53: Chapter 53 Deep Sea Abyss, Underwater Civilization of the Underworld

Deep within that palace, the Naga King remained motionless.

He was waiting.

Waiting for the Ice Crystals to be exhausted, waiting for the Nagas under his command to wear the enemy down to their deaths.

The corners of Su Bai's mouth curled up slightly.

He raised his hand, and the Frost King's arm followed suit.

An ice blade condensed in his palm, growing larger and more solid.

A second later, the ice blade left his hand, transforming into a streak of ice-blue light that shot straight towards the palace.

The palace walls were instantly pierced through by the ice blade.

The Naga King finally moved.

He rushed out of the palace, wielding a massive trident. With a flick of his snake tail in the seawater, he instantly appeared before the Frost King.

A Rank 5 Naga King, four meters tall, with a muscular upper body and a lower body consisting of a snake tail covered in dark green scales. His eyes were golden vertical pupils, radiating endless madness and brutality.

He stared at the Frost King, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes.

"Ice Crystals... You are not a being of this world."

The Frost King spoke, his voice carrying Su Bai's tone.

"I am here to subjugate you."

The Naga King paused for a moment, then laughed.

That laughter propagated through the seawater, causing the surrounding structures to tremble.

"Subjugate? With just you blocks of ice?"

He raised his trident and thrust it violently toward the Frost King.

The Frost King sidestepped to dodge, simultaneously swinging his right hand to slash an ice blade toward the Naga King's neck.

With a flick of his snake tail, the Naga King's body instantly shifted several meters, evading the ice blade. At the same time, his trident swept horizontally, smashing toward the Frost King's waist.

The Frost King condensed ice shields with both hands to withstand the blow head-on.

Bang!

The ice shields shattered, and the Frost King was knocked back over a dozen meters.

But a smile still lingered on the corners of his mouth.

Because in that very instant, two figures appeared behind the Naga King simultaneously.

Ghost Bride.

Sadako.

The Ghost Bride transformed into countless red silk threads, entangling the Naga King's four limbs and snake tail. Those threads pierced through his scales, stabbing directly into his flesh and blood, beginning to drain his resentment and life force.

The Naga King roared, struggling frantically, but the silk threads only wound tighter.

Sadako raised a pale hand, pressing it gently against the Naga King's forehead.

[Curse Spread].

Fear.

Endless fear flooded the Naga King's heart.

He saw the images he feared most.

The deep-sea volcano erupting completely, seawater boiling, his clansmen all dying, his city utterly destroyed, and himself struggling, wailing, and dying alone in the scalding seawater.

His struggle slowed by half a beat.

That half-beat was enough.

The Frost King had already charged in front of him, his right hand transformed into an ice blade, stabbing straight for his heart.

The Naga King's pupils contracted as he twisted his body with all his might.

The ice blade missed his heart but pierced through his shoulder.

Blood gushed out, diffusing into the seawater.

But the Frost King did not stop. He raised his left hand, forming another ice blade.

Just then, a low voice came from above the sea surface.

"Do not harm my Lord!"

The Ghost King's figure charged down from the surface like a bolt of black lightning.

His ghost domain unfolded at full power, and the Yellow Spring Road opened simultaneously.

The Naga King's body stiffened, feeling his soul being dragged by some mysterious power.

He looked down and saw a grayish-white path extending beneath his feet. At the end of that path was the phantom of a massive gate.

Ghost Gate Pass.

His pupils contracted violently.

"That... what is that?!"

No one answered him.

The Ice Crystal King—that is, Su Bai—

Had already landed in front of him, raising a hand and pressing it gently against his forehead.

[Brand].

A grayish-white light flooded into the depths of the Naga King's soul.

He struggled violently, roaring madly, but the Ghost Bride's threads wound tighter, Sadako's curse continued to erode him, and the Ghost King's pressure ruthlessly suppressed him.

Ten seconds.

Twenty seconds.

Thirty seconds.

Finally, his struggling ceased.

Those golden vertical pupils changed from madness and brutality to confusion, then submission, and finally, awe.

He lowered his head and slowly knelt before the Frost King.

"Master."

The battle was over.

The Rank 5 Naga King had been subjugated. Seeing their king kneeling in submission, the remaining Nagas stopped their weapons one by one.

Some threw down their tridents and knelt to beg for mercy.

Some fled frantically, attempting to escape this sea region.

Some broke down completely, clutching their heads and weeping bitterly.

But no one could escape.

Shadow Blade's Space Folding blocked all paths of retreat.

The Ice Crystals' Extreme Cold Domain froze all those who tried to flee.

The Ghost Bride's red silk threads wove into a net, capturing every Naga attempting to escape.

The battle lasted for six hours.

When the last Naga was subjugated by the Brand, Su Bai finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He tallied the results of the battle.

Of the thirty-eight thousand Nagas, twelve thousand were killed and twenty-six thousand were taken prisoner.

Eight hundred Ice Crystals were killed in action.

Three hundred Shadow Demons were killed in action.

Five hundred Mushroom People were killed in action.

Two hundred Ghost Soldiers were killed in action.

Other units suffered zero casualties.

For a Rank 5 S-class world, these losses were negligible.

Su Bai looked at the Naga prisoners kneeling on the ground and raised his hand.

[Brand]

Grayish-white light swept across the entire sea region.

All twenty-six thousand Nagas were marked with the Brand of the Netherworld.

[Devouring Commencing]

The seawater began to churn.

Those deep-sea volcanoes, undersea mountain ranges, and coral cities were all torn apart, devoured, and converted by the grayish-white Yin Qi.

[Devouring Complete]

[Power Of Faith Gained: 3800 points]

[World Diameter Expansion: 1060 km → 1450 km]

[New Map Generated: Deep Blue Sea Abyss]

Su Bai stood at the world core, looking at the new map surfacing in his palm.

It was an ocean.

A pure, deep blue, boundless ocean.

But above the ocean drifted grayish-white Yin Qi. Deep in the ocean, the Nagas could be seen busily building their new home.

Deep Blue Sea Abyss.

Diameter: 1,450 kilometers.

Twenty-six thousand deep-sea Nagas.

[Current Power Of Faith: 3800 points]

Su Bai stared at that number, then looked at the newly born ocean, remaining silent for a long time.

He had waited for this day for a very long time.

The Netherworld World finally had water.

His gaze fell upon those twenty-six thousand Nagas.

These Nagas could move freely in water, build cities underwater, and become the Netherworld's true naval legion.

Furthermore, their reproductive cycle was eight years—slower than Shadow Demons, but faster than Half-Orcs.

If he could make them survive within the Yin Qi, if he could make them evolve descendants adapted to Yin Qi...

Su Bai hesitated no longer.

He raised his hand, his consciousness sinking into the world core.

[Time Flow Adjustment]

[Adjustment Target: Deep Blue Sea Abyss]

[Power Of Faith Consumed: 1000 points]

[Duration: 1000 years]

Amidst the grayish-white Yin Qi, that deep blue ocean began to blur.

Su Bai sat cross-legged and closed his eyes.

One thousand years.

He wanted to witness with his own eyes how this marine race would take root in the Netherworld, how they would evolve, and how they would become the sharpest Oceanic Blade in his hand.