Dragon Tortoise Appears, Purple Firmament Tea Emerges

Li Cha had just floated above the pool when countless water jets shot out from its depths, firing indiscriminately at his group. "Withhold." At that single word, the water streams were bound, returning to stillness and flowing back into the pool.

"Rise." Li Cha stood above the deep pool, lightly uttering a single syllable as his palm made a lifting motion toward the ink-green surface. The waters that had slumbered for Myriad Ages erupted into a roaring boil—not ordinary bubbling, but the entire pool surging like a roused dragon, howling and churning as it tore free from the basin and shot skyward in accordance with his hand's gesture.

"Divide." Another true-word command. In an instant, the towering water curtain was split apart by an invisible force, revealing a massive passage straight to the pool's bottom. The waters stood like sheer cliffs on either side of the channel, maintaining their surging posture yet unable to close. At the bottom, a colossal creature was laid bare—its form like a turtle, bearing a shell etched with mysterious patterns, but its head was a ferocious dragon's visage, its entire body radiating a savage aura. At this moment, the dragon's eyes were filled with murderous intent, and its roar shook the surrounding rocks until they trembled and even cracked with spiderweb-like fissures.

"Seize." Another word rang out as Li Cha's palm grasped downward through the air. The nearly thousand-zhang bulk was caught by an invisible force, slowly suspended midair, its stubby dragon claws paddling uselessly in a comically disproportionate display.

"So it's you!" Seeing the dragon-turtle, a flicker of recognition passed through Li Cha's eyes. He recalled knowledge from his past life: Baxia, one of the Nine Sons of the Dragon, possessed Infinite Power but was known for his gentle temperament and fondness for carrying stone steles—a far cry from the irritable beast before him. His cultivation had reached Peak Grand Unity Golden Immortal; no wonder Li Cha's two disciples had suffered at his hands.

"Youngster! Who are you? How dare you show such disrespect to this ancestor!" Baxia struggled fiercely, roaring in fury, the dragon's cry laced with anger and a trace of barely perceptible fear. He could feel that the power binding him was vast as a sea of stars, unfathomably deep.

"Haha, youngster?" Li Cha let out a light laugh, though a hint of coldness lingered in it. "Baxia, this ancestor has lived longer than even your father, the Ancestral Dragon, and you dare call me a youngster?" His tone turned abruptly severe. "Hmph! You seek death!"

Before the words faded, Li Cha's grasping hand tightened slightly. A grating, teeth-setting crack-crack-crack sound rang out, as if the great millstones of heaven and earth were grinding Stubborn Stone. Baxia's thick shell, tough enough to withstand strikes from ordinary Innate Spirit Treasures, split with fine cracks under Li Cha's distant grip!

"Ah—! Stop! Spare me, senior! I was wrong! This junior knows his mistake!" Baxia's soul nearly fled in terror. The boundless pressure crushed in from all sides, not only acting on his shell but penetrating to the marrow, making him truly feel death's approach. He had no doubt that if the other party exerted even a little more force, his mighty body would completely disintegrate and go to keep the Ancestral Dragon company.

"Wrong?" Li Cha paused his action, studying the trembling Baxia with interest. The pressure eased slightly but did not fully withdraw. "Then tell me, what is so extraordinary beneath these waters that a Dragon Son would lie dormant here?"

Daring not to conceal anything, Baxia hurriedly replied, "Reporting to senior, beneath these waters there is indeed an ownerless grotto-heaven, named the 'Ren Water Grotto-Heaven.' Within it nurtures an Innate Spiritual Root—the Purple Firmament Tea Tree. The pure spiritual rhythm emitted by this tree can alleviate the restlessness of the soul and the torment of surging bloodlust that this junior suffers due to Karma entanglement. Ever since Father God sank into the sea eye to suppress the Primordial Wilderness's water veins, this junior came here, borrowing the spiritual root's power to maintain a Clear Mind. Inside the grotto-heaven, there was originally a monkey..." At this point, Baxia glared angrily at the nearby Wu Zhiqi. "Not only did he casually pick the tea leaves, but he also tried to shake the spiritual root's main body, disturbing the grotto-heaven's peace. In a fit of rage, this junior threw him out and sealed the grotto-heaven's entrance. Today, seeing him again..."

Wu Zhiqi brandished his Primordial Iron Staff, glaring back without backing down, baring his teeth and making faces in a thoroughly provocative manner. Baxia, suspended midair and unable to move, could only bore into Wu Zhiqi with his eyes, dragon pupils blazing with fury—if not restrained, he would have pounced long ago.

"I see." Li Cha nodded slightly, having sorted out the cause and effect. "What plans do you have for the future? The Purple Firmament Tea Tree in this grotto-heaven is fated to be mine; I will take it shortly."

"This..." Baxia's dragon eyes flickered with struggle and despair. After a moment's hesitation, he steeled himself to plead, "Senior's divine powers are vast; taking the mother tree is only right. But... could you show mercy and leave this junior a sapling? This junior truly cannot do without this tree." Without the Purple Firmament Tea Tree's suppression, he dared not imagine how the boundless Karma would torment him.

"Leave a sapling?" Li Cha's gaze was piercing as he looked at Baxia. "I can. But are you certain that the faint spiritual rhythm emitted by a mere sapling can suppress the vast Karma of the Dragon Clan that has persisted to this day within you?"

Baxia's massive dragon head drooped, his voice filled with bitterness and helplessness: "Senior sees clearly... but... what choice is there! The Primordial Wilderness is vast, yet few things can purify Karma. This junior can only cling to life like this..."

"In that case, why not come with me." Li Cha's tone was flat but carried an unshakable force. "That bit of Karma in your body is nothing to this ancestor."

"What?!" Baxia raised his head, dragon eyes wide as saucers, hardly believing his ears. "Really? Milord... does milord mean it?!" Purifying Karma—something even the Ancestral Dragon could not achieve—and this mysterious being spoke of it so casually?

"This ancestor would not stoop to deceiving a junior like you." Li Cha smiled faintly and said no more. With a slight mental shift, he stirred the vast ocean of Great Dao Merit within him, separating a strand as fine as a hair. Though this wisp of Golden Light of Merit was tiny, it carried an aura of supreme sanctity, invulnerability to all laws, and All Evils Avoided. The golden light entered Baxia's massive body like a swimming dragon.

"Ah—!"

Baxia's entire body shuddered violently, letting out a long cry utterly different from his previous pained roars—one of relief and release. That wisp of Golden Light of Merit brought no increase in power, but like the sun melting snow, it dissolved and purified the dark red Karma clinging to him like a bone-deep curse! It granted him an unprecedented lightness and clarity, spreading from the depths of his soul. The thick bloodlust in his eyes visibly receded, revealing clearer amber dragon pupils.

Sensing the change in Baxia's soul, Li Cha's lips curled slightly. He withdrew his magic power and released his restraint.

Baxia's massive body floated in midair, shaking his huge head. Feeling the reduction in Karma, he looked at Li Cha with eyes full of gratitude and awe. He lowered his enormous head, his voice more submissive than ever before: "Baxia... bows to senior for the grace of rebirth! Willing to follow at senior's side, to be driven and commanded, even unto death without regret!"

"Let's go. Lead the way. Let's see this Ren Water Grotto-Heaven." Li Cha waved a hand, his tone calm.

"Yes! Senior, please follow me!" Baxia dared not delay and quickly guided the way. He channeled his magic power, parting the waters that had not yet fully settled, and led Li Cha's group toward a hidden vortex of spiritual light at the pool's bottom.

"Is this... the Myriad Streams Return to Sea Formation?" Li Cha's gaze swept over the spiritual light vortex and the countless mysterious runes hidden within the flowing water, immediately recognizing the formation's origin. This formation was one of the Dragon Clan's protective arrays during their heyday, of Infinite Power, said to require the Dragon Clan's supreme treasure, the top-grade Innate Spirit Treasure Four Seas Bottle, as the formation's core to deploy. Though the formation before him was small in scale, its aura was solemn, with faint phantom images of the Four Seas rising and falling amid the dense water vapor, its Dao rhythm naturally perfect—far from ordinary.

Seeing Li Cha recognize the formation at a glance, Baxia's awe deepened. He replied respectfully, "Senior's eyes are like torches; it is indeed the Myriad Streams Return to Sea Formation. This unworthy one has dabbled slightly in the many formations passed down by the Dragon Clan. After the Dragon Clan withdrew from the world, the clan's guardian treasure, the Four Seas Bottle, was temporarily entrusted to me. Relying on this treasure, I set up this formation to guard the grotto and ward off external disturbances."

"Not bad. As expected of the Dragon Clan's secret protective formation—it does have some tricks." Li Cha stood with his hands behind his back, observing with interest for a moment. With his formation mastery at the pinnacle, even a brief glance had allowed him to perceive most of the formation's operational patterns and spiritual energy nodes, and he had a clear judgment of its power—an ordinary early Quasi-Saint powerhouse who entered this formation, without a method to break it or special fortune, would likely be trapped by the endless water vein laws converging the power of myriad streams into the abyss. Even if they escaped, they would shed a layer of skin.

Seeing Li Cha finish his observation, Baxia dared not keep him waiting. He quickly activated his techniques, urging the Four Seas Bottle within the formation. The spiritual light vortex trembled slightly, and the surrounding hidden runes lit up in sequence before sinking into the bottle. Baxia actively withdrew the formation, revealing a light gate rippling with dense Innate Ren Water essence. Above the gate, four ancient Dao characters were inscribed: "Ren Water Grotto-Heaven."

The group stepped inside. Within the grotto-heaven, the scene was one of natural elegance. The sky was a soft, water-blue light barrier, and the ground beneath their feet was moist spiritual soil. The most striking sight was the tea tree at the grotto-heaven's center, over a hundred zhang tall. Its trunk was a pale purple, its branches lush, and every leaf seemed carved from the purest amethyst crystal, with veins flowing with hazy rosy light and mysterious Dao patterns. A gentle breeze stirred the branches, producing crisp, pleasant Dao tones and releasing a strange tea fragrance that intoxicated the soul and cleared the mind—this was the mid-grade Innate Spiritual Root, the Purple Firmament Tea Tree.

Beneath the tree was not soil but a small, crystal-clear pool. The water in the pool was no ordinary liquid—it was the supremely yin, supremely soft, life-filled Innate Ren Water! This divine water gushed forth from the tree's roots, a trickling stream nourishing the Purple Firmament Tea, then slowly flowed into the pool, cycling endlessly, making the water-element spiritual energy within the entire grotto-heaven so dense it was nearly tangible. Every breath felt like a slight advancement in cultivation.

"Innate Ren Water! Excellent, truly excellent!" A satisfied smile spread across Li Cha's face. "Not only an Innate Spiritual Root like the Purple Firmament Tea, but also the Innate Ren Water that nourishes all things. This Ren Water Grotto-Heaven is indeed a rare blessed land, fitting to belong to my Yunhua Lineage."