The Heavenly Court is gone, I don't want to be a True Lord.

The life-giving blood appeared at Ni Heng's fingertips, but unlike ordinary blood, it was not dispersed by water. Instead, it seemed to be solid, still appearing as a water droplet.

The bottom of the Liang River was suddenly boiling in a strange way. The water, which was originally murky and had few fish, suddenly began to swarm out from somewhere. Some small creatures that had been hiding at the bottom of the river also crawled out of their hiding places.

The old turtle in the distance twitched its nose and became excited. Following the scent, it saw Zuo Qi and Ni Heng.

Upon seeing Zuo Qi, his eyes instantly turned fierce, clearly recognizing the person who had injured his precious child last time.

But upon seeing Ni Heng, especially the life-giving blood on his fingertips, the ferocity in his eyes subsided somewhat, and he opened his mouth, releasing a series of bubbles.

It let out a deep roar.

Instead of ferocity, there was a kind of...goodwill?

Zuo Qi took a slight step back, handing the stage over to Ni Heng.

Ni Heng understood, carefully stepped forward, and waved his fingertip, pointing at the old turtle, as if asking if it wanted to eat.

The old tortoise hesitated, as if it were pondering.

Ni Heng boldly continued forward, and the old tortoise still did not show any aggression, but instead seemed delighted.

As Ni Heng threw out the Life-Giving Blood, the old tortoise swallowed it in one gulp with lightning speed.

His eyes instantly became incredibly bright.

The next moment, under Zuo Qi's furious gaze, he stared straight at Ni Heng.

Zuo Qi, wielding a long halberd, was about to stop him.

Ni Heng grabbed him, sensing that the old turtle meant no harm.

Then, to Zuo Qi's increasingly shocked gaze, the old tortoise waved its limbs, Ni Heng's body floated slightly upwards, and the old tortoise crawled under Ni Heng and carried him up.

Watching Ni Heng sitting on the old tortoise, heading towards the ginseng.

Zuo Qi's eyes became extremely strange.

The effects of the Blood of Life are so astonishing?

Zuo Qi tried to follow, but the old tortoise suddenly turned around and let out a fierce roar at him.

Ni Heng patted the old tortoise, and the old tortoise seemed to understand that the two were companions, so it restrained its ferocity a bit, but did not look at Zuo Qi.

Arriving at the ginseng, the old tortoise, quite familiar with the place, stretched out its long forelimbs, felt around at the bottom of the ginseng, pulled out two ginseng fruits, and handed them to Ni Heng.

Is this an exchange?

Zuo Qi felt he understood the old tortoise's meaning.

This old turtle has lived at the bottom of the river for many years and its wisdom is probably no less than that of an average adult.

Ni Heng took the two ginseng fruits, glanced at Zuo Qi, then at the old turtle, and pointed to the water.

He had a water-repelling bead in his mouth, so he couldn't eat underwater.

The old turtle ignored them and found a spot next to the ginseng, where it lay down again.

The two went ashore.

Ni Heng was about to suggest splitting the profits with Zuo Qi.

Zuo Qi told him to eat both pills to see if his supernatural powers would change.

Ni Heng didn't stand on ceremony, after all, Zuo Qi had said that the supernatural powers would only increase when the first fruit was eaten.

Zuo Qi, along with Da Hong and other dogs, stood guard on the side.

Ni Heng was weaker, and it took him much longer to refine the essence.

It took more than an hour before he slowly opened his eyes.

As soon as Ni Heng opened his eyes, he couldn't wait to tell Zuo Qi about the changes in himself.

"Brother Qi, my supernatural powers have changed a lot. I can use the Blood of Life to subdue alien species and establish a soul connection with them through the Blood of Life. It's just that... I don't seem to be able to establish a soul connection with the old turtle."

After confirming the change in his supernatural power, he immediately tried to connect with the Great Red Divine Soul and succeeded easily. However, when he tried to connect with the Old Turtle, he failed.

Zuo Qi looked at Ni Heng.

Life Points: 52

[Spiritual Essence: 18]

Is the connection between the soul and spirit related to the attributes of the spirit?

Da Hong's spirit attribute was only 9 points, so the connection went smoothly, but the old turtle's spirit attribute was 21 points, exceeding Ni Heng's 18 points, so the connection failed.

Zuo Qi told Ni Heng his guess, and Ni Heng agreed.

However, according to Zuo Qi's guess, the Spirit attribute should be related to the fifth level of Qi and Blood, and the Five Refinements of Spirit, which is too difficult to improve.

"How about you go and trade some more ginseng fruits with the old tortoise to raise your spirit level to 21 and try again?"

If it were before, Zuo Qi would have definitely taken Ni Heng into the water and snatched it.

But now that the old turtle is about to become my own, I can't hurt my precious turtle.

Ni Heng nodded, and with the water-repelling bead in his mouth, he went back into the water.

After gesturing and arguing with the old tortoise for a while, the old tortoise, being quite clever, finally understood Ni Heng's request.

He didn't ask for the life-giving blood, but directly gave Ni Heng a ginseng fruit, and then stopped giving him anything else.

Ni Heng and the old tortoise argued until their faces turned red. He hadn't expected that the old tortoise would ask for a few fruits in return for giving him a life-giving blood. The old tortoise was so stingy.

Zuo Qi and Da Hong watched from the side.

A thought suddenly struck me.

"Xiao Heng, ask the old tortoise if the fruit loses its effect after eating three?"

Ni Heng gestured for a long time, and the old tortoise actually nodded.

Although this ginseng is large, it can only produce about ten fruits a year, and after eating three fruits each year, it loses its effect.

Ni Heng comforted the old turtle for a while and patted its head.

I was somewhat disappointed when I got ashore.

Zuo Qi was also somewhat disappointed, not expecting that the ginseng fruit would have such restrictions.

But Ni Heng persisted, using another drop of his life-giving blood to get five more ginseng fruits from the old tortoise.

"Brother Qi, this one is for you. I'll eat one more, and I'll take the rest to Brother Xiao in town."

Ni Heng spoke up.

Zuo Qi glanced at him and saw the smug look on his face. He immediately understood that he was sincere about sending gifts to He Xiao, but he also really wanted to show off to He Xiao.

"Okay, but you're not allowed to go to Red Street."

It doesn't look like it's going to rain right now, so Ni Heng might as well go into town.

……

I returned to the fish stall in the evening.

Under the kerosene lamp, Sun Bao brought over a large bowl of boiled mutton, a plate of dried snake meat, a large bowl of water spinach, and a large bowl of rice.

Zuo Qi doesn't eat rice. It's not that he doesn't like it, but with his current appetite, he would need to eat a whole bucket of rice to feel even slightly full, and he would get hungry again after practicing for a while.

Eating rice is a complete waste of time.

He mainly eats meat now.

Thinking of this, he thought of the spotted deer raised at Huanyu Restaurant. Once things settled down, he could let Ni Heng try to raise some exotic species specifically for cooking.

"Brother Qi, I went to the village to ask the elders. This mutton is stewed until it's tender and very fragrant. You should eat more."

Zuo Qi didn't stand on ceremony and picked up a piece with his chopsticks. As he ate, he said, "Not bad. By the way, I'm planning to go to the garrison at the foot of Fushan Mountain in a while. Are you planning to stay at the fish stall or come with us?"

After hesitating for a moment, Sun Bao said, "I'll listen to Brother Qi."

"Then come with us. Find a trustworthy person for the fish stall, preferably someone from your village who is in charge. Go with them to the patrol area. I will teach you the Golden Escape Technique, which is stronger than your current technique."

Zuo Qi thought for a moment and then spoke.

Sun Bao's face lit up with joy. The time he spent with Zuo Qi and the other two was the happiest time of his life.

Not only could they eat dry rice every day, but they also often had new clothes and could even eat meat until they were full—something that people born in Nankou Bay had never experienced before.

"Thank you, Brother Qi."

"It's nothing, we're all brothers."

The two buried themselves in their food again, and Sun Bao, knowing that Zuo Qi was interested in the interesting stories of the village, would occasionally share some of them.

"By the way, I heard that a few days ago, a child in Beikou Bay, across from our village, encountered a water ghost at night and was possessed by an evil spirit. He was unconscious all day. When he woke up, he said that he was some kind of River God Child and tried to jump into the river."

Zuo Qi was taken aback. "It didn't rain the day before yesterday, did it? How could you encounter a water ghost?"

"Sometimes that happens. Water ghosts are really eerie. In some places, even when it doesn't rain, the humidity is high, and water ghosts will occasionally come out, but they won't come ashore. That child encountered a ghost while digging for loaches by the river."

"Where is that place? Could you take me to see the child?"