Chapter 336: Retrieving Treasure from the Bottom of the Pool

Chapter 336: Retrieving Treasure from the Bottom of the Pool

"There are some good things in all three of these places, but anything that could be easily obtained has long been taken by those who came before." The giant tortoise's voice echoed.

"Mount Sumeru was once used by the Tai Xu Sect to test their disciples, so you'll only find remnants of what the sect's cultivators left behind. As for the Tai Xu Palace, it was once the treasure vault of the Tai Xu Sect, but the outer palace has been largely emptied, though the inner palace should still hold some treasures. However, one doesn't necessarily have to enter through the outer palace; there are other ways to reach the inner palace, but they involve navigating through some restrictions."

"What about the Divine Spring Pool?" Chu Ning interjected, seeing that the tortoise was taking its time.

"This place was once used to transplant various spiritual herbs and fruits." The giant tortoise's words immediately piqued Chu Ning's interest.

But the tortoise quickly continued, "However, after countless millennia, many of the spiritual herbs have either been picked by previous visitors or have matured and fallen already."

After a brief pause, the tortoise added, "That place was also where I resided before. There, you'll find a piece of my shell that I shed during my advancement. It should be of some use to you."

Without another word, Chu Ning immediately set off toward the Divine Spring Pool.

"Hey, I wasn't finished speaking," the giant tortoise suddenly said, causing Chu Ning to halt in his tracks. Chu Ning couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and frustration.

"Senior Turtle, it would be great if you could just say everything at once. I only have a quarter of an hour before the people behind catch up," he said.

The giant tortoise, however, was unhurried. "Don't worry. There are many restrictions here, so they won't be able to catch up quickly. With this little girl by your side, you can ignore most array formations and move much faster than they can."

At the tortoise's words, both Chu Ning and Bai Ling were taken aback. Bai Ling had never revealed her ability to ignore restrictions since she had been found by Chu Ning. The fact that the giant tortoise knew about this ability meant that he was likely aware of Bai Ling's origins.

Although Chu Ning was filled with questions, now was not the time to ask them. It would be better to wait until they had left the Tai Xu Abyss, and he was still waiting for the giant tortoise to finish what it had started to say.

"My intention was for you to go through the Divine Dragon Pool and help me retrieve something while you're at it. There, I've finished speaking," the tortoise said.

Chu Ning listened silently, a twitch forming at the corner of his mouth. Without another word, he continued on his way.

Just as the giant tortoise had said, he soon encountered the first layer of restrictions. Chu Ning had just stopped in front of it when Bai Ling spoke up.

"Master, after breaking through to the fifth stage, using this divine secret technique has very few restrictions. At most, if my demonic energy is insufficient, you can feed me some thousand-year spirit milk. To save time, I'll just take you in directly."

"Good!" Chu Ning agreed, as that was exactly what he had in mind.

A white glow appeared on Bai Ling's forehead, enveloping Chu Ning. In the next moment, they had passed through the restriction and appeared in a garden.

It was clearly a spiritual herb garden, but as the giant tortoise had said, it was now empty and devoid of any herbs or fruits.

They continued on their way, passing through nine layers of restrictions before finally arriving at a giant pool.

"Hey, Senior Turtle, was this your resting place before?" Chu Ning asked, sensing the abundant spiritual energy in the area. On the far side of the pool, there were also some scattered exotic flowers and fruits that had not been picked.

"The little one guesses correctly," the giant tortoise's voice echoed. "Indeed, many cultivators were able to break through the various restrictions and reach this Divine Spring Pool. However, Old Turtle here wasn't very welcoming, and most cultivators were scared away. The master of the Long Kong Palace also came here three hundred years ago. Old Turtle wasn't in the mood to fight back then, so he let him take some good things and leave. Otherwise, he might not have made it out of this Divine Spring Pool alive."

Hearing the tortoise's words, Chu Ning's mind raced. Lu Xue Dao, the master of the Long Kong Palace, had been at the late Yuan Ying stage. If this tortoise could drive him away, it must be at least a tenth-stage magical beast.

"If you like what you see on the opposite side, go ahead and pick them. Then head directly into the pool!" The giant tortoise spoke again, and Chu Ning hesitated for a moment.

According to the jade slip, the Divine Spring Pool was extremely dangerous. He wanted to ask the tortoise about it before proceeding further.

"Senior Turtle, the Divine Spring Pool is marked as extremely dangerous on the map..." Chu Ning began, but the tortoise cut him off.

"There is danger," the tortoise said, interrupting Chu Ning before he could finish his sentence. "But it's not like it's in your spirit beast bag."

"Pfft!" Before Chu Ning could react, Bai Ling burst out laughing. "Senior Turtle, you certainly have a sense of humor."

The giant tortoise's voice echoed again, "Do you think anything would dare come close to where Old Turtle resides? There aren't many magical beasts left in this Tai Xu Abyss; the danger comes from the various restrictions. You've managed to avoid them thanks to this little girl's talent. Otherwise, do you really think it would be this easy to reach the Divine Spring Pool?"

Chu Ning nodded in agreement. The giant tortoise made sense. He had indeed relied on the abilities of both Bai Ling and the giant tortoise, two heavenly spirit beasts.

With that in mind, Chu Ning took off, flying across the giant pool and landing on the opposite shore.

"Dragon Chant Fruit, Celestial Crane Herb, Condensed Brilliance Leaf..." Chu Ning murmured with delight as he surveyed the spiritual herbs and fruits before him.

His ability to identify these treasures was thanks to the various pill formulas and spiritual plant materials he had collected across the three continents.

Even so, there were still several herbs that he couldn't identify.

The giant tortoise kindly informed him of their names one by one.

After hearing the tortoise out, Chu Ning eagerly gathered them all into his bag.

These spiritual herbs would be a waste for him to use at his current stage as a late Golden Core cultivator.

However, they would surely be of great use if he could successfully break through to the Nascent Soul stage.

Once Chu Ning had cleared the area of all the spiritual herbs and fruits, the giant tortoise's voice echoed once more.

"The shell I shed long ago is at the bottom of this pool, probably not far from where you're standing now. Dive down, and you should be able to see it."

"Alright!" Chu Ning replied. He took out a white pearl from his storage bag and channeled his spiritual power into it, causing a layer of white light to envelop him.

Then, he jumped straight into the pool.

Back when he was at Qingxi Sect, Chu Ning had acquired a magical artifact—a pearl that could part water and provide illumination.

However, it was too low-level and required constant infusion of spiritual power, making it rather inconvenient.

The pearl he was using now was one he had crafted himself during his studies in artifact refining.

While its function was similar, its grade and practicality were far superior.

Fortunately, Chu Ning had this pearl, as the water in the pool was incredibly murky, and he felt that the water pressure was at least twice as strong as that of regular lakes or seas.

As he dove deeper into the pool, reaching a depth of a thousand feet, Chu Ning finally spotted something at the bottom.

There was an enormous tortoise shell covered in silt and algae.

It was unclear how long the shell had been buried there, but it was completely concealed by the sediment.

If not for the giant tortoise's reminder, Chu Ning wouldn't have discovered it even if he had cleared away the silt.

After removing all the silt and uncovering the tortoise shell, Chu Ning realized that it was much smaller than the one the giant tortoise currently had—only about a fifth of its size.

It also had far fewer rune-like patterns on its surface.

It was normal for it to be smaller, as the giant tortoise had mentioned that it had shed this shell during its advancement.

Nonetheless, this tortoise shell was the most advanced demonic beast material Chu Ning had ever seen in his life.

"Is it ninth or tenth-grade?" Chu Ning wondered, unable to tell the difference. He decided to ask, "Senior Turtle, what grade was this shell of yours?"

"What grade? Haha, I shed it 12,000 years ago. How could I remember?" the giant tortoise replied.

Chu Ning was secretly astonished.

This giant tortoise had lived for an unknown number of years, casually mentioning time periods of tens of thousands of years.

The giant tortoise spoke again, "Alright, little one, stop asking questions. It's pointless to tell you now, as the time isn't right. Keep it safe, and consider it my payment to you. Now, it's your turn to help me retrieve something."

Hearing the giant tortoise's words, Chu Ning stored the tortoise shell in his bag.

At the same time, he was curious. What could this tortoise, with its profound cultivation and abilities, possibly value?

Intrigued, he asked, "Senior Turtle, where are we going now?"

"To the left front. Your spiritual sense is limited at the bottom of this pool. However, your little spirit beast should be able to sense the restrictions. Let her guide you, and you'll find the way," the tortoise replied.

Bai Ling could also hear the giant tortoise's words, and she carefully sensed the area, leading Chu Ning to the left front, as instructed.

They traveled another 2,000 feet before reaching the restrictions that Bai Ling had sensed.

Unlike the muddy bottom elsewhere in the pool, this area had a black stone wall with flickering, mysterious restrictions.

The sight piqued Chu Ning's curiosity.

"What a mysterious restriction! I've never seen anything like it before," Bai Ling exclaimed, her voice carrying a hint of surprise.

Chu Ning immediately asked, "Bai Ling, can we get through?"

He remembered that back at the Thousand Lakes and Islands, there were ancient restrictions that even Bai Ling couldn't overcome.

And the restrictions here seemed even more ancient and profound than the ones in Lei Huo Sect.

Bai Ling smiled and said, "Fortunately, I've broken through to the fifth stage. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to enter this restriction directly."

As she spoke, a white glow appeared on Bai Ling's forehead, enveloping Chu Ning.

Then, they both passed through the black stone wall.

On the other side was a cave about ten feet wide, with a spirit spring about a foot wide in the center.

Spiritual energy emanated from the spring, filling the entire cave.

The energy was so dense that the entire cave was shrouded in spiritual mist.

Chu Ning took a light breath and felt his mouth fill with spiritual energy.

In the middle of the spring stood a stone pillar shaped like a lotus flower.

The lower part of the pillar, resembling a flower stem, was engraved with various patterns, channeling the spiritual energy towards the spring.

The upper part had a circle of petals with a large bowl-like structure in the center.

Inside the bowl was about half a bowl of white liquid.

"Spirit Milk!"

Chu Ning exclaimed softly upon seeing the white liquid in the lotus-shaped bowl.

He already had quite a few vials of thousand-year-old spirit milk in his storage bag.

But compared to the liquid in the bowl, those vials contained a less viscous form.

"Indeed, it's spirit milk, and the finest kind—millennial spirit milk!" the giant tortoise's voice echoed.

"This place was originally set up by the Tai Xu Sect specifically for collecting spirit milk. That's why it's called the Divine Spring Pool.

"Sure, go ahead. Take as much as you want," the giant tortoise replied nonchalantly.

Chu Ning was slightly surprised, as he had previously assumed that the giant tortoise was the guardian beast of Tai Xu Abyss. He had expected the tortoise to be extremely protective of the treasures within. However, since the tortoise seemed so indifferent, Chu Ning didn't hesitate. He flew directly above the spirit spring and collected all the ten-thousand-year spirit milk into the jade bottle.

"With just this ten-thousand-year spirit milk, I've already gained quite a bit from coming to Tai Xu Abyss," Chu Ning said, a smile appearing on his face as he put the jade bottle into his storage bag.

Only then did Chu Ning's gaze begin to survey the cave. Soon, his eyes landed on a small spirit spring in one corner, and he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

There, protected by a transparent restriction, was a small turtle. It was about the size of an ordinary turtle, but its shape was strikingly familiar to Chu Ning. Its eyes were tightly shut, its head stretched out, and its four limbs were spread out as it floated on the surface of the spring. It looked utterly bored. It resembled the giant tortoise that Chu Ning had first seen on the sea, and even their features seemed identical. It was as if it were a miniature version of the tortoise in his spirit beast bag.

"You see it?" the giant tortoise asked, interrupting Chu Ning's thoughts.

Chu Ning was already guessing that this small turtle was somehow connected to the giant tortoise in his spirit beast bag, so he asked curiously, "Yes, Senior Turtle, is that..."

"My spirit soul!" the giant tortoise replied in a leisurely tone.

"Back then, the cultivators of Tai Xu Sect forcibly separated a strand of my spirit soul and trapped it here to make me guard this Tai Xu Abyss. I've been here for tens of thousands of years. Otherwise, why would I have stayed here for so long? This place couldn't possibly have trapped me otherwise." The giant tortoise's tone didn't convey much emotion.

This tortoise, who knew not how many years it had lived, casually mentioned having spent tens of thousands of years in the abyss, showing no signs of anger even when speaking about how his spirit soul had been trapped.

"Spirit soul?" Chu Ning exclaimed in surprise.

He had specifically hunted and captured the spirit souls of eighth-grade Nine Heavens Beasts before. He had even seen what might have been the spirit soul of the Tenth-Grade Blazing Sun Spirit Bird in one of its feathers. However, he could instantly tell that those were spirit souls and not the actual beasts.

But the small turtle before him looked no different from an ordinary spirit beast. Chu Ning had initially guessed that it might be the giant tortoise's offspring. He never expected that a spirit soul could manifest in such a solid form. Surprised, Chu Ning asked, "Senior Turtle, should I break the restriction and release your spirit soul now?"

"Yes," the giant tortoise replied.

"However, this restriction is a sealing restriction, not an ordinary formation restriction. Your little spirit beast probably can't get through it. If you want to release my spirit soul, you'll have to truly break this sealing restriction."

"Also, I can't do it myself. If this restriction senses my spiritual power, it will immediately destroy that strand of my spirit soul. It's up to you to break the seal."

Chu Ning nodded and said, "I'll try."

He stepped forward and stood in front of the transparent restriction, carefully sensing it before beginning to cast a series of profound incantations to break the seal. Chu Ning had first learned the art of breaking such special restrictions from Shen Meng Shangren. Later, he had come across similar techniques in Jiuhua Sect and from Di Yan on Yun Yin Island. However, in terms of complexity, the techniques from the heavenly continent of Tianmu were the most intricate.

Chu Ning tried one technique after another. After spending an entire quarter of an hour, he finally cast an incantation that caused the restriction to stir.

"This method works!" Chu Ning exclaimed.

"Indeed, little one. You've studied restrictions and formations, haven't you? I didn't misjudge you. It seems that the heavens didn't make a mistake by letting a heavenly spirit beast recognize you as its master," the giant tortoise praised.

As the tortoise spoke, Chu Ning rapidly cast dozens of incantations, not aiming them at the restriction but instead using them to condense a special glyph in front of him. By the ninety-ninth incantation, the glyph became dazzlingly bright.

"Break!" Chu Ning shouted, pointing his finger forward. The glyph, imbued with ninety-nine incantations, flew toward the transparent restriction.

The restriction trembled and then disintegrated into specks of starlight that vanished into thin air!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end