Within the radiant barrier of the Xuanyuan Tower Ship, Feng Chunya sat dejectedly on the deck.
The profound sense of helplessness welling up inside her made her hate her own weakness.
If only she could become stronger—much stronger…
Then, even if she couldn’t take the Heavenly Tribulation for the Divine Lady, she could at least use her flesh and blood to share some of the burden.
Instead of being useless, able only to watch helplessly as the Divine Lady bore the Heavenly Tribulation alone for the sake of all living beings under Heaven.
There was no such thing as true peace and prosperity in the mortal realm.
It was merely their good fortune that they had encountered a compassionate Divine Lady who shielded them from the storms and rain.
Suddenly, a commotion broke out nearby.
“Everyone… look!”
Feng Chunya abruptly raised her head. Her gaze pierced through the pale-golden barrier, and her entire body instantly froze.
Deep beneath the sea, a streak of flowing light silently cleaved through the darkness.
“The Divine Lady…” Feng Chunya murmured blankly.
The Divine Lady’s water-blue gown drifted around her like clouds. Beneath the hem was a magnificent fish tail, every scale shimmering with a moonlike glow.
As she swam out of the dense darkness, it was as though a hazy moon had sunk to the bottom of the sea. The lifeless waters were illuminated by the radiance around her, transformed into flowing crystal.
She stopped not far from the radiant barrier and lifted her eyes toward the stunned people on the deck. Her fish tail swayed lightly, stirring up a scattering of fine golden motes.
Feng Chunya almost forgot to breathe.
And she was not the only one.
Everyone on deck stood motionless, as if struck by a binding spell.
When they finally came to their senses, one after another they rushed to the ship’s railings, staring wide-eyed at the dreamlike figure outside the barrier.
In the past, if they had seen the Divine Lady in such an inhuman form, they surely would have been afraid.
But at this moment, not a single one of them felt fear.
That was the divine being they worshiped!
“The Divine Lady is all right. She really is all right…”
Perhaps because they were so close, the golden motes floating around the Divine Lady passed through the barrier and drifted onto them.
Then, a miraculous scene unfolded.
The wounds on their bodies began healing one after another.
Everyone was stunned.
“Divine Lady, please don’t expend any more of your divine power!”
Someone finally found the courage to shout.
“It is of no consequence.”
The ethereal celestial voice reached their ears. “I have just saved those beings of the sea. Though I suffered the Heavenly Tribulation, it also stabilized my Dao-heart and greatly benefited my cultivation.”
“Then that’s good… That’s wonderful…”
At that moment, Shen Jue, who had been knocked unconscious when the System maliciously smashed a reef against him, pushed himself up from the ground with one hand pressed to his throbbing head. He looked around at the people who were laughing and crying at once, his expression bewildered.
Of course, no one noticed Shen Jue. Everyone was immersed in the joy of seeing the Divine Lady safe and sound.
Only after all the life essence converted from the power of the storm had been completely exhausted did Yun Shu return to the Tower Ship from the depths of the sea.
The moment she passed through the golden barrier, she removed the fin component of the Tidal Surge of All Things outfit—the Moonlit Mirage Merfin. Her water-blue fish tail automatically transformed back into a normal pair of legs.
“The Divine Lady is merciful and compassionate.”
The crowd knelt in worship as the Divine Lady walked toward them through the air.
“Rise.”
The Divine Lady swept her indifferent gaze over the crowd, then turned to look at the underwater volcano beyond the radiant barrier.
The people who had risen instinctively followed her gaze.
The unbelievable sight that met their eyes was one they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
At some point, this lifeless stretch of ocean had undergone a complete transformation, overflowing with vitality.
The volcano that had once looked so terrifying was now wrapped in rings of emerald-green seaweed and vines.
The seafloor below was no longer barren and gray-white.
A thick carpet of fine moss covered the ground, dotted with glowing microscopic coral polyps that brightened and dimmed in turn.
Several ancient algae, each nearly twice the height of a person, leaned out from the cracks in the rock, their branches hung with glistening spores.
Farther away, a school of unknown fish swam in neat formation around the newly grown coral reefs.
As their tails moved, the currents they stirred up carried tiny, luminous plankton.
From a distance, they looked like a flowing river of stars.
“How beautiful…”
Feng Chunya stood there with her mouth open, unable to close it for a long while.
Behind her, the soldiers leaned over the railing, stretching their necks as far as they could.
“I never thought an ordinary mortal like me would live to see such beautiful scenery beneath the sea,” one of them murmured.
Pei Du was also leaning against the ship’s railing. He stared intently at the underwater world beyond the barrier and sighed.
“It’s a pity I can’t capture this scene on paper and bring it back to the mortal realm, so that future generations can also see the magnificence of the deep sea.”
His voice was full of regret.
“If only Fuyan were here. Painting and calligraphy are his specialties.”
Of everyone present, Shen Jue was the only one who had no interest in the scenery of the deep sea.
He stared blankly at the Divine Lady not far away.
She simply stood there in silence.
She was clearly so close, yet she seemed impossibly far away.
[Shen Jue’s Shock Value +100]
[Pei Du’s Shock Value +100]
[Feng Chunya’s Shock Value +100]
[…]
[Current Shock Value: 75,220,000]
Seeing that the people on the ship could still produce Shock Value, even Yun Shu herself was a little surprised.
Could Shock Value be like water trapped in a sponge? Perhaps if you kept squeezing, there would always be more.
The Little Fox, invisible, followed at Yun Shu’s side.
“Host, I’ve adjusted the route again. It’s time for us to leave.”
Yun Shu said nothing. She merely nodded slightly.
The enormous Tower Ship trembled gently, then turned and began sailing around this newly revitalized stretch of ocean.
Everyone stood on the deck.
They watched as the Tower Ship raced past underwater hills brimming with life and swept through forests of swaying seaweed.
The scenery beyond the ship kept changing. They did not even dare to blink, afraid they might miss something new.
“What a huge fish…”
“What a huge conch…”
“What a huge coral tree…”
“What a huge…”
The soldiers voiced one unadorned exclamation after another.
Pei Du, the only one who had read a fair number of books, remained silent. If he started waxing eloquent, he would seem out of place. But if he followed the crowd and praised the size of the underwater scallops, he simply could not bring himself to say it.
After completing a full circuit, the Tower Ship suddenly shot upward.
Everyone was thrown backward by the sudden ascent.
They instinctively grabbed the ship’s railings and looked toward the surface.
The surface of the sea drew closer and closer.
Light poured down from above.
The Tower Ship burst out of the water, carrying everyone with it.
Countless droplets sprayed from both sides of the vessel, shattering beneath the sunlight into a sky full of diamondlike rainbow glints.
The sea wind rushed against their faces, carrying a salty tang.
The sky was a clear, flawless blue. Several beautiful white gulls, startled by the Tower Ship, scattered and cried out as they circled overhead.
“The cabins aboard the Tower Ship are meant for your rest. You need not remain on the deck.”
After saying this, Yun Shu turned and went upstairs.
The crowd had only just tearfully bid the Divine Lady farewell when the surface of the sea suddenly erupted into considerable motion.
Shen Jue quickly called out, “Divine Lady, it’s the Kun from the depths. It seems to have come looking for you.”
