Chapter 1672: You re Too Slow

"Best part? What best part? Did you mean... You could swim even faster? No... That's impossible... I'd rather believe that birds can swim than believe that..." Octopus man shook his head, focusing his energy on his swimming, making use of every ounce of energy in his body.

"The seawater's effects on merpeople are small, but they're not completely unaffected." Chen Xiaobei said, maintaining speed while matching his pace alongside octopus man.

"What... do you mean?" Octopus man asked.

"You will know soon!" Chen Xiaobei smiled to himself.

They were both very fast. Soon, they were already swimming beyond 1,000 meters. The water pressure and the water-resistance gradually increased by the meter.

As Chen Xiaobei had said earlier, seawater's effects on merpeople may be small, but they were not completely immune to its effects either.

Based on that premise, Octopus man began to slow down a little.

Whereas, Chen Xiaobei's speed was completely unaffected, and remained constant.

Slowly but surely, Chen Xiaobei began to surpass Octopus man.

"My god... Am I dreaming... Are you not affected by the water pressure and resistance... That doesn't make sense..." Octopus man's eyes widened in astonishment.

"I already told you that I'm good when it comes to water!" Chen Xiaobei said with a quiet smile.

"Is this a matter of skill... You're not human! You are not human!" Octopus man shouted in shock.

"Don't be so surprised!" Chen Xiaobei said. "This is not my fastest speed yet!"

"What? You can be faster still?" Octopus man's eyes were as round as saucers.

Both of them had already pased the 2,000-meter mark. The pressure and the resistance greatly intensified, inflicting a crushing force that was many times greater than the surface.

Octopus man was also gradually slowing down.

Chen Xiaobei said to him, "You're too slow. I can't keep waiting for you anymore. I'll be going first."

Whoosh!

Chen Xiaobei increased his speed, leaving Octopus man in his dust.

"Tha... That..." Octopus man broke down, and cried, "Oh god... Oh heaven... Am I really part fish?"

Before the race, he even said that humans could never beat a fish, and had even told Chen Xiaobei in the face that he was being ostentatious.

But now that the truth was set before him, Octopus man found himself proven wrong.

He even began to compare himself to Chen Xiaobei, thinking that Chen Xiaobei was more of a merperson than he was and that he himself was a fake fish!

3,000 meters underwater.

"How... Is this possible?" Ao Liancheng spotted Chen Xiaobei's silhouette but there was no sign of Octopus man, which meant that Chen Xiaobei was way faster than Octopus man.

Even Ao Liancheng, a God-Ascension level elite who was born in a high-ranking starfield and had seen all sorts of wonders was completely floored by what he was witnessing.

"Childe Liancheng, I won this round! You won't backtrack on your promise, will you?" Chen Xiaobei swam towards Ao Liangcheng, a smile on his face.

"No... Why would I do that... I just think that your speed is incredible..." Ao Liancheng exclaimed. "This is 3,000 meters underwater... A normal human being would've died under such tremendous pressure... Even human elites would have trouble with their movement... but you..."

"Like I mentioned, I'm really good in the water!" Chen Xiaobei grinned.

"No... That's not it! There must be another reason why you're able to swim this fast!" Ao Liancheng said with conviction.

"Childe Liancheng is really sharp-witted!" Chen Xiaobei beamed. "But this is my secret - I cannot reveal it to you!"

His secret was the Hydrophobe Orb, of course!

In the water, Chen Xiaobei could control the seawater's resistant force.

Under normal conditions, Chen Xiaobei could cause the resistance of the surrounding waters to increase so that he could float.

But for the race, he dropped its resistance all the way down to zero.

On top of that, Chen Xiaobei's cultivation was much higher than the Octopus man's.

For those very reasons, Chen Xiaobei's speed of diving was much faster.

Chen Xioabei would never tell anyone about his Hydophobe Orb, of course.

Ao Liancheng frowned. "Childe Chen! You really do know how to keep people in suspense! You piqued my curiosity and then refused to reveal the answer... This need to know is killing me..."

Chen Xiaobei just shrugged in response, shooting him an apologetic smile.

"My prince... I... I lost..." Octopus man was in tears when he arrived, having to admit his defeat.

"You don't need to tell me! I've already seen it!" Ao Liancheng said. "Childe Chen is not a common man. Go back and tell everyone that they are not allowed to offend Childe Chen!"

"Yes, your highness..." Octopus nodded. His eyes wandered to Chen Xiaobei, and they were filled with respect and awe.

"Let's go! Let's continue downwards!" Ao Liancheng said. "This planet is in the periphery of Neptune. The ocean is ten thousand meters deep. There's a portal at the bottom that connects to the Neptune Capital Planet! The holy emperor resides there!"

The three of them went deeper at a reasonably slow pace so that Octopus man could keep up.

Ao Liancheng said, "I lost the bet just now. If Childe Chen would like to make a request, please do not hesitate to ask. As long as it is within my ability to fulfill it, I will not refuse it!"

"I would like you to help me find someone!" Chen Xiaobei answered almost immediately. "He is the emperor of Greenhill Starfield. He came here a few months ago!"

"No problem!" Ao Liancheng agreed instantly. He turned to Octopus man and said, "Once we return, you are to instruct the intelligence division to look into this matter!"

"Yes, sir!" Octopus man nodded. "Childe Chen, do you have any other information that may be useful for our search?"

"No..." Chen Xiaobei shook his head.

"With so little information... I'm afraid it's going to be really difficult..." Octopus man said. "There are hundreds of planets in Neptune. It's going to be like finding a needle in a haystack..."

"What nonsense!" Ao Liancheng scolded. "If it was easy, would Childe Chen have asked us to help? Upon our return, take my token and inform all the Elders of the planets to arrange for a search!"

"Yes... I understand!" Octopus man swallowed. He rarely saw this side of Ao Liancheng.

He could tell that Ao Liancheng really favored Chen Xiaobei.

At the bottom of the ocean.

For the first time in his life, Chen Xiaobei saw with his own two eyes, an underwater world crowded with so many half-human, half-fish aquatic citizens similar to that of Donghai Dragon Palace in "Journey to the West".

This was just the starting point.

After they had gone through the portal, Chen Xiaobei would see the core of Neptune Starfield, before catching a glimpse of the real Crystal Palace!