‘Going through the surface is much faster than these narrow tunnels, good that I’m not claustrophobic…’

Zhang Dong was squeezing his body through the narrow passages that the mermaids escaped to. He had even noticed some of them watching him as he was passing without giving him a greeting. It was clear that these creatures were scared of him but this didn’t mean that they were docile. They were still trying to entice his horny grandfather for some reason. If it was just out of fright then it would be fine but perhaps they had something else in store for the two idiots that he ‘rescued.’

‘Should I just drill through the ground… but these rocks are quite thick and sturdy, I’ll be out of qi in no time…’

For a moment he decided to stop and look at his mapping device. The whole place was like a maze. There were hundreds of these narrow tunnels everywhere and only thanks to the map was he able to navigate through them. When looking out the window there was a red line formed behind him to indicate where he had already been. He had already managed to follow one of the tunnels to one that he already took and thanks to the map he was able to quickly adjust to a new pathway.

All of them looked the same and were quite disorienting. It also didn’t help that there was seaweed everywhere. It was quite thick and even able to block off some of the paths that he had already been on. It blended with the narrow walls and would probably cause people to miss some of the old pathways they had taken.

‘It’s good that I can track the paths they took with the little Qi those mermaids use for swimming but where will it lead me to?’

He had already spent several hours down here. Due to the narrow pathways and the seaweed everywhere, it was pitch dark down here. Normally he would be glowing like a lightbulb but thanks to his newest Dao of Darkness he could comfortably move through this place like it was nothing.

His eyes couldn’t see anything but he could still tell what was happening around him. It was a different type of vision that didn’t require any light to be present and allowed him to be a bit more sneaky. If he tried to produce light then he would open himself up to a potential trap. Like this, even if the mermaids were trying to lead him toward doom, he would have the upper hand.

The journey continued for a couple of more hours until he managed to sense something. Even with the thickness of the walls in place, he managed to pick up something nearby. There was a larger concentration of living beings in the area that was before him. Thanks to his shadowy sneaking skills he was able to approach the area without needing to slow down that much. After squeezing through one last hole he was greeted with quite a large cavern with a huge castle in the middle.

‘Is this their lair? Looks like it’s in a large air bubble…’

He was now inside a huge cave. There were many small tunnels that popped out of the ceiling and some mermaids could be seen going through them. Instantly he could see that there was something fishy about those mermaids. Two of them were swimming with something that looked like a big soap bubble. When straining his senses a bit he managed to notice that there was someone inside that bubble.

They were all going towards the giant dome in the middle of this cavern. At first, it looked like it was just a massive pocket of air but when taking another look he noticed that it was actually a large barrier. It allowed the mermaids to easily move inside but quickly cleared behind them. Inside this barrier, there were several large structures. Some type of palace was there which could mean that he had found what he was looking for.

‘It’s probably not where the Cerulean Empress lives, a bit too small to be a castle the Emperor would live in…’

With the help of his system map and his own senses, he tried peeking into the inside of this bubble. Now that he was free of the strange rocks he was actually able to peer through the veil. On the inside, there were many nascent soul-equivalent beings and also more of the mermaids. This wasn’t the part he was interested in though as besides those creatures his people were present.

‘That person in the bubble was probably someone from the search party… I shouldn’t assume the worst but this doesn’t look good… Now how do I get inside without alerting them of my presence?’

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After finding that his people were being dragged into the palace he needed to do something. It was probably possible for him to force his way in by sheer brute power. Yet this would alert everyone in this underwater city to his presence. Even he wouldn’t be able to contend with swarms of nascent soul-equivalent monsters. Considering that this place could also turn into a deathtrap like the frozen wasteland he left behind, it would be better to try the hidden approach first.

‘It might not affect me but not many people would survive those temperatures…’

Considering that his people were being brought here he could not risk another disastrous change occurring. He assumed that he would be fine even in extreme temperatures but this wasn’t the same for the people from the search party. Some of them could be out cold, others were just core formation experts. They would surely perish if the same monsters that he left behind in the desolate frozen wastes appeared before them.

‘Is there a way to sneak in…’

When thinking about the way to go his eyes landed on two mermaids but mostly on the big bubble, they were dragging through a hole. Inside was a man at the core formation level that was probably going to get transported on the inside. This was his ticket into this area, he just needed to cloak himself in darkness. Even though the palace behind the barrier was filled with light, the rest of the underwater areas were flooded with darkness. He just needed to take up a shadowy form and keep to the backs of the mermaids which wouldn’t be clad in light.

This new Dao had improved his hiding technique to the next level. Even while moving no one that was close to his level was able to detect him. The only weakness of this new technique was light. However, there weren’t that many places in the world that light reached everywhere. Even now, he was sticking to the mermaid's back that was shrouded in some shade while she approached the protective bubble. Soon she was swimming inside without anyone being able to pick him up.

It was actually like passing through a soap bubble and on the inside there was a mix of water elements with breathable water. Yes, it was a strange phenomenon where the surroundings were composed of water with infused air. It was a strange phenomenon where two existed at once which allowed people with regular lungs to breathe. Before coming here he was sustaining himself with the other Dao that he had gained, the one of wind. Without defeating the Emerald Phoenix Emperor, investigating a place like this would have been quite troublesome but if he could produce his own air then there was no problem.

‘Where are they taking him…’

Even though the little bit of shade behind the mermaid allowed him to sneak in, if she turned around to face a light source his location would be exposed. Thus when inside he quickly jolted to a safe location before anyone discovered his presence. There was a whole city around him that offered a lot of shaded spots that he could now move undetected through.

His gaze landed on the bubble of water that began to open up after the mermaids made it in. He was prepared to instantly jump into action if he felt any killing intent from the denizens here. The main reason that he decided to come here is to find the people that were searching for him. Perhaps it was unwise to cause a scene but he wouldn’t just let one of his sect members be killed right in front of his nose.

Luckily the man didn’t look to be injured and his face had a rather odd expression. There was a certain grin there similar to the one that his grandfather and Huo Qiang had when they were interacting with these mermaids. Considering that he was only a core formation expert the mermaid’s aphrodisiacs and enticing melodies probably had a larger effect.

‘Was he just drugged and brought here? Or perhaps he tired himself by having fun with these mermaids?’

While the women were quite beautiful and exotic from the waist up he had a hard time believing that anyone would go through with the deed. They still had long fishtails with no legs to be seen anywhere. He wasn’t really sure about the logistics here but perhaps it ended before anything could have been explored further.

‘They are on the move, I need to follow them.’

After the man was freed from the bubble the mermaids continued to drag him towards a large palace-like structure in the back. It looked like it was made out of hollowed-out coral with uneven towers and seashells everywhere. Fish were swimming in this strange environment which if not for this situation would have been quite captivating.

‘The people are starting to show up on my faction window, there must be something about this environment that is blocking my system.’

It was quite interesting to see that his system wasn’t perfect. Only after getting inside of this bubble and the member of his sect getting out of the smaller one, was he registered back in his faction window. It seemed it were the bubbles and perhaps this protective formation that was doing this.

Before leaving this palace he made a mental note to investigate. If there was something able to block out his system, it could perhaps be used against his true foe. Perhaps this would give him a tip on how he should counter the time-stop effect that the Overseer was producing but first he needed to get his people out of this place.

While using the shadows to keep a low profile he entered the strange palace. There he found guards that looked like the clone generals. They were wearing bulky armor and holding tridents in their hands while not moving. Some lesser commanders were even patrolling the corridors through which he was sneaking.

All of the people that he was picking up on his faction window were getting moved to one location, there he would find his answer to what these mermaids were attempting to achieve with the kidnapping.