Hundred-Year Spirit Rhyme Turtle

After the fish meat in his stomach had digested, Zhou Qing felt refreshed and full of strength.

However.

As the blood in his body stopped concentrating in his digestive system, the thoughts in Zhou Qing's brain once again took the upper hand.

Why had a Soul Beast appeared in this little stream?

The Great White Carp—according to Holy Soul Village villagers who had gone to Nuoding City to sell grain—was just the most ordinary kind of fish. It was cheap, costing one Copper Soul Coin for two jin.

Yet this Great White Carp had actually become a Soul Beast!

It was no different from Carp Leaping Over the Dragon Gate!

Even if it was only the weakest Ten-Year Soul Beast, Zhou Qing did not think he could defeat it in the water. After all, he had grabbed that Great White Carp by the gills and it had still dragged him along until Tang San stepped in and subdued it.

Moreover, there was a notch in the Great White Carp's head, as though some creature had bitten it.

Anything capable of treating a Great White Carp Soul Beast as food had to be a Soul Beast as well. However, if it had allowed a Ten-Year Great White Carp to escape, it could not have been much stronger. It was probably an aquatic species too.

Soul Beasts had to follow the laws of nature as well. When aquatic Soul Beasts came onto land, their combat strength would plummet. Even the Hundred-Thousand-Year Demon Soul Great White Shark from the original work had been greatly suppressed after coming ashore and taking human form, let alone whatever Soul Beast this stream had nurtured.

Therefore, Zhou Qing planned to investigate.

Just in case—

"San'er, how about we go take a look upstream?"

With Tang San around, their safety was much more assured.

This was a "strong man" who, with just level-ten Soul Power and Tang Sect techniques, could toy with a Mandala Snake over four hundred years old!

Although Yu Xiaogang was mockingly called the disgrace of Soul Grand Masters, his twenty-ninth-level Soul Power was there for all to see. Even he could not handle a Mandala Snake, yet Tang San in the original work had killed one. That was enough to prove how formidable Tang San was!

Though he was only four years old now, dealing with an aquatic Soul Beast that could only display its greatest combat strength in water should not be a problem. Even if they could not beat it, they could always run ashore.

"Alright!"

Tang San agreed immediately without a second thought.

He had already eaten the Great White Carp's flesh and experienced its benefits. It could speed up his cultivation, so if there were other Soul Beasts, they naturally had to investigate.

The two cleaned up the scraps and buried them, then got dressed and climbed a nearby slope to the top of the Waterfall.

Above the Waterfall was another stream. Its deepest point was only forty centimeters deep, and the aquatic plants and pebbles on the riverbed were clearly visible.

"Brother Qing, look. There seems to be a tree lying across the stream over there!" Tang San's sharp eyes spotted a green tree stretching across the stream a hundred meters away, and he spoke softly.

"It was already there before." Zhou Qing pondered. "The woods over there are much denser than this side, with lots of weeds, so I never went there. Most people in the village spend their time working in the fields and have no time to gather wild vegetables in there..."

As he spoke, Zhou Qing suddenly felt that one or two Ten-Year Soul Beasts appearing in a place like this was not such a big deal.

"Shall we go take a look?"

Tang San was eager to try.

"Wait."

Zhou Qing grabbed some mud from the streambank and smeared it over his clothes, then smeared some over Tang San's clothes as well. Before Tang San could voice his confusion, he explained, "Soul Beasts have very keen senses of smell. We bathed in the pool earlier, but our clothes were left on the shore. It might be able to smell us."

Tang San nodded to himself and silently cursed at himself for forgetting something as basic as concealing their scent.

After walking nearly a hundred meters, Zhou Qing and Tang San arrived before the tree lying across the stream.

Looking at the mud beneath the tree and the dense branches covering its trunk, Zhou Qing could not help but marvel at the vitality of plants. "This tree probably fell decades ago, but it is still growing. Its trunk is covered in dense branches and green leaves, and they have grown over a meter tall!"

"Indeed, plants are incredibly resilient." Tang San looked toward the roots and saw that they were still striving to extend downward, taking root in the soil. He could not help but nod.

Then Zhou Qing grabbed the branches and began climbing upward.

The branches growing from the trunk of the fallen tree were dense and intertwined, yet they were actually able to support Zhou Qing's weight.

"Hurry and follow me," Zhou Qing said. "These branches may look thin, but they are tangled together tightly. I reckon they could even support someone with a build like your father's."

Tang San tugged at the dense branches and leaves, discovering that they were indeed tightly packed and sturdy. Secretly amazed, he followed Zhou Qing and replied, "Wait for me."

One after the other, the two climbed to the top.

Lying prone atop it, their bodies sank in slightly, but the branches and leaves growing from the trunk still supported them both.

On the other side of this "green tree wall," however, pebbles and dead branches had piled up and become stuck among the branches on this side, making the stream deeper here.

By Zhou Qing's estimate, it was at least over a meter deep!

After all, as far as the eye could see, this stretch of stream was extremely murky within twenty meters. Only beyond that distance did the water become clear again.

This twenty-meter stretch of stream seemed to have been dug much deeper than the other sections by some creature.

Splash!

The stream suddenly rippled.

Zhou Qing and Tang San exchanged a glance, immediately slowing their breathing and trying to press their bodies further into the branches. They pulled aside the branches before them and peered toward the murky stretch of water.

A Great White Carp leaped from the surface—

No!

It was being held in the jaws of a black head!

As the unknown creature swam toward the bank, Zhou Qing finally saw its full appearance: short limbs, a raised, rounded head, and a black turtle shell covered in aquatic plants.

It was a Spirit Rhyme Turtle!

"Brother Qing, look. There are cracks on that turtle's shell. They look as if something smashed it open, and it happened quite some time ago. The gap is covered with aquatic plants, and there are even pond snails living inside... Its wound never healed, yet this turtle is still alive! It must be a Soul Beast!" Tang San whispered. "Could this be that Hundred-Year Spirit Rhyme Turtle?"

"It should be."

Zhou Qing had never expected that frightening rumor used to scare children was actually true!

And this Spirit Rhyme Turtle had come so close to Holy Soul Village!

Still, this Spirit Rhyme Turtle truly had astonishing vitality. Its shell had cracked and become stained with silt, while ordinary plants and animals such as aquatic plants and pond snails parasitized it, yet it had somehow held on.

Judging by the situation, this Spirit Rhyme Turtle would naturally die before long.

But since they had discovered it now, they could not let it die for nothing. At the very least, they could cut away the rotten parts. The remaining meat should still be edible.

The flesh of turtles and soft-shelled turtles had always been highly nourishing!

Saliva had already begun to pool in Zhou Qing's mouth.

Tang San was the same.