Chapter 36 : Golden Legend

Chapter 36: Golden Legend

In the depths of Four Seas Lake.

Parting the swaying aquatic grass in front of him and avoiding the multicolored fish school, Chen Beiwu finally found the long-sought Abyssal Water Spirit Turtle nestled within a coral crevice.

Perhaps because they had only recently hatched, these Spirit Turtle hatchlings were small, about the size of a palm.

Their shells were mostly dark cyan, with silver markings adorning the edges of their carapace and underbellies.

Their limbs were short but powerful; with just a slight paddle, their bodies shot forward like arrows, using their clawed limbs covered in tiny scales to effortlessly catch swimming fish—showing signs of extraordinary ability.

The Abyssal Water Spirit Turtle possessed an upper-grade second-tier bloodline with tremendous potential, considered a top-tier existence among water-attribute Spirit Beasts.

However, this type of Spirit Beast was generally lazy by nature. It disdained forming Companion Contracts with cultivators and preferred sleep over cultivation. Even the prodigies of the Dongxuan Immortal Sect found it difficult to gain its recognition, making contract formation exceedingly difficult.

But there were always cultivators who believed themselves to be the one exception, that what even Dongxuan Immortal Sect’s prodigies failed to achieve, they might succeed in doing.

Thus, in this underwater world, Chen Beiwu saw crowds of Qi Refining cultivators.

“So many destined ones?”

Seeing the tokens in every cultivator’s hand, Chen Beiwu paused in surprise, then let out a sigh of relief.

It seemed he had overthought earlier.

That Golden Core True Person charging Spirit Stones from Qi Refining mortals might just be a habit rather than seeing anything special.

Swimming to the end of the line, Chen Beiwu listened to nearby cultivators’ conversations while observing the coral thickets with his divine sense.

“Another failure.”

“Expected. Yesterday, over two hundred cultivators tried to contract with the Abyssal Water Spirit Turtle—none succeeded.”

“How do you know?”

“Heh, I was one of them. I’m not giving up. Trying again today.”

'No Qi Refining cultivator from Fallen Dragon Mansion succeeded. Looks like contracting a Abyssal Water Spirit Turtle is even harder than I thought,' Chen Beiwu thought to himself.

Taking a deep breath, he activated a Divine Power and scanned the coral thickets.

“Light blue, light blue, blue, deep blue, dark blue…” Chen Beiwu frowned slightly, looking rather surprised.

The Abyssal Water Spirit Turtle was the exclusive Spirit Beast of Dongxuan Immortal Sect, yet among the hatchlings in the coral, not a single one showed an orange Fate Aura.

Even the one with the highest Fate Aura only exhibited a blend of orange and blue, far below Chen Beiwu’s expectations.

‘Could this batch of Abyssal Water Spirit Turtles be leftovers picked over by Dongxuan Immortal Sect? Or perhaps I’m misjudging the Fate Aura levels—maybe orange isn’t third-tier?’ Chen Beiwu grew increasingly puzzled.

Though untested, he dared not claim that Fate Aura directly determined a Spirit Beast’s aptitude and bloodline, yet it could certainly serve as a vital reference to gauge a Spirit Beast’s future ceiling.

To put it simply: low-Fate Spirit Beasts didn’t necessarily have low potential—if they met a Companion Cultivator with profound fortune, they might reverse their fate and break through Fate’s shackles. But those with towering Fate Aura would, without doubt, achieve great success in the future.

When aptitude was roughly equal, if given a choice, Chen Beiwu would naturally choose a Companion Beast with superior Fate rather than one with poor luck and a higher risk of dying young.

‘Are my standards too high? Should I lower them a bit?’ Chen Beiwu began to question his own judgment.

If even the Spirit Beast Pavilion couldn’t offer him a satisfactory Companion Beast, he doubted any other place could.

Just then, a tremendously powerful presence suddenly entered Chen Beiwu’s divine sense.

Looking down, he saw a Abyssal Water Spirit Turtle hatchling, roughly the size of a basketball, with a pitch-black carapace, poke its head out from a crevice and lazily glance around—its gaze meeting Chen Beiwu’s.

“Holy crap, Golden Legend!” Chen Beiwu’s pupils shrank, his brows twitched, and his eyes locked tightly onto the hatchling.

It wasn’t a blue Fate Aura, nor orange—but a golden Fate Aura he had never seen before.

To possess such a Fate Aura, the future of this Spirit Turtle hatchling would be limitless.

‘It’s decided—it will be this one!’ Chen Beiwu’s chest rose slightly, his breathing turning a bit rushed.

A Companion Beast of such aptitude was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If he missed it by mistake, he would regret it forever.

A green-robed cultivator ahead of Chen Beiwu spoke with unconcealed excitement, “Fellow Daoist, you have sharp eyes. Are you also aiming for this variant Spirit Turtle?”

Hearing that, Chen Beiwu showed no surprise. He swept his gaze around and felt a faint heaviness in his heart.

As expected, the other cultivators present weren’t fools. Countless burning gazes had already locked onto the variant Spirit Turtle.

Among the many palm-sized Spirit Turtle hatchlings, the sudden appearance of a color-differing giant made it clear to everyone—its bloodline was extraordinary, its aptitude peerless. It was unquestionably the standout among Abyssal Water Spirit Turtles.

“Fellow Daoist, please wait—I’ll give it a try first.” The green-robed cultivator couldn’t wait and rushed ahead.

Chen Beiwu had intended to follow, but upon noticing the amused smiles on some nearby cultivators’ faces, he stopped and chose to watch the show instead.

Standing before the variant Spirit Turtle, the green-robed cultivator retrieved a jade box from his storage ring and cautiously opened it in front of him.

Seeing this, curiosity flashed in the Spirit Turtle’s eyes.

Since arriving in this underwater world, countless cultivators had fed it spiritual materials or Spirit Fish every day—it had become rather spoiled.

Who knew what delicacy this cultivator had to offer?

As the jade box opened, a long-bodied fish with fan-shaped tail fins and jade-like scales came into view.

“Is that a Spiritjade Carp?” someone whispered.

The Spiritjade Carp was not a Spirit Beast, nor could it be transformed into one. It was an extremely rare second-tier spiritual creature containing a trace of pure postnatal water-element spiritual energy.

Water-attribute Root cultivators could consume it to cleanse bodily impurities, improve mana purity, and slightly enhance the purity of their water-attribute Spiritual Root (only effective for True Root cultivators; repeated consumption had diminishing returns and could not break through the shackles of the True Root).

For water-attribute Spirit Beasts, eating one could stimulate their bloodline, increase their cultivation years, and accelerate growth.

If consumed by a Spirit Beast hatchling, the effect would be even more pronounced, rivaling a top-grade second-tier pill.

Noticing the crowd’s astonishment, the green-robed cultivator looked confidently at the variant Spirit Turtle and met its gaze.

“I am Guan Ange, sixteen years old, Seventh Level of Qi Refining, water-attribute Earth-Grade Root. If you’re willing to become my Companion Beast, I’ll give you one Spiritjade Carp every month.”

“One Spiritjade Carp per month… Guan—could this cultivator be from the Fallen Dragon Guan Clan?” Chen Beiwu’s gaze revealed his envy.

The Fallen Dragon Guan Clan controlled nearly forty percent of the Spirit Lakes across six counties in Fallen Dragon Mansion. It was a renowned Golden Core Family, known for generations of fish-breeding.

The Spirit Fish they raised weren’t just diverse in species but of exceptional quality. The Spiritjade Carp was just one example. What truly made the Fallen Dragon Guan Clan famous was the third-tier Treasure Fish, the Jadeheart Treasure Carp—a treasure even Golden Core True Persons would covet.

‘Is that all?’ The Abyssal Water Spirit Turtle raised its head, yawned, and walked away on its own.

Just a Spiritjade Carp? It had expected something more special.