Green Origin Water Grass

Beneath the murky river water,

everything was dim.

Shen Changchuan searched all around the riverbed.

Nearly a month of heavy rain had swept up mud and sand from upstream and carried it into the river, turning its once-clear water incredibly turbid.

Shen Changchuan's view was greatly obstructed as he searched the riverbed.

Fortunately, his Spirit Eye Technique had reached 100% mastery, giving him far better eyesight than an ordinary person,

as well as a keen sense for spiritual and demonic energy. Otherwise, he could forget about searching for spiritual treasures at the bottom of the river.

Shen Changchuan searched the uneven riverbed, section by section.

Now and then, large broken branches, leaves, and other debris swept past him, carried along by the raging current.

Every so often, he saw large fish darting through the water.

There were also water plants swaying on the riverbed, stubbornly surviving the torrents of the rainy season.

However,

half an hour passed,

and Shen Changchuan had searched a long stretch of the riverbed without finding anything.

There wasn't even a trace of spiritual energy or radiance,

as if there were no Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures here at all.

"Could I have guessed wrong? Maybe the Crocodile Demon didn't have a Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure. Maybe it had some powerful bloodline inheritance of its own, which was why it mastered so many spells and was more intelligent than ordinary Demon Beasts?"

On the riverbank,

Shen Changchuan had found nothing after searching for a long time, so he temporarily stopped and climbed ashore to sit and recover his magical power.

He felt somewhat frustrated.

Thinking back on his fruitless search of the riverbed,

Shen Changchuan couldn't help frowning.

It wasn't as if he'd gained nothing at all.

At least he had familiarized himself with the terrain of the riverbed,

and discovered that the Water Vein Essence in the Dawan River was fairly abundant.

A considerable amount of "sediment" had accumulated in the riverbed mud, formed from a mixture of Water Vein Essence and Earth Vein Essence.

This "sediment" should be quite beneficial to the growth of Spirit Grain.

If he could dredge it up and use it to increase the Spirit Grain yield, it would be a small fortune.

But the problem was,

none of this had anything to do with Shen Changchuan's original goal!

He hadn't set out to find some silt sediment. He was looking for a natural treasure connected to the Crocodile Demon!

But after half an hour of finding nothing,

Shen Changchuan couldn't help doubting his theory.

"No, that can't be right!"

"The Water Vein Essence in this river is abundant, and there's a lot of sediment at the bottom. A river like this should have at least one or two quasi-spiritual treasures like Spirit Grain, even if there aren't many!"

"But there's nothing in the river! There don't even seem to be many water plants!"

"That's not normal!"

Shen Changchuan suddenly realized this, and his eyes narrowed.

Something was strange!

He decided to keep looking.

So,

once his magical power had fully recovered,

Shen Changchuan entered the river again.

This time,

he widened his search area, searching inch by inch farther afield.

At last,

persistence paid off.

A quarter of an hour later,

when Shen Changchuan reached a deeper part of the riverbed,

his Spirit Eye Technique finally picked out a glimmer of spiritual light in a hidden hollow within a trench in the riverbed not far away.

"Found it!"

Shen Changchuan couldn't help brightening with delight.

He swam toward the hollow.

But he didn't let his excitement make him careless.

He stopped outside and examined the area carefully, making sure there was no danger before cautiously entering to investigate.

The hollow wasn't very deep.

It looked like a tunnel beneath the riverbed.

"Hm?"

There seemed to be traces of artificial excavation. Shen Changchuan's gaze sharpened.

But after looking closely,

he found nothing more.

What he could tell was that sometime ten or twenty years ago, someone had enlarged a naturally formed hollow here. Faint traces of a ruined formation remained.

There were also marks left by the Crocodile Demon.

It seemed

this really was the Crocodile Demon's lair!

Shen Changchuan was delighted.

He stopped looking around and swam farther into the hollow.

Before long,

Shen Changchuan came to a halt.

His gaze fixed on what lay ahead.

At the far end of the hollow, in the dim riverbed, a spiritual herb grew, its entire body shimmering with a faint blue glow and spiritual energy gathering all around it!

Shen Changchuan swam up beside the water plant and stared wide-eyed at every blade and every vein through his Spirit Eye Technique.

"This is... Green Origin Water Grass?!"

Shen Changchuan recognized the spiritual herb.

He couldn't help crying out in surprise.

This thing

had been mentioned in the miscellany books he'd read during his two and a half years at the Shen Family Estate!

It was an incredibly precious natural treasure that could grow only under conditions rich in Water Vein Essence, and even then, the chances were slim!

Just how precious was it?

Its value was probably greater than that of all twelve mu of Spirit Fields in Dawan Village combined!

It could temper the body with abundant water-element power, slightly improving a person's cultivation aptitude.

It could also strengthen the soul to a certain extent!

Without a doubt,

either of these effects

was enough to send its value soaring!

"To think there's something this good at the bottom of the river. No wonder that Crocodile Demon was so intelligent and had mastered so many innate spells!"

His earlier doubts were completely answered.

Demon Beasts that lived alongside natural treasures

could benefit greatly from the Green Origin Water Grass as it absorbed Water Vein Essence and released natural spiritual energy.

Perhaps that was exactly what had made the Crocodile Demon so unusual.

Shen Changchuan was filled with joy.

The appearance of this Green Origin Water Grass was like a windfall from the heavens!

"It's a shame it's still a seedling. If only it were fully grown—the effects of mature Green Origin Water Grass would be even stronger!"

After studying the priceless Green Origin Water Grass,

Shen Changchuan thought, greedily wishing for more.

If it were fully grown,

its value could soar tenfold, even a hundredfold!

But even as a seedling, it was still a tremendous find for Shen Changchuan.

And the Water Vein Essence in the Dawan River probably wasn't enough to sustain a fully grown Green Origin Water Grass anyway.

Shen Changchuan could only put his greed aside.

With a satisfied smile, he took a jade box from his clothes,

carefully picked the Green Origin Water Grass, and sealed it inside.

Although the Green Origin Water Grass was immensely valuable,

countless wealthy cultivation clans and great clans in the outside world were willing to pay a fortune for this kind of natural treasure, using it to cleanse the cultivation aptitudes of their direct descendants.

Shen Changchuan had no intention of selling it.

The reasoning was simple:

the Green Origin Water Grass was too valuable,

so valuable that a tiny ant like him, a cultivator at the fourth stage of the Qi Induction Realm, couldn't hope to protect it.

Even if he sold it for a fortune in Spirit Stones, without the strength to protect them, they would sooner or later belong to someone else.

Not to mention that First Madam, who lived in the rear courtyard of the Shen Family Estate...

Forget it.

It was a bit of a loss, but at least it was safe in his hands.

Shen Changchuan planned to swallow and refine it as soon as he returned, making it part of his own foundation.

He carefully put away the jade box containing the Green Origin Water Grass.

Then Shen Changchuan prepared to leave.

But just then,

on a whim, he swept his Spirit Eye Technique over the area around the Green Origin Water Grass.

He'd only meant to check for anything he might have missed,

but he really did notice something strange.

Through his perfected Spirit Eye Technique, the soil on the riverbed was mostly the color of ash.

That was how Earth Vein Essence appeared through the Spirit Eye Technique.

However,

against the gray-white soil behind the Green Origin Water Grass, there was a neat, square patch of blank space about the size of a book!

"What is this?"

Shen Changchuan swam over in confusion

and carefully began digging.

After digging about a foot down,

a small black wooden box appeared before Shen Changchuan.

Using a Gold Needle with the Gold Thorn Technique, he carefully picked the bronze lock open.

He carefully opened the box.

Inside, Shen Changchuan saw a palm-sized White Jade Token lying there, its entire surface pure white.

He picked up the token.

Intricate patterns were carved all around its edges.

At its center,

a large character, "Elephant," was engraved.