Chapter 722 - Everything Went South

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Treasure hunting in the Water World was an absolute pleasure. It was essentially bliss stacked upon bliss.

The floor of the Water World was riddled with treasure chests, and most of them contained only top tier items. Only a minority of them trash.

After going around for merely half an hour, Li Yi had already acquired dozens of legendary equipment. Since Foreignland had already been released, all the equipment that was produced here included the Holy Attribute, making them extremely valuable.

“Qian Qian, how’s your haul?”

“I only have 10% of my stamina gauge left, I’m currently going through my options carefully. I’ve already abandoned a lot of good equipment...”

“Same here...”

One of the hardest aspects of treasure hunting in the Water World was not the hunt itself, but rather, deciding which items to take.

If we were talking about Level 105 top-tier Epic-level Weapons, Li Yi had already tossed out twenty or so of them. If we were talking about Level 105 Top-tier Epic-level Equipment, then he had already tossed out thirty or so of them. It was not that he did not want them, but rather, his stamina gauge would not be able to support him if he had taken all of them.

There was still time to spare, and who would not wish to get better loot in this scenario?

Qian’er wished to do so, and naturally, so did Li Yi.

An hour later, the Mermaid Princess returned with a shiny little golden box in her arms.

It had been half an hour since Li Yi had ordered the Mermaid Princess to use Treasure Hunt.

Li Yi squeezed the Mermaid Princess’ dainty little face to show his gratitude. The intimate action had once again increased the Mermaid Princess’ Affinity towards him.

Li Yi was helpless against it. Even if he were to give the Mermaid Princess a knuckle sandwich now, her Affinity would continue to rise. It was no longer possible for her Affinity to decrease.

Li Yi took the golden box and immediately opened it.

A joyous jingle rang out...

[Congratulations, you have received 200 Rainbow Diamonds from the Precious Chest.]

‘200 diamonds...’

Seeing the cluster of sparkling Rainbow Diamonds in his grasp, Li Yi could feel his entire body squirming with excitement.

How big of a deal was 200 Rainbow Diamonds you ask?

If a ten-thousand-strong army of players were to march to the mining grounds right now and mine continuously without any form of rest, they would still take at least half a year to get this amount...

Rainbow Diamonds were a by-product of mining the Dark Crystal Rocks in Foreignland and were considered a rarity among rarities. Back in Li Yi’s previous life, he received a quest that required him to hand in 1 Rainbow Diamond. However, as the Auction House did not list any Rainbow Diamonds, he had to mine for it himself in the mining grounds. It took him a whole month just to get his first piece.

‘This thing’s so precious!’

“Hahaha, Lil Mermaid, you did a great job.”

Li Yi happily patted the Mermaid Princess’ head. The Mermaid Princess was so moved that tears began to streak down her cheeks, and her Affinity soared...

200 Rainbow Diamonds would allow Li Yi to carry out many of his plans.

“Continue using Treasure Hunt.”

With tears still in her eyes, she hurriedly swam away.

After checking his stamina gauge, Li Yi realized he had about 30 points left.

Qian’er messaged Li Yi, “Pervert, my stamina gauge only has 5 points left. I might be booted out at any moment, so, I’m not going to look for you.”

“Alright.” Li Yi promptly replied.

“HOLY COW! HOLY COW!”

While Li Yi was looking for underwater treasure, Lady Jiaojiao had stumbled into Li Yi’s room. Cries of envy came roaring out of her mouth when she noticed what was happening from the external display.

“Lil Yi’zi, how sneaky can you get? To think that you’ve wandered off to such a beautiful place all by yourself!”

Jiaojiao approached Li YI from the back and grabbed his neck in a chokehold.

“Stop making a fuss, I’m digging for treasure.”

Li Yi changed his POV to observation mode and lightly tapped at Jiaojiao’s slender hands.

“Tell me quickly, how can I reach you?”

“Try as you might, you’ll never reach me. I’m currently in the Water World, and its entrance opens randomly. Hell, even I’m not sure whether I can return for another round.”

“Hah? The Water World?”

Jiaojiao fell silent.

While looting the treasure chests, Li Yi asked Jiaojiao, “Oh yeah, how many Holy Points do you have now?”

Jiaojiao gleefully shook her little head. “16 Points, how about that?”

“Pretty good.”

“What do you mean pretty good? I’m way higher than Fox and the rest, and even Nirvana Inaction is 2 points lower than me. What about you? How many Holy Points have you accumulated?”

“I’m at 12 points.”

Jiaojiao took a moment to process the information before she laughed out loud.

...

Ding!

Ding!

[You have found a Water Soul Ring.]

[You have found a Shatter Skill Tome.]

[You have found a Multicolor Crystal Rock.]

...

A legendary Purple Quality Ring for Ice Wizards along with a rare Skill Tome and a rare crystal rock...

After eyeing the three items for quite some time and some internal struggle, he decided to abandon them. Though the three items were valuable, it was a shame that he could not use them. Since he was already carrying plenty of valuable equipment, Li Yi did not need them currently.

Another two hours went by, and Qian’er’s icon was now grayed out. As of that moment, Li Yi was the only person left in the Water World.

Li Yi’s stamina gauge only had 10 points remaining.

The Mermaid Princess, who had left after using Treasure Hunt for a second time, had yet to return. Li Yi’s heart was currently racing with trepidation. If he were to forcefully recall her now, he would not receive any items. As such, he patiently bade his time.

With treasure chests littered all over the place, Li Yi continued to open them. However, he had already decided that unless it was something that he could use, he would not take the items.

As he only had 10 points remaining in his stamina gauge, he could not randomly take items any longer.

After searching for about ten minutes and going through plenty of legendary equipment that he could not use, Li Yi gave them all up.

At long last, the Mermaid Princess finally came swimming back. She swam to Li Yi’s side and gave him a bear hug.

The Mermaid Princess was carrying a shiny object in her mouth, but since it was too deep, Li Yi could not what it was clearly. As such, he had to use his own two fingers to get it out from her.

The object was an extremely gorgeous aquamarine heart-shaped crystal. When held in his palm, it looked just like a water droplet, with dream-like luminance streaming through it, giving it a mysterious look.

Ding!

[You have received half of Heart of Water.]

‘Heart of Water? Half?’

Li Yi stared at the water droplet, dumbfounded.

The half of the Heart of Water did not contain any attributes, and aside from its beautiful appearance, it seemed to serve no other function.

‘What’s this thingamajig?’

After scouring his memories of his past life for any clues, Li Yi was forced to admit that he had never seen nor heard of this item before.

“Lil Mermaid, why’s it only half?”

Wearily, the Mermaid Princess shook her head. “I-It... It was already like that when I found it...”

“Maybe you should take a break for now.”

Li Yi caressed the Mermaid Princess’ head, and once again, the Mermaid Princess’ Affinity exploded.

With 9 points left in his stamina gauge, Li Yi decided that there was still plenty of time.

Li Yi logged onto Pantheon’s official site, keyed in Heart of Water and looked it up. However, the results shown were disappointing, as there was not a single mention of Heart of Water in the website’s database.

When something could not be found in Pantheon’s official site, there were only two possibilities. The first was that the game had no such item, and the second, was that the item was a divine construct!

‘Could the Heart of Water be a divine weapon?’

The moment Li Yi thought about the possibility of it being a divine weapon, he immediately went giddy with excitement.

‘However, how can I prove my theory?’

After lapsing into deep concentration, a spark of brilliance flashed across his mind as he came up with a good idea.

He took out the Mermaid Queen, Luna Summoning Scroll.

The scroll was a non-combat item, and since Li Yi’s rank was the same as the Mermaid Queen’s, even if Li Yi were to use the scroll in combat, the Mermaid Queen would not help him.

The scroll’s only purpose was to trigger a questline, that was all.

‘I guess it’s time for Lil Mermaid to meet her mom.’

“O Mighty Mermaid Queen, heed my summons and appear!”

As Li Yi continued to chant with a booming voice, a portal appeared from the scroll and out walked the Mermaid Queen, Luna.

Li Yi had originally thought that the Mermaid Queen’s encounter with the Mermaid Princess would be something warm and cheerful. Alas, he could not be even more off the mark.

The Mermaid Princess whimpered softly. “Mama...”

The Mermaid Queen extended her hand, and the Mermaid Princess involuntarily flew to her side. Following that, the Mermaid Queen forcefully dragged her into the portal, and they vanished shortly after...

As Li Yi stared wide-eyed at the scene from start to end, all the while having a bad feeling.

After checking his backpack, Li Yi was flabbergasted.

The Mermaid Princess Summoning Stone in his backpack had disappeared...

“***!” 1

Now that the summoning stone was gone, how could he summon the Mermaid Princess?

Does this mean that the Mermaid Princess was lost forever?

‘That god-damned scroll is a ***...’

Li Yi’s good mood was completely ruined by the turn of events.

He had not even gotten to the root of the Heart of Water mystery, and another incident had already popped up, completely ruining his mood to hunt for treasure.

‘Even if I get a divine weapon, would it come close to the Mermaid Princess?’

‘**** Mermaid Queen. I swear, if you don’t return my princess to me, I’ll raze the whole Mermaid Village to the ground!’

Li Yi’s heart was set ablaze.

After Li Yi had trudged back and forth for almost half an hour, the Mermaid Princess had yet to respond...

‘Now that the Teleportation Door had closed, how is she supposed to return?’

‘Motherf*cker!’

Li Yi cursed. After realizing that he had 8 points left in his stamina gauge, Li Yi reconsidered his options and headed to a nearby red chest.

Ding!

[You have found a Blazing Ring.]

[You have found a Chain Lightning Skill Tome.]

[You have found a Sky-Blue Diamond.]

Ding!

[You have found a Blue Crystal Necklace.]

[You have found a Group Blood Stasis Skill Tome.]

[You have found a Shattered Crystal.]

Ding!

[You have found half of the Heart of Water.]

[You have found a Skill Tome for Swamp King Summon.]

[You have found an Aqua Blue Diamond.]

...

Li Yi opened eight treasure chests in a single go, immediately depleting his stamina gauge and booting him out of the Water World...

It was only when he checked his spoils that he noticed that he had found the other half of the Heart of Water.

...