Born with immortal seed

Chapter 274 Third-Order Dragon Turtle
Wow!

A small mountain rose from the center of Jade Moon Lake, causing the lake water to swell and surge with waves that rushed outwards.

The array above their heads shone brightly, and wave after wave of blue light calmly suppressed the giant waves.

"end!"

The power of the formation may have had a flaw, as a giant wave surged onto the mudflats and rolled towards Baiyulou.

Bai Zichen gave a soft shout, holding Gun Gun in one hand and extending the other hand in the shape of a dragon claw.

A crimson dragon claw descended from the sky, shattering the giant wave into countless splashes.

"A third-tier dragon turtle, what astonishing power... It's already comparable to that old ox in Green Ox Valley after just being promoted. It seems that the dragon bloodline has awakened quite well."

Xiaoshan slowly turned around, and two lantern-sized eyes looked over.

The dragon turtle slowly nodded its head, revealing a hint of human-like expression.

Then it suddenly opened its mouth wide, and countless fish and shrimp entered its mouth along with the rapid current. Even a second-order water elephant could not resist the suction force.

It let out a deafening roar, stumbled and was swallowed whole by the dragon turtle, which then bit it in two pieces.

Blood instantly stained the lake surface red, and the water monster's body, the size of a room, was completely devoured.

Having devoured countless tons of fish and shrimp in one go, the dragon turtle seemed to have replenished much of the energy it had consumed during its breakthrough, and it swam slowly around the small island in the center of the lake.

The cultivators in Jade Moon Lake were terrified, after all, this dragon turtle had not signed a spirit beast contract.

Although there is a five-hundred-year agreement to protect the Qingfeng Sect, who knows if they will go back on their word and go berserk after advancing in rank.

Fortunately, nothing unexpected happened. After surveying the area and seemingly confirming its territory, the dragon turtle returned to its familiar location.

It sits side by side with the small island in the middle of the lake, like twin islands in Feiyue Lake.

"As a third-tier demon beast, the lifespan of the dragon turtle is already difficult to estimate... After all, even ordinary turtles can live for thousands of years, let alone generate a demon core and awaken the bloodline of the dragon race."

Bai Zichen guessed that if it didn't encounter any natural disasters or man-made calamities, the dragon turtle could live for three or four thousand years without any problem.

If one can become a fourth-order transformed demon, then one is truly a living fossil of the cultivation world.

What kind of Nascent Soul cultivator can compare to them in terms of lifespan?

Five hundred years is a lifetime for a Core Formation cultivator.

But for a third-tier dragon turtle, it's probably only one-eighth of its long demonic life, so it doesn't necessarily resist it much.

"Greetings, Uncle-Master Bai. The matter of the Dragon Turtle's advancement has delayed the setup of the grand formation at Thunder Cliff... I have been contacting the sect these past few days to familiarize myself with the formation and will try to set it up as soon as possible."

As the host of the 3,600-ring Water Smoke Array, Zhou Suqing's presence on the array plate is reflected whenever someone enters or leaves the array.

That's why he arrived at Baiyulou the moment the dragon turtle completed its advancement.

"Now that this matter is settled, you can shift your focus to your own cultivation... That dragon turtle is quite intelligent. I'll talk to it before I leave, and I believe it will behave itself."

The environment of Tianlei Cliff is different from that of Feiyue Lake, so the protective mountain formation is not in such a hurry.

However, with a Core Formation Ancestor in charge, how could a third-order grand formation not be set up?

Even if Bai Zichen didn't care, Gu Xisheng still urged them to set up the great formation.

In Bai Zichen's eyes, Zhou Suqing's magical power was perfect, and her aura was in harmony with heaven and earth, natural and unrestrained.

It can be said that his preparations for breaking through to the Core Formation stage are impeccable.

There's no point in dragging this out any longer; it will only make us lose our edge and lower our confidence.

"Your mastery of alchemy gives you a significant advantage in the chance of forming your core. With all the conditions met, it's certainly worth a try... If you lack contributions, I can ask Gu Xisheng to allow you to purchase the spiritual items for core formation in installments."

The development of a sect cannot rely on just one or two powerful cultivators.

It's just sucking blood; it doesn't contribute to any positive progress.

If Qingfeng Sect wants to truly grow stronger and provide assistance on its future cultivation path, it must have several Core Formation Realm cultivators who can uphold its reputation.

Zhou Suqing can be considered the only elder who currently has a chance to break through to the Core Formation stage. If she fails, it will be a long time before the next candidate appears.

"Thank you, Uncle Bai. I plan to officially go into seclusion next year to begin converting my true essence."

Zhou Suqing's personality was like that; even her alchemy approach followed a path of neither taking nor giving up, and of being content with whatever came her way.

If no one enlightens her, she might remain at the Foundation Establishment Perfection realm for a long time until she encounters an opportunity that is enough for her to make up her mind and take that step.

"Good, I look forward to hearing the news of your successful Core Formation."

Bai Zichen instructed the servants and disciples of Baiyulou to pack their things and report to Tianlei Cliff. He then took Gun Gun on a flying boat and circled around, deliberately lingering on the dragon turtle's head for a moment.

According to the map provided by Tong Huan, Song Lian's exploration location was about 400 li north of Feiyue Lake, and he arrived there in an instant.

"The soul lamp appears and disappears intermittently, indicating that the person is basically dead... This is not as dim as the soul lamp of Su Li that day, but it always maintains a glimmer of light."

Although he agreed to Tong Huan's request, Bai Zichen didn't think he could find Song Lian alive.

It has been almost ten years since he disappeared. Even if he hadn't died earlier, it would be impossible for a Qi Refining cultivator to survive for such a long time.

The reason why the soul lamp still reacts and reignites after a period of time is probably because the manner of death was rather unusual.

His powerful divine sense spread out, and with his current level of divine sense strength, the hill covered with lush vegetation was completely within his grasp.

After scanning the area, they quickly identified a monster.

Even if it hides deep in a burrow, quietly lying in a crevice in the rock, it has no chance of escaping the search of divine sense.

"It turns out to be an old acquaintance. They escaped from Jade Moon Lake back then and haven't gone far..."

Bai Zichen drew his sword and swung it, creating a hundred-foot-long sword mark that plowed through the ground. Rocks rumbled, and a venomous scorpion the size of a calf was pinned to the spot by the sword light that pierced straight into the ground.

The scorpion's tail thrashed wildly, spewing out a cloud of yellow gas that enveloped itself.

It was the venomous scorpion, the peak second-tier demon beast that had been lurking in the shadows when they were clearing out Jade Moon Lake, who escaped the encirclement by chance.

As Bai Zichen approached, the scorpion suddenly shrank back, and a flash of cold light shot out from its tail.

Ding!
A large, white hand, gleaming with a five-dimensional luster, reached out and grasped the cold light directly in its grasp.

Enough to pierce through metal and stone, the chilling light emitted a metallic clanging sound as it touched the palm of the hand.

Upon unfolding it, one could see a thin thorn, a few inches long, gleaming with a faint green light.

The scorpion's killer move didn't even pierce the skin of his hand.

"That was the same attack that killed Elder Zhang of our sect back then, wasn't it... Taking your life today is also avenging Elder Zhang."

The sword light faded, the scorpion twisted twice, and just as it was about to leap away, it collapsed and fell silent.

The slight vibration the sword light left its body shattered the scorpion's internal organs into dust, yet no external injuries were visible, preserving its demonic form intact.

This is the Zhen character technique that Bai Zichen mastered after he had thoroughly learned the Wuzhen Sword Technique.

It's incredibly easy to deal with enemies below the third rank.

A giant hand of true essence was created to collect the scorpion's corpse and the poisonous needle together. As a demon beast that was only one step away from the third rank, every part of its body was a top-quality material for refining spiritual weapons.

In the hands of a master craftsman, it could probably produce two or three mid-grade spiritual artifacts, or one high-grade spiritual artifact.

"I'll use it to practice when I have free time. If I can make a low-grade spiritual weapon, that will be a success... I'll put it in my storage bag and give it to any juniors I meet."

Bai Zichen instantly discovered and dealt with the powerful demonic beast that Tong Huan had mentioned, but after scanning the area twice with his divine sense, he could not find Song Lian anywhere, neither in the sky nor on the ground.

"Could it be that he didn't ultimately disappear here? It's a pity we didn't bring the Soul Lamp, so we can't confirm this."

Bai Zichen didn't want to go back and tell his disciple that the demon beast had been slain, but the person they were looking for was nowhere to be found, either alive or dead.

The Supreme Pure and Subtle Sword Box appeared, and the Moon Spin Sword flew straight into the sky, with boundless moonlight shining down on the earth.

It seemed as if at this moment, day and night were reversed, and the moon and stars had indeed climbed into the sky ahead of time.

With such solemnity, he pushed his penetrating insight talent to its limit, exceeding the scope of divine sense in both breadth and depth.

Several monsters hiding in the forest and underground were startled by the moonlight and fled in panic.

The moonlight penetrated everywhere, flowing like water, and its reach expanded until he finally discovered a clue.

"It's a low-grade storage bag in the style of the General Affairs Bureau..."

Lifting a pile of rocks in a cave, Bai Zichen found a storage bag that had clearly been deliberately buried.

The divine sense imprint left on the storage bag was instantly broken through. Inside, besides dozens of spirit stones, there was only a jade bottle and a broken piece of bronze.

The jade bottle contained a dragon and snake-like aura, and the bronze statue was broken off from a large cauldron. The two conspicuous talismans on it were the Flower and Bird Talisman.

"The Dragon-Snake Qi and this bronze artifact resembling a weapon handle should be the spoils of Song Lian's exploration. But now that we have them, where has he gone..."

Bai Zichen was puzzled. Judging from the current situation, it was obvious that Song Lian had deliberately hidden the storage bag.

It's clear that this true disciple sensed danger, so he hid his loot and led his pursuers to another location.
"There are even cultivators undergoing tribulation deep within the Black Mountain. Could the person who made the move be a fellow disciple, or perhaps not a human cultivator at all..."

Jade Moon Lake is located in the far north of Black Mountain, making it almost impossible for independent cultivators to come here; it is mostly frequented by disciples of the Azure Maple Sect.

If Song Lian were to be robbed of his cultivation, then his own cultivators would be highly suspicious, as someone might have been tempted by the prospect of wealth and pretended to be a robber.

Of course, it's also possible that they encountered a monster.

After all, since no one searched the pile of rocks afterwards, the possibility of it being a monster is not low.

Deep within the cave, a complex network of branching paths emerged, seemingly created by human intervention.

However, with a single sweep of his divine sense, he took in the entire route and its contents.

Several scattered remains, now just white bones, no longer resembling human figures.

The manner of their deaths varied, but they all shared one characteristic: a large hole was ripped open in their chests, as if something had crawled out of their chest cavities.

Furthermore, there were no storage bags or belongings around the wreckage; it was completely clean.

Several rows of footprints appeared on the ground, covered with a layer of loose soil, but they were clearly not from the same time as the centuries-old ruins.

"It wasn't just one person's footprints; it was at most ten years... When Song Lian came here, there was more than one person. It seems there was a conflict due to unequal distribution."

Bai Zichen sighed deeply. This was the thing he was most worried about when forming a team to explore the secret realm ruins.

Human nature is fickle; companions who were brothers one moment can turn against each other the next for a magical artifact.

(End of this chapter)