Chapter 2614: Going Into the Ocean

Upon sensing the Monster Lord’s and other powerful entities’ auras leaving this world, Zu An flew into the air, took out the scepter he had obtained from the Monster Lord, and channeled a secret art to activate this world’s barrier. Due to his experience controlling the World Law Beacon in his previous life, he was able to do it smoothly.

Golden streaks of light appeared in the sky. All living beings in this world watched with bated breath as they interwove into a golden net. Despite no one explaining what was going on, they felt an inexplicable sense of calm. They looked at the humongous figure in the sky and speculated who it was.

Those with insider knowledge whispered that he was Saintess Yumen Beiqing’s lover. By this point, none of the fiends were jealous of him anymore. All they had were sincere blessings for the two of them.

The Saintess had truly descended from heaven to save the world. Not only had she turned the tides against the monsters, she'd even managed to seal off the powerful Lord of Slaughter. Even her man was powerful enough to unleash such a massive skill.

As he activated the barrier, Zu An couldn’t help but wonder why this world barrier was weaker compared to the future, despite the richer ki here. This world barrier was nowhere strong enough to seal off the entire world. On top of that, it would gradually weaken over time, eventually reaching a point where it could no longer ward off invaders.

But these things were all inscribed in fate. Since the future him would clean up the mess anyway, he wasn’t too worried about it.

Once the world barrier was reactivated, Zu An made his way to the Ocean races. There were many things he needed to settle, be it the Tomb of Ten Thousand Dragons or the Netherworld.

Pei Mianman accompanied him. They had been separated for so long that she didn’t want to part ways with him just yet. Zu An missed her dearly too. Each time took a look at her, he couldn’t help but think about the Goddess of Wu Mountain.

The other ladies were envious, but they had other matters to attend to.

Yumen Beiqing, as the Saintess, needed to lead the Fiend races to eradicate the remaining monsters in the world. Yun Yuqing and Suolun Shi, as members of the Fiend races, decided to stand with the people of this world and aid the Saintess. Even though the strongest ones were no longer around, the remaining monsters still posed danger. It would be more reassuring if the three of them could cover one another’s backs.

Ji Xiaoxi remained in the imperial court to concoct the medicine to curb her constitution. The ingredients were all in place now; all that was left was for her to work her expertise.

Instead of using Rainbow Morph, Zu An and Pei Mianman rode on a cloud to the Ocean races. After reaching immortality, he'd naturally learned how to maneuver clouds.

On the cloud, Zu An rested on Pei Mianman’s thighs while the latter massaged his temples. His exhaustion and sorrow were apparent to Pei Mianman, and it left her with a heavy heart. From their conversations, she learned about his interactions with the Goddess of Wu Mountain, but somehow, she was no longer jealous. Instead, she became curious about the other party.

If she was truly my past incarnation, why would she have such a personality? How baffling.

Meanwhile, Zu An was feeling a little better thanks to Pei Mianman’s service. It felt as if he had been hurrying around nonstop and was finally able to catch a breather.

Ah, such days are the best!

“Ah Zu, why do you think my personality changed so much?” Pei Mianman suddenly asked.

Zu An knew she was asking about the Goddess of Wu Mountain, so he replied, “I don’t know. Could she have subconsciously channeled her personality toward another direction because I told her about you?”

Pei Mianman shook her head. “It’s possible for a person’s character to change, but not to that extent. I do have a thought in mind though...”

“What is it?” Zu An’s curiosity was piqued.

“Forget it. You’ll laugh at me,” Pei Mianman replied after some thought.

“So what is it?” Her refusal to speak only further stoked Zu An’s desire to know.

“When you first talked about the Goddess of Wu Mountain, I thought she resembled Chuyan more than me,” Pei Mianman spoke in a much softer voice than before. “Is there a chance that she reincarnated not as me, but as... Chuyan?”

Zu An was startled. Her conjecture sounded credible.

Putting their appearances aside, Yaoji’s personality is identical to Chuyan’s.

He was reminded of the suffering Chuyan had suffered under the Bridge of Helplessness, and it made his heart clench up. He couldn’t bring himself to continue lying on Pei Mianman’s thigh anymore.

Pei Mianman noticed his expression and immediately regretted mentioning Chuyan, so she tried changing the topic. “I don’t think the possibility is big though, considering how our appearances are identical. It’s more likely that something huge happened to her, resulting in the change to her personality.”

Zu An thought about the projection left by the Goddess of Wu Mountain, but her character seemed the same then.

While discussing this matter, they arrived above the ocean before they knew it. Zu An dove into the ocean with Pei Mianman in his arms. The seawater naturally parted for him, and a flight of stairs even formed to welcome him.

Pei Mianman was awed.

Which woman can withstand such a romantic scene? No wonder Ah Zu has so many beautiful women chasing after him no matter where he goes!

She thought about how she had even gotten jealous of herself, and that evoked her laughter.

The commotion on the ocean surface soon caught the Dragon Palace’s attention. The Four Dragon Kings led their men out to investigate the situation. They were initially tense, but upon seeing Zu An, they revealed relieved smiles.

“Lord Necropolis, have you accomplished your mission?” the Dragon Kings asked as they bowed to Zu An, though they couldn’t help but notice that Zu An was accompanied by another beautiful woman on par with the Mermaid Queen.

Pei Mianman was surprised by how the Ocean races addressed Zu An, but she didn’t expose him.

“I’m done with most of it. I’ll be making a trip to the Mermaid race,” Zu An said grimly.

The Four Dragon Kings exchanged looks, and they could see the worry in one another’s eyes.

Could something bad have happened to the Mermaid Queen for him to return without her?

The Mermaid Queen was the Ocean races’ dream lover. Even the Four Dragon Kings harbored tremendous goodwill for her. How could they not grieve if something happened to her?

Soon, they arrived at the Mermaid race’s territory. The elders of the Mermaid race rushed out upon hearing the news.

“Lord Necropolis, where is my queen? Why didn’t she return with you?” A maid rushed out from the crowd and grabbed Zu An’s sleeves. Her eyes reflected her trepidation. She was afraid that she would receive bad news.

She was the Mermaid Queen’s maid, Peach. She had been awaiting both their return, only for one to return alone. How could she not be horrified?

Zu An grimly replied, “I’m here to talk about that. Something has happened to the Mermaid Queen...”

A huge uproar broke out before he could finish speaking his piece.

“Is our queen dead?”

“How can that be? How can she be dead?”

...

Most present were loyal fans of the Mermaid Queen. There were also women who were jealous of her, and they rejoiced at the news despite feigning sorrow.

“Suyin isn’t dead yet, but she’s currently stuck in a palace and won’t be able to return for the time being,” Zu An explained.

“What do you mean by that?” Peach anxiously asked.

Zu An roughly explained the Mermaid Queen’s plight to the crowd, which prompted the crowd to raise their heads to look at the moon.

The Mermaid Queen is on the moon?

Some thought to themselves that if she couldn’t return here ever again, the Mermaid Queen was as good as dead to them.

Only Peach rejoiced at the news.

There’s hope as long as my queen is alive!

Zu An continued, “It won’t do for the Mermaid race to be without a ruler. The Mermaid Queen has tasked me to relay her intention to pass down her position to the Shang clan.”

The Mermaid race didn’t question his words, especially since they already had the tradition of alternating the ruler position among their five major clans of Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zhi, and Yu. Gong Suyin had no offspring, and there was no one suitable in the Gong clan to take her position. It made sense for her to pass the throne on to the Shang clan.

Her edict made the succession more legitimate.

Zu An felt dazed.

They could have placed another member of the Gong clan on the throne, but Gong Suyin had still decided to pass the position on to the Shang clan while they were chatting in the Frost Palace. She appeared to have made that decision after learning that Shang Hongyu and Shang Liuyu were descendants of the future Mermaid Queen.

Did the past determine the future, or did the future determine the past?

After settling the Mermaid race’s affairs, Zu An proceeded to share what had happened in the dungeon with the Four Dragon Kings. He also told them that most of the monsters had left the world, and thus, the world was finally at peace now.

𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

The Ocean races cheered at the news. They even declared that they would build a divine temple in the Tomb of Ten Thousand Dragons to commemorate his accomplishment.

Zu An tried to dissuade them, but the Ocean races were adamant. They even said that they would work with the Asuras and the Shamans to build the most majestic palace ever.

That left Zu An in a daze.

Hold on, that palace I saw in the future was built for me?

After dealing with the Ocean races, Zu An made his way to the Netherworld. There were many questions in his mind that he needed someone to answer.