novelThe Southern Sea (2)
| ← Ch.296 | Ch.298 → |
The Southern Sea was an underwater map that was revealed after <<Legends of Celestials and Demons>> released its Demonic Sect update. Ever since it's reveal, it became the game's most dangerous region. The Southern Sea was unique in that all monsters and NPCs in this area were able to freely move about. Furthermore, they were all high leveled and aggressive.
Many players had gone there to explore when the map had first opened. The unlucky ones had run into the roaming monsters before they'd even had a chance to take in the sights of the new map. On the other hand, there were some lucky dogs who'd managed to spend an entire day wandering about without encountering a single monster.
There was little information about the Southern Sea on the official website. The only thing mentioned was that this was one of the main battlefields where the battle between good and evil was going to take place. It was a player who'd first found out that the NPCs were able to move about freely in this map.
It's hard to say whether that player was lucky or not. There was an extremely limited number of NPCs in the Southern Sea, and he'd managed to run into one shortly after the map was opened. The NPC had initially planned on giving him some items, but that player might've said something that ticked off the NPC while they were conversing because he promptly summoned a monster that instakilled him.
Once he'd respawned, he went back to the spot to look for the NPC. To his surprise, the NPC was no longer there. Unwilling to just give up, he returned several days later and found the NPC leisurely strolling back from someplace else.
Until then, players had had no idea that NPCs in the Southern Sea could roam about freely!
As for that player, finding the NPC didn't help him one bit. The NPC glared daggers at him and once again summoned a monster to instakill him. Rumour has it that after this incident, the player never stepped foot into the Southern Sea ever again.
Quiet And Steadfast had heard from Hundred Daybreaks that the Southern Sea was far more dangerous than other areas, but that the opportunities to be had were proportionate to the danger too. He'd long since been thinking of exploring this place but hadn't had the time to do so because he'd been held up by other matters.
The teleportation arrays from other maps weren't able to transport players to the Southern Sea. The only entrance was the Door of Sea and Sky that was located at the boundary between Thunder Marsh and the Southern Sea.
The Door of Sea and Sky would only allow players to pass through one at a time, and it would randomly send players to anywhere within the Southern Sea. Where they ended up, and whether there'd be any monsters nearby, would all depend on one's luck. Thankfully, players who were in a party would all be sent to the same spot.
To be on the safe side, Quiet And Steadfast was the first to pass through the Door of Sea and Sky, followed by Shen Jingbin, Pure Crane, Qi Mu, Gentle Flower, and lastly, The Winds Of Ximen.
They were lucky enough to be transported to Soundwave Temple, which was located in the middle of the Southern Sea, and where there weren't any nearby monsters.
"Who are we looking for?" Pure Crane asked.
"Su Qing, " Quiet And Steadfast replied.
"Su Qing? Never heard of him."
Qi Mu chimed in, "Probably because no one's met him yet."
"Then what should we do now?" Gentle Flower asked.
The Winds Of Ximen glanced around."Let's just take our time to look for him. There's no teleportation array or relay station, so it looks like we're going to have to hoof it."
Pure Crane retrieved a map from his bag."I've got a map for the Southern Sea. Let's see... At the moment, we're in the middle of the map. Which way should we go?" He asked while looking at Quiet And Steadfast.
Quiet And Steadfast thought for a bit before he turned to Shen Jingbin who was playing with the Black Tortoise. She'd let it out as soon as they'd arrived at the Southern Sea."Nutty, which direction do you think we should take?"
"Eh?" Shen Jingbin looked up in confusion. Realizing that everyone was looking at her, she pulled herself together and asked, "You want me to decide?"
"Nutty, you should decide as you're the luckiest amongst us, " Gentle Flower said.
The others nodded in agreement. The benefit of being in a party with friends made itself known at that moment: There was no need to worry about someone kicking up a fuss.
"Alright then. Give me a moment..." Shen Jingbin said as she held the Black Tortoise and subconsciously stroked its shell with her hand while casting her gaze about.
Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that even though she was holding it, the Black Tortoise was continuously wiggling its legs in an attempt to swim towards the south. Inspired by the Black Tortoise's odd behaviour, she pointed south and exclaimed, "That way!"
The other five looked in the direction she'd pointed in. Pure Crane glanced down to consult the map in his hand and said, "Majestic Cloud Hall and Virtuous Heaven Temple lie south."
"Good, let's head in that direction then, " Quiet And Steadfast said.
They summoned their mounts and took up the same formation that they'd entered the Southern Sea in, moving in an orderly path towards the south.
Surprisingly, they didn't encounter a single monster along the way!
Aside from Qi Mu's mount, everyone else's mounts were of the highest quality and were able to move at incredible speeds. However, they took Qi Mu's mount into consideration and cut down their speed. In spite of that, they reached Majestic Cloud Hall before long.
Majestic Cloud Hall was a three-story tall building with only a single door leading inside, and it was constructed in a strange manner. At first glance, it appeared broken beyond repair. Broken pieces of the wall seemed to be held up by some mysterious force as they floated above the structure. Those who stood in front of Majestic Cloud Hall's door would subconsciously feel like the debris hovering above them could come crashing down at any time.
Without any hesitation, the party entered the hall in succession. However, the building was empty. They searched every nook and cranny, but their search yielded nothing.
In the interest of saving time, they decided to leave Majestic Cloud Hall for Virtuous Heaven Temple.
Virtuous Heaven Temple wasn't far from Majestic Cloud Hall, and it didn't take long for them to reach it. In contrast to Majestic Cloud Hall, there was now a tightly locked brass door.
Without any prompting, the three men stepped forward and worked together to open it.
Thankfully, this was only a game. Otherwise, they'd never be able to open such a huge door in real life.
'Creeeaakkk. '
The sound of the door groaning could be heard as it slowly opened.
Just as the door was about to be completely opened, a blast of wind mixed with the scent of blood blew towards them.
At the same time, the three women standing behind them shouted in unison.
"Watch out!"
| ← Ch. 296 | Ch. 298 → |