The Sea Eye

The crowd of shrimp soldiers and crab generals felt their blood boil. One by one, they let out fierce cries, their weapons clashing against shields and hard shells to create a deafening roar.

The despondent atmosphere that had forced them to retreat step by step before the black spots vanished in an instant.

"The Lord said that as long as we are the Sea Race, the ocean will always be our home!"

"Fight back! Kick those filthy things out of our home!"

"Reclaim the mountains and rivers for Lord Dragon Ancestor!"

Chiwei waved his large hand and took the lead.

He marched toward the front lines with the sea race warriors, all of them rubbing their palms and brimming with a murderous, aggressive aura.

Chen Zhou stood with his hands behind his back, watching the army depart and nodding slightly.

Military morale was indeed high.

Although most of these sea folk were not of high stage, with the support of fanatical faith, the combat power they could unleash was definitely not to be underestimated.

A long, aged sigh came from beside him.

Chen Zhou turned to look at the Sea Emperor.

The Sea Emperor was staring in the direction Chiwei had gone, but his eyes held little joy. Instead, they were filled with sorrow.

"What is it?" Chen Zhou asked calmly. "Their morale is high. Are you not pleased?"

The Sea Emperor shook his head and gave a bitter smile.

"I am pleased. How could I not be?"

He had simply been struck speechless by the Dragon Ancestor’s words: "All whose hearts turn toward the azure sea may find their way home."

To prevent the black spots from spreading and to create a buffer zone for the front lines, the royalty had been forced to order countless aquatic beings below the third-stage to leave the Endless Sea and head for land.

For a fish to leave the water—what kind of suffering was that?

If there had been any other way, why would he have ever driven out the low-stage sea folk, forcing them to leave their homes for the land and suffer the hardships of displacement?

"It is just that as their ruler, I could not protect my people. Lord Dragon Ancestor... must be very disappointed in me."

As the Sea Emperor spoke, his eyes reddened once more.

Chen Zhou looked at the teary-eyed old Sea Emperor, feeling it was a bit strange.

He could roughly guess what the Sea Emperor was thinking.

As the lord of a domain, one had to be decisive; sacrificing a small part to preserve the whole was understandable.

Besides, it wasn't exactly a sacrifice.

But on second thought, the Sea Race was naturally united, and it was normal for the elderly to be sentimental.

"No."

Chen Zhou patted his shoulder, his tone steady.

"Sometimes, the most difficult way to protect is to have the courage to let go."

"As long as the roots remain, even if the leaves fall, there will come a time for them to grow again."

"There will always be a lamp waiting in the homeland for those sailing back."

"Let's go. Lead the way."

Chen Zhou wasn't very good at comforting people, nor did he want to listen to him continue crying about his miseries, so he directly changed the subject. "Let's take a look at the sea eye where you were in seclusion."

"Let's see the source of the black spots."

Hearing that they were moving on to official business, the Sea Emperor quickly wiped his tears.

"Yes, Lord, please follow me."

The Sea Emperor tapped his scepter, and a passage formed by water ripples opened before them.

Earlier, they had followed protocol, but now it was a matter of urgency; he couldn't worry about whether taking a shortcut would be disrespectful to the Lord.

"The sea eye is located at the deepest part of the Dragon Palace and is also the core of the ley lines of the entire Eastern Region."

Chen Zhou didn't waste any more words and stepped inside.

The group soon returned to the Hanhai Dragon Palace.

Passing through the somewhat desolate main hall, the Sea Emperor led Chen Zhou further into the depths.

Cang Che followed eagerly behind them, poking his head around and trying to tag along.

"Lord! Imperial Father! I want to go too!"

"I'm familiar with the sea eye as well. I can carry chairs for the Lord!"

Cang Che looked expectant.

Being able to stay by Lord Dragon Ancestor's side was such a great opportunity; even just breathing in a bit of dragon qi would be worth it.

However, just as he leaned in—

Slap!

The Sea Emperor delivered a backhand slap to Cang Che’s forehead, the sound crisp and clear.

"Go where?!"

The Sea Emperor glared at him. "Why are you everywhere?"

"The sea eye is a restricted area. Is it a place a little fry like you can just barge into?"

"Idling around all day and doing nothing productive!"

"You can't help with the fighting on the front lines, you lack the strength to guard the sea eye, and you weren't needed to go out and find the Golden Buddha. Do you still have no sense of situational awareness now?"

Cang Che clutched his head, baring his teeth in pain. "Imperial Father, I'm four hundred years old. I'm not a child anymore..."

"Shut up!"

The Sea Emperor pointed to Poison-Wing, who was lazily preening his feathers nearby.

"Go attend to Lord Primal Phoenix!"

"Lord Primal Phoenix has come from afar and is a distinguished guest of our Eastern Region. As a prince, shouldn't you fulfill your duty as a host?"

"If you neglect Lord Primal Phoenix, I'll break your legs!"

Cang Che was stunned and looked at Poison-Wing.

Poison-Wing maintained his haughty persona, giving him a look that suggested he was looking at a piece of trash.

"Hmph!"

Cang Che: "..."

Successfully dumping his son and enjoying the exclusive status of being by the Dragon Ancestor's side, the Sea Emperor led Chen Zhou deeper, leaving Poison-Wing and Cang Che staring at each other.

The deeper they went, the heavier the chill Chen Zhou felt.

The aura within the water also became increasingly chaotic.

The dense water spirit qi within the Dragon Palace began to be mixed with strands of death qi, resentment, fiendish qi, and some of that black spot aura.

"We've arrived."

The Sea Emperor stopped.

Ahead was an abyssal vortex, locked away by layers upon layers of countless massive ice spikes.

Through the thick ice, Chen Zhou could see a massive spring eye below.

Countless undercurrents from all directions converged here before being sucked into the bottomless darkness.

In Chen Zhou's perception, the sea eye was like a giant trash bin.

Inside, besides the extremely cold spring water, there were countless other spring eyes, densely packed and all converging together, frozen in ice.

The chaotic aura Chen Zhou had sensed earlier originated precisely from these spring eyes.

"What's going on here?" Chen Zhou asked.

The Sea Emperor sighed and explained, "The Lord might not be aware."

"The sea eye is actually the place where all waters return to their source."

"The Eastern Region has the lowest elevation and is where all the water sources of Gloomlight Province eventually converge."

"Whether it's the rivers on the land, the lakes, or the deep groundwater, after a long flow, they all eventually pass through the ley lines to converge at this sea eye and flow into the Eastern Region."

Chen Zhou thought for a moment. "Then wouldn't there be a lot of filthy things?"

"Exactly," the Sea Emperor said with a bitter smile. "The defiled terrestrial qi of Gloomlight Province, the death qi between heaven and earth, the resentment of vengeful spirits and malevolent ghosts, and even some inexplicable curses..."

"They often erupt from the sea eye."

"That is why our ancestors transplanted a pool of earth-core cold spring at the sea eye, using the extreme cold of its power to freeze the filth and purify the water source."

"The Dragon Palace was built above it, and successive generations of royalty have been responsible for watching over it and maintaining the operation of the cold spring to suppress these impurities."

Chen Zhou nodded. So that was how it was.

No wonder the Eastern Region could sense the melting snow in the Northern Region so quickly.

It turned out the Sea Emperor had been guarding this place in seclusion all along.

Chen Zhou released his ghost domain, and the grayish-white aura seeped down through the cracks in the ice.

He sensed those frozen spring eyes.

He could detect that much of the frozen death qi was slowly dissipating.