Chương 86: Sixth Immortal Aperture, Command Spirit Treasure Seeking

The Creation Immortal Cauldron gathered profound Dao runes, and on the cauldron's body, a sixth Immortal Aperture appeared. [Sixth Immortal Aperture—Command Spirit Treasure Seeking: Mountains have mountain treasures, seas have sea marvels. For a craftsman of the forging Dao to forge a peerless divine weapon, heavenly materials and earthly treasures are indispensable. The user may seize souls and bind them into weapons, transforming them into Creation Artifact Spirits. These artifact spirits can leave the weapon, roam the Great Void, and help the user seek treasures and explore secrets.] [The method of Command Spirit Treasure Seeking consumes the power of incense worship. As the user's martial cultivation rises, the number of artifact spirits may increase. The user may grant an artifact spirit a vessel, establish a spiritual link with it, and share its vision and memories. At the same time, the user will receive the artifact spirit's aptitude and talent enhancements!]"Creation Artifact Spirit? According to this information, doesn't that mean…"

"Starting from the Fourth Rank, every time my martial realm rises by one rank, I can gain one more artifact spirit." Su Zhe digested the information sent over by the Creation Immortal Cauldron. Clarity dawned in his heart, and realization struck him at once. This divine ability was incredibly useful! Su Zhe sucked in a cold breath, his heart surging with excitement. With the sixth Immortal Aperture equipped with the Mantis Blade Sickle Edge, his aptitude and talent rose once again.

Unfortunately, it was still only upper-grade "One in Ten Thousand," just a hair away from Dragon-Bodied Heavenly Bones. Su Zhe looked toward the giant softshell turtle. He had just gained a brand-new talent from the Immortal Cauldron, and right now, wasn't there a ready-made artifact spirit sitting right in front of him? Su Zhe slowly rose and looked around. The surrounding villagers were all kneeling on the ground, shouting, "Bless us, Lord River God!" Su Zhe did not know whether to laugh or cry.

But in this situation, any explanation from him would be useless. Look at those villagers. The way they looked at him was filled with fanaticism and awe. It reminded Su Zhe of cultists. Su Zhe closed his eyes and immediately felt wisps of aura flowing toward him, sinking into the Creation Immortal Cauldron within his sea of consciousness. Incense worship! This was the power of incense worship.

"So incense worship comes from devotion."

"So-called wild gods are former grandmaster experts whose divine souls never dispersed. After accumulating incense worship, they transformed into gods."

"If I use the Creation Immortal Cauldron to accumulate incense worship, does that mean…"

"Even with my low cultivation realm, I can become a deity?" A thought could not help but surface in Su Zhe's mind. The karma involved was too deep. Su Zhe could not see through it. But the benefits of incense worship were very real. Ever since last time, when the Creation Immortal Cauldron had forced him into a corner and made him absorb the incense worship from Blood-Refining Divine Venerable's blood-colored altar, Su Zhe felt his thoughts had become increasingly clear, as if he had grown much sharper.

Now that he had obtained the divine ability Command Spirit Treasure Seeking, he needed incense worship even more. Su Zhe placed one hand on the top of the giant turtle's head and silently chanted,"In my name, Su Zhe, may your divine soul not scatter. Gather into form. I hereby confer upon you the title of artifact spirit!" Roar! Fierce winds howled, and waves of chilling yin wind swept out. A clear beastly roar rang through the air. From the giant turtle's corpse, specks of幽 blue light emerged.

In the end, they gathered into the illusory figure of a giant turtle—insubstantial, yet truly existing. So this was an artifact spirit? Su Zhe felt somewhat emotional. From the information transmitted by the Creation Immortal Cauldron, he now understood. A Creation Artifact Spirit was no ordinary artifact spirit. It was not confined to a single object, but it required a martial weapon to attach itself to over a long period of time.

And a martial weapon inhabited by a Creation Artifact Spirit would be nourished over time and could improve in quality. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. The giant turtle artifact spirit manifested, confusion flickering in its eyes. Then it looked toward Su Zhe. The giant turtle artifact spirit cupped its front claws in midair, its hind claws bending as if it were kneeling.

Su Zhe sensed the spiritual link between himself and the giant turtle artifact spirit. A wave of spiritual fluctuation came from the giant turtle artifact spirit. It was as if… It was respectfully calling Su Zhe "Master." Su Zhe took out the Spirit Turtle Treasure Bone Shell, raised a finger, and shouted in a low voice,"Enter!" The giant turtle artifact spirit showed gratitude on its face, then leapt inside. In an instant, the surrounding dark clouds dispersed, and the yin wind stopped.

"A miracle! It's a miracle!" When the villagers saw this scene, their faith in Su Zhe became even more devout. From their perspective, the giant turtle had been slain, yin winds had howled, and black clouds had covered the sky. It looked like the calm before a storm, as if the end of the world had arrived. But with one casual point of Su Zhe's finger, his words carried the weight of heavenly law. In an instant, the clouds parted, the wind calmed, and the sky cleared after the rain.

[Giant Turtle Artifact Spirit: Its aptitude and talent are now stacked onto the user. The user's comprehension of water-element martial arts has greatly increased!] Su Zhe could feel it. Strands of mysterious power seemed to continuously alter his physical body.

[Name: Su Zhe] [Cultivation: Fourth Rank Early Stage, Opening Meridians Realm] [Cultivation Methods: Five Spirits Perfected—Five-Spirit Martial Flame, Barbarian Bull, Baleful Tiger, Spirit Snake, Flood Dragon, Dark Mantis; Tiger Form and Snake Form—External Three Harmonies Realm] [Equipped: Six Immortal Apertures—Fire Refining Furnace, Casting Hammer, Spirit Turtle Treasure Bone Shell, Ghost-Faced Phantom Shark, Tiger Roar Baleful Soul Saber, Mantis Blade Sickle Edge] [Unequipped: Viper Shadow Blade, Demon-Scale Inner Armor] [Aptitude: Mid-grade "One in Ten Thousand" (innate aptitude), Low-grade "Dragon-Bodied Heavenly Bones" (equipped aptitude)] His innate aptitude had risen.

And after equipping everything, his aptitude had skyrocketed all the way to Dragon-Bodied Heavenly Bones!

"Whew! After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, during Zhujian Shanzhuang (Sword Casting Manor)'s disciple recruitment ceremony, will Li Shanyun and shifu be shocked by me again?" Su Zhe laughed inwardly. To be honest, he was starting to love this feeling a little. Hiding his strength, then shocking everyone in one move. Others thought Su Zhe was on the first level. Then they were shocked to find he had stepped onto the second level.

Only after understanding him more deeply did they realize that Su Zhe had long since reached the atmosphere.

"So that's how it is…" After subduing the giant turtle artifact spirit, Su Zhe also understood through their spiritual link exactly what had happened to this giant turtle… A thousand-year softshell turtle, a ten-thousand-year tortoise. This giant turtle had lived for a thousand years and had stirred up trouble throughout the Su River. One thousand years ago, the Blacksmith Ancestor suppressed Blood-Refining Divine Venerable, but he himself was also heavily wounded.

Later, he heard that the giant turtle was causing havoc. So the Blacksmith Ancestor dragged his badly injured body along and suppressed the giant turtle as well. This giant turtle had originally possessed the cultivation of a Seventh Rank demon beast. Moreover, giant turtles were long-lived and extremely difficult to kill. After suppressing two monsters that had brought great harm to people, the Blacksmith Ancestor's lifespan also reached its end.

He founded the Blacksmith Gang, but feared that these two demon creatures would one day harm the world again. Thus, he used divination through hexagram lines to deduce future karma, left behind the legend of "a thousand years of fortune, the qilin of Lu County," and then passed away. As for why the giant turtle had not escaped before, but had now broken free?

"So in the end, this was still my fault!" Su Zhe smiled bitterly. It was precisely because Su Zhe had released Blood-Refining Divine Venerable that a wild god had emerged, causing an earthquake in Lu County. The force of that earthquake spread for a thousand li. That was what caused the giant turtle to break free. However, after being suppressed for a thousand years, the Seventh Rank demon beast's physical blood qi and demonic power had been almost completely worn away.

That was why, when it fell into Su Zhe's hands, it could unleash at most the combat strength of a Fifth Rank demon beast. Su Zhe had picked up a bargain.

"My luck really is pretty good… After this giant turtle emerged, it even attacked and tried to kill a Fifth Rank martial artist…"

"One man and one turtle fought to the death. In the end, neither could do anything to the other. The Fifth Rank martial artist was bloodied and nearly dead."

"The giant turtle swallowed his blood essence and remembered his scent…" Su Zhe learned one more thing from the giant turtle's memories. The wild god's emergence had triggered an earthquake. The earthquake shook the riverbed, allowing the giant turtle to escape. After escaping, the giant turtle fought a Fifth Rank martial artist, and both sides suffered heavy injuries. And just then, the River God Festival happened. The surrounding commoners had gathered here.

Human flesh and blood were a great supplement to such a demon beast. That was why the giant turtle had come searching. It wanted to devour people to heal its injuries. The karma in this matter was truly profound. It left Su Zhe filled with emotion.

"Misfortune and fortune have no fixed gate; they are summoned by people themselves. The retribution for good and evil follows like a shadow."

"Heavenly Dao shows no favoritism, yet it always stays with the good." If Su Zhe accumulated virtue and did good deeds, blessings would naturally come to him. The giant turtle was vicious and brutal, so disaster naturally came for it. A Fifth Rank martial artist… heavily wounded… Su Zhe's mind stirred.

"Su… Lord River God…" The timid voice of the fishing village chief rang out. It interrupted Su Zhe's thoughts. Only then did Su Zhe remember that the River God Festival had not yet ended.

"Everyone, I am not the River God. But I grew up beside the Su River. I drink the water of the Su River, and I eat the food of the fishing villages."

"This giant turtle slaughtered the innocent and harmed the common people. As long as I, Su Zhe, am here, I will not allow it!" Su Zhe swept his gaze around, then clenched both fists and raised his arms with a shout. When the fishing village commoners heard this, their blood boiled.

"Gang Leader Su is mighty! Gang Leader Su is the River God reincarnated!"

"Lord River God protects the people of the Su River!" … Countless commoners flushed red with excitement and shouted themselves hoarse, their voices shaking the clouds. More wisps of incense worship were absorbed into the Creation Immortal Cauldron. Su Zhe was extremely satisfied. Showing his divinity before others really did have its benefits.

Su Zhe pressed one knee down on the neck of the giant turtle's corpse, pulled out the Viper Shadow Blade, gripped the sharp sword, raised his hand, and brought the blade down. Following the gaps between the giant turtle's bones, he drove his great strength through and cut off its head. Large patches of blood stained the ground around him. It was bloody and brutal. The sight made the commoners' hearts pound in fear. Su Zhe lifted the giant turtle's head, which was taller than a man, high into the air.

Standing on the altar, he shouted like a mountain roar,"Giant turtle monster!"

"For killing the people of the Su River, you deserve execution!"

"This is the best offering to present to Lord River God!"

"Lord River God, protect the Su River! Grant us favorable weather, smooth waters, and great fortune for the new year!"