Chapter 344: The Spirit Turtle Makes Its Move, Taking Inventory of Treasures

Chapter 344: The Spirit Turtle Makes Its Move, Taking Inventory of Treasures

"Who are you?"

In front of Chu Ning stood an elderly man in white, his gaze as cold as ice. Unlike Lu Xuandao's domineering aura, this man exuded a sense of cruel indifference.

"I am Chu Ning from Shenyin Valley, senior Fan," Chu Ning replied, bowing respectfully while using his spiritual sense to communicate with his spirit beast pouch.

"Senior Turtle, I'll handle this for now. If he makes a move later, I'll need your help," Chu Ning said mentally.

"Very well," came the slow and relaxed reply from the giant turtle.

Just as Chu Ning was feeling relieved, the turtle continued, "However, merging with that wisp of my divine soul is more difficult than I anticipated. If I intervene against this late Nascent Soul stage cultivator, I'm afraid I'll only be able to make one move.

I can force him to retreat, but killing him is out of the question while I'm in the process of merging with my essence.

So, it would be best to avoid my involvement if possible."

"I understand, I'll do my best to stall him," Chu Ning replied through his spiritual sense.

"You're from Shenyin Valley? Why are you with this Qiu Chi?" The man, Fan Zexian, asked, his expression softening slightly upon learning of Chu Ning's affiliation. Apparently, Shenyin Valley and Changkong Hall had a good relationship.

Hearing Fan Zexian's question, Chu Ning's face twisted in disdain as he explained, "This person was fighting someone in Xuewu Valley and destroyed his physical body.

When his Nascent Soul fled, it happened to encounter me, and he forced me to bring him out through a spatial passageway, claiming that Nascent Souls dare not enter such passages directly.

I had no choice but to comply due to my insufficient strength."

Fan Zexian nodded slightly, then asked, "Are there any other cultivators who know about your journey here? What of the treasures within the Great Void Abyss?"

Since Fan Zexian hadn't entered the Great Void Abyss himself, Chu Ning wasn't surprised by his questions and readily provided an answer, "No one else knows. As for the inner hall of the Great Void Temple, the competition for treasures was intense..."

Chu Ning briefly recounted the process of obtaining treasures within the inner hall, including the shattering of the divine platform. Of course, he omitted everything that happened afterward. He simply mentioned that he had also entered a passageway but fell behind due to his insufficient cultivation.

Listening to Chu Ning, Fan Zexian's cold expression didn't change, but he said coldly, "It seems you know quite a bit. You're certainly no ordinary Golden Core cultivator."

Chu Ning's face paled as he heard these words.

"Did the Golden Core cultivators from Changkong Hall and Shenyin Valley who left earlier spread the news?"

At that moment, Chu Ning suddenly realized that his actions might have been too presumptuous. Without hesitation, he used the Phantom Escape technique, causing his body to fly backward.

However, Fan Zexian didn't seem to be in a hurry to make a move. He simply watched Chu Ning with a colder gaze.

"Running away? Even with your abilities, you're still just a Golden Core cultivator!" Fan Zexian's voice was devoid of emotion. In the next moment, he transformed into a white shadow and glided toward Chu Ning.

With casual ease, he closed the distance to just five yards in front of Chu Ning. Extending his hand, he formed a hand of icy blue light that reached out to grab Chu Ning.

As the giant hand appeared, Chu Ning felt the surrounding area turn icy cold, as if the spiritual energy itself had frozen. Even his cultivation, which had flowed smoothly in the Snow Mist Valley, now felt almost stagnant.

"This is the power of a late Nascent Soul stage cultivator!" Chu Ning's heart sank as he realized the futility of resisting Fan Zexian's casual attack.

"Senior Turtle!" Chu Ning cried out mentally, alerting the spirit beast pouch at his waist.

As soon as Chu Ning finished speaking, a white glow emerged from the pouch, rushing to meet the blue hand.

Upon contact, the blue hand shattered into specks of blue light. The white glow, having destroyed the hand, instantly condensed into a white water arrow that shot toward Fan Zexian.

This turn of events took Fan Zexian completely by surprise. His face registered shock as he waved his hand, sending forth a beam of icy blue light to intercept the water arrow.

The two attacks collided and disintegrated.

Finally, Fan Zexian's expression changed, and he exclaimed, "Cangxuan Spirit Turtle! The one from the Great Void Abyss! How did it end up with you?"

"It's good that you recognize this old turtle!" The giant turtle's slow and relaxed voice echoed in the air.

Hearing this voice, the master of Changkong Hall looked at Chu Ning with shock. A hint of doubt also appeared in his eyes.

Clearly, he was astonished to find the Cangxuan Spirit Turtle in the possession of a mere late Golden Core stage cultivator like Chu Ning.

"Your surname is Fan? Three hundred years ago, you and that fellow with the surname Lu came to Spirit Spring Pool to cause trouble for this old turtle.

Three hundred years have passed, and it seems you've made some progress.

Are you going to stay and spar with me, or are you leaving?" The turtle's voice was calm and unhurried.

Fan Zexian glanced at the spirit beast pouch at Chu Ning's waist, his eyes narrowing. "So, the Cangxuan Spirit Turtle left the Spirit Spring Pool. No wonder Lu and the others returned empty-handed.

But how did a heavenly spirit beast like this end up with a late Golden Core stage cultivator, and it even left the Great Void Abyss with him?

Could there be something unusual about this turtle..."

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Fan Zexian suppressed the urge to turn and leave immediately. Normally, he wouldn't stand a chance against the Cangxuan Spirit Turtle in a one-on-one fight.

Without another word, Fan Zexian's figure flickered as he transformed into an illusion and lunged towards Chu Ning.

"Bang!"

Just then, a layer of light shield appeared in front of Chu Ning, blocking Fan Zexian's attack.

Immediately after, Chu Ning and Fan Zexian felt the sky darken above them.

A colossal being had appeared overhead—it was the giant turtle.

"Senior Turtle!" Chu Ning exclaimed in relief upon seeing the turtle's appearance.

"Cangxuan Spirit Turtle!" Fan Zexian's face drastically changed, and he cried out in shock, retreating hastily.

But it was too late.

The giant turtle's thick front flipper came slamming down!

The turtle's movements appeared incredibly slow, and it seemed that Fan Zexian could easily dodge with a slight shift to the side.

However, Fan Zexian's face paled, and he didn't even attempt to evade.

Instead, he opened his mouth and spat out a blue arc, which transformed into a bottle-shaped treasure shimmering with icy blue light.

He used this treasure to block the giant turtle's attack.

At the same time, the giant turtle's front flipper struck down.

The surrounding space seemed to be oppressed, becoming incredibly dense.

"Boom!"

As the white light and blue radiance intertwined, they suddenly vanished in the next moment.

Chu Ning saw the blue jade bottle swiftly retrieved by Fan Zexian, who then flew backwards.

However, it seemed that a giant turtle foot had kicked him, increasing the speed of the late Nascent Soul stage cultivator's retreat.

But Fan Zexian looked a little disheveled as he tumbled through the air.

Once he stabilized himself, this late Nascent Soul stage cultivator, one of the three grand masters of Changkong Hall, who had previously appeared so cold and ruthless, now had a trace of fear in his eyes.

Without looking back, he fled towards the distance.

"He's running pretty fast!"

The giant turtle remained in the air, glancing in the direction of Fan Zexian's escape, but it didn't seem inclined to give chase.

At this moment, Chu Ning flew out from behind the giant turtle and moved forward.

Then, he curiously examined the heavenly spirit beast, the Cangxuan Spirit Turtle.

The turtle still looked the same as the first time Chu Ning had seen it, exuding an ancient and weathered aura.

The green algae on its back had completely disappeared, revealing its entire shell.

As Chu Ning looked at the intricate crisscrossing turtle patterns on its shell, he faintly sensed that each line seemed to be filled with profound energy.

The Cangxuan Spirit Turtle's eyes, which weren't very big, looked at Chu Ning.

Its mouth opened and closed as it spoke in a hoarse voice, "After this move, I'm about to merge with that wisp of divine soul.

Although I won't fall into a deep sleep, I won't be able to perceive the outside world.

And even if you use spiritual sense to call me, if it's not a critical moment, I may not be able to respond.

So, as you head towards the Boundless Sea, unless it's a life-or-death situation, try not to disturb me."

"Alright, Senior Turtle," Chu Ning nodded slightly, then examined the Cangxuan Spirit Turtle before him.

He couldn't help but ask curiously, "Senior Turtle, why do you always appear in your true form? Why don't you transform into a human shape?"

With the turtle's cultivation, it must be a tenth-stage demon beast. Transforming its shape should be an easy task.

Hearing Chu Ning's words, the giant turtle gently shook its head.

"Transforming my shape? That's too troublesome.

I'm a turtle, so why do I need to transform into a human shape?"

After finishing speaking, the turtle suddenly disappeared from the air.

Immediately after, a voice sounded from within the spirit beast pouch, "You do what you need to do, and don't worry about me."

Hearing this, a strange light flashed in Chu Ning's eyes.

He didn't know if the turtle had lived for tens of thousands of years and thus become enlightened, or if it was simply because... it was lazy.

With these thoughts in mind, Chu Ning looked up and examined the surrounding sea.

Aside from the seawater, there was an island about ten miles to the left.

Chu Ning flew towards the island.

From the spiritual energy in the area, he could tell that this place belonged to the central region of the Infinite Sea within the Iceland Immortal City's territory.

When he had been hunting eighth-stage and seventh-stage demon beasts, he had visited most of this central region.

As long as he went to that island and took a look around, he would be able to figure out exactly where he was.

"This place is still within the Iceland Immortal City's territory, and it's just at the border between the inner sea and the central region."

After a brief inspection of the island, Chu Ning quickly figured out his approximate location.

Without further delay, he discerned the direction and swiftly flew towards the south.

At the same time, he also summoned Bai Ling from his spirit beast pouch, and it burrowed into his sleeve.

The two of them began to communicate.

"Master, are you now flying towards the Eastern Sacred Continent?" Bai Ling asked.

Chu Ning nodded slightly, "It seems that's the only place we can go. Bai Ling, when we reach the outer sea, you can transform into your human shape."

"Alright, Master, but if it's just the outer sea region, I can maintain my human shape.

However, if I have to maintain my human form for half a year in the Boundless Sea, my spiritual power won't be able to support it."

Bai Ling said with some worry.

Chu Ning replied with a calm expression, "It's alright, I have plenty of thousand-year spirit liquid and ten-thousand-year spirit liquid. Even if we both use it, it should be enough."

Hearing Chu Ning's words, Bai Ling softly replied, "Hmm."

"As for my flying speed, although using the Phantom Escape technique is faster, it consumes too much spiritual power.

Chu Ning was no stranger to its incredible speed, as even Lu Xuandao, a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, seemed unable to surpass it.

This Eight Trigrams Flying Wheel was Qiu Qijun's signature treasure, nurtured over many years, and it had merged with his soul,

If Qiu Qijun hadn't died, it would have been extremely difficult for Chu Ning to erase his soul imprint.

However, with Qiu Qijun's death, everything became simpler.

Without hesitation, Chu Ning began erasing the soul imprint as he continued to fly ahead.

After several days, Chu Ning completely erased Qiu Qijun's soul imprint from the flying wheel.

After familiarizing himself with its usage, Chu Ning infused it with his spiritual power.

He threw it forward and then leaped onto it.

In the next moment, he transformed into a white blur, shooting forward at an incredible speed.

"This is indeed a rare flying treasure," Chu Ning marveled. Its speed was even faster than his Phantom Escape technique.

However, in terms of spiritual power consumption, it didn't require much more than the Wind God Escape technique.

At this moment, Chu Ning infused spiritual power into one of the eight trigrams.

Immediately, the Eight Trigrams Flying Wheel enlarged, doubling in size to half a zhang.

Surprisingly, its speed didn't slow down at all, and the spiritual power consumption increased only slightly.

With this size, two people could comfortably stand on it without feeling cramped.

Chu Ning nodded in satisfaction, retracted his spiritual power, and returned the flying wheel to its original size. Riding it, he swiftly flew towards the outer sea.

As Chu Ning employed the Soul-Sealing Technique, he also used his spiritual sense to carefully scan his surroundings.

He found no traces of any demons or cultivators.

Reassured, he began to inspect the contents of the storage bags one by one.

The first one he examined was his own.

Back in the inner hall of the Great Void Temple, just before he left, he had unexpectedly obtained the Xuanxiao Mirror.

According to the giant turtle, the Xuanxiao Mirror was a spiritual treasure that required refinement before it could be used.

With Chu Ning's current abilities, it was impossible to do so.

However, Chu Ning had also captured a ball of light earlier, which contained a jade slip that he had directly placed into his storage bag.

He hadn't had the chance to examine what was inside until now.

He immersed his spiritual sense into the jade slip and soon saw several large characters.

'Whirlpool of Green Waves.'

"This is actually an advanced top-grade water-attribute technique!"

Chu Ning's eyes lit up at the discovery.

Among the techniques he cultivated, fire-attribute techniques were the most abundant. The Fiery Flame Art and the Heavenly Fire Sword Technique were both top-grade middle-tier techniques, and with the aid of the Earth Vein Spirit Fire, their offensive power was substantial.

In terms of earth-attribute techniques, he excelled in two: the Earth Spirit Rock Armor Technique and the Earth Spirit Shadow Escape Technique, both of which were top-grade middle-tier techniques, one for defense and the other for escape.

For metal-attribute techniques, he had only cultivated one: the Golden Armor God Shadow Fist, a top-grade low-tier technique obtained from the Iron Lion.

However, due to his ability to merge with the Geng metal qi, he renamed it the Geng Metal God Fist, and it could reach the power of a top-grade middle-tier technique.

As for wood-attribute techniques, the most beneficial to Chu Ning was the Green Spring Eternal Technique. He had learned fewer offensive and defensive wood-attribute techniques.

As for water-attribute techniques, he had never practiced any.

Upon seeing that the jade slip contained a top-grade advanced water-attribute technique, he became intrigued and started studying it.

As he read through it, a smile appeared on Chu Ning's face.

The Whirlpool of Green Waves was a water-attribute technique specializing in trapping enemies, which perfectly complemented his Yin Wood Spirit Body's talent of doubling the effect of water-attribute techniques.

After reading it from start to finish, Chu Ning put the jade slip back into his storage bag.

Given his current situation, it wasn't suitable for him to start cultivating it right away.

For now, he could only comprehend its mysteries and cultivate it later.

At this point, Chu Ning started inspecting the contents of the other storage bags.

Shang Song and the two Nascent Soul solitary cultivators' bags contained a large number of spirit stones, spirit pills, refining materials, and top-grade pills.

The two Nascent Soul solitary cultivators' bags actually had more items.

Chu Ning wasn't surprised, as Shang Song, being the protector elder of Changkong Hall, likely kept most of his resources in Changkong Hall.

What he carried with him might just be for emergencies.

What surprised Chu Ning slightly was that Shang Song, as the protector elder, didn't carry any ancient treasures with him.

Moreover, there didn't seem to be any ancient treasures or items that appeared to be from the inner hall of Changkong Hall in the bags of the three cultivators.

Apparently, they hadn't obtained any treasures from the balls of light they had been chasing.

Their signature treasures were probably still stored within their bodies, as they had been unable to use spiritual power in the passageway.

Chu Ning, of course, couldn't retrieve them.

Out of curiosity, Chu Ning opened Qiu Qijun's storage bag.

Lu Xuandao had relentlessly pursued this man, and Qiu Qijun had been holding onto this bag when his Nascent Soul escaped.

Chu Ning guessed that Qiu Qijun might have obtained some treasure from the inner hall of the Great Void Temple.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end