Early the next morning, Yun Shu took the little fox and left Xindu City, heading toward the island where the Child Emperor and the others were located, ready to implement her plan to march south.
Sitting inside the Floating Dream Celestial Litter, Yun Shu opened her System wardrobe and browsed through it. She put on the Thousand Tides Flowing Light robe component of the Tide of All Things Set, along with a few other pieces, preparing to dive into the sea later to test its skill effects.
If the skill effects of this outfit could achieve what she envisioned, she would have to gather the full set in advance.
While the north suffered from natural disasters like droughts, the coastal cities of the south were plagued by maritime disasters, especially typhoons.
Even in modern times, encountering a major typhoon would cause immense damage, let alone in ancient times.
The destructive power of a typhoon was not in the least inferior to that of a drought.
She had to prepare early.
“System, find that blue whale from last time.”
Although she was equipped with Ocean Moon, a piece that allowed her to communicate with marine life, these sea creatures generally had very low intelligence, equivalent to a human toddler of two or three. Last time, she and the System had searched for ages before finally finding a blue whale that could understand her words and follow her instructions.
The little fox tapped away on the System panel, quickly and precisely locking onto the blue whale's location.
“Host, that silly fish is just ahead.”
The blue whale, dubbed the “silly fish” by the little fox, was currently floating listlessly on the ocean surface. A large portion of its back protruded from the water, making it look like a breathing island from afar.
It gently slapped the waves with its tail while tilting its head up to count the clouds drifting across the sky.
One, two, three... Just as it reached the seventeenth cloud, a ripple of golden light suddenly spread across the sea.
The blue whale snapped its head around.
In the distance, where the sea met the sky, a lustrous white celestial carriage was slowly descending. Its glowing, colorful curtains fluttered in the sea breeze, looking as if it were descending from heaven wrapped in the morning glow.
The celestial carriage stopped three feet above the water, and a figure clad in aqua-blue stepped out onto the glittering waves.
“Zhuzhu!” The blue whale slapped its tail against the water with a loud splash, sending up a massive wave.
It swam joyfully toward Yun Shu.
“Zhuzhu, you finally came back to see me! Did you miss me? Did you bring me some sugar pills?”
Yun Shu stood on the surface of the water. The hem of her Thousand Tides Flowing Light skirt draped between the ocean waves, the aqua-blue light silk rising and falling with the tide, each fold shimmering with delicate specks of light.
A blue forehead ornament strung with pearls adorned her brow, glowing faintly and highlighting her cold, ethereal features.
Perched on Yun Shu's shoulder, the little fox rolled its eyes at the goofy blue whale. “Silly fish, I've told you ten thousand times. My host's name is Shushu, not Zhuzhu.”
“I remember, Xiao Funi,” the blue whale replied innocently. It swam in a massive circle around Yun Shu and the little fox, creating countless waves that surged in all directions.
Fortunately, Yun Shu had the foresight to equip the Merfolk Pearl. The protective wall of light that automatically formed around her shielded her from the waves.
“Xiao Lan, how are those humans doing?” She was naturally asking about the Child Emperor and the others stranded on the island.
The blue whale tilted its head. “Zhuzhu, those humans are still repairing their ships on the island. During this time, I've been listening to you and quietly herding schools of fish to the island so they could catch and eat them.”
As if remembering something, it added, “But that Child Emperor you told me to pay special attention to, for some reason, he suddenly stopped eating, drinking, or speaking two days ago.”
The little fox's forehead instantly filled with black lines. “Not eating, drinking, or speaking? You didn't starve him to death, did you?”
“I don't know,” the blue whale said innocently. “He should only be a little bit dead. If we nurse him, maybe he'll come back to life.”
The little fox: “...”
“System, you and Xiao Lan go check on the Child Emperor first. I'll join you once I'm done testing the skills. Don't let him die on the island. If he dies, I'll have to redesign the entire plan to march south, which would be more trouble than it's worth.”
Yun Shu raised her hand and flipped her palm. A completely azure scepter appeared out of thin air.
The scepter's body was made of translucent sea-blue crystal, with a fist-sized pearl embedded at the top, light swirling within the pearl.
Holding the scepter, she lightly tapped its tip against the surface of the water.
A ripple silently spread out, parting a path that led straight to the seabed, allowing her to walk through the ocean as if on dry land.
Due to the tight schedule, as soon as she reached the seabed, she activated the skill effects of all the components of the Tide of All Things Set.
In an instant, the seaweed on the seabed, which had been silent and still, began to grow frantically. The green leaves elongated at a speed visible to the naked eye, spreading out a lush meadow across the ocean floor.
Next were the schools of fish.
Thousands upon thousands of silver, golden-red, and indigo little fish surged out from the crevices of the coral.
They formed a spiral shape, slowly rotating around Yun Shu's feet layer by layer, resembling a magnificent flower blooming in slow motion. At the center stood the aqua-blue figure, holding the Sea God's Scepter, her skirts spreading out in the water like wings.
Just then, the sound of something splashing into the water suddenly reached Yun Shu's ears.
She looked up.
In the next second, she saw a figure slowly sinking from the surface. His robes were soaked with seawater, his black hair spreading out in the water. His face was pale and young, his eyes tightly closed. He was clearly losing consciousness from suffocation.
When she saw the face of the person who had fallen into the sea clearly, a flicker of surprise flashed in her eyes. “The Child Emperor?”
Without time to overthink, she equipped Trailing Flowing Clouds and cast out a silk ribbon to wrap around the Child Emperor, pulling him up to the surface.
After tossing the Child Emperor onto the shore and using the Orchid of the Blue Void to preserve his life, she finally noticed that something was amiss on the island.
It was too quiet, abnormally quiet.
Something must have happened on this island.
“Sea Goddess... Sea Goddess...”
Hearing the Child Emperor's dazed murmuring, Yun Shu thought for a moment, then concealed her form.
A moment later, the Child Emperor fluttered his heavy eyelids open.
He gasped heavily for air. The salty, fishy smell of seawater still lingered in his nasal cavity, but a cool breath was slowly circulating through his chest, soothing the burning pain.
Recovering slightly, he propped himself up with his arms. His soaked robes clung to his body, freezing cold to the bone.
The Child Emperor looked around, but there was nothing except the empty beach and the dense forest on the island.
Yet, the images of his fall into the sea still lingered in his mind.
He had originally boarded a small boat, intending to escape the island, but had been caught off guard by a wave that capsized the vessel.
The moment the salty seawater rushed into his nose and mouth, he saw a dazzling light illuminate the ocean floor.
Immediately after, a blue light welled up from the depths. Thousands of fish surged upward against the light, their scales refracting gold-like specks of light in the water, looking utterly dreamlike.
Midst the school of fish, a figure stood faintly visible.
It was the Sea Goddess he had seen that day.
He could not be mistaken.
Rate on N.U.
