"Your Excellency, Leader."
Leon, who was unaware of what happened after he left, felt the currents surrounding him growing increasingly dense after the old rman had swept him away from the sea eye and back to the seabed of the Central Sea. As the water almost wrapped around him completely, he frowned and said:
"Shouldn't we break through the ice layer first? What are you doing?"
"Humph!"
As if he would suffocate without snorting, the old rman let out another cold snort and explained with a sullen face:
"After the seabed ice layer is completely destroyed, the temperature of the surrounding seawater will drop sharply. At that ti, although the surrounding seawater will still be liquid and not feel too cold to the touch, in reality, it will be a hundred tis colder!
Direct contact with that water will freeze you imdiately; even your soul and thoughts will beco sluggish. Only we of the Sea Race can use the thod of controlling the water current to mitigate this effect... Aren't you a board mber of the Cleansing Bureau? How can you not understand even this? And need to explain?"
The soul and thoughts would beco sluggish?
Having a preliminary understanding of the old rman's character, Leon ignored his sarcastic questioning. Instead, after pondering with a frown, he asked:
"So did Director Cancer and Director Scorpion 'disappear' because they ca into contact with these waters while breaking through the ice layer, becoming frozen underneath?"
"Humph!!"
With another cold snort at a higher pitch, the old rman continued to thicken the water currents around them, smirking as he said:
"More or less... But they probably dug up a small part of the sea eye that was frozen, and after being frozen, they directly floated upward, getting swept into the Cold Spring Realm by the water current."
"Cold Spring Realm?"
Leon asked in confusion:
"What is that?"
"Hehe."
It seed the old rman had been waiting for Leon to ask this question. As soon as Leon finished speaking, he imdiately taunted:
"A dignified board mber of the Cleansing Bureau, not knowing what the Cold Spring Realm is?"
"I really don't know."
Not wanting to deal with this seemingly ntally unstable old jerk, Leon calmly nodded and admitted:
"My ti as a board mber has been short, and I've only heard rumors of many secrets. I haven't had the chance to learn the specifics… Could you tell what the Cold Spring Realm is? Does it have anything to do with the seabed freeze incident?"
"..."
The most frustrating situation when mocking soone is not when they retort back angrily, but when they nonchalantly admit to your scathing attack.
Seeing Leon remaining unperturbed in the face of his provocation, the old rman looked a bit sullen and, after a mont of silence, explained with so boredom:
"The Cold Spring Realm is the origin of all sea eyes."
The origin of sea eyes?
Upon hearing this, Leon raised an eyebrow and, with a slightly surprised expression, asked:
"Does that an all the water in our world flows from the Cold Spring Realm?"
"More or less."
The old rman nodded impatiently, saying:
"There are many material planes like the current world, but not all of them have water. Even if they do, it's very sparse. Only those naturally connected to planes like the Cold Spring Realm have an 'ocean' level of water content."
"And in the Cold Spring Realm..."
"No people, no plants, no animals. A whole plane of water at a relatively low temperature, but not freezing… Didn't anyone from your Cleansing Bureau pass through the sea eye to the Cold Spring Realm? Didn't they leave you any records?"
"I don't know, but I feel there shouldn't be any."
Recalling the related files he had seen, Leon shook his head and replied:
"When the Bureau ntions surrounding planes, they generally only talk about the Realm of the Dead, the Abyss, Heavenly Mountain, and the Star Realm - four major planes, plus nine smaller ones like the Dream Realm and the Holy Spirit Realm. I haven't heard the other board mbers ntion the rest."
"Heh, they wouldn't ntion it."
The old rman sneered upon hearing this and said:
"What you just ntioned are all planes surrounding the current world. The Cold Spring Realm is not one of them; it's a plane within the scope of Old Soil. When discussing the surrounding situation of the current world, they naturally wouldn't include the Cold Spring Realm."
"Old Soil?"
Leon curiously asked:
"Isn't that far away? Why is it connected to the sea eye of the current world?"
Why... How co you know nothing?
Seeing Leon directing another curious gaze his way, seemingly waiting for an explanation, the old rman couldn't help but twitch his mouth, feeling like he was dealing with a clueless child learning to read and questioned, full of exasperation:
"Even the situation with Old Soil is unclear? How did you even beco a board mber of the Cleansing Bureau?"
"Uh… our Cleansing Bureau doesn't test for this knowledge when selecting board mbers. The main criterion is the talent in respective secret techniques."
"..."
Tsk, a bunch of illiterates!
Side-eyeing the 'ignorant and unlearned' Leon disdainfully, the old rman, having set up the protections, began breaking the ice layer and explained with patience:
"Old Soil is twisted and fragnted. Not only is it temporally chaotic and disjointed, with past and future appearing simultaneously, but there are also no stable rules on the spatial level; you can't infer it with the 'common sense' you know.
The planes surrounding the current world are like small houses built on a plain; once you leave one house, you can reach another after a walk. Even if the distances are vast, as long as your direction is right, you'll get there eventually.
But the 'houses' of Old Soil have no 'foundations'; they're haphazardly thrown into a massive backpack, constantly shifting. There's not even a definite 'up and down, left and right,' not to ntion 'inside and out' that might not be accurate.
You might think you're advancing, but you're likely retreating; you might feel like you're leaving a plane, but in fact, you're delving deeper into it. The Cold Spring Realm and the current world are indeed unimaginably far, yet they are directly connected via a sea eye, allowing instant passage… Understand?"
"Sort of beginning to understand…"
Leon nodded slightly, then asked with so confusion:
"If one can reach the Cold Spring Realm through the sea eye and then directly get to Old Soil, why didn't our Cleansing Bureau predecessors take this route to Old Soil?"
What do you understand, really?
Unable to resist rolling his eyes at Leon, the old rman continued breaking the ice with a snort:
"Didn't I just say? The planes of Old Soil are stuffed randomly, constantly shifting!
Your Cleansing Bureau might take star gates to Old Soil slowly, but at least you know where you'll end up. With the Cold Spring Realm route, who knows which plane you'll step into next once you leave?
If you get lost in Old Soil, given human lifespans and Old Soil's chaos, you might wander around till you die without finding a way back... Hiss!"
As the ice layer on the seabed shattered completely, revealing a glimpse of the azure sea eye below, even though a mbrane of water as thick as a large lake shielded him, the old rman couldn't help but shiver. He discreetly waved his hand, thinning the water mbrane around Leon a bit more.
"Below is the Cold Spring Realm, be careful yourself!"
Feeling the chill reaching Leon, the old rman was imnsely pleased inside, smirked, then said slyly:
"I promised to help you, but I can only guarantee you won't be in danger. If you can't handle it yourself, don't bla !"
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