A useless person with five spiritual roots? I sacrificed the proud daughter of heaven.

Sheng He slowly approached the palace. She reached out her hand, tentatively trying to push open the door.

With a soft creak, the two merman statues outside the door suddenly emitted a blue light, holding long spears, and rapidly approached Sheng He.

Sheng He immediately stopped moving, and the merman statue also stopped, its pearl-encrusted eyes staring intently at Sheng He, and the long spear in its hand slowly raised.

"stop!"

A series of hurried footsteps came from inside the door, which was then pushed open, and a short-haired boy rushed out.

Upon seeing Sheng He, his eyes lit up, and he immediately rushed over.

"Miss Sheng, it really is you! What brings you here? Did you... did you come to find me?"

The short-haired boy looked at Sheng He, suddenly blushed, lowered his head, and stammered.

The two mermaid statues had already put away their spears and returned to their original positions, their light gradually fading away, as if everything that had just happened was merely Sheng He's illusion.

Upon hearing that familiar yet unfamiliar voice, Sheng He couldn't help but scratch his head and tentatively asked, "Are you... A Yuan?"

"Yes, I...I...Do you like how I look now?"

Sheng He rubbed her forehead; no wonder she didn't recognize A Yuan.

The boy in front of her was extremely tall, with neat blond hair, a small mole on his high nose, and thin lips pursed slightly due to nervousness. Apart from his still clear blue eyes, he was completely unlike the A Yuan that Sheng He had met before.

But... isn't A-Yuan a girl?

Sheng He opened her mouth, hesitated for a long time, and then didn't say anything.

As if understanding what Sheng He was thinking, A Yuan smiled and said, "I'm an adult now. Mermaids can differentiate their gender after reaching adulthood, and I am male now."

Sheng He watched A Yuan's Adam's apple bob up and down, and scratched his head again.

I don't really understand you mermaids.

A Yuan, however, excitedly took Sheng He's hand and led her into the palace.

"Why did you suddenly come to the island? I thought you had returned to the Qingyun Sect and was just about to go look for you!"

Just as Sheng He was wondering whether or not to tell A Yuan about Jiang Xuanli, A Yuan had already pulled Sheng He up to the second floor.

"Look, this is our incubation room. Every mermaid hatches here, returns to the sea to live, and returns here to choose her sex after she reaches adulthood."

A Yuan pointed to the eggs of various colors in the room, and suddenly blushed strangely. He secretly looked up at Sheng He and whispered, "If we have eggs in the future, we should put them here too."

"What did you say?"

"No...nothing."

A Yuan hesitated for a moment, then seemed to remember something, and pulled Sheng He along, running all the way to the third floor.

"I haven't properly thanked you for saving me and Ling'er last time."

There was only one room on the third floor, with the door slightly ajar. When A Yuan pushed the door open, countless jewels rushed out like a flowing river.

A Yuan was half-submerged in all sorts of rare and precious treasures. As he rummaged through the pile of gems, he waved to Sheng He.

“Xiao He, I see your sword is broken. Here is a magic weapon that would suit you, but this magic weapon might be a little…” A Yuan struggled to pull out a huge alchemy furnace from beside him and threw it aside. “It’s hard to find. Take a look for yourself first. If there’s anything you like, don’t be shy, just take it.”

Sheng He looked up at the alchemy furnace that was hurtling straight toward him, and quickly dodged to the side. The alchemy furnace bounced several feet high, passed over Sheng He, and rolled downstairs like a gust of wind.

Is this the treasure of Dragon Island?

Sheng He looked at the room full of glittering rare and precious materials and A Yuan, who was sweating profusely from searching for magical artifacts.

Why does it feel like this is not quite what I expected?

"found it!"

A Yuan wiped the sweat from his forehead and smiled as he held up a suit of armor.

"This was brought back by my father from a secret realm when he was young. Xiao He, you should try it!"

This is an armor made of copper coins strung together, which clink together and make a clear "ding-ding" sound.

A Yuan tied the armor to Sheng He's right shoulder and explained, "This is the Five Elements Copper Coin Armor. My father said that copper coins circulate in the human world and are imbued with yang energy. With all five elements present, it is most suitable for people with the five spiritual roots."

After tying it up, A Yuan frowned as he looked at the two empty red ropes around Sheng He's waist. He picked out two round pearls from the side, threaded them through the red ropes, and then nodded in satisfaction.

"By the way, you're missing a sword. I've heard that all sword cultivators forge their own natal sword."

As A Yuan spoke, she turned her right hand upwards, and a piece of gleaming white bone appeared in her palm.

Sheng He stared at the bone, her pupils dilating sharply: "This is..."

"This is dragon bone. I've heard that magical artifacts made from dragon bone are incredibly hard. You won't have to worry about your sword breaking anymore."

"This...you gave this to me, your father..."

"It's okay, my dad agreed."

A Yuan smiled sweetly. "Dad said that if you like someone, you should give her the best of everything. So it's just a piece of dragon bone. Dad will definitely agree."

She really needs a sword of her own right now.

Thinking of this, Sheng He didn't stand on ceremony anymore. He took the dragon bone and carefully put it into his storage bag. He then bowed to A Yuan and said, "Thank you, young master."

Ah Yuan waved his hand with a silly grin, and was about to say "No need to be polite" when his expression suddenly turned serious.

"Someone is trying to break in!"

As A Yuan spoke, he gestured for Sheng He to be quiet. He waved his hand, and a water mirror immediately appeared in front of the two of them.

"Junior Sister Yanran, there really is a Dragon Palace!"

Looking at the tall and solemn palace in front of him, Shen Ci felt a surge of excitement in his chest.

He knew it! This is Dragon Island! It holds all the treasures of the dragon, how could it be just a simple spring?

Shen Ci disregarded everything else and hurriedly walked towards the palace gate.

Zhao Yanran followed behind Shen Ci. When her gaze fell on the merman statues on both sides of the gate, she paused and took a few steps back.

Shen Ci, however, did not notice Zhao Yanran's abnormality at all. The immense excitement stimulated his brain nerves, and he reached out to push open the door without hesitation.

"Squeak."

The two merman statues emitted a dazzling blue light. Holding long spears, they turned around and thrust them straight at Shen Ci.

Shen Ci's expression showed a moment of panic, but he quickly calmed down and immediately took out several explosive talismans from his storage bag and stuck them on the merman statue.

"Oh!"

"Bang bang!"

A series of explosions rang out, and the merman-like creature, wielding a long spear, suddenly thrust it towards Shen Ci.

With a "clang!", Zhao Yanran drew her longsword and blocked the spear that the merman statue was thrusting at Shen Ci.

"How...how is it possible?"

Shen Ci murmured, looking incredulously at the unharmed merman statues in front of him. The sixth-grade explosive talisman he had drawn by hand could even injure a Nascent Soul cultivator, but it couldn't cause the slightest damage to these two merman statues.