Chapter 322: Harvest, the True Imperial Elixir

Chapter 322: Harvest, the True Imperial Elixir

Luoshui Lake.

A human figure moved through the water like a swimming dragon, and the lake water parted before this figure as if avoiding it.

This figure was none other than Jiang Ning.

At this moment, his cheeks puffed in and out repeatedly.

"So hard!" After a while, Jiang Ning muttered to himself.

Then, a solid object resembling a sapphire appeared in his hand.

This was a heavenly treasure that he had just found.

It was a special substance that could only be formed where water veins converged, known as the Azure Crystal.

According to the records in books, this object contained powerful water vein essence, but it had no use for martial artists.

In ancient times, the Azure Crystal also contained strong heavenly essence and spiritual substances, making it very valuable for cultivators on the path to immortality.

However, in the current era, these effects no longer existed or were extremely weak.

Jiang Ning didn't really care about this.

For him, the more abundant the heavenly treasure, the more source energy points it could provide.

So, he naturally wouldn't let those Azure Crystals go to waste.

After that, he put the Azure Crystal in his hand into his mouth.

Boom—

Boom—

Boom—

As he clenched his teeth, a "Boom Boom" sound echoed in his mouth.

Suddenly, his fast-moving body abruptly came to a stop, and dark waves surged around him.

His gaze instinctively turned towards the northwest.

Through his perception in the water, he saw that in the northwest, about three li away, there was a water pit.

The water pit was filled with rolling silver liquid, and within it, a few strands of golden threads appeared and disappeared.

"This... this is the Imperial Elixir!" Jiang Ning's eyes lit up.

He immediately recalled the water pit where he had found the Taiyin Stone and the extraordinary white dragon fish.

"Venturing deep into Luoshui Lake was indeed a good choice!"

A smile appeared on Jiang Ning's face.

The next moment, he changed direction and headed towards the northwest.

On the other side.

A creature, charred black all over as if struck by lightning, crawled into a small hill made of piled-up boulders.

This small hill made of boulders was the lair that the ancient turtle had built over the years.

Within the lair in the small hill, there was a secret known only to it.

As the overlord of this area's waters, within several li around its lair, there wasn't a single water creature that had transcended its racial limits.

It crawled along the bottom of the boulder pile into the cave, constantly moving forward as the cave gradually narrowed, and its body also shrank.

After a while.

It reached the center of the small hill, in front of a pool of silver liquid.

Looking at the few strands of golden threads in the silver liquid, a trace of obsession flashed in its eyes.

As a creature that had lived for over two hundred years and transcended its racial limits, through its bloodline inheritance, it naturally knew what these golden threads were—the legendary Imperial Elixir.

Whether it was a flying creature in the sky, a swimming creature in the water, or a land-dwelling creature, the Imperial Elixir was a true treasure for all. It could defy the heavens and change one's fate, allowing one to transcend racial limits and transform from birds, insects, fish, and beasts into demons.

As an ordinary freshwater turtle, it had lived for over two hundred years and experienced such good fortune due to a chance encounter in its early years.

After swallowing just one strand of the golden thread, it had opened up and transformed, becoming the overlord of this area's waters.

Year after year of waiting had also allowed the silver liquid to gather more golden threads of the Imperial Elixir—the second, third, and fourth strands.

Every so often, a strand of golden Imperial Elixir would condense in the silver liquid.

At this moment.

There were still two strands of golden threads rolling in the silver liquid in front of the ancient turtle.

This was what it had accumulated over twenty years.

But today, having suffered a severe injury, it had no choice but to consume a strand of the Imperial Elixir to heal.

The next moment, the ancient turtle stared at the two golden threads in the silver liquid, then without hesitation, it extended its tongue and sucked in one of the strands.

As the golden Imperial Elixir entered its body, its small head immediately glowed with pleasure, and its torn flesh began to heal rapidly.

Pieces of charred flesh fell away, revealing the tender, red skin beneath.

At the same time, Jiang Ning had already reached the top of the small hill.

Through his perception, he also saw everything hidden beneath the hill.

"Indeed, there should be a Taiyin Stone beneath this silver liquid," Jiang Ning thought as his perception also fell upon the ancient turtle within the hill.

Watching the ancient turtle consume the golden Imperial Elixir, its injuries rapidly healing, and its aura becoming increasingly vibrant.

In just a few breaths, the ancient turtle's injuries from the lightning strike were almost entirely healed, and its aura became even more powerful.

"The Imperial Elixir, as the books say," Jiang Ning thought.

"This ancient turtle is a fine turtle indeed, leaving me such a treasure!"

Jiang Ning smiled.

In a flash, he arrived at the cave within the small hill.

The ancient turtle suddenly opened its eyes wide, staring towards the exit of the cave.

The next moment, it heard the sound of rushing currents and the cracking of rocks ahead.

At the same time, as Jiang Ning advanced, the rocks in front of him continuously crumbled, turning into fine gravel that was swept away by the lake water behind him.

As a result, the narrow cave expanded, allowing him to pass through.

In just a moment's effort, Jiang Ning walked through the cave's passage and arrived at a spacious area within the small hill.

He also saw the ancient turtle lying beside the pool of imperial elixir, its eyes like green beans staring straight at him, its expression extremely vigilant.

In its over two hundred years of life, the ancient turtle had already seen countless humans coming and going on the surface of the lake, people of all shapes and sizes.

However, it had never seen anyone like the current Jiang Ning.

Here, it was as if he was on land, fearless.

It should be known that this place was the true deep water area of Luoshui Lake, a thousand zhang high from the lake's surface.

This was truly a forbidden zone for humans, a genuine uninhabited region.

Not only was the distance from the lake's surface too high, but more importantly, the water pressure here was immense.

Most aquatic life forms could not survive in such a deep water zone.

Only creatures like it, which had broken the limits of their race and transformed into demons, could move freely in this area.

So before this, it had never seen any traces of human activity in the deep water zone a thousand zhang below the lake's surface.

"Human, leave this place immediately!"

Suddenly, the ancient turtle's eyes became slightly more serious, and it spoke.

As it spoke, the water began to ripple.

"You can speak?" Jiang Ning's expression showed a hint of surprise.

"I've lived for over two hundred springs, what's so strange about speaking?" The ancient turtle said calmly.

It slowly moved forward, walking on the ground until it was in front of Jiang Ning, stretching its head and pretending to sniff at Jiang Ning.

"Your little human scent is quite fragrant. How about I take a bite?"

"Sure!" Jiang Ning smiled.

The ancient turtle's extended head suddenly froze like a sculpture, its two green eyes staring at Jiang Ning in astonishment.

The next moment, Jiang Ning raised his hand and grabbed the ancient turtle's throat, instantly locking onto it, and then lifted it up.

"What are you doing?!" The ancient turtle was instantly terrified, looking at Jiang Ning, its four legs flailing in mid-air, momentarily panicked.

"Bite me, and taste my flavor?" Jiang Ning revealed a smile.

"No, I won't eat it." The ancient turtle's voice was filled with pleading.

Jiang Ning ignored it at this moment.

An ancient turtle that could speak, it had already transformed into a demon, and in his eyes, it was quite valuable.

So his initial thought of killing the ancient turtle had turned into a desire to subdue it.

Subduing the ancient turtle, the simplest method besides using his fists was to rely on the divine authority of his divine technique to control it is to peel off the power that belongs to him within its limbs and bones, causing it unbearable pain."

However, from that attempt, he also discovered something.

Xiao Emei was not incapable of breaking free from his control.

As long as she could endure the peeling away of the power that belonged to her, Xiao Emei could naturally break free from his control.

But it was clear that Xiao Emei, faced with such a profound method, chose to yield.

At this moment, Jiang Ning repeated his technique.

His left hand, which was inside the ancient turtle's mouth, held onto its throat, and in the ancient turtle's terrified gaze, he forced blood out of its veins, drop by drop, onto the ancient turtle's throat.

As his blood merged into the ancient turtle's body, the turtle's eyes widened in shock, its face filled with astonishment as it looked at Jiang Ning.

At this moment, it felt its flesh rapidly enhancing, sensing the divine energy within each drop of blood that merged with its body, as well as the energy contained within.

The ancient turtle immediately stopped struggling.

After a while, Jiang Ning withdrew his left hand.

He had forced out ten drops of blood from its body, and these ten drops of blood had now merged into the ancient turtle's body.

Then, he released his right hand, and the ancient turtle fell onto the soft sandy ground.

Jiang Ning glanced at the ancient turtle and then looked at the water pit covered in silver liquid.

In the silver liquid, he also saw the remaining strand of imperial elixir, like golden threads.

In the depths of Luoshui Lake, a mysterious man named Jiang Ning slowly approached the Imperial Elixir, causing the ancient turtle to feel a sharp pain in its body. The turtle knew that this pool of Imperial Elixir was the reason for the man's presence.

As it endured the intense changes within its body, it witnessed Jiang Ning approach the Imperial Elixir and slowly immersed his hand into it. After a brief search at the bottom of the pool, Jiang Ning found what he was looking for—the Taiyin Stone, or perhaps, fragments of it.

In the waters of Luoshui Lake, he discovered three pieces of the stone, which had apparently scattered and fallen into the lake. Over the years, he had managed to find these three fragments. The piece in his hand was larger than the previous two, making it the largest of the three Taiyin fragments.

On the other side, the ancient turtle, upon seeing Jiang Ning retrieve a black stone from the water, widened its eyes in surprise and began to speculate. Over the years, after discovering the Imperial Elixir, it had also explored a few times but never found anything special. It dared not act recklessly, fearing it might disrupt the structure and prevent the elixir from reproducing.

Every decade or so, it had also harvested a strand of the elixir from the silver liquid, resembling a golden thread. It had managed to break free from its racial shackles, transforming into a demon, and the Imperial Elixir played a significant role in this process.

"Master!" the ancient turtle suddenly exclaimed.

Jiang Ning looked at the turtle in surprise.

"What did you call me?"

"Master!" The turtle repeated, enduring the intense changes within.

Jiang Ning couldn't help but smile at the turtle's awareness.

Such a pragmatic turtle was a first for him.

The turtle's tension eased slightly upon seeing Jiang Ning's smile.

"Master, does the Imperial Elixir originate from this stone?" the turtle asked.

"Indeed," Jiang Ning nodded.

He stored the Taiyin Stone in his pouch instead of the wine flask because the flask's opening was too small. The Taiyin Stone he had just found was the largest of the three fragments he had discovered so far.

Due to its size, it couldn't fit into the wine flask.

As the Taiyin Stone disappeared from Jiang Ning's hand, the turtle's gaze returned to him.

At that moment, Jiang Ning raised his hand and beckoned.

The golden thread-like Imperial Elixir separated from the silver liquid and flew into his palm, capturing the turtle's attention once more.

"If only I had known, I wouldn't have been so stingy!" the turtle exclaimed, feeling a surge of pain.

It forced itself to look away.

"How long does it take for a strand of the Imperial Elixir to form?" Jiang Ning asked suddenly.

"Ten to fifteen years, it's not fixed!" the turtle replied.

Jiang Ning nodded.

From the turtle's words, he obtained the answer he sought.

The Taiyin Stone's silver threads gradually condensed into a liquid, and upon reaching a certain level of fusion, it underwent a transformation, forming the golden thread-like Imperial Elixir.

This golden form was the true essence of the Imperial Elixir.

Holding the golden thread in his hand, Jiang Ning slightly opened his mouth and inhaled, causing the golden thread to fly into his mouth instantly.

In that moment, he saw a magnificent moon.

As night fell over the vast ocean, a massive moon rose from beneath the sea, illuminating the sky.

The moon reached its zenith, showering countless moonlight down upon him, bathing his entire body.

A crackling sound reverberated within Jiang Ning's body.

His muscles and bones resonated in harmony.

His physical body underwent a transformation, a metamorphosis of his life essence.

He seemed to sense his cells rapidly dividing, dying, and dividing again.

Normally, the human cell cycle was about twenty-eight days.

But at this moment, his cells were dividing frantically.

He felt a thin layer of grime forming on his skin.

This grime wasn't from any external source but was a result of his cells' rapid division.

In less than half an hour, he felt the changes within his body come to an end.

2. Opening his eyes once more.

The ancient turtle watched him cautiously from the side.

At this moment, the turtle keenly felt a natural sense of oppression and control from Jiang Ning, as if he were a superior being.

The turtle endured the pain in its heart, having accumulated resentment over the years as it watched Jiang Ning absorb the strand of Imperial Elixir it had painstakingly obtained over a decade.

It gritted its teeth in frustration.

This won't do!

My treasure has been taken! Even the Thunder Dragon won't get away with this!

The Thunder Dragon's treasure is the Thunder Fruit, which can refine the human cultivator's organs and enhance their cultivation. The master will surely be pleased.

With this, I've also made a significant contribution.

In their eyes, the law of the jungle prevailed—the strong preyed upon the weak.

Moreover, the turtle had just sensed Jiang Ning's uniqueness.

Merely by having his blood merge with its body, the turtle felt its demonic body strengthen significantly, surpassing years of its own cultivation.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end