In Li Yuan's memory, the Merman Palace was a colorful and magnificent palace, where mermen of all ages lived.
Among the mermen, there was no hierarchy, only a clan chief and a goddess.
The young and strong mermen served as the main fighting force and were called guards, protecting the safety of the Merman Palace. The women and children maintained the daily operations of the palace.
Although it was called a palace, the Merman Palace was more like a big family living together in harmony and equality, where everyone helped each other, just like a utopia.
However, after the divine punishment descended, the young mermen turned the Merman Palace into a purgatory. The palace was filled with the smell of blood everywhere, which completely changed the flavor of this equal utopia.
The Merman Palace had been sealed for many years. No one knew what kind of scene would greet Li Xian when it was opened again.
With this uneasy feeling, Li Xian lost some of his interest in the shocking and beautiful underwater world in front of him.
Shen Qing was affected by Li Xian, and her heart also became heavy. As the corals passed by in front of her, she no longer felt amazed.
After all, there had been countless sad stories in this place.
The closer they got to the Merman Palace, the more varieties of corals there were, the more colorful they were, and the larger their sizes were.
It was not until they came to the Merman Palace that they found that the palace was actually made up of huge corals!
It was neither like the main hall of a sect nor like the imperial palace in the mortal world. Instead, it was built with a large number of hard and huge corals using a unique method of the merman clan.
The Merman Palace was mainly pearly white, and the whole palace was built sumptuously.
On the coral walls were inlaid pearls of different sizes and unknown crystals, forming a series of pictures.
The pictures depicted the process of the merman clan building the Merman Palace after they came to the South Sea. An old merman holding a scepter appeared in each picture. It was he who taught every merman how to build this palace.
The mermen's in - born love for gorgeous things was fully reflected in the Merman Palace.
If the whole Merman Palace were converted into spirit stones, the amount would be incalculable. Just digging out a small piece at random could be sold for thousands of spirit stones.
"I thought the Merman Palace would be like the legendary Dragon Palace. I didn't expect it to be made up of so many corals!"
Shen Qing couldn't help but sigh. The palace made of corals was not only beautiful but also carefully decorated by the merman clan. It was more like a beautiful work of art than a place to live.
Li Xian was also shocked by the Merman Palace in front of him. In Li Yuan's memory, he had only seen the inside of the palace, not the outside. So for a moment, he was also stunned.
Moreover, when he saw this palace, Li Xian seemed to have his bloodline awakened. He felt proud of his clan for being able to build such a palace.
The Merman Palace was spacious and tall. They swam through the coral reefs and then swam up for a while before they reached the entrance of the palace.
The entrance of the Merman Palace was made up of two huge moonstones joined together. With the reflection of the light, it showed a sparkling effect, looking very beautiful.
In the center of each of these two moonstones was a magic formation, and in the center of the magic formation was a huge pearl.
Shen Qing tried to push the two moonstones with her hands, but they didn't move at all.
"It seems that we have to find a way to break the magic formations on these moonstones. Li Xian, I wonder if you..."
Shen Qing turned around and was about to ask, but she heard a click. Li Xian had already broken both magic formations and was looking at her with a confused face.
"What did you say? I was busy opening the door just now and didn't listen to you carefully."
Shen Qing twitched the corner of her mouth, waved her hand and said, "It's okay. I just said something useless."
Li Xian raised his eyebrows, swam over calmly, took Shen Qing's hand and led her inside.
As soon as they entered the Merman Palace, Shen Qing was shocked again.
It was already luxurious enough outside, but unexpectedly, the inside of the Merman Palace was a hundred times more luxurious than the outside.
Countless shells decorated the interior, and there were ornaments made of pearls and corals hanging everywhere.
High - grade spirit stones were used as wall decorations and candlesticks as if they were free.
Shen Qing shouted helplessly in her heart. Why were there candlesticks in the Merman Palace? Did they want to make ever - burning lamps?!
The surrounding area was extremely empty. Apart from the valuable ornaments, there was a huge merman statue standing in the center.
Li Xian walked up to the merman statue, bowed respectfully in the way of the merman clan's salute, and said, "Clan chief, your junior has returned."
Shen Qing carefully examined the statue and found that it was very similar to the old merman in the pictures she had seen outside the Merman Palace.
"Is this the clan chief of your merman clan?"
Li Xian nodded and pulled Shen Qing to swim in another direction. "This Merman Palace was built under the leadership of this clan chief. Although he made a wrong decision that led to the divine punishment, he also burned himself to atone for his sin."
"The people in the clan still respected him. So, no matter who in the merman clan entered or left the Merman Palace, they would salute in front of the clan chief and say that they were back."
"This is not only to comfort the soul of the clan chief in heaven but also to show respect."
Shen Qing nodded, understanding that the merman clan was not as cruel and blood - thirsty as the legend.
The merman clan had been coveted by the human and demon races for a long time and most of them had been massacred. But they never took revenge using their innate advantages. Instead, they hid in the South Sea and struggled to survive.
If it weren't for the newly - born young mermen being affected by the divine punishment and becoming blood - thirsty and cruel, killing the passing cultivators, there wouldn't have been rumors that the merman clan was born cruel.
Thinking about it this way, the human race was the real villain. They had almost exterminated the merman clan and then spread rumors about them.
Shen Qing felt wronged for the merman clan.
The clan chief didn't do anything wrong. He just wanted to revive the merman clan, but the Heavenly Dao didn't allow it and even sent down the divine punishment.
Shen Qing once again wondered if the Heavenly Dao was really fair.
Good people had to do their best to seize a glimmer of hope, but the extremely evil people could get a chance to live again and again under the protection of the Heavenly Dao.
Were they, these cultivators, really on the right path?
As Li Xian swam forward, Shen Qing learned that each floor of the Merman Palace had a different function.
The first floor was a worship hall, the second floor was a training ground for the young mermen, the third floor was a place for the high - level members of the clan to discuss matters, the fourth floor...
Li Xian introduced each floor one by one, and Shen Qing was simply dazzled.
After all, every floor of this magnificent Merman Palace was decorated so beautifully that one couldn't help but want to steal something.
Shen Qing's attention gradually changed from listening to Li Xian's explanation to admiring the luxurious decorations of the Merman Palace.
But when they swam up to the ninth floor, Li Xian stopped and hesitated to open the door of the ninth floor.
He took a deep breath, turned to Shen Qing and said, "Shen Qing, I hope you can prepare yourself mentally."