Even if it wasn't an ordinary mermaid's tear, it had remained silent beside Lin Xiao for so long. For it to suddenly show changes now, it must have been influenced by something.
And when Lin Xiao entered the waters beneath the icy sea, he quickly understood the reason behind this change.
It was because the owner of the mermaid's tear was currently not far away.
Liya's appearance was somewhat different from before. Her face still retained the peerless beauty of the mermaid clan, but many of the scales on her tail had fallen off, and strands of pale golden blood were continuously seeping out from beneath the broken scales.
Her figure was leaning against a pile of disordered rocks, carefully hiding herself. Her eyes were slightly closed, as if she had fallen asleep from exhaustion.
"This—"
Lin Xiao paused slightly.
Liya was originally a hundred-thousand-year soul beast and the daughter of the Sea Princess, the leader of the mermaid clan. For her to appear here in such a state, it was likely that…
The Sea Princess possessed six hundred thousand years of cultivation. Even on the continent, only the top three ferocious beasts could suppress her. In the ocean, she had few rivals.
Moreover, Liya had already brought the Ocean's Heart back. There should be even fewer soul beasts capable of defeating the Sea Princess.
Or could it be that Liya had been attacked and severely injured before she could even return to the mermaid clan's territory?
For some reason, Lin Xiao suddenly recalled the "great terror" that had occurred in the depths of the sea.
After pondering for a moment, Lin Xiao gently parted the seawater and slowly swam forward.
Liya, who seemed to have fallen asleep, suddenly sensed something. Her eyelids twitched slightly, and she immediately opened her eyes in alertness.
"Who?"
Liya's spiritual power fluctuations had already spread out. After detecting the anomaly, she quickly turned her head to look.
But when she saw Lin Xiao appearing underwater, her figure suddenly froze.
The scene before her eyes involuntarily reminded her of the time when Lin Xiao had entered the mermaid clan's royal palace. Back then, Lin Xiao had also appeared like this, and she had even mistaken him for a soul beast.
"Why are you here?" As soon as she spoke, her spiritual power retracted, and Liya's tone softened again.
"My sect is in the Northern Lands, not far from here. On the other hand, you…" Lin Xiao looked Liya up and down, "Why are you here, and how did you get so heavily injured?"
"I…" The injuries on her body caused Liya's words to pause for a moment. "Our home was attacked."
Attacking the mermaid clan?
Lin Xiao raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. If the opponent had only attacked Liya alone, it wouldn't be too strange.
But if it was really as he had initially guessed, and someone dared to attack the entire mermaid clan and even invade their territory… then there were indeed things in this vast sea that he did not understand.
"Mom fought the opponent but was defeated. After returning to the palace, she immediately arranged for us to flee. I helped Mom and my sister evacuate the other clansmen. By the time I left, I was still affected by it."
Liya did not explain in too much detail, but from her few words, Lin Xiao could already sense the opponent's terror.
According to Liya, just the aftershocks of the opponent's attack had injured a hundred-thousand-year soul beast like Liya to this extent… Under such power, the Sea Princess's situation was probably not much better.
That could truly be called a "great terror."
Retracting his thoughts, Lin Xiao glanced at the blood still continuously seeping from Liya's body in front of him. He raised his right hand, and a touch of verdant green flashed from his fingertips.
"Do you know where that soul beast that attacked you came from, or why it attacked you?"
"I don't know." Liya suddenly felt her body become much lighter. Hearing Lin Xiao's question, she subconsciously shook her head.
"It seemed to appear suddenly near our area. The clansmen who had gone out earlier didn't notice any changes in the surroundings, and then we were suddenly attacked."
"On my way escaping, I also encountered many soul beasts fleeing in all directions like me, as well as many sea soul beasts that didn't manage to escape and died."
"Are there many dead sea soul beasts?"
Liya didn't know why Lin Xiao was asking this, but she still answered truthfully, "Yes, a great many. In the areas that sea soul beasts passed through, basically no sea soul beasts survived."
Lin Xiao felt somewhat puzzled upon hearing this.
Gods existed in this world, especially the "Sea God," who paid considerable attention to this world.
All the sea soul beasts in this vast ocean could be considered the citizens of that deity. To prevent humans from hunting sea soul beasts for soul rings, he had even ordered all sea soul beasts to stay away from the coast.
Now, with a soul beast causing such massive destruction, that deity remained indifferent?
Was it because this was merely a fight between sea soul beasts and not enough to draw the deity's attention?
No. Before becoming a god, that deity had clearly intervened in matters involving sea soul beasts. In the Sea God's eyes, even among soul beasts, causing such great destruction should not be allowed.
Was it because he was concerned about the restrictions of the Divine Realm and unwilling to intervene in matters on the Douluo Continent?
No, he was overthinking it.
Lin Xiao shook his head firmly and quickly drove this thought out of his mind.
With no solution for the moment, Lin Xiao sighed lightly and temporarily set the matter aside.
"Where are you planning to go now?" After glancing at Liya again, Lin Xiao suddenly asked.
"I… I don't know." Liya shook her head somewhat blankly.
The situation had been urgent at the time, and the Sea Princess had only told Liya to disperse the clansmen and have everyone flee on their own. She had fled aimlessly to this place. If she hadn't encountered Lin Xiao, her body would still be in a weakened state, and she wouldn't have had the time to think about these things.
Moreover, having left the mermaid clan, she truly didn't know where to go. The terrifying aura left a shadow in her heart, making her feel that there was no safe place left in this underwater world.
"Since you have nowhere to go, why don't you stay at the Tongming Sect for now? You've stayed there for some time before, so it's not unfamiliar. Besides, even if that sea soul beast is quite powerful, its strength will be greatly reduced once it comes ashore, and it won't come looking for you anytime soon."
"You…" Liya looked at Lin Xiao, opened her mouth as if wanting to say something, but after hesitating for a moment, she didn't say it. In the end, she simply nodded slightly. "Thank you."
Lin Xiao shook his head and didn't speak.
In fact, just by looking at Liya's eyes, he could guess what she had wanted to say just now.
Although she had escaped, the Sea Princess had stayed behind to deal with that soul beast. How could Liya have no concerns in her heart?
But she also knew that with the shallow relationship between her and Lin Xiao, Lin Xiao couldn't help her deal with that sea soul beast of extraordinarily high cultivation.
However, Lin Xiao's thoughts were exactly the opposite of hers.
"Teacher, do you think these mermaids who are skilled in spiritual power can sense the aura of your divine sense fragments in this vast sea?"
"You want to help these mermaids deal with that soul beast?"
"No." Lin Xiao shook his head. "Before I personally witness the strength of that soul beast, I will not make a decision."
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Here are the chapters for today (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
"Don't forget there are chapters available on Patreon."
"From Douluo to Godhood by Defy 30 Advance chapters."
"Douluo: Far North Invincibledo 30 Advance chapters."
"Douluo Peerless: Living as an Evil Soul Master 40 Advance chapters."
"Douluo Dalu 2:Peerless Tang Sect Dawn of Sun and Moon 40 Advance chapters."
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