Chapter 1223: Got It! The Mermaid

"Lady Gassia, have you reported the situation to the Zunzhu?"

Above the ocean, a small sprite asked Gassia.

"I have reported it…"

The sprite Gassia said.

Before she could finish speaking, a faint speck of light shot toward her.

The sprite Gassia extended her small hand, gently grasped it, and caught the speck in her palm.

This speck was not an attack—it contained some kind of message.

The sprite Gassia quickly read through the message, yet her expression showed no sign of change.

"Let's go. We're leaving this place."

The sprite Gassia said to the other sprites.

She led this group of sprites upward into the sky.

After flying a considerable distance above the sea surface, the sprite Gassia led them in another direction.

After flying a short while, a sea spirit resembling a mermaid flew over and said: "Are you the Holy Spirit of the Flame Lord?"

The sprite Gassia said: "That is correct."

The mermaid-like sea spirit said: "Please follow me."

With that, she began to pray.

Immediately, a passage opened before her.

The mermaid sea spirit stepped through. The sprite Gassia said to the other sprites: "Don't worry. Come."

"Yes!"

This group of sprites entered the passage.

Shortly after entering, these sprites realized they had arrived at the ocean floor.

"Huh? Is that her?"

The sprites discovered that the figure standing before them was none other than the mermaid goddess they had seen singing when they first arrived in the Heavenly Ocean!

The mermaid goddess, seeing the sprite Gassia enter, got straight to the point:

"Please convey this to the Flame Lord: the Lord of the Seven Seas… I cannot speak his name, but with the Flame Lord's power, a little inquiry will reveal it. In short, the Lord of the Seven Seas has issued a ban: no ocean deity may sell Flame Lord more than one hundred thousand-year-old Sea Heart Grass."

The mermaid goddess spoke quickly, then produced a glowing orb and handed it to the sprite Gassia, saying:

"This is the map of the Bottomless Sea. Some islands within the Bottomless Sea should hold Sea Heart Grass older than one hundred thousand years. You must hurry—the Lord of the Seven Seas may already have sent someone to harvest it. I've opened a passage to transport you near the Bottomless Sea; I've marked the region most likely to contain the grass. Go quickly!"

With that, the mermaid goddess opened a passage.

She had barely let them in before urgently urging them to leave—time was clearly tight.

After absorbing the information within the glowing orb, the sprite Gassia said to the mermaid goddess:

"Thank you, my lord. May I ask your name?"

The mermaid goddess said: "I am Sistaci. Hurry now—the Lord of the Seven Seas' agents may already be on the way."

The sprite Gassia nodded and led the sprites into the passage.

When they emerged, what lay ahead was a pitch-black ocean—they were now within the sea.

Beside them stood another mermaid sea spirit.

It was through this mermaid sea spirit that Sistaci had opened the passage.

"Not far ahead lies the Bottomless Sea. Simply descend straight down—but do not dive too deep, for the Bottomless Sea connects the Heavenly Realm and the Continent of Gods."

The mermaid sea spirit said.

The sprite Gassia nodded and said: "Thank you both."

The mermaid sea spirit said: "No need. Go quickly."

The sprite Gassia nodded and led the sprites swiftly through the ocean water.

"Lady Gassia, is what they said true?"

One sprite asked.

Gassia said: "By my intuition, they wouldn't deceive us."

Another sprite asked: "But she's also an ocean deity—why help us? Could it be…"

At that moment, the sprite realized a possibility and blurted out: "Lady Gassia, could it be… that she sings near the Heavenly Realm just to be heard by the Zunzhu?"

The sprite recalled the beautiful song she had heard before.

A mermaid goddess, having seen the Zunzhu only once, had been consumed by longing—so much so that she sang daily near the Heavenly Realm to express her yearning.

Something once heard only in tales had truly happened.

And the object of this mermaid goddess's longing was none other than their own Zunzhu!

With the Zunzhu's power and majesty, such charm was only natural.

The sprite Gassia did not dwell on this matter further:

"Push forward at full speed. We must find the Sea Heart Grass for the Zunzhu as soon as possible."

"Yes."

The other sprites no longer speculated on the matter.

Yet some still felt the story carried a romantic hue.

But since it concerned the Zunzhu, they would not speak of it lightly.

After half a day, they finally reached the Bottomless Sea.

It was an abyssally deep ocean.

And according to the mermaid sea spirit's words, the Bottomless Sea connected the Heavenly Realm and the Continent of Gods.

This was the first time little elf Gashia had heard of it.

Even in the Heavenly Realm, very few gods knew this.

After all, ocean gods and heavenly gods had too little interaction.

In the heavens' oceans, apart from ocean gods, there were only various sea spirits, not nearly as teeming with life as the oceans of the Continent of Gods.

Without explicit orders from their own gods, the sea spirits would never reveal any information to the gods of the Heavenly Realm.

Thus, the heavens' oceans were entirely unknown territory to the Heavenly Realm.

Even the Seven Seas Lord mentioned by the mermaid goddess Stacia was likely unheard of by most gods.

Of course, in elite circles—such as the Circle of Law Lords—it was certainly known.

"Let's go here first."

Little elf Gashia extended her tiny hand, unfurling a sea map in the water and pointing to a region.

This sea map had been given to them by the mermaid goddess; with a certain expenditure of power, one could see their own location upon it.

And on this journey, little elf Gashia carried no small amount of divine power bestowed by Vivela.

She even carried one drop of divine power granted by Lin Yan.

That is to say, though little elf Gashia was no bigger than a fist, her current combat power was exceedingly terrifying.

Under little elf Gashia's guidance, the team of ten little elves swiftly flew toward that region of the Bottomless Sea.

Not long after, a massive floating island appeared in the sea.

A floating island in the ocean!