From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

Duanmu Ying didn't understand at all.

But Jiang Liu seemed to have thought of the key point and said, "You can think of it as a way of life similar to that of ants and bees, where the queen ant or queen bee rules over all the ants and bees. Compared to the queen ant or queen bee, the ants and bees are like tireless machines, working hard without complaint, and are the queen ant or queen bee's faithful messengers and executors of commands!"

Duanmu Ying immediately understood.

Honey can also be used in medicine, and it is a traditional Chinese medicine in itself. Therefore, Jishetang also has connections with beekeepers, and Duanmu Ying naturally has some understanding of the habits of bees.

Jiang Liu continued, "The way of life for merfolk should be the same as that of the Mermaid Granny. Considering the extremely strong spiritual power I sensed earlier... could every merfolk be considered an incarnation of the Mermaid Granny?"

That's it!

Gu Qian nodded vigorously, “In the legend of the Dragon Otter, there is a saying about the Merfolk: Merfolk are of one body and one mind, their flesh is but a shell, their only essence is eternal!”

Gu Kun also said, "Because the Mermaid's main body is too large, it is difficult for her to go out. Most of the time, she can only rely on the Mermaid clones to catch food for her."

"understood."

Jiang Liu nodded slightly, fully understanding the situation of the Mermaid—because of her enormous size, she was unable to move easily, so she needed a group of bodies to carry her spirit and will, thus enabling her to roam the ocean.

However, with so many clones, some will inevitably be forgotten. Therefore, the merfolk who are not "descended" by the spirit of the Mermaid will starve to death even if they are hungry, as they cannot rely on their instincts to hunt. The Mermaid must have set "restrictions" so that she would rather her clones starve to death than allow them to rely on their instincts to eat.

Why?

The reason is simple: such a human-like monster, once it develops instincts, is not far from developing self-awareness.

and so!

Mermaids can edit genes?!

No, we need to find out exactly what Gu Qian and Gu Kun know about the Mermaid!

Upon realizing this, Jiang Liu immediately inquired.

In fact, Gu Qian had never seen the Mermaid in person. He had only heard from his deceased elders that the Mermaid had no head or tail, was a long strip, and was covered with black fleshy scales, among which were dense white suckers, which were the Mermaid's placenta.

The mermaid mother wriggles her body and squeezes the placenta, expelling the mermaid embryo from her body, thus completing the gestation process.

"The Mermaid isn't a fish?" Upon hearing about the Mermaid's appearance, Jiang Liu, though he had never seen it in person, could imagine that it was nothing like a fish, but rather a marine creature similar to a sea cucumber or sea anemone.

Then the problem is coming.

How did a marine creature similar to a sea cucumber or sea anemone give birth to this half-human, half-fish merman?

Could it be that they really have gene editing technology?

"Is this guy brainless?"

at this time.

Duanmu Ying exclaimed in surprise.

She had already cut the entire merman open, revealing its stinking, rotting organs, but the brain was nowhere to be seen!

Do not!

It's not that it doesn't have a brain!

The mermaid's head was connected only by dense white and yellowish silk threads, with a brain the size of a peanut in the very center.

The mermaid's brain was only the size of a peanut, so much so that Duanmu Ying almost overlooked its existence.

"It really is a fish!"

Duanmu Ying got up, walked to the water wall and emerged, reached into the water and washed away the black and green bloodstains on her hands, muttering to herself, "His brain is about the size of an ordinary grass carp."

The filthy blood spread in the water, and its unique smell awakened the other sleeping merfolk. They swam out of the caves in the coral reef and circled the seawater separated by the golden rhinoceros horn, as if wondering why there was a bubble underwater that wouldn't rise.

Upon seeing the living merfolk, Gu Qian and Gu Kun seemed to recall the memories of being bound and restrained in the paper boat by the merfolk. Baring their teeth, one held a dragon-curved short dagger while the other held an ordinary dagger. They jumped out of the bubble, the sea array patterns on their bodies disappeared, fish fins and dragon fins grew from their backs, and three gills appeared on each side. Using both hands and feet, they moved like dragons swimming in the water and quickly attacked the merfolk.

After witnessing the power of the Sea-Penetrating Array Pattern firsthand, Jiang Liu said with great interest, "This ability is indeed somewhat similar to alchemy."

Alchemy?

Duanmu Ying blinked. "Is this a Western ability?"

"In the East, we mainly cultivate Qi, while in the West, we mainly cultivate alchemy. Among alchemy, there is a technique called human body transformation, which can deform the body, or turn it into inorganic materials such as steel, or directly strengthen the physical body, turning it into a body similar to a monster."

Jiang Liu spoke meaningfully, looking at Gu Qian and Gu Kun, who were as agile as fish and dragons in the water, "But they also have the characteristics of refining Qi, which can enhance their physical functions, but it seems to be effective only in water... If there is no water, their strength is reduced to one-tenth, just like fish out of water."

Speaking of "fish", Jiang Liu thought of the Qi-formation talisman that resembled both a fish and a bird. Fish and birds are one, with fish swimming in shallow waters and eagles soaring in the sky. Seeking only one of them is probably one of the fundamental reasons why the Hentian Clan split into two and eventually broke out into a fight.

Snapped!

Above the bubble, a mermaid had its nape severed by Gu Qian's dragon-arc dagger, and it fell straight down, dehydrated, and landed in front of the river.

Compared to the merman corpse that Duanmu Ying had violently "dissected" earlier, this one was clearly much fresher.

then.

Jiang Liu took out a dagger and a kitchen knife from his storage ring and handed them to Duanmu Ying, indicating that she should dissect the "fresh" merman again to see if its brain matched that of the merman corpse that had been dead for who knows how long.

"Don't you also know medicine?" Duanmu Ying asked.

"But Mu Ying is the real professional doctor! I only studied medicine to understand cultivation. When it comes to anatomy, I can't compare to a genius like you!" Jiang Liu praised.

"I didn't realize you were such a good flatterer! It's just that you have a bad memory. I've already told you, my surname is Duanmu!"

Duanmu Ying was a restless person to begin with, and now that Jiang Liu had praised her, she laughed even harder. She was a little dissatisfied with how Jiang Liu addressed her, but in the end she still took the dagger and didn't mind the kitchen knife.

A kitchen knife for chopping fish —

Just what I wanted!

However, seeing Duanmu Ying's skillful techniques in gutting, scaling, and gill-removing fish, Jiang Liu realized that Duanmu Ying didn't know any professional dissection techniques at all; she only knew how to kill fish.

Seeing that this mermaid's brain was the same size as the previous one, only the size of a peanut, Duanmu Ying lost interest. But seeing Jiang Liu watching with great interest, she suddenly had a bright idea and asked with a grin, "Do you think this mermaid's fish tail is edible? It's so big, if it's edible, it must be worth a lot of money, right?"

How could Jiang Liu not notice Duanmu Ying's subtle actions? He nodded seriously and said, "It is indeed a question worth considering."

After saying that, he took out torches and firewood from his storage ring and said, "Why don't we give it a try?"

"What kind of things do you keep in this storage ring?" Duanmu Ying's mouth twitched, not expecting that Jiang Liu really wanted to try roasting merfolk.

"Om-"

At that moment, even more merfolk emerged from the holes and caves in the coral reef, forming a dense swarm that created a tornado around the bubble. Terrified, Gu Qian and Gu Kun dared not linger and hastily swam back into the bubble, gazing with lingering fear at the hundreds upon hundreds of merfolk outside…

# Chapter 491 Shocking the Hundreds of Miles

Outside the bubble, thousands of merfolk surrounded it, all opening their mouths in unison and emitting an extremely piercing sound.

These sounds could be linked together and transmitted into the bubble, causing Gu Qian and Gu Kun to cover their ears with their hands.

But Duanmu Ying only frowned.

Jiang Liu, however, was completely unaffected. Relying on his perception of the sound waves, he slowly said, "It's a rather peculiar sound wave attack that can affect a person's magnetic field, causing them to become mentally weak... But it's not very efficient at utilizing mental energy. Even an ordinary person can endure it if they just bear with it. As long as their physical condition isn't too poor, this sound wave alone won't kill them."

Could it be that the Mermaid Granny is someone with immense spiritual power, but doesn't know how to utilize it?

It's not impossible.

Just like the skill of mental energy scanning, if Jiang Liu hadn't obtained the corresponding usage method from Zhan Lan, he wouldn't have been able to unleash his enormous mental energy.

The use of some skills requires a corresponding "formula"!

Otherwise, even if one possesses immense mental strength, it is all in vain if one does not know how to project that mental strength.

As the sound waves of the merfolk spread, ripples spread across the entire ancient coral reef area. The dragon fire, which was carried by the sea currents, was also drawn over and formed a wonderful connection with the sound waves. It was reflected on the outside of the bubbles and formed magnificent and dazzling crystal palaces, where mermaids danced and clam maidens sang, which was a sight to behold.

“This ‘mirage’ is quite good. It resonates with the sound waves and the flowing energy, and uses dragon fire to create an illusion that strikes the soul directly, reflecting the inner world of the human heart.” As he spoke, Jiang Liu saw that Gu Qian and Gu Kun had unconsciously lowered their hands from covering their ears, and Duanmu Ying’s eyes were also slightly unfocused. He couldn’t help but take a deep breath and exhale a single word, “Zha.”

Da Yin Xisheng.

This method originates from the breathing techniques of Xiao Yun and Xiao Yu. It involves using breath to produce sound and rhythm to move the body, allowing one to perceive the naturalness of breathing. It can captivate the mind and soul, and can also be a wake-up call.

In an instant.

All three of them regained consciousness and felt a wave of fear.

"Is this what merfolk are? They can create illusions with sound waves, construct mirages using dragon fire from the ocean, and even connect directly with people's minds. They are simply impossible to defend against."

Duanmu Ying watched the merfolk singing outside the bubbles, their fish tails swaying with the waves, and felt a little scared. She asked Jiang Liu, "Can we kill them all?"

"Yes, but I don't want to alert them right now."

Jiang Liu wanted to find the mechanism to activate the Jianmu tree first, so he held the Heavenly Golden Rhinoceros Horn and told Duanmu Ying, Gu Qian, and Gu Kun to hold their breath and not be bewitched by the mermaid's unpleasant singing, and continued to walk towards the center of the ancient coral reef.

After traveling two or three miles, we arrived directly beneath the Jianmu tree.

What appears before Jiang Liu is a huge natural basin-shaped rock, which looks like a giant cauldron sculpted by nature's ingenious craftsmanship.

Its diameter is comparable to that of the Jianmu tree.

The "Ding" contains several bronze cauldrons, all bound by chains, with a huge coral iron tree in the very center.

It's less like a cauldron and more like a coral bonsai planted on the seabed.

The merfolk outside the bubble arrived here, but dared not approach.

Seeing this, Gu Qian and Gu Kun volunteered to leave the bubble again, quickly circled the stone cauldron planted with coral iron trees, and then returned to report the situation.

Gu Qian said, "There is a crack inside the stone cauldron, and below it, there seems to be a giant creature wriggling. That is the Mermaid!"

Gu Kun said, "There is a black wooden coffin inside that coral iron tree."

"This place is beneath the Jianmu tree. The coffin contains the zombie suppressed by the Jianmu image in the sea-penetrating array patterns on your bodies."

Jiang Liu used his magnetic pull to lift Duanmu Ying, and together with Gu Qian and Gu Kun, they arrived at the coral iron tree thicket and found the coffin. "Would you like to open it and take a look? Inside might be the clan leader who worshipped the bird totem and was killed by your ancestors."

Gu Qian and Gu Kun exchanged a glance, both curious about their ancestors' past. They nodded in agreement and prepared to lift the coffin lid themselves.

The coffin had been submerged in seawater for a thousand years and was already decayed. The two men opened it without much effort, revealing a greenish-blue human figure.

"Why is the corpse green? Could it be the legendary green zombie?"

Green zombies are a type of zombie in the eyes of the common people. They are agile and almost indistinguishable from humans, but they are afraid of sunlight.

However, practitioners of the corpse-driving lineage do not acknowledge this distinction.

Jiang Liu pointed to the green body and said, "Take a closer look, this is not a corpse, but a bronze statue."

"It really is true!"

Upon closer inspection, Duanmu Ying discovered that this was indeed a bronze figure, but it was different from the other bronze figures she had seen in the bronze hall. Its face was completely different, and its entire body was covered with hundreds of holes filled with sea sand used for casting bronze. What was even more peculiar was that this bronze figure had four arms, each holding a jade plate with ancient seal script characters, all of which were numbers from the I Ching, seemingly containing endless mysteries. Below were thin jade pillars that appeared to be able to rotate.