Fanli watched in alarm as her son slowly drifted into the air. Her mind short-circuited for a few seconds before she scrambled off the bed, ignoring her physical weakness and pain. She lunged toward the door and caught Fanxing in a firm embrace.
But they both knew it was futile.
Once the soul fragments were gathered, the Creation Furnace would forcibly summon all descendants of the Sea God to its location for a racial fusion, re-condensing them into the form of Deep Blue. The process would be complete in seven days.
"...Ye Jia." Su Shiye stepped forward to hold both Fanli and Fanxing, his voice heavy. "Bu Ke Ye Jia did this."
"Why? That’s impossible. He’s a descendant of a Zong God himself. If the Furnace plan is activated, he and the entire Bu Ke clan will vanish. He would never do such a thing!"
"But who else could unlock the soul fragment of the Bu Ke clan?"
Fanli was only momentarily surprised that Su Shiye knew this before she was terrified by Fanxing’s state. His tiny body suddenly grew rigid, trembling incessantly as if he were flash-frozen.
"I’m going to find the Furnace now. Lili, stay here and find a way to seek help from Saint Yejiana. Everyone else, follow behind." Su Shiye instructed Arge to arrange a vessel for Fanli, then vanished into a dense trail of bubbles.
At the hospital entrance, he saw Li, who had just finished school and rushed over to see her brother, accompanied by Yujin. But they, like Fanxing, were being pushed upward by a sphere of golden arcane light. They could not speak or move; their bodies were shivering.
"Lili, hold on. Papa is going to find a way." Su Shiye squeezed her hand, then looked at Yujin. "Xiao Yu, stay strong."
Li and Yujin nodded with great effort.
Su Shiye continued his sprint toward the upper reaches of the sea.
In his etheric form, he could ignore water pressure and travel through the ocean at maximum speed, reaching Saint Yejiana in about four or five hours. Meanwhile, he pulled out his communicator to call Ye Jia. As expected, there was no answer. He clicked his tongue, cut the connection impatiently, and accelerated.
Fanli contacted the temples and government of Saint Yejiana, but the situation there was already in total chaos. She called Xitian, but his secretary answered:
"Great Oracle, Prince Ga—Gath cannot take the call right now. He’s been frozen! It’s so strange... just a moment ago, all descendants of the Sea God were frozen..."
Fanli looked at her own wrists and body. She was also emitting a golden glow, yet she could move freely.
She remembered why Aunt Mather had sent her to the Xinghui family years ago. Through a scroll, Aunt Mather had learned that Fanli possessed the power of Deep Blue, which would grow stronger with age. She couldn't be allowed to live in a clan environment; if her kin discovered it, they might demand her death.
The final contents of the Mather clan’s scroll read as follows:
*The resurrected "Holy Infant of the Sea of Fire" symbolizes my greatest flaw, my selfishness. She must not pass away, nor must she be given great power. Her passing would mean the collapse of my eight spiritual bodies; her empowerment would mean she is swallowed by evil, triggering the collapse of the ocean world.*
*Therefore, I shall bestow upon her a new shackle: when she is eroded by her flaws, she will walk toward her own destruction. When she fights with all her might, she shall be spared from this calamity.*
*—Deep Blue, Lord of the Endless Oceans*
Ancient sea scholars believed that if a person was too intelligent, they would be too clear-headed to understand sacrifice. Conversely, those who were a bit foolish or reckless possessed the qualities of passion and courage, making them more likely to consider others and become heroes. Thus, in the ancient sea language, "wisdom" and "selfishness" were the same word: "Sui."
When Su Shiye read the scroll, given the context, he naturally didn't associate "greatest flaw" with "wisdom." He took it for granted that it meant "selfishness." This was the part belonging to Sui, which he didn't know how to control. Therefore, he only followed the other part of the scroll—finding a way to unify the Light Sea, gather all the soul fragments, and extend Fanli’s life.
Previously, Fanli had chosen to tell Ye Jia many of her secrets because she knew that if anyone else learned the secret of Su Shiye’s Furnace plan, it would likely become a casus belli for a war between the Light and Dark Seas. Except for Ye Jia—among the seven great clans, Ye Jia had the best relationship with her and was the most indifferent toward the conflicts of the Light Sea. He had the right to manipulate soul fragments yet stayed far from the center of power. She couldn't think of anyone safer to guard the fragments.
She hadn't told Ye Jia the whole truth. But she had forgotten that Ye Jia was brilliant and possessed an extremely delicate mind. Even if she didn't explain the full picture, he could deduce the causes and consequences of most things.
For instance, every time Fanli went to the "head" of the Emerald Mountains, she would cough up blood or even faint. She thought her sea-race body couldn't handle that much arcane divine power, but Ye Jia knew it was because the Emerald Mountains were shaped like a reclining goddess. The head symbolized wisdom. The head of the Emerald Mountains resonated with Wisdom.
For instance, Sui was the part Deep Blue wanted to suppress. This soul fragment had a powerful presence, which was why the "Burning Sea" phenomenon occurred only once every hundred thousand years. Furthermore, as a part of Deep Blue, Sui’s hair was not white but a deep rose-red, which was also related to the "Burning Sea."
Even now, Fanli didn't believe Ye Jia would betray her. She called him several times, but there was no answer, which suggested Ye Jia might also be frozen. He was too smart not to know the consequences of summoning Deep Blue. There had to be another reason.
Inside the vessel heading to Saint Yejiana, Fanxing, Li, and Yujin all vanished. Fanli looked at her empty hands; her son and daughter were gone. Her heart ached uncontrollably. She looked at herself in the mirror. Her situation remained the same—she was glowing, but she hadn't disappeared.
"Just—just now, all the frozen descendants of the Sea God have vanished! Lord Deep Blue, the Zong God descendants are all gone!!"
If Fanli hadn't been sitting right in front of the television, she never would have guessed that such an emotional shout could come from a news anchor.
She blinked, but in that brief moment of closing her eyes, she heard a cacophony of noise and saw the figures of countless friends from the clans. Every time she blinked rapidly, those people and voices appeared, like auditory hallucinations. So, she closed her eyes completely. Like an out-of-body experience, she forgot her physical body was still in the vessel, and her consciousness entered the extra-dimensional space of the Creation Furnace.
The world before her was split into two parts: above was a boundless, starless night sky; below was an infinite sea of blue bioluminescence. The sea had no waves, but the fish all glowed, swimming with the current and dotting the surface with shimmering, flowing textures. At the horizon where the sky met the sea, there was a range of black mountains. From the shape, she could recognize it as the Emerald Mountains—a reclining woman.
On the sea's surface, eight bioluminescent jellyfish, taller than mountains, circled in a ring. Beneath their bell-shaped bodies, tentacles swayed like willow branches, covered with members of the sea race. Fanli’s consciousness drifted over and found that the sea folk hanging under each jellyfish were categorized by their clans. The first was the Gath clan, the second the Bu Ke clan, the third the Oda clan, the fourth the Saint Ti clan, the fifth the Sephi clan, the sixth the Mather clan, the seventh the Jante clan, and the eighth had only two people: Li and Fanxing.
"Mama, what is going on?" Even from a distance, Li struggled to move her body, crying in fear. "Why are we trapped here?"
Fanxing was simply wailing.
"Lili, be good. Just stay here for now, I’m going to go ask." Fanli stroked Li’s head and drifted toward the jellyfish of the Bu Ke clan.
Like all the other Zong God descendants, most people hadn't figured out what was happening. Some were shouting curses, some were crying and cursing, and some were just crying. Only Ye Jia hung quietly from a tentacle, his expression as calm as ever.
Seeing Fanli arrive, Ye Jia waved at her. "Sui, you’re finally here."
"What exactly is going on?" Fanli tried her best to stay calm. "I don't believe you did this. But if you weren't involved, how could..."
"Sui, it’s wonderful that you trust me, but I didn't do it on purpose. It was that bastard High Chancellor. He used the Arcane to brainwash me while I was sleeping, manipulating my consciousness to make me unseal the soul fragments."
"What?!" Fanli was shocked and furious. "He actually did that! Can you manipulate it back now?"
"We’re already here, so of course not..."
"Try it?" Fanli moved closer to him, her hands helplessly grasping for his arm, but there was no sensation of touch. "Try it, maybe something will change?"
"Alright, I’ll try."
Ye Jia closed his eyes and began chanting, reciting the scriptures of the Bu Ke clan. After a while, he peeked with one beautiful purple eye. Seeing Fanli’s worried face, he suppressed a smile, coughed twice, and continued chanting.
"...You’re playing with me." Fanli let go, her voice cold. "You did this."
"As expected of the clever Sui-yi. You caught me," Ye Jia said with a smile.
"Why... why would it be you?"
"Why would it be me?" Ye Jia murmured, repeating the question as if discussing a mundane daily matter. Then, as if he had figured it out, he looked up and smiled. "No, Sui, I am not the mastermind. I am merely a tool to help the Queen awaken, a catalyst."
"The Queen?"
"Mhm. The true Lord of the Sea."
"Even if the price is the disappearance of the clans from this world?"
"For her, I think it’s worth it."
In this moment, seeing Ye Jia hanging relaxedly from the tentacle with a serene expression, Fanli felt he was a stranger—so strange that it felt as if she had never known this friend at all. She narrowed her eyes and said, "So, from the moment I gave you my trust, you were already prepared to betray me? Is that it?"
"No, I always supported Su Shiye in doing this. If you hadn't trusted me, this day might have come even sooner. It was precisely because you trusted me that I changed my mind, waiting to see if you could change and save this world. But, Sui, you’ve really disappointed me. Su Shiye disappointed me too; he wavered because he knew you might die. So, I simply had him abandon the plan and let the High Chancellor complete the task. He’s long been unhappy with the existence of the clans; this move happened to suit his desires perfectly..."
"Wait, let me interrupt. You’re saying you want *me* to save the world?" Fanli laughed in disbelief. "Do you think I can save a world by myself? Or do you have other demands of me?"
"From the moment you married Su Shiye, you became just like most other women. When a woman indulges too much in a man’s love, she becomes quite brainless. Only a woman who can completely break free from men can be a sovereign on the stage of history."
"You are a man yourself, and so was your father. If it weren't for the union between him and your mother, you wouldn't exist."
"But I didn't ask them to give birth to me."
Ye Jia’s matter-of-fact attitude made Fanli shudder. "Ye Jia, what is wrong with you? What kind of nonsense are you talking? Su Shiye can act crazy because his original body was a Sea God hybrid. You have the purest blood of the Sea God descendants flowing in you, the Bu Ke surname that countless people admire, and the knowledge and social status many spend their whole lives failing to achieve... You were born a favored son of heaven. What are you so dissatisfied with in this world?"
"Because I am tired of this world’s power struggles. I am tired of a life where a person’s worth is judged by bloodline and clan. My parents' tragedy stemmed from this struggle between people. If I fight for it, I become the person I hate most. But if I don't fight, I..." At this point, Ye Jia glanced at her and smiled softly. "Never mind."
"Whatever you want to say, say it."
"It’s nothing. I don't have anything I want."
"Ye Jia, you have a psychological illness, truly. Your thoughts are unhealthy. Find a way to get everyone out of here right now, and then I’ll take you to get counseling."
"I have a psychological illness?" Ye Jia looked into the distance and laughed. "Who decided that being different from everyone else means having a mental illness? You think I’m sick, but I think this world is sick. To be honest, Sui, if you hadn't been seduced by Su Shiye’s love and had carried the revolution all the way to the end, perhaps I would have chosen to follow you and abandoned that ancient god who vanished 430 million years ago. But you... sigh, let’s not talk about it. Now, let us return to Mother Deep Blue’s embrace together. Look, it’s been so long since we’ve seen each other, and you didn't even seem to miss me."
"Of course I missed you!" Fanli said urgently. "I didn't just miss you; I missed Fengjin, Xitian, Sister Xunyue... I often talk to Xiao Yu about our harmonious life in the Light Sea. So many of our friends are here. I was planning to come back and see you all after the baby was born. How could you think no one cares about you?"
"See? Since everyone misses each other, wouldn't it be better to fuse together and return to Mother Deep Blue’s embrace? Once we are all merged, there will be no distance between hearts..." At this point, Ye Jia turned his gaze to Fanli’s face, his eyes bright and fragile, like two amethysts filled with water. "You and everyone, me and everyone, me and you—we can all be together this way."
Fanli was certain Ye Jia was deeply ill. The terrifying part was that for so long, he had acted more like a detached, normal person than anyone else. She knew it would be difficult to change him, but she tried one last desperate effort: "I will not be 'together' with you all. Because I am the part Deep Blue rejects most."
"Would Deep Blue reject her own wisdom? Impossible."
"No, the meaning of 'Sui' isn't just wisdom."
"...You mean, selfishness?" Ye Jia frowned and thought for a moment. "I don't believe it. You aren't selfish at all; one could even say you are selfless."
"Do you see why everyone else is bound while I can move freely? My body is still in the vessel. The moment I open my eyes, I will vanish from before you."
As she spoke, Fanli opened her eyes for a moment and indeed vanished from Ye Jia’s sight. Two seconds later, she re-entered the Creation Furnace from reality.
"Do you see? Deep Blue’s main body repels me; she won't let me in." Seeing Ye Jia’s surprised expression, Fanli sighed. "If you hoped to 'punish' me this way, it might be useless."
"Thank you for having the patience to talk to me so much. I only have two things I want to tell you."
"Go on."
"First, recreating Deep Blue is an irreversible process. Even if you destroyed the Furnace now, it would be to no avail. However, even if I could take it back, I wouldn't regret doing this."
"Why?"
"Because, second," Ye Jia looked at her with a smile, remaining still for a very long time before slowly saying, "It’s good that you can survive. It’s good that you can continue being a mediocre, foolish woman."
Fanli gritted her teeth, her eyes brimming with angry and sorrowful tears. "Am I the fool, or are you? No, you’re not just a fool, you’re insane! I have nothing left to say to you!"
She turned and left. But Ye Jia wasn't affected at all. Instead, he let out a long breath and looked up at the sky. There was nothing but darkness above, yet like a death row prisoner before execution, he saw a starry sky and moonlight different from any other day at the end of his life.
"The Lord of the Endless Oceans is about to be resurrected." High above the sea, he gazed at the Emerald Mountains shrouded in the night, as if seeing the form of the Lord of the Sea.
Fanli went to find Fengjin, Xitian, Yujin, Xunyue, Xiami, Qiong, Quinti, and the others. Xitian thought it was the High Chancellor’s doing alone and was roaring with rage, wishing he could tear through the dimensional space to rip the High Chancellor into ten thousand pieces. Xunyue was sad but calm, constantly comforting her "neighbors" above and below and saying goodbye to Fanli. Xiami and Qiong were far apart, shouting across the void to comfort each other. Quinti’s reaction was like a female version of Xitian...
"Sister Fanli, I really didn't expect to see you here," Yujin smiled. "What a pity that at the final moment, the person by your side fighting with you isn't me."
"Xiao Yu, don't be afraid. This won't be the final moment. Wait for me, everyone will be fine."
And Fengjin was strong in a way that made it impossible to imagine she was once a crybaby.
"Sui-yi, do your best." She wore a peaceful, gentle smile. "If you can save us, that’s for the best. If you can’t, don't blame yourself. Think about it—we’ve lived for several hundred years. If we were ordinary sea race, we’d be nothing but bones by now. I think you must be sadder than us, because my little nephew was just born..."
The tears she had been holding back surged out. Fanli went over to "hug" Fengjin, sobbing, "I will definitely find a way to save you all!"
"I don't understand. Why can you come here without being bound?"
"I’m not entirely sure. In short, I must have the soul fragment that Deep Blue wants the least."
"Soul fragment?" Fengjin looked around, finally understanding what the eighth empty jellyfish meant. "You mean... you are also a descendant of a Zong God?"
Fengjin’s mother, the Saint Ti Clan Head, heard their conversation and shouted from below, "The one with a soul fragment in their body isn't a descendant of a Zong God. She should be a Zong God herself."
"A Zong God?!" Fengjin gasped. "How is that possible? Didn't the Zong Gods emerge 430 million years ago and vanish 30 million years ago? How could one live until now?"
"I don't know. But it seems to be proven now that such a thing is possible."
This was the reason Fanli had to live and reproduce.
She was the Eighth Zong God who had been silent for five eras, and she was the most complete fragment preserved by Deep Blue.
If she vanished, Deep Blue would vanish forever, and Arcane divine power would completely disappear from the endless oceans. Fel and Arcane would no longer exist as opposing poles; Fel would swallow the Arcane, and no one knew what kind of disaster would follow.
By the time he reached Saint Yejiana, Su Shiye was so exhausted his chest was heaving violently. He was panting so hard his heart felt like it would explode, and he couldn't even close his mouth.
There was almost no one on the streets except for police patrols. The entire city had fallen into chaos.
At the Emerald Mountains of Saint Yejiana, the undersea mountain shaped like a reclining woman had been curled up for 430 million years. Now, it triggered an unprecedented, massive earthquake. Schools of fish began to panic, dolphins leaped through the water, and corals simultaneously released a blizzard of gametes. The "body" of the Goddess Mountain turned from greenish-gray to a dark gold.
Beside Su Shiye, a massive number of marine creatures rushed toward the Emerald Mountains, circling above the range, instinctively anticipating this feast that had spanned 430 million years.
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 苏伊 | Sui | The name/concept meaning both "Wisdom" and "Selfishness." |
| 圣耶迦那 | Saint Yejiana | A major city/location in the sea. |
| 翡翠山脉 | Emerald Mountains | The mountain range shaped like a reclining goddess. |
| 独.裁官 | High Chancellor | A high-ranking political official (lit. Dictator). |
| 圣提 | Saint Ti | One of the seven great clans. |
| 奥达 | Oda | One of the seven great clans. |
| 赛菲 | Sephi | One of the seven great clans. |
| 兼特 | Jante | One of the seven great clans. |
| 燃烧之海 | Burning Sea | A rare phenomenon occurring every 100,000 years. |
| 以太之躯 | Etheric Form / Etheric Body | Su Shiye's specialized form for high-speed travel. |
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