While the Fighting Dolphin Clan Leader was familiarizing himself with his new ancestral talent, Vaan perford the bloodline awakening procedure on another nine Fighting Dolphins at the Demigod rank.
Among the nine Demigod-rank Fighting Dolphins, three awakened the sa [Poison Eater] ancestral talent, four awakened [Iron Stomach], one awakened [Far Sight], and the last one awakened [Hard Skin].
Evidently, not everyone could awaken the sa ancestral talent, and not all ancestral talents were great. So were higher ranked than others.
[Far Sight] only enhanced vision slightly, while [Hard Skin] toughened fleshly defense slightly.
[Iron Stomach], on the other hand, was sowhat better; it could process everything eaten into energy. It was more versatile than [Poison Eater] in energy conversation but significantly weaker in effects.
As such, [Poison Eater] remained the top ancestral talent within the Fighting Dolphin Clan's current pool of ancestral talents.
…
Soti later, Jamal returned to business after calming down from his excitent.
"Regarding the Celestial Kingdom and the Southern Sea, my clan does know a little bit, my Lord," Jamal ntioned.
"Rumor has it that the Southern Outer Sea had been especially chaotic in recent years, so the Ocean Master had been staying in the Southern Inner Sea to restore order at the sea border."
"However, the Ocean Master doesn't seem to have complete control of the sea monsters in the Southern Outer Sea," Jamal stated.
"Oh?" Vaan was surprised, but he also couldn't help but frown.
The Boundless Sea and Sky Aura had a much stronger influence on non-sentient life forms than sentient life forms. Yet, the Ocean Master was having trouble controlling the sea monsters in the Outer Sea.
Did that an the sea monsters in the Outer Sea were far more intelligent than he imagined?
Or were there other factors allowing the sea monsters to resist the Boundless Sea and Sky Aura on the Ocean Master?
Regardless, the Outer Sea was certainly a curious place.
"Which marine clan rules the Southern Sea?" Vaan asked.
"That would be the Iron-Scaled Shark Clan, my Lord," Jamal answered, adding, "They used to rule the Southwestern Sea until we drove them out. Now, they have beco a lifelong rival – They will find any chance to pick a fight with us when they can."
Of course, the Iron-Scaled Shark Clan would lose every ti it fought the Fighting Dolphin Clan.
Sotis, the Fighting Dolphin Clan even wondered if the Iron-Scaled Shark Clan just liked to be bullied by it.
"Does the Fighting Dolphin Clan not have access to the Dragon Vein?"
"What is a Dragon Vein, my Lord?"
Looking back at Jamal's blank expression, Vaan quickly understood he truly had no idea what the Dragon Vein was.
It was surprising that the Fighting Dolphin Clan didn't know about the Dragon Vein, given the Fighting Dolphin Clan Leader's good luck blessing.
If there were openings in the Southwestern Sea, the Fighting Dolphin Clan would have discovered the Dragon Vein long ago. Since that wasn't the case, the Dragon Vein's entrance could be obstructed or hidden.
Did the Iron-Scale Shark Clan hide them before it was driven out of the Southwestern Sea?
Vaan felt like this was possible.
After all, given the Fighting Dolphin Clan's fanatic drive towards body refining, it would have beco even more powerful if it had the aid of Golden Dragon Blood.
However, if the Iron-Scaled Shark Clan was weak enough to be driven out by the Fighting Dolphin Clan, it might not have access to the Dragon Vein either.
How can the Fighting Dolphin Clan not know about Golden Dragon Blood if the Iron-Scaled Shark Clan had been using it?
Indeed, after further inquiry, Vaan learned that the Fighting Dolphin Clan and Iron-Scaled Shark Clan never knew about the Dragon Vein and Golden Dragon Blood.
Upon further thought, Vaan recalled the Southwestern Sea's aquatic plants were thriving much better than the other Inner Seas he had visited. The overgrown kelp region was proof of it.
After reviewing the Southwestern Sea's geography, he figured the openings to the Dragon Vein had a higher chance of being found along the walls of the continental slope or the trench walls beyond the abyssal plain.
Walls of aquatic plants may have blocked the Southwestern Sea's entrance to the Dragon Vein.
However, the Southwestern Sea was also relatively flat and had little to no seamounts. It was mostly covered in corals and aquatic plants.
After reviewing the Southwestern Sea's geography, he figured the openings to the Dragon Vein had a higher chance of being found along the walls of the continental slope or the trench walls beyond the abyssal plain.
"How much do you know about the trench beyond the abyssal plain? Has your clan ever explored it?" Vaan asked curiously.
He was quite interested in that mana-rich sea region.
"Are you talking about the Forbidden Abyss that lies beyond the Abyssal Stone Plain, my Lord?" Jamal Squatz asked. After receiving Vaan's confirmation, he continued, "I'm afraid I will have to disappoint you, my Lord."
"So of our clan mbers have tried to explore it in the past. However, none of them has ever returned from the Forbidden Abyss. As such, we aren't able to learn much about it."
"That said, we do know that it's an especially dangerous place. There must be a reason why it has such a strong current to keep our weaker mbers out," Jamal speculated.
Only Demigods were able to swim against the strong discharging current and enter the Forbidden Abyss.
However, once they do, the Fighting Dolphin Clan has never seen them return, even when they were given strict orders to retreat as soon as they sensed danger.
As such, there was sothing eerie about the Forbidden Abyss—sothing that prevented the Demigod-rank Fighting Dolphins from ever returning once they entered that dark and gloomy place.
The murky black water reminded the Fighting Dolphin Clan of the toxic Outer Sea, while the strong water density made Vaan think about the deeper layers of the Dragon Vein.
The Forbidden Abyss seed to have a connection to the Dragon Vein, Outer Sea, and Chaos simultaneously.
"I'm going to explore it," Vaan suddenly said, shocking the Fighting Dolphins.
However, shortly after they recovered from their surprise, determination filled their eyes as they fearlessly volunteered to accompany him.
"My Lord, please allow to brave the secrets of the Forbidden Abyss with you!"
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