On his way back through the underground cavern, Tu Xiao'an had planned on eating a few Fish Demon Giant Snakes to calm his nerves, but to his exasperation, these sentient creatures, once they realized an enemy was far stronger than them, would hide far, far away.

Tu Xiao'an just couldn't find a single one.

When he arrived back at the fork in the path, the sound of a flute once again drifted from the right-hand passage, calling for Tu Xiao'an to return.

Tu Xiao'an sneered and swam into the left-hand passage without a moment's hesitation.

He didn't know where this passage led, nor what kind of shock it would bring him.

After swimming into the left passage, it was surprisingly quiet. He didn't encounter a single creature along the way. If he had to mention anything, it was another school of jellyfish, shimmering with a magnificent, ethereal light.

However, Tu Xiao'an was swimming very fast, and his body was small, so he zipped past them in an instant.

After swimming for at least ten kilometers, the dimly lit cavern ahead suddenly opened up.

As Tu Xiao'an swam out, he found himself in an entirely new body of water. A large school of fish swished overhead.

He also saw large sea turtles, coral, and even more schools of fish of many different varieties, including several rare species.

'Wait.'

'I've completely left the underground cavern. This is more like a shallow sea.'

'Could I be underneath Wencheng's Moat?'

Wencheng had a Moat that connected directly to the ocean.

This body of water was vast and majestic, teeming with creatures of the Water Race, but they were all ordinary. There were no ferocious beasts.

Tu Xiao'an relaxed, swimming freely through the water.

The waters here were beautiful and pristine, completely unpolluted. Seagrass grew in dense patches. Some areas were desolate, while in others, underwater mountains loomed.

Suddenly, Tu Xiao'an saw a giant octopus. Its size was worthy of a deep-sea leviathan. Its tentacles were monstrous and terrifying, each arm at least a hundred feet long and as thick as the mast of a large ship.

It had hundreds of disc-shaped suckers, the largest of which were at least a foot in diameter.

'Holy crap.'

'As expected of the ocean floor; massive creatures are everywhere.'

This giant octopus was definitely the overlord of these waters. It seemed to be attached to something, its menacing posture causing schools of fish to give it a wide berth, not daring to get close.

'Interesting...'

Tu Xiao'an didn't need to use Insight to know this was one of the Awakened Creatures.

Otherwise, it couldn't possibly have grown to such an absurd size.

After spending so much time on Land, this underwater world was making Tu Xiao'an a little excited. It was a real eye-opener.

'Let's go have some fun with it.'

Tu Xiao'an swam toward the giant octopus. At only a centimeter long, he wouldn't attract any attention.

In the next moment, Tu Xiao'an floated before the giant octopus, then paused in surprise.

Beneath the giant octopus was a shipwreck; the creature was attached to it.

An octopus this large was more than capable of dragging a sailing ship down to the depths.

He just didn't know if the shipwreck beneath it was the result of an accident or an attack by the octopus.

Taking a closer look, he saw it was a modern ship, though it looked quite old.

'Why would the giant octopus be attached to this shipwreck? Could there be some treasure inside that it's guarding?'

Sunken ships were like great ocean treasures.

According to the records, there was enough gold and silver sunk at the bottom of the sea to buy a developed nation.

The treasures of the ocean were beyond human imagination.

'Could this shipwreck be one of them?'

A tiny Purple Gold Snake floated before the giant octopus. The octopus noticed the little snake and was instantly angered.

'A tiny reptile dares to loiter in front of me?'

SWOOSH...

A long tentacle swept toward him, fast and powerful. Tu Xiao'an saw it coming, smiled faintly, and dodged with ease.

Suddenly, his snake eyes narrowed, and a powerful, terrifying aura unique to the Snake Race enveloped the giant octopus.

The giant octopus's massive body shuddered violently, and it showed signs of fear. The aura inspired an instinctual terror within it.

It was large, and it was an Awakened Creature, but unfortunately, its Level was too low—only Level 16.

Tu Xiao'an prepared to drive the giant octopus away and check inside the shipwreck. He might even find some gold treasure.

However, he didn't get his hopes up too high. This was just the Moat, not the vast open ocean.

Even this deep, it had probably not escaped human scrutiny.

Tu Xiao'an's voice appeared in the giant octopus's mind. "Get out of the way. Let me see the ship."

The giant octopus knew it had encountered a powerful being. Despite the snake's tiny size, the terrifying aura it emitted made resistance unthinkable. A fear blossomed from the very depths of its soul.

Tu Xiao'an's Snake King aura was powerful; he was not to be trifled with.

The giant octopus began to move, slowly revealing the entire shipwreck.

"If there's something good inside, I'll let you go. If not, you can compensate me with your life."

Tu Xiao'an's cool, detached voice was tyrannical and unreasonable. It terrified the giant octopus, which felt as if a disaster had just fallen from the heavens.

Just as Tu Xiao'an was about to swim toward the shipwreck, he suddenly felt something snag him.

He glanced down. 'A fishhook?'

Of all the rotten luck, a large fishhook had snagged perfectly on one of his scales.

ZING...

The line attached to the hook went taut. Before Tu Xiao'an could react, an immense force yanked him straight up.

The fishing line was incredibly long. At the other end, it felt as if a powerful arm was pulling, so strong that Tu Xiao'an couldn't even react for a moment.

He didn't know how long he was being pulled upward, but it was for a good few minutes.

SPLASH...

He broke the surface of the water, flew through the air for a moment, and then slammed onto solid ground with a THWAP.

Dumbfounded. He was completely and utterly dumbfounded.

Tu Xiao'an was furious. Absolutely enraged. He, the great and mighty Snake King, who had ascended his throne, had just been caught like a common fish.

'What the hell?!' he raged internally. 'I was deep underwater! What kind of fishing line is that long?'

'It defies all logic!'

Besides, the person fishing was definitely no ordinary human. Both the line and the strength of the pull were far from normal.

He'd been reeled in without even having a chance to struggle.

Humiliating. He felt deeply and utterly humiliated. If word of this got out, how could he, the Bai Town Snake King, ever show his face again?

"Oh... I missed? I was trying to catch that giant octopus, but I ended up with a little snake instead?"

A surprised voice spoke, tinged with a hint of adorable confusion.

However, a pair of sparkling, beautiful eyes looked down at the little snake on the ground. The snake's body was covered in unique purple and gold stripes.

A smile played on her lips. She was naturally enchanting, her large, dewy eyes a mix of demonic allure and playful charm. "This little snake looks pretty good, too," she said. "Looks like my noodle shop will be serving snake soup again."