Volume 1, Chapter 29 – The Yin Yang Sh.e.l.lfish Kings, Who Will Be the Black Pearl’s Owner? (Part 1)
Wei Empire, Dingzhou City, Wild Dragon Goose Lake.
Several days ago, Zhang Yan and Luo Xiao snuck through the ca.n.a.l along the river called Rong River. Zhang Yan had fully transformed his entire qi in his body into True Primordial Qi, which let him hold his breath for a few days and nights. They were traversing through the lake bed as to avoid the Azure Ocean Sect’s disciples, who were patrolling in the sky, and only traveled at night.
Fortunately, the area and the path they were traversing on were not the key points that were guarded by the Azure Ocean Sect’s disciples. And coupled with their cautiousness, they safely arrived at the covert waters at the edge of the Wild Dragon Goose Lake.
This watery area was surrounded on three sides by mountains, and should they walk on the ground across the area, the guarding disciples would be able to notice them.
Luo Xiao was really careful and meticulous, as she accurately found the mark she had left behind before she pulled Zhang Yan’s sleeves and went downward.
Zhang Yan looked at the funnel shaped cavern at the bottom of the lake, which formed a small whirlpool in the lake’s surface.
Luo Xiao made a hand signal for Zhang Yan to quickly follow her and head down to the funnel. Her unworldly exquisite body was even more wonderful and very graceful in the water.
Zhang Yan followed closely behind her. When his body approached the whirlpool area, he suddenly felt a strong current pull his body downward, sucked him in. He quickly relaxed his body, letting the current take his body to the bottom of the lake, which led him to the cavern’s base.
After stabilizing his footing, he found that he was in a pa.s.sageway of an unknown place, and there was not a trace of Luo Xiao as if she disappeared.
Zhang Yan put his hands on the cavern’s wall and swam deeper along the cavern’s duct. After a while, he dashed forward and relaxed his body as he then surged upward in one powerful thrust. A “splash” crashing sound sounded when he shot out from the water, founding himself in a large cavern.
Luo Xiao stood near a stone platform waiting for him.
Zhang Yan leapt out from the water and arrived at her side. He slightly turned his head and looked around. He instantly found that there were some bones on the ground, and from the clothing, attire, and the other daily-use stuff, it seemed that they were the bones of a cultivator.
Zhang Yan quickly became alerted and vigilant as he spoke in a deep tone, “Could it be that someone has arrived here?”
Luo Xiao lightly laughed, shaking her head, she spoke, “No, this man was the one I killed that day.”
Luo Xiao fought the Azure Ocean Sect’s Profound Light Stage expert that day, and both of them accidentally entered this cavern. After fighting fiercely for one day and night, she was finally able to kill him in this cavern. However, when she left the cavern, she found five other Azure Ocean Sect’s disciples who were also swimming to get out of the cavern, as if they saw the entrance to the cavern due to the fight between two Profound Light Stage experts.
Luo Xiao immediately had the intention to kill those disciples and even chase them down, until she arrived at the Azurewood Mountain’s territory. That was when she ran into Ning Chongxuan, forcing her to hide in Zhang Yan’s cave mansion.
All the valuable things from this corpse had long been taken away by Luo Xiao, so Zhang Yan no longer paid attention to it. He lifted his head and looked around. He saw that there were many Spirit Sh.e.l.lfishes creeping and moving on the cavern’s wall while absorbing the earth vein’s essence along the way. He could see at a glance that there were tens of thousands of Spirit Sh.e.l.lfishes here.
Luo Xiao didn’t spare a glance to these Spirit Sh.e.l.lfishes as she then spoke, “Fellow Daoist Zhang, the Spirit Sh.e.l.lfish King is about three hundred meters deeper in this cavern, please follow me.”
As they moved downward, he saw that the entire cavern was formed in spiral shapes. The more they traversed downward, the more their noses could smell a moist and dampened air. The grounds were rough and uneven, as well as slippery, and it caused both of them a lot difficulty in trying to firmly walk. Because of this, they had to stop from time to time. Soon after, the path ended and there was only a large cavern full of empty jade-colored greasy mucus.
“Hey… It’s strange. This should be the Spirit Sh.e.l.lfish King’s lair. How could it not be here?”
Luo Xiao swept around the cavern a few times and scrutinized the small cave the Spirit Sh.e.l.lfish King used to live in for several times. Sensing spiritual qi’s traces from the surrounding, this small cave was unmistakably the Spirit Sh.e.l.lfish King’s lair. Her eyebrows twitched, and she couldn’t help but frown, “Is this a Yang sh.e.l.l?”
Zhang Yan quickly asked, “Fellow Daoist Luo, what is this Yang sh.e.l.l?”
Luo Xiao explained, “The Spirit Sh.e.l.lfishes are divided into Yin and Yang attributes. The Yin Sh.e.l.lfishes don’t like to move. Although they can shuttle back and forth and randomly move in the cavern, but if there are no strong enemies around their lairs, they will not move easily. However, the Yang Sh.e.l.lfishes are not. They seldom live in one lair for more than a year, and often migrate to another lair. And looking at the tens of thousands of Spirit Sh.e.l.lfishes here, it seems that this Spirit Sh.e.l.lfish King has lived in this cavern for many years.”
Zhang Yan came forward and touched the wall that was covered with semi-solid condensed resin-like objects, “Is this made from spirit dew?”
Luo Xiao’s complexion was slightly dispirited as she sighed, “It’s only false dew. But judging from these dews’ l.u.s.ter, it probably came out yesterday. This could also be used to aid in opening meridians, but it has lost much of its essence. The moment these dews are exerted is the best.”
“It’s only a day old? That means that the Spirit Sh.e.l.lfish King hasn’t gone that far.”
When Zhang Yan was speaking, he accidentally pushed the wall and a “puff” sound was heard. He immediately became astonished, finding out that his arm pa.s.sed through that thick membrane of grease and revealed a hole behind it.
His eyes flashed and he quickly withdrew two steps. After observing it for several times, he then tried to drill again, finding out that there were no objects blocking the hole. As he forced his way in, his body was unexpectedly swallowed by the hole.
Luo Xiao was also looking at Zhang Yan’s actions. But since he didn’t come out for a very long time, her face quickly became tense as she then called out, “Fellow Daoist Zhang?!!”
“Puff” faintly sounded. Zhang Yan then came out from the hole with his body completely covered with sticky spirit dew. He was smiling at Luo Xiao, “Fellow Daoist Luo, it looks like there is another world behind this cavern!”
When Zhang Yan and Luo Xiao went down to depths of the cavern, a flying ship above the Radiant Cloud Sh.e.l.lfish Field descended to the Azure Ocean Sect’s camp.
A line of more than sixty people then came down from the flying ship. Du You took out a plate and waved. The entire flying ship then shrunk into a square inch sized-ship and was received in his sleeve.
The two Radiant Qi Stage disciples from the Azure Ocean Sect, who were on guarding duty, immediately came over after seeing them, “Who are the people in front? Tell us your names!”
Seeing that the two men’s tone was very rude, Du You was about to rage. However, Du Bo quickly pulled him back as he then walked forward and cupped his hands, “This one is Du Bo, and this one is the Lower Court’s head disciple Du You. We have come to this place to especially to find the Spirit Sh.e.l.lfish King’s lair. Haven’t the patriarch pa.s.sed the command to the two guarding disciples?”
“Oh, it’s actually the Du Family’s juniors.” As the two disciple’s complexion relaxed, one of them cupped his hands, “The patriarch has long been instructed that if you and your people came, we must allow you to enter. So please, you can freely enter here. However, since the others and I still have our guarding duty, excuse us for not attending any longer.”
Du Bo smiled, “Please do.”
Looking at them as they were leaving, Du You grunted, “It’s only two Radiant Qi disciples, why should Uncle Bo be so polite to them?”
Du Bo only smiled and didn’t speak. Du You had his mother behind his back, so he, of course could act wild. However, he could never do the same.
He, as hard as it was, must not offend anyone. Who would know the patron behind these two disciples? However, he didn’t speak about these reasons to Du You. In his view, Du You’s character was still not fixed. Had he met any hardships in his cultivation path later, he would also need some restraint.
The Radiant Cloud Sh.e.l.lfish Field was shaped like a ring that was tied up on a beautiful mountain. In front of it was the vast and majestic Wild Dragon Goose Lake, as the river branches were coiling around the mountain. If one were to look at the scenery from the sky, the entire Sh.e.l.lfish Field looked like a lonely land surrounded by a mountain and a lake.
Although the field occupied a wide area, the cavern’s entrance was actually only ten feet wide. When Du You saw it, the corner of his lips’ curled up.
After they arrived here, servants must stay outside.
Before he was entered the cavern, Du Bo saluted respectfully toward an empty spot on top of the cavern, making Du You look quite puzzled seeing his action.
Du Bo didn’t say anything and headed straight into the cavern. Du You hastily followed him along with two Radiant Qi disciples and ten warriors.
Shortly after, a new sight suddenly opened before them. A steep terrain sloped down both sides like a twisted stone pathway leading to a sunken basin. The basin was a hundred feet wide while the stone pathway was only 10 feet wide, like a spoon being laid horizontally.
A dense amount of Spirit Sh.e.l.lfishes could be seen everywhere the eye looked. It emitted a glittering and translucent light, like the twinkling stars in the sky.
“Is this a Sh.e.l.lfish Field?”
Du You’s breath became slightly heavy. Although he came from an ancient family and Spirit Sh.e.l.lfish was not a rare thing for him. However, when he was facing more than a million Spirit Sh.e.l.lfishes that were stacked up together in one place, he couldn’t help but feel shocked.
“Although these things are valuable, it’s not our purpose here.” Du Bo patted Du You’s head, “Just wait until nephew’s cultivation advances in the future, you can claim all of these Spirit Sh.e.l.lfishes then.”
Du You nodded seriously, “Uncle is right.” He tightly clenched his fist as he secretly mused, ‘One day, I will be the owner of this place.’
Du Bo smiled as he then crossed his hands behind his back and walked toward the deepest part of the cavern.
After this group of people walked for half an hour, they finally reached the deepest part of the cavern.
The only strange thing was that they searched through the entire burrow, but why couldn’t they find the Spirit Sh.e.l.lfish King?
Du Bo frowned as he then whispered to himself, “Strange, how could the Spirit Sh.e.l.lfish King not be in his lair? Could it be that it’s a Yang Sh.e.l.lfish? But, this Sh.e.l.lfish Field is only this big, and the battle with the Three Lake’s demons has lasted for more than ten years. It can’t be a Yang Sh.e.l.lfish!”
At this time, a warrior suddenly shouted, “Lord Du, there is a hole here, but this slave doesn’t know where it leads to.”
“Oh!” Du Bo rushed over in two steps. He could see that there was a newly opened path behind these spirit dews after carefully observing it. His complexion suddenly changed as he pondered about something. He couldn’t help but let out a loud laughter as he then turned his head to Du You and spoke, “Good nephew, if my guess is correct, good luck has arrived for you!”
Du You was puzzled, “What does Uncle Bo mean?”
Du Bo didn’t expose his thought but pointed at the hole. Letting out a smile, he said, “You and the others, follow me!”
He lowered his head and entered the hole.
This pa.s.sage was very dark, it was unknown where it would lead to. After walking for several miles, Du Bo suddenly raised his hand and hinted at everyone to stop.
H attentively listened for a while before he whispered, “Everyone wait here. I’ll go to check something in front of us.”
His feet didn’t touch the moist ground as he used profound lights to slowly approaching the bright light that was slowly spreading. Then, he quietly left the hole entrance and found a cavern that was more than ten feet in height. As he approached, he could see two Spirit Sh.e.l.lfish Kings on the ground!
They were only one foot-sized and had a layer of silver-white soft flesh on its stomachs. The sh.e.l.l bone was like a polished crystal, bright and sparkling. Its internal organs, blood, and flesh were clearly visible, giving off a nimble and light feeling as its whole body emitted a soft light, illuminating the entire cavern.
But at this moment, the two Spirit Sh.e.l.lfishes were gathered near a shallow hole, and from his position, Du Bo could clearly see a resin-like and creamy liquid, which seemed like spirit dew. He could also faintly see that there was a small thing that squirmed there.
“Very good, very good, it is not different than what I’ve expected. Those are really a Yin and Yang Spirit Sh.e.l.lfish pair. It also has been copulating and seems to be pregnant!”
Du Bo attentively watched the slightly disturbed two Spirit Sh.e.l.lfish King and secretly sneered, “The fusion of Yin and Yang, the pregnant Spirit Sh.e.l.lfish would produce an offspring in a black pearl. This is truly a good fortune! The whole body of that Sh.e.l.lfishes’ offspring is formed from the earth vein’s spiritual essence, and once it hatches from the black pearl, it would be able to throw off its sh.e.l.l, acquiring the ability to disguise itself on the form of a human. Should it cultivate for a hundred years, this demon would absolutely become a great demon! Humph, even if the heavens attempted in vain to hide you in spite of everything, your fate is only to be plundered!”
“If my good nephew swallows this pearl, he will absolutely be able to condense an unworldly meridian type!”
Du Bo no longer watched as he then turned around and left with an overjoyed feeling. However, he didn’t know that on the opposite wall near the hole, two shadows had flashed across.