Chapter 104. Entering SSS Rank...
After the familiar dizziness subsided, a vast expanse of beautiful, magnificent azure sea came into view, paired with blue sky and white clouds, creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene.
With a loud "thud," water splashed everywhere, and Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi fell into the sea together.
The red tail that was originally perched on the shoulder was flung three meters away.
"Coo coo coo, help, help me, I, can't, coo, can't swim." Redtail struggled frantically, its short legs flailing. Hill, floating beside it, kept trying to pull it up by its tail.
The treasure-hunting rat, already soaking wet, was carried into the air by Monette.
Seeing this, Xiao Weizhi hugged Lin Xiaoxiao's waist, made a hand seal, and used water elements to change the properties of the seawater.
It turned into soft, fluffy water elemental jelly-like ground, lifting them all up to the surface of the sea.
Lin Xiaoxiao took out a brick-level folding boat prop, placed it on the jelly-like ground, put an energy stone inside, and then pressed the start button.
【Folding Alchemy Ship (Diamond Class): Forged by Master Forger Monet using many rare materials over two days. It can move steadily even on turbulent seas and comes equipped with three sets of defensive devices, capable of withstanding the full-force attacks of monsters below Epic level.】
The 3m x 2.8m metal folding box, when unfolded, makes a continuous clicking sound of metal friction, and eventually transforms into a medium-sized alchemy ship that is 23 meters long, 12 meters wide, and 15 meters high.
The ship has two rooms, each about 20 square meters in size, equipped with a small kitchen, bathroom, studio, lounge, terrace, etc. It also has an internal storage room with a space-folding feature and two fishing platforms.
After boarding the ship, Lin Xiaoxiao stood on the deck, picked up the corner of her clothes, and twisted it hard with both hands.
Seawater, with its strong, salty taste, was wrung out from their clothes and dripped onto the deck. There was a large puddle of water at their feet, and Xiao Weizhi, Hongwei, Xunbao, Hill, and Monette stood there, completely soaked.
She sighed helplessly, "I was careless."
It's been so long since I've been to this secret realm that I've forgotten it's a random teleportation system, with a 0.0001% chance of landing safely.
The rest, if they didn't prepare before entering, will have to fall into the sea and soak for a while.
Xiao Weizhi put his arm around her shoulder and led her toward the ship's bathroom: "Go take a shower and change your clothes, so you don't catch a cold."
Lin Xiaoxiao followed his push and turned her head to ask, "What about you?"
Xiao Weizhi opened the bathroom door, pushed her inside, and said in a serious tone, like the calm before a storm: "I'll wash Red Tail and Treasure Hunt first."
While Lin Xiaoxiao was taking a shower, she could vaguely hear Redtail's howling and Xiao Weizhi's helpless growl.
Redtail roared, "Don't take a bath! Redtail doesn't want to take a bath! Let go of me!"
Xiao Weizhi's voice carried a hint of helplessness and subtle frustration: "Redtail, don't run away. If you don't wash, your fur will be covered in salt when you dry. Soon, don't move! Treasure Hunter, don't crawl out. Monette, go take a bath with Treasure Hunter..."
When Lin Xiaoxiao came out after taking a shower, what she saw was: Xiao Weizhi's hair was all messed up, with a lot of red fur mixed in, and he was being washed repeatedly in a basin full of bubbles while holding his red tail.
She was wearing a floral print sundress, arms crossed, leaning against the doorframe, and asked with a smile, "Need any help?"
Xiao Weizhi turned around, a look of amazement flashing in his eyes. His gaze swept over Lin Xiaoxiao's fair skin, her delicate collarbone, and then downwards...
His Adam's apple bobbed unconsciously, and the tips of his ears turned slightly red, as if burned by the glaring sunlight. He quickly turned his head to continue his unfinished work, stiffly shifting his legs together. His tone was gentle: "No need, you just took a shower, just stay there."
Having said that, he picked up Redtail by the fur on its hindquarters with his right hand, poured out the dirty water in the basin with his left hand, replaced it with clean water, threw Redtail in, ignored its howling, and picked up the brush to continue scrubbing.
Lin Xiaoxiao smiled and nodded: "Okay."
After washing Redtail, he quickly washed Treasure Hunt as well, and also grabbed Hill to wash along with him. As for Monet washing itself, he didn't let Xiao Weizhi touch it at all.
While Xiao Weizhi was taking a shower, Lin Xiaoxiao squatted in front of the pet dryer, which was more than a meter wide, and pointed her index finger at Red Tail's nose through the glass: "You, why don't you just take a shower obediently? Why do you have to make a fuss?"
Redtail stretched out its paw and slapped the spot where Lin Xiaoxiao's finger was pressing through the glass, saying angrily, "Redtail doesn't like water."
As for the treasure hunter, he was already squatting in the innermost corner, facing the dryer, curled up into a small ball, and in a state of self-isolation.
Suddenly, Lin Xiaoxiao felt a weight on her shoulder as a plum blossom claw mark pressed against her skin.
The black cat jumped to the side as if it had been electrocuted and lay down on the railing.
Its gaze was fixed on the distant sea, its tail swaying uncomfortably behind it, leaving only a round head and its back stubbornly visible.
Lin Xiaoxiao stood up and leaned on the railing next to the black cat: "Brother Cat, is everything arranged?"
The black cat didn't go into the secret realm with Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi because it had to go back to Shenjuan City to take care of some things first, and then it would come back to join them after it was all arranged.
The black cat licked its left front paw: "Mmm."
Shortly after Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi entered the secret realm, cities large and small throughout the Dragon Kingdom received orders to be mobilized from the capital:
Each city should establish at least 3-5 temples, each covering an area of about half an acre.
Designed by a master architect from the Dragon Kingdom, the temple has an antique-style exterior and features a double-eaved hip roof covered with golden glazed tiles that gleam in the sunlight. At the top, 18 bright gold lucky coins are cleverly inlaid.
[These lucky coins were created by Li Youran, Jiang Dehai, and other wish-granting officials by borrowing a sliver of the Goddess of Fortune's power. The debt of faith power will be subsequently paid by Lin Xiaoxiao, their agent.]
Every morning at sunrise, the sunlight shines on the lucky coin, and the refracted light forms a unique and intricate star pattern in the air.
It can only be seen from a specific angle for a fixed ten seconds each day.
There were no human statues inside the temple, only a blurry portrait of a woman with a missing right leg hanging in the air. There was no altar or donation box, only a few prayer cushions.
There are no entry requirements for the temple. As long as you don't make noise or cause damage, you can enter at any time, and no one will drive you away even if you stay all day.
When the temple was first built, many people visited it and found it to be just an ordinary house. In just over ten days, it went from being a popular place to being deserted.
Until one day in a small town, a heartbroken mother, desperate because her child was seriously ill, knelt and prayed in the temple all night.
The next day, as the sun rose, the power of devout faith triggered a magic circle composed of 18 lucky coins on the roof.
A diamond-shaped treasure chest, shimmering with a unique gem-like brilliance, appeared out of thin air before the mother. Upon opening it, she found a diamond-grade healing potion inside.
This news spread throughout the entire Dragon Kingdom at an extremely fast pace.
From then on, all the people of the Dragon Kingdom had the same idea: when they were really desperate, they could try to seek help from the temple of faith.
Perhaps, the agent will offer some assistance based on your sincere attitude... Of course, that's a story for another time.
SSS-level Secret Realm: In the vast ocean, Redtail, who has been drifting at sea for half a month, has lost its initial excitement. Now it lies on the deck every day, asking listlessly, "When can we leave this endless pool of water?"
Xiao Weizhi, dressed in swim trunks and a floral shirt, with sunglasses on his face, sat expressionlessly by the fishing platform, occasionally pulling the rod to keep the edible water-type monsters and killing the inedible ones with his skills.
Just like now, the fishing rod in his hand is shaking rapidly, and the fishing line is taut.
The next second, Xiao Weizhi quickly stood up, his hands tensed, and with a strong pull, he caught a strange, three-meter-long fish that looked like it was made of clay and had melted halfway.
This fish also has more than a dozen pairs of human-like eyes, and its mouth, which is a meter wide, is covered with dense, sharp spines. When it flicks its tail, some disgusting mucus keeps flying off, making it look bizarre and disgusting.
Upon realizing that the fish was inedible, Xiao Weizhi immediately let go. Just before the fish was about to return to the sea, he snapped his fingers, manipulating the seawater below into dozens of water spikes.
We'll just strangle this fish like a hedgehog and kill it.
[Congratulations to Xiao Weizhi and Lin Xiaoxiao for defeating the level 155 Diamond-grade Water-type Monster - Sea Sticky Fish Monster. Experience gained: 3,423,412. Experience distribution method: Equally split...]
Wearing a fuchsia bikini, a thin sun-protective gauze shirt, and a wide-brimmed sun hat, Lin Xiaoxiao sat on a deck chair next to a large sunshade and a diamond-sized fishing rod.
Facing the red-tailed creature, which was half-lying down beside the recliner with its fur standing on end, she reached out and stroked its back, gently comforting it, "It'll be here soon, it'll be here soon."
Once they lure the demon whale, whose color has mutated to purple and whose interior has an entrance to the Black Abyss, and swallow their small boat, they can leave.
Despite its terrifying name, the Devil Whale is actually a very gentle monster. Its daily diet consists of various small fish and shrimp, and it will not attack any professionals or monsters unless it is enraged.
The reason it was given this name is because the devil whale is entirely black, huge in size, emaciated, and has a mouth full of serrated teeth, making it look like a devil.
Compared to other SSS-level dungeons that require fighting your way to the entrance of the Black Abyss, the Vast Ocean dungeon is the simplest, requiring only a tiny bit of luck.
From sunrise to sunset, they still couldn't lure the purple devil whale.
Lin Xiaoxiao slumped in the recliner and sighed helplessly, "Weizhi, why hasn't that devil whale arrived yet?"
For the past two weeks, we've thrown in at least tens of tons of fish food, attracting all sorts of monsters, fish, snakes, and beasts, but we haven't seen the devil whale we're looking for.
Seeing that it was about to get dark, Xiao Weizhi put away his fishing rod, along with Lin Xiaoxiao's fishing rod that she had never caught a fish before, and picked her up with a gentle smile: "No rush, just treat it as a vacation."
Lin Xiaoxiao wrapped her legs around Xiao Weizhi's waist and hugged his neck with both hands, hanging on him like a koala, saying lazily, "This kind of vacation is so boring."
Even with someone clinging to her, Xiao Weizhi didn't let that delay her tidying up. She quickly folded up the recliner, put away the parasol, turned her head and kissed her cheek, then whispered, "What do you want to eat today?"
While the two were chatting, several kilometers away on the sea, the black cat walked on the seawater as if it were flat ground.
It was as if a dog was chasing it from behind. Its body was close to the sea surface, its ears were slightly pressed back, and its four legs moved back and forth rapidly as if they were equipped with motors. Its tail was stretched out like an antenna as it rushed back towards the direction of the ship.
Lin Xiaoxiao raised her hand to shield her forehead, squinted at the black cat that was still just a black dot, and asked, "Is that Cat Brother?"
A few days ago, the black cat jumped into a spatial rift and escaped. Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi didn't know where it went. Considering its strength, the two of them weren't worried at all.
Xiao Weizhi lifted his sunglasses to the top of his head, looked at himself for a while, and was about to nod.
Then they heard a distant, ethereal, and piercing roar of a demonic beast: "Ong—"
After the roar, the clouds in the sky became thicker, the temperature dropped sharply from 34 degrees to 27 degrees, and the once calm sea began to ripple, as if a strange change was about to occur.
Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi exchanged a glance, quickly changed into their respective business attire, and divided the tasks.
Xiao Weizhi ran to the driver's seat and opened all the protective shields. Then, he waved his staff outside the shields, adding more than a dozen layers of protective skills.
Lin Xiaoxiao called Red Tail and Treasure Hunt back to the cabin, then stood on the deck waiting for Black Cat to return. After hugging Black Cat, she quickly rushed to the cabin to meet up with Xiao Weizhi.
A few minutes later, as the sun set below the horizon, the sky gradually turned to night.
Thick fog enveloped the sea area, and the roars that had seemed so distant grew closer and closer. The longer one listened to the sound, the more it felt like fine needles piercing the depths of one's soul.
'Ugh, you little bug! I'm so angry!'
'Little bug, where are you? Come out, come out here!'
...
Lin Xiaoxiao understood the meaning behind the roar and looked at the black cat in her arms with a strange expression. Was the owner of that voice chasing after the black cat? What had it been doing during the days it had disappeared?
The black cat nestled in Lin Xiaoxiao's arms, nonchalantly licking its somewhat messy fur, its tail drooping naturally and easily.
The cabin rocked more and more violently amidst the surging waves, tilting more and more dramatically, making it almost impossible for anyone inside to stand.
Soon, the fog thickened to the point where it was impossible to see anything outside, and a huge dark shadow was lurking and approaching from beneath the sea.
A small boat sways on the sea, with a dark shadow the size of a small island slowly circling beneath it, as if confirming something.
The roaring stopped abruptly, accompanied by violent rocking of the ship and a small shower caused by the massive object breaking through the water; the thick smoke dissipated somewhat.
A huge eyeball peered through the small boat window, locking precisely on the black cat in Lin Xiaoxiao's arms. It roared, "Found you, you little bug!"
'Luo Luo is going to eat you up, you damned little bug.'
This eyeball is several times larger than the ship, and its owner is a purple mutated devil whale that is thousands of meters long.
Just as Xiao Weizhi picked up his staff, preparing to go out and have a life-or-death duel with this huge monster.
He was stopped by Lin Xiaoxiao: "Weizhi, don't go out, let it swallow us up."
Xiao Weizhi realized: "Devil whale?"
Lin Xiaoxiao nodded, rubbing her forehead: "That's right."
Then she turned to him and asked, "Cat Bro, what did you do? How did you manage to make this devil whale so angry?"
The black cat paused in licking its paws, yawned, and seemingly didn't hear Lin Xiaoxiao's question. It calmly closed its eyes and entered a state of dozing.
Seeing its appearance, Lin Xiaoxiao knew she wouldn't get any information out of it, so she turned to Xiao Weizhi and instructed, "Weizhi, make sure you hold the steering wheel tightly. Once we're swallowed, keep going straight and don't veering off course. We're going to the devil whale's stomach."
If you accidentally run into the vent and get sprayed out, all your efforts will be wasted.
Xiao Weizhi gripped the steering wheel with both hands and nodded cautiously: "Okay."
While the two were talking, the devil whale opened its two-hundred-meter-wide mouth and swallowed seawater, fish, shrimp, and boats all at once.
Amidst the rolling waves, the small boat was swept up dozens of meters into the air by the gaping maw of the devil whale, sometimes swallowed up by the crashing waves, and sometimes having to dodge the large, monstrous beasts that were being swallowed along with it...
The protective shields hanging on the hull were shattered layer by layer, rushing straight towards the stomach with the surging seawater.
After more than twenty minutes of turbulent travel, the boat, with only two layers of self-protection remaining, successfully reached the stomach of the devil whale.
Lin Xiaoxiao, holding onto the ship's anchor bar with one hand and the black cat in the other, calmly directed: "Weizhi, do you see that spatial vortex in mid-air? Try to crash into it; that's the entrance to the Black Abyss."
Xiao Weizhi stood in a horse stance, his eyes fixed on the vortex of air that was more than 20 meters in the sky. He slowly rotated and twisted the air, one hand holding the directional control, the other hand forming a hand seal, manipulating the water elements to form giant waves, lifting the ship towards the teleportation vortex.
At this moment, several snake-like monsters, each over ten meters long, were lifted up by the giant wave and roared as they opened their mouths to gnaw at the hull of the small boat.
The protective shield outside the ship's hull cracked twice, and another one broke.
Lin Xiaoxiao cursed under her breath, took out a few experience coins from her spatial storage, hugged the support pole, and said to the black cat in her arms, "Brother Cat, can you do me a favor?"
The black cat glanced at it and nodded slightly.
The experience coins she threw out landed in a small spatial rift, and a few seconds later, they landed on the snake-like monsters, causing a huge explosion.
The kill notification stated that the blast wave directly lifted the small boat into the portal.
[Congratulations to Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi for defeating the level 157 Diamond-grade Water-type Monster - Deep Sea Serpent Demon. Experience gained: 3,823,552. Experience distribution method: Equal split...]
Congratulations to Lin Xiaoxiao...
At the same time, the devil whale, which had just dived into the deep sea, seemed to feel discomfort in its stomach. It quickly swung its large tail, which was gnawed by an unknown monster and had many small gaps that revealed flesh and blood, and dived into the deep sea.
The ship passed through the teleportation vortex, and after more than a dozen rapid rolls and drags, it successfully arrived at a flat area in complete darkness.
The crew was thrown around so much that they were dizzy and seeing stars. They either sat or lay in the deformed and smoking cabin, and it took them a while to recover before they got out.
After landing, Lin Xiaoxiao took out an epic-level searchlight from her spatial storage.
Once turned on, the searchlight automatically floats in mid-air.
By the light of the lamp, Monet, now shrunken, stood with his hands on his hips, floating in mid-air. Looking at the ship, which had been completely turned into scrap metal, he sighed, "It's beyond saving. We can only remelt it and see if we can salvage any usable metal or materials."
After saying that, it waved its hand and directly put the pile of scrap metal back into its material space.
Lin Xiaoxiao gazed longingly at this dark, abyss-like place, filled with a foul stench and devoid of energy, where sunlight never shines.
I'm back. In my previous life, I wandered and fought in the Black Abyss for nearly ten years.
Returning to the Black Abyss felt like coming home.
Within just a few minutes, thousands of corrupted beasts, their eyes glowing red, breathing heavily, resembling both wolves and tigers, their fur rotting and exposing their flesh and blood, silently surrounded Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi.
Their breathing was heavy, filled with a thirst for flesh and blood. They were devoid of reason, driven entirely by lust, and without a second thought, they pounced directly on Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi in the center.
Xiao Wei instinctively stepped in front of Lin Xiaoxiao, waving his staff and creating several layers of protective shield.
Then, he quickly unleashed skills at the corrupted beast in front of him, firing off fireballs and lightning spells as if they were free.
Wherever it went, all the corrupt beasts were transformed into profound experience.
[Congratulations to Xiao Weizhi and Lin Xiaoxiao for defeating the level 149 polluted beast - Tiger Wolf Beast. Experience gained: 23,424,324, distributed equally.]
Congratulations to Xiao Weizhi...
Lin Xiaoxiao was about to remind Xiao Weizhi not to waste energy so recklessly in the Black Abyss, but she was a step too slow. His skill was already completed and he began to transform into a skill turret, mercilessly sweeping the area.
She smiled helplessly, anticipating Xiao Weizhi's astonished expression after the battle ended, realizing how slowly his energy was recovering.
The experience gained from killing corrupted beasts in the Black Abyss was several times higher.
Similarly, these polluted beasts offer nothing but experience; they drop no equipment, and their hides and flesh are unrecyclable.
After the first polluted beast was destroyed, a cyan number appeared out of thin air on Lin Xiaoxiao and Xiao Weizhi's left hands. As time passed, the number on their hands reached 3329.
[Congratulations to Xiao Weizhi and Lin Xiaoxiao for defeating the level 149 corrupted beasts—the Tiger-Wolf Beast Pack. Experience gained: ...]
After the battle, Xiao Weizhi noticed the speed at which his energy was recovering and his expression turned serious: "Hei Yuan, should we suppress the recovery of energy within our bodies?"
Lin Xiaoxiao chuckled and shook her head: "No, it's because there isn't much energy in the air of the Black Abyss, only death energy. I was just about to tell you to conserve your energy, but I didn't expect you to be so fast."
Xiao Weizhi coughed twice to cover his embarrassment: "I'm used to it. I'll change my spellcasting habits as soon as possible."
Lin Xiaoxiao picked up the trembling red-tailed cat from the ground and put it in Xiao Weizhi's arms. She then picked up the black cat and, after a few seconds of determining the direction, led him north: "It's okay, you'll get used to it slowly. There will be plenty of time for battles in the future."
The two of them, carrying a searchlight that floated in mid-air, headed north.
In a hidden place deep within the abyss, a withered figure slumbering in a coffin slowly opened its eyes, revealing blood-red pupils. A sinister smile spread across its lips, reaching its ears: "You've come, Agent."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
