Chapter 308: Undersea Palace

Lei Ke Dun continued rubbing his fingers, the starlight floating around gradually condensed, finally turning into droplets of pale gold water, carrying the breath of life.

These droplets, under his control, sank into his ears and quickly repaired the injuries on his body.

After a moment, the sound of waves around became clear again; he then stopped his action, lightly waved his hand, and dispersed the remaining pale gold droplets around.

The physiques of readers and spies are truly fragile. Lei Ke Dun sighed in his heart.

He immediately turned his gaze, looking toward Sasilier and that Book of Heavenly Calamity.

He saw that the black layer covering the Book of Heavenly Calamity had receded, but this yellowish-brown sheepskin ancient book now had a thumb‑sized hole, the trace left just now by Sasilier's staff.

A semi‑transparent illusory figure floated out from this book; her appearance was that of a beautiful woman with a head of black hair tied into a high bun, slightly pointed ears, delicate features, and brown eyes that looked dull and unfocused.

"'Heavenly Calamity Queen,' Gao Xin Na Mu."

Lei Ke Dun whispered the other's identity, his slightly doubtful gaze turning to Sasilier as he said:

"The part of His consciousness left in this book has been herded by you?"

This is the conclusion he drew from Gao Xin Na Mu's condition.

Sasilier lightly nodded and said:

"Yes, but the part of Gao Xin Na Mu's consciousness hidden in the dark should have sensed some problems; without covert concealment, the intuition of the angelic level is very keen."

"Shall we go look for Him now?" Lei Ke Dun asked tentatively.

Sasilier lightly shook his head and said:

"Wait a moment; my true form is still on the way."

Lei Ke Dun lightly nodded; amidst the interacting specks of starlight, he again condensed starlight into a high‑backed chair, leaning back lazily as he awaited his true form's arrival, apparently confident he could find and resolve Gao Xin Na Mu's lingering will.

Sasilier glanced at Lei Ke Dun's action; the shadow beneath him surged upward like water and quickly condensed into an antiquated‑style high‑backed chair.

He leaned back in the high‑backed chair, his posture upright, his indistinct face looking stern.

The translucent illusory figure floating above the Book of Heavenly Calamity swayed slightly, then looked at Sasilier with a dull expression and said:

"I separated a Sequence‑Three characteristic from myself; it was swallowed by a lucky sea snake, did not lose control or collapse, and became the sea god worshipped by the natives here."

"The characteristic of Heavenly Calamity I hid in my former palace, while part of my will lies dormant within the Book of Heavenly Calamity, awaiting the chance of resurrection."

"Without the Book of Heavenly Calamity's maintenance, that lucky sea snake fundamentally cannot resist the extraordinary characteristic it swallowed; my lingering mental imprint will inevitably plunge into uncontrolled collapse."

Sasilier lowered his head, as if recalling something; after a moment, he spoke thoughtfully:

"The sea god believed in by the natives here? That fellow called Ka Wei Tu Wa?"

Lei Ke Dun lightly nodded, then said in a flat tone:

"As long as that characteristic remains, a new sea god will still appear."

"A new sea god? Do you want to reclaim this batch of faith belonging to the sea god?"

"If the image corresponding to the faith differs too greatly, it becomes a burden instead."

Sasilier leaned back against the chair and calmly reminded:

Lei Ke Dun opened his mouth, wanting to explain, when he saw Sasilier's blurry shadowy form reveal a clear face, and his black robe gradually turn into a black garment wrapped with silver threads, inscribed with complex symbols, and adorned with luxurious decorations.

He rose from the high‑backed chair; the surrounding shadow flowed down like water and vanished into nothing.

He slightly raised his right hand; the Book of Heavenly Calamity with a hole poked in it flew on its own into his hand, and the translucent illusory soul of Gao Xin Na Mu floating in mid‑air quickly faded and disappeared.

"Can you enter the deep sea?"

Sasilier looked at Lei Ke Dun and asked:

"The deep sea? Barely possible."

Lei Ke Dun pondered and replied:

After transforming his body into specks of starlight, he can ignore the pressure of the deep sea.

"Let's go." Sasilier lightly nodded.

The layer of shadow floating on the surrounding seawater suddenly became profound, like a bottomless dark cavern.

Sasilier stepped forward, and his figure was swallowed by the darkness.

Lei Ke Dun hesitated slightly, took a deep breath, faint starlight appeared on his body, and then he stepped forward into the darkness below.

A sensation of weightlessness came instantly; he felt himself continually falling, yet his body had no sense of dropping at all, as if it were merely an illusion born of his unaccustomedness to this darkness.

Sasilier's calm voice sounded in his ear, as if the two were speaking without any gap:

"There is still some distance to that undersea palace; you can first adapt to your current state."

"As the deep‑sea pressure increases, this shadow world will also become heavier; you need to adapt to this condition."

"All right."

Although it was pitch‑black here and nothing could be seen, he still instinctively made a nodding motion and responded.

After a moment, Lei Ke Dun felt the heaviness Sasilier had spoken of.

The surrounding darkness seemed to be squeezed by an invisible force, becoming not only thick and sticky; Lei Ke Dun felt his breathing grow somewhat heavier, and moving his limbs became more difficult.

Is this what it feels like to be bound by shadow? In his murmuring, Lei Ke Dun sensed the pressure on his body rise a bit more.

In the pitch‑black darkness, a faint blue glow appeared in Lei Ke Dun's eyes.

The next moment, he spread spiritual energy to wrap himself, attaching to his body's surface, twisting into strange patterns; the outer skin rapidly hardened, showing a faint golden sheen.

He exhaled with a "hoo~", feeling the heavy pressure from the surrounding shadow diminish by half, leaving only a thick, sticky sensation that made his movements unnaturally sluggish.

In the darkness of the shadow, the passage of time became less noticeable.

Lei Ke Dun silently counted his own heartbeat to measure time.

After about half an hour, the pressure from the surrounding shadow made Lei Ke Dun feel short‑of‑breath, and his head began to feel somewhat dazed from lack of oxygen.

"We've arrived."

"Get ready; I'm going to dispel this shadow space."

Sasilier's voice suddenly sounded in his ear.

Lei Kedun was briefly stunned; the next moment his figure turned transparent, as if he had become a statue made of countless gathered starlight.

The surrounding dense gloom quickly faded, like flowing water surging and gathering at Lei Kedun's left side, condensing into layer upon layer of illusory black wings behind Sasilier.

These wings drooped down, covering most of His body.

Deprived of the shadow's cover, the statue formed from gathered starlight instantly shattered, turning into sparkling specks of starlight that surged.

Lei Kedun did not rush to recondense his body; under the deep-sea pressure, maintaining this state was actually the easiest.

In the lightless deep sea, Lei Kedun, now a scattering of sparkling starlight, could only rely on spiritual sensitivity and his own intuition's feedback to sketch a rough outline of his surroundings in his mind.

This area seemed to be a coral reef; ahead of them stood a palace the size of a small hill, built from layers of thick coral.

Although he could not see the exact colors, he could imagine the vibrant hues of the coral reef.

Sasilier stepped forward as if walking on flat ground; for one who could command darkness, the pitch‑black surroundings were like walking in his own realm.

Shrouded in shadows, He ignored all obstacles and easily entered the vast coral palace.

The flowing brilliant starlight followed closely behind Him, treating shadows as gaps, piercing through layers of obstruction and surging into the palace's interior.

Shards of starlight quickly coalesced, revealing Lei Kedun's figure; he swiftly glanced around and casually said:

"There's actually no seawater inside this palace."

"Although elves are naturally gifted storm‑path extraordinaries, even they find it hard to adapt to the deep‑sea environment before reaching demigod status."

"Since this is a palace, it cannot possibly house only the elf Gao Xinamu."

Sasilier responded in a flat tone to Lei Kedun's casual sigh.

Lei Kedun nodded lightly; he could certainly think of these things, but having stayed too long in the dark, he felt an urgent urge to say something.

His feet stepped on a floor of loosely packed azure coral, the coral speckled with silver‑white spots that looked like a rippling sea surface.

All the decorations and furnishings in the palace were made of various corals; the lighting came from smooth, round night‑pearls the size of an adult's fist, set in distinct layers atop the coral ramparts like a pure, bright night sky.

The overall style of this coral palace is serene and elegant, with the corals mainly in deep blue, silver‑white, and pale pink.

Violet light flickered in Lei Kedun's eyes as he freely surveyed the elegant coral palace, but the feedback he received made him frown slightly.

The Eye of Secrets, which could easily pierce obstacles, encountered its first obstruction inside this coral palace.

(End of chapter)