213: Chapter 213 Doing Our Part for Endangered Species

Passing through the chaotic outer perimeter, the group stepped into the deepest part of the cavern. A sudden vastness opened up before their eyes, revealing a colossal space.

This was the core of the Merfolk Race's Holy Land, where the Moon-Tear Coral Grove once stood.

Rather than a "grove," it would be more accurate to call it a sunken crystal palace.

Countless massive crystal coral pillars rose from the ground, supporting the high, distant dome. At this moment, these coral pillars were dim and devoid of light, their surfaces even covered in calcified white shells and erosion qi crystals.

Beside the bases of the coral pillars and along the edges of the lakeshore, dozens of twisted, completely calcified Merfolk corpses were scattered. They maintained their final postures, like solidified, ghastly white stone statues.

At the center of the space, where a Holy Lake that nurtured life should have been, only a dried-up, cracked lakebed remained.

The hard silt on the lakebed was covered in cobweb-like cracks, and many corals that were once colorful had long since lost their vitality, turning into gray-white calcified matter.

At the very core, there should have been twelve translucent blood-red corals—the "Moon-Tear Blood Corals," the core hub of the entire Holy Lake.

Now, these twelve blood corals were reduced to ugly stumps where their roots had been forcibly torn away. And at the center where they once clustered, a bottomless, massive black hole had violently gouged through the lakebed.

Looking up at the dome, the vast star map that had once been simulated by countless glowing mosses and strange crystals was now riddled with cracks, its light completely extinguished.

The footsteps of Ling Hao's party sounded exceptionally clear in the empty, deathly silent space. He looked around, a trace of surprise flashing in his eyes:

"This... is your Holy Land?"

Mo Li and Mo Lan, who were following closely behind, turned pale as paper, as if struck by lightning upon seeing the scene before them. Mo Li's clear eyes were filled with despair. Mo Lan clenched her fists tightly, her body trembling slightly.

After the erosion qi undercurrent, they only knew they had been forced to flee, but they never imagined that their clan's sacred place of reproduction had actually turned into such a desolate ruin!

The faint glimmer of hope in Mo Yun's eyes also completely extinguished.

She nodded,

"Yes... this is the Moon-Tear Coral Grove, the source of my clan's reproduction, the root of our life."

She suppressed the sharp pain in her heart and instructed Mo Li and Mo Lan:

"Li'er, Lan, go... gather our... clansmen."

After the two left, Mo Yun took a deep breath, leading Ling Hao and Xia Yingying as they slowly walked through the ruins.

Her fingers brushed against a cold, rough crystal coral pillar,

"These Heaven-Bearing Pillars support the space of the entire Holy Land, locking in the dissipating Spiritual Qi..."

She then pointed to the hideous cracks on the lakebed,

"Earth-Marrow Spirit Milk used to gush out from here, nourishing all things..."

"The Vast Sea Star Map on the dome could connect with the moonlight, invoking the moon tides, and the power of the tides worked in unison with the starlight..."

Her gaze finally fell on the broken roots of the blood corals,

"The core Moon-Tear Blood Corals could convert the gathered energy into boundless life essence, delivering it to the life eggs... My clan's next generation was conceived and born within them..."

Mo Yun stopped walking, facing the black hole that had swallowed all hope, her back appearing incomparably desolate.

"Now... our Merfolk Race is likely to... face extinction without heirs."

"Without heirs?" Ling Hao frowned slightly.

Xia Yingying, seeing her Revered Master's confusion, quickly whispered an explanation: "Revered Master, the reproduction of the Merfolk Race is very unique. They are all female, a unisexual reproductive race, and must rely on the power of this Holy Land's core to conceive new life."

Ling Hao suddenly understood, his gaze sweeping over Mo Yun and the others: "In other words, you must rely on this place to reproduce and ensure the continuation of your clan?"

He finally understood why the Merfolk Race consisted only of females.

Moreover, when Mo Yun mentioned in the courtyard that this place concerned the fundamental survival of their clan, her tone had been so heavy.

This was not some symbolic place of Legacy, but a true furnace that sustained the continuation of their Bloodline!

Mo Yun looked around, her gaze dim:

"Yes, my Lord. This is the only way for our clan to continue life."

Ling Hao remained puzzled and raised a question: "Since you can transform into human form and possess an external appearance identical to human women, can you not conceive offspring just like human women?"

Hearing this, a bitter smile appeared on Mo Yun's face:

"My Lord is unaware. After we take human form, our appearance is indeed no different from human women, and that place... is also the same."

She subconsciously pressed her legs together, her face slightly flushed.

"But the internal structure is different. We are not viviparous."

She pointed to the area three inches below her navel on her flat lower abdomen,

"Here... there is no womb to house a fetus."

Her fingers moved gently downward, pressing through the soft merfolk silk onto the area slightly below where her fish tail connected to her human body,

"This... is our Merfolk 'Soul-Weaving Core,' the spiritual silk used to weave soul silk originates from here... It is responsible for condensing Soul power, not for nurturing life."

She explained, only to find Ling Hao's gaze subconsciously following her fingers, landing on the spot she indicated. Mo Yun's cheeks immediately flushed with two blushes of red, and she was too embarrassed to continue.

Ling Hao also immediately realized the impropriety and quickly shifted his gaze, coughing lightly to cover his embarrassment:

"Ahem... I have one more question."

"My Lord... please speak."

"It's just... when you maintain your true form, shouldn't that location... be the same as human women, with... a place for intercourse?"

Ling Hao swore he was truly curious, not thinking about that!

Mo Yun quickly understood what Ling Hao meant, her face turning even redder:

"My Lord is referring to... the position under the pearl scale curtain in the middle of the tail abdomen?"

She carefully chose her words, "That place... is a... fragile and sensitive spot of our clan in our true form, located at the critical area where the tail and abdomen meet. It is not used for... that kind of thing, but rather... an organ used to perceive water currents, extremely sensitive, and also a weak point in our defenses that we even try to avoid touching ourselves."

"Oh~"

Ling Hao responded, his face unreadable.

The two... no, the three of them were silent for a while, and Xia Yingying looked at the two who had suddenly stopped, full of curiosity. Why did Revered Master and the Merfolk Clan Chief stop talking?

Did the place they were talking about refer to that place?

Mo Yun's gaze involuntarily fell on Ling Hao.

She hadn't wanted to say these things, but now that the Holy Land was destroyed, the previously promised merfolk silk and the value of their attachment were greatly diminished. Would this Lord still protect their "useless" race that had lost the ability to reproduce?

Since he was curious, she chose to lay out the details of her clan.

This was to further gain trust.

Ling Hao, however, because of the earlier embarrassment, happened to avoid the worry in Mo Yun's eyes, his attention drawn to the massive black hole in the center of the lake. The aura lingering around the edge of the hole made him feel a trace of familiarity:

"What is going on with this black hole?"

Mo Yun suppressed the unease in her heart, steadied herself, and carefully recalled:

"Before the erosion qi undercurrent erupted... was this place pierced by... something huge?"

Her tone was uncertain,

"Like... a huge tentacle? Or perhaps... some kind of root? It pierced the lakebed, instantly sucking dry all the Spirit Milk, and immediately after, the erosion qi undercurrent surged out from that hole... We... we had no choice but to flee in a panic..."

"A tentacle? A root?"

Ling Hao's eyes narrowed, his powerful Divine Sense instantly released, and he indeed captured a trace of weak yet extremely pure erosion qi residue! His Divine Sense probed into the depths of the black hole, and the deeper it went, the concentration and corrosiveness of the erosion qi increased exponentially.

Ling Hao's Divine Sense could not reach the end.

Mo Yun tried to recall that fleeting glimpse, adding: "Thinking about it carefully... it was more like... some kind of huge tree root?"

"A tree root..."

Ling Hao repeated in a low voice, a memory flashing through his mind of the deep hole he had seen while suppressing the Erosion Tide under Qingxiao Mountain in Qing State! What a similar aura! Only, the scale of this one... was more than ten times larger!

A name instantly surfaced—

"Fallen Immortal Ancient Banyan?!"

Ling Hao stared at the black hole that seemed to lead to the abyss, feeling a chill in his heart.

If it truly was that existence, given the concentration of erosion qi it displayed and its unfathomable nature...

With his cultivation at the tenth level of Undergoing Tribulation, rushing in rashly would likely lead to disaster. Moreover, where did the other end of this black hole lead? If it exceeded the 150,000-mile range of his Divine Thought control from the Moonshadow Sect, the risk of his Realm dropping was something he could not afford.

Weighing the pros and cons, Ling Hao instantly dismissed the thought of investigating further. He withdrew his gaze, his tone returning to calm: "Alright, this place has no more value, let's go back."

"My Lord!" Mo Yun's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly called out to stop him.

She took a deep breath, gathering her courage to voice her deepest worry:

"Having lost the Moon-Tear Coral Grove... can we... can we still use... the remaining merfolk silk as payment to exchange for... a sufficiently remote and hidden place to reside from you?"

Mo Yun's voice carried a humble plea,

"This place has been exposed and must not be stayed in any longer. We... we only ask for a quiet body of water where we can... spend the rest of our lives..."

With the hope of reproduction shattered, all she sought was a place for the survivors of her clan to be laid to rest.

Ling Hao stopped walking, looking at the near-desperate plea in the eyes of the Clan Chief before him, and glanced at Mo Li and Mo Lan, who were silently gathering the corpses of their clansmen. Their figures appeared so small and helpless in this vast ruin.

After a moment of silence, Ling Hao nodded,

"Very well."

He remembered that there was a Wangyue Lake near the Moonshadow Sect, quite large, so that would do.

Ahem, this... could also be considered doing his small part to protect an "endangered species" in this other world... perhaps.