Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Without a doubt, the relatives that Lüzhu had relied on, had now turned against her.
The Garuda must have been furtively sabotaged, as Su Yu was the one who asked them to intervene.
“Eldest Princess, where are you going?” A taunting voice echoed between the sky and the earth.
A handsome merman stood at the head of a troop of mermaids, forming a semicircular barrier, completely blocking their way.
“Bayi? What do you think you are doing? Who let you out?” Lüzhu stared at the impertinent figure in disbelief. He was none other than Bayi, whom Su Yu had wanted to exclude.
Bayi’s handsome face became stern. “Lüzhu, the entire mermaid tribe knows about my feelings for you, but what have you done now?”
“You deprived me of my right and made me doubt myself, all because you listened to the suggestions of an outsider. Is it because deep down in your heart, I can’t compare even to a stranger?”
Lüzhu gazed at him and said longingly, “You grew up by my side, and the Mermaid Emperor even match-made us and made you the future successor of his throne.”
“How could I possibly not have any feelings for you? And how could an outsider compare to you?”
Upon hearing that, the look on Bayi’s face softened, and he flashed a contented smile. “All right, as long as you come over to my side now, we could be back on good terms again.”
“It’s too late. Before you brought soldiers here, I regarded you highly, far more highly than I did this young lord. But now…”
Lüzhu’s eyes turned cold and dark. “Just like Master Su has said, you are not loyal to the mermaid tribe, you switched your allegiance to the two traitors.”
As the Eldest Princess and the holder of power, no one else had the right to bypass her authority, apart from the three intrepid generals of the tribe who released Bayi without permission.
Bayi’s joyous smile froze and his eyes grew cold. “Lüzhu, intelligent people know when to do the right thing.”
“Abandon the Mermaid Emperor, and once I inherit the Emperor’s throne, I will marry you and make you the Mermaid Queen!”
“What if I say no?” Lüzhu laughed in misery, her eyes filled with disappointment.
Bayi said coldly, “You can’t run away. Ever since you two princesses ventured out to collect the Endless Spiritual Pearls, the mermaid tribe will never be the same.”
“All of your kin and relatives, as well as the strong men of the tribe, have surrendered to us, and those who did not surrender…are all dead.”
A coup had taken over the mermaid tribe and power had fallen into the hands of their enemies.
“We have prepared everything and waited for your return. You should know what we want,” Bayi said callously.
The reason they pretended that all was well, and the reason they did not lay hands on the Mermaid Emperor, was to avoid alarming Lüzhu. However, unfortunately for them, it had all been noticed by Su Yu.
Now he wanted to escape with Lüzhu and the Mermaid Emperor. Worse still, the Mermaid Emperor was about to make a recovery.
Lüzhu sneered. “So you want to get your hands on the Mermaid Emperor’s Blood Pearl and inherit his Divine Path? Hahaha, dream on!”
For a long time, the most powerful figure of the mermaid tribe had always been the Mermaid Emperor.
Before the death of a Mermaid Emperor, he would pass down his Divine Path.
Whoever inherited the Mermaid Emperor’s Divine Path stood the chance of becoming the most powerful figure of the mermaid tribe and acquiring the imperial power.
In other words, without inheriting the Mermaid Emperor’s Divine Path, just taking control of the mermaid tribe wasn’t enough. Without adequate strength, one would be overthrown sooner or later.
“Lüzhu, considering that I still have feelings for you, give me the Mermaid Emperor’s Blood Pearl, otherwise…” Bayi’s eyes grew increasingly icy.
The mermaid warriors around him boiled in a murderous rage, as they closed in on them.
Lüzhu replied, “What a pity. The Mermaid Emperor’s Blood Pearl isn’t here.”
“Where is it then?” Bayi became anxious and his gaze couldn’t help but fall upon Su Yu. “You gave it to him?”
“Haha…” Lüzhu stood at the deck of the Garuda, and in a low voice, she spoke through telepathy, “Young lord, I will break out of the siege, while you run away with the Mermaid Emperor.”
It wouldn’t possible for everyone to make such an easy escape.
However, Su Yu wasn’t bothered in the slightest. With a grasp of five fingers, he fished out an ancient, bloodstained piece of fabric from his sleeve, and tossed it into the air.
The bloodstained cloth expanded in the wind, turning into a thousand square feet in size. It engulfed the entire Garuda, as well as Su Yu and Lüzhu within.
Then, water-based energy converged around the Garuda, condensing into streams of water and compelling the ship to surge forward.
No one would have expected that the damaged Garuda could still be maneuvered.
A fierce light gleamed in Bayi’s eyes. “Stop them!”
A dozen mermaid fighters displayed their respective magical powers and bombarded the Garuda, which was fast colliding.
However, the bloodstained cloth that wrapped around the Garuda was extremely bizarre. No matter what hit its surface, everything was easily repelled.
Having been caught unawares, the dozen mermaid fighters were sent flying into the distance by the Garuda.
Even more peculiarly, while in mid-air, all of them turned into droplets of blood and were absorbed by the mysterious layer of bloodstained cloth.
The Nine-Emperor Shroud!
It was treasure left behind by the Demonic God of Six Paths.
Back then, the shroud had even subdued the dead soul worm momentarily. It was covered with the blood of former emperors and was so powerful that even strong men would die if they touched it.
In the blink of an eye, the mermaid fighters were dead. The other fighters that were prepared to stop them broke out in cold sweat and shuddered in fear.
Even Bayi moved away in horror, not daring to charge recklessly.
Watching as the Garuda flew to freedom, Bayi was all tensed up. The Mermaid Emperor’s Blood Pearl aside, if the Mermaid Emperor was cured, who among them would survive?
“Generals, attack right now!” Bayi bellowed.
Boom!
The world trembled, as two thunderbolts penetrated both sides of the giant warship.
The second they emerged, the two of them attempted to shatter the Garuda into smithereens with a thunderous slam.
The Nine-Emperor Shroud flickered intensely with a blood-colored light, as layers of faraway, ancient and magnificent will erupted from it.
Not only did the two deities fail to shatter the Garuda, but the shroud also swept them off their feet, even revealing their Original Forms.
A man and women, both middle-aged… The man was clad in silver-white clothing, well-built and burly, while the woman wore pink and was willowy and alluring.
They were the two powerful generals that owned private armies and refused to take Lüzhu’s commands.
At this moment, they were staring at the Shroud in shock and puzzlement.
“This is…the scent of world-class imperial rulers!” Their eyes were filled with deep stupefaction.
Inside the Garuda, Su Yu was surprised as well. The Nine-Emperor Shroud was the Shroud of the nine imperial rulers that pioneered the galaxy, and it was tainted with their scents.
However, from the tone of the two deities, why did it sound like it was the scent of the Ancient God Realm’s imperial rulers too?
Were they the same group of people?
“Do not let them leave! Seal the exit.” The female general’s face shifted slightly. She transformed into a ray of divine light and made it to the exit before Su Yu.
With clasped palms, she exclaimed, “Divine Path Incarnation!”
She bellowed, and her Divine Path transformed into a labyrinth, that formed right in front of the exit.
The labyrinth had such a confounding and convoluted nature that people were never able to find the exact location of the exit.
Once ventured into the labyrinth, no one would be able to make it out anytime soon.
Su Yu’s eyes turned solemn. Steering the Garuda, he crashed right into it.
All of a sudden, the labyrinth was shaking, on the verge of crumbling under the remnant majestic will of the Nine-Emperor Shroud. Meanwhile, a feminine whimper of misery sounded out.
With her Divine Path having sustained a huge trauma, she would also feel unwell.
“General Hu, use the Senluo Cannon! This Shroud is way too powerful, I can’t stand it for much longer!” The female general urged.
Immediately, General Hu retrieved an ancient bronze cannon ten thousand feet in length. It had an antique, simplistic appearance, which was somehow similar to the giant cannon of the Sacred Sky Warship, except it was a few times smaller.
Upon hearing that, Lüzhu shuddered. “They are using weapons of absolute destruction as well! That is a weapon that the mermaid tribe succeeded in replicating, with a power on par with a full-force blow of the Mermaid Emperor!”
Whilst the labyrinth was on the verge of falling apart, it couldn’t be destroyed at once either.
However, the Senluo Cannon had been primed already. An extremely intimidating force was rapidly building up within it.
Su Yu scowled. The Nine-Emperor Shroud wasn’t a protective Emperor-based Saint Artifact and he was afraid that it couldn’t hold off the blow completely.
Right at that moment, the female general blocking the exit suddenly screamed in great shock and fury. “Black Fish, how dare you!”
Boom!
With a loud, earth-shattering noise, the labyrinth conjured up by the female general was disintegrated by an external force.
With an anguished scream, the female general transformed back to her real self. With her mouth full of blood, she staggered back to the side of General Hu and stared at the figure behind the labyrinth with rage blazing in her eyes.
It was a divine-level strong man, with a head full of black hair. The scales on the lower half of his body were black as well.
He had mellow, gentle features, and was extremely handsome.
Lüzhu’s eyes glittered. “General Black Fish!”
Black Fish withdrew his fists, and the look on his face grew somber. “Greetings Eldest Princess, Black Fish has come to your rescue!”
Delight filled Lüzhu’s eyes.
“Eldest Princess, please leave with the Mermaid Emperor as soon as possible. I will hold them off and join you in a while!” General Black Fish said.
Lüzhu shot a look at Su Yu as if to say, “it looks like you have made an error of judgment. General Black Fish is loyal to me”.
Su Yu’s face showed no emotion as he drove the Garuda and flew away swiftly.
The faces of General Hu and the female general changed drastically. They tried to stop them but were blocked by General Black Fish.
”Black Fish, da*n you!” The two generals were outraged.
Black Fish had a look of indifference on his face. “You traitors! Don’t you lay a finger upon the Eldest Princess and the Mermaid Emperor!”
The next moment, both parties were caught up in a big fight.
Lüzhu had taken out the key to open the entrance.
“Listen to my command! All mermaids, chase after them, do not let them get away!”
“Yes!” Not only did Bayi lead his guards to chase after them but also other troops appeared from under the ground. The ones with the strongest cultivation among them had the level of late-stage Prospective Deities.
Bayi felt more self-assured and his eyes were full of brutality. “Eldest Princess, I gave you a chance to become the Mermaid Queen, yet you did not appreciate it. So, do not blame me for making you a captive!”
“Go after them!”
Large numbers of mermaid warriors surged out like tides.
Under the propulsion of the flowing water, the Garuda left the exit immediately and arrived at the water in the outside world.
“Which is the best direction to get away from the mermaid tribe?” Su Yu asked.
Lüzhu pointed in the distance. “The South-West, that is the border between the mermaid tribe and the Yaksha tribe! The North-West is where we meet the Frogman Tribe, both directions are much the same.”
Su Yu nodded. The Garuda transformed into a remnant shadow, sprinting in the direction of the Yaksha tribe.
Lüzhu was startled. “Why did you choose the Yaksha tribe? There is immense animosity between the two tribes, and running into their water area will easily alert the Yaksha King.”
Su Yu took a look at the Mermaid Emperor, and said placidly, “That is why it is safer there.”
The mermaid tribe would perhaps advance on the Frogman tribe, but they would not attack the Yaksha tribe.
The most dangerous place would be the safest place.
Swish!
The moment they left, Bayi and the two late-stage Prospective Deities were hot on their heels.
However, right as they came out, a troop of mermaids lying in ambush beyond the Sacred Sky Warship was waiting for them. General Black Fish had put them there.
Bayi and the others were caught unawares and were scattered instantly.
“Hold them back, I’ll cover for the Eldest Princess so she can escape!” A late-stage Prospective Deity merman with a hideous scar on his face bellowed, before catching up with Su Yu’s Garuda.
