Chapter 2036: The Clever Xuanbei Turtle

The sea surface sparkled with light, turbulent waves surged skyward, yet the seabed was calm and windless, as quiet as a silent chamber.

Continuing downward, before long, a dazzling light appeared in sight—it was the silver diamond crystal they had arranged.

Elder Fengqian had designed it so ingeniously that it looked as if it had grown naturally in the earth vein. It was exposed due to an earthquake crack; even he, if not knowing in advance that it was arranged, would have thought it was natural and thus let down his guard.

“We’ll hide here…”

Arriving not far from the silver diamond crystal, Elder Fengqian grabbed with his hand, and a small vortex appeared. He entered first, with the other two following closely.

As soon as they entered, the vortex vanished, as if the three had never appeared.

“A spatial formation?”

No wonder Elder Fengqian was so confident that the other party couldn’t find them; he had long prepared a spatial formation. Once inside, as long as the formation base wasn’t found and the structure wasn’t damaged, it would be hard to detect them.

Outsiders couldn’t see them, but they could clearly see the silver diamond crystal and had a thorough view of the outside situation.

“This thing isn’t easy to find, is it?”

Looking at the nearby crystal that radiated dazzling, intoxicating light, Zhang Xuan couldn’t help asking.

This kind of crystal couldn’t be used to forge weapons or be melted, but it was one of the most beautiful items in all of the Upper Firmament. A single piece was worth more than a peak Immortal Lord weapon, and it was priceless and hard to come by.

In the recorded history of the Upper Firmament Continent, only three such crystals had ever appeared, and the largest was only the size of a dragon’s eye. The one before them was bigger than a fist, its value immeasurable.

For this pseudo-god realm immortal beast, the Seven Stars Tower had really spared no expense.

“For this, the Seven Stars Tower mobilized nearly ten thousand people and spent countless treasures to succeed…” Patriarch Kuixiao nodded.

This matter was led by him.

Though the cost was enormous, being able to capture or kill a pseudo-god realm immortal beast was definitely worth it!

Not to mention other things, just the blood, crystal core, beast hide, and skeleton—the treasures that could be made from them, auctioned by the Seven Stars Tower, would surely multiply the previous losses by at least ten times!

Most crucially, pseudo-god realm divine beasts had only appeared in the Divine Hall before, never elsewhere, so no one had ever successfully hunted one. Would its blood and flesh have any effect on him?

Could it help him advance further in cultivation?

If it were useful, no matter the cost, it would be worth it.

So, upon hearing news of this immortal beast, preparations began. Elder Liu here was just coincidentally involved.

Zhang Xuan nodded.

Without the other’s explanation, he also understood that obtaining this silver diamond crystal must have cost an unknown amount. Probably only a wealthy behemoth like the Seven Stars Tower in the entire continent could manage it.

Of course, the Divine Hall could certainly do it too, but it was more mysterious. Though it had branches in all cities above second-tier, almost no one knew where its headquarters was or how powerful its experts were.

Rumble!

As they were talking, with the rising of the full moon, the sea surface indeed began to churn, like an earthquake.

The mirror-like water surface twisted and boiled, reflecting the surroundings in a bizarre, dazzling display, as if countless stars had all fallen here, playing in the water.

“It’s starting…”

Zhang Xuan raised his eyebrows.

Patriarch Kuixiao and the others nodded simultaneously.

Just as he had said earlier, with the full moon rising, the sea surface changed. The mayflies shook incessantly; if the One Water Two Wave Formation were still used, it would likely lose its effect.

Elder Fengqian’s voice rang out.

“It’s coming…”

They looked up and saw a huge sea turtle swimming slowly from afar.

This sea turtle was enormous, over a hundred meters in diameter, drifting in the ocean like a giant ship, blocking even the light reflected by the mayflies on the Little Mirror Sea.

“Indeed, a pseudo-god realm…”

Zhang Xuan nodded.

This big fellow before them was indeed a pseudo-god realm expert. It looked clumsy, but in terms of pure strength, it was at least as strong as Patriarch Kuixiao, if not stronger. If they faced it head-on, even if it did nothing but charge straight at them, the three of them might not be able to withstand it!

Although his cultivation had broken through to Immortal Lord, ensuring he was invincible at that level, he was still far from a pseudo-god. The two were already completely different life forms, incomparable.

So, encountering an expert of this level, the best course was to run as far as possible and never fight head-on!

“Prepare to activate the formation…”

Seeing the Xuanbei Turtle getting closer, Patriarch Kuixiao’s expression turned grave, and he circulated his full power, ready to coordinate with the formation to deliver a fatal blow to this big fellow.

Taming an immortal beast of this level was impossible; rather than wasting effort, it was better to kill it on the spot for greater gains.

“Something’s off…”

Zhang Xuan suddenly frowned.

“Off?”

The two looked at him in confusion.

The Xuanbei Turtle was now close. If they didn’t activate the formation, it might charge in and snatch the silver diamond crystal, then escape the formation’s coverage, ruining all their preparations.

Zhang Xuan said, “The Xuanbei Turtle’s target is the silver diamond crystal. Now that the sea surface is turbulent as designed, normally it should have rushed over to grab it immediately. But it’s been circling around—don’t you find that strange?”

“This…”

Elder Fengqian was startled. He looked and indeed saw something amiss.

The huge Xuanbei Turtle had clearly arrived before the crystal but hadn’t swallowed it; instead, it circled around as if it hadn’t seen it.

They had planned everything: during the full moon mayfly disturbance, it would seize the crystal and kill Elder Fengqian and the others. The opportunity was right before it, yet it didn’t move—it must have its own reasons.

“Heh heh, no wonder it kept coming this way—it found this thing. Men die for wealth, birds die for food; beasts are beasts. Dying for a crystal, don’t blame me for being ruthless…”

The three were puzzled when a faint voice came from afar. Then light flashed, and a figure broke through the water surface, landing directly above the Xuanbei Turtle.

“A pseudo-god realm expert?”

Zhang Xuan narrowed his eyes.

The person before them, like Patriarch Kuixiao and the Xuanbei Turtle, was also a pseudo-god realm expert!

No wonder the latter kept circling but didn’t swallow the crystal—it was being tracked by this person.

“It’s Bai Xuansheng, the patriarch of the Xuanjing Sect!”

After a moment of shock, Patriarch Kuixiao sent a voice transmission.

Zhang Xuan turned his head: “Patriarch of the Xuanjing Sect?”

The Xuanjing Sect, one of the six great sects, specialized in forging weapons. The Tongshang Sword was made by them. He had never dealt with them before, and he never expected to meet their patriarch here.

“Why is he here?”

Elder Fengqian was puzzled.

“If we could get news of a pseudo-god realm immortal beast appearing, so could he…”

Patriarch Kuixiao shook his head.

Everyone knew the value of such a high-level immortal beast. He wanted to kill it, and so did the other. It wasn’t his private property, so he couldn’t monopolize it.

“Should we activate the formation?”

Unexpectedly, a third party had appeared, disrupting all their plans. Elder Fengqian’s expression darkened.

“Not yet…” Zhang Xuan waved his hand. “With the original One Water Two Wave Formation, the mayflies’ disturbance might have already activated it or even rendered it useless. I modified it to be more stable; it won’t activate unless I trigger it personally. That leaves us with a final trump card!”

“Trump card?”

“Earlier, I thought the Xuanbei Turtle wanted to use the full moon night to set up Patriarch Kuixiao, but now it seems otherwise. Patriarch Kuixiao’s arrival was unknown to it, but… this Patriarch Bai Xuansheng has been tracking it for a long time, and it has long wanted to kill him!”

Smiling slightly, Zhang Xuan understood.

On the way, he had already learned that the Tongtian Bridge had opened early. Normally, Patriarch Kuixiao would still come here, but not so urgently. So… this Xuanbei Turtle might not have been waiting for him!

Seeing Patriarch Bai now, he suddenly realized.

He guessed that this creature had long planned for the other to chase it here, deliberately waiting to use the mayflies’ power to kill him.

Boom!

As they talked, the ground shook more violently. The silver diamond crystal absorbed more power, the mayflies above grew more agitated, and cracks appeared again in the earth.

Ignoring the floating Patriarch Bai Xuansheng, the Xuanbei Turtle looked around, found that the One Water Two Wave Formation hadn’t been triggered, and showed anxiety in its eyes.

But knowing it couldn’t wait any longer, it gritted its teeth and suddenly charged forward with its massive body.

Whoosh!

As if teleporting, it appeared before the silver diamond crystal and swallowed it in one gulp.

“This speed… isn’t slow?”

Zhang Xuan’s mouth twitched.

Earlier, Patriarch Kuixiao had said that this giant sea turtle, due to its huge size, had strong defense but average speed. He had thought so too… but he never dreamed it was this fast!

It was even faster than him when he exerted his full strength!

If they fought, even if it did nothing else, a charge at that speed would be unbearable!

“This…”

Embarrassed, Patriarch Kuixiao turned to look at Elder Fengqian.

“I… last time I saw it, its speed was indeed not fast, about the same as mine…” Elder Fengqian quickly explained.

Setting this trap for this big fellow, they had certainly known its speed beforehand.

But they hadn’t expected it hadn’t shown its true strength!

“It seems it’s much smarter than we thought…”

Zhang Xuan smiled wryly.

Knowing to hide its strength, lure others into a trap, and then use the full moon and Elder Fengqian’s formation to deal with Patriarch Bai Xuansheng… this Xuanbei Turtle, though seemingly clumsy, was actually full of wisdom.

No wonder it had reached the pseudo-god realm; none of them were simple!

“What do we do now?”

The two also understood. Patriarch Kuixiao asked.

“Since the Xuanbei Turtle has made its move, let them fight it out, and we’ll reap the benefits as the fisherman!” Zhang Xuan said with a faint smile.