Huh? Isn't this an adventure kingdom building game?!-Chapter 759 - 733: Exploring the Golden Chicken Seal
Back at the small courtyard, after harvesting and planting the fields, Jiang Yuan added feed to the poultry and livestock sheds, then took fish food to the fish pond.
After receiving the system’s prompt that the fish had grown and matured, he watched the colorful small fish swim back and forth eating food. He suddenly remembered the rumors he heard at the Golden Chicken River Market. What kind of fish was the Demon Realm Alliance offering a high bounty for?
Once the incense stick for completing Qu Luming’s side quest is finished, he might find some time to ask. If it’s true, exchanging two fish for a bounty of Spirit Stones might even trigger another side quest.
For now, each member of the small courtyard has their own tasks to do; the workshops are all clattering away with processing; with only a few days left before the seasonal change, there’s nothing else pressing at the moment, so Jiang Yuan opened the door and stepped into the Floating Market.
As he opened the door again, the mist in the Golden Chicken River Market was dense, and the continuous drizzle fell softly as a cool, autumnal breeze blew through, mixed with vague, scattered whispers.
This somewhat furtive sound only made the entire market even more serene.
The map indicated that the Golden Chicken Seal was right ahead on the left, so Jiang Yuan closed the shop door and summoned the Qingfeng Sword, his clothing edges flapping as he dove into the ever-thickening mist.
"Whoosh!"
With a sound of cutting through the wind, he dashed through the cloud-like mist at the market’s edge, and his view suddenly cleared!
Behind him was a towering, immense cloud of mist enveloping the market completely, and before him lay the Golden Chicken Seal not included within the market.
A fine drizzle fell, the sky slightly dimmed, and the dark green lake water rippled gently, with rowboats moored along the shore. The serene lakeside, empty and tranquil by day, was a stark contrast to its lively nighttime scene, surrounded by green hills and forests, exuding a quietly harmonious beauty.
[Golden Chicken Seal: A concave landform resembling a chicken’s claw print, which easily fills into a lake during the flood season]
[Multiple Rowboats: Boats used by demon cultivators who come to fish at night, nothing special about them]
The detail he noted last time when he came to fetch water was as brief as this, without even a change in punctuation. But back then, many rowboats floated on the lake, their faint fishing fires visible, and anyone entering the water would have been noticed.
Therefore, to avoid unnecessary trouble, Jiang Yuan, though curious, had never attempted to enter the water.
From above, the large Golden Chicken Seal did indeed resemble a giant chicken claw. Having come out of the market, he stood at the tip of the leftmost claw, put away the Qingfeng Sword, scanned the surroundings for any sign of danger, and then plunged headfirst into the lake.
"Splash!"
The Double Fish Jade Pendant’s water bubble encompassed him completely, allowing him to swim toward the lakebed with ease, while pondering whether the lake water, which didn’t seem to have much, could reveal the barrier at the bottom if collected directly with the Heavenly Water Mirror.
He then dismissed this thought.
The system’s identification was clear: the lake only forms during the flood season, and would presumably dry up during the dry season. If it hadn’t been discovered for so many years, either the contents of Zhao Yongxiang’s Soul-Searching Notes were false, or water was needed to reveal the barrier.
After all, in the cultivation world, hidden ways requiring specific conditions to emerge are commonplace.
On the surface, the water in the Golden Chicken Seal didn’t seem deep, and one could even see the water plants swaying with the waves at the lakebed.
However, as Jiang Yuan dove deeper, using the Water Manipulation ability gained from the Mermaid’s Kiss, which was inherently much faster than ordinary demon cultivators, he was still unable to reach the bottom after several minutes despite having swum downwards for over ten minutes!
"Seems like there’s truly something extraordinary down here. At the very least, this place certainly isn’t the surface-level Golden Chicken Seal." He quickly arrived at this conclusion.
His sense of caution rose once more as he recalled the gossip heard at the market teahouse.
They said that the reason the Golden Chicken Seal becomes a lake and rare demon fish can be caught is that the lake water, once it surpasses a certain level, connects to a mysterious place, and those fish swim out from there.
Others mentioned that numerous demon cultivators attempted to dive in for investigation, only to end up vanishing without a trace.
However, this piece of gossip was laughed off at the time, with someone saying clearly those demon fish can only be attracted with a specific bait, so why jump into the lake for no reason? Stirring the water only prevents other demon cultivators from fishing, they’d surely get beaten up, and so on.
At the time, the chatty demon cultivators in the teahouse were joking, and Jiang Yuan just happened to overhear it. Now, diving into the water, he realized a part of the gossip could potentially be true!
"Whoosh!"
He continued diving for nearly twenty more minutes, and initially, there was nothing but water around him, yet suddenly he heard an indescribable sound coming from a position to his left front.
It was as if a hurricane had arisen at the lakebed, or perhaps the lakebed was quaking, and then, all of a sudden, a strong, cold current surged towards him, pushing him back over ten meters before he stabilized.
[A dark current from the true Golden Chicken Seal deep in the lake, containing possible unheard-of items, be cautious]
Huh? Does that imply the one above is fake?
Having prior experience in a water fight with Zeyang at East Lake Port, and now holding the Heavenly Water Mirror, Jiang Yuan felt composed as he adjusted his direction, swimming towards the center of the chicken claw depicted on the map, where the dark current originated.
[A lakebed stone being carried by the dark current from the Golden Chicken Seal, ordinary refining material]
[Torn waterweed from the lakebed, can be made into feed at the Bait Workshop]
......
Sure enough, as he swam forward against the dark currents, he quickly noticed small things surging through the water at extreme speed. If he wasn’t careful, getting hit by such fast-moving stones seemed likely, and the little defense provided by the water bubble was simply not enough.
With a casual grab, he collected the "spoils" drifting past into his storage bag. Even a small mosquito is meat, and these were ownerless items free for the taking, so he might as well gather some first!
"Phew!"
Another fierce dark current hit, and the water bubble was instantly damaged, as if struck by something unknown, with a streak of bright red showing -11 in health.
It wasn’t much blood loss, but to penetrate his defenses so easily meant it was clearly something extraordinary.
Jiang Yuan reacted swiftly, and almost the moment he was hit, he scooped up with his wide sleeve, automatically depositing the object into the storage bag.
He propped up the water bubble again and hadn’t had time to check what he had picked up when he couldn’t help but gasp—his passive skill, the Earth Mirror Book, allowed him to see without restriction in the dark, and floating in the water, Jiang Yuan saw in the distance below him a gigantic, pitch-black abyss that seemed capable of engulfing him at any moment!
The thrill that makes one’s heart skip a beat was indescribable.
The dark abyss appeared with a shape akin to a chicken claw print, as if reaching out to grab him. The impact from the deep-sea behemoth reminded him of online images comparing tiny humans to colossal creatures, sending a chill down his spine.
[True Golden Chicken Seal: The footprint left by the Golden Chicken Immortal upon ascension, containing a trace of residual divine power, used as an array hub to suppress a terrifying entity. After being used for sealing and suppression, the true Golden Chicken Seal sank underground, only appearing in the hidden area during the water-abundant summer months.]
It only appears in summer?
Jiang Yuan thought to himself, with autumn approaching, he had stumbled upon the right time!
Seeing the words "seal" and "suppression," he thought of the mysterious Xuanyuan Yangguang, a dazzling predecessor who appeared during the chaotic times and then vanished without a trace. Could it be that the fake Black Tortoise is what’s suppressed beneath the Golden Chicken Seal?
The silhouette, made even smaller against the vast abyss, swam without hesitation towards the depths, quickly being "swallowed" and disappearing from sight.
"Is that the barrier ahead?" After swimming for another ten minutes, as shown by the system time, Jiang Yuan finally noticed the faint light.
No wonder Zhao Yongxiang was obsessed with the lake’s underwater barrier as mentioned in the Soul-Searching Notes, even trying to deceive him into keeping it a secret, not wanting anyone to know. Why he dived to the bottom of the lake was unknown, but having gone through such effort to find the barrier yet unable to break through, it was easy to imagine his disappointment.
[With a trace of residual divinity, the remnants of war are suppressed and sealed. They cannot exist independently, but can be detected for fusion with a World Tree instance branch. Do you wish to consume 100,000 Spirit Stones for fusion? Note: After fusion, the difficulty may increase, but the rewards will also correspondingly increase.]
[War Remnants: Results from the battles between gods and demons, possibly a crucial world remnant; it could also be the body remains of gods or demons, so please consider carefully.]
It’s something left from the battles between gods and demons!
This was quite unexpected, and Jiang Yuan hesitated slightly.
The World Tree instance branch consisted of fragments synthesized to upgrade the World Tree and obtain rewards. As it indicated a risk of death, he was cautious and hadn’t dared to enter before making a Resurrection Talisman.
After acquiring his cherished Resurrection Talisman, he tried entering the instance, discovering nothing but darkness around. Faint noises akin to beast roars could be heard, with a map displayed in the upper left corner only showing a small area, requiring him to clear obstacles to progress according to the map.
All these obstacles were contaminated objects. At the time, his Ice Flame level hadn’t increased sufficiently, and purification ability was limited, so he didn’t venture deep.
Now, suddenly having to fuse it, with the possibility of increased difficulty, he was unsure if he should accept.
Being a product from the era of battles between gods and demons, untouched to this day implied that many demon cultivators, like Zhao Yongxiang, may have discovered it but couldn’t break through, keeping it secret to enhance their strength before attempting again;
With summer almost over and having to wait until next summer, he could clear the World Tree instance and earn the rewards. By then, there may be more and advanced instances for fusion, so why hurry now?
Jiang Yuan pressed his face against the glowing barrier, peering inside.
However, the milk-white barrier completely blocked his view, making it impossible to discern how large the space was or what it contained, with the system providing no meaningful hints.
"But it’s a product of the battles between gods and demons; what if someone else takes it? Especially the Demon Realm Alliance! They might have built the market at Golden Chicken River with some array hub in mind..." Recalling the gossip from the tea house, he gritted his teeth and made up his mind—fuse!
Even if the still-untouched instance becomes much more challenging, it’s better to secure it in his hands than leave it outside.
[Attempting fusion, please wait]
Upon clicking fuse, the gray progress bar moved extremely slowly.
[Fusion failed, Spirit Stones non-refundable. Please remove factors obstructing fusion and try again]
Jiang Yuan: Meow meow meow?
The system could fail too?
This was the first time experiencing it; 100,000 Spirit Stones vanished without so much as a sound.
He felt both a bit angry and curious, wondering what on earth was hindering the fusion. He was determined to claim this remnant today!
