Volume 10: The Call from the Sea Chapter 12: The Sole Instance Dungeon

When Libin plummeted from the skies, the battle at sea had practically drawn to a close. Shuiyu Tianlian hauled Libin out of the water and said excitedly, "Brother, I really have to thank you this time. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so effortless for me to finish off that bastard Xuanyu."

"Not at all. If you hadn't arrived in the nick of time, my entire navy would have been wiped out once more," Libin replied, deliberately placing heavy emphasis on the word 'timely'.

Shuiyu Tianlian paid no mind to Libin's sarcasm and smiled instead. "I actually intended to do you a favor anyway, in hopes that you could assist me with something."

"I don't have the time right now," Libin said while signaling his men to pull the not-yet-drowned Soul of Darkness out of the water. "I still have to finish his mission."

Shuiyu Tianlian glanced briefly at the Soul of Darkness hanging limply from Libin's subordinates' grips and dismissively remarked, "The mission to escort him back to his homeland? I've done that before. The reward is decent, and it gets completed quickly. I can wait for you."

"Don't bother waiting. Once I'm done with this mission, I plan to do some exploring in the nearby waters," Libin replied without a moment's hesitation.

"What, are you looking to expand your forces on the sea as well?" Shuiyu Tianlian asked with a smile. "That makes it all the more reason for you not to miss this opportunity. You should know how beneficial it will be for any future maritime expansion."

Hearing this, Libin finally sparked a sliver of interest. He asked with a puzzled tone, "What is it you want me to help you with?"

"An instance dungeon—a unique instance dungeon," Shuiyu Tianlian said calmly, though Libin could still detect a trace of excitement flickering in his eyes.

"A cross-region quest?" Libin asked hesitatingly.

"You could look at it that way," Shuiyu Tianlian nodded. "This information hasn't leaked yet. For now, only Xuanyu and I know about it."

"Care to share the full picture?" Libin's interest was thoroughly piqued now.

"Of course. Actually, I stumbled into this place by accident while I was being hunted down by Xuanyu," Shuiyu Tianlian recalled earnestly.

At the time, because he had snatched three maritime trade routes from Xuanyu, he was being chased relentlessly and ended up bursting into an uncharted sea. According to his navigational charts, this sea area did not belong to any of the combined continental oceans.

In this sea area, Shuiyu Tianlian discovered that all the creatures bore the prefix "Evil Temple," and their color scheme was predominantly grey.

Consequently, Shuiyu Tianlian named it the Evil Temple Sea. He wandered around this domain for two days before finally ambushing the pursuing Xuanyu within a coral island. Unexpectedly, as their battle escalated, a sudden torrent of water washed them both directly into a sprawling palace.

Inside this palace, they were completely wiped out by a group of incredibly powerful troops. Even their strongest elite units barely managed to hold out for three minutes.

After resurrecting, Shuiyu Tianlian returned to the location a few times, roughly estimating that the ordinary cannon-fodder guards inside the palace were around level 11.

Furthermore, he had discovered traces left behind by Xuanyu when the latter led his troops in. Shuiyu Tianlian had even attempted to lure the palace guards out into the open sea to pick them off, but the result was that the number of guards inside the palace did not decrease by a single one.

Because of this, Shuiyu Tianlian concluded that he needed to find some powerful allies to storm and conquer this palace together.

"Do you know whose palace this belongs to?" Knowing full well that such a formidable palace must house incredible treasures, Libin asked cautiously to avoid inviting too much trouble upon himself.

"Of course I do. We have system notifications, after all," Shuiyu Tianlian said smugly. In truth, ever since his first intrusion into the underwater palace, he had already identified the owner.

It was the palace of Uranus, the Greedy Sea God of Judgment. This individual, who used to plunder passing players and merchant fleets purely out of personal greed, was once Shuiyu Tianlian's idol. Although the sea god was rumored to have vanished for a very long time, judging by the sheer volume of his past loot, the wealth and treasures hidden within the palace could easily buy an entire continent.

Hearing such a figure, Libin was undeniably tempted. However, he asked, "Then why did you set your sights on me?"

"Because, as I told you, this is a unique instance dungeon. Anyone can enter as long as it hasn't been completely cleared by someone else," Shuiyu Tianlian explained calmly. "I've broken into it a few times, but every attempt was sabotaged by that bastard Xuanyu, just as I ruined several of his attempts. I only came out this time to replenish my troops, never expecting Xuanyu to suffer such massive losses because of a conflict with you. That's why I hold you in high regard."

"You mean you sought me out simply because I have the capability to go toe-to-toe with Xuanyu?" Libin frowned and asked.

"You could put it that way. If you lacked that capability, my seeking you out would merely be sending you to your death," Shuiyu Tianlian affirmed.

"I understand. I'll go with you this time," Libin said with certainty. "However, I need to send this fellow back to his continent first."

"Very well. I'll have someone guide you through a shortcut. Also, you'd better bring plenty of troops; once you step into that sea area, you won't be able to obtain any resupplies whatsoever," Shuiyu Tianlian cautioned.

Libin nodded without adding much else. Yet, upon returning to his floating island, he found himself deep in thought, turning everything Shuiyu Tianlian had said over in his mind.

He knew there were plenty of falsehoods woven into Shuiyu Tianlian's words. Libin was certain that Shuiyu Tianlian had done much more than just casually breach the palace. He likely knew the vast majority of the palace's layout, and might even be fully aware of how many bosses resided inside.

Moreover, Shuiyu Tianlian undoubtedly held a quest tied to that palace, and dragging Libin into this was likely a calculated move to thwart Xuanyu or use Libin as cannon fodder.

To go or not to go—this dilemma continued to swirl in Libin's mind until his floating island finally arrived near the continent belonging to the Soul of Darkness, and still, he had not reached a definitive decision.

Having escorted the Soul of Darkness ashore, Libin was about to turn back when the Soul of Darkness called out, "Are you seriously just going to drop me off here and call it a day?"

"What's wrong? I've delivered you back to your continent; the mission is technically fulfilled," Libin looked at the Soul of Darkness with bewilderment.

"Hmph, you call this fulfilling the mission? Do you even know that the spot where you landed me belongs to an enemy nation of mine? Doing this just shows a complete lack of responsibility," the Soul of Darkness said coldly. "Still, considering you're practically marching to your death anyway, I'll let it slide this time."

"What are you talking about?" Libin let out a cold snort, and several nether dragons and bone dragons immediately closed in, surrounding them.

"Am I wrong? Aren't you heading to the Evil Temple to throw your life away?" Faced with the menacing presence of the dragons, the Soul of Darkness showed not a shred of fear.

"You know about that place too?" Libin lunged forward, grabbed the Soul of Darkness by the collar, and demanded harshly.