The Clam Maiden's Gift

Shi Mu paid no attention to the glowing shells. He swam swiftly to the massive reef, raised one arm, and struck it several times with a "bang bang" sound.

With a "puff," a cloud of blood mist sprayed out from beneath the reef. It swirled around the youth a few times like a living thing before silently sinking into his body.

After inhaling the blood mist, Shi Mu's spirits lifted greatly. He exhaled a long breath in the seawater and began to breathe freely through his mouth, just like a fish.

Then he moved, quickly circling to the back of the reef. From the sea sand, he dug out a rusted iron hammer and chisel, then set to work seriously chiseling beneath the reef.

In the faint white light, one could clearly see that beneath the massive reef was pinned a giant clam the size of a water vat. Its shell was pure white like jade, without a trace of any other color.

However, this enormous creature was mostly crushed under the huge reef, unable to move. Only occasionally did specks of silver light flicker and fade on its surface.

On the side of the reef being chiseled, a full eighty or ninety percent of the space beneath was already hollowed out. The reef even trembled slightly under the scouring of some underwater currents.

After the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Shi Mu, who had been chiseling without pause, began to tire.

He held his breath again, stopped his work, turned around, and returned to the front of the reef. He lightly tapped the stone wall three more times.

Hearing this sound, the giant clam below let its surface silver light flow for a moment, then barely opened a crack in its shell and sprayed out another cloud of blood mist.

The scene from before repeated itself.

After Shi Mu absorbed this blood mist into his body, his breathing returned to normal. He picked up his hammer and chisel, swam back to his original position, and continued to work hard with his head down.

The white giant clam beneath the massive reef was something the youth had discovered on the seabed two years ago. After it accidentally sprayed him with a mouthful of blood mist, he immediately gained the ability to breathe freely underwater for a short time.

Overjoyed and knowing the giant clam was extraordinary, he went home to fetch his hammer and chisel, returned to the seabed, and bit by bit chiseled at the base of the reef, planning to rescue the giant clam.

This giant clam was also highly intelligent, as if it knew Shi Mu was trying to save it. Whenever he couldn't breathe underwater, it would spray out a cloud of blood mist, allowing him to continue breathing freely.

But the reef was simply too large. Even though Shi Mu could breathe freely in the water, the strength he could exert on the seabed was still limited. Moreover, the stone was extremely hard. He had been chiseling like this for two full years before finally nearing success.

During this time, Shi Mu discovered that the blood mist sprayed by the giant clam was even more mysterious and wonderful than he had originally expected!

Over these two years, as he inhaled more and more into his body, what had originally been a single cloud of blood mist that could only let him last a very short time underwater now allowed him to last for a full incense stick's time with ease.

At the same time, Shi Mu also found that the blood mist not only greatly improved his swimming ability but also benefited his body!

His body tempering, which had previously stalled due to a lack of medicinal aids, had actually advanced in one go from the fourth layer to the current seventh layer. In addition, many things he had been unable to understand in his mind suddenly became clear. It seemed to have a certain enlightening effect on his comprehension as well, and it had made his temperament noticeably more mature than that of his peers.

Otherwise, how could a mere teenager have performed so calmly and collectedly in front of the old man in blue robes?

This time, he worked busily for most of the night before leaving the seabed, exhausted, and returning to his dwelling in the fishing village.

According to his usual routine, after each trip into the sea, he would rest for several days to regain his energy before going down a second time. But under the current circumstances, he naturally couldn't do that.

On the second night, at the same seaside spot, the youth jumped into the sea again.

On the third night, deep in the seabed!

With a "boom,"

Several pieces of broken stone rolled down. The original reef trembled violently and began to tilt slightly toward the hollowed-out side.

The giant clam, which had been tightly pressed under the huge rock, also struggled desperately, its shell flashing with a great silver light.

"It worked!"

Shi Mu was overjoyed. He twisted his body, swept his arms, and quickly swam to the other side of the reef to avoid being crushed.

Loud crashes continued. The reef had already tilted by nearly half, on the verge of collapsing completely. The giant clam was barely managing to break free from below.

But just then, an unknown current suddenly rushed in from the direction the reef was falling.

With a series of continuous "rumbling" crashes, the already tilted reef shook for a moment, then eerily returned to its original position. The giant clam, which had already freed itself somewhat, was about to be pinned down again.

"Not good!"

Seeing this, Shi Mu almost instinctively let out a low shout. He suddenly sank his waist, and with two "puff" sounds, his feet sank half a foot deep into the sea sand. He swung his arms and threw two fierce punches at the reef.

"Thump! Thump!" Two dull sounds!

The youth's fists slammed hard into the stone wall. The nearby seawater churned violently. The massive reef trembled slightly, and its downward pressing momentum slowed for a moment.

Taking this opportunity, the giant clam flashed with white light all over its body, blurred for an instant, and then inexplicably vanished from its original spot.

Shi Mu, however, staggered backward several steps. His hands were a bloody mess from the intense pain. He spat out a mouthful of blood, his vision went dark, and he fainted directly.

At that moment, the seawater near the youth stirred. The giant clam reappeared amidst swirling white light. Its two shells slowly opened, revealing a miniature girl holding a blood-red orb in her arms.

The miniature girl appeared to be six or seven years old, only three inches tall. She wore a light gauze bellyband. Her skin was like snow, her features exquisitely delicate. A pair of star-like black eyes carefully examined the unconscious youth and his bloody hands, and a deep gratitude showed on her small face.

She moved her lotus-root-like arm, raised the blood-red orb high, and released rings of silver light that rolled out in all directions.

The next moment, with a series of "whoosh whoosh" sounds, countless shells of all sizes surged madly from every corner of the seabed. They quickly gathered beneath the youth's body and slowly lifted him upward.

Before long, the seawater parted on the surface, and the youth's body floated out.

The numerous shells then scattered with a whoosh and sank back to the seabed.

A swirl of silver light rolled by. The giant shell reappeared near the youth. Its two shells opened wide, and the miniature girl was revealed again.

She looked at the youth, who was still unconscious, then at the blood-red orb in her hand. A hint of hesitation showed on her small face. In the end, she gritted her teeth and tossed the orb toward the youth.

The orb spun above the youth with a "whoosh." With a "puff," a large cloud of blood mist sprayed out!

Several days later, the girl appeared on the sea surface tens of thousands of miles away. Her figure was now the size of a normal child. But beside her was a middle-aged beauty in a blue palace dress.

Both of them stood atop a massive black turtle the size of a house, speeding deep into the sea as rolling waves churned on either side.

The beautiful woman held the young girl with one hand, gazing at her with affectionate eyes while speaking continuously:

"Child, if you hadn't run into me this time, you might have met with disaster. Tsk tsk, a Heavenly Clam Spirit Maiden—this is a born water-element practitioner. Even in the entire history of the East Sea, this is something that happens once in ten thousand years. It seems the aquatic races of the East Sea are destined to rise! By the way, child, what is your name? Why don't I see your spirit pearl? According to legend, every Heavenly Clam Spirit Maiden should have a companion spirit pearl. This is an excellent material for refining protective artifacts..."

"Ah ah..."

The young girl made babbling sounds, gesturing with her other small hand toward the woman.

"Oh, your name is Xiang Zhu, and you gave the spirit pearl away? That person saved your life? Hmm, repaying kindness is only right... What? That person is a human, and a man at that. Child, remember this: human men are the most unreliable. Next time you see him, just strike him dead with one palm. Come, let's go with your master to get the pearl back... What? You say the spirit pearl was tainted long ago by some unknown strange blood at the bottom of the sea and is now useless? Oh, if that's the case, then forget it. That human boy got off easy, but from now on, you are not allowed to see him again..."

As the woman's voice grew fainter, the giant turtle carried the two across the sea surface, gradually fading into a black dot until it vanished completely.

Shi Mu, in a dazed state, felt his entire body burning hot, his blood seeming to boil, his mouth and throat parched beyond measure. With a sudden loud shout, he sat up abruptly.

Only then did he realize he was sitting on a sandy beach by the sea, surrounded by silence with no one else in sight.

The youth was stunned for a moment, then instinctively lowered his head—and was greatly startled.

Where his two hands should have been a bloody mess, the skin was now smooth and flawless, with not a trace of injury remaining.

Shi Mu stared blankly, turning his hands over and over several times. Sensing the abnormality in his blood, his face filled with suspicion. After thinking for a while, he suddenly remembered something and frantically patted himself down.

Moments later, he pulled a thumb-sized, lustrous round bead from the front of his clothes.

"This is..."

The youth was somewhat doubtful, but he was certain that he had not had this item on him before.

Shi Mu naturally did not know that the clouds of blood mist the giant clam had sprayed at him earlier were actually the strange foreign blood stored in the young girl's spirit pearl.

Originally, Shi Mu had only absorbed one-tenth of that foreign blood. Now, to heal his injuries, the young girl had forced out all the remaining blood at once, allowing his wounds to recover in an instant.

As for the spirit pearl itself, because the young girl had stopped suppressing the taint of the foreign blood, it had lost all its spiritual nature and become nothing more than a rare luminous pearl. Otherwise, the young girl would not have been willing to leave it behind.

Shi Mu toyed with the round bead in his hand for a while, feeling its extraordinary smoothness and knowing it was valuable. He carefully tucked it away close to his body.

In the following time, he jumped back into the seawater and searched around the collapsed reef at the bottom. Only after confirming that the giant clam had truly left did he resurface with some regret and return to his home in the fishing village.

Three days later, in the morning, the old man in blue robes and his companions appeared in the fishing village.

Not long after, a black carriage, escorted by several riders, sped out of the village and rumbled off toward Feng City.