The space beyond the Jade Gate was somewhat dim, but some bright white or ghostly blue fluorescence could still be seen.
The glowing objects were moonstones inlaid around the perimeter, and the spiritual light emitted from the giant pearls piled in the corners. These were all common lighting objects used by cultivators.
The surroundings appeared dim mainly because of a layer of black mist that drifted about. The source of the black mist was the pool in the center. Inside was dead water, as black as ink, without the slightest movement. Occasionally, a strange luster could be seen emanating from the surface.
The greater part of the Xuanming Turtle's corpse was submerged within. Jin Yu and the others were standing in front of the corpse, constantly examining it.
Only after Xuan Turtle approached did he discover a massive palm print on the Xuanming Turtle's enormous shell.
The palm print was clearly imprinted on the shell. Upon closer inspection, only a small portion of the palm print was visible, but at the point of impact, cracks deep enough to reveal bone radiated outwards, causing a large part of the shell to collapse.
Xuan Turtle inhaled sharply, somewhat shocked.
One had to know that the Xuanming Turtle was a tenth-tier Great Demon King, far more powerful than a typical late-stage Core Formation cultivator, and as a turtle-snake, a spiritual beast of heaven and earth, its defensive capabilities were absolutely top-notch.
Xuan Turtle could hardly imagine what kind of existence could imprint such a clear palm print on the Xuanming Turtle's shell. Could it be an existence like a Transformation God cultivator?
“Hiss, such astonishing power. Could it be that the Xuanming Turtle was severely injured by this attack and thus died here?” Dragon Crocodile and the others also saw the condition of the corpse and began to discuss it.
“Perhaps, but regardless of why this Great Demon King perished, it has no direct relationship with us. It's just that the Xuanming Turtle's form is that of a turtle-snake, but this corpse doesn't show a spiritual snake at the tail. Dragon needs to verify whether this is the true body of the Xuanming Turtle.”
Suddenly, Dragon Crocodile's body flashed with spiritual light, and he leapt into the air, clapping his hands together. Several black rays of spiritual light struck the corpse.
The others watched this scene without interfering, merely observing coldly.
The ground rumbled and shook for a while, and the fragmented turtle demon corpse in the pool trembled a few times before slowly rising.
But after rising about halfway, Dragon Crocodile made a light 'eh' sound, his face turning somewhat dark. He shot another series of spiritual lights onto the corpse, causing the turtle demon corpse to tremble even more violently, but the progress of pulling it out slowed down considerably.
It seemed as if another force was preventing the corpse from being pulled out.
Xuan Turtle and the others were closely watching everything, and they instantly noticed the black water in the pool swirling strangely, forming a huge vortex. A suction force was preventing the corpse from being pulled out of the water.
“Hmph, rise.”
Dragon Crocodile snorted softly. As a ninth-tier demon cultivator, he would naturally lose face if he couldn't even pull out a corpse.
Spiritual power surged around him, and a huge, ferocious crocodile phantom appeared behind him. With a flick of its tail, black and red spiritual light flashed, and the phantom's tail, like a long snake, wrapped around most of the corpse, suddenly flinging it upwards.
Amidst a loud boom, the Xuanming Turtle's corpse, like a small mountain on the ground, was instantly pulled out of the water.
Seeing the complete corpse, there was no more doubt. Although a small part of the Xuanming Turtle's corpse was damaged, its tail was indeed a huge black spiritual snake.
What surprised everyone again was that there were several large holes in the Xuanming Turtle's abdomen, through which more than a dozen golden, shimmering chains pierced, disappearing into the body. It appeared as if the Xuanming Turtle was trapped in the pool by the chains.
The chains were covered in dense runes that flickered on and off, stretched taut, with the other ends still in the black water, seemingly tethered to some heavy object.
Seeing this, Jin Yu also quickly flicked his finger, sending out a ray of lightning, twisting it into a lightning whip fifty to sixty feet long, wrapping it around the golden chains, and pulling with all his might.
The water surface churned for a while, and the object at the other end of the golden chains was also pulled out. Everyone saw that it was a strange gourd.
This gourd was very large, fifty to sixty feet tall, and entirely black, with golden chains shooting out from it. A special spiritual power emanated from it.
“Eh, what treasure is this?”
The others also stared at the black gourd, puzzled, guessing what kind of treasure it was. Only Xuan Turtle, looking at the gourd, stared blankly, his eyes somewhat glazed.
Because he was very familiar with the gourd, it was actually a Yin-Yang Gourd.
After carefully examining it with his divine sense, he could indeed sense a stream of azure and white energy emerging from the gourd's mouth.
However, as soon as the azure and white energy emerged, it was instantly absorbed by the golden chains, which seemed to be specially refined treasures.
Cultivators unfamiliar with azure and white energy might overlook this spiritual energy.
At the same time, under his perception, he discovered that the azure and white energy emitted from the black gourd was slightly different from that emitted from his own natal magic treasure, the Yin-Yang Gourd. The azure and white energy of the black gourd was more condensed.
In today's cultivation world, apart from him who had accidentally obtained the Yin-Yang Gourd seed and used the mysterious bead to germinate the Yin-Yang Gourd, no one else had ever been said to have this treasure.
With a loud boom, the black Yin-Yang Gourd, entangled with lightning by Jin Yu, fell to the ground, creating a large pit.
“Fellow Daoist Jin, if you are willing to give this object to Dragon, you can divide the other treasures among yourselves. Dragon will not participate.”
While everyone was still examining the black gourd, another loud boom occurred. The Xuanming Turtle's corpse fell back into the water. Dragon Crocodile flashed, descending from the sky, standing next to the gourd, and speaking to the crowd.
“Haha, this seems to be the Heavy Water Gourd, Brother Dragon, don't be impatient. Let's explore this place and find other treasures before distributing this item.” Jin Yu also spoke at the same time, laughing.
“Brother Jin is right. If this treasure is really the Heavy Water Gourd, it is a pseudo-spiritual treasure, and its value is difficult to estimate. Let's find the other treasures of the Xuanming Turtle before distributing it.” Demon Snake Liu Qing quickly echoed.
Madam Yan also stared at the black gourd, her eyes lighting up, seeming to recall something, and also echoed.
Xuan Turtle also noticed that Old Freak Feng, who rarely spoke, also showed a hint of heat in his eyes, his gaze never leaving the black gourd, seemingly also taking a great interest.
For a time, a subtle change occurred in the atmosphere among the demons. The scene fell silent, and no one spoke.
Heavy Water Gourd, pseudo-spiritual treasure.
Xuan Turtle grasped the information in their words and began to ponder. He had never heard of what kind of treasure the Heavy Water Gourd was. However, he clearly heard the words 'pseudo-spiritual treasure'.
Pseudo-spiritual treasures were magic weapons imitated from spiritual treasures, and their power was definitely stronger than most magic weapons and ancient treasures. It was said that the power of some pseudo-spiritual treasures was no less than that of the original spiritual treasures.
Magic weapons, after years of accumulation, could give birth to spirituality and become spiritual treasures. However, this was only one way for spiritual treasures to be born, basically only for treasures like cultivators' natal magic weapons.
In addition, spiritual treasures could also be directly refined, just like the Flowing Light Pagoda spiritual treasure refinement method that appeared at the Cangyun Pavilion trade fair not long ago.
Refining spiritual treasures was not like refining magic weapons. The materials alone were difficult for even large sects like the Ten Great Sects to gather.
Moreover, the refining process was extremely cumbersome. It was said that when refining spiritual treasures, one might even attract heavenly tribulation. This was also a reason why spiritual treasures were extremely difficult to refine.
The power of spiritual treasures had always been sought after by cultivators, but they were difficult to refine. Therefore, many refining masters, based on the passed-down spiritual treasure refinement methods, screened and replaced some materials to refine these extraordinary pseudo-spiritual treasures.
If the black Yin-Yang Gourd in front of him was truly a pseudo-spiritual treasure, then its value would be inestimable. No wonder the atmosphere among the crowd was somewhat subtle at this moment.
Looking at the expressions of the crowd, Xuan Turtle also noticed that these demon cultivators seemed to recognize this treasure, and it seemed that it might be the Xuanming Turtle's famous treasure.
After a dozen breaths of silence, Dragon Crocodile's expression changed several times, and he said in a muffled voice. “Hehe, in that case, let's search this place first.”
Although Dragon Crocodile said so, the aura on his body suddenly increased a lot, and he glanced at the crowd with a strange expression.
Although he was at the ninth-tier strength, the strongest among the crowd, looking at the current situation, if he insisted on taking the Heavy Water Gourd, it would immediately attract the joint efforts of the others, which was not what he wanted to see.
He could only take a step back for now. However, he would never give up on the Heavy Water Gourd.
Seeing Dragon Crocodile's concession, Jin Yu and the others looked at each other and breathed a slight sigh of relief. After saying a few polite words, the crowd dispersed and patiently searched this space.
In addition to the Xuanming Turtle's corpse in the pool, there were also several door openings on the surrounding jade walls, like ordinary cultivators' cave dwellings, which naturally had to be searched.
Xuan Turtle also walked towards a square jade door on the left, sneering in his heart. These transformed demon cultivators were also like human cultivators, all cunning and treacherous, and no one would offend the public.
However, it could be imagined that at this moment, the crowd would definitely not be as united as they were when breaking the outer restriction. Once the treasures were unevenly distributed, quarrels might break out immediately.
He also had to be careful. Xuan Turtle thought, connecting through his mind, synchronizing the situation here to Zhang Ling.
