158: Chapter 158 The Peak Master's Suspicion

Lin Tian opened the jade box.

The water lotus lay quietly on the scraps of Spiritual Plant, its nine azure petals glowing with a faint fluorescence in the morning light.

He did not hesitate, pinching the stem to lift the entire water lotus out; the light on the petals flowed between his fingertips, as if he were holding a mass of flowing crystal.

He tilted his head back and placed the water lotus into his mouth. The moment the petals touched the tip of his tongue, they melted—not from chewing, but melting on their own, as if he were holding a piece of ice condensed from Spiritual Qi. The ice melted into water, and the water gathered into a stream of extremely chilly cold current, sliding down his throat.

The moment that cold current landed in his stomach, the Internal Energy accumulated in his body exploded like an ignited gunpowder barrel.

Lin Tian sat cross-legged on the cushion, hands resting on his knees, palms facing up, his Purple Qi Diagram Mind-Cultivation Technique running at full capacity.

The Internal Energy in his Dantian spun crazily at an unprecedented speed. The spiritual power of the water lotus mixed with the Internal Energy, rushing and scouring along his Meridians.

A ninety-year-old wild water lotus—its spiritual power was far beyond his estimation. If the spiritual power of a Treasure Fish was a small stream, then the spiritual power of the water lotus was a great river.

After that cold, icy current rushed into his Dantian, it suddenly expanded, causing his Dantian to feel faintly swollen. As his Meridians were struck by this spiritual power, a dense, prickling pain radiated from the inside out.

"Endure it." Lin Tian gritted his teeth, the veins on his forehead jumping slightly.

He pushed the Purple Qi Diagram to its limit. The Internal Energy in his Dantian carried the spiritual power of the water lotus, circulating through his Meridians cycle after cycle.

With every cycle, that violent spiritual power was refined by one part, merging into his Dantian, his Meridians, and his flesh and blood. The prickling pain slowly lessened, replaced by a sense of fullness, as if nourished by spring rain.

When the spiritual power of the water lotus was half refined, he reached out and picked up the seven Spirit Medicine.

Jade Marrow Ganoderma, Red Sun Ginseng, Purple Pattern Ganoderma, and that gold-rimmed Spirit Medicine whose name he didn't know—he put them into his mouth one by one.

The medicinal efficacy of the Spirit Medicine was not as fierce as the water lotus, but with seven combined, the effect was still not to be underestimated.

Seven warm currents flowed into his Dantian, colliding with the cold current of the water lotus. With the clash of cold and heat, it felt as if ice water and boiling oil had been poured into his Dantian at the same time, causing his entire abdominal cavity to tremble slightly.

Finally, the Treasure Fish.

Lin Tian picked up the wooden basin and fished out the silver-white Treasure Fish that was still wagging its tail. He didn't stew it into soup; he consumed it raw.

The freshness of the Treasure Fish melted in his mouth, and a gentle spiritual power slid down his esophagus, merging into his Dantian—the final straw that broke the camel's back.

At this moment, the Internal Energy in his Dantian broke through a certain critical point. It didn't overflow slowly; it rushed through in a sudden burst—like a dam full of water suddenly opening a gate, the water level roaring over the sluice, surging into a brand new, vast expanse of water.

His Meridians were widened by a circle in this instant. The speed at which his Internal Energy surged through his Meridians nearly doubled, and the capacity of his Dantian expanded significantly. The feeling of being stretched and bloated by Internal Energy disappeared, replaced by a sense of vast and overflowing comfort.

When the first ray of morning light leaked through the cracks of the bamboo window and shone on his face, Lin Tian opened his eyes.

He exhaled a long breath of turbid air, in which a trace of extremely faint purple was faintly visible.

Feeling the Internal Energy in his body, which was nearly twice as thick as before, surging through his Meridians, and feeling the Qi Sea in his Dantian, now widened by nearly twice as much, rotating steadily—Late Stage Grade 4.

He stood up and exercised his wrists and ankles.

His entire body's bones emitted a series of fine cracking sounds, like the sound of bamboo joints stretching after a long rain.

He drew his autumn water sword and casually performed a sword flourish—the speed at which the sword tip broke through the air was a notch faster than before, and the sharp Sword Qi lingered for a short moment even after he sheathed the sword.

If he encountered Jin Ze now, even on land, he would have the confidence to defeat him head-on.

It had cost a full twenty Treasure Fish, his ten-year quota. Counting the four precious medicines and seven high-quality Spirit Medicine, it had barely managed to fill the gap between Middle Stage Grade 4 and Late Stage Grade 4. Cultivating was indeed getting more expensive the further one went.

For the next few days, Lin Tian stabilized his Realm after the Breakthrough. He patrolled the fish pond as usual every day and cooperated with his teammates to defend against Vicious Beast attacks—then he applied to the fishery for the mission to escort the Treasure Fish back to the Sect.

The captain of Team 6 was a bit surprised when he received the application. Although the job of escorting Treasure Fish wasn't hard, running back and forth was never as comfortable as staying at the fishery. However, since Lin Tian had applied voluntarily, he didn't ask much and nodded to approve it.

A few days later, Lin Tian followed the escort team back to the Qixia Sect.

The boat docked, and buckets of Treasure Fish were moved onto carriages and transported away. The leading Senior Brother announced the return time to the fishery as usual. But a flash of hesitation crossed his eyes, and after his lips moved, he added, "You must not delay the mission."

Lin Tian came out of the pier and had just walked along the mountain path to the foot of Zixia Peak when someone passed the news up to the Peak Master's hall.

The Disciple trotted through the palace gate, bowed before Peak Master Su Hanyan, and reported the news of Lin Tian's return to the Sect at a very fast pace.

Peak Master Su Hanyan was reviewing documents at the desk. Her pen tip paused, and a drop of ink fell onto the paper, staining a small ink blot. It had been more than a month since Lin Tian last displayed his "One Sword, Five Lights" in front of her. This person returned to the Sect and didn't come to see her first?

She placed the pen on the pen holder and stood up, her voice cold and clear: "Let him come over."

The Disciple ran another trip.

This time, he returned even faster, but the news he brought caused a rare trace of annoyance to appear on Peak Master Su Hanyan's cold-as-frost face—Lin Tian had already left the Sect.

Peak Master Su Hanyan bit her back teeth and waved her hand to dismiss the Disciple. After the hall became quiet again, she walked to the window and pushed it open; the mountain wind poured in, causing the paper on the long desk to rustle.

"What has this kid been busy with lately?"

It was the same last time he returned; he left right after the arena fight, without even having the time to see her.

She gazed at the rolling mountains of Zixia Peak outside the window and was silent for a while. It seemed she would have to find an opportunity to visit the Yunhai Fishery herself.

Lin Tian was completely unaware of this.

He left the Qixia Sect gate, but did not head towards the Yunhai Fishery, instead turning into another side path.

The complete map in his chest, pieced together from two remaining fragments, felt heavy against his chest. His pace grew faster and faster; he unconsciously used the Cloud Shadow Step, and his figure disappeared into the depths of the tree shadows after flickering a few times in the dense forest.

After breaking through to Late Stage Grade 4, his speed was nearly twice as fast as before.

The last time he went to the water pool, it took half a day, but this time the destination was much further than the pool, and the sun had only just passed the zenith when he finished the journey.

The dense forest came to an end, and the view suddenly opened up—a huge, primitive lake lay between the valleys.

The lake water was clear, its color changing from the light green at the shore to the deep blue at the center of the lake. The surface of the water reflected the steep mountain walls around it and the snow that never melted on the mountain peaks all year round.

The lake surface was smaller than the Yunhai Fishery, but it possessed a wildness that the fishery didn't have—there were no man-made gravel roads, no neatly arranged net cages, and no bamboo houses built by guards.

There were only wildly growing reeds, white water birds circling above the lake, and huge black shadows occasionally flashing under the water.

Lin Tian stood by the lake for a moment, took out the map again to compare it with the direction of the lake center, then put the map away, took a deep breath, and leaped into the lake.

Not long after entering the water, a school of strange fish arrived. They were not the gentle fish that wagged their tails leisurely like those in the Yunhai lake, but real Vicious Fish—each one as long as an arm, with dense sharp teeth and scales reflecting a cold gray light.

They rushed out from the water grass, from the gaps in the reefs, and from the shadows at the bottom of the lake, swarming towards Lin Tian.

Lin Tian used his White Dragon in the Waves Movement Technique to dodge left and right in the water, stabbing those he couldn't dodge to death with his autumn water sword.

The sword light drew dazzling arcs in the lake water, and every time he stabbed, a cloud of blood mist bloomed in the water.

The school of strange fish rushed several times but were blocked by the sword light and his movement technique. Their corpses floated on the water, their fish bladders turning white, drifting towards the center of the lake with the waves.

The school of strange fish dispersed, and he continued to swim towards the center of the lake. He turned over the mud and water grass at the bottom of the lake, but apart from a few common aquatic Spirit Medicine that were not old enough and a few unranked spirit fish, he found nothing of value.

The location marked on the map should be this part of the lake bottom, but the precise point marked with cinnabar on the map seemed to be in a deeper place.

Just as he was thinking, the hair all over his body suddenly stood on end. It was an extremely dangerous intuition, as if something was staring at him from the dark deep water.

His body's perception of water flow had become extremely sharp under the tempering of the Dragon Roar Iron Shirt and White Dragon in the Waves. At this moment, a tiny, abnormal fluctuation appeared in the water flow on the left side of his back—

It wasn't the uniform, gentle fluctuation of the undercurrent at the bottom of the lake, but a wake brought about by something moving in the water.

His reaction was faster than his brain. He used the "Flood Dragon Turns Over" from the White Dragon in the Waves Movement Technique with all his might, his waist twisted violently, and his body flipped along the longitudinal axis in the water.

A black shadow grazed his side. The speed of that black shadow was astonishingly fast, and the water flow brought about the moment it brushed past him hit his shoulder like a heavy punch, knocking his whole body sideways by three or four feet.

He used the momentum to kick off, distancing himself from the black shadow.

The black shadow seemed not to expect him to be able to dodge this strike underwater, and its huge body suddenly swirled in the water, turning around.

Only then did Lin Tian see the outline of this thing through the faint light coming from the water surface—a crocodile.

Not an ordinary crocodile, but a behemoth ten meters long, its whole body covered in black, shiny scales, as if cast from black iron.

Its eyes were amber, with pupils split into slits, glowing with a faint, cold light in the dim light at the bottom of the water.

Lin Tian didn't fight.

He flipped in the water, kicked hard against the reef behind him, and his whole body shot towards the surface like an arrow leaving the bow.

The Black Crocodile chased from behind, its thick tail bringing up a strong current with every swing, its huge body ramming through the lake water, smashing the schools of strange fish and reefs into pieces wherever it passed.

He rushed out of the water.

Almost at the same time, the water surface behind him exploded, and that Black Crocodile leaped out of the water with him.

Its huge body blocked half the sunlight in the air, and its wide-open giant mouth was full of dense, hook-like sharp teeth.

Lin Tian used the momentum of leaping out of the water, stepped on a piece of dead wood floating on the lake surface to borrow force, shifted his body sideways in the air, and landed on the beach by the shore.

He used his Cloud Shadow Step at full power on land, the sand under his feet exploded, and his whole figure stretched into a blurred shadow, darting into the dense forest by the lake in the blink of an eye.

The Black Crocodile lunged onto the shore.

Its huge claws slammed into the beach, digging out a pit two feet deep, and its thick tail swept horizontally, snapping several clumps of bushes at the edge of the beach at the roots.

It raised its head and let out a few dull roars in the direction of the dense forest where Lin Tian had disappeared, the sound shaking the lake surface until fine ripples appeared. But it didn't chase into the dense forest—it was too big, and the trees were too dense to squeeze in.

It flicked its tail, turned around, and climbed back into the lake water step by step, its huge body sinking into the water, leaving only a circle of huge ripples on the lake surface.

Lin Tian leaned against the trunk of an old pine tree as thick as a human embrace, his chest still heaving violently.

He looked down at his left shoulder; his clothes had been torn by the water flow brought by the Black Crocodile as it brushed past, revealing the slightly reddened skin underneath.

Fortunately, his Dragon Roar Iron Shirt had already reached the Mastery Realm, and the toughness of his skin withstood the impact, leaving it only slightly reddened without injuring his muscles or bones.

But the aftermath of the water flow alone had such power—this crocodile was at least a Grade 5 Vicious Beast.

He frowned, looking through the gaps in the dense pine branches at the lake surface that had returned to calm.

There must be something at the bottom of this lake, otherwise a Vicious Beast of this level wouldn't be entrenched here. But with his current cultivation, fighting a ten-meter-long Grade 5 Vicious Black Crocodile head-on in the water was no different from seeking death.

He straightened his body, patted the bark scraps off his body, and his gaze lingered on the sparkling lake surface for the last few seconds: "When my cultivation is enough, I will come back to find you."