, immeasurable vastness.

Below them lay an absolute abyss of black, masking whatever reposed in the depths.

Flying at the vanguard, the princess called back, "Follow closely, and steel yourselves. The path ahead is fraught with potential danger."

Li Wei nodded. "I will be careful."

Guided by the Mermaid Princess, the two soared deeper into the heart of the abyssal cave.

As they descended, Li Wei discerned that the floor of the cavern was actually a vast subterranean sea.

The moment his mental perception brushed the surface of the black water, it was instantly swallowed whole.

His spiritual senses could discern nothing of what lay beneath the tide.

The occasional swell and rolling crest of the dark water carried a terrifying resonance of primordial power.

This mysterious ocean concealed something horrific beneath its shroud.

Li Wei pondered silently; was the peril she spoke of this hidden underground sea?

So long as they kept their distance, they ought to remain safe.

He followed the princess with meticulous care, and as the moments bled away without incident, the tension in his chest eased slightly.

"We are almost there," the Mermaid Princess announced.

Hearing this, Li Wei lifted his gaze, straining his eyes against the dark.

A solitary speck of light glimmered in the distant gloom.

Was that their destination?

Just as Li Wei fixated on that faraway beacon, the princess’s voice sharply rang out: "Watch below!"

Instinctively, his eyes snapped downward.

The sea beneath them was surging violently upward.

A sea beast, its maw agape and dripping with malice, erupted from the waves, snapping directly at Li Wei.

Li Wei surged upward to gain altitude, weaving a spell mid-flight.

Time was too fleeting for any intricate incantations.

He could only resort to his most mastered art: the Fireball technique.

Yet, this was a fireball imbued with the volatile essence of Elemental Fusion.

A Fusion Fireball!

The orb of flame streaked directly into the beast’s yawning mouth.

The creature seemed to sense the impending doom.

A torrential column of water erupted from its throat to meet the threat.

Boom!

The collision of torrent and flame triggered a deafening explosion.

The resultant flash of blazing light momentarily shattered the encroaching darkness.

The shockwave propelled Li Wei higher into the air, safely clear of the beast's reach.

With its upward momentum broken, the sea beast crashed heavily back into the ocean.

Aided by the dying glare of the blast, Li Wei caught sight of a silhouette riding upon the massive creature's back.

Straining his eyes, he saw it was no human, but a six-armed female Naga, bearing a humanoid torso upon a serpentine frame.

Naga rode upon the back of a sea beast, commanding it to attack Levi.

Sea beast sacrifice.

Levi instantly recognized the identity of his enemy.

But why would the Naga race appear here?

Wasn’t this place supposed to be inside the Abyssal City?

Suddenly, Levi remembered what the mermaid princess had said—that part of the underground caverns belonged to the Abyssal City, and part did not.

He looked down at the turbulent waters below.

Could it be referring to the area beneath the ocean surface?

The mermaid princess flew over and said, “Hurry, this place connects to the Abyssal City. The powerful members of the Naga race will soon come through the underground sea.”

Upon hearing that, Levi’s face showed surprise, but he also suddenly understood everything.

No wonder.

So that was where the name “Abyssal City” came from.

The city actually sat directly above the exit of the abyss.

Looking at it this way, it seemed as though the merfolk were suppressing the Nagas, preventing them from leaving the abyss through this exit.

Above another direction—the direct upper point of the abyss—stood one of humanity's most elite mage towers: the Spatial Tower, guarding the entrance to the abyss.

It was thanks to both the Abyssal City and the Spatial Tower sealing off the passage that the Nagas couldn't escape the abyss.

Levi nodded, moved his hand swiftly, and quickly cast a spell.

A fiery serpent shot forth from his palm.

Riding the wind, it rapidly expanded until it became a giant snake more than ten meters long in an instant.

Not only that, under the catalyzation of elemental fusion, its size and strength continued to grow rapidly.

Levi called back Saint Xi, who wanted to fight the sea beast, and followed closely behind the mermaid princess.

He left the fire serpent behind to hold off their enemies.

In just seconds, the fire serpent swelled from over ten meters to more than a hundred meters.

The fire serpent transformed into a fire dragon.

The fire dragon lunged toward the sea beast emerging from the water.

The sea beast raised massive waves, crashing them down on the fire dragon, attempting to crush it completely beneath the surging tide.

Levi sensed the battle unfolding behind him.

He decisively abandoned the idea of using the fire dragon to restrain the enemy.

The gap was simply too great.

The sea beast controlled by the sea beast sacrificer was an eighth-tier marine monster.

A mere hundred-meter-long fire dragon stood no chance.

With a tremor, the fire dragon suddenly accelerated, shooting forward like a spear aimed straight at the sea beast hidden within the waves.

All its power concentrated at the tip of the spear.

Boom!

The enormous wave exploded into a rainstorm falling across the sky.

The sea beast let out a mournful cry before slowly sinking back into the sea.

The fire dragon vanished amid the deluge.

Once the flames disappeared, Levi could no longer see the sea beast.

He could only feel the churning turbulence deep beneath the surface.

The sea beast sacrificer might still be searching for an opportunity to strike.

After staring below for a while, Levi sighed inwardly.

Unfortunately, the seawater here was extremely strange; mental perception couldn't penetrate it to glimpse the scene underneath.

He couldn't lock onto the position of the sea beast sacrificer.

Otherwise, with a strengthened version of his Solar Core Detonation Spell, he could eliminate the sacrificer in a single blow.

Even an eighth-tier sea beast would struggle to withstand such an attack head-on.

How powerful the Solar Core Detonation Spell truly was, Levi already knew well.

Even someone as formidable as the Cardinal Archbishop had suffered severe injuries when struck by it.

Saint Xi sensed a familiar yet unfamiliar aura ahead—one engraved deeply into her bloodline.

Familiar because it was passed down through generations via her lineage.

Unfamiliar because she was experiencing it firsthand for the first time.

The Sacred Dragon King lay right there before them.

Saint Xi was utterly certain.

Levi perceived Saint Xi’s thoughts and lifted his gaze, looking forward.

Indeed, the Sacred Dragon King was there.

Rumble!

Suddenly, a colossal wall made entirely of seawater rose up before the group, blocking all paths ahead.

A figure slowly emerged from the sea.

Eight-Armed Serpent Demon.

An eighth-tier powerhouse among the Nagas.

His presence was awe-inspiring.

At the moment the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon appeared—

Both Levi and Saint Xi instinctively halted their advance.

They sensed immense danger.

Even the mermaid princess wore a grave expression.

Levi glanced behind himself. If the sea beast sacrificer didn’t interfere, then as long as Saint Xi could stall the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon for even a short while,

he could unleash the Solar Core Detonation Spell and finish him off.

Splash!

Seawater surged, revealing a monstrous form rising from the depths.

Levi’s eyes narrowed, his expression turning extremely serious.

Three sea beasts emerged from behind.

A sea beast of the eighth rank, two sea beasts of the seventh rank.

The situation was even graver than they had imagined.

The mermaid princess said, “I will create an opening for you. Seize this chance and make your way to where the Sacred Dragon King resides.”

Li Wei, upon hearing this, asked in surprise, “Isn’t it dangerous for you to stay here?”

The mermaid princess replied, “Don’t worry. They cannot harm me.”

Li Wei did not understand what she meant.

The mermaid princess straightened her body and began to sing aloud.

Her song, the Song of the Mermaid, echoed through the cavern.

At first, Li Wei only felt that her voice was beautiful and pleasant to the ear.

Then came the sound of waves crashing against the sea surface.

He looked down and saw countless deep-sea magical beasts emerging from the waters.

Even the three sea beasts controlled by the Sea Beast Ritualist were beginning to stir.

The mermaid princess’s song could command all marine life—including the sea beasts.

Seeing the sea beasts lose control, the Sea Beast Ritualist didn’t dare look back. He leapt directly off the back of his mount and plunged into the water, vanishing without a trace.

The three sea beasts and countless marine creatures surged toward the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon, launching a fierce assault.

Together, the magical beasts stirred up towering waves that shook the heavens.

These massive waves crashed down upon the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon.

The demon stood with two arms crossed over his chest, while the other six each held a different weapon.

Faced with the combined attack of sea beasts and magical creatures, he didn’t even bother to move.

With just two swings of his weapons—no flash of blades or glint of steel—the tremendous wave was shattered into pieces.

Deep, bone-exposing wounds appeared on the bodies of the three sea beasts, their blood spreading through the sea.

The lesser magical beasts died by the dozens, then by the hundreds.

In moments, the seawater turned red with their blood.

Though large, the sea beasts weren’t immediately killed by the demon’s strikes.

But the mermaid princess no longer wished to see further casualties.

She quickly commanded the sea beasts and magical creatures to retreat.

To Li Wei and Saint Xi, she shouted, “Now! Charge forward!”

Li Wei gazed at the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon, who had already displayed terrifying power.

Without hesitation, he chose to trust the mermaid princess and charged ahead at full speed.

The demon uncrossed his arms, spreading them wide. His forearms were adorned with golden rings.

Just as Li Wei thought the demon was about to launch an attack—

The seawater behind the demon suddenly transformed into an enormous fish tail, which slammed down.

Boom!

The figure of the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon was swallowed by the sea.

At the same time, the wall of seawater blocking their path was shattered.

Li Wei and Saint Xi seized the moment and flew through the breach at top speed.

As soon as they passed through, Li Wei quickly turned around, fearing a rear attack from the demon.

Surprisingly, the demon made no move to strike.

For he was being suppressed by the mermaid princess and had no mind to spare for them.

Yet the broken seawall began to repair itself.

Within mere seconds, the massive gap vanished.

Li Wei lost sight of the mermaid princess.

His spiritual senses couldn’t penetrate the mysterious seawater here.

He had no idea of her current condition.

Still, judging by the strength she had shown, perhaps there was no need for him to worry.

In the ocean, she was far more powerful than he.

Li Wei snapped out of his thoughts and said quickly, “Saint Xi, let’s go.”

Saint Xi responded with a soft “Mm,” and hurriedly flew in the direction indicated by her senses.

As they drew near the light they had seen earlier,

Li Wei realized it was actually an island floating in the sea.

Before they could approach, he sensed a formidable aura emanating from it.

The dragon might of the Sacred Dragon King was fully unleashed, permeating the air and pressing down on Li Wei like a mountain.

Saint Xi felt it too.

And the pressure she bore was even greater than his.

To Li Wei, the dragon might was merely a mental oppression.

To Saint Xi, it was a dual burden—both spiritual and ancestral.

Despite the immense pressure, Li Wei flew to the edge of the island, ready to land.

Suddenly, a massive whirlpool appeared at the island’s edge.

It exerted an overwhelming force of attraction, pulling Li Wei and Saint Xi from midair and dragging them downward.

Try as he might, Li Wei couldn’t halt his descent.

He could only barely slow his fall.

Reacting swiftly to this sudden ambush, Li Wei didn’t hesitate—he hurled the Great Solar Explosion Spell he had originally prepared for the Eight-Armed Serpent Demon.

When the mermaid princess told him to charge forward,

Li Wei trusted her because he had already been ready.

Boom!

The spell erupted in full force.

Flames erupted in an instant, illuminating the entire cavern.

The sea and the islands trembled, as if the very ocean surface might be torn asunder.

The vortex spun and stalled under the assault of the Great Solar Explosion Technique, collapsing...

As the vortex neared its breaking point, a surge of power burst forth from within.

A massive beastly claw, covered in black fur, emerged and extinguished the Great Solar Explosion Technique before lunging toward Li Wei and Saint Xi.

Li Wei's face contorted in horror.

What manner of fiendish creature was this?

Even the Great Solar Explosion Technique could not inflict so much as a scratch upon it.

"Aaarrroooo!"

A deafening dragon's roar echoed through the air.

Li Wei was shaken to his core, his head spinning dizzily.

Through his blurred vision, he saw a golden light strike the black beastly claw that had emerged from the vortex.

The black claw bled and recoiled, slowly withdrawing back into the vortex.

The vortex vanished without a trace.

Then, Li Wei lost consciousness, and darkness consumed his vision.

(End of Chapter)