DIV Chapter 43: Zheng Jinbao's Fear

Inside the house, Li Chang'an took out that Turtle Spirit Fruit. He stared at the Mysterious Water Turtle and earnestly instructed, "This Turtle Spirit Fruit, even among first-tier superior-grade spiritual medicines, is extremely special with immense medicinal power. You should first consume a portion and concentrate on refining it."

The small Mysterious Water Turtle nodded repeatedly. His large eyes stared at the Turtle Spirit Fruit, conveying eager emotions.

Over the next few days, with Li Chang'an's help, the small Mysterious Water Turtle carefully consumed the entire Turtle Spirit Fruit. He wasn't able to refine all the medicinal power, with most of it settling in various parts of his body to be slowly released as he grew.

During this period, Chu Daniu came by once. He spoke of various rumors circulating within the market.

"Big brother, you need to prepare early. If things look bad, run," he said.

"I've already heard those rumors. There shouldn't be any problems for now," Li Chang'an replied calmly, reassuring him.

After their conversation ended, Chu Daniu left with a worried expression.

Subsequently, Li Chang'an went to the market's trading area. He didn't play favorites and bought some treasures suitable for earth element spiritual beast growth, feeding them all to Big Yellow.

"You've worked hard these past days," Li Chang'an patted Big Yellow's dog head.

As the household's primary fighting force, Big Yellow was truly hardworking and meritorious, having barely rested at all.

"Continue watching Zheng Jinbao. Tell me if he leaves the market," Li Chang'an instructed him.

These past few days, Zheng Jinbao had become increasingly agitated.

"Why hasn't Wei Sen returned yet?" His brow was tightly furrowed, his expression very ugly.

Wei Sen seemed to have vanished from the world without any news whatsoever.

"Could he really have failed?" Zheng Jinbao grew more anxious the more he thought about it.

Finally, he couldn't stand it anymore. He privately contacted another robber cultivator from Black Wind Mountain to inquire about Wei Sen's whereabouts.

But the news he received made him deeply uneasy.

"What? You're saying Wei Sen never returned to Black Wind Mountain and hasn't contacted any of you? Even your leader doesn't know where he went?" Zheng Jinbao's expression changed.

A disturbing suspicion gradually arose in his heart. Could Wei Sen be dead?

But how could Li Chang'an have the ability to deal with Wei Sen?

"Could that kid have been hiding his true strength all along?" Zheng Jinbao took several deep breaths, feeling a chill creep up his spine.

At this moment, he suddenly felt somewhat afraid.

"Damn it, why did I provoke him in the first place?" Zheng Jinbao glanced toward Li Chang'an's residence, fear continuously spreading in his heart.

Finally, he really couldn't sit still anymore. He hurriedly left his house and ran to the market center, stopping in front of a residence.

"Second Young Master, Zheng Jinbao requests an audience!" he called out nervously and anxiously.

Before long, the courtyard gate opened.

"Come in," came a young man's voice from deep within the courtyard.

Hearing this, Zheng Jinbao breathed a sigh of relief. He entered the courtyard and saw the speaker.

This person wore green robes, was handsome and distinguished, and possessed considerable strength. He was the rarely seen second young master of the Zheng family, Zheng Lingfeng!

"Zheng Jinbao, what do you want?" He glanced at Zheng Jinbao indifferently.

Zheng Jinbao hastily bowed and presented a storage bag, saying humbly, "I beg Second Young Master to save me!"

"What? Did you make Zheng Qingqing unhappy?" he asked.

"No... it's, it's because..." Zheng Jinbao didn't hide anything and told the whole story of his dispute with Li Chang'an.

After listening, Zheng Lingfeng chuckled lightly. He wasn't angry about Zheng Jinbao colluding with Black Wind Mountain, but instead asked, "You're a member of my Zheng family, yet you're afraid of a lowly rogue cultivator?"

"But that Li Chang'an is quite strange. I suspect those missing robber cultivators have all been killed by him."

"So you're afraid?" Zheng Lingfeng shook his head slightly, seeming quite disappointed.

Zheng Jinbao opened his mouth but didn't know how to respond.

At this time, Zheng Lingfeng gently patted the storage bag at his waist, and a black puppet immediately appeared beside him.

"Forget it. For the sake of these spirit stones, take this Shadow Chasing Puppet temporarily. Kill that Li Chang'an and then return it to me."

Hearing this, Zheng Jinbao was overjoyed.

"Thank you, Second Young Master! Thank you, Second Young Master!" He thanked him repeatedly, extremely delighted.

This Shadow Chasing Puppet was quite remarkable, comparable to an expert at the peak of Qi Refining. Moreover, it required no control, only needing to remember the enemy's aura to attack on its own until the enemy was completely eliminated!

"By the way, I suspect that Li Chang'an's residence has formation protection. Try to wait until he leaves before making your move."

"Yes," Zheng Jinbao nodded repeatedly.

Time passed quickly.

Before he knew it, ten months had gone by.

During this period, Zheng Jinbao never found a suitable opportunity to strike. Li Chang'an rarely showed himself, only going out a few times to purchase treasures for cultivating the Mysterious Water Turtle.

Under his costly cultivation, the Mysterious Water Turtle grew rapidly, its aura becoming stronger almost daily. The advantages of earth-grade bloodline were fully displayed during his growth process.

"This growth speed is truly astonishing," Li Chang'an couldn't help but sigh.

Compared to the Mysterious Water Turtle, Big Yellow's growth speed could be called turtle-like. Li Chang'an's own cultivation speed was even slower than turtle-like.

In just these ten short months, the Mysterious Water Turtle's aura had already approached the peak of first-tier early stage.

"Don't rush to break through. Settle for more days to ensure the breakthrough has no hidden dangers," Li Chang'an patiently instructed the Mysterious Water Turtle.

He had high hopes for this spiritual beast and had to ensure every step was solid enough.

Four months later, the Mysterious Water Turtle's strength had grown to the extreme of first-tier early stage and could no longer be suppressed.

Under the protection of Li Chang'an and Big Yellow, he successfully broke through and became a first-tier mid-stage spiritual beast.

"In total, just one year and two months to break through to first-tier mid-stage, equivalent to a human cultivator going from mortal to the fourth layer of Qi Refining. Truly incredible."

This Mysterious Water Turtle's growth speed made even Li Chang'an, his master, envious.

Though this was partly due to Li Chang'an sparing no expense in consuming large quantities of treasures, the turtle's own qualifications couldn't be ignored.

"Little guy, after eating so many of my spirit stones, now it's time for you to give back," Li Chang'an thought of the spirit stones consumed during this period and felt somewhat pained.

His wealth had shrunk considerably. But as long as the power-lending talent's effect met his expectations, everything would be worthwhile!

Before long, the Mysterious Water Turtle's aura stabilized, consolidating his realm. He looked at Li Chang'an with affectionate eyes and immediately cast his power-lending talent.

Gentle water element magical power slowly merged into Li Chang'an's meridians, continuously strengthening his aura.

"Not bad," Li Chang'an sensed the changes in himself and nodded slightly.

In just a few breaths, his strength rose from the fourth layer of Qi Refining to the fifth layer, and continued rising, barely reaching the sixth layer of Qi Refining before slowly stopping.

"My current strength makes me outstanding among mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators. Though temporary, it's quite remarkable, especially since this spell causes no harm to the body."

Li Chang'an smiled, very satisfied with this power-lending technique.

One must know that in the cultivation world, methods to temporarily enhance strength mostly caused harm to cultivators' bodies, such as the Zheng family's Spirit Explosion Pill.

But the Mysterious Water Turtle's power-lending technique was very gentle, usable at will without worrying about any side effects.

"In this state, can I draw first-tier superior-grade talismans?" Li Chang'an pondered for a moment.

Subsequently, he sat at his desk, took out talisman paper, spiritual ink, and talisman brush, and began attempting.

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