Chapter 165 - 159: The Treasure Hunt Finally Bears Fruit, an Unusual Obsession

Chapter 165: Chapter 159: The Treasure Hunt Finally Bears Fruit, an Unusual Obsession

Jiang Zuo was still unsure of the specific effects of the Water Spirit Body.

But after testing it briefly in the sea, he could already feel the power of the Water Spirit Body.

In the water, he could barely feel its presence. He no longer needed to equip the Ten Thousand Beasts Armor to move as fast as a fish.

If Jiang Zuo wanted to hide his aura in the water, he could practically merge with his surroundings.

Unless a Divine Sense far stronger than his own focused on him, his aura would be impossible to detect.

Jiang Zuo cupped some water in his palm. Normally, it would have leaked continuously through the gaps between his fingers.

But now, if he didn’t allow it, the water would lie quietly in his palm.

It was truly magical.

’This round of baptism by the Power of Heaven and Earth has once again enhanced my physical body and Divine Sense.’

’However, the improvement to my Divine Sense seems to have hit its limit. The increase was very small.’

’My physical body, however, is still getting stronger. Its strength should soon be comparable to a third-tier Exotic Beast.’

’My Qi Sea has also benefited. The Qi Sea I carved out was already large, but its scope has still expanded by about a tenth.’

Besides his Spirit Root and Spirit Body, Jiang Zuo examined his other changes.

It seemed the effects of the Power of Heaven and Earth weren’t omnipotent, as they were nearly ineffective at raising his Divine Sense anymore.

As for the improvement of his physical body, it was still ongoing, which was a great relief to Jiang Zuo.

Jiang Zuo had never seen a real Exotic Beast, but he had heard rumors about them back when he was a blacksmith for the Xu Family.

According to rumor, Exotic Beasts were a type of Fierce Beast that were congenitally unable to practice Cultivation. However, their physical bodies were exceptionally powerful, and as long as they reached adulthood, their bodies would naturally grow to their peak state.

A third-tier Exotic Beast’s body alone was tough enough that the attacks of most third-tier Demon Beasts couldn’t break through its defenses.

Jiang Zuo felt that the first level of the Body Freedom Technique was all about cultivating the human body to be like that of an Exotic Beast.

Now, Jiang Zuo felt he could soon measure up to some third-tier Exotic Beasts.

He hadn’t expected the baptism from the Power of Heaven and Earth to expand his Qi Sea’s range.

He was still quite ignorant about cultivation matters, but he figured a larger Qi Sea couldn’t be a bad thing.

Jiang Zuo began his fifth Scattering and Reincarnation.

During the two years of Dissipating Skill, Jiang Zuo couldn’t do much else. He basically just sat atop the Great White Shark, practicing Meditation Cultivation.

It had now been eleven years since he first created his Visualization World.

By now, Jiang Zuo had a considerable understanding of this Visualization World.

Jiang Zuo could say with certainty that the first level of cultivation for the Divine Body Freedom Technique—the Visualization Technique—was a defensive method.

Divine Sense could definitely be used to attack enemies, but the first level of the Visualization Technique contained no such means.

It couldn’t be used to attack others, but it was also exceedingly difficult for others to attack Jiang Zuo with their Divine Sense.

Once Jiang Zuo’s Divine Sense entered his Visualization World, an enemy would find it nearly impossible to harm him. The only way would be if their Divine Sense was so much more powerful than his that it could shatter his Visualization World outright.

To harm him, they would have to enter his Visualization World.

Inside his Visualization World, Jiang Zuo could use all the worldly things he visualized to multiply his attack and defense capabilities severalfold.

Even outside his Visualization World, just within his Sea of Consciousness, Jiang Zuo could still unleash several times his normal attack power.

His defensive power, however, couldn’t compare to what it was inside the Visualization World.

If another Wu Zhonghai were to try and possess him now, Jiang Zuo could obliterate him in less than a year.

Jiang Zuo sat on the Great White Shark’s back, silently visualizing and manifesting real-world objects in his Visualization World.

The strength of his Visualization World—and how much combat power he could wield within it—was directly tied to the real-world objects he had visualized and manifested there.

This time, Jiang Zuo chose to leave the small island. The four Great White Sharks carried him along the seabed, heading toward unknown waters.

The Innate Spiritual Soil tied to his waist only stirred every now and then, leading him to some unremarkable ores.

「Ten years later.」

There was only a little over a year left until his next promotion to the Innate realm.

But on this day, Jiang Zuo discovered a peculiar little island.

As he was traveling along the seabed, he suddenly discovered an island floating on the surface of the sea above him.

If he had been flying through the sky, he wouldn’t have even noticed this floating island.

After all, the island wasn’t very large. It was about the same size as many other islands Jiang Zuo had encountered on his journey and was easy to overlook.

Curious, Jiang Zuo floated upward, wanting to see what was going on with this floating island.

As he neared the bottom of the floating island, Jiang Zuo was shocked to discover that it was actually a giant Turtle Shell!

This small island, two thousand meters long and one thousand meters wide, had formed from a giant Turtle Shell!

It was just the shell, though.

The giant sea turtle had been dead for who knows how long, leaving only this shell behind to form an island on the sea’s surface.

Jiang Zuo was astonished. He never thought he would see such a creature in the Mortal Territory.

He wondered what level of Cultivation the giant sea turtle had possessed when it was alive.

And what on earth could have caused it to die in this desolate stretch of sea?

Jiang Zuo circled the giant Turtle Shell in the water. After finding nothing unusual, he found a spot and climbed onto the island.

The island’s surface was covered in fertile soil, giving no indication that a giant Turtle Shell lay beneath.

The vegetation on the island was lush, and there were quite a few birds and small animals, most of which fed on the island’s fruits.

All sorts of fruits grew on the island. Jiang Zuo picked a few to eat and found they tasted quite good.

Moreover, the fruits seemed to contain a faint power that could strengthen the physical body.

Unfortunately, Jiang Zuo’s physical body was already too strong, so the effect on him was negligible.

ROAR!

Jiang Zuo arrived at the very center of the island.

Before he even got close, a group of tall Black Apes began roaring at him from a distance, warning him not to approach.

Jiang Zuo squinted and saw a small tree, about two meters tall, behind the Black Apes.

On the small tree grew three orange-yellow fruits that looked a bit like oranges.

’This might be something valuable!’

Jiang Zuo’s spirits lifted, and he immediately walked over.

"ROAR!"

Seeing Jiang Zuo ignore their warning and continue to approach, the troop of Black Apes grew enraged and charged at him in unison.

As he watched them charge, Jiang Zuo’s eyes narrowed.

’These Black Apes are far from ordinary!’

Jiang Zuo quickly clashed with the troop of Black Apes.

’Damn, are these second-tier Exotic Beasts?’

The moment they engaged, Jiang Zuo was startled.

These Black Apes all possessed physical bodies comparable to second-tier Exotic Beasts.

There were seven or eight Black Apes in total. Even a peak Dao Foundation Cultivator would likely meet their end here.

Unfortunately, mere second-tier Exotic Beasts posed no threat whatsoever to the current Jiang Zuo.

With no intention of killing them, Jiang Zuo got a little more serious and quickly had the troop of Black Apes scrambling for their lives.

Each of the Black Apes was left injured. They retreated to the side, one by one, not daring to get near Jiang Zuo again.

Seeing Jiang Zuo walk toward the small tree, the group of Black Apes jumped about anxiously but didn’t dare to come over.

They already possessed some intelligence and could sense that if they provoked that human again, they might be killed on the spot.

The fruits growing on the small tree really did look like oranges.

But on closer inspection, Jiang Zuo knew they weren’t; it was just a superficial resemblance.

Jiang Zuo plucked one and took a bite.

’This... this is an item for awakening an Earth Attribute Spirit Root!’

Jiang Zuo was floored. He never thought that after decades of treasure hunting in the sea, he would actually find an item to awaken an Earth Spirit Root.

’Excellent!’

Jiang Zuo let out a soft chuckle.

Although he no longer needed it, having it was better than not. It might even save him one or two cycles of Reincarnation.

A fruit that had been bitten into couldn’t be preserved for long, so Jiang Zuo swallowed the rest of it in one gulp.

Then...

Jiang Zuo felt a faint, warm current appear inside his body as the fruit entered his stomach.

With a thought, Jiang Zuo’s Divine Sense followed the warm current as it moved.

Soon, his eyes widened in surprise.

’These fruits... they’re probably not as simple as just items for awakening a Spirit Root!’

Just from that one bite, Jiang Zuo felt his Earth Spirit Root had been supplemented somehow, allowing his already top-grade Earth Spirit Root to reach a state of complete Perfection.

Based on this, Jiang Zuo had assumed the fruit was an item for awakening an Earth Attribute Spirit Root.

But after eating the whole thing, he experienced a host of different effects.

The power of this fruit not only nourished and supplemented his Earth Spirit Root, but his other Spirit Roots benefited as well!

This fruit seemed to be an all-purpose item for awakening Spirit Roots!

No!

’Its true purpose might not just be for awakening Spirit Roots!’

Looking at the two remaining fruits on the tree, Jiang Zuo’s expression grew solemn.

He had originally thought that these three fruits were leftovers from what the Black Apes had eaten.

But now, Jiang Zuo suspected the Black Apes probably hadn’t eaten any, but had merely been guarding them.

These fruits had probably been growing here for who knows how many years.

They were definitely not something that could come into being in just one or two hundred years.

Just a moment ago, Jiang Zuo had thought he’d arrived at a fortuitous time, just as the fruits had ripened.

The reality was that these fruits had been ripe for who knows how many years, waiting here for their destined owner to arrive.

’Whatever. I have to break through to the Innate realm again in a year anyway, and I’ll have to eat another one for the breakthrough. I’ll just leave one fruit behind.’

’As for this tree... Hmm, of course I have to dig it up!’

Without any hesitation, Jiang Zuo plucked a fruit and stored it in his storage pouch.

Then he took out a hoe and once again began to dig up the tree.

’Come to think of it, this is the fourth tree I’ve dug up.’

"ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!"

When they saw that Jiang Zuo wasn’t just taking the fruit but was now digging up the entire tree, the Black Apes became utterly infuriated.

Disregarding the risk of being killed by Jiang Zuo, they all charged over in a rage to stop him.

Jiang Zuo didn’t go easy on them either, striking them one by one until they were immobilized.

This kind of unowned Heaven and Earth Spiritual Object had always belonged to the one capable enough to take it.

If Jiang Zuo didn’t dig it up, it would be an insult to Heaven and Earth themselves.

’This is... an Obsession Relic?’

Jiang Zuo resumed digging. With no danger around and the tree looking exceptionally precious, Jiang Zuo dug a little deeper, wanting to excavate the entire root system.

When he had dug four or five meters deep, Jiang Zuo was surprised to see that the tree’s roots were coiled around a lone piece of Turtle Shell.

And when Jiang Zuo looked at the Turtle Shell, the light of an Obsession Relic, which he hadn’t seen in a long time, instantly appeared before his eyes.

Moreover, the light emanating from this Turtle Shell was more intense than almost any other Obsession Relic Jiang Zuo had ever encountered!

It was only slightly weaker than the Desolate Heaven Beast Bone Armor from before.

’Something’s not right!’

’For an Obsession Relic with an obsession this strong, the Beast Taming System gave no notification at all!’

Then, Jiang Zuo noticed something unusual.

Normally, as soon as Jiang Zuo saw an Obsession Relic, the system would immediately give a notification.

With the Desolate Heaven Beast Bone Armor back then, it had frantically sent notifications while still buried under the flesh and hide of the Rampaging Bear, as if terrified he would miss it.

’This Turtle Shell might be slightly inferior to the Desolate Heaven Beast Bone Armor, but why is the system so quiet? Not a single reaction?’

Puzzled, Jiang Zuo reached out his palm to touch the Turtle Shell, thinking to absorb it into the system first and figure things out later.

The next moment.

Jiang Zuo’s expression suddenly changed.

This Turtle Shell... could not be absorbed!