Chapter 617: Seal (Requesting Subscription)
Chapter 617: Seal (Requesting Subscription)
Crack! Crack!
One heavenly lightning bolt after another struck the Profound Tortoise eggshell, making the cracks on it even denser.
Fang Xi's mouth twitched at this sight.
In his opinion, this fourth-stage heavenly tribulation didn't seem to be here to kill the Profound Tortoise; it was more like it was helping the little tortoise hatch. . .
Boom!
After eight lightning bolts, the ninth, tinged with golden specks within its azure hue, crashed down with a thunderous roar.
Splat!
On the Profound Tortoise egg, incomplete blue spiritual patterns emerged densely, forming the shape of a Black Tortoise, roaring and howling towards the sky.
Amidst the dragon-like and elephant-like roars, the ninth lightning bolt collided with the Black Tortoise phantom, vanishing into nothingness!
Fang Xi paid no attention to this, instead looking at the Profound Tortoise egg.
From within the eggshell, a creature the size of an adult's palm slowly crawled out — a Profound Tortoise?
Its shell was dark green, its four claws resembled those of a phoenix, its tail was like a python, its head like a flood dragon, and its back was adorned with complex and profound patterns.
Unlike other Profound Tortoises, this one had very large, watery eyes.
After crawling out of the eggshell, it immediately opened its tortoise mouth and began to gnaw on its former eggshell, as if chewing on a biscuit.
Fang Xi could sense that with each piece of eggshell the tortoise swallowed, its demonic aura grew a bit stronger.
A thought stirred in his mind, and a large magical hand appeared, grasping a jade-like piece of eggshell and bringing it back to his hand.
The Xiao Xuangui finished eating the eggshell, blinking its large eyes, staring pitifully at Fang Xi, a trace of longing conveyed through their Soul Contract: "Master. . . want to eat. . ."
That's right!
This Profound Tortoise had been bound by Fang Xi with various contracts and restrictions even before it hatched. . .
After all, it was a demonic beast king with great potential; it was a fourth-stage demonic beast from birth, and there was hope for it to advance to fifth-stage Soul Transformation, sixth-stage Return to Void, or even seventh-stage Void Amalgamation in the future.
"Want to eat?"
Fang Xi smiled and held up the eggshell in his hand: "First, transform into a human form and let me see. . ."
The Xiao Xuangui spun around pitifully, its demonic aura shifting for a moment, before it shook its head adorably: "Can't. . ."
"Alright!"
Fang Xi sighed, put away the eggshell, and picked up the Xiao Xuangui, examining it closely: "Could it be that the awakened Black Tortoise True Blood is too strong. . . preventing it from taking human form even at the fourth-stage?"
Some Primordial Desolate Beasts can never transform into human form.
Fang Xi suspected that this Xiao Xuangui might be encountering the same problem as the Primordial Desolate Beasts.
'But never mind, whether it can transform into human form isn't important at all. . . as long as it can fight and take a hit. '
Profound Tortoises are thick-skinned and robust, with extremely strong defense, so it naturally needed to develop in the direction of a meat shield.
He met the Xiao Xuangui's adorably dull eyes and then spoke: "What should I call you? Little Green? Little Profound? Little Wu?"
"It's decided then. . . I'll call you Xiao Xuangui!"
Fang Xi pointed at the Xiao Xuangui.
Perhaps it was an illusion, but he, its master, seemed to see the Xiao Xuangui roll its eyes.
This little creature was a fourth-stage demonic beast from birth; its intellect was probably already as keen as many children's.
"It's a fourth-stage demonic beast after all, what innate divine ability does it have?"
Next, Fang Xi thoroughly tested the Xiao Xuangui and found that its innate divine ability seemed to be only one. . .
"Turtle Breath!"
The Xiao Xuangui's aura completely vanished, as if it were a stone. No matter how Fang Xi swept it with his Soul Transformation-level Divine Consciousness, he couldn't detect the slightest anomaly!
Witnessing this, he couldn't help but recall the Turtle Breath Secret Art imparted by that fifth-stage Profound Tortoise.
Back then, relying on that method, he nearly fooled a Soul Transformation cultivator, which he already considered heaven-defying.
But compared to the Xiao Xuangui's true innate divine ability now, the former paled in comparison!
'A mere fourth-stage creature can conceal itself from a fifth-stage cultivator. . . truly a supreme life-saving secret art. '
Fang Xi's eyes burned with eagerness, making the Xiao Xuangui feel a chill down its spine. . .
...
Wang Family Valley.
Ancestor's Cave Abode.
This cave abode occupied a considerable area, appearing even more desolate after the high-level cultivators nearby had moved out.
Fang Xi cast a spell and directly dug a pond several mu in size, large enough for the Xiao Xuangui to play in.
He then lived a leisurely life for a period.
Every day, he would water his Demonic Tree, tend to his flowers, and occasionally tease the Xiao Xuangui, seemingly living a life of early retirement.
'If it continued like this, it seems pretty good. . . '
Fang Xi lay on a rocking chair, with the Xiao Xuangui lying at his feet. His body swayed back and forth, feeling utterly languid and unwilling to move.
'Alas, though my lifespan is long enough, it will always have an end. . . To achieve endless lifespan, perhaps only the legendary Immortals who have ascended to the True Immortal World can do so? '
'Longevity is easily obtained, but difficult to maintain. . . Even if my lifespan is long, if I am targeted by Return to Void, Void Amalgamation, or Mahayana Rogue Cultivators, no amount of lifespan would matter. . . '
'Therefore, I must still cultivate. . . '
Fang Xi closed his eyes, each inhale and exhale seemingly echoing with the Ancestral Demonic Tree bonsai by his hand.
He inwardly observed his body and saw that half of the silver patterns on his Wood Spirit Body had transformed, countless complex and profound golden patterns shimmering brightly!
The Eternal Evergreen Body's progress had finally accelerated since the Demonic Tree advanced.
By now, more than half had transformed!
'The Eternal Evergreen Body is a top-tier wood-element spiritual physique. . . paired with my spiritual root aptitude, perhaps it will even provide a boost when I advance to Void Amalgamation or Mahayana in the future? '
A glint of anticipation flashed in Fang Xi's eyes.
'However, I no longer have the subsequent cultivation method for the 'Withered Glory Chant'. Should I switch to cultivating the 'Wood Blade Art'? '
'The Eternal Evergreen Body is a wood-element spiritual physique; it's completely useless for demonic beast cultivation. If I don't cultivate a wood-element cultivation method, this spiritual physique will be useless. . . '
'After my cultivation breaks through, should I descend to the lower realm and visit the Earthly Immortal Spiritual Realm? '
'Uh. . . it doesn't seem too safe unless I'm at Soul Transformation Perfected stage. '
'The Earthly Immortal Spiritual Realm won't run away, and there's also the Minghuan World, the Black Taisui, that ghost cultivator. . . I'll have to deal with them one by one when I reach late-stage or Perfected Soul Transformation! '
Fang Xi secretly made his plans, then suddenly opened his eyes.
In his hand, a bright yellow jade seal appeared, which was the Numinous Treasure — the Nine-Blaze Seal!
After Fang Xi seized this item from the Wang family ancestor, he threw it back to the Kyushu World, entrusting Ghost Axe Venerable with its repair.
By now, it was barely considered completely repaired; at least the body of the seal looked perfect and flawless.
"Go!"
Fang Xi grasped the handle of the seal and injected his Soul Transformation-level magical power into it.
Roar! Roar!
Streams of earth-element divine light converged, and the jade seal floated up, suddenly flashing with light and transforming into a giant tiger over ten zhang long!
This fierce tiger was entirely earth-yellow, and beneath its fur, elusive runes seemed to wander, emitting brilliant spiritual light. Its ferocious might was awe-inspiring, no less than that of an ordinary Soul Transformation Demon Venerable!
"The Nine-Blaze Seal can attack and defend. Its transformation into a jade mountain is merely a defensive form. This fifth-stage demonic tiger, in terms of combat, should be no less than an ordinary Soul Transformation cultivator. . ."
The disturbance of heaven and earth spiritual energy by a Soul Transformation cultivator naturally alarmed the entire valley.
Not long after, Wang Lingying and Wang Lingdao, the two Grand Cultivators, arrived together. Seeing the bright yellow jade seal, a hint of joy appeared on their faces: "Congratulations, Old Ancestor, for finally completely repairing this Numinous Treasure. . ."
They naturally knew that their family had secretly kept a damaged fifth-stage Numinous Treasure, and had been trying to repair it.
Today, it was finally completed!
"Not bad!"
Fang Xi stood up, his left hand clasped behind his back, while his right hand held the 'Nine-Blaze Seal': "With an additional Numinous Treasure, this old ancestor is confident in having another bout with that Qing He Zi. . ."
Wang Lingdao was not so optimistic, but naturally wouldn't pour cold water on the situation at this moment.
"Excellent! Look at how our Wang family has been cornered by that Qing He Zi faction!"
Wang Lingying, who had not directly faced Fang Xi, now felt a sense of vindication: "Now that the Old Ancestor's injuries are fully recovered, and the Nine-Blaze Seal has been repaired, he will surely suppress Qing He Zi. . ."
"Hmm!"
Fang Xi smiled faintly; he wouldn't be so bored as to fight his own avatar for no reason.
"Old Ancestor. . . there's something else right now."
Wang Lingying seemed to remember something: "The Ink Gate Organ City will move near the Profound Nether Abyss in one year, and coincidentally, the triennial Grand Auction will be held then. . ."
"Organ City, huh?"
Hearing this familiar name, Fang Xi couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion.
The Ink Gate Organ City was like a wandering peddler; it was normal for it to hold a grand auction nearby after so many years.
Fang Xi noticed that the merchant guilds and organizations in the Earthly Immortal World preferred to build large ships and airships for long-distance trade.
This was likely due to the vastness and dangers of the Earthly Immortal World, making it difficult even for low-level cultivators to migrate.
And the reason the Wang family ancestor succeeded in Soul Transformation was reportedly because the Wang family had nearly bankrupted itself to purchase a Soul Transformation Spiritual Item at a secret underground auction.
"Our Wang family's foundation is currently meager. . . merely managing the tribute to the higher sect is already difficult."
Fang Xi sighed: "I'm afraid it will be hard on you two. . ."
If the Wang family were to buy another Soul Transformation Spiritual Item, the user would naturally be either Wang Lingying or Wang Lingdao.
But having another Soul Transformation cultivator emerge from the Wang family was extremely detrimental to Fang Xi's interests.
Fortunately, Qing He Zi had seized the 'Kungsang Market', exacerbating the Wang family's already thin resources, making them unable to even consider this idea now.
Fang Xi sighed: "This time, I won't go to the auction. You two will go together and see if you can bid for some Nascent Soul Spiritual Items; that will suffice. . ."
After all, the identity of the Wang family ancestor was fake; going to an auction teeming with high-level cultivators and encountering old acquaintances would be troublesome.
Fang Xi planned to send 'Qing He Zi' instead!
After all, a grand auction held only once every few centuries should have some good items.
"As you command!"
Wang Lingying and Wang Lingdao exchanged a look, also feeling quite helpless.
As high-ranking members of the Wang family, they naturally knew that while their family's treasury wasn't completely bare, they certainly couldn't afford a Soul Transformation Spiritual Item.
However, by squeezing funds from various expenses, there was a glimmer of hope for purchasing Nascent Soul Spiritual Items.
As family cultivators, they enjoyed conveniences in peacetime, but now they had to make sacrifices.
This was true even though both of them were nearing the Perfected Nascent Soul realm!
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