Chapter 2163: Threefold Restriction

The Firedevil Sea Beast was practically about to drool as he watched.

This chick really is hot!

Zu An’s expression remained neutral. This woman was beautiful, but she didn’t have a soul. Her expression was empty, making her far inferior to Shang Liuyu.

The mermaid projection looked at Shang Liuyu. Two beams of light suddenly fired out from her eyes and scanned her from head to toe before saying, “Confirming Mermaid Queen bloodline. Permitted to proceed.”

After saying that, the projection returned into the mermaid sculpture on the wall. The mermaid sculpture’s outline began to undo its mechanisms. Then, a special diagram formed that resonated with the surrounding runes. Soon after, several golden lines linked together, and the entire wall erupted with golden radiance.

The Shadowhorror Devil and Ka Qier quickly took a few steps back.

Zu An was surprised.

They seem to fear this kind of light.

Unfortunately, the light didn’t persist for that long and quickly went out again. Shortly after, the wall slowly parted to either side, revealing a large and deep cavern entrance.

Shang Liuyu was shocked. This wall had previously been seamlessly closed and didn’t look as if it could be opened at all, and yet there was actually such a large space behind it!

Ka Qier and the three monsters were all excited. “We’ve succeeded!”

With a wave of their hands, they quickly ordered their subordinates to scout out the way. Shortly after, those subordinates returned to report that there were no dangers up ahead. The smiles on their faces thus grew even bigger. They gestured for Zu An to follow along and enter together with them.

Shortly after, their gazes landed on Shang Liuyu. Now that this door was opened, there was no use left for her. They were all monsters or Hell creatures, while this woman was from the Ocean races.

Zu An could guess their thoughts. He secretly said to them, “This place is too mysterious. We might still need her help in other areas later.”

The monsters figured that made sense too. Shang Liuyu’s cultivation was decent in this world, but to them, she was nothing, inferior to even one of their subordinate elites. She wouldn’t be able to start much trouble at all, so they gave up on any thoughts of killing her for now.

The Firedevil Sea Beast even teased Zu An. “You really do cherish beauties. You don’t really feel anything for them, do you?”

Zu An replied indifferently, “The sisters are both mine now. It’d be a waste to kill them.”

The monsters all had knowing smiles on their faces. Eating such beautiful Mermaid Queens would indeed be a waste.

Both sisters... The Lord of Myriad Transformations really knew how to have fun.

Zu An didn’t pay their wretched looks any attention and took Shang Liuyu straight inside.

...

A single room appeared before them, and in it, there was another pair of doors blocking their way. There was an endless sea engraved on the doors. The raging sea looked as if it was real and could spill out at any time.

“It’s your turn.” Ka Qier looked at Zu An.

When he sensed the surging force of the sea from the doors, Zu An realized something. He took out the Crown of the Ocean Deity and stepped toward the gate. There was a circular depression in the door that perfectly fit the crown. When the Crown of the Ocean Deity was inserted, it completely lit up. Then, the lines on the door seemed to come alive and also gradually moved. The sculpture on the stone gates also turned into a real sea at a visible rate. Eventually, the stone gates also disappeared, becoming a part of the sea.

Everyone present clicked their tongues in amazement. They wondered just how all of this had been made in the past. These gates seemed to contain incredibly profound elemental transmutation methods that not even they could comprehend.

They were deep in the sea, and the sea contained an endless power of destruction. If that water came gushing out, there wouldn’t be many of them left alive.

Shang LIuyu thought to herself that it was no wonder they had insisted on obtaining her and the Crown of the Ocean Deity. So they had needed both to open up this mysterious passage! Fortunately, she was from the Mermaid race, and due to her relationship with her big sister, she was extremely familiar with the Dragon King.

And yet, whether it was the Mermaid race or the Dragon King’s side, neither seemed to have records of this path. Just where did it lead?

The Crown of the Ocean Deity returned to Zu An’s head. Zu An had a pensive expression as he held Shang Liuyu’s hand and walked straight in. As he drew closer, the gate formed by the seawater parted to either side, producing a deep pathway.

The others quickly followed along. Once they entered, they realized that they weren't surrounded by stone or earthen walls, but rather walls formed from the parted ocean. They reflexively raised their heads and saw that there was ocean water above them too. They were far, far from the ocean's surface. If this water suddenly came crashing down, even their earth immortal bodies could be flattened into flesh pancakes instantly, right?

All of them looked at the supernaturally crafted passage and couldn't help but walk a bit faster. They wanted to leave this place as quickly as possible. After walking for a while, the group finally left the ocean floor path and returned to solid ground again. They all sighed in relief.

But shortly after, they were stopped by another wall. It was entirely different in style from the previous designs of this place. This wall’s carving was completely different from the prior sea; rather, it was a huge demonic face. The face was extremely malevolent, with two dark red flames within its eye sockets. It stared at the uninvited guests. The entire wall was surrounded by a thick aura of death.

Shang Liuyu immediately felt a bit scared and reflexively leaned closer to Zu An. Zu An comforted her while sharpening his vigilance. This place was clearly related to supernatural creatures. Could this be a trap that Ka Qier had set up?

Still, he immediately rejected that thought. Forget about the fact that the Shadowhorror Devil’s group wasn’t scared at all, there was no possible way that Ka Qier could have come here before. After all, they had needed to rely on Shang Liuyu’s singing and his own Crown of the Ocean Deity in order to open up the way.

Sure enough, the Bloodthirst Crocodile spoke up. “Skin-Flaying King, it’s your turn.”

Zu An was startled.

Skin-Flaying King?

It seems that's the identity of the guy inside Ka Qier.

When he recalled what he had seen inside Ka Qier's room, the skin-flaying torture that the monster had endured, he thought the name was quite fitting.

Ka Qier voiced his confirmation and walked up to the demonic face. A scepter suddenly appeared in his hand. On the very top of the scepter was a skull that released a white jade-like light. However, the rest of the staff was releasing waves of black energy, the color of death.

As the scepter emerged, the room was filled with a strange feeling that made everyone within feel uneasy. Forget about Shang Liuyu, even the monsters were feeling a bit anxious. As for Ka Qier’s subordinates, they were all shaking all over as if they were going to prostrate in worship.

Zu An looked at the scepter and thought to himself that it likely represented a certain kind of authority in Hell. Otherwise, these Hell creatures wouldn't be so scared.

Ka Qier stabbed the scepter straight into the wide open mouth of the demonic face. The face released black energy that wound about the scepter, as if it was inspecting something.

A while later, the black death energy gradually withdrew. Then, it crawled up to the wall like a tentacle and quickly entered inside. Shortly after, the dark red light in that demonic face’s eyes turned green. The wall rotated and retracted in all directions, revealing an entrance.

The Skin-Flaying King’s breathing quickened. He picked up the scepter and ran in.

Upon seeing that, the three monsters quickly followed him in as well. The alien monsters and Hell creature subordinates also followed them inside.

Shang Liuyu was a bit nervous. She urged Zu An, “We should hurry and go inside too, or else they’ll end up taking all of the good stuff!”

“That’ll be even better.” Zu An chuckled. “There’s no rush.”