Chương 124: Rising from the Mud

Terrifying waves of energy lashed across the surrounding lake, churning the waters into a frenzy. Mud and silt swirled upward like a dark, living swamp, transforming the once-clear depths into a murky wasteland. Huaijin lay buried beneath the accumulated sludge, his spiritual sense stretched outward, mapping every corner of the battlefield with razor precision. Then, the Frost Dragon Tortoise's colossal form emerged from the gloom! A hairline fracture now marred its ancient turtle-like shell.

Its four massive claws were a mess of savage wounds, blood pulsing from each gash in thick, dark streams. Its once-imposing aura had dwindled to a flicker, the unmistakable signs of utter exhaustion. Of the five late-stage Tier 2 spirit beasts that had challenged it, only two remained alive. The survivors cowered before the Frost Dragon Tortoise, their eyes swimming with terror and desperate supplication. They had come to kill, now they begged for mercy. The Frost Dragon Tortoise's strength was simply monstrous.

They had submitted. Fully, utterly, without reservation. But the cost of this victory had been catastrophic. The Frost Dragon Tortoise's territory lay in ruins. Over a dozen Tier 2 subordinates had perished in the carnage. Even with the battle won, holding onto its domain would be a near-impossible task. This was a golden opportunity for the other peak Foundation Establishment Realm overlords who lurked in the shadows. The Netherpassage Cold Pool would know no peace from this day forward. That much was certain.

A cold gleam flickered in the Frost Dragon Tortoise's eyes. Every fiber of its being screamed to tear the two survivors apart for their treachery, but it restrained itself. It still needed them to project strength. An empire of one was no empire at all. The Frost Dragon Tortoise shifted its immense bulk, extending one gore-caked claw toward the Yin map fragment. This was the root of it all. The cause of the bloodshed. The treasure that had turned allies into enemies.

The dense, pure Yin energy emanating from the fragment called to the Frost Dragon Tortoise like a siren's song. If it could unlock the fragment's secrets and ascend to the Purple Mansion Realm, every drop of blood spilled today would be worth it. Every sacrifice. Every loss. But Huaijin had been waiting for this exact moment. This single, fleeting opening. BOOM! Like a corpse clawing its way out of the grave, Huaijin exploded upward from the muck!

Black lightning surged through his ravaged body, building to a fever pitch. All three of his cultivation systems roared to life in perfect synchrony, every reserve of power tapped, every limit shattered. In his palm, a swirling mass of black lightning condensed, greedily devouring the ambient spiritual energy of the lake water. Within heartbeats, it had swelled to the size of a human head, a sphere of pure, concentrated devastation. CRACK KABOOM!

The Darkwater Yin Thunder erupted from Huaijin's hand, unleashing a cataclysm of raw, unbridled force. In less than a breath, it slammed directly into the Frost Dragon Tortoise's skull. It happened too fast for even a peak Foundation Establishment Realm beast to react. With all three systems operating at maximum output, Huaijin's combat strength had skyrocketed straight into Purple Mansion Realm territory, and the Darkwater Yin Thunder was designed for underwater combat.

Its power multiplied tenfold in this environment. Black lightning engulfed the Frost Dragon Tortoise's head. Like a melon struck by a sledgehammer, its skull caved in with a sickening crunch, spraying blood and brain matter into the murky water. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Serpentine bolts of lightning burrowed deep into the tortoise's brain, rampaging through its Sea of Consciousness with mindless fury. The beast's thoughts scattered like leaves in a hurricane.

Huaijin didn't stop. His spiritual sense flared, and twin Yin Yang Divine Needles shot forward, silent, invisible, leaving barely a ripple in their wake. They streaked through the water and plunged into the skulls of the two wounded late stage Tier 2 spirit beasts. THUD! THUD! Two muffled impacts. Two lives extinguished. The beasts had been hanging on by a thread, their defenses were already shattered, their minds dulled by pain and exhaustion. Against Huaijin's soul arts, they had no chance.

Their souls were snuffed out like candle flames in a gale. Both late-stage beasts collapsed, dead before they hit the lakebed. By now, the Frost Dragon Tortoise's skull was half-obliterated. Its remaining eye was glassy, unfocused. Its life force guttered like a dying ember. Pure, primal instinct seized control. The Frost Dragon Tortoise turned and fled, away from this nightmare, away from the thing that had torn through its defenses like wet paper.

Whoever had attacked was no mere Foundation Establishment Realm cultivator. This was Tier 3 combat power! The Frost Dragon Tortoise would have given anything for a teleportation technique in that moment. But its body was broken, its movements agonizingly slow. It couldn't outrun its own shadow, let alone a killer like Zhang Huaijin. SHING! A Yin Yang Divine Needle materialized from nowhere, carving a silent path through the water. A single, delicate ripple marked its passage.

The Frost Dragon Tortoise's massive form froze mid-stroke. The needle had entered its soul. Within, it unleashed the primordial power of Taiji, Yin and Yang in perfect, devastating balance, and shattered the Frost Dragon Tortoise's sea of consciousness into a thousand fragments. One of the Netherpassage Cold Pool's overlords, the Frost Dragon Tortoise, was no more. Huaijin moved with blinding speed. In fifteen minutes, he had collected every Foundation Establishment Realm corpse.

Dozens of beasts, from lowly servitors to the two late-stage challengers, all neatly stored away. The Frost Dragon Tortoise had stood at the very peak of Tier 2. Its beast core was worth a fortune, one of the primary ingredients required to refine Foundation Establishment Pills. And the five late-stage beast cores would make excellent training material once he advanced to Tier 2, upper grade alchemist.

He was confident that with his natural talent and meticulous control, he would master the Foundation Establishment Pill formula. It was only a matter of time. And once he could produce Foundation Establishment Pills reliably? The Zhang family's status would be untouchable, not just in Langya County, but all the way to Qingtai City itself. Even Purple Mansion Realm cultivators would hesitate to antagonize a Tier 2, upper grade alchemist who could offer such treasure.

Huaijin tucked the Yin map fragment safely away and finished looting the remaining spoils in record time. Then he shot straight upward, toward the lake's surface. For the moment, the Frost Dragon Tortoise's fearsome reputation still held sway. Other overlords wouldn't dare intrude on its territory so soon after the battle. They would wait. Observe. Let the dust settle. That gave Huaijin his perfect window to escape the Netherpassage Cold Pool unnoticed. A quarter of an hour later...

Huaijin slipped out of the Netherpassage Cold Pool like a ghost, leaving no trace of his passage. The beast riots had driven away most cultivators. Only a handful of Foundation Establishment Realm adventurers lingered near the shore, trying to piece together what cataclysm had occurred beneath the surface. Huaijin's sudden emergence drew their attention like moths to a flame. He ignored them entirely. His heart soared with quiet triumph. He walked away at an unhurried pace, radiating confidence.

Seven or eight Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators watched him go. Three of them exchanged meaningful glances, then peeled off from the group and began to follow at a careful distance. Huaijin moved swiftly, putting distance between himself and the Netherpassage Cold Pool. He was heading out of Wenshui County, back toward Langya. But the three cultivators were faster than expected. They cut him off on the road.

"Hold there, friend," called the leader, a sixth level cultivator with a lazy, arrogant smirk.

"You wouldn't mind sharing with your fellow cultivators what you found in the Cold Pool, would you? We're all curious." His two companions were at the fourth level. They had already spread out, blocking any avenue of retreat.

'Wenshui County's Foundation Establishment cultivators are a cut above the average,' Huaijin noted with mild amusement. The remaining cultivators from the lakeshore drifted closer as well, though they kept their distance for now. They hung back, watching. Waiting. Ready to pounce if Huaijin showed any sign of weakness. They were no fools. If he folded easily, they'd all join the feeding frenzy. The beast riots. The lone cultivator emerging from the lakebed.

The timing, the secrecy, the mud-soaked robes hiding who-knew-what treasure, Huaijin had to be carrying something valuable. Something worth killing for. Huaijin stood shrouded in his black robe, caked head to toe in drying mud and blood. He looked like a vagrant who had crawled out of a grave. He made no effort to conceal his cultivation base: Foundation Establishment fifth level. Solid. Respectable. A mid-stage Tier 2 cultivator was no one's pushover. But greed dulls caution and sharpens ambition.

Easy fortune was a siren call few could resist, especially the sixth-level cultivator, who eyed Huaijin with undisguised contempt. Just a fifth level. And he looks half-dead already. On their side: one sixth level, two fourth level. The numbers, the ranks, the advantage, all theirs. What could a lone fifth level possibly do against such odds?