The apocalypse struck, and I became a druid.

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They could only turn to Han Ning and Deputy Leader Qian for help.

Deputy Chief Qian frowned, not responding directly, but turning to Wang Jianshe beside him: "Jianshe, can you handle this?"

Wang Jianshe sensed for a moment, then shook his head, his tone grave:

“His mental fluctuations are very chaotic. My abilities are more inclined towards perception, and I am not proficient in this kind of... means of protecting or purifying the mind of others.”

Han Ning also spoke up, saying, "My mental power is mainly used for exploration and attack; I don't know much about how to stabilize or protect the consciousness of others."

"What should we do then?" Feilong's face was grim.

At this moment, Yu Na stepped forward, a flash of dark blue fire in her eyes, and said calmly, "Let me try?"

"Go ahead." Han Ning knew Yu Na's abilities and nodded slightly.

Yu Na closed her eyes, and a layer of illusory, ghostly blue flames rippled around her.

As if guided, the dark blue spiritual flames inexplicably ignited on Li Qingshui.

The flames, like a gentle veil, gradually covered Li Qingshui's head, eventually enveloping his entire head.

Li Qingshui's violent trembling seemed to have subsided slightly, and the inhuman roar had also weakened considerably, but the pain on his face had not completely faded.

As Yu Na helped Li Qingshui, her face grew paler and paler, and her whole body began to tremble like Li Qingshui's. Even the flames on her body flickered, as if they might go out at any moment.

"Nana..." Han Ning frowned, hesitating whether to intervene and forcibly sever the mental connection between the two.

Suddenly, Yu Na opened her eyes.

Those beautiful eyes, tinged with a layer of eerie blue flames, were now bloodshot.

"Cough cough..."

She coughed weakly a few times, then spoke hurriedly.

"I need to protect his mental strength for now and I need your help to crush that unknown mental power."

"Understood." Han Ning's golden tiger eyes flickered slightly, and his mental power, like invisible tentacles, probed into Li Qingshui's brain.

Upon closer inspection, he clearly sensed that three distinct spiritual energies were fiercely clashing deep within Li Qingshui's consciousness.

A spiritual force was closely connected to Li Qingshui's body, and its most delicate aspect was undoubtedly the source of his own consciousness.

Another, slightly cold aura surrounded this fragile spiritual energy, forming a barrier; this was Yu Na's spiritual energy.

Beyond the two clusters of spiritual energy, there was a small cluster of alien spiritual energy filled with a violent and chaotic aura.

The frequency of this spiritual energy fluctuation was completely different from that of humans, and it was easy to tell that it came from that mysterious crown.

Han Ning's spiritual power intervened as a fourth force.

Having analyzed the situation clearly, he no longer hesitated, mobilized his own spiritual power, and crashed into the alien spiritual power that was coiled outside.

The two powerful spiritual forces clashed fiercely, eroding and dissolving each other, using Li Qingshui's sea of ​​consciousness as their battlefield.

"what!!!"

This caused Li Qingshui great distress, as several external spiritual forces were constantly fighting in his head, causing his consciousness to become uncontrollably chaotic.

He clutched his head with both hands, writhing on the ground in pain.

Han Ning's expression was serious. He ignored Li Qingshui's wails and devoted himself entirely to the mental battle.

On the invisible battlefield of the mind.

Although the amount of that alien spiritual energy was not large, its texture was exceptionally tough, like chewing gum.

Even with Han Ning's Iron-level mental strength, cleaning it was extremely difficult, like cutting tough leather with a dull knife.

Fortunately, the alien spiritual power is like a rootless duckweed, with no source of replenishment.

Under Han Ning's relentless assault, the alien spiritual energy finally showed signs of giving way and began to disintegrate and dissipate little by little.

Finally, after Han Ning had expended nearly two-thirds of his mental energy, that troublesome wisp of alien mental energy was completely eliminated and dissipated.

Han Ning and Yu Na simultaneously withdrew their mental energy.

The strange changes on Li Qingshui's body quickly subsided, his scales disappeared, his body shrank, and he gradually returned to human form. Only his huge fish head remained, which looked particularly out of place.

He slumped to the ground, his chest heaving violently, gasping for breath.

"Qingshui, how is it?" Feilong and Chen Hu immediately rushed over and asked with great concern.

Li Qingshui raised the fish head, which was covered in sweat, and exhaled a long breath, his voice still somewhat weak:

"No...it's alright now. Thanks to Chief Han and Miss Yu Na, they helped me clear away that evil spiritual force."

He paused for a few seconds, then continued, "I think I now... have a basic understanding of this merman ruin."

Upon hearing this, everyone showed expressions of curiosity and confusion.

Seemingly aware of what everyone was wondering about, Li Qingshui began to explain the origin of the bone crown on his head.

"You must be wondering why I know so much about this place and how I was able to become a fish-headed man, right? It's all related to this crown."

Li Qingshui stroked the bone crown on his head and began to recount...

"Before the drastic climate change, when I was just an ordinary person, I used to grope around in the water to find food."

"This crown was washed ashore by the flood, and I found it by chance."

"Since I put it on... my body has started to change. Not only have I become a powerful fishman with a physique far exceeding that of an ordinary person, but I have also gained the ability to manipulate water."

“But after becoming an Awakened One, a voice kept swirling in my head.” A hint of fear flashed in Li Qingshui’s eyes. “It kept urging me to come to Jingbo.”

"Back then, Jingpo was a normal body of water, not as many water ghosts as there are now."

“I tried to come in before, hoping to break through that water curtain barrier, but I was too weak at the time and couldn’t open it at all.”

"That voice told me to come back here when I'm strong enough, because there's something inside that can make me even stronger."

"So... I can only tell this information to the dragon leader first, hoping to gather everyone's strength and open it together."

"Now it seems... this is probably a trap. That being is likely trying to fatten me up and then take over my body."

Li Qingshui gave a wry smile.

"Fortunately, with everyone's help, not only did that guy fail, but I also gained some of his memories."

"Just as we suspected, this place was once the habitat of an intelligent race called 'Singville'."

Chapter 231 Technological Armor

Um... in Chinese terms, they're just a group of deep-sea fish-men, nothing special.

"This deep-sea fish-man tribe still operates under a slave society structure and has a deity worship system."

"They worship the Great God of the Deep Sea, a being with a fish head and a human body, similar to a sea god, or perhaps a powerful sea monster."

"Based on my memory, the most valuable treasures in this underground ruin should be stored in the temple where the sea god is worshipped."

Li Qingshui gave a lengthy explanation.

"My lords, I am ready to depart at any time."

"Then lead the way, take us to where the treasure is hidden," Feilong gestured.

"it is good!"

Li Qingshui nodded and took two steps at a time to walk to the light blue water shield. His slightly pale face was tinged with a faint blue light as he reached out and touched the surface of the shield.

The fish-head-shaped head shook its head and chanted incantations that no one could understand, while its fingers slid across the screen.

Under the astonished gazes of the people behind, the protective barrier automatically parted, leaving an entrance large enough for one person to pass through.

Li Qingshui was the first to step inside.

The group followed behind Li Qingshui.

Han Ning gave Zhao Kai a wink, and the latter nodded. Xuebing led the way, followed by Han Ning, then Yu Na, with Zhao Kai bringing up the rear.

Yu Na is a ranged "spellcaster" type with strong attack power, but she is relatively weak in close combat and must be carefully protected in the middle.

After passing through the water shield, the view ahead became much clearer.

It started as a relatively spacious passage.

As the passage continued downwards, the air grew increasingly damp and chilly, and the faint fishy smell became even stronger.

Halfway there, some non-human reliefs began to appear on both sides, mostly distorted images with fish-like features. The glowing stones embedded in the walls also turned eerie green, and the light flickered, casting the shadows of everyone, which seemed to writhe and move as if they were alive.

At the end of the passage, a huge underground space appeared before everyone's eyes.

This place seems to have once been a habitat for fish-men.

Everywhere you look, you can see crude houses built with coral and sea animal bones. Most of them have collapsed, leaving only broken walls and ruins, exuding a primitive and rugged atmosphere.

Broken bone jars and grinding tools were scattered on the ground, and strange shells and fish bone products that had long lost their luster could be seen in some corners.

In the center of the habitat stands a building that is distinctly different from the surrounding dwellings.

Supported by a massive coral base and robust animal bone beams, its simple structure evokes a primal sense of impact.

The entrance to the palace consists of two particularly thick, pale bone pillars with spiral patterns carved on their surfaces, the designs of which have become blurred and indistinct over the years.

On the front left and right sides, there are twelve fish-man sculptures, each ranging from 5 to 7 meters in height.

They have different expressions, displaying a variety of emotions such as joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, and their movements are also quite different.

The towering bone temple and the twisted sculptures evoked a strange sense of divinity.

Or perhaps, evil?

Han Ning gazed at the ruggedly styled palace, finding it difficult to determine whether it housed an evil god or a true god.

"Judging from the images provided by the will of nature in the past, there should be no such thing as gods in this world. Gods... at most, they are just the primitive natives' hope for a hard life."

"Or perhaps it was another powerful creature they saw, possibly the strongest being in their tribe, an emperor-like being."

His mind raced.

"right here……"

At this moment, Li Qingshui's voice rang out, sounding particularly abrupt in the silent environment.

"The palace ahead is... the 'Temple of Slumber'. According to the fragments of memory I obtained, it is... the place where the merfolk perform sacrifices, and also the last checkpoint leading to the core area. There are likely guards inside."