"What is your name?"
"Your humble servant is called Eldred."
"Why are you here? If it's a body you seek, wouldn't going outside be the better option?
Why stay here?"
Eldred's lips twitched.
Why ask for my name if you won't
even use it?
Ah… how the mighty have fallen.
Sigh… forget it.
If I piss off this little Ancestor…
In his mind, Eldred suddenly found himself
laid flat on a chopping board
with El-Mond calmly welding the knife.
A violent chill ran through his entire being.
"T–To answer the Master," Eldred
said hurriedly,
"I was once an Emperor-level evolved
turtle, capable of taking human form.
I obtained a treasure and
was hunted by five Emperor-level human
Evolvers. In the end,
I was injured beyond repair and
fell to my death in this region…"
He paused, then added proudly,
"But not before I dealt with my pursuers,
and I..."
"Wait."
El-Mond cut him off sharply.
"What did you just say?"
Eldred froze.
Hmph. That's right, he thought smugly.
An Emperor powerhouse… one who
slaughtered other Emperor powerhouses.
"Oh yes," Eldred said aloud, lifting his chin.
"It took five Emperor-level Evolvers
to wound me. I was quite something…
five hundred years ago."
As he spoke, he imagined himself
standing atop a mountain like a peerless
master
and El-Mond kneeling below, tears streaming down his faces, bowing.
"Not that!"
El-Mond's voice shattered his fantasy.
"Did you just say you were a turtle?!
Meaning I can take human form again?!"
Eldred's grand mountain crumbled instantly.
Sigh… this little demon, he thought bitterly.
"Yes, Master," Eldred replied.
"For ocean creatures, flight is impossible
even at the Marquis level. To leave the sea,
we require a human form, and
that evolution can only occur once our
core and energy reach the Duke level."
"I see…" El-Mond muttered.
"Something like a merman?"
"Master, those do exist but our case is
different. Mermaids, or rather, one of the Sea Royalties, are born that way."
"Sea Royalties?" El-Mond asked, puzzled.
"Yes, Master. The oceans are divided into kingdoms, each dominated by a specific
group of sea creatures.
The Tàipíngyáng Ocean is the first and
strongest among them,
due to the influence of Outer Gods' essence."
"Outer Gods?" El-Mond asked again.
Eldred inhaled deeply.
"Master… it is said that hundreds of
thousands of years ago, something fell
from the sky, plunging into the ocean.
A strange and terrifying energy wave
erupted from it, spreading across the
entirety of Yang Xi World.
The energy was so overwhelming that
humans, animals, plants, and trees
died in droves.
Those who survived… evolved.
Reptiles transformed into Serpent Dragons, Winged Dragons, or horrifying poisonous existences some even tapping into
ancient, terrifying powers.
Mammals grew into colossal beings,
many gaining elemental attributes,
and on rare occasions, ancient powers as well.
"Humans who survived also evolved.
Some, whose bodies were not
bound by normal limits, absorbed
the energy like water… and became beings
the rest of Yang Xi came to call gods."
El-Mond listened silently.
"Mermaids," Eldred continued, "the
second Sea Royalty, known as Dàxīyáng, originated from humans who were at sea
when the object struck. Their mutations
fused land and ocean half human, half fish.
As ocean creatures grew stronger,
they yearned to walk on land. And that desire became reality.
One hundred years after the fall,
a hermit crab living in the Tàipíngyáng
at the very impact site evolved.
As its strength grew, its body reshaped…
until it took human form.
That crab became the first Sea Royalty.
As for how this knowledge spread,
or how the cultivation levels were defined,
I do not know."
Eldred paused, then continued.
"The Dàxīyáng ranks second because they possess the blood essence of a god
a god who fell in love with a mermaid.
From their union came even stronger merfolk, establishing another dominant ocean race.
There are others as well like Orca Kingdom
of the southern seas, the Blue Whale Kingdom south of the Tàipíngyáng, and many more."
El-Mond's eyes gleamed.
"Wonderful news!"
He clenched his fists.
"I can be human again! Hahaha!
Wait for me, you damned parasites!"
Eldred stared.
"…Huh?"
After all that… that's what he took from it?!
Inside his mind, Eldred screamed,
imagining himself strangling El-Mond—
like a teacher finally snapping after dealing
with a rich, lazy teenager for far too long.
To Be Continued