Chapter 446: The Eight Trigrams
Chapter 446: The Eight Trigrams
"A spirit beast with the cultivation of five Nascent Souls..." Lu Chen's heart stirred, and he couldn't help but marvel at the depth of resources and power within the Celestial Sword Sect.
Just the number of fifth and sixth-grade spirit beasts under their care was impressive, not to mention the potential of the White Jade Monkey and the Luan Bird, which were at least fifth-grade.
And that was not to forget the numerous third and fourth-grade spirit beasts within the Myriad Demon Cave.
If they sent out any one of these beasts, they could raze Lin Yang City, where he had spent his Qi Refining days, to the ground.
"My young friend, you have nothing to worry about. That old fox may have a temperamental personality, but he bears no ill will towards the disciples of the Celestial Sword Sect. He won't harm you."
"Moreover, you have the Beast Control Token." The old ape glanced at the token hanging at Lu Chen's waist.
"To possess the Beast Control Token is to represent Cang Wu. With the spiritual essence and blood contained within, you can communicate with all the spirit beasts in the blessed land on equal terms and even take the upper hand."
"The token was given to me by Master Cang Wu, most likely as a means of deterrence. I don't think I'll actually have to use it," Lu Chen quickly added.
"It's best if it's not used. Otherwise, it would be detrimental to both parties," the old ape said calmly.
Lu Chen didn't stay much longer. After a while, he bade farewell to the two spirit beasts and returned to his cloud cottage.
In the following days, he no longer had to tend to the spirit plants, as there were Sun Yun and the others to feed the beasts in the blessed land. This left him with ample free time.
Every day, he would cultivate for a while, and during the rest of his time, he would wander around the Myriad Demon Cave, play with the white ape and the luan bird to strengthen their bond, seek out the lion-bird and other beasts he had tamed before, or explore the Myriad Demon Cave on his own.
With all the spirit beasts in the blessed land belonging to the sect and the nuclear option of the Beast Control Token in his possession, he faced no danger.
One day, as he was wandering casually, he came upon a vast lake.
"Hmm, what's that?" Lu Chen's curiosity was piqued as he spotted a strange pile of objects from afar. Like a floating light, he instantly appeared before the objects.
Before him lay a pile of mottled tortoise shells. The shells were a dark greenish-blue, bearing the marks of countless years, and upon them were countless semi-transparent lines forming bizarre trigrams.
The lines seemed to have a life of their own as they moved constantly, causing the trigrams on the tortoise shells to shift and change.
Lu Chen examined them closely, contemplating the meaning of the ever-shifting lines.
"Who's this little one, staring at this old one's shell without any manners?" Suddenly, a venerable voice sounded in his ear.
The numerous tortoise shells on the ground flew up, and a dragon-headed, tortoise-bodied spirit beast leaped out of the lake.
All the tortoise shells gathered and attached themselves to its body, fitting together perfectly as if they had never been apart.
Lu Chen swept it with his spiritual sense and instantly realized that the spirit beast before him was incredibly powerful. Recognizing its form and recalling the old ape's introduction, he instantly knew that this was the dragon tortoise of the blessed land.
"Paying respects to Senior. I was curious about the trigrams and wanted to take a closer look. If I have offended you in any way, please forgive me," Lu Chen said respectfully, bowing his head.
"So, it's the new disciple of the Celestial Sword Sect. Has the little brat Cang Wu left you in charge of this blessed land?" The dragon tortoise glanced at the beast head token at Lu Chen's waist and asked.
"Yes, Master Cang Wu is temporarily away on business. As there were no other Nascent Soul stage masters available within the sect, he entrusted the care of the blessed land to me," Lu Chen replied.
Hearing the dragon tortoise refer to a Nascent Soul stage master as a "brat" made Lu Chen break into a sweat, though his forehead was thankfully dry.
"I see," the dragon tortoise said indifferently.
"These tortoise shells were left out by me to sunbathe. In the future, don't mistake them for ownerless items.
The dragon tortoise yawned, its two slender dragon whiskers lifting up from its chin. "Your aura is quite interesting, young one."
It leaned its head closer to Lu Chen, its nostrils flaring. "A mix of various true dragon auras, I wonder how many young dragons from the Thousand Dragon Lake you've come into contact with. And that little deer, it seems its life essence is within you as well. Not bad, not bad at all."
"Eh? The scent of Monkey Wine? Do you have any Monkey Wine on you? If you do, let me have a taste, it's been ages since I've had any."
"I snuck into the White Ape's cave a few times, but he noticed and we ended up fighting. After that, I never saw any more Monkey Wine."
A hint of longing appeared in the dragon tortoise's huge, round eyes.
"Please forgive me, senior, I don't have any Monkey Wine, but I do have plenty of Hundred Fruit Spirit Dew. Would you like to try some?"
"Hundred Fruit Spirit Dew? That special spirit brew crafted by that young cultivator in the past?"
The dragon tortoise seemed to recall the origin of the Hundred Fruit Spirit Dew.
"That will do. Bring it out and let me have a taste. Don't be stingy like that white ape."
Upon hearing this, Lu Chen quickly took out the spirit dew and poured a full cup for the dragon tortoise, who had lived for countless millennia.
The dragon tortoise took a big gulp and smacked its lips. "Not bad, just like I remember."
"You're quite generous, young one."
With such a venerable being before him, Lu Chen naturally didn't hold back. He poured another full cup of Hundred Fruit Spirit Dew from his Drunken Immortal Gourd.
"It seems you're quite familiar with the Pill Formation master who brewed this spirit dew, senior."
Seeing that the Sixth-Grade dragon tortoise was quite casual, Lu Chen took the initiative to strike up a conversation.
"I've seen him numerous times, from the beginning of his brewing process to his eventual success. I was one of the tasters."
The dragon tortoise's voice was ancient as it replied.
"You truly are knowledgeable, senior." Lu Chen flattered.
"When you live as long as I have, you tend to see a lot of things."
"Even the Foundation Establishment cultivators and those Nascent Soul elders in the sect haven't been in the Sky Sword Sect as long as I have."
"That Cang Wuzi, who gave you the Beast Control Token, you know he loves to meddle in romantic affairs, right? Despite his righteous appearance, he's been involved with many female cultivators."
"Back when he was still at the Core Formation stage, he once impregnated the daughter of a Foundation Establishment elder from the Ling Xiao Sect. That elder chased him from afar, and his master had to pay a huge price to resolve the issue."
"There's such a story?"
Lu Chen's inner gossip hound ignited, and his eyes lit up. He took out some spirit fruits from his storage bag and offered some to the dragon tortoise, enjoying them together.
"And that Ancient Sword Kong in the sect, who's quite skilled with the sword, hunting down demonic cultivators and demons. He used to be extremely timid and afraid of losing his life."
"I don't know what provoked him, but he suddenly became extremely aggressive, no longer fearing for his life."
The dragon tortoise opened its mouth to catch the spirit fruit that Lu Chen tossed over. Seeing that it had an eager audience, it became more and more enthusiastic.
"Even your Sky Sword Sect's sect master, when he was very young, he joined the sect and always followed me around, calling me 'Grandpa Turtle'. I never expected him to reach the Nascent Soul stage now."
The old dragon tortoise sighed.
"Oh, and..."
Lu Chen nodded along, now understanding the meaning of the numerous trigrams on the dragon tortoise's shell.
"So, they were all gossip..."
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
