Chapter 172: Mermaid Island, do mermaids also collect protection fees?
"Senior, the Mermaid Island is ahead. My people have lived here for generations, and we have a clan mother with the cultivation level of Refining Void to protect us. The Yaksha people will definitely not dare to come here."

Zhan Qing pointed at the Mermaid Island which was getting closer and closer in front of him and excitedly introduced it to Chen An.

"So good."

Chen An paused and said tentatively: "But as a human, I will not be welcomed if I rashly land on the island."

Regarding this place, based on the memories of the Yaksha before, Chen An learned a lot about the general situation of this force.

The mermaids are not as brutal as the Yakshas, ​​and are somewhat similar to humans. However, because they are half-demon, young mermaids cannot stay away from the sea for a long time and can only live in the sea water all year round. But at the same time, they have half human blood and are inevitably despised by the demons.

After wandering around, he accidentally came to the vicinity of the Violent Sea. By chance, he was favored by the Qinglong Clan living there, and slowly took root on this island.

It was precisely because the other party had no other obvious bad deeds except for their incompatibility with the Yaksha tribe that Chen An chose to get closer to the mermaid tribe.

"Although we, the mermaids, have been fighting with the Yakshas for many years, we are still relatively friendly to other races. Besides, you killed the Divine Yakshas before. The enemy of my enemy is my friend."

Zhan Qing grinned, revealing his white teeth, but there was always a hint of sadness in his expression.

As for Zhan Qing's performance, Chen An just smiled and said nothing.

He knew in his heart that after this kid reluctantly gave him the Jade Fat Coral as a reward, he kept sighing along the way. He guessed that the other party went out this time just for this spiritual plant.

Now he has returned empty-handed, probably because he doesn’t know how to explain to his tribesmen.

Not long after, Chen An, Zhan Qing, and Luo Ling'er behind them all stepped onto the Mermaid Island. The two newcomers subconsciously observed the situation nearby.

At this moment, an anxious figure suddenly rushed over from the island, flew through the air, and ran straight in front of the three people, even her breath was a little unstable.

When the woman saw Zhan Qing, a bit of annoyance appeared on her overly pale yet beautiful face: "Xiao Qing! Where have you been all this time? You went out alone right after you broke through to the Nascent Soul stage. You are getting bolder and bolder."

"Sister, I."

Zhan Qing lowered his head, his face flushed, and he touched the empty storage bag, unable to utter a word for a long time.

“These friends are.”

When the woman was scolding Zhan Qing just now, she had already protected him aside, and at the same time looked at Chen An and the others vigilantly.

Upon hearing this, Zhan Qing perked up: "This is Senior Chen An, whom I met when I was out. I was originally out looking for Jade Coral to treat my sister's injuries, but on my way back I accidentally ran into the Yaksha tribe. If Senior Chen An hadn't saved me while I was escaping, I might not have been able to come back."

As he spoke, his excited tone suddenly became a little weaker.

Chen An smiled and said, "It's not worth mentioning. I just did it casually."

He did not pay too much attention to the other party's vigilance. This behavior was normal. If the other party was very enthusiastic from the beginning, he would definitely turn around and leave without saying a word.

"I am Xiaoqing's sister Zhan Jing. Thank you both for your help."

Zhan Jing bowed slightly to express her gratitude.

On the way here, Zhan Qing mentioned his sister a few times. It seemed that she was seriously injured in the previous battle with the Yaksha clan, causing her strength to drop from the middle stage of the Spiritual Transformation to the early stage.

This time, he went out alone without telling his sister, looking for the jade coral that could heal his injuries, intending to treat him.

"You two seem to be human, right? I wonder why you came to the Lost Sea?"

Zhan Jing's eyes flickered, but she remained on guard.

"We were accidentally sucked away by the ghost fog and came to the Lost Sea in a daze. Now we are looking for a way to leave. If Daoist Zhan Jing knows, I hope you can teach us."

Chen An said this without blushing or beating his heart. This was the speech he had prepared long ago.

The reason why this place is called the Lost Sea is because ghost fog appears every ten years, and if you accidentally enter it, you will appear randomly in the deep sea.

If you are unlucky, you might be swept away by the ghost fog when you go out, and when you wake up you might find yourself near the enemy's lair. The ghost fog might even go directly into the Riot Sea. Once you enter the Riot Sea, you won't even know how you died.

Generally speaking, during this period, most monks would stay at home and would not go out casually.

Zhan Qing also sneaked out when the ghost fog, which occurs once every ten years, had just ended.

"I see."

Zhan Jing nodded slightly, without any doubt. Every hundred years, a few unlucky ghosts would be sucked into the lost sea by the ghost fog. This was not a rare thing.

But this was the first time she had seen a human being who had accidentally come in, so she couldn't help feeling a little strange.

"However, it's easy to get in, but if you want to leave, it may not be that easy. The races in the nearby sea areas are easy to deal with. I can send someone to take you away, but for the human race, I'm afraid you have to pass through some of the core sea areas of the dragon race before you can leave. This is a bit difficult."

When Zhan Jing looked at Chen An again, the vigilance in her expression suddenly decreased a little.

"Isn't there any other way out?"

Chen An frowned slightly. If he really couldn't go to Tianyuan Continent, then he would inevitably have to take many detours to come to this world.

"Let me take you to see the clan leader. She is knowledgeable and has often dealt with the dragon clan, so she must know."

After a few polite words, Zhan Jing confirmed that Chen An and his companions had nothing to do with the Yaksha tribe, and then led Chen An and his companions into the island.

On the way, Chen An saw clusters of spiritual plants growing neatly, obviously planted by humans.

There are grades ranging from one to three, with a wide variety.

As he went deeper into the island, fourth-level spiritual fields gradually appeared. There were also a lot of them, and there were even a few spiritual plant species that Chen An couldn't name.

In one spiritual field after another, many figures with human bodies and fish tails shuttled back and forth, busy working in the fields.

Seeing this scene, Chen An felt that this was the right place.

For various reasons, he has to go back to the Four Continents and cannot plunge into this world for the time being. Even if he cannot go to the Tianyuan Continent immediately, it is okay for him to develop here for a while.

It is worth noting that most of the adult mermaids encountered on the way have the strength of the late Nascent Soul stage, and even a considerable number of them have reached the perfection of the Nascent Soul stage.

The mermaids, as long as their talent is not too bad and they do not slack off in their daily practice, can basically reach the middle and late Nascent Soul stage after they reach adulthood.

Chen An was not envious of this. Apart from the fact that the lowest spiritual energy on the island was at the third-order spiritual land level, the strong talent of the mermaids in cultivation was also one of the reasons.

But the laws of nature are balanced. Races with strong talents will have much lower fertility rates.

After developing for who knows how many years, their population is only tens of thousands, which is far behind the human race.

"arrive!"

Zhan Jing gave a reminder, then took Chen An and others to land in a densely packed stone building complex.

However, Zhan Jing did not take Chen An to meet the leader of the mermaid tribe.

Moreover, Chen An discovered that there was no god here, so it seemed that this was not the core area of ​​the mermaid tribe.

"The clan leader is busy now, so he can't see her for the time being. However, since you two killed the Yaksha clan's incarnation god, it's probably not safe outside. You can stay here for a few days. I will notify you as soon as I have any news."

Zhan Jing led Chen An into an empty stone house and said so.

"That's annoying."

Chen An chuckled. He was not in a hurry. It would be best if he could stay here for a while longer and get some fifth-level spirit seeds.

"By the way, I saw a lot of spiritual fields on the road. The nobles should also be specialized in this." Zhan Jing said lightly: "Just to support the family."

Chen An was stunned by this answer.

But he just thought that the other party was not in a position to elaborate, so he did not ask any further questions and instead changed the subject.

"Xiaoqing, you should stay here and stop running around. Come with me to see my mother in a few days. She has been very worried during your absence."

Zhan Jing stared at Zhan Qing and said unhappily.

During the time that Zhan Qing was away, the mermaid tribe sent many people out to look for him. If he didn't come back, they would think that something had happened to him outside.

"I see."

Zhan Qing lowered his head and let his sister scold him, but he glanced at Chen An from time to time, his eyes rolling around, as if he was thinking of something.

After a while, Chen An was settled down, and Zhan Jing and her brother left.

After the conversation along the way, Chen An learned that the brother and sister had a high status on the island. It seemed that their mother was the leader of the mermaid tribe.

It seems that if I can meet the patriarch of this place in the future and then successfully reach the Tianyuan Continent, I can’t do without the help of this pair of siblings.

"Master, we seem to be in the outer area of ​​this island. The real merman elites are all in the inner area. Moreover, such a large island does not have any formation protection."

At some point, Luo Ling'er came back from wandering outside.

"You are so blatantly exploring the situation on the island, aren't you afraid that they will kick us out?"

Chen An had just finished practicing the Soul Refining Technique when he saw Luo Ling'er returning and teasing her.

"It's not that serious. These mermaids are pretty good and don't restrict our actions."

Luo Ling'er retorted.

Chen An also discovered this. The mermaids' planting skills were indeed good, but they did not seem to be familiar with the art of formations. There did not seem to be any formation protection on the entire island, and the island was almost in a naked state.

They had only been here for a short time and they didn't know why.

Just as the two were talking about what they had seen and heard that day, Zhan Qing came to Chen An stealthily.

"Senior Chen, are you used to living here?" Zhan Qing asked attentively.

"It's okay. There's nothing I'm difficult to adapt to." Chen An replied casually.

Apart from the fact that the spiritual energy here is much richer and there are some minor riots, it is not much different from the Four Continents.

But Zhan Qing did not let him go and kept asking about his well-being, which made Chen An feel a little uncomfortable.

"Just say whatever you want to say. There's no need to do this."

Chen An saw through that the boy wanted to ask for something and smiled.

He also had some guesses in his mind as to why Zhan Qing came to his house.

"This is so embarrassing."

Zhan Qing blushed slightly, and then he stopped hesitating and said bluntly: "I want to exchange the jade coral in your hand. How many spirit stones do you want? Just give me a price."

Previously, in order to ask Chen An to kill the Yaksha, he offered the jade coral in his hand as a reward.

The other party had traveled thousands of miles to find this item, risking his life. Now he wanted to exchange it for something else. This was reasonable and within Chen An's expectations.

"Oh? Any amount is fine?"

Chen An smiled lightly and looked at the young man opposite with burning eyes.

As the son of the clan leader, the other party has a high status on the island. It would be unreasonable not to take the opportunity to ask for some of the things he needs.

"Uh, not really. I can't afford to give more."

Zhan Qing couldn't help but touch the storage bag hanging around his waist, feeling a little unconfident.

When Chen An saw this look, he naturally knew that the other party did not have many spirit stones on him, and he did not want to ask for spirit stones or other valuables.

"How about this, for one hundred top-grade spirit stones, I will give you the Jade Fat Coral. How do you think?"

Chen An deliberately gave a price that was much higher, leaving room for bargaining.

"Ah? One hundred? I. Fifty, how about that?"

Zhan Qing clutched the storage bag, looking somewhat embarrassed.

Chen Angu said in embarrassment: "You also know that spiritual plants like Jade Fat Coral are basically controlled by the Yaksha Clan. There are very few wild ones in the sea, and they are very difficult to find."

Zhan Jing's injury was caused by the water eye divine light of the Yaksha tribe. Jade Coral is the most suitable elixir to treat this kind of injury.

Unfortunately, the Yaksha tribe mobilized the entire tribe to search for wild jade corals in the early years. Now, except for some cultivation within the Yaksha tribe, jade corals have almost become extinct in the Lost Sea.

This shows how vicious the Yaksha clan is. If one is not strong enough, he can only endure it silently after being seriously injured by the Water Eye's Divine Light.

But when Zhan Qing heard this, the corner of his mouth twitched. How could he not know how hard it is to find the Jade Fat Coral?
The reason why he was able to find it at the beginning was probably due to luck, otherwise this species is almost extinct in the wild, and no matter how capable he is, it would be difficult to find it in the vast ocean.

Chen An said at the right time: "If you don't have it, you can exchange it with other spiritual objects, such as talismans, spiritual treasures, or even spiritual seeds."

The first few are just cover, the last spirit seed is his real purpose. In this way, his real purpose is difficult to be discovered.

"Other spiritual creatures?"

Zhan Qing scratched the back of his head and simply took out all the valuable items from the storage bag and let Chen An choose.

"Just take any piece you like."

For a moment, the table in front of me was piled with items, a dazzling array of items, as if they were receiving new goods.

Looking at the pile of spirit stones in the corner, Chen An took a quick glance and found that there were fifty-one pieces. No wonder his offer was cut in half.

"However, considering that we know each other and you have treated me well, I will only charge you thirty spirit stones for these diplomatic items."

Chen An selected and finally took away thirty spirit stones, several talismans, some pills, and all the fifth-level spirit seeds.

He never expected that as the son of the clan leader, this kid was so poor.

The only truly valuable treasure is an ancient spiritual treasure, or as the Lost Sea calls it, a fine spiritual treasure. The two mean the same thing, just with different names.

But fortunately, this kid has quite a few fifth-level spirit seeds, three in total.

One of them was the seeds of the Jade Coral. Perhaps it was the seeds that Zhan Qing had harvested when he picked the Jade Coral.

Soon, both parties got what they wanted and the transaction was completed.

But at this moment, several burly and ferocious-looking mermaids walked in from outside. Their appearance was completely different from the kind-hearted mermaids Chen An had seen.

The leading merman was shirtless, revealing his burly figure. He stared at Chen An in a rather hostile tone and said, "You are the two humans who came in yesterday, right?"

(End of this chapter)