Longevity with a Turtle

Chapter 35: Chapter 34: Little Black Reaches Entry Tier

”That’s right, the Foundation Establishment Pill was not lost.”

A smile appeared on Yun Xiaotian’s face, a hint of slyness flashing in his eyes as he spoke to Yun Bufan. ”Although the Elder Ancestor is injured, it is not to the extent of affecting his lifespan.

”A few days ago, the Fourth Elder, Sixth Elder, and Seventh Elder each led a team to the surrounding marketplaces and have already purchased the Spirit Medicines required for the Elder Ancestor’s recovery. His injuries will heal in five years at most.”

Yun Bufan’s expression lit up with joy. The fact that the Foundation Establishment Ancestor was fine meant his own success rate for Foundation Establishment could be as high as eighty percent or more.

However, he quickly grew a bit puzzled. He wondered why they would release the news that he was guaranteed to succeed in Foundation Establishment within ten years. Releasing news that the Foundation Establishment Pill was lost and spreading rumors that the Foundation Establishment Ancestor was severely injured and approaching the end of his lifespan—Yun Bufan could understand that. This was likely preparation for his smooth Foundation Establishment.

The major factions around Jingyue Lake all had only one Foundation Establishment Ancestor. These factions would not sit idly by and watch the Yun Family have two Foundation Establishment Ancestors alive at the same time. Therefore, the story that the Yun Family Ancestor was severely injured by a sneak attack from the Bai Family of Qiyun Mountain, resulting in his impending death, and that the Foundation Establishment Pill was snatched—this would undoubtedly make those factions lower their guard against the Yun Family.

As for the Bai Family of Qiyun Mountain clarifying that they hadn’t snatched the Yun Family’s Foundation Establishment Pill, it didn’t matter. Those factions wouldn’t believe the Yun Family’s one-sided story, and similarly, they wouldn’t believe the Bai Family’s self-clarification either. Only after muddying the waters would the Yun Family have a chance to boast two Foundation Establishment Cultivators in one clan.

Seeing the confusion in Yun Bufan’s eyes, the Second Elder, Yun Zhongbo, brought up the Elder Ancestor to reassure him. ”Bufan, the message that you will definitely succeed in Foundation Establishment within ten years was ordered to be spread by the Elder Ancestor.

”Everything has two sides. A mix of truth and falsehood, reality and illusion—only then will everything go smoothly during your Foundation Establishment. What you need to do now is cultivate diligently and reach Ninth-Layer Qi Refining Perfection as quickly as possible.”

”Yes, I understand,” Yun Bufan replied respectfully before retreating from the ancestral hall.

”Patriarch, I hope your scheme succeeds. Once Bufan successfully achieves Foundation Establishment, our Yun Family will be backed by two Foundation Establishment Cultivators—the Elder Ancestor and Bufan. When that time comes...” The eyes of the Fourth Elder, Yun Zhongwei, were filled with longing for the future, as if he could already envision the golden age of the Yun Family possessing three Foundation Establishment Cultivators. ”We are old, but Patriarch, you haven’t even reached Fifty Years Old yet! You still have a great hope of achieving Foundation Establishment!”

...

Time flowed by, and half a year passed.

As the setting sun cast its rays, a pale golden mist drifted across the calm lake. SPLASH! Chen Jianghe’s head breached the surface, sending out rippling waves.

”After half a year of bitter practice, my Water Escape Technique has finally reached the absolute limit of Early-Stage Qi Refining.”

With Little Black’s arrival, Chen Jianghe was completely freed from the task of feeding the Little Cyan Fish. Furthermore, Little Black seemed to possess an extraordinary talent for fish farming. He became familiar with the process of raising Little Cyan Fish in just a month. Under Little Black’s care, these fish fry no longer rammed into each other fighting for food. Although biting incidents still occasionally occurred, Little Black promptly stopped them, preventing any fish from turning belly up.

Spending half a year refining his Water Escape Technique, he could now travel two miles in a single cast. Chen Jianghe didn’t know how talented he was when it came to cultivating Magic, but he personally felt he was doing pretty well.

Over the past six months, the bodies of the Little Cyan Fish fry had also undergone some changes under Little Black’s feeding. Chen Jianghe made a rough calculation and estimated that the average weight of the fry had decreased by about half a pound. This meant his reward of fifty grains of Spiritual Sand was guaranteed.

”It seems the salary of a Senior Fisherman and Farmer is much higher than that of a Basic-Level Fisherman and Farmer. After three years, just the average weight reward alone should be worth two Spirit Stones.”

Losing about half a pound in six months meant they would lose at least two pounds over three years. That would be two Spirit Stones. That was equal to a normal Basic-Level Fisherman and Farmer’s income for four years. If he was lucky enough to cultivate an Entry-Tier Spiritual Beast Little Cyan Fish, that would be three Spirit Stones.

”No wonder Old Gao once had the wild ambition to break through to Late-Stage Qi Refining. So the income of a Senior Fisherman and Farmer is this lucrative.”

Suddenly, Chen Jianghe felt a slight tremor on the Spirit Platform in his mind as the Spirit Turtle Mark lit up with a brilliant glow.

”Little Black is about to enter the Entry Tier!” He immediately dove to the bottom of the lake and swam toward Little Black’s location.

Undercurrents at the lake’s bottom swept up silvery-white gravel. A turtle shell as dark as ink was absorbing and exhaling Spiritual Qi. Deep blue Runes flowed between the crevices of the shell, startling the schools of fish into darting away to avoid the invisible vortex.

Little Black’s front claws were deeply embedded in the mud, remaining completely still. Only his neck trembled slightly, disturbing the water currents as all the Spiritual Qi in his body converged toward his head, seemingly trying to condense the Spirit Core that only Spirit Beasts possessed.

WHOOSH! With every breath Little Black took, the surrounding Spiritual Qi condensed onto his shell, flowing along its patterns for a full cycle before being drawn into his mouth like spun silk.

”Is Little Black’s body getting bigger?” Chen Jianghe wondered. Floating in the water thirty feet away from Little Black to act as his Guardian, he discovered that the turtle’s size was increasing at a visible rate. Before long, he had grown to the size of a millstone.

This made Chen Jianghe very confused. The Little Cyan Fish nourished their Physical Bodies with Spiritual Qi, reducing their size to internalize the Spiritual Qi and condense a core. But Little Black was the exact opposite. It seemed that the larger his body, the faster he absorbed Spiritual Qi, allowing him to gather his entire body’s Spiritual Qi to condense a core and thereby enter the Entry Tier to become a Spirit Beast.

Chen Jianghe was unaware that at this moment, the Spirit Platform in Little Black’s mind was gradually becoming clear. Dense Spiritual Qi gathered above it, forming a vortex and beginning to condense a Spirit Core. The human-shaped mark on the Spirit Platform emitted a dazzling halo that merged into the vortex, seemingly helping Little Black condense the Spirit Core.

”AWOO! AWOO!” Little Black roared passionately in his mind. ”Two-Legged Beast, I’m going to succeed!”

The Spiritual Qi gathered faster and faster, and the prototype of a Spirit Core had already formed at the bottom of the vortex on the Spirit Platform.

Two hours passed.

The Spiritual Qi condensed into a core. Little Black successfully entered the Entry Tier, transforming into a Spirit Beast.

Suddenly, a crack burst open in the center of the turtle shell, causing the original pattern of two horizontal and two vertical lines to change. Before long, it evolved into three horizontal and two vertical lines, intersecting to form twelve squares.

The turtle head, which had been insecure due to its deformity, was finally held high. The vast sky and the bright moon were reflected in his cloudy eyes.

The Spirit Core had condensed. The Spirit Platform materialized, and the Two-Legged Beast mark on it became clearly visible, completely identical to Chen Jianghe.

As Little Black’s Spiritual Sense touched the Spirit Platform Mark, a piece of information flooded his mind.

[Lifespan: One hundred and twenty years]

”AWOO! AWOO! AWOO!” In his excitement, Little Black cried out in his mind, ”Lord Turtle has succeeded!” He tumbled his millstone-sized body around the lakebed. The resulting water waves swept up countless grains of gravel from the bottom of the lake.

Seeing the incoming gravel, Chen Jianghe quickly dodged to the side. He then approached Little Black, his heart filled with joy.

After nearly ten years, Little Black had finally entered the Entry Tier and become a Spirit Beast. This meant he now had a true Spirit Beast, and his breeding talent would be upgraded once again. It was highly likely that he could cultivate an Entry-Tier Spiritual Beast Little Cyan Fish.

Of course, these were all secondary. The most crucial point was that with Little Black becoming a Spirit Beast, his own maximum lifespan should also see a breakthrough.

The next moment, Chen Jianghe’s Divine Sense surged toward his Spirit Platform to touch the completely manifested Spirit Turtle Mark, which looked exactly like Little Black’s current appearance. Immediately afterward, his own lifespan limit also appeared.

[Lifespan: Three hundred and sixty years]