Shui Meiying was only slightly curious when she saw Hero City's large, spotless white walls. At the end of the day, she was still the First Princess of the Coral Kingdom; quite possibly one of the most densely populated and powerful of all the underwater kingdoms. This meant that Shui Meiying had the opportunity to see the glorious exterior of the legendary protective city of the Eastern Sea Kingdom in the past.

However, things changed when Chen He led her inside, beyond the walls, through a pale blue vortex.

Shui Meiying felt as if she was entering a new realm, a new world.

The blue-colored sky shone high above her head. White clouds that seemed to be made of cotton floated silently like small pale polka dots, and the air in the place was so pure that even she who usually did not feel comfortable breathing the same as humans could not help but take secretly several sniffs.

The view itself was paradisiacal with extremely luxurious buildings towering on both sides of a street over 100 meters wide and whose length could not be seen with the naked eye. On top of a large mountain surrounded by green trees swaying in tune with the wind, the most beautiful and elegant palace the First Princess of the Coral Kingdom had ever seen in her entire life gleamed under the artificial sun's glare.

"Impressive..." She couldn't help but whisper such words as her long fish tail sparkled.

Chen He watched curiously as the mermaid's long tail slowly turned into two long slender legs smooth and shiny like ivory. Even though he had seen many pretties, even he could not help but be moved by such treasures.

Shui Meiying simply raised an eyebrow as she felt the human's gaze at her side. She was used to receiving the attention of men since among all the sea kingdoms within several hundred thousand kilometers around she was labeled as the Beauty Number 1 of the entire sea race.

"Should we go now?" She finally called out while looking at the white-colored skirt that covered from her hip to below her knees.

Chen He nodded calmly and with a kick his body became a blur in the direction of the mountain in the distance.

Shui Meiying quickly followed him closely, but after a couple of minutes she could not help but be amazed as to her surprise she could not catch up to the human male in front of her and at most could only keep the same distance.

'Although I'm confident in outperforming his running speed if I use one or two movement skills, he probably has his own as well... Looks like this guy wasn't bluffing before.' Shui Meiying realized that her chances of victory against the man in front of her would probably not exceed 60% on solid ground, and this was already being quite positive about herself.

A few minutes later, Shui Meiying was led by Chen He inside the palace. She was so amazed by the extravagant and luxurious interior decoration that she didn't even hear when Chen He asked Qin Ming where Bai Zemin was currently nor did she see when he handed the fainting Xian Mei'er to Kang Lan.

Although the Coral Myriad Palace of her Coral Kingdom was extremely luxurious and elegant, Shui Meiying couldn't help but feel that her home was like the cave where the puffer fish slept compared to this palace. She, unlike Bai Zemin and the others, knew much more about extreme luxuries so she was able to point out how immense the difference between both palaces was.

Chen He led Shui Meiying to the back of the palace, to the inner courtyard. On the road they encountered some soul evolvers who only looked at Shui Meiying with a bit of curiosity before looking away after seeing Chen He next to her.

"They seem to respect you quite a bit?" Shui Meiying smiled slightly. She could sense that even the weakest soul evolver among those they encountered along the way had already surpassed level 140, which was quite stunning since the total number exceeded 60.Chen He simply rolled his eyes at the mermaid's words but inwardly he couldn't help but secretly growl: 'Great Aunt, if they didn't respect me how is this elder supposed to be one of their commanders? Do yourself a favor and don't talk nonsense for god's sake!'

Clang! Clang! Clang! ...

As the duo approached the huge door at the end of the corridor, the sound of metal clanging against metal became clearer and nearer.action

When they finally walked outside, what greeted them was a huge garden of several acres. The lawn was neatly trimmed making the scene look like a huge sea of light green and every time the wind gusted from a distance the different flowers in the yard gently swayed as if they were saying hello.

"Oh?" Shui Meiying's eyes suddenly brightened when she noticed the handsome man and the belle engaged in a clearly friendly sword match.

Chen He watched with a slightly complicated expression as Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue danced with their swords clashing rapidly in the middle of the courtyard. Yet, that complicated expression disappeared as quickly as it appeared and the slight bitterness in his heart also vanished without a visible trace.

"Mm?" Bai Shilin was one of the people among those present watching the spar. She looked back as she sensed two new presences but then turned her attention back to her parents despite feeling a bit curious about the beautiful older sister whose hair color was almost the same as hers.

Bai Zemin's focus was entirely on Shangguan Bing Xue and the sword in her hands so he directly ignored Shui Meiying's presence. Putting aside the use of skills, both he and Shangguan Bing Xue had sealed their stats at only 100 points each so they were currently facing each other solely using their swordsmanship techniques.

Approximately 20 minutes later, Bai Zemin finally shook his head and jumped back.

Shangguan Bing Xue did not chase but instead put down her sword and looked at him with a faint smile, "Well, do you concede now?"

Bai Zemin smiled bitterly and said helplessly, "Your swordplay is really something... Even with the Super Warrior passive skill that is coveted even by Higher Existences I still can't beat you in this area."

Shangguan Bing Xue chuckled and pointed out, "While the Super Warrior skill certainly gives you knowledge and sword arts, your body surely won't get used to all that just like brushing it off, right? You have the knowledge of the path and the obstacles were removed but, at the end of the day, it's you who has to walk it."

Bai Zemin blinked, surprised. After a moment's hesitation, he asked, "Bing Xue, did your personality change along with your racial change or is it due to Queen Lenna's records?"

"Mmmm..." Shangguan Bing Xue thought about it for a moment and subconsciously the figure of a woman's silhouette appeared in her mind, her greatest rival. Then, she smiled again and said, "It's probably due to Queen Lenna's records. At the end of the day she surrendered to her records to merge them all with me."

"I see..." Bai Zemin nodded slowly but still seemed immersed in his own thoughts even several seconds later. Finally, he shook his head and turned to look at the last two arrivals.

His eyes immediately focused on Shui Meiying's and he immediately recognized her.

"Well, we meet again." He blurted out unconsciously.

"Eh?" Shui Meiying looked at him in astonishment and asked, "Did we meet before?"

Bai Zemin blinked a couple of times before realizing his mistake, "Ah, I did see you once before but you didn't see me. That's why."

"Yes?" Shui Meiying tried to think deeply but nothing came to her mind even after a long time. Then, suddenly, her eyes brightened and she asked, "Are you talking about the coronation ceremony in the East Sea Kingdom three and a half months ago?"

"That's right." Bai Zemin did not hide it, "I saw you in the main box. You probably didn't see me since I was on the highest point of the palace at the time."

He walked toward the round-shaped white stone table situated not far away in the shade while gesturing Shui Meiying to sit with him.

After sitting down, she looked into his eyes and suddenly smiled, "I'm really curious though."

"You want to know how it is possible for me and her to have formed such a seemingly deep alliance, am I right?" Bai Zemin nodded to the maid who poured tea for everyone as he slowly said.

"That's right." Shui Meiying didn't think it was necessary to use cheap tricks like poisoning her so she didn't hesitate to take a sip of the tea that was served to her. Her movements paused for a moment and a flash of surprise shone in her eyes as she realized that this tea could easily make it into the top 5 she had ever tasted in her entire life. She couldn't help but heartily praise, "Good tea!"

"Tell that to Auntie Sun and she will surely smile proudly for half a day." Bai Zemin commented casually and in an indifferent voice.

"Anyway, would you mind explaining to me how it is possible that you, a human, are willing to go out of your way to support a mermaid whose living environment is the complete opposite of yours?" Shui Meiying asked and looked at him with a serious expression on her beautiful face, "As far as I know, your human race doesn't get along particularly well with my sea race. And besides, if I'm not mistaken it was you who pulled the strings behind the scenes to make the old East Sea King hand over his position to his seventh daughter wasn't you?"

"You haven't paid attention to Xian Mei'er's past, or have you?" Bai Zemin had yet to look at her as he seemed more absorbed in the cakes his fair daughter put on his plate not before taking several bites.

Shui Meiying stared for a moment before shaking her head, "Actually, I didn't."

Bai Zemin nodded calmly in response. He explained about the dispute Xian Mei'er had with her siblings, as well as her wish to stop the war and put some control over the mindless cannibalism occurring underwater before slowly saying, "When I first met Xian Mei'er she and I were just little wild grasses in the middle of a raging storm; insignificant; weak; not even knowing if we would live past now let alone past tomorrow. Her goals coincidentally matched mine and her methods would not only not obstruct my path but would make my life simpler. Did that answer please you?"

Shui Meiying nodded slowly as she thought silently. She stayed in silence for almost ten minutes before suddenly asking something that startled Bai Zemin.

"Then what will you do after she unifies all the oceans with your help?"

Bai Zemin, who was about to taste his fifth cream cake, slowed down and looked at her with narrowed eyes. The question the mermaid race beauty had just asked him may seem simple on the surface, but Bai Zemin was not naive enough to think that Shui Meiying whose level exceeded 200 requested to see him just to ask goofy questions.

"Tell me if I'm wrong but, you don't plan to use the power you have as a ruler over Xian Mei'er, do you? At the end of the day and in the event that Xian Mei'er becomes the Empress of all the seas the Soul Record will surely take away all the control over the rest of the sea beasts she hard won the moment she becomes subordinate to someone else." Shui Meiying finally smiled slightly as she realized that she finally had the attention of the man in front of her.

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