txolops Chapter 51 Remains at the Bottom of the Lake
Chapter 51 Remains at the Bottom of the Lake
The ravine was still the same ravine, but without the presence of the Netherwater Toad, it was much safer.
To be on the safe side, Zhang Tie did not enter the deep ravine immediately. Instead, he stood at the entrance of the ravine, used his divine sense to confirm that the sect members had not left any hidden tricks, and then jumped into the ravine.
With the Azure Wood True Shield covering his entire body, Zhang Tie carefully observed the surroundings. When they passed the place where Song Yang was killed, the corpse of the Level 3 Nether Water Toad had disappeared, obviously taken away by the sect members, but the traces of battle were still there.
Without lingering, Zhang Tie used his Wind Control Technique to quickly reach the small lake deep in the ravine. Looking at the pitch-black lake water, who would have thought that it was the burial place of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator!
This place is not safe to stay any longer. We must finish this quickly. Zhang Tie took a deep breath, and the Azure Gang Pagoda appeared in his hand. He then plunged into the bottomless lake.
The lake water was icy cold and incredibly deep. To make matters worse, Zhang Tie's divine sense could only observe things up to twenty or thirty feet away, which was severely suppressed.
They could only rely on the directions they found in the memories of the remnant soul to slowly grope their way through the dim lake.
It wasn't until he had descended nearly two hundred feet that Zhang Tie finally touched the bottom of the lake. He scanned the bottom of the lake with his divine sense again and again and soon discovered the anomaly.
A skeleton appeared within Zhang Tie's divine sense range. The skeleton was still wearing a tattered robe, which could be vaguely seen to be in the style of the Spirit Beast Mountain. Some parts of the skeleton were broken, especially the skull, which was almost completely intact, indicating that it had experienced a fierce battle before its death.
No wonder he abandoned his physical body and stored his soul in the black gourd. Such a serious injury would be difficult to save even if a god came!
Zhang Tie approached quickly like a fish, and soon his gaze fell on the two cloth bags buried next to the skeleton, his eyes lighting up.
He put his hands together and bowed slightly.
"Senior, please forgive me!"
After finishing the compilation, Zhang Tie immediately summoned the storage bag and spirit beast bag into his hands.
These two storage bags and spirit beast bags do not seem to be common items. The material seems to be special, with a faint bluish glow, and they are still intact.
Zhang Tie put the storage bag and spirit beast bag into his pocket, and then checked the surroundings again, but found nothing else of value.
This skeleton had been lying at the bottom of the lake for decades. His enemies probably already knew he was dead. Zhang Tie had no interest in avenging him, nor did he intend to let a third person know, lest he cause unnecessary trouble.
"Senior, rest in peace here. No one will disturb you again!"
Zhang Tie took one last look at the skeleton before turning and swimming upstream.
After skimming out of the lake, Zhang Tie didn't linger. He left the deep ravine and found a secluded cave on the outskirts of the Cangqiu Mountains. He set up a concealment formation, then took out his storage bag and opened it to check.
The restrictions on the storage bag had long since worn away, and Zhang Tie's divine sense easily probed into it.
The next second, Zhang Tie's eyes lit up.
This storage bag is surprisingly large, with a space of more than ten square meters. It seems to be a mid-level or even high-level storage bag. And the contents of the storage bag did not disappoint Zhang Tie!
The spirit stones were piled up into a small mountain inside the storage bag. A quick scan with his divine sense revealed that there were over a thousand of them, which was consistent with the wealth of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
"I'm rich!" Zhang Tie muttered to himself.
In addition, there were several magical artifacts in the storage bag. Judging from their aura, they should be no worse than the Azure Gang Tower, or even stronger. However, after seeing the condition of the magical artifacts, Zhang Tie frowned secretly.
The three magical artifacts were a sword, a shield, and a flag. The longsword was broken in two and had lost all its spiritual power. The seemingly extraordinary shield appeared to have been hit hard and was twisted and deformed beyond recognition. The small flag was also severely damaged, with only one-third of it hanging on the flag.
These magical artifacts might have been exquisite or even more valuable when they were intact, but now, apart from being remelted and having some materials recycled, they have no value to Zhang Tie.
Shaking his head, Zhang Tie tossed it aside, deciding to deal with it another time.
There were no pills or talismans in the storage bag, which meant the skeleton must have been seriously injured or used up by its owner during the battle. However, there were quite a few jade tubes and cultivation techniques in the storage bag!
"The Art of Spirit Taming... The Method of Taming Spirit Beasts... The Spirit Feeding Technique... The Contract of Ten Thousand Spirits..." are all techniques and secret arts related to taming beasts.
"As expected, they are cultivators from the Spirit Beast Peak!" Zhang Tie thought to himself. The two Nether Water Toads and the Iron-Toothed Rat King were the best proof. Apart from cultivators from the Spirit Beast Peak, it was rare for cultivators from other peaks to be able to cultivate three level-two spirit beasts!
Zhang Tie was actually quite interested in the art of beast taming. He didn't seek to cultivate combat spirit beasts, but he would be happy to have some auxiliary spirit beasts with special uses.
Just like the extremely fast spirit birds that can be used to travel, and the black weasel that Chen Yuanshan uses to scout the way, both are spirit beasts worth cultivating.
However, Zhang Tie's current focus is on condensing the golden embryo, and cultivating spirit beasts has to take a backseat.
However, when the demonic forces invaded and Spirit Beast Mountain returned to the Spirit Control Sect, it became necessary for Zhang Tie to adapt to local customs and take the path of controlling beasts or insects.
Look how skillfully Han Li has used the Gold-Eating Insects; they've been a powerful assistant throughout his growth and journey to the Upper Realm!
Keep these techniques and secret arts safe, and study them later.
Zhang Tie's gaze fell on the last few black jars in the storage bag that he hadn't checked. The jars were only the size of a palm, completely black, but with inscriptions engraved on their surfaces.
"This doesn't seem like a magic artifact!" Zhang Tie took it out and was immediately taken aback when he probed it with his divine sense.
The jar was filled with countless insect eggs!
The remaining two jars were taken out, and without exception, they contained insect eggs.
Is this jar used to cultivate insects?
These insect eggs seemed to be of the same species, smaller than a grain of rice, and grayish-white in color. A few of them had fine lines on their surface, but Zhang Tie found that most of the insect eggs were dark gray and had lost their vitality, so they were probably dead.
Only a dozen or so still retained their luster, and there was still a faint trace of life within them.
"What kind of insect eggs are these?" Zhang Tie examined them carefully, but since he wasn't a specialized insect cultivator, he couldn't figure them out.
He placed the dozen or so surviving insect eggs into a black jar, put them into his storage bag, and prepared to study them slowly when he got back.
As expected, the spirit beast pouch was empty; the skeleton had released the spirit beasts before its death, breaking the spirit contract.
He was a good master, and these spirit beasts have been guarding his remains and belongings ever since.
After finishing everything, Zhang Tie let out a long sigh of relief.
The trip was far more fruitful than expected.
At this moment, his storage bag contained over a thousand spirit stones, three valuable Soul Nourishing Crystals, and most importantly, half a gourd of Earthly Fiend Qi, enough for him to condense a Golden Embryo. He also had Spirit Control Techniques, insect eggs, and other items.
"We should go back!"
Zhang Tie got up and walked out of the cave. After putting away the array flags, he summoned a flying boat, activated his spiritual power, and the flying boat transformed into a streak of green light, flying towards the gate of Spirit Beast Mountain.