Chapter 39: Chapter 39: The Merfolk Clan
This point alone reveals the status of the Black Mountain Association in Jiangyuan City.
As for everything happening in the black market of Jiangyuan at the moment, Song Chi was completely unaware.
After depleting all his funds, he left the Torch Marketplace of Jiangyuan.
Two days later, in the Zhu Tian Ruins Market.
Having cultivated for an entire day in the All-Attributes Cultivation Room yesterday, Song Chi seemed quite spirited as he stood in front of the Ultra Long-Distance Space Gate Random Deployment Platform, waiting for the platform to finish buffering.
59s
58s
…
1s
0
As soon as the buffering time dropped to zero, Song Chi didn’t hesitate to activate the deployment platform again.
Above the platform, the originally 10 beams of light and shadow had now increased to 19, meaning that currently, a total of 19 spatial gates had been deployed throughout the boundless expanse of the Shattered Starry Sea.
Perhaps because the number of spatial gates had nearly doubled, it hadn’t been two minutes since the deployment when ripples of spatial fluctuations came from the entrance of the Ruins Market — the noise of spatial gates being activated, signaling that creatures had already come through them into the market.
Turning his head to look, several merfolk appeared in Song Chi’s field of vision, they were sneaking about, their upper bodies human and their lower halves fish.
There was no need to consult the Encyclopedia of Civilizations and Species this time; Song Chi was very familiar with this race.
“Merfolk!”
The mermaids of this race are extremely famous throughout the Shattered Starry Sea, not for a good reputation, but rather a notorious one.
Maid, slave, concubine… and so on.
Of course, the merfolk entering the market now were ordinary merfolk, not the extremely rare mermaids.
Nevertheless, Song Chi was still quite curious. Merfolk were a rare sight in the Starry Sea; only in those Floating Lands where the water area occupies more than half of the land is it possible for such a race to emerge.
After entering the Ruins Market, these merfolk looked around curiously. Observing this, Song Chi took the initiative to approach them. It was clear that these merfolk were well-educated or well-born as no translator was needed, and they could communicate seamlessly in the common language of the Starry Sea.
However, his interest quickly waned. These merfolk were obviously young and inexperienced; they easily divulged various information, and they truly had nothing valuable in their possession, except for some Deep Water Clam Pearls and decorative sea snails, which failed to arouse much interest in Song Chi.
Deep Water Clam Pearls did have value, but they needed to be old enough.
After 300 years, the pearls could be ground into powder to promote the practice of the Guidance Technique. When used in conjunction with the Ghost Energy Cultivation Platform, the effect was astounding.
If there were pearls over a thousand years old, they would greatly accelerate the practice of the Guidance Technique at level 20 and above. Unfortunately, the pearls the merfolk brought were mostly decades old, none even reaching a century, offering minimal enhancement to the Guidance Technique.
Since Song Chi didn’t covet what they had, these merfolk naturally couldn’t buy anything from the various shops in the Ruins Market. This thoroughly frustrated the merfolk.
At the Genetic Optimizing Potion Shop, just the scent of the Basic Gene Optimization Potion was enough for Gore to feel a strong craving well up from his cells. Without a doubt, the potion before him would greatly benefit him. With a few more doses, it could even cause his bloodline to undergo a postnatal sublimation.
When it considered the tradition of the “Mermaid Clan” in the Coral Sea Domain, where bloodline is supreme, a compelling glint suddenly appeared in the depths of its eyes.
It suddenly spoke:
“How does one purchase this special potion?”
No sooner had it finished speaking than the text on the light screen in the center of the shop began to change.
[The age of the Deep Water Clam Pearls is insufficient; the older they are, the higher their value, with a minimum age of three hundred years required.]
Seeing this message, Gore’s eyes sparkled with an extraordinary gleam, almost making Song Chi, who was in another shop, laugh out loud.
In truth, he could understand. The Shattered Starry Sea stretched countless trillions of light-years, giving birth to numerous civilizations, and among those non-technological ones that pursued mighty power within themselves, one’s genetic (bloodline) superiority or inferiority basically dictated the lives of their members.
Being born into such civilizations, those who were born with inferior bloodlines yet harbored great ambition were extremely pitiable, for they saw no hope at all.
And such utterly hopeless matters were now laid out before their very eyes, one could only imagine the excitement in their hearts.
Watching the male mermaid quietly head towards the entrance of the Ruins Market, Song Chi’s eyes shone with anticipation, wondering if the other party would bring him any unexpected surprises.
…
Blood Sea Floating Land, Coral Sea Domain.
To the north of Conch Island, two hundred miles off the southern part of the Sea Snail Islands in the Coral Sea Domain, a hidden, faintly visible portal had appeared on the sea bed at some unknown time. At that moment, a slight spatial fluctuation began within this illusory portal, followed by Gore, fresh from his exit from the Zhu Tian Ruins Market, appearing in front of it.
Turning his head to look back at the portal, which had once again calmed, the gleam in Gore’s eyes could no longer be concealed. The thing known as ambition, which had been deeply buried in his heart, quietly surfaced once more and this time, Gore did not suppress it; in a brief moment, it became uncontrollable.
On Conch Island, the hollowed-out interior of the island held a palace that was somewhat dilapidated. This place was the homeland of the Mermaid Clan’s Copper Spear Tribe. Once a King Level tribe of the mermaid clan, the Copper Spear Tribe had declined after several tribulations.
Under the constant pressure of other larger tribes, the only territory left under the Copper Spear Tribe’s control was this Sea Snail Islands region, spanning only a thousand miles around, with pitifully scarce resources harvested each year.
Generation after generation, the once King Level bloodline of the Copper Spear Tribe had degraded, and now the strongest in the tribe was no more than Second Rank. In the endless Blood Sea where the survival of the fittest reigned, they were precariously endangered.
Inside a hidden underwater cavern deep within the tribal area, the tribal chief looked angrily at Gore.
“Trading Deep Water Clam Pearls aged over three hundred years for that unknown potion? Gore, I think you’ve lost your mind.”
Gore firmly met the gaze of the Second Rank fishman.
“Father, I am sure that the potion can purify our diluted King Level bloodline. With your current strength, as long as you can purify the bloodline by factor of two, you will definitely enter Third Rank.”
The Copper Spear Tribe chieftain stared at his son, his voice solemn:
“You must understand what you’re saying. Strange objects capable of purifying bloodlines are exceedingly rare. If it’s a sham, your resource allocation will be reduced by eighty percent each month from now on.”
Without hesitation, Gore continued to nod firmly.
The chieftain said nothing more but waved his hand and threw a jade box at him, inside which were several shiny, translucent pearls.
…