Chapter 118: A Gift of Thanks, the Golden Tortoise Shell, A Treasure
Lin Qingmo's eyes sharpened as his soul power surged to its peak.
"I'm starting. Endure it!"
The moment his words fell, the Blue Silver Grass suddenly exerted force.
Dozens of vines tightly wrapped around the Life Gold, along with the surrounding flesh and blood tissue.
Then, with a violent pull, they tore outward.
"ROOOOAR!"
The Golden Tortoise let out a heart-rending scream of agony.
The sound was so miserable that even the surrounding trees trembled and shed leaves.
Yet it still forced itself not to move, afraid of interfering with Lin Qingmo.
Very quickly, the Life Gold was ripped from the stomach wall, torn off together with a palm-sized chunk of flesh.
Blood surged up along the Golden Tortoise's esophagus, seeping from the corners of its mouth.
Its golden shell trembled faintly from the intense pain.
But it kept its jaws wide open, not daring to move even slightly, afraid that everything would fail at the final step.
Especially with a murderous Titled Douluo standing before it, ready to strike at any moment.
Bibi Dong was indeed watching.
Her gaze was icy, her soul power coiled and ready.
If the Golden Tortoise showed the slightest abnormal movement, she would kill it instantly.
She would not allow Lin Qingmo to suffer even the smallest injury.
Beads of sweat formed on Lin Qingmo's forehead.
This process consumed a great deal of soul power.
He had to precisely control the strength of the Blue Silver Grass—strong enough to tear out the Life Gold, yet careful not to damage the Golden Tortoise's vital organs.
Most importantly, the Life Gold was also greedily absorbing the life force within the Blue Silver Grass.
Wrapped tightly around the Life Gold and the chunk of flesh, the Blue Silver Grass rapidly moved upward through the digestive tract.
This process was equally torturous for the Golden Tortoise.
The sensation of a foreign object scraping against its internal organs made its entire body convulse.
But it endured.
Its amber eyes stared straight ahead, pupils contracted sharply from the pain.
Finally—
With a soft tearing sound—
The Blue Silver Grass burst out from the Golden Tortoise's mouth, carrying a blood-soaked mass of flesh.
At the center of that flesh was a palm-sized piece of blue-silver metal, emitting a gentle glow.
The Life Gold had been extracted.
"ROAAAH!"
The Golden Tortoise finally roared freely.
There was pain in that roar.
But even more than pain, there was wild ecstasy.
Three hundred years of torment had ended.
"It's out! It's finally out!"
The Golden Tortoise wept with joy.
Large tears rolled down, mixing with the blood at the corners of its mouth, making it look both pitiful and somewhat comical.
Its massive body collapsed onto the ground, all four legs sprawled out, completely abandoning any defensive posture.
It lay there without dignity, greedily savoring a moment no longer shadowed by despair.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, falling upon its golden shell, warm and real.
"No one knows how I lived through these three hundred years."
It muttered, its voice full of the weariness of time.
"Watching helplessly as my hundred-thousand-year cultivation and vast lifespan were drained away. Every morning, the first thing I felt was how much less I had left."
"That kind of despair is like slowly sinking into the deep sea, watching the light disappear bit by bit."
"Today… I am finally free."
It let out a long breath, as if expelling three centuries of oppression.
The Golden Tortoise could already see a bright future beckoning to it.
Without the Life Gold draining it, its cultivation would no longer decline.
Perhaps, relying on its innate talent as an auspicious beast, it could slowly cultivate back.
One hundred thousand years—that goal no longer seemed impossible.
However, a cold voice dragged it back to cruel reality.
"We have the item. Kill it?"
Bibi Dong stepped to Lin Qingmo's side.
Her gaze was icy as she looked at the Golden Tortoise, as if it were an object that had already lost its value.
For soul beasts that were no longer useful, she had never shown mercy.
The law of the jungle—that was the iron rule of this world and the creed by which she had survived.
The Golden Tortoise's entire body stiffened.
Ecstasy was instantly replaced by fear.
Only then did it remember it was not yet safe.
The woman before it was a powerful Titled Douluo.
Killing a fifty-thousand-year soul beast like it would be no harder than crushing an ant.
It hurriedly tried to get up, but the earlier agony left its body sluggish.
It could only stare at Bibi Dong in terror, eyes filled with pleading.
At this moment, Lin Qingmo was holding the Life Gold.
The blue-silver metal felt warm in his hand, radiating vast and pure life energy.
A warm current flowed from his palm into his body, circulating rapidly through his meridians.
The lingering fatigue from absorbing his soul ring vanished instantly. Even the flow of his soul power became noticeably smoother.
This piece of Life Gold was even more exceptional than he had imagined.
He could even faintly sense his spiritual power increasing the instant he touched it.
As expected of a supreme treasure of heaven and earth.
Lin Qingmo inwardly marveled.
Hearing Bibi Dong's words, he lifted his head.
Seeing the Golden Tortoise's terrified, pleading eyes, he hesitated briefly.
"Master, there's no need to kill it."
Lin Qingmo shook his head.
"Since it cooperated with us in retrieving the treasure, let it go."
He paused before adding, "Besides, it is an auspicious beast. Killing it might bring unnecessary karma."
The statement was only half true.
The true part was that the Golden Tortoise had indeed cooperated.
The less true part was that he simply found the turtle rather interesting. Killing it would be a pity.
In the original story, this Golden Tortoise had not committed any evil acts. It was merely an unlucky glutton.
Bibi Dong glanced at him.
Her gaze was deep, as if weighing something.
A few seconds later, she withdrew her soul power.
"As you wish."
Those three simple words felt like a grand pardon to the Golden Tortoise.
"Thank you, my lords! Thank you!"
It scrambled to its feet, stumbling slightly in its haste.
Then it turned to run.
Its speed showed no trace of the limp body that had been sprawled on the ground moments ago.
But after only a few steps, it stopped.
Its golden shell glinted under the sunlight.
After hesitating for several seconds, it turned back to look at Lin Qingmo, its expression complicated, as if making a difficult decision.
Bibi Dong narrowed her eyes, killing intent surfacing once more.
"What? Do you regret it?"
Her voice was calm, but the danger beneath that calm made the Golden Tortoise shiver.
"No, no!"
The Golden Tortoise shook its head frantically.
"I just… there's one more thing."
It hurried back.
Even Lin Qingmo was momentarily stunned.
What is this turtle planning?
Under their wary gazes, the Golden Tortoise slowly turned sideways.
Then it performed a rather strange action.
Using its hind leg, it dug around in the gap of its shell.
The motion looked somewhat comical, like a dog scratching itself.
A few seconds later, it pulled something out with its mouth.
Palm-sized, entirely golden, and shaped like a miniature turtle shell.
Complex dark-gold patterns, similar to those on the Golden Tortoise's own shell, were engraved upon it, shimmering with a mysterious luster in the sunlight.
"This is a small token of my gratitude."
The Golden Tortoise placed the golden shell on the ground and gently pushed it toward Lin Qingmo.
"To thank you for removing the treasure that tormented me."
End of Chapter