83: Chapter 83 The Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Tortoise

Lin Bei: "!!!"

For the first time, an Epic-level death-seeking judgment appeared!

If he self-detonated right now, it would be an epic harvest.

However, the immortal bell fragments were not yet in hand; he could only suppress the urge and begin exploring this trembling-inducing Shudao Mountain.

Lin Bei glanced at the sky.

As expected, just like looking at the peak from the outside, standing on this mountain, one couldn't see anything of the outside world.

It was as if the sky here was only a few hundred feet high, giving off an oppressive and suffocating feeling.

As for the foolish act of flying out, Lin Bei didn't even bother trying.

The System directly gave an Epic judgment, confirming that it was absolutely impossible for Lin Bei to leave alive.

If one could truly come and go freely, who knows how many people would break in every day!

Aside from these things, the entire mountain didn't seem any different from other peaks.

Lin Bei was currently in a lush, green forest.

"Eh? It doesn't look that scary, does it?"

"Roar!" Just as he finished talking to himself, a massive beast roar echoed out. Giant trees collapsed one after another as if crushed by a bulldozer.

A tiger the size of a small hill appeared before Lin Bei's eyes.

"Holy crap! A Sacred Beast!" Lin Bei turned and ran.

But how could his speed compare to a Sacred Beast? In an instant, the sacred tiger caught up to Lin Bei and spat out a beam of golden light.

Lin Bei couldn't dodge it; the golden light hit him right in the back.

A metal-element attack. Even after being weakened by ninety percent, it still made him cough up a large mouthful of blood.

Using the momentum of the impact, he flew forward even faster.

"Roar!" The giant tiger let out a confused roar and continued to chase after Lin Bei.

Just as he was about to be caught again, the ground ahead shook and the mountains swayed as a giant ape, dozens of feet tall, came rushing over.

"Another Sacred Beast?"

The two beasts were clearly old rivals; after meeting, they didn't spare Lin Bei another glance and immediately started brawling.

The destructive power of two Sacred Beasts fighting was immense. Lin Bei shrank his neck and seized the opportunity to use Divine Stealth.

In his invisible state, Lin Bei shook his head, forced to admit that he had spoken a bit too loudly earlier.

"Hiss, hiss..."

Hearing the sound, he realized there was another spectator nearby, just like him.

On a nearby towering tree, a seven-colored python as thick as a water bucket was coiled up.

The python flicked its tongue, its emerald eyes gleaming with a cold light as it stared intently at the combatants, seemingly ready to strike at any moment.

"What kind of stuff did that old fisherman catch?" Lin Bei grumbled inwardly as he slowly left the battlefield.

In the Divine Stealth state, as long as he didn't make any major noise, it was still difficult for Sacred Beasts to discover him.

Three days later.

Lin Bei plopped down by a small lake and muttered to himself.

"I really miss the days when the immortal bell could sense and summon me..."

Without the summons, he had been wandering around Shudao Mountain like a headless fly for three days.

He had seen quite a few Sacred Beasts, large and small, and had even picked up some sacred herbs and sacred weapons along the way, but there was still no sign of the immortal bell fragments he cared about most.

"It doesn't make sense. Even though I've been wandering aimlessly, I've basically covered the entire mountain peak..."

Lin Bei was considering whether to find a safe place to let Shangguan Yue come out and perform a more specific calculation.

Suddenly, ripples appeared on the lake's surface.

A massive turtle head poked out from the lake.

Holy crap! What the hell, it's so big?

He hurriedly and cautiously concealed his aura.

Unexpectedly, unlike the other Sacred Beasts, the Black Turtle immediately stared directly at Lin Bei's location upon appearing.

"Little fellow, you've walked back and forth past me three times these past few days. Are you lost?"

"Eh? You can talk?" Lin Bei said in surprise. He had encountered so many Sacred Beasts before whose intelligence wasn't high, so he thought this mountain was filled with savage beasts that hadn't awakened their sapience.

He wasn't afraid of being discovered—at most, he would just die—but it would be a pity if he hadn't found the immortal bell fragments yet.

"Of course. When you live long enough, you tend to know a bit more..." The Black Turtle's voice was very weathered, carrying a deep sense of the passage of time.

"Live long enough?" Lin Bei asked curiously. "I wonder how long you have lived, Senior?"

The Black Turtle recalled nostalgically, "Let's put it this way: back then, the Great Emperor often rode on my back to fish in the various oceans of the Desolate Ancient Continent..."

Lin Bei stumbled, nearly falling over.

This is a damn old turtle that has lived for nearly a hundred thousand years!

In terms of lifespan alone, this turtle is much stronger than the Great Emperor.

At the same time, he could see that the other party probably had no ill intent; otherwise, he would have already been waiting to resurrect.

"You really are as vigorous as ever!" Lin Bei said with a look of amazement.

The old turtle was old and shrewd; how could it not see through his little schemes?

"Little fellow, the Great Emperor set up a barrier on this mountain back then; it's easy to enter but hard to leave! Even I can't send you out, so there's no need for flattery!"

"No, no, no!" Lin Bei shook his head repeatedly. "Junior didn't want you to send me out. I just wanted to ask if there are any other secret places on this mountain..."

"Hmm?" Two beams of sharp light instantly shot from the Black Turtle's eyes, illuminating Lin Bei.

After a long while, its sharp aura finally dissipated.

"I misunderstood. You aren't one of those things..."

"Those things?" Lin Bei was completely confused, so he simply took out an immortal bell fragment.

"To be honest, Senior, I am looking for this kind of fragment. I can vaguely feel that they are on this mountain, but I haven't been able to find them."

"Oh?" The old turtle's gaze swept over the fragment. "I see. That place indeed has a few fragments like this!"

Lin Bei was overjoyed. "I hope Senior can guide me!"

The old turtle shook its head. "There's no way. The Great Emperor put them in there, and even I can't take them out!"

"Can't take them out?" Lin Bei was stunned, then immediately asked, "Senior, since you can't take them out, can you send me in?"

"Go in?!" The old turtle sounded as if it had heard the biggest joke. "Do you know what is sealed in there? Even I might not survive going in..."

Lin Bei's eyes lit up as he listened.

"Quick, quick, quick! Senior! Send me in!" He was getting a bit impatient.

The old turtle was dumbfounded; in its hundred thousand years of life, it had never seen such a weirdo.

"Senior?" After a long time, seeing that the old turtle still hadn't moved, Lin Bei couldn't help but speak up to remind it.

The old turtle shook its massive head. "No. This old one never takes a life. If I send you in there, wouldn't that be equivalent to killing you indirectly?"

Lin Bei was almost moved to tears. How did he end up meeting such a benevolent turtle?

"Senior..." He wanted to continue coaxing it.

The old turtle simply retracted its neck and dove into the water, refusing to reappear no matter how Lin Bei called out.

Finally, Lin Bei gritted his teeth.

"You forced my hand!"

A fishing rod appeared in his hand, and he cast it directly into the lake.

"Holy crap! The Great Emperor's fishing rod!?"

A cry of pain immediately came from underwater.

The corners of Lin Bei's mouth curled up, and he immediately reeled in the line.

A massive Black Turtle appeared on the lake's surface, hooked by its nose just like that.

"You... you... how do you have the Great Emperor's fishing rod?" The old turtle was somewhat incoherent.

It hadn't been fished like this for how many tens of thousands of years? The bitter memories suddenly flooded back to its heart.

"Senior, can you send me in this time?" Lin Bei said with a smile. "If you don't send me away, I'll just have to fish here every day..."

"Get lost, get lost, get lost!" The old turtle was so angry that smoke almost came out of its nose, and it directly swung a turtle paw.

In an instant, Lin Bei felt the world spinning. The next breath, he had already appeared in a dark cavern inside the mountain.