43: High-level spirit beast - Earth Spirit Turtle!

Nighttime, inside the attendants' room.

Li Qing lay on the wooden bed.

His entire focus sank into his Clone.

In the dark cave, the Black Armored Turtle Clone lay dormant.

Outside, the Ten Great Generals patrolled the waters near the cave entrance.

Constantly monitoring the river's movements.

After swallowing the last piece of Vicious Beast meat brought by the Black Python,

on the System panel, the numbers finally reached the critical point.

[evolution value: 5000.1/5000]

[Evolution conditions met, begin evolution?]

It's here!

Li Qing didn't hesitate to murmur in his heart.

"Yes!"

[Evolution starting!]

The moment the command was issued, an indescribable burning sensation exploded from within the Clone's body and was instantly transmitted back to his main body in the martial arts hall's attendants' room!

Li Qing's body trembled violently.

Hunger, extreme hunger.

Enduring the churning, agonizing pain in his stomach, he silently rolled out of bed.

Using the excuse of going to the latrine, he clutched his stomach and stumbled out the door.

In the corner of the latrine, he impatiently took out the black porcelain bottle and popped a Blood Qi Pill into his mouth.

The pill melted upon entry, turning into a majestic warm current that rushed into his body.

That burning hunger eased slightly.

It seemed that one pill, which usually lasted three days, was not enough energy.

Li Qing poured out a handful and stuffed them into his mouth at once.

Meanwhile, in the underwater cave.

Boom!

An unimaginable torrent of energy raged within the Black Armored Turtle's body.

Crack!

Crack!

The sound of bones shattering and restructuring echoed in the water.

The indestructible Mysterious Armor shell cracked open with numerous fissures from within.

Intense pain surged like a tide, nearly tearing Li Qing's consciousness apart.

He gritted his teeth and endured it.

This was the pain necessary for metamorphosis!

His originally four-meter-long body now swelled like a balloon, surpassing eight meters in an instant and continuing to expand!

Ten meters!

A massive body of a full ten meters.

The cave, which was once spacious, now seemed small.

On the smooth turtle shell, mysterious patterns emerged out of thin air, branded upon it, glowing with a faint earthy yellow light.

Upon closer inspection, it was actually a Bagua Diagram!

His limbs were stretched and twisted, and the hard keratinous layer transformed into pieces of scale armor.

His claws became thick and sharp, faintly taking on the prototype of Dragon claws!

A crisp sound came from the tail.

A thick and short snake-like tail suddenly poked out from under the shell, swaying flexibly in the water.

Rumble!

Accompanied by a loud bang,

a colossal creature slowly rose from the rubble and turbid silt.

Its size was massive, its shell arched like a mountain, bearing the Bagua Diagram patterns; its limbs were like pillars, its claws like those of a Dragon, and as its snake tail swayed, it stirred up a violent undercurrent.

Outside the cave, the Ten Great Generals were still patrolling leisurely.

With the sound coming from inside the cave, they stopped their movements abruptly.

A terrifying pressure rushed straight at their Souls.

They looked at the cave entrance in horror, seeing the water being torn apart by an invisible force.

A massive shadow was slowly emerging.

When the outline of the ten-meter giant turtle was fully revealed, these usually fierce Vicious Beasts seemed to have all their strength drained.

They emitted whimpering growls, trembling as they all prostrated themselves on the riverbed.

Their massive bodies pressed tightly against the silt, their heads buried deep in their forelimbs, as if worshipping an invincible deity.

Fear filled the depths of their hearts.

In the understanding of Vicious Beasts, the larger the size, the stronger the power.

Although the Black Python was also ten meters long, it was only one meter thick.

But their master before them

was a full ten meters wide!

The visual impact of the two was entirely different!

[Evolution complete]

[Host: Li Qing]

[Age: 15]

[Cultivation: None]

[Clone: Earth Spirit Turtle (High-Tier Spirit Beast)]

[Talents]

[Water Respiration: Can breathe underwater for ten shichen]

[Mysterious Armor: Can withstand most attacks from low and mid-tier Martial Artists]

[Longevity: 2000 years]

[Mystic Water Manipulation: Can freely control a medium-sized body of water, condensing water into walls and gathering flows into whirlpools.]

[Great Strength: Strength of One Dragon]

[Basic Domination: Can exert mental deterrence on beasts of a lower rank than oneself and give simple commands, up to ten Vicious Beasts]

[Earth Vein Sensing: Can trigger small-scale earth veins to change local terrain]

[evolution value: 0.1/50000 (When evolution value is full, evolution can be initiated)]

Li Qing's consciousness felt this brand-new body.

The System panel in front of him had become tidy.

Each talent had increased in this evolution.

The evolution value for the next stage had also appeared.

Fifty thousand points, just as Li Qing had expected!

The next evolution would take a long time.

His lifespan had changed from 500 years to 2000 years!

His Great Strength had also become the Strength of One Dragon.

Strength of One Dragon!

That is, 125,000 jin!

What terrifying power!

A full 60 tons of force!

With a thought, his newborn Dragon claws casually swung toward a giant rock nearby.

That rock, weighing tens of thousands of jin, was like tofu before him, easily torn into several pieces.

The claws on his limbs were sharp.

Combined with the Great Strength, Li Qing couldn't imagine how strong he was!

He then sank his focus into his perception of water.

The water currents within a thousand-meter radius of the lower reaches of the Qiu River seemed to have become an extension of his body.

With a slight thought, the water in front of him quickly gathered, forming a massive whirlpool.

The whirlpool spun frantically, dragging in and crushing all the nearby fish, shrimp, water plants, and silt.

This was true Water Control!

Finally, he saw the newly added talent.

Li Qing felt that this evolution mainly affected his Clone's body.

Only one new talent was added.

The Clone species name was also called Earth Spirit Turtle!

Very strong, right?

Earth Vein Sensing!

His consciousness followed his body, probing deep into the earth below.

He saw it.

Beneath the earth, a silent and majestic power was slowly flowing.

He tried to draw upon that power.

Hum!

A low hum sounded from the bottom of the river.

Immediately after, the riverbed began to vibrate violently.

On the Great River,

over a dozen patrol speedboats were cruising on the river surface, the lanterns at their bows swaying in the night.

"Damn it, we've been searching for nearly ten days and haven't even seen a single turtle hair."

A martial arts hall Disciple yawned and complained to his companion.

"Stop talking nonsense. The Hall Master gave a death order. If we don't find that beast, no one can think of resting."

Just then, the boat shook violently.

"What's going on?"

"A wave? Something's not right!"

Everyone was unsteady on their feet, and the river water surged violently.

A clearly discernible vibration came from the riverbed beneath their feet!

"Is the Earth Dragon turning over?" a Martial Artist from the City Lord's Mansion exclaimed in shock.

"No!"

An experienced Deacon's face changed drastically as he stared intently at the water not far ahead.

"Look there!"

Everyone looked in the direction he pointed and gasped in unison.

On that originally calm river surface, a massive whirlpool was rapidly forming, pulling in everything around it.

And at the center of the whirlpool, the river water throbbed violently, as if some peerless beast was about to break through the surface!

This momentum was more than ten times more terrifying than the commotion caused by that Black Armored Turtle ten days ago!

"Quick! Quick, send the signal!"

"There's a situation! A new Vicious Beast has appeared in the Great River!"

A shrill whistle pierced the night sky. In an instant, the entire river surface was brightly lit and bustling with voices.

All the boats quickly converged toward the center of the anomaly; the atmosphere was tense to the extreme... Inside the latrine, Li Qing slowly opened his eyes.

He swallowed another seven Blood Qi Pills in one go, and that hunger finally subsided.

Now there were only two left in the bottle.

The effect was indeed good!

The evolution was a success.

Feeling the talents shared by the Clone,

Li Qing grinned.

He estimated that he now had some ability to protect himself.

Looking at the changes in his body, his height had grown another ten centimeters.

He was now about 1.7 meters tall.

Goodness, another ten centimeters!

If Li Qing remembered correctly, during the last Clone purification, his main body also grew ten centimeters!

Muscles were starting to take shape all over his body.

His entire temperament had completely changed!

He suppressed the joy in his heart.

The commotion caused by Earth Vein Sensing just now was too large.

Both the City Lord's Mansion and the Fierce Wind Martial Arts Hall would likely receive the news.

Fortunately,

tomorrow was the day the Family Visit Leave began.

He straightened his clothes, hid the porcelain bottle, and walked back to the attendants' room with a normal expression.

Lying back on the cold wooden bed, he couldn't sleep.

He decided to go back and admire his Clone's majestic appearance.