Chapter 2060: Smart Mysterious Back Turtle

The sea’s surface shimmered with light and churned with turbulent waves, but the seabed remained perfectly calm, without a ripple, as quiet as a secluded chamber.

Continuing their descent, it wasn't long before a dazzling light appeared in their sight. It was the silver diamond crystal that had been set up. Elder Fengqian's design was incredibly ingenious. It made the object appear as if it had naturally grown within an earth vein. It was only visible now because of the cracks caused by the earthquake. Even Zhang Xuan, had he not known in advance that it was prepared for the target, would have mistaken it for a natural formation and lowered his guard.

"We can just hide here..."

Arriving near the silver diamond crystal, Elder Fengqian waved his hand, and a small vortex appeared. He entered it first, followed closely by the other two. As soon as they entered, the vortex vanished, as if the three had never been there.

"A spatial formation?"

No wonder Elder Fengqian was so confident that the target wouldn't discover them. He had apparently prepared a spatial formation long ago. Once inside, it would be extremely difficult to detect them unless the formation's core was found or its structure destroyed. Outsiders couldn't see them, but they had a clear view of the silver diamond crystal and were fully aware of the situation outside.

"This thing isn't easy to find, is it?" Zhang Xuan couldn't help but ask, looking at the dazzling crystal nearby, which emitted an enchanting glow.

This type of crystal couldn't be refined into weapons or melted down. Yet, it was one of the most beautiful items in the entire Firmament. The value of a single piece exceeded that of a peak Immortal Monarch weapon, and it was virtually priceless, a commodity that rarely appeared on the market. In the recorded history of the Firmament Continent, this item had only appeared three times in total. The largest of those was only about the size of a dragon's eye. The one before them, however, was larger than a fist, its value immeasurable.

The Seven Star Mansion had truly spared no expense for this pseudo-deity realm immortal beast.

"To get this, the Seven Star Mansion deployed nearly ten thousand people and spent countless treasures before succeeding..." Sect Master Kuixiao nodded. He had been the primary orchestrator of this plan. Although the cost was enormous, capturing or killing a pseudo-deity realm immortal beast would undoubtedly make it all worthwhile! Leaving aside other considerations, the treasures that could be fashioned from its blood, crystal core, hide, and skeleton, and then auctioned by the Seven Star Mansion, would undoubtedly recover their initial investment tenfold, at minimum!

Most importantly, pseudo-deity realm divine beasts had only ever appeared in the God Temple before; they hadn't been found anywhere else. Consequently, no one had ever successfully hunted one. Would its blood and flesh have any effect on him? Could it help his cultivation advance further? If it proved useful, any cost would be worth it. So, upon hearing news of this immortal beast, they began preparations. Elder Liu (Zhang Xuan's disguise) was merely in the right place at the right time.

Zhang Xuan nodded. Without needing an explanation, he understood that an unknown amount had surely been spent on this silver diamond crystal. He estimated that only a wealthy behemoth like the Seven Star Mansion on the entire continent could accomplish such a feat. Of course, the Pantheon could certainly do it too. However, they were even more mysterious; while branches existed in cities of second-tier status or higher, almost no one knew where their headquarters were or how powerful their experts were.

*Rumble!*

As they were talking, with the rising of the full moon, the sea surface indeed began to churn violently, like an earthquake. The mirror-like water surface, now boiling and constantly twisting, reflected the surroundings in a bizarre and dazzling display, as if all the stars in the sky had fallen here to frolic in the water.

"It's starting..." Zhang Xuan murmured, his eyebrows raised.

Sect Master Kuixiao and the others nodded simultaneously. Indeed, just as he had predicted, with the full moon rising, the sea changed. The flickering light from the plankton was unstable; if the "One Water, Two Waves" formation were to continue operating, it would very likely lose its effectiveness.

Elder Fengqian's voice rang out. "It's coming..."

Everyone looked up, and then saw a colossal sea turtle slowly swimming from a distance. This sea turtle was massive, with a diameter exceeding a hundred meters. Roaming through the ocean, it resembled a gigantic warship, blocking out all the light reflected by the plankton on the surface of the Small Mirror Sea.

"It's indeed pseudo-deity realm..." Zhang Xuan nodded.

This giant creature before them was indeed a pseudo-deity realm expert. It appeared cumbersome, but in terms of sheer strength, it was at least as strong as, if not stronger than, Sect Master Kuixiao. If they were to confront it head-on, even if it did nothing else but charge wildly, the three of them might not be able to withstand it! Although his current cultivation had broken through to Immortal Monarch, ensuring he was invincible among peers of the same level, he was still too far behind a pseudo-deity. The two were already entirely different life forms and could not be compared. Therefore, when encountering an expert of this level, it was still best to run as far as possible. They absolutely could not confront it directly!

"Prepare to activate the formation..." Seeing the Black-shelled Turtle getting closer, Sect Master Kuixiao's expression grew solemn, and his full power began to circulate, ready at any moment to coordinate with the formation to deliver a fatal blow to the giant creature before them. Taming an immortal beast of this level was impossible. Rather than wasting effort, it was better to kill it on the spot for greater benefits.

"Something's not right..." Zhang Xuan suddenly frowned.

"Not right?" The two looked over with puzzlement.

The Black-shelled Turtle was now very close. If they didn't activate the formation, the beast would very likely snatch the silver diamond crystal with a single charge. Once it escaped the formation's area, their entire plan would be ruined.

Zhang Xuan said, "Since the Black-shelled Turtle's target is the silver diamond crystal, and the turbulent sea surface at this moment is precisely as designed, it should, under normal circumstances, have rushed over to snatch it as soon as it arrived. But now it's just lingering. Don't you find that strange?"

"This..." Elder Fengqian was startled and looked, realizing something was indeed amiss.

The enormous Black-shelled Turtle had clearly arrived in front of the crystal. Yet, it didn't swallow it. Instead, it circled around, as if it hadn't noticed it. The beast had already planned to seize the crystal during the full moon's plankton disturbance and also kill Elder Fengqian and the others. The opportunity was right before it, but it didn't move. It must have its own reasons.

"Heh heh, no wonder it kept coming this way. So it discovered this thing. Man dies for wealth, birds die for food; a beast is still a beast. If it dies for a crystal, don't blame me for being impolite..."

As the three watched, full of questions, a faint voice came from a distance. Immediately, a light flashed, and a figure broke through the water surface, moving directly above the Black-shelled Turtle.

"A pseudo-deity realm expert?" Zhang Xuan's eyes narrowed.

The person who appeared before them, just like Sect Master Kuixiao and the Black-shelled Turtle, was also a pseudo-deity realm expert! No wonder the Black-shelled Turtle had been circling without swallowing the crystal; it turned out it was being tracked.

"It's the Sect Master of the Profound Mirror Sect, Bai Xuansheng!" Sect Master Kuixiao transmitted his voice after a moment of hesitation.

Zhang Xuan turned his head, "Sect Master of the Profound Mirror Sect?" The Profound Mirror Sect, one of the Six Great Sects, specialized in weapon refining; the Phoenix Robe Sword was crafted by them. He had never interacted with them before, and he hadn't expected to directly encounter their Sect Master here.

"Why is he here?" Elder Fengqian asked, puzzled.

"If we received news of a pseudo-deity realm immortal beast appearing, they certainly would too..." Sect Master Kuixiao shook his head. Everyone knew how precious an immortal beast of this level was. If he wanted to kill it, the other party certainly would too, as it wasn't his private property and he had no right to possess it alone.

"Should we activate the formation?" Elder Fengqian's expression was not very pleasant. An unexpected disruptor had appeared, completely upsetting their previous arrangements.

"Not yet..." Zhang Xuan waved his hand. "If it were the old 'One Water, Two Waves' formation, it might have already activated or even become useless due to the plankton's disturbance! I modified it, making it more stable; it's difficult to activate without me personally triggering it. This means we have a final trump card!"

"A trump card?"

"Before, I always thought the Black-shelled Turtle wanted to use the full moon night to trap Sect Master Kuixiao. Now it seems that's not the case! It doesn't know if Sect Master Kuixiao would come, but... this Sect Master Bai Xuansheng must have been tracking it for a long time, and the turtle has long wanted to get rid of him!"

With a slight smile, Zhang Xuan understood. He had already learned about the early activation of the Heaven-Reaching Bridge while en route. Under normal circumstances, although Sect Master Kuixiao would also come here, he wouldn't be in such a hurry. Therefore... this Black-shelled Turtle might not have been waiting for him! Seeing this Sect Master Bai now, he immediately realized. He estimated that the turtle had long planned for the other party to chase it here, and then it would deliberately wait, using the power of the plankton to kill him.

*Boom!*

During their conversation, the ground shook even more violently. The silver diamond crystal absorbed power more intensely, the plankton above became even more turbulent, and cracks appeared in the ground once again.

The Black-shelled Turtle ignored Sect Master Bai Xuansheng hovering in the air. It looked around, saw that the "One Water, Two Waves" formation had not been triggered, and a look of anxiety appeared in its eyes. However, at this moment, it knew it could no longer wait. Gritting its teeth, its enormous body suddenly lunged forward. Like a teleportation, it appeared before the silver diamond crystal and swallowed it.

"This is... not fast?" Zhang Xuan's mouth twitched.

Earlier, Sect Master Kuixiao had said that this giant sea turtle, due to its immense size, only had strong defense and average speed. Zhang Xuan had fully agreed with that assessment upon arriving... He never dreamed it could be this fast! It was significantly faster than him, even when he exerted his full power! If they were to truly fight, even if the opponent did nothing else, the sheer impact from its speed just now would be unbearable!

"Uh..." With an embarrassed expression, Sect Master Kuixiao turned to look at Elder Fengqian nearby.

"I... the last time I saw it, its speed wasn't fast, about the same as mine..." Elder Fengqian quickly explained. This trap was set up specifically to deal with this giant creature, so they should have known its true speed. They just hadn't expected that the beast hadn't exerted its true strength at all!

"It seems it's much smarter than we thought..." Zhang Xuan said with a wry smile. It knew how to hide its true capabilities to lure others, then use the full moon and Elder Fengqian's formation to deal with Sect Master Bai Xuansheng... This Black-shelled Turtle, despite appearing clumsy, actually possessed great wisdom. No wonder it could reach the pseudo-deity realm; none of them are simple!

"What now?" Sect Master Kuixiao asked, as both he and Elder Fengqian now understood.

"Since the Black-shelled Turtle has already made its move, let the two of them fight, and we'll reap the benefits of their conflict!" Zhang Xuan said with a faint smile.