The Crab Spirit seemed shocked by his ambition. It paused briefly, then burst into laughter: “Such big words! What qualifications do you have to make me your national treasure?”

With its laughter, the entire hall floor trembled.

The situation was now clear. Feng Miaojun knew her earlier conjecture wasn’t wrong:

This space where countless people now stood—the enormous Spiral Float’s upper and lower cities—was the shell of this Crab Spirit from when it was alive!

In the previous era, a monster’s cultivation level corresponded directly to its size. Its body could accommodate hundreds of thousands of living beings, so how powerful must the Crab Spirit have been when alive?

Feng Miaojun felt she couldn’t even imagine it.

Yet no matter how powerful a creature, none could withstand heaven and earth’s might. It had ultimately perished here, but its soul remained tenacious, able to exist for a considerable time after its physical body vanished.

She also remembered that after the Demon Chaos Era, heaven’s laws became more severe. If this spiral crab had died a few hundred years ago, its soul would have been sent to the underworld. That it remained here precisely proved its true form had died long before the current era.

Prehistoric great beasts liked to refine their bodies into magical artifacts. She admired Fu Lingchuan’s courage and vision—the spiral shell’s defensive power was astonishing. Within and without Spiral Float City, what other magical artifact was more qualified to serve as the blessed national treasure for inviting heaven’s favor?

After it finished laughing, Fu Lingchuan said: “May I ask, were you approaching the Divine Realm when you were alive?”

“Hmm.” The crab’s face showed no expression, but everyone could hear its displeasure. “Just one step away.” But it could never cross that threshold—this was its eternal pain.

So this crab monster had nearly transformed into a divine being, Feng Miaojun suddenly realized. No wonder it grew so large. With just this size alone, it could have become a regional hegemon.

At this moment, a “bang bang” battering sound came from outside, apparently the merman had reacted and planned to break in by force.

Fu Lingchuan reminded the Master Claw: “Our conversation is not yet finished.”

The Crab Spirit snorted lightly, moved its pincers, and used some unknown technique. Suddenly, everything outside the hall became quiet.

This was its shell. Even though its physical body had perished, it still retained partial control over the hard shell. “I am quite content in the Forbidden Sea, enjoying offerings from the four seas. Why should I go to your so-called New Xia Kingdom?”

When it mentioned “offerings,” Feng Miaojun immediately understood why the Crab Spirit had persisted for so long: Even a powerful soul like it couldn’t exist in isolation for over a thousand years. The reason the Crab Spirit couldn’t return to its skin yet remained undispersed was because the creatures of Spiral Float City made offerings to it!

Its position here was essentially the same as the liquid metal monster White Board serving as a water deity in the Ji Yuan River.

Fu Lingchuan showed contempt: “Trapped within a spiral shell, unable to go anywhere; barely managing to preserve your soul from dissipating for over a thousand years—you call this ‘content’?”

“You…” Master Claw, struck at its sore point, glared at him angrily.

Fu Lingchuan’s words were harsh but true. A massive body requires an equally powerful soul. After the world’s transformation, Master Claw was left with just a remnant soul, utterly incapable of driving this giant war fortress. The spiral shell that was once its glory, pride, and castle had now become a literal prison.

It had no choice but to allow the sea races it once looked down upon to occupy its shell, permit mermen to establish a city here, and allow humans to dock, sightsee, and shop on the spiral shell—all to exchange for more spiritual energy to nourish itself.

Its era had long ended; this giant monster’s soul had been struggling to survive.

Fu Lingchuan didn’t want to anger it, so he quickly continued: “I will be the State Preceptor of New Xia. After becoming the national treasure, you can transform into a cauldron and travel everywhere with me, seeing all the world’s sights, rather than just being trapped in the vast sea, listening to the unchanging rise and fall of tides.”

No matter what form the national treasure originally took, after successfully receiving heaven’s blessing, they all transformed into small cauldrons, controlled by the State Preceptor. This meant the great spiral shell could relocate, following Fu Lingchuan everywhere!

Staying in one place for over a thousand years, even for a giant beast like Master Claw, was truly too long. It had grown tired of the surrounding sea long ago.

Fu Lingchuan immediately continued: “And speaking of spiritual energy—how many people live in Spiral Float City? Not even one percent of New Xia’s population. And with the Merman King consolidating his supreme authority, how much energy can he spare for you? Hmph, probably just enough to keep you from dissipating. Otherwise, why would you normally slumber in soul-nurturing wood?”

For souls, sleep is the most energy-efficient state. The Crab Spirit spending most of its time sleeping in soul-nurturing wood, indifferent to external affairs, indicated its soul power was too precious to waste.

Fu Lingchuan smiled: “New Xia has a population exceeding several million. After becoming the national treasure, every bit of elemental power will be stored in your body, allowing your soul to rapidly strengthen. This is heaven’s unique blessing to national treasures—there are no more than seven such divine artifacts in the current world!”

The national treasure transcended divine artifacts; it received heaven’s affirmation and could carry a country’s elemental power and fortune. Understandably, this would bring tremendous benefits to the treasure itself. The Crab Spirit dwelling inside would become the artifact spirit, enjoying the nourishment of vast elemental energy.

Such a future was undeniably appealing!

Without question, Master Claw was tempted.

The prospect of leaving the deep sea and traveling the world alone was enough to move it, not to mention all the other benefits.

It spoke in a deep voice: “What if New Xia falls?”

“If such an unfortunate day truly comes, at worst you’ll return to your original form. You could simply return to the deep sea and rebuild Spiral Float City. What would you lose?”

If the country falls, the national treasure loses effect and reverts to its original form.

Everything he proposed seemed to have considered the Crab Spirit’s interests thoroughly. Master Claw thought slowly for quite some time before finally uttering one word:

“Good.”

The steward Niu, who had been left aside for too long, grew anxious and mustered the courage to say: “Master Claw, he’s deceiving you! If such wonderful things existed, countless small countries from the land would have sought you out long ago.”

“Being able to establish a country is one thing; being able to protect it is another. New Xia has inherited An Xia’s fortune and is surrounded by many allies. Other small countries lack these advantages.” Fu Lingchuan certainly wouldn’t admit that other small countries simply hadn’t conceived of such an audacious idea as stealing the entire Spiral Float City. Once a divine artifact becomes a national treasure, it cannot be replaced unless the country falls, so its capacity to carry fortune has an upper limit from the beginning. He wanted to select the most powerful divine artifact to lay a solid foundation for New Xia’s future prosperity.

As the steward Niu tried to speak again, Fu Lingchuan cast a white light, and he immediately fell silent:

A dagger had pierced through his mouth and out the back of his skull. With his brain pierced, his life was instantly extinguished.

Seeing this, the other guards were shocked and enraged. They raised their weapons and attacked Fu Lingchuan, hoping that killing this deceiver would bring Master Claw back to its senses.

As the two people fled, Feng Miaojun moved behind a tall coral formation, minimizing her presence as much as possible.