The azure waves stretched vast and boundless, with no end to Heaven and Earth.
The surging sea seemed to meet the Firmament. At the center of that boundless, mirror-green ocean, a towering immortal island rose from the depths, beyond the imagining of ordinary people, like a jade pillar propping up Heaven and piercing the highest skies.
Islands of all shapes and sizes were scattered like stars across the sea. Some resembled turtles crouching in the water, some roc birds spreading their wings, and some serpents winding their way along, but all of them surrounded the immortal island like stars around the moon.
"Boom!"
As a Clear Wind swept past, mighty waterfalls poured down from the peaks of countless islands, turning into a vast mist that mingled with the sea's vapor. Then they formed magnificent waterfalls that surged skyward.
"Creating things from nothing and forming islands with formations." Xu Ziqing sighed. "A Fourth-Tier Formation Master's methods are truly unfathomable."
As far as she knew, the Spirit Beast Pavilion had specially invited a Fourth-Tier Formation Master to lay down a grand formation, so that the spirit beasts could have the best possible environment in which to grow.
The Formation Master had first used a True Lord's formation arts to divide the Spirit Veins and condense them into five Great Five Elements Immortal Islands of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. In order, they were named Fengsui, Green Vine, Blackfall, Sulfur Reef, and Flowing Soil.
Then, with the five immortal islands as the core of the Formation Disk, the Formation Master drew upon the power of the Sun, Moon, and stars to condense countless scattered little islands, forming an exceptionally unusual formation within a formation.
The strange sight of waterfalls on Blackfall Island flowing backward, shooting into the clouds, and then turning into raindrops that sprinkled across the land was meant to let the Fourth-Tier grand formation draw in Heaven and Earth Spirit Vigor and give birth to Stellar Essence, which could awaken spiritual intelligence.
"Thankfully." Chen Beiwu wasn't concerned with how powerful a Fourth-Tier formation was. All he cared about was whether he could find a Companion Beast that suited him on this trip.
Following the directions on the Jade Slip, he turned to look at the little island that wound like a serpent. "The Azure-Wave Spirit Carp are in Sector Jia-Yin Eighteen of Blackfall Island, about forty-five li from the Teleportation Formation. They should be in that direction."
A short while later, the two of them arrived at a lake that covered several hundred li. Huge rocks were piled in layers along its shore.
"Someone got here before us." Xu Ziqing glanced sideways at the three figures on the rocks.
"That's normal. Azure Spirit Newts are docile, and water-root cultivators like them very much."
Just as Chen Beiwu finished speaking, an immature Azure Spirit Newt suddenly leaped out of the lake.
Its body was slender, about three chi long, and looked as if it had been carved from jade. Sunlight reflected off it in a faint blue glow.
[Species]: Azure Spirit Newt
[Attributes]: Water, Wood
[Bloodline]: Second-Tier Upper Grade (Spirit Beast)
[Innate Talent]: Vitality of Water (Skilled at strengthening the vitality of plants and treating injuries)
[Can Advance To]: Jade-Scaled Giant Newt (Third-Tier Lower Grade Treasure Beast), Azure-Water Dragon Newt (Third-Tier Upper Grade Treasure Beast)...
[Evaluation]: Azure Spirit Newts are gentle by nature. They have finlike wings on their backs and enjoy leaping out of the water to glide. They can drink Flood Dragon Essence Blood to undergo a bloodline mutation, with a chance of transforming into an Azure-Water Dragon Newt.
Just then, the white-robed cultivator on the rocks leaped up, reaching out to grab the newt.
"Whoosh!" The blue shadow that had leaped from the water suddenly sped up, narrowly dodging his hand.
"Damn it! I refuse to believe I can't catch this newt!" The white-robed cultivator took off his outer robe and jumped into the lake.
Seeing this, the other two Qi Refining cultivators followed suit and jumped into the lake to catch fish alongside the white-robed cultivator.
"Want to give it a try?" Xu Ziqing looked at Chen Beiwu expectantly.
Fishing was out of the question. Chen Beiwu had livestreamed himself fishing for a whole year without catching a single fish. Diving in to catch them was more practical.
"You're underestimating me. How hard could catching fish be?"
Chen Beiwu had no habit of taking off his clothes in public. He channeled the Magic Power in his body, his hand seals flashing.
The next moment, twenty-six streams of water shot into the sky, forming layer upon layer of water screens that bound all the Azure Spirit Newts swimming in the lake.
Swept to the surface by the raging currents, the white-robed cultivator looked up and saw five Azure Spirit Newts trapped in the Water Prison, unable to move. They cried out "Ying, ying, ying" in panic, calling for help.
"That works?" The white-robed cultivator stood rooted to the spot, staring at Chen Beiwu.
Man, you really are reckless. Contracting a Companion Beast at the Spirit Beast Pavilion wasn't just a matter of being strong.
When you were out in the world, you had to have connections. You had to have influence.
The Azure Spirit Newts in the lake might not have been born long ago, and they couldn't even beat a Third Layer of Qi Refining cultivator, but they had parents backing them up.
Adult Azure Spirit Newts were all Second-Realm Lesser Demons with over fifty years of Dao Practice, their strength comparable to that of Foundation Establishment Rogue Persons.
The Azure Spirit Newt clan's leader had over Five Hundred Years of Dao Practice and was a Third-Realm Demon General, with strength comparable to that of a Golden Core True Person.
Pulling this stunt right in front of their parents, wasn't this fellow afraid of getting beaten up and then driven out?
Sure enough, a large shadow suddenly appeared beneath the lake's surface.
"Splash!" As the lake surface abruptly sank a zhang, a massive creature about ten zhang long emerged, its blue vertical pupils quietly gazing at the Azure Spirit Newts trapped in the Water Prison.
Good thing I didn't use force. The white-robed cultivator held his breath, his mind full of relief.
"This..." Xu Ziqing looked at Chen Beiwu.
"Don't worry, it's fine." Chen Beiwu glanced at the imposing giant beast and walked up to the Water Prison without changing his expression.
He had read the information on the Jade Slip and knew the Spirit Beast Pavilion's rules. How could he be frightened by a fish?
"Deep green, dark green, light blue, blue, deep blue."
After seeing the precise Fortune levels of the five newt hatchlings, Chen Beiwu changed his hand seals. The Water Prison collapsed with a crash, and the five blue shadows inside it quickly darted to the giant beast's side.
The giant beast pushed away the startled hatchlings with evident distaste, gave Chen Beiwu a long look, and then slowly sank underwater. The vast lake returned to tranquility.
"That scared me to death." Xu Ziqing lightly patted her chest. Just now, she'd almost thought something was about to happen.
"It's fine. We haven't broken any rules, and the Second-Realm Lesser Demons in the Spirit Beast Pavilion couldn't possibly attack us," Chen Beiwu said calmly.
The Spirit Beast Pavilion had many rules, and the most serious one was harming spirit beast hatchlings without cause. The Water Prison Spell he had just used merely restricted the newt hatchlings' movements without injuring them, so it didn't count as breaking the rules at all.
"It's not a matter of whether you broke the rules." Xu Ziqing said seriously, "To contract a Companion Beast, you need to earn the spirit beast hatchling's approval. Doing that could easily scare the newt hatchlings."
"If they can't even endure a test of this degree, it means these newt hatchlings have completely lost their wildness." Chen Beiwu shook his head.
When cultivators chose a Companion Beast at the Spirit Beast Pavilion, it wasn't a one-way choice but a mutual one. They needed to earn the spirit beast's approval for the Contract to be successfully formed.
But Chen Beiwu had always believed that, more important than earning a spirit beast's approval, was finding a Companion Beast whose talent, bloodline, temperament, and Fortune all suited him.
The Water Prison Spell he had unleashed just now was deliberately controlled in power. It could probably restrain a Fourth Layer of Qi Refining cultivator.
The newt hatchlings were naturally at home in water and wood. If they had resisted with all their might, they could have broken through the Water Prison Spell (weakened version) in a matter of moments, but they hadn't.
Faced with an unexpected crisis, the newt hatchlings' first reaction had been to call for help, not to unleash their Demon Power and fight back.
Of course, it was also possible that Chen Beiwu hadn't put enough pressure on them to make them feel that their lives were in danger.
Even so, that alone was enough for Chen Beiwu to rule out the gentle-tempered Azure Spirit Newts.
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