Willows Darken, Flowers Bloom

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Chapter 39: Willows Darken, Flowers Bloom

I'm done for!

At the sight, Chen Beiwu's spirits instantly plunged to rock bottom.

He had read ten thousand books and naturally knew just how valuable Demon King Blood was. It was a treasure that even Third-Realm Demon Generals-Golden Core True Persons-craved but could not obtain.

Faced with such temptation, the Variant Spirit Turtle would most likely change its attitude.

Was he really going to miss out on a golden legend?

This has to work. Beneath his sleeves, Lin Xinghe clenched his fingers until they turned white.

He was not his grandfather's only grandson of the direct line.

To obtain this tremendous opportunity, he had paid an enormous price beyond what most people could imagine.

If he failed to win over the Variant Spirit Turtle, his standing in the Cold Domain Lin Family would suffer a devastating blow.

As the seconds and minutes passed, Guan Ange swallowed nervously.

Failure was hateful enough, but someone else's success was even more agonizing.

They were both second-generation cultivators. Guan Ange had no desire to watch Lin Xinghe soar into the heavens in a single leap. He would go mad with envy.

Without exaggeration, aside from Chen Beiwu, he was the cultivator present who least wanted Lin Xinghe to succeed.

Under Lin Xinghe's expectant gaze, the Variant Spirit Turtle raised its head and involuntarily leaned forward, seemingly wanting a closer look at the Demon King Blood.

Sensing the aura of the demon blood inside the box, all hesitation vanished from the spirit turtle's eyes.

A hair short was still a hair short!

Demon King Essence Blood contained immortal blood and immortal aura. It was the very foundation of a Fourth-Realm Demon King.

With the aid of immortal blood, a Third-Realm Demon General could break through the shackles of its bloodline in a short time, sublimating and transforming it to the level of a Fourth-Tier Mysterious Beast.

By tempering itself with immortal aura, a Demon General at the peak of the third realm had a chance to harness that momentum and condense immortal blood and immortal aura of its own. It could push its cultivation beyond a thousand years and attempt to advance into a Fourth-Realm Demon King, becoming a king of countless demons ruling over its own territory.

If Lin Xinghe could offer something as precious as Demon King Essence Blood, it could abandon the elusive prospect of a fated partner and choose to acknowledge him as its master. Yet what he offered was merely Demon King Blood with an incomplete aura.

Demon King Blood and Demon King Essence Blood seemed to differ by only a single word, but the gulf between them was as vast as heaven and earth.

The blood of a Fourth-Realm Demon King could only greatly improve a Third-Realm Demon General's cultivation. It could not sublimate its bloodline or help it break through to a new realm.

Much less awaken the unusual bloodline within its body and restore its ancestral lineage, reviving the glory of the Northern Nether Black Tortoise.

Thus, the Variant Spirit Turtle shook its head with an aching heart.

Lin Xinghe narrowed his eyes slightly. The surrounding water seemed to churn beneath an invisible force.

A moment later, he gently waved the Azure-Mystic Wood-Folding Fan in his hand, his expression regaining its composure.

"Since you're unwilling, we'll leave it at that."

With that, Lin Xinghe calmly turned away, his steps as unhurried as ever.

Yet that uncontrollable fluctuation of Divine Sense a moment earlier had already betrayed the turbulent emotions within him.

At the sight, the corners of Guan Ange's mouth lifted almost imperceptibly, while inwardly he applauded like mad.

Lin Xinghe usually held his nose high in the air, disdaining the second-generation cultivators of Fallen Dragon Prefecture.

Seeing him suffer a setback felt so good that Guan Ange could practically burst, but he still had to maintain the dignity of a second-generation cultivator and keep himself from laughing aloud.

Chen Beiwu also fell silent, a trace of unease rising within him.

If even the blood of a Fourth-Realm Demon King could not win the Variant Spirit Turtle's approval, its requirements for a person's fate were probably outrageously high, far beyond what an ordinary genius could satisfy. Was his fate really good enough?

Was my fate really good enough?

"Fellow Daoist, you could go up and give it a try. You might just succeed." Afraid he would laugh aloud, Guan Ange hurriedly turned his attention to Chen Beiwu.

At those words, Lin Xinghe halted. His gaze swept past Chen Beiwu toward Guan Ange, an inscrutable chill in his eyes.

A fire was smoldering inside him.

A fire was smoldering inside him. The Variant Spirit Turtle held a special position in the Cavern Mystery Immortal Sect. Not only could he not afford to offend it, even his grandfather couldn't.

But a second-generation cultivator from some remote prefecture was hardly enough to make Lin Xinghe wary.

Making a mental note of this, Lin Xinghe boarded his flying boat, broke through the lake water, and departed the bottom of Four Seas Lake in a streak of rainbow light.

The Darkwater Spirit Turtle lifted its head dejectedly.

Missing out on a treasure like Demon King Blood left its heart aching terribly.

To ease its mood, it decided to indulge in a bout of binge eating.

Boom!

With a thought from the Darkwater Spirit Turtle, the nearby water-form spiritual energy suddenly surged. A miniature water realm gradually appeared above its shell.

This water realm was roughly ten feet across, yet formed a world of its own.

Spiritual energy filled it, ripples danced across its waters, and hundreds of rare Spirit Fish dwelled within-fish ordinary cultivators would seldom have a chance to see.

"Jade Marrow Carp, Jade Spirit Carp, Redblood Fish... Rainbow-Horned Pomfret!"

Recognizing the varieties of Spirit Fish, Guan Ange could not help looking stunned.

He had thought offering a Spirit Jade Carp in trade was already a great show of sincerity. He had never imagined the Variant Spirit Turtle possessed such terrifying wealth.

Not only did it have schools of Second-Tier Spirit Fish, it was even raising four Third-Tier Treasure Fish. Every one of those treasure fish was worth at least as much as the Jadeheart Treasure Carp specially bred by the Guan family, if not more.

No wonder Lin Xinghe had been willing to offer Demon King Blood. This Variant Spirit Turtle probably had an astonishing background.

Holy shit, another golden legend!

Chen Beiwu froze where he stood, staring blankly at a flash of gold within the miniature water realm. He blinked in disbelief.

What kind of day was this? He had actually encountered two golds!

Meanwhile, the Darkwater Spirit Turtle gazed at the water realm with hesitation in its eyes, seemingly considering which Spirit Fish to make a meal of.

A quarter of an hour passed as it deliberated, yet it still had not decided which fish to put under the knife.

Step!

Step!

Step!

Under everyone's astonished gazes, Chen Beiwu walked across the water, step by step, toward the coral thicket.

"Huh, another cultivator's gone over."

"Where did this brave soul come from? Even Young Master Lin couldn't win the Darkwater Spirit Turtle's approval. Does he think he can?"

"Maybe he's a child of destiny," a Qi Refining cultivator mocked under his breath.

Chen Beiwu wore ordinary clothes. A single glance was enough for the man to determine that he came from an unremarkable background and had little future to speak of.

"You sure have a lot to say. Shut your damn mouth." Guan Ange cast the man a glance.

The man immediately fell silent and lowered his head.

He dared to mock Chen Beiwu, but he did not dare talk back to a second-generation cultivator like Guan Ange.

I wonder if Dad knows the details about this Variant Spirit Turtle. Guan Ange took out his phone and began asking.

As for Chen Beiwu's attempt to win it over, he could no longer be bothered to pay attention.

There was only one possible outcome.

The Darkwater Spirit Turtle tilted its head, lost in thought as it watched the Spirit Fish swimming through the water realm, paying no attention to the newcomer beside it.

After seeing hundreds of misshapen melons and cracked dates over the past few days, it no longer held much hope of finding its fated partner. Filling its belly was a far more dependable prospect.

Knock, knock, knock!

Chen Beiwu knocked on its pitch-black shell and began the customary introduction.

"My name is Chen Beiwu. I'm sixteen, at the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining, with a dual water-and-wood Earth Spiritual Root and outstanding talent."

He paused briefly, then offered a sincere invitation. "Would you be willing to become my Companion Beast?"

Hearing that, the Darkwater Spirit Turtle rolled its eyes without turning around.

The countryside certainly had plenty of painfully ordinary yet absurdly confident cultivators.

At sixteen, he was only at the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining, yet he dared to call his talent outstanding. He truly had no shame at all.

(End of chapter)