"There is, there is." Chen Beiwu fished a Low-Grade Spirit Stone out of his pocket, then presented it with both hands.
Xu Ziqing, standing beside him and flush with wealth, took an anonymous Spirit Origin gold card from her Storage Ring and likewise offered it respectfully.
Han Liangcai glanced at the Spirit Origin card but did not take it. Instead, he looked at Chen Beiwu. "At such a young age, you've already reached the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining, little friend. You're likely fated to cross paths with the Darkwater Spirit Turtle."
As soon as he finished speaking, the Spirit Stone in Chen Beiwu's hand vanished without a trace. In its place appeared a small gray-brown fragment of a turtle shell.
"This is a fragment of an old shell shed by the Mysterious-Water Nether Turtle. Carry it, and the spirit turtle hatchlings in the lake won't hide from you."
"As for whether you can earn the Darkwater Spirit Turtle's recognition, that will depend on the depth of your Fate Pattern."
As soon as he finished speaking, Han Liangcai and the Mysterious-Water Nether Turtle vanished in a streak of rainbow light.
Xu Ziqing stared blankly at the Spirit Origin card in her hand, a trace of realization and astonishment in her eyes.
This Golden Core True Person did as he pleased; sure enough, he hadn't come for Spirit Stones.
At that thought, she smiled warmly at Chen Beiwu.
An existence like a Golden Core True Person carried profound meaning in every word and deed. Whatever they did must have some ineffable reason behind it.
Could Chen Beiwu be hiding some secret she had yet to uncover?
My eye for people really is extraordinary. Xu Ziqing's smile grew sweeter.
Chen Beiwu looked at the keepsake in his palm, his heart full of uncertainty. What's going on? Why would a Golden Core True Person take notice of me?
Since Nine-Breath Chaos could shield him from the Immortal Alliance's Nine Heavens Star Dipper World-Pacifying Immortal Formation and let him travel freely between worlds, its power must be boundless, far beyond that of a Golden Core True Person. There was no way it could leave a flaw.
I must be overthinking it. Chen Beiwu forcibly suppressed his suspicions.
Looking at it another way, he had Nine-Breath Chaos suppressing his Fortune and unmatched aptitude. It was only natural that a Golden Core True Person might take an interest in him, test him, and consider accepting him as a disciple.
"Do you want to come into Four Seas Lake with me?" Chen Beiwu invited her, as he usually did.
"I'll wait here. Go ahead without worrying about me," Xu Ziqing declined.
She had no keepsake, and going down with Chen Beiwu would only hold him back. She might as well wait by the lake.
"Then I'm going."
Chen Beiwu gripped the keepsake tightly and leapt.
"Splash!"
Watching the figure in the distance gradually sink beneath the water, Han Liangcai looked intrigued. "Do you think he might be that Hidden Dragon from Fallen Dragon Prefecture?"
Fallen Dragon Prefecture lay where the clear and turbid forces of Heaven and Earth converged. In the Primordial Era, a True Dragon had fallen there, giving the place its name.
Dragon Blood seeped into the earth, Dragon Bone turned into mountain ranges, and Dragon Soul merged with Heaven and Earth Spirit Vigor. Thus, Fallen Dragon Prefecture formed a unique Hidden Dragon in the Abyss Configuration, giving birth to a Hidden Dragon once every thousand years.
Note that the Hidden Dragon here did not refer to a Demon Beast with the opportunity to transform into a dragon. It meant a genius with extraordinary Innate Talent who had yet to awaken and needed Fortune's blessing to ascend from the abyss.
The Mysterious-Water Nether Turtle anxiously shook its head.
Heavenly Secrets were hard to fathom.
With the Ancient Bloodline hidden within its body, it could sense a trace of an opportunity to advance to Demon King, but it could not pinpoint any particular person or event. It could only determine a general location, and Fallen Dragon Prefecture was the place its master had identified through divination of Heavenly Secrets as the site where it would attain the Dao.
If it could find that peerless Hidden Dragon at the site where it would attain the Dao and help him ascend from the abyss, it could use the Cause and Effect forged between them to borrow Fortune and change its fate with the Heavenly Fortune Secret Art in the Supreme Cavern Mystery Numinous Treasure Scripture. Its Dao Practice would surge, giving it the chance to break through to Demon King.
But the previous Hidden Dragon of Fallen Dragon Prefecture had appeared long ago. He was none other than the now-renowned True Lord Still Abyss.
Back then, he had been successfully snapped up by the Mirror Lake Sword Sect, one of the Seventy-Nine Upper Sects. In just over three hundred years, he had shattered his Golden Core and formed his Nascent Soul, smoothly advancing to Nascent Soul True Lord. The master of the World Affairs Hall had even praised him as having the Aptitude for Spirit Transformation.
It was no exaggeration to say that, among the twenty-four Hidden Dragons recorded in the annals of Fallen Dragon Prefecture, True Lord Still Abyss was likely the one with the most terrifying comprehension and the mightiest Fortune.
Some Spirit Transformation Venerables even believed that True Lord Still Abyss's rise had exhausted the accumulated foundations of Dragonfall Land, built up over tens of thousands of years.
For the next ten thousand years, the Hidden Dragons appearing in Fallen Dragon Prefecture would likely be "little dragons," far weaker than a True Dragon like True Lord Still Abyss.
At this thought, the Mysterious-Water Nether Turtle could not help letting out a low growl.
By rights, Fallen Dragon Prefecture should have to wait another seven hundred years or so before a new Hidden Dragon emerged in response to the times. But it trusted the stirrings of that trace of Primordial Black Tortoise Bloodline within it, as well as its master's divination.
This concerned the future of its Dao Path. Even if the odds were only one in a hundred million, it still had to try its hardest to find traces of the Hidden Dragon amid the vastness of Fallen Dragon Prefecture.
"All right, stop growling." Han Liangcai swept his sleeve, and a great heap of Low-Grade Spirit Stones appeared on the stone table before him. The stones formed a little mountain, including the one Chen Beiwu had offered.
"Forget it. You're always unreliable, being only half-competent. If I want to find traces of the Hidden Dragon, I'll have to rely on the treasure my master bestowed."
According to the ancient texts, the Hidden Dragon whose Fate Pattern could enable the Mysterious-Water Nether Turtle to defy fate and awaken Yin-Yang Qi had to possess at least the Northern Heaven Five Qi Destiny.
What was the Northern Heaven Five Qi Destiny?
Northern Heaven symbolized the Northern Black Emperor, Xuan Lao, while Five Qi represented the spiritual energies of the five directions. The master of this Fate Pattern was born with Primary and Secondary Seals. Great auspiciousness and great misfortune coexisted in it; while blessed by Fortune, they could also easily be disturbed by the other Five-Element Powers within their Fate Pattern, forming ominous signs.
Therefore, the life of anyone with the Northern Heaven Five Qi Destiny was bound to be closely tied to Water-Element Spiritual Energy. They could attain the Dao through the Water Element, but were also liable to suffer its backlash.
For instance, when True Lord Still Abyss had first joined the Mirror Lake Sword Sect, he had not stood out at all, and his aptitude had been ordinary. Only after he passed through two calamities in the True Martial Realm and successfully became the Sword Sect First Seat did he make a name for himself in the Immortal Alliance.
After that, Fang Shanglong advanced by leaps and bounds. At the Grotto-Heaven Grand Tournament, as the Sword Sect First Seat, he defeated the First Seat of the Cavern Mystery Immortal Sect in one decisive strike, making a spectacular debut. A Spirit Transformation Venerable publicly declared that he had the aptitude to become a Nascent Soul True Lord, and the Sword Abyss Immortal Sect, one of the Thirteen Immortal Sects, even made an exception to take him into its ranks.
Afterward, Han Liangcai's master used a Dharma Treasure to divine Fang Shanglong's Fate Pattern. The result showed that he was the previous Hidden Dragon of Fallen Dragon Prefecture, with the Northern Heaven Five Qi Destiny.
His Primary Seal was Flying Dragon in the Heavens: a True Dragon leaping through the Dragon Gate. His Secondary Seal was Abyssal Fish Chasing the Moon: a fish from the abyss pursuing Lunar Essence.
Because the Primary and Secondary Seals clashed, his Fate Pattern was greatly inauspicious. He had to endure the Northern Black Emperor's trials and pass through the Five Water-Element Tribulations before he could turn misfortune into fortune and soar to the heavens in a single flight.
Just as expected, three hundred years later, Fang Shanglong had passed through every tribulation, set a new Immortal Alliance record for the fastest advancement, and attained the rank of Nascent Soul True Lord.
At this thought, a trace of emotion could not help appearing in Han Liangcai's eyes.
He had sought ties of Cause and Effect with the many Qi Refining mortals not to take their money, but to form a slight connection with the owners of their Spirit Stones.
With that slight connection of Cause and Effect, Han Liangcai could use the Yin-Yang Reincarnation Mirror, the Dharma Treasure bestowed by his master, to reveal the threads of Cause and Effect, divine the Fate Patterns of their owners, and find the Hidden Dragon who had yet to soar to the heavens.
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