Douluo Continent: Tonight, a Fairy Tale Descends.

Her gentle voice and beautiful smile seemed to have a magical power, easing the children's tension considerably.

Tang San didn't say anything, but silently walked into the wooden house and checked the props needed for the awakening ceremony—six black awakening stones and a blue crystal ball used to test soul power level.

The items were very simple, but sufficient.

The ceremony was led by Cinderella, with Tang San assisting her.

“First one, Gou Dan, come in.” Cinderella called a child’s name.

A dark-skinned, sturdy little boy timidly entered the wooden house. Guided by Cinderella, he stood in the center of a simple array composed of six Awakening Stones.

Cinderella released a wisp of soul power, infusing it into the Awakening Stones. Instantly, a layer of golden light emanated from the six stones, forming a pale golden light shield that enveloped the child named Gou Dan.

Golden light streamed into Gou Dan's body, causing him to tremble slightly and a pained expression to appear on his face.

“Extend your right hand,” Cinderella gently guided.

Dog Egg did as instructed and extended his right hand.

Instantly, all the light spots surged out, and in a flash, a small hammer gleaming with a faint gray light appeared in his palm.

The hammer appeared to be even smaller than a cast hammer.

“It’s a hammer spirit. But it’s just an ordinary iron hammer, without any spirit power.” Cinderella glanced at it and announced softly, while handing the blue crystal ball to Dog Egg.

The crystal ball did not react at all.

The expectation on Gou Dan's face instantly faded. He pouted, almost bursting into tears, and walked out with his head down. A helpless sigh came from outside.

The next few children were in a similar situation; none of them had soul power.

After all, it's extremely difficult for ordinary people to give birth to a child with spiritual power.

……

Deep-sea whale habitat.

This vast sea, imbued with the power of the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, is deep, silent, and carries an eternally unchanging desolation.

After returning to familiar surroundings from Ursula, Blue Buddha's enormous body swiftly slid into its nest, adorned with giant corals and luminous jellyfish.

As soon as she returned, she couldn't wait to throw out all the trinkets she had traded with Ursula.

One is a music box meticulously inlaid with pure white coral and fragments of seashell, while the other is a huge seashell screen that is as smooth as a mirror and has natural spiral patterns on its edges.

She first touched the music box with her soul power.

A soft, melodious tinkling sound immediately rang out. The sound was peculiar, unlike any cry of a sea spirit beast she had ever heard.

Then, the music box began to simulate various sounds from the seabed: the soft rustling of scales rubbing together as schools of small fish swam by, the long, drawn-out calls of distant whales, and even the muffled bubbling of deep-sea hydrothermal vents...

These sounds intertwine to create a vivid yet illusory underwater soundscape.

Lan Fuzi's huge eyes immediately lit up. She carefully used her fins to pluck at the music box, listening to the lively sounds coming from inside, which were completely different from the real, deathly silence she was in, and felt very novel.

After playing with the sounds for a while, she turned her attention back to the seashell screen.

She remembered Ursula saying that the screen could project simple stories of light and shadow.

Lan Fuzi tried to inject a tiny bit of soul power into the screen.

The surface of the shell screen rippled with water-like patterns, and then some blurry light and shadow began to gather and change on it.

Chapter 175 The Return of the Blue Buddha

On the seashell, Lan Fuzi saw some distorted, jellyfish- and fish-shaped lights chasing and playing on the screen. Although the picture was simple and the colors were limited to the gleaming white and pale blue light emitted by the seashell itself, the sense of story in the movement still captivated Lan Fuzi.

In the days that followed, the music box that could produce various sounds and the seashell screen that could display stories of light and shadow became Lan Fuzi's best companions to relieve her loneliness.

Of course, during this time, the human world described by Ursula would indeed occasionally appear in her mind.

That place with real lights, cities, and gatherings, along with the noise from the music box and the stories on the shell screen, sketched a vague yet alluring outline in her mind.

However, even the most novel things will eventually become tiresome.

Music boxes can only simulate a few sounds. After listening to them dozens of times, Lan Fuzi could even predict what the next sound would be.

The light and shadow stories on the shell screen are even simpler, just the same few patterns moving back and forth, with no new tricks to be found.

She lowered the fins infused with soul power, and the light and shadow on the shell screen dimmed, transforming it back into an ordinary, enormous shell.

Just as the music box finished playing its first round, the nest instantly returned to its original deathly silence, with only the sound of the ocean currents slowly surging.

A familiar sense of emptiness and boredom washed over her once again.

I'm tired of it.

Blue Buddha flicked her tail fins and circled the empty nest, looking at the two things that she had once loved so much, but now found them utterly boring.

Ever since she visited Ursula, witnessed those novel and interesting things, and experienced that brief but fulfilling joy, she found herself unable to adapt to the unchanging desolation and emptiness of the Deep Sea Whale Sea.

After experiencing excitement, how can one endure eternal loneliness and boredom?

The disparity created by this comparison made Lan Fuzi feel particularly uncomfortable.

She shook her enormous head, deciding she couldn't stay there any longer.

She's going back to Ursula!

Go find that deep-sea witch and trade her for even more fun things! And this time, she also wants to hear more stories about the human world.

Thinking of the scenes Ursula described, Lan Fuzi felt a ticklish sensation in her heart, as if tiny claws were scratching at it.

However, before leaving, she still had to go see her father and mother.

Her enormous body silently slid out of the nest, swimming towards the core of the deep-sea whale's territory, where the energy was most concentrated.

In that area, surrounded by an invisible force field, enormous figures, as large as mountains, floated silently in the dark sea. Their breathing was long and slow, and their bodies emanated heart-pounding energy fluctuations, clearly indicating that they were still in a deep slumber of cultivation.

Lan Fuzi glanced at them from afar and, seeing that her parents were still asleep, felt relieved.

She changed direction and, without hesitation, swam towards the edge of the abyss where the Ursula Fishbone Cave was located, following the path she remembered coming from.

The speed was faster and more urgent than last time.

Lan Fuzi wasn't worried at all about the items being exchanged.

Those glittering stones, or her shed old scales, piled up like small mountains in her father's treasury, were nothing compared to what she possessed.

As the daughter of the Deep Sea Demon Whale King, she has no shortage of these treasures that are invaluable to other sea spirit beasts.

All she could think about now was the new toys Ursula might have, and that bizarre human world.

This time, her curiosity was even more intense than before.

……

Lan Fuzi had traveled the route from the Deep Sea Whale Sea to the Ursula Fishbone Cave many times, and this time she knew it all too well.

Her enormous body moved swiftly through the dark seawater. The sea spirit beasts around her, sensing her presence, quickly gave way and dared not obstruct her in the slightest.

The closer they got to the edge of that abyss, the more anxious Lan Fuzi became.

Ursula's description of the human world kept replaying in her mind—the lights, the noise, the sights she had never seen before—as if they had a magical power to attract her.

In comparison, the eternal silence and vastness of the Deep Sea Whale Sea made her unable to stay there for even a minute.

Finally, the familiar area formed by the skeletons of a giant ancient sea beast appeared ahead.

Hu Shan and Jia Shan, the two electric eels who had been patrolling near the cave entrance for millennia, continued to do their duty diligently. Sensing Lan Fuzi's undisguised powerful aura, they immediately turned their heads warily. However, when they saw who it was, the crackling electricity on their bodies instantly subsided considerably, and they even approached with a hint of ingratiation, hissing in welcome.

Clearly, they still remember this big client who was generous and had an impressive background.

Ignoring their eagerness, the blue Buddha squeezed its massive body through the cave entrance and swam in impatiently.

Inside the Fishbone Cave, the scenery was still familiar to her.

Luminous jellyfish in shades of dark green, pale white, and light blue sway on the cave walls, casting a bizarre and surreal glow on the various strangely shaped corals, reefs, and hanging merchandise.

Ursula still perched on that enormous clam altar, seemingly forever maintaining that languid and mysterious posture.

Upon seeing Lan Fuzi enter, a fake yet enthusiastic smile immediately appeared on her alluring face.

“Oh! My dear Blue Buddha, welcome back again.” Ursula’s voice was as sweet as melting honey.

"Looks like those little gadgets from last time made your time quite enjoyable?"

“They’re all tired of playing,” Lan Fuzi said bluntly, his huge tail flicking impatiently, stirring up an undercurrent in the cave.

"Usura, do you have any other fun things to tell me? Also, tell me more about the human world!"

Her huge eyes were fixed on Ursula, filled with undisguised longing and curiosity.

A knowing smile flickered in Ursula's deep green eyes.

Sure enough, they took the bait.

This kind of simple and lonely little guy, once he's tasted the fun, can never go back.

She had also successfully aroused her curiosity about the human world.

"Tired of playing?" Ursula raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise, and gracefully spread her hand.

"It seems that those little things are ultimately no match for your refined taste and boundless curiosity, Lan Fuzi."

Ursula did not immediately produce anything new, nor did she begin to speak. Instead, she looked at Lan Fuzi with a gaze that held a mixture of regret and curiosity.

"The human world... it is indeed full of incredible sights and sounds. But just hearing my description, doesn't it always feel a bit distant, not quite real enough?"

Chapter 176 Are you leaving?

Lan Fuzi tilted his huge head, seemingly pondering Ursula's words.

Indeed, no matter how vivid Ursula's description is, it is still just language.

How big is the city? How bright are the lights? How lively are the gatherings? She couldn't really imagine it.

"Then... what should we do?" Lan Fuzi asked anxiously.

Seeing Lan Fuzi's anxious look, Ursula knew that the time was almost right.

She chuckled softly, and a tentacle reached behind the altar, fumbled around for a moment, and then took out two items.

It is a small whistle carved from some kind of white bone, with simple wavy patterns engraved on it.

The other was a somewhat deformed, rusted brass frame with a few colorful, thin, fragile pieces of material resembling fish scales.

“Just hearing about it isn’t enough to satisfy my curiosity.” Ursula pushed the two items in front of Lan Fuzi.

"This whistle, when blown, can simulate the hustle and bustle of a market in a human city. Although it is brief, it may give you a sense of the atmosphere there."

“And this,” she said, pointing to the brass frame, “I found this on a sunken human merchant ship. They called it a kaleidoscope. Looking through this small hole, you can see ever-changing, dazzling patterns made up of colored fragments. It’s said to mimic the dazzling lights that humans see during festivals.”

These two items were naturally chosen by Hu Shan and Jia Shan, following her instructions, from seas closer to land and frequently navigated by human ships.

The bone whistle was imbued with a tiny bit of sonic magic. The kaleidoscope, on the other hand, was just an ordinary toy.

But in the eyes of Lan Fuzi, who had never been in contact with human creations, these two things exuded an indescribable charm.

"Really?" Lan Fuzi's eyes widened instantly, and his huge body leaned forward slightly due to excitement, almost washing away some small items on the altar with the water flow he created.

She couldn't wait to use her soul power to roll up the bone whistle, bring it to her lips, and carefully blow it once.

"Waaah—"

A slightly shrill whistle rang out, followed by a brief but distinct burst of noise—a mixture of hawking, laughter, and the sounds of carriages and horses—that echoed through the cave.

Although these sounds were severely distorted and lasted for a very short time, they were undoubtedly earth-shattering and full of vitality to Lan Fuzi, who lived in the silent deep sea all year round!

Her huge eyes were filled with shock and wonder.

Next, she carefully picked up the rusty kaleidoscope and, following Ursula's instructions, aimed the small hole at a glowing jellyfish. Then, she squinted her huge eyes and leaned closer.

Through the small hole, she saw a symmetrical and dazzling pattern made of stained glass fragments that changed constantly with her slight movement.

Although the patterns are simple and the colors are somewhat dull due to rust and water stains, the regular, ever-changing, and man-made beauty still dazzles Lan Fuzi, who is used to seeing the natural scenery of the deep sea.

Is this what humans see as light?

"It's...it's amazing!" Lan Fuzi put down the kaleidoscope, her huge eyes sparkling with excitement, and her gaze towards Ursula was filled with admiration and longing.

"Usura, you're amazing! Are there any more of these things? Are there many more like these in the human world?"

Ursula looked at Lan Fuzi, who was completely captivated, and felt smug, but her face showed a perfectly appropriate hint of embarrassment.