Chapter 322: Harvest, the True Imperial Elixir

Chapter 322: Harvest, the True Imperial Elixir



Lo River Lake.

A human figure moved like a swimming dragon, effortlessly parting the lake water as if it naturally made way for him.

This figure was Jiang Ning.

At this moment, his cheeks repeatedly puffed and deflated.

"So hard!" After a while, Jiang Ning silently complained.

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

This was a special treasure he had just found.

It was a unique substance formed where water veins converged, known as Azure Crystal.

According to the books, it contained highly concentrated water vein essence, but it had no use for martial practitioners.

In ancient times, Azure Crystal would also contain powerful celestial vitality and spiritual substances, making it highly valuable for cultivators on the path to immortality.

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

Jiang Ning wasn't too concerned about this.

For him, the more abundant the energy in these treasures, the more Essence Energy points they provided.

So, he naturally wouldn't pass up those pieces of Azure Crystal.

Subsequently, he put the Azure Crystal into his mouth.

Bang—

Bang—

Bang—

As he bit down, a "bang bang" sound immediately came from his mouth.

Suddenly, his swift figure abruptly transitioned from motion to stillness, and as his rapid movement halted, dark waves surged around him.

His gaze instinctively turned towards the northwest.

Through his underwater perception, he spotted a pit about three li away to the northwest.

The pit was filled with a moving silver slurry, and within it, several golden filaments intermittently appeared and disappeared.

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

He immediately recalled the pit where he had found the Yin Stone and the extraordinary white dragon fish he encountered there.

"Venturing deep into Lo River 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.

An ancient turtle, its body charred as if struck by lightning, crawled into a small hill formed by a pile of boulders.

This small hill, made of stacked boulders, was the ancient turtle's lair, which it had built over the years.

Within the lair at the center of the small hill was a secret known only to the turtle.

As the ruler of this aquatic territory, no other creature within several li of the turtle's lair had surpassed the species limit.

It climbed forward through the cave beneath the pile of boulders, and as the cave gradually narrowed, its body shrank.

After a while, it reached the center of the small hill and stood before a pool of silver slurry.

Looking at the several golden threads in the slurry, a hint of obsession flashed in its eyes.

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

Whether in the sky, water, or on land, the Imperial Elixir was a true treasure for all flying, swimming, or running creatures, capable of defying fate and transforming ordinary birds, insects, fish, and beasts into demons.

As an ordinary freshwater turtle, its good fortune in finding the Imperial Elixir over two hundred years ago allowed it to become the ruler of these waters.

In its early years, it had only swallowed a single golden thread, awakening its spiritual awareness and undergoing a metamorphosis to become the ruler of this aquatic territory.

Year after year of waiting also allowed the silver slurry to regather, forming the second, third, and fourth golden threads of the Imperial Elixir.

Every so often, a golden thread of the Imperial Elixir would condense within the silver slurry.

At this moment, two golden threads remained in the silver slurry, rolling around.

This was the accumulation of over twenty years.

However, having suffered severe injuries today, it chose to consume one thread of the Imperial Elixir to heal.

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

As the golden thread of the Imperial Elixir entered its body, a joyful expression appeared on its small head, and its torn flesh rapidly healed.

Pieces of charred flesh fell off, revealing the tender, reddish skin beneath.

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

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

"Golden?"

"It's indeed the Imperial Elixir described in the books!"

"It seems there should also be a Yin Stone beneath this silver slurry."

Then, Jiang Ning's perception shifted to the ancient turtle in the hill.

After seeing the ancient turtle swallow the golden thread of the Imperial Elixir, its external injuries rapidly healed, and its aura, which had been weak, gradually grew stronger.

In just a few breaths, the injuries it had suffered from the lightning strike were completely healed, and its aura became increasingly powerful.

"The Imperial Elixir is indeed a good thing!"

"This ancient turtle is a good turtle, leaving me such a good thing!"

Jiang Ning smiled.

With a flash, he arrived at the entrance of the cave in the small hill.

The moment he finished speaking, he strode towards the depths of the cavern.

Inside the cavern.

The ancient turtle suddenly opened its eyes, gazing towards the direction of the cave's exit.

The next moment...

It heard the sound of rushing rapids ahead and the cracking of rocks.

At the same time, as Jiang Ning advanced, the rocks in front of him continuously shattered, 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 time, Jiang Ning had traversed the cave's passage and reached the spacious area within the small hill.

He also saw the ancient turtle lying beside the Imperial Elixir pool.

The ancient turtle's eyes, like green beans, stared straight at him, its expression filled with extreme vigilance.

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

However, it had never seen anyone like Jiang Ning.

Here, it seemed as if he was walking on land with ease.

One must know that this place was the true deep-water zone of the Lo River Lake, a full thousand zhang below the lake's surface.

It was a true forbidden zone for humans, a genuine no-man's land.

Not only was it extremely far from the lake's surface, but more importantly, the water pressure here was immense.

Most aquatic creatures were unable to survive in such deep waters.

Only creatures like it, which had transcended the species limit and transformed into lesser demons, could move freely in this area.

Therefore, before this, it had never seen any signs 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 turned slightly serious, and it spoke.

As it spoke, the water rippled.

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

"I've lived for over two hundred springs, so what's so strange about me being able to speak?" The ancient turtle spoke calmly.

It slowly moved forward, walking along the ground until it reached Jiang Ning's front, then stretched out its head and pretended to sniff in front of Jiang Ning.

"How about I take a bite of you, a tiny mortal, to see how you taste?"

"Sure!" Jiang Ning smiled.

"Hmm?" The ancient turtle's stretched-out head suddenly froze like a sculpture, and its two green eyes stared at Jiang Ning in shock.

The next moment...

It saw Jiang Ning raise his hand and instantly grab its throat, then lift it up.

"What are you doing?!" The ancient turtle instantly looked at Jiang Ning in terror, its four legs flailing in mid-air, and for a moment, it was in a panic.

"Weren't you going to take a bite and taste my flavor?" Jiang Ning revealed a smile.

"No, no, no!" The ancient turtle quickly denied, "I was just joking!"

"I don't want to taste your flavor!"

"I don't want to eat you either!"

The ancient turtle continued to shake its limbs frantically, and its head tried to retract into its shell, attempting to break free from Jiang Ning's throat hold.

But at this moment, it felt the five fingers gripping its throat were incredibly firm, and no matter how hard it struggled, it couldn't break free even a little. This filled its heart with fear.

From its strength, it knew that it was no match for the mysterious human before it.

Just then, while Jiang Ning's right hand held the ancient turtle's throat, his left hand reached into the ancient turtle's mouth.

"Wuuuu..."

"What are you doing?"

"No, don't!"

The ancient turtle frantically shook its head.

Jiang Ning smiled and said, "I'm letting you bite me. Taste my flavor."

"I dare not. I won't eat it," the ancient turtle's voice pleaded.

At this point, Jiang Ning didn't care.

A talking ancient turtle, already a lesser demon, was of great value in his eyes.

So, his initial thought of killing the ancient turtle had turned into the idea of subduing it.

Subduing the ancient turtle, the simplest method, aside from using his fists, was to rely on the authority of his divine companion.

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As long as he swallowed its flesh and blood, he would gain control over the ancient turtle.

Just like how he had controlled Xiao Emei a few days ago.

At that time, with a thought, he wanted to extract and integrate his essence into Xiao Emei's limbs and bones, causing her unbearable pain.

However, from that attempt, he also discovered something.

Xiao Emei wasn't incapable of breaking free from his control.

If Xiao Emei could withstand his extraction of her essence, she could naturally break free from his control.

But it was clear that Xiao Emei couldn't resist such a mysterious method and chose to submit.

At this moment, Jiang Ning repeated his previous method.

His left hand, which was inside the ancient turtle's mouth, held its throat, and in the ancient turtle's terrified gaze, he forced out blood from his veins, and drops of blood fell into the ancient turtle's throat.

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

At this moment, it felt its physical body rapidly enhancing, sensing the divine essence of the drops of blood that had merged into 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 a total of ten blood pearls from his body, and all of them had now merged into the ancient turtle's body.

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

After glancing at the ancient turtle, Jiang Ning turned his gaze towards the water pit covered in silver slurry ahead.

In the silver slurry, he also saw the remaining strand of Imperial Elixir, like a golden filament.

The golden strand moved within the silver slurry, its distinct state unmerged with the surrounding liquid.

At this moment, the ancient turtle witnessed Jiang Ning slowly approaching the Imperial Elixir, its heart aching at the sight.

It knew that its pool of Imperial Elixir was now in jeopardy.

The mysterious man's purpose for coming here was evident—this very pool of Imperial Elixir.

Suppressing the drastic changes within its body, the ancient turtle watched as Jiang Ning reached the pool of Imperial Elixir and slowly immersed his hand into it.

After a brief search at the bottom of the water pit, Jiang Ning found what he sought—the Yin Stone.

Or rather, a fragment of the Yin Stone.

He had found three such fragments in the Luo Water Lake.

Clearly, these fragments had scattered into the lake.

Over the long years, he had now discovered three pieces of the Yin Stone.

The black stone in his hand, larger than the previous ones, was the third and largest fragment of the Yin Stone he had found.

On the other side, the ancient turtle witnessed Jiang Ning extracting a black stone from the water pit, its eyes widening in surprise. Its mind began to speculate.

In the years since discovering this pool of Imperial Elixir, it had explored a bit but never found anything special. It dared not overstep its boundaries.

Fearing that its actions might disrupt the structure and prevent the Imperial Elixir from forming, it had refrained from excessive behavior.

Over time, every ten years or so, it had harvested a strand of Imperial Elixir from the silver slurry, resembling golden filaments.

It had broken free of its racial shackles, transcending from a mortal to a demon, all thanks to the Imperial Elixir.

"Master!" the ancient turtle suddenly exclaimed.

Jiang Ning looked at the ancient turtle in surprise.

"What did you call me?"

"Master!" the ancient turtle said, enduring the intense changes within its body.

Jiang Ning smiled in response.

He had never encountered such a pragmatic ancient turtle before.

Seeing Jiang Ning's smile, the ancient turtle's tension eased slightly.

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

"Yes," Jiang Ning nodded.

He stored the Yin Stone in his pouch, not placing it in the wine flask because the flask's mouth was too small. This particular Yin Stone was the largest of the three fragments he had found so far.

Its size made it impossible to fit into the wine flask.

As the Yin Stone disappeared from Jiang Ning's hand, the ancient turtle's gaze followed suit.

At that moment, Jiang Ning raised his hand.

The golden filament-like Imperial Elixir separated from the silver slurry and flew into his palm.

The ancient turtle's gaze was once again captivated by the golden filament-like Imperial Elixir.

"If I had known, I wouldn't have been so frugal before!" the ancient turtle felt a surge of heartache, its thoughts turning inward.

It forcibly restrained its gaze.

"How long does it take to obtain a strand of Imperial Elixir?" Jiang Ning asked abruptly.

"Reporting to the master, it varies between ten and fifteen years, with no fixed duration," the ancient turtle replied.

Jiang Ning nodded in response.

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

The silver filaments emanating from the Yin Stone coalesced into a slurry. Upon reaching a certain degree of fusion, it gradually transformed, condensing into golden filament-like Imperial Elixir.

This golden form was the true Imperial Elixir.

Gazing at the golden filament in his hand, Jiang Ning slightly parted his lips and inhaled.

The golden filament-like Imperial Elixir instantly flew into his mouth.

In that instant, he saw a bright moon.

As night fell upon the boundless ocean, a vast moon rose from beneath the sea's surface.

The moon ascended into the sky, showering countless moonlight down upon him.

Crackle!

Jiang Ning's body resonated with the sound of popping beans.

His muscles and bones chimed in unison.

His physical body underwent a baptism of power, and his innate skeleton underwent a metamorphosis, a transformation of life's essence.

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

Normally, the human body's cellular metabolism cycle was around twenty-eight days.

But at this moment, his cells were in a frenzy of metabolism.

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

This filth originated from within his body, a result of his accelerated metabolism.

Within half an hour, he felt the changes within his body come to an end.

He reopened his eyes.

The ancient turtle watched him cautiously from the side.

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

It felt pain, knowing that the strand of Imperial Elixir it had accumulated over a decade was now absorbed by Jiang Ning.

It clenched its teeth in frustration.

No!

My treasure has been taken! The Thunder Carp won't get off easy either.

The Thunder Carp's treasure is the Thunderfruit, which can refine the organs and enhance power for human martial practitioners, something the master would surely appreciate.

By offering this, I will have accomplished a great deed.

Having acknowledged Jiang Ning as its master, the ancient turtle no longer felt much resistance.

In their world, survival of the fittest was the natural law.

Moreover, it had just experienced Jiang Ning's uniqueness.

Simply by having his blood merge with its body, the ancient turtle felt its physical form as a small demon had improved significantly.

It surpassed its progress of several years.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end