"Splash!"
The water rippled, silver gleams spread in all directions as countless silverfish gathered at the surface, vying eagerly, as if they were famished.
But the leading fish gave a slight shake, seeming to sense the stench of ordinary bait, and immediately flicked its tail, swimming away.
What a joke, not "Water Deer Grass", not eating it!
The following fish also seemed to catch the scent and scattered hastily.
Just at that moment, a piece of white cloud qi fell into the water from the shore. This cloud qi spread like water, instantly dispersing like white ink, enveloping the school of fish.
"Huff huff!"
A strange power rippled like water, and all the silverfish instantly swam back in a daze, as though intoxicated.
The ordinary bait, originally filled with stench, suddenly turned into fragrant and tasty "Water Deer Grass" in their eyes.
"Splash!"
All the silverfish immediately became excited, swarming up in a frenzy, devouring it hungrily.
"Moo!"
Yet at this moment, from the depths of the water, came a sound resembling a cow's call, and then a gigantic silverfish, three feet long, with scales like armor and what seemed like small horns atop its head, emerged.
There was a dense spiritual nature in its eyes, glaring viciously at the floating "ordinary bait" in the water, filled with anger.
Feeding manure to my offspring!
Little thief!
With rage-filled eyes, the Silver Fish King opened its mouth, emitting a peculiar sound, breaking the illusion of the Mirage Cloud.
The strength of this Silver Fish King couldn't be underestimated; even a cultivator at the Qi Refining Realm would have difficulty contending with it.
Yet, above the surface of the lake, a soft laugh was heard:
"I was waiting for you!"
"Boom!"
With this voice, three great masses of Mirage Clouds suddenly fell, like white flood dragons, fiercely enveloping the Silver Fish King!
The Silver Fish King, extraordinarily perceptive, seemed to realize something amiss and, with a flick of its tail, attempted to leave.
However, the spiritual sense that activated these three masses of Mirage Clouds was incredibly domineering. The three masses swirled back and forth, like a flood dragon with claws and teeth, in an instant wrapping around the Silver Fish King.
"Splash!"
"Moo!"
The Silver Fish King struggled mightily, but the Flood Dragon Spirit activated the Golden Core Seal, its power malevolent, and within moments, the Silver Fish King was lost in the illusion of the Mirage Cloud.
This is not manure, it's Water Deer Grass!
The Silver Fish King was tempted, without Gu Yuan's control, and swayed its body, starting to devour the ordinary bait filled with stench.
"Golden Core Technique, truly extraordinary!"
On the surface of the lake, Gu Yuan watched this scene, murmuring uncontrollably to himself.
The Silver Fish King was extraordinarily spiritual; if battling in the water, Gu Yuan might not even be its match. But now, with the Golden Core Seal in hand, he could manipulate it to eat manure with ease.
This made Gu Yuan look forward even more to the opportunities within this lake.
"Hope there will be some gains!"
Yet the hazy green light left Gu Yuan feeling uneasy.
But this time, it was just a trial.
Failure didn't matter.
Spiritual Sense surged as he looked around, ensuring no one else was there, and with a leap, Gu Yuan jumped into the lake.
...
Today was already Gu Yuan's second time feeding the silverfish.
During the first feeding, Senior Brother Ding, worried, accompanied him, watching Gu Yuan manipulate the Dharma Seal with ease before no longer coming again.
He was currently at a critical stage in cultivation, unable to slack off; otherwise, the task of feeding silverfish wouldn't have been passed on to others.
And this was convenient for Gu Yuan's actions.
"Splash!"
Gu Yuan had not learned the Waterproof Seal, but his mana surged out, like an invisible shield enveloping him, keeping out the water and allowing him to move freely under the lake.
Though a cultivator's mana was incompatible with Heaven and Earth, without the Dharma Seal, unable to harness the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi, mana itself was a force.
A cultivator at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer possessed a force of thousands of pounds with just mana, capable of tearing apart leopards and tigers, smashing stones, vastly adaptable.
At this moment, Gu Yuan, relying solely on mana, condensed it into a shield, enough to separate the several meters deep lake water.
After all, it was just a small lake on an island, not a Great River nor a vast ocean.
"The Stone Liquid indicates it should be right here."
The Stone Liquid was extremely mystical, only showing as dots of light, yet Gu Yuan clearly knew the location of the opportunity, so long as it wasn't a forbidden or dangerous place, he could easily discover it.
At this moment, Gu Yuan swam just twenty or so breaths to reach the center of the lake.
This place was teeming with aquatic plants, silverfish, and odd small fishes swimming freely, with the occasional blue shrimp emerging from the lake bed, stirring the sediment, creating ripples.
These fishes were all unafraid, one by one colliding against Gu Yuan's magical force shield, causing dull thuds at the lake bottom.
Gu Yuan parted the aquatic plants, drove away the fish, discovering a small sandy hillock rising from the lake bed.
Amidst the silt, there seemed to be fragments of jade scattered about.
"Huff!"
Gu Yuan's Spiritual Sense and mana surged out, the lake bottom at once resembling a flood dragon, agitating the currents, and in just an instant, the mound before him was swept away, revealing its true appearance.
It was a shattered skeleton.
The bones shone with a luminous glow, seemingly having undergone mana forging; it was a cultivator.
Yet now, all the bones were shattered, as if suffering severe damage, ribs broken inch by inch.
Beside the skeleton lay a book seemingly cast from bluestone.
On the book, were bold, stylized characters, as if written with a finger.
Gu Yuan's Spiritual Sense surged incessantly, thoroughly investigating the six-zhang radius, confirming nothing was left out, then grasping the Bluestone Book with a hand formed of mana.
"Could this be the opportunity indicated by the Stone Liquid?"
Under the lake, aside from this Bluestone Book, there was nothing else.
Maintaining a shield at the lake bottom was extremely mana-consuming; Gu Yuan couldn't afford to look closely, carrying the Bluestone Book back to the shore.
It was already evening, the sun setting in the west, casting a golden glow.
Gu Yuan used his Spiritual Sense to investigate the surroundings, ensuring no one else was there, then started scrutinizing the Bluestone Book in his hand.
This book was indeed cast from bluestone, incredibly heavy and solid, Gu Yuan seemed unable to lift it with mere physical strength, without the aid of mana.
On the stone pages, someone had used a finger to write several characters in bold, stylized form:
"The Ten Great Forms!"
"In the world, when Dao Bodies emerge, possessing extraordinary talent, garnering countless fame, with the Great Sun Melting Gold, and Yin Yang Chaos, these are all known as Celestial Pride."
"But little is known that aside from Dao Bodies, there are Ten Great Forms as well, equally terrifying in potential, not inferior to the Heaven-Earth Dao Body, yet only Kun Cultivators can have them, with fatal flaws, once known, they may bring catastrophic tribulations!"
"I have traveled the Four Domains of Heaven and Earth, scoured ancient texts, finally compiling the records of the Ten Great Forms, contained within this book."
"Vermilion Jade Bone, this form is inherently ruthless, cultivating the White Bone Dharma Aspect, possessing supreme elegance, slaughtering fills the field, and cultivation advances by leaps and bounds."
"But this form cannot lose its virtue; once lost, the white bone turns vermilion, talent dissipates like water, and this life becomes like a vase, cultivation makes no progress."
"Ice Skin Jade Bone, this maiden's complexion surpasses the world, like a fairy descending, any Yin-related Technique, cultivation advances at a thousand miles a day, capable of reaching the pinnacle."
"But this form, with snow-like肌肤, and born with Dao Pattern, must not be blemished; even a tiny wound on the skin, talent shatters like porcelain, breaking instantly."
The Bluestone Book recorded not what Gu Yuan imagined as "the method of apprenticeship" or secret techniques of cultivation.
Rather it was something extraordinary, forms he had never heard of before.
He had no idea what connection these forms had with the opportunity this time.
But the records in the book were unprecedented, expanding his horizons, and he couldn't help but continue reading.
However, flipping to the third page, a certain record caught Gu Yuan's attention.
"Alluring Elegance!"
"Alluring Elegance, a form only possible when a human and fox hybrid offspring is born. Such females are all extraordinarily beautiful, captivating, and naturally have pink eyes that mesmerize the soul."