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Although mermaids cannot live on land for long periods, thus avoiding territorial disputes with humans, conflicts naturally arise as humans navigate and fish, and mermaids often travel upstream along rivers to gather resources not found in the sea. This results in ongoing conflicts between the two sides. Therefore, the Yellow Dragon Empire spends a fortune annually to maintain its South Sea Fleet against the Mermaid Empire, stations large numbers of troops along the coasts and rivers for vigilance, and relies on a forbidden spell caster with water-based forbidden magic to barely maintain the upper hand.

However, after centuries of establishment and mediation by disciples of the Moonlight Tower lineage, the Yellow Dragon Empire has recently reached certain agreements with the Mermaid Empire. Both sides have significantly reduced their military confrontations, opting instead for cooperation to obtain what they need and reallocating their freed-up resources to more critical areas.

For the Yellow Dragon Empire, aside from relocating the water-based forbidden spell caster to the southern continent, there have been no other significant moves to alter the continental power balance. This is because the long-standing rivalry with the Tiele Empire remains, and neither side can afford to lower their guard. If the Yellow Dragon Empire were to shift a large portion of its military northward, it would immediately provoke Tiele's vigilance.

However, the Mermaid Empire's actions are quite different. Although one of the four major foreign nations, the Mermaid Empire has little camaraderie with other non-human nations. After receiving support and guidance from the Yellow Dragon Empire in certain aspects, this maritime nation has turned its spearhead toward the elven nation thousands of kilometers away.

A super expedition, unforeseen by the continent's intelligent beings, has suddenly begun.

An expedition to the elven nation?

Many people thought they had misheard the news. If not, then the Mermaid Empire must have lost its mind.

Geographically, among the four large continental shelves suitable for the Mermaid Empire's territorial expansion, the southern waters where the elven nation is located are the closest. Unlike the Northern Country, there are no insurmountable natural barriers hindering the mermaids' development here. In terms of strength, the current elves are weaker than the unfathomable forces of the Undead Island. However, this "weakness" is relative to the ancient undead groups whose numbers and existence span tens of thousands of years. Compared to the Mermaid Empire, the elves, with their 100,000-year-old civilization, stellar magical achievements, and a society where everyone is a mage, hold no advantage.

Mermaids have an average lifespan of several hundred years and possess an innate affinity for water-based magic, thus producing many water mages. Additionally, their faith in the sea god makes them deeply rooted in water. Some geniuses among them also possess mysterious musical abilities, capable of mental attacks or manipulation, and can chant various spells and divine arts with astonishing effects. Moreover, mermaids swim freely in the ocean, as agile as the eagle tribe in the sky, and their warriors, enhanced by combat energy, are equally formidable. Although no sword saints have emerged, mermaid sword emperors rival beastmen sword emperors in aquatic combat. Beyond this, the Mermaid Empire boasts a vast marine magical beast army, with the strongest being the "King Serpent Legion" composed of twelve hydras. In terms of the sheer number of super magical beasts of a single type, humans, beastmen, and elves pale in comparison.

Yet, even so, the Mermaid Empire's strength still falls short of the elves'. The magical barrier enveloping the elven nation's sky and sea—the "Throne of the Nature Goddess"—alone is enough to halt the advance of 200,000 mermaid mages and millions of mermaid troops.

Thus, upon hearing about the Mermaid Empire's march toward the elven nation, many were astounded, speculating whether the Mermaid Empire possessed some hidden power unknown to others that could sway the situation and secure victory.

Chen Xuanfeng was among those puzzled.

After all, whether the elven nation would mobilize on time significantly impacted his future strategic plans. Therefore, he paid special attention to this issue and immediately sought details from someone knowledgeable about the Mermaid Empire's internal affairs upon receiving the news.

Who was this expert? None other than the current leader of the Fontainebleau mages, the half-mermaid beauty, Mage Hai Ruo.

"It's unlikely that the Mermaid Empire has hidden some power," the female mage said after pondering the intelligence. "If they truly possessed the strength to challenge the elven nation, they wouldn't have been suppressed by the Yellow Dragon Empire for centuries."

"Then what is their reason for advancing?"

"I think it's for the maritime route between the southeastern continents. Controlling that would undoubtedly bring immense benefits to the empire," the female mage speculated.

"Benefits?" the werewolf asked, puzzled. "The maritime route between the southeastern continents is indeed a golden trade route. Even just a two to three percent share of the trade from Diamond Port could rival the annual tax revenue of a moderately wealthy nation. But the Mermaid Empire dominates the seas, with countless treasures. Could such a level of benefit truly motivate them?"

The vastness and richness of the ocean are well-known, with endless miraculous treasures and creatures. Thus, Chen Xuanfeng found it hard to imagine a nation mobilizing entirely for a trade route. While commerce can generate staggering monetary profits, for a nation as a whole, most benefits do not manifest as wealth. History has shown many examples: a nation completely bankrupt and impoverished could still have profiteers amassing fortunes from its collapse, surpassing the capital of century-old merchant guilds. Those in power are well aware of this, which is why major empires like Yellow Dragon, Tiele, and Viking have never mobilized entirely to seize trade routes. Only mercenary empires with limited territory and population would fiercely compete for such routes.

The half-mermaid female mage quickly explained: "Many believe the Mermaid Empire is very wealthy, but that's a misconception from land-based civilizations. The ocean's limitations are immense, whether in smelting or material storage, posing unsolvable problems. Having lived there for over a decade, though not in the upper echelons, I know the Mermaid Empire's foundational strata are quite impoverished. While the ocean seems vast, less than a tenth of it is suitable for marine life in terms of depth and temperature. Moreover, sunlight penetrating the water is weak for marine plants, and only a few fish species can be domesticated. Thus, neither agriculture nor animal husbandry can be primary sources of production in the Mermaid Empire. Most mermaids must chase fish schools annually for hunting, with tens of thousands of marine lives lost to various disasters each year. Additionally, the empire's southern regions face seasonal attacks by massive ferocious sea beasts following ocean currents, causing even greater losses."