52: Chapter 52 The Innate Spirit! The Golden Tortoise Escapes!

It was night!

It was a restless night!

Some saw a meteor streaking across the sky, brilliant to the extreme, radiating phantom-colored light!

Some found their old ox, raised for ten years, speaking in human tongue!

Some zoo animals grew to two or three times their original size overnight, broke free from their cages, and charged into the city streets!

Some Family ancestral graves exploded for no reason, emitting wisps of black smoke as dark figures crawled out and vanished into the black night!

A night fisherman saw the lake water glowing, with what seemed to be snake-like creatures swimming within; with one cast of his rod, he and the rod were dragged into the water!

In some places, lightning flashed and thunder roared, as if some creature were howling in the sky!

Strange events erupted overnight, mostly concentrated in the sparsely populated mountains, forests, lakes, and rivers.

Ordinary people had no idea what was happening.

But for those who bitterly pursued the path of the Dao, they were beyond excited.

In a dilapidated Daoist temple, an old Daoist with a white beard suddenly snapped his eyes open and rushed out of the house. Looking at the star-filled sky, he cried out in alarm, "The Big Dipper aligned, the Purple Forbidden Star at its peak, the Sirius Swallowing the Moon, and the Malignant Stars in Motion... How is this possible! How is this possible! So many anomalies! Unseen throughout the ages!"

"Wait!! This is... Spiritual Qi?"

"I can actually sense Spiritual Qi, how is this possible!"

"Spiritual Qi has been depleted for a thousand years; we Cultivators have only been able to catch a glimpse of the immortal gate by relying on ancient Medicinal Pills!"

"Now, the Spiritual Qi is reviving...!"

"This is a variable unseen in eternity. Whether it is auspicious or ominous, a blessing or a curse, who can say!"

The old Daoist looked up to the sky and wept, but he quickly calmed down. He went to the mountain gate and looked at this dilapidated temple that had carried the Legacy for a thousand years. Finally, he chose the place where the Spiritual Qi was most dense, sat cross-legged, and began to Cultivate.

Visible to the naked eye, the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth surged into his body. His skin actually regained its luster, his white hair turned black, and his physique became fuller.

A few minutes ago, he was a withered old man in his eighties or nineties, but in the blink of an eye, he looked like he was in his sixties or seventies.

He was not the only one.

All over the world, anomalies were rampant. Families that had not appeared for ages broke open their mountain gates, seekers of the Dao laughed wildly, terrifying creatures were reviving, and exotic treasures were appearing.

Someone even discovered that their hen had laid a strange egg covered in flame patterns; even the hen became incredibly strange, as the comb on its head actually grew feathers like a Phoenix and it flew away into the sky.

This night...

Some were sleeping soundly, while others had already stepped onto another mysterious and unpredictable path.

The next day.

In the early morning.

Chu Xiao opened his eyes groggily. The pain in his body had disappeared, replaced by a very wonderful feeling. He felt his hearing and vision were sharp, and he could even clearly hear the sound of falling leaves outside the window and his own heartbeat.

Thump, thump, thump!

Every time his heart beat, layers of electric arcs flashed within his flesh and blood.

The changes brought by the Top-grade Lightning Spiritual Root's Fusion with his body were immense. This was more direct than the previous few changes, making it even harder for Chu Xiao to remain calm.

"This...!"

"How did it get bigger again!"

Chu Xiao climbed up from the ground and patted the dust off his body. He suddenly noticed that the sprout on the withered wood had grown larger. Yesterday it was only a few centimeters tall, but now it had grown to about ten centimeters.

Although it still only had two leaves, it was incredibly divine!

"It seems the energy from those few drops of green liquid yesterday hasn't been fully absorbed yet. But this tree is indeed strange, I wonder what species it actually is!"

"Eh! Where's the Golden Tortoise!"

Chu Xiao cried out in alarm. He suddenly noticed that the large stone by the door had cracked open. The talisman on it had vanished, and even the Golden Tortoise and Golden Snake inside had disappeared!

They were gone!

Holy crap!

It couldn't be because I kicked and broke it yesterday, right!

Chu Xiao immediately became frightened. He still hadn't figured out what that Golden Tortoise and Golden Snake were. To be able to survive inside a sealed stone, they definitely weren't ordinary things.

If the old man found out, he'd probably skin him alive.

Chu Xiao did a careful lap around the room and found that the other creatures sealed in the stones hadn't escaped; they were still sealed inside, looking lifelike.

These stones were of various sizes. Inside were red carp, yellow loaches, white toads, and even a golden rooster. One stone was the most miraculous; it was as tall as a person and contained a monkey cub radiating seven-colored light.

The monkey cub was lifelike, wrapped in a thin film of light, and quite cute.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk!"

"I wonder where the old man got these stones. If he knew there were living things inside, he'd probably be shocked too!"

Chu Xiao murmured to himself, turned to walk out of the room, and used the key to lock it up.

After he left.

Inside the room, those mysterious creatures sealed in the stones, which were pretending to be asleep, all opened their eyes and began to whisper among themselves.

"Did you see that? That kid actually got the Divine Wood to bestow the Immortal Source and those drops of Immortal Milk. I'm practically dying of envy..."

"Quack, quack, quack... The Old Tortoise is really lucky to have a corner of its talisman Seal destroyed by lightning! I wonder how far it escaped!"

"Cluck, cluck, cluck... This boy is no small matter. Perhaps he can be our master!"

"Gurgle, gurgle... You're crazy! We are Innate Spirits, how can we easily acknowledge someone as master! Do you think this is the ancient era!"

"Old Monkey, what do you say! Should we join forces to break the Seal?"

"Break the Seal? Have you all forgotten? If the Spirit Catcher lineage hadn't sealed our True Source for us, we might have died from energy depletion long ago!"

"Besides, we have an oath with that old fellow to suppress the evils here for him, and he provides for our True Spirits! If we just walk away and the demons beneath this place escape, the world will be in chaos! Who could bear such Karma!"

"But the Old Tortoise is gone. Are we going to continue living like this? The Divine Wood has revived, and the Spiritual Qi has also revived. This world is about to change! Perhaps the prosperity of the ancient times will reappear, who knows!"

"Let's wait and see! I think this kid is very unusual; he has the Aptitude to become our Spirit Lord!"

"Quack, quack, quack... Spirit Lord? Him? Back then his grandfather already tested him; he wasn't cut out for the Spirit Catcher lineage!"

"The past is the past, but now! It might not be so!"

"Old Monkey, what do you mean by that?"

"Your spiritual senses are too weak! Naturally, you can't perceive the Innate Lightning Spiritual Root inside that kid! The Lightning Spiritual Root is the strongest Spiritual Root of the Spirit Catcher lineage—the most firm, the most yang, and the most pure!"

"What! Innate Lightning Spiritual Root? How is that possible! We watched this kid be born with our own eyes back then. If we hadn't dispelled the evil for him, he would have died long ago! Where would an Innate Lightning Spiritual Root come from!"

"Strange, truly strange! But I definitely didn't sense it wrong. Last night, the aura of an Innate Lightning Spiritual Root really emerged from his body! Otherwise, why do you think the Divine Wood would bestow the Immortal Source?"

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