Chapter 89: Merfolk Maiden

Merfolk Maiden

It can be called chaotic, even with medicinal herbs of different properties, in Fu Guang's hands they are like dough, letting her knead, press, and flatten them, they coalesce in her hands.

When she refined medicine, her gaze was focused, her eyes allowed nothing else, all sounds and smells were shut out of her consciousness.

Xiguang stood not far from the girl holding his sword, his undisguised gaze somewhat obsessed, the girl possessed a unique quality, the aura of light and darkness intertwined on her.

Guiding people toward goodness or luring them into depravity lies entirely in a single thought of hers.

Not far away, the Merfolk, while driving off the attracted strange beasts, glanced back briefly; the chain like water ripples turned into the next wave, driving away all covetous ones.

As the medicinal ingredients merged into one, sweat beaded on Fu Guang's forehead; the crystal‑clear sweat droplets, after leaving the range of her Dharma robes, merged into the surrounding seawater, leaving no trace.

The medicinal fragrance traveled with the water's undulations; even thousands of miles away, the strange beasts sensed the emergence of a treasure that could purify bloodlines and surged forward.

Xiguang was no longer as relaxed as at the start; some strange beasts broke through the Merfolk's interception, perhaps because the Merfolk saw him leisurely and allowed the beasts to rush near him.

He raised his sword and used sword intent to repel them.

Fu Guang's mobilizable mental power gradually waned in this alchemy; the pill that seemed about to finish before her eyes, lacking mental power, cracked with an imperceptible fissure.

The medicinal power quietly fluctuated; when mental power could no longer envelop the pill, that was the moment of alchemical failure.

Or is it still too forced?

Fu Guang was not surprised by this result; she knew her own strength, and she looked toward the silver‑haired man wielding his sword and guarding not far away.

"I need your help." She sought help from Xiguang,

"It is an honor." The man grasped her outstretched hand; the Sentinel's mental power flowed along their clasped hands into Fu Guang's nearly exhausted mental landscape.

The aggressiveness within the Sentinel's mental power still existed, but it was not the previous blatant sharpness; after circulating once through the two's contract, the aggressiveness resembled a tender thorn on a petal, manifesting its presence without making Fu Guang uncomfortable.

With her other free hand moving, blue‑gold mental power enveloped the cracked pill, repaired the fissure, then tightened the uneven pill into a smooth one.

"All right."

The girl's fingertip tapped the white glove on the man's palm; only then did Xiguang slowly release his hand and close the mental conduit.

Fu Guang's gaze fixed on the silver pill before her; her mental power turned into filaments as fine as hair, cutting the fully refined, wholly transparent pill into two halves.

"Lan'an, do you still have strength?" The girl turned her head and asked the Merfolk blocking the beast tide.

"What's wrong, Master?" The Merfolk instantly darted back to her side, its tail quietly pressing against her calf.

"Xiguang and I need to take the medicine; do we need to change location?" Fu Guang glanced at the endless stream of strange beasts and asked.

"No need, leave it to me." Lan'an said somewhat arrogantly, raising his blue eyes, "This is the seabed, belonging solely to us......."

Royal Court.

He had not finished speaking, but he believed Fu Guang had understood his unspoken words; this was a secret known only to the two of them.

Lan'an smirked provocatively at the Sentinel beside him, "You are one‑of‑a‑kind here in the King's place, and so am I."

"Then leave the watch to you." The girl raised her eyebrows, revealing rather sharp brows and eyes.

"I don't want to get hurt." Having said that, Fu Guang swallowed half of the pill in one gulp.

The herbal aroma passed through the mouth into the stomach; the packaged energy flowed toward the legs.

The two legs pressed together, stuck, joined, indistinguishable from each other.

Because a few medicinal ingredients were missing, lacking the effect that dulls perception, Fu Guang could even clearly sense how the flesh and blood rolled and merged.

She clearly understood that she was now transforming from a human into another kind of being; she knew every sensation, feeling her ears change and long, sharp nails grow from her fingertips.

If a person's cognition is too strong, going mad in this situation is not impossible.

Fu Guang, amidst fine pain, had uncontrolled thoughts surge; on one hand she clearly faced the terror that could be called a mutation.

During this process she must not feel dizzy, nor even a moment of loss, otherwise the transmogrifying potion would fail.

Fu Guang also thought of Xiguang, not knowing whether he could accept becoming a Merfolk; she had actually forgotten to ask—he is an angel with wings, and if he turned into a Merfolk, whether he could use the newly grown tail is also a question.

Furthermore, Fu Guang recalled Li Yun's mutation, his body covered in wings, which should feel no different from this; in that case, the Sentinel's acceptance of such bodily change would likely be no better than hers.

At the spine of her back came a feeling hard to accept, like an itch deep in the marrow, as bones slowly grew within the flesh, inch by inch.

The bones creaked, reshaping themselves; because human and Merfolk physiques differ in bone and muscle density, Fu Guang felt as if all her bones were misaligned, making her somewhat unaccustomed.

At the Merfolk's throat there is an extra piece of cartilage compared to humans; the difference is so great that Fu Guang somewhat wanted to dig it out, and after digging it out she could still see what that bone looks like.

Her destructive urge and desire to investigate intensified.

In her human body there are moral shackles; exposing herself completely, still, harming herself—better not.

Fu Guang lowered her long nails within the light cocoon.

In her aimless contemplation, the transmogrifying potion having expended its effect, Fu Guang gazed at the light cocoon before her, reached out, gave a light scrape, and her sharp fingertip sounded like a slash in the air.

Seawater surged into the light cocoon; Fu Guang tore it completely open, and as the water washed over, a rather otherworldly maiden was revealed.

Her long golden eyeliner appeared as she blinked, the corners of her eyes bearing tiny golden scales; her originally round pupils elongated, gold flecks scattering in her blue irises, her ruddy lip color like a blaze of blood.

Perhaps it is a custom of the Merfolk clan; her attire now differs from the long sleeves and trousers she used to wear, golden scales only fully covering her chest, revealing large swaths of delicate, pearl‑like skin on her back, as well as the long, siren‑like arms.

On the exposed sides of her belly, some tiny scales also glimmered.

She resembled a tempting fallen siren; as soon as she lifted her head from the seabed, countless people would willingly plunge into the deep sea, Xiguang thought.

Fu Guang's greatest difficulty now is that she does not yet know how to use this newly grown tail.

The golden tail shone brightly on the seabed, its trailing filaments swaying; it is the most dazzling presence in the seabed, no treasure comparable to even a fraction of it.

Lan'an almost obsessively embraced the Merfolk maiden in his arms; his heart began to ache again, this time intensely, as the long tail encircled his slightly shorter tail.

Heedless, he tightened his shoulders, merely wishing to hide the maiden in the deep sea—then no one would pry, and she would belong solely to him.