The Sacred Ruins
Page 388Chapter 388: Underwater Civilization
Translator: Alsey Editor: Chrissy
There was a city under the sea. This… this was simply too astonishing. Everyone stared forward in astonishment.
The city was vast and completely systematic.
Gazing into the distance, there was a patch of resplendent illumination akin to a giant continental city. One would find it fairly difficult to notice that this was an underwater city.
That was because the sea water here was completely transparent and the bottom of the ocean was lit up brilliantly.
Only when approaching would one notice the how extraordinary this place was. There were hundred-meter tall coral lighthouses shooting out splendorous red radiance in all directions.
Within the city, there were various beautiful and magnificent seashell buildings. It was simply like an elegant work of art.
As for some buildings like their majestic and beautiful palaces, they were all built of corals, gems, whalebones, etc. This place could almost be considered a work of the gods.
It was like a mythical city.
The seafloor city streets were fairly even. One would discover, upon approaching, that they were quite lively with shops lining either side of it peddling all sorts of underwater products.
For instance, rare materials, mutant fruits, and broken weapons dug up from certain ruins. There were even some flying vehicles similar to flying saucers.
The black yak, the Manchurian Tiger, and the others felt their horizons had expanded. Was this still the ocean floor? Why did it feel like a superior civilization?
"Hey, a flying saucer. A real, complete flying saucer is actually being sold in the plaza!" the old donkey cried out. He glanced at Chu Feng, hinting at him to consider buying one.
There were even flying saucers for sale in the seafloor city market. It was indeed more powerful than the continental cities. This made one feel dizzy with envy.
Chu Feng was moved and really wanted to buy one, but he knew the item probably had a shocking price tag attached to it. He probably couldn't afford one.
The Dragoness said with a smile, "That's the Eight-Clawed King's item. He opened up an ancient cave residence last time and found three flying saucers. Since he couldn't use so many at the same time, he brought one out for sale."
"What does he want to exchange it with?" Chu Feng asked.
"Either a Draconification Fruit or a Seagod Fruit," the Dragoness informed.
Chu Feng felt momentarily helpless after hearing this. These items were simply too rare—even the marine race members couldn't get their hands on them, to say nothing of himself. It has been said that the Southern Sea Elder Dragon King had been chasing after them even at the expense of going to war with others.
The toad's eyes almost bulged out and said softly, "Let's rob then!"
Its eyes flickered as it stared fixedly at the seafloor city. There were too many good things here. They would obtain great benefits if they could rob the whole city.
"How do we do that? We're currently in Her Majesty the Dragoness' flying saucer. Do you mean to enter the water and start a fight later on?" The black yak glared askance.
Actually, he was also quite moved after arriving here and wanted to play it big. However, this was the ocean and not their home ground, so he didn't dare act rashly.
He had fought with the marine race before, and in his heart, he wasn't conflicted at all about robbing the marine race.
But, although they could hold their breath for a long time, they were sure to be at a disadvantage if they fought underwater.
The Dragoness reminded, "The Eight-Claw King isn't easy to provoke. It's best you don't complicate matters. His evolutionary level is quite high and completely unfathomable!"
Chu Feng and the others were amazed to see the many races in the city: there were sea snakes that were dozens of meters long, there were marine humans who looked just like humans, sea monkeys, bronze tigers, upright-walking tortoises, and even mermaids…
The seafloor was a place filled with prismatic colors. There were all types of races and numerous buildings. It was a rare sight to see all of them coexisting in harmony.
"Those races that have gained intelligence after evolution rarely kill one another," the Dragoness explained.
This place was like a mature society similar to human civilization, but with their own distinguishing qualities.
The flying saucer slowly flew over the city and along the roads because the Dragoness wanted them to understand the seafloor world and see this gigantic city.
"What is that?!" Yellow Ox was astonished. Anything that could make him lose composure was naturally something extraordinary.
Below them was a big store built with carefully chosen materials. The shell of a dead hawksbill turtle had been constructed into a gigantic palace.
At the same time, it was built in a good location with many passersby who would stop at the shop one after another.
"Oh, that's the shop guarding treasure, a branch segment of the Fusang Tree."
"What?!" Ouyang Feng the toad jumped up.
The black yak, the old donkey, the Manchurian Tiger, and the others all cried out in amazement. They gazed through the flying saucer's monitors with round eyes.
There was a bright and dazzling tree branch with flourishing vitality and lingering radiance. It almost seemed to be refined from gold.
"What are we waiting for? That's branch of the divine tree. Let's rob, no, I mean let's buy it!" The problem-lady waved her fists as she blurted out and then remedied her mistake. She appeared extremely eager and her beautiful eyes were glowing with a peculiar light. She wasn't, in the slightest, more reserved than the black yak and toad.
The Dragoness said, "Don't waste your effort. The energy within that branch has long since been sucked dry by a certain sea toad. Right now, it looks impressive but has no substance."
"Ha, a sea toad?! Where is it? I'll beat it to death!" Ouyang Feng the toad said in anger.
The others were dumbfounded. This toad, Ouyang Feng, was definitely no saint and was so vicious even against its own race.
"What are you looking at? I'm no toad. I'm a true dragon, an ancestral roc and a qilin. This current form is neither my true appearance or innate character."
"Mn, it will be for the best if you all don't cause trouble. That sea toad has already evolved into a three-legged golden toad and is extremely powerful. It has already established itself in its own medium-sized city and is the tyrant of a marine region. That shop is his estate within our dragon city."
Everyone was speechless. A toad could also establish a city?
"A three-legged golden toad can also be considered a quasi-divine beast if its bloodline is pure enough," Yellow Ox mumbled in surprise.
"Where was this Fusang Tree branch obtained from?" Chu Feng inquired. He really wanted to know how that three-legged golden toad could be so capable.
One had to know that he had long since heard of the Fusang Tree. Even some of the continental corporations were proactively exploring the seas in hopes of approaching this legendary tree.
However, all those major powers had to return empty-handed in the end.
The Dragoness shook her head and told them that it wasn't that simple.
The Fusang Tree had appeared a number of times in the sea, each lasting only a short time. It was rooted on a certain mobile island and wouldn't stay in one place.
One time, a great storm was raging with gigantic waves surging to the sky. The whole sea was boiling over with powerful tsunamis.
But the divine tree did drop some broken branches.
"The two unfathomable experts left with a branch each," the Dragoness narrated the story emotionally. Those two hidden experts were simply too shocking and, up till now, no one had any idea who they were or where they had gone.
The sea toad was fortunate in that he found a small segment of a golden branch and thus evolved to become the current Three-Legged King, the tyrant of a region.
Chu Feng and the others were fascinated by the story. There were simply too many opportunities in the sea. If the Fusang Tree could really be found, it would probably allow them to evolve rapidly.
Before long, they arrived at the center of the gigantic city. This was the home of the Eastern Sea Dragon Race. It was extremely majestic with rows of building complexes.
There were fish scale castles, walrus tooth towers, gigantic clamshell palaces… the buildings seemed endless.
Apart from that, there were also various types of mutant trees surrounding them to form a courtyard decoration.
"How extravagant! What did I just see? There are so many pearls as large as basins!" the rebellious girl cried out. Every woman had a weakness for shiny gems and pearls.
However, it was indeed quite excessive. There were fascinating houses made of pure and bright pearls.
But Chu Feng and the others could only glance as they passed by. They didn't leave the flying saucer because it wasn't suitable for them to stay for prolonged periods underwater despite being able to hold their breath.
"How regrettable. I wanted to bring you to my house and entertain you as should a proper host. But it currently seems impractical to do so. Perhaps we should just head straight for the true dragon's lair," said the Dragoness.
"Your Majesty is too kind. We're not strangers and thus there's no need to do so," Chu Feng replied.
In truth, he felt that this trip hadn't been in vain because he had realized many secrets of the underwater world and experienced the marine race civilization. Before this, he knew nothing as if his eyes were obstructed.
The Dragoness said, "We will be able to completely part the water and form an independent space after we find enough treasures and construct a grand true dragon palace."
The flying saucer sped forth into the distance.
Within moments, they had arrived at their destination.
The true dragon lair's location was quite close to the gigantic city. The Eastern Sea Dragon Race had built this city here in order to guard this ancient dragon lair.
Boom!
The water in front fluctuated. There was an astonishing vortex which seemed poised to devour the space around it.
"There really is a sea eye?!" Chu Feng was petrified.
"The lair of the ancient true dragon lineage. Oh heavens, I've really arrived here!" the problem girl cried in excitement.
But everyone else was frowning. Was this place even accessible? Would it be too dangerous?
"We can enter, but it's quite odd inside," the Dragoness said thus, and then, amidst the black yak and Manchurian Tiger's screams, she drove the flying saucer straight into the gigantic vortex.
The world spun around as they charged into a dark and chaotic starry cosmos.
Light soon appeared, and the world once again became clear.
Everything they saw was different after entering the sea eye. This place was abnormally silent and deathly still. All the wind, waves and whirlpools had vanished into thin air.
The Dragoness nodded and told them that it was completely different after charging in.
The flying saucer landed. Following which, the Dragoness directly opened the doors and walked out.
"Ah, there's no seawater here. Is this land?"
There was land beneath the sea eye and not a drop of seawater. This amazed everyone.
There was reddish brown earth as far as the eye could see. Was this still the bottom of the sea? They were rather doubtful because it felt like an arid highland.
"This place isn't as wide as you think it is. It's just that the ground's surface isn't even and has blocked off our line of sight. It seems to stretch far towards the horizon when, in fact, this place is only about 50 kilometers," the Dragoness explained.
The true dragon lair came into view after traveling a dozen or so kilometers forward.
It was a dark den enshrouded in immortal mist. Lights would streak out occasionally through the mist, bestowing it with a sense of mysteriousness.
No wonder the Dragoness said that there were as many thunderstruck trees as one needed at the true dragon lair. It really was true, because the entire lair seemed to be constructed with thunderstruck wood.
The vast lair was pitch black and built from piles of thunderstruck trees.
"So this is the dragon's lair? Why does it feel like a giant bird's nest!?" The old donkey let out an odd cry.
The black lair appeared quite big and possessed a radius of over ten meters. It, indeed, resembled a bird's nest and was quite different from how everyone guessed it would look.
There were piles of thunderstruck trees erupting occasionally with electric sparks. The scene was terrifying. Additionally, the whole place was suffused with white mist which enshrouded the area.
"Are you sure this is a dragon lair and not a gigantic ancient magpie nest?" Chu Feng was suspicious. Was this really a place where a true dragon once lived?
In legends, it was said that the dragon palaces of the sea floor were dazzling, richly ornamented, and even comparable to a divine palace. But the one before them was simply a giant birds nest!
"It'd be easier to accept if this was a phoenix nest, but it baffles me to hear that it's a dragon's lair," Chu Feng mumbled.
The Dragoness said, "According to the primordial records we dug out. This place is the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace and contains great fortunes."
Swoosh!
Chu Feng didn't say anything. His eyes immediately lit up and shot out two golden beams. He had activated the Fiery Eyes in order to see through this place.
"Eh!?"
Chu Feng was stunned because the dragon's lair was completely different after activating the Fiery Eyes. So much that the whole area within the sea eye became hallowed, auspicious, and no longer pervaded by a deathly stillness.
He confirmed that this place was, indeed, the old location of the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace. It was the past location of the true dragon's lair!
He saw bronze walls, jade tiles, and cave residences. He also discovered innumerable domain runes carved upon the thunderstruck wood. This place was set up by a domain grandmaster.
However, ordinary people couldn't see that the domains here were extremely terrifying. They blotted out the sky and concealed the truth.