The mermaid noticed it too, a look of sheer terror crossing her face as she whipped her tail even faster, channeling every ounce of her strength to escape.
Rumble—!
With a sudden, violent distortion, the spatial tear snapped shut. The portal vanished into nothingness, taking the terrifying green bone hand along with it.
The dark waters instantly calmed. Floating near the surface, the mermaid let out a long, shuddering sigh of relief.
She turned her crystal-blue eyes toward Ethan, her chest rising and falling as she spoke softly.
"Thank you," she murmured, her voice carrying a melodic, enchanting resonance underwater.
"If you hadn’t intervened, that Nether World portal would have dragged both my body and soul down into eternal damnation."
Ethan’s eyelids felt heavy, fluttering slightly as exhaustion began to creep in. Pushing the Blue Dragon Heart to its absolute limits had taken a massive toll.
Furthermore, because his physical shell was still that of a five-year-old child, the sheer volume of the infinite mana supply was beginning to overtax his juvenile meridians.
What he needed most right now was deep, uninterrupted rest.
Noticing his pale expression, a gentle smile graced the mermaid’s lips.
"It looks like you pushed your body way past its limits," she observed.
Then, her gaze dropped, locking onto Ethan’s chest. Her eyes widened in absolute shock as she sensed the rhythmic, thunderous thrum throbbing deep within his core.
Pointing a slender finger at his chest, she gasped, "You... you possess the legendary Blue Dragon Heart?! Just who on earth are you?!"
Ethan let out a raspy, low chuckle. "I acquired it purely by chance. Why? Does it happen to have some connection to your kind?"
Though Ethan was unaware of the exact relationship between mermaids and dragons, a cold edge flickered in his mind. If this creature harbored any hostile intentions, he wouldn’t hesitate to eliminate her.
In his past life, he had heard rumors that mermaid tails were a supreme culinary delicacy, rumored to melt on the tongue. The mere thought of it momentarily crossed his mind, alongside tales that intimacy with a mermaid could grant unimaginable, ecstatic pleasure.
However, he had zero time for romantic distractions, and his pragmatic nature outweighed fleeting desires. If she proved troublesome, he would simply cook and eat her.
Sensing the sudden, razor-sharp killing intent leaking from the young boy’s eyes, the mermaid stiffened in alarm, waving her hands hurriedly.
"Wait, wait! Calm down, I am not your enemy!"
Reaching up to her temple, she concentrated her energy and coaxed a glowing, luminous drop of blood out from her forehead.
"This is my vital bloodline essence," she said quickly, holding the floating droplet out toward him.
"Since you already possess the Blue Dragon Heart, take this. If you manage to absorb and refine my bloodline drop into your physique, you will successfully awaken the Stonefish Physique."
The Stonefish Physique?
At her words, Kael’s original destiny flashed through Ethan’s mind. In his past life trajectory, that worthless transmigrator was meant to acquire this exact constitution down by the sea.
Though the Stonefish Physique on its own wasn’t among the absolute apex physiques, it possessed a unique, terrifying trait: it could evolve.
Through high-grade marine resources, it could transform into the Stone Dragon Physique, and eventually, with the backing of the Mermaid Tribe, mutate into the legendary Azure Blue Dragon Physique—a constitution easily ranking within the top twenty physiques of the entire realm.
A dark, knowing grin spread across Ethan’s face. Without a word of hesitation, he opened his mouth, and using telekinesis, guided the glowing bloodline drop straight inside, swallowing it whole.
The mermaid gasped, her eyes flying wide in utter disbelief. Did he just absorb it raw on the spot?!
She knew firsthand how volatile her bloodline was; normally, a cultivator needed to prepare isolation chambers and medicinal arrays to digest it safely. Did this child have a death wish?!
She completely underestimated him. In his past life, Ethan had absorbed thousands of drops of the ferocious Flame Demon’s Bloodline. Swallowing a single drop of marine bloodline, no matter how turbulent, was child’s play for his hardened willpower.
BOOM!
The moment the bloodline entered his core, an explosive wave of azure energy flooded his meridians. The veins across his temples, neck, and arms bulged violently, glowing with a blinding blue light.
A physical transformation began to take place. For a fraction of a second, his skin hardened completely, turning grey and rigid like ancient river stone, as if he were transforming into a statue.
Crack... shatter!
With a crisp sound, the stone-like outer shell shattered into dust, revealing a drastically refined physique underneath.
Though he still retained the appearance of a five-year-old boy, his skin now gleamed with the flawless, translucent texture of purest celestial jade.
It’s not that he can’t grow taller or become more muscular. He has simply chosen to control his physique himself.
His shock of golden hair shone brighter than ever, and his crystal-blue eyes blazed with an oppressive, dragon-like majesty that commanded absolute reverence.
Staring at him, the mermaid was rendered completely breathless, her mind mesmerized by the overwhelming aura radiating from his transformed body.
Recovering her senses with a flushed face, she looked away, her cheeks burning crimson as she noticed his child-sized form shift in the water.
"We are even now," she stammered quickly, turning to flee. "You saved my life, and I gave you my bloodline drop. If... if you manage to evolve this Stonefish Physique into the Stone Dragon Physique within the next fifteen years, come find me at the deep-sea trenches. I will bring you directly into the inner sanctuary of my clan!"
Without waiting for a reply, the mermaid flicked her tail and vanished into the deep ocean currents at breakneck speed.
Floating quietly in the water, Ethan watched her depart, a cold, ambitious smile playing on his lips as the wheels of his grand strategy turned silently in the dark.