NOVEL NEXT Ch. 34
Chapter 34: Gold Core True Immortal
Xu Ziqing was momentarily stunned and instinctively asked, "You mean the Azure Blue Spirit Salamander isn't good enough?"
Chen Beiwu gave a light cough.
What was this girl saying? They hadn't even left the Azure Blue Spirit Salamander’s habitat yet.
"It's not that the Azure Blue Spirit Salamander isn't good, it's just that those five salamanders earlier didn't match my expectations," Chen Beiwu explained.
Xu Ziqing brought with her a faint fragrance as she leaned in. "Then, where shall we go for our date next?"
Chen Beiwu picked up the jade slip and walked towards the teleportation array. "Zone 39 of Gengshen, coordinates: Jiao Yu Spring."
…
Jiao Yu Spring.
A swarm of Azure‑blue Spirit Carp swam freely in the crystal-clear spirit spring.
From time to time, a few lively spirit carps would gently flick their tail fins, stirring ripples across the water's surface, bringing a hint of joy to Xu Ziqing's eyes.
However, standing by the spring, Chen Beiwu slightly furrowed his brows, his eyes devoid of excitement.
‘These carps are too skinny. Clearly innately deficient.’
"This spirit carp lacks spirituality. For a spirit beast, it doesn’t even possess the basic instinct to absorb the world’s spiritual energy."
"This one has decent potential, but its fate is so low it doesn’t even have a trace of light blue."
After carefully screening the entire batch of young carps, Chen Beiwu couldn’t help but exhale a murky breath.
"Not a single spirit beast matches?" Xu Ziqing turned her head in surprise.
A cultivator selecting a Companion Beast was essentially weaving their own Dao net—it must be done with the utmost caution.
Thus, every Qi Refining cultivator would first run the school-taught Three Meridians Six Wheels Testing Method before forming a contract to determine their Companion Beast.
"None." Chen Beiwu shook his head regretfully.
The Azure‑blue Spirit Carp in Jiao Yu Spring were mostly highly intelligent, but not a single one gave him any surprise.
"That’s true. These carps are good, but still not worthy of you," Xu Ziqing said matter-of-factly.
She wasn’t a superficial girl and clearly recognized how exceptional Chen Beiwu was. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have taken the initiative to pursue him.
In her heart, Chen Beiwu was handsome, extremely talented, extraordinarily perceptive, and gentle in temperament.
Any one of these traits alone wasn’t extraordinary, but when put together, they formed a combination Xu Ziqing found irresistible.
Otherwise, she and her close friend Xu Lingling wouldn’t have both set their sights on Chen Beiwu.
Of course, Chen Beiwu wasn’t without shortcomings. His family background was relatively poor, lacking the cultivation resources to convert his talents into power.
Yet even so, with Chen Beiwu’s conditions, he was undoubtedly a top-tier husband candidate even within Fallen Dragon Mansion, let alone in Yuan‑Kong County, one of the six counties under the mansion.
It was no exaggeration to say that, if not for her and Xu Lingling staking an early claim with the backing of powerful families, the rich girls of Shouhe No. 2 High School would have fought tooth and nail over Chen Beiwu.
"There's no such thing as worthy or unworthy." Chen Beiwu waved his hand. "These carps are highly sought after outside the Spirit Beast Pavilion. When the time comes, forget about forming a contract—even getting a fish head would be too expensive."
"Where are we going next?" Xu Ziqing asked with a bright smile.
"Zone 1 of Renzi, coordinates: Four Seas Lake." Chen Beiwu looked toward the northern shore.
The Abyssal Water Spirit Turtle was the exclusive spirit beast of the Dongxuan Immortal Sect, with a widespread reputation. He hoped it wouldn't disappoint him.
…
Though Four Seas Lake spanned only a few hundred li, it gathered the essence of the four seas, forming a lake from their waters.
Strange stones stood around the lakeshore. Occasionally, a spirit turtle would surface and slowly swim toward the rock formations, then rest beneath the stones.
"Is young friend hoping to contract the Abyssal Water Spirit Turtle?" A gentle voice suddenly reached Chen Beiwu’s ear.
He turned to the source of the voice to find a young male cultivator with a tall, upright posture and a refined, handsome face approaching on the back of a turtle.
The man wore a plain white Daoist robe, its cuffs embroidered with silver patterns. These flowed like water and formed a luminous image of a celestial turtle at the robe's front.
Beneath his feet, an enormous beast the size of a mountain radiated an awe-inspiring and terrifying aura.
‘Head like a mountain, eyes like lightning, scales like gold, tail fused with yin energy—this is a third-tier high-grade Treasure Beast: the Mysterious Water Submergent Turtle!’ Chen Beiwu’s pupils contracted as he immediately understood.
If he wasn’t mistaken, the cultivator riding the turtle must be a Golden Core True Person of the Dongxuan Immortal Sect!
Beside him, Xu Ziqing’s expression shifted slightly, and she respectfully bowed. "Greetings, True Person!"
While Chen Beiwu had to guess the man's identity, she didn’t.
The Fallen Dragon Xu Clan had a Golden Core True Person overseeing them, who appeared at family gatherings once every century.
The last one was five years ago, and Xu Ziqing had the fortune of seeing the clan’s Golden Core Ancestor with her own eyes, witnessing firsthand the might of a Golden Core cultivator.
Therefore, even though the other party deliberately suppressed most of his Golden Core pressure, Xu Ziqing could still feel a suffocating oppression—a primal fear born from instinct.
‘As expected, a Golden Core True Person!’
Chen Beiwu didn’t dare be negligent and saluted respectfully as a junior. "Greetings, True Person. The Abyssal Water Spirit Turtle has a great reputation. Naturally, I wish to form a contract."
"Young friend has good eyes. The Abyssal Water Spirit Turtle differs from other spirit beasts—its temperament is rather lazy and doesn’t usually appear before outsiders. One must hold a token of affinity to approach it."
As he spoke, Han Liangcai's figure flickered and suddenly appeared in front of Chen Beiwu, speaking casually, "And that token can only be obtained by one with fate."
"Senior, may I ask, what is meant by one with fate?" Chen Beiwu asked.
"Fate is fate—it cannot be explained, cannot be explained!" Han Liangcai shook his head, his Daoist robe fluttering gently in the wind, making his figure seem even more ethereal, like a banished immortal descending to the mortal world.
"Uh…" Chen Beiwu was momentarily at a loss and glanced at Xu Ziqing.
Xu Ziqing blinked in confusion, indicating she didn’t know either.
What fate or no fate—she most hated riddlers.
Seeing Chen Beiwu not responding, Han Liangcai furrowed his brow, extended his palm, and rubbed his thumb and middle finger together a couple of times. In that moment, all his immortal-like demeanor vanished.
"???" Chen Beiwu instantly understood.
So that’s what he meant by 'one with fate'.
But he only had two spirit stones on him. Even if he handed them all over, it wouldn’t impress a Foundation Establishment cultivator, let alone move a Golden Core True Person from the Dongxuan Immortal Sect.
At the same time, a flicker of confusion flashed in Xu Ziqing’s eyes.
‘What’s going on?’
Golden Core True Persons possessed unified and boundless magic power, bearing a trace of immortality. With just a snap of their fingers, they could suppress dozens of Foundation Establishment cultivators—let alone one from the Thirteen Immortal Sects.
If such a being wanted low-grade spirit stones, they wouldn’t need to ask.
A mere hint would have the Foundation Establishment families across Yuan‑Kong County scrambling to offer tributes.
Something was wrong—very, very wrong.
As a pampered young lady, Xu Ziqing racked her brain but couldn’t figure out why a Golden Core True Person would be asking a mere Qi Refining cultivator for spirit stones, so she dared not speak rashly.
And so, the atmosphere came to a standstill.
"Young friend doesn’t even have a shred of fate on you?" Han Liangcai sounded somewhat surprised.
He had given such an obvious hint, yet this little fellow still didn’t get it.