Lake Bottom.
As Jiang Ning unleashed his water-controlling divine ability, the lake water surged violently, instantly suppressing the electric eel's burst of lightning power.
"Master!" The old turtle's voice echoed faintly from behind.
Jiang Ning couldn't help but laugh in exasperation.
The moment the electric eel released its lightning, the old turtle had instantly vanished from beneath his feet.
He almost doubted how the old turtle, with its current performance, had dared to fight the electric eel to the point of being covered in wounds earlier.
At the same time, the lake water around the electric eel rapidly converged and compressed, forcefully pouring into its body through its mouth.
The water here was already dense and heavy due to the depth of the lake. Now, under Jiang Ning's control, the water condensed further, increasing in weight.
The pressure from all directions immediately caused the eel's bones to creak, its massive body twisting unnaturally. The water pouring into its body flooded its internal organs at an alarming rate.
The enormous electric eel's eyes filled with despair.
Its gaze shifted to the Thunderclap Tree nearby, which was absorbing the lightning, and landed on the single Thunderclap fruit at the very top of the tree. A deep sense of regret flashed in its eyes.
"Ten more days... just ten more days would have been enough!"
"In at most ten days, that would have become a hundred-year spirit fruit, enough to increase my cultivation by three hundred years. With five hundred years of cultivation, how could I be as powerless as I am now?"
The electric eel's eyes were filled with bitter regret.
Then, in less than a breath's time, it completely lost the ability to resist, its eyes gradually dimming.
Two more breaths passed.
Crack crack
A series of bone-shattering sounds erupted from the eel's body.
The once-mighty giant electric eel had now lost all signs of life.
"Master... this..." The old turtle was utterly dumbfounded.
Jiang Ning moved swiftly, arriving before the electric eel's corpse.
By now, the last traces of life had faded from the giant eel, its eyes completely lifeless.
Killing the electric eel had been Jiang Ning's plan from the start.
And he also wanted to test a hypothesis.
In the next moment, a cold glint flashed in his hand as a sharp long blade appeared.
Then, he activated the Heavenly Eye on his forehead, augmenting it with his spiritual sense.
The internal structure of the electric eel appeared in perfect detail within his pupils and mind.
After observing thoroughly, Jiang Ning plunged the blade into the eel's head. With a forceful twist, the eel's flesh and bones separated effortlessly.
Like a skilled butcher, Jiang Ning dissected the eel's massive head without damaging a single bone structure.
A short while later.
"Just as I thought!"
Jiang Ning's expression brightened with delight.
His blade danced rapidly, slicing through the eel's flesh as easily as cutting tofu.
Soon, a palm-sized bone from the eel's skull was exposed to Jiang Ning's gaze.
The bone was covered in intricate patterns, and faint purple arcs of electricity occasionally flickered across its surface, the grooves filled with a faint purple current.
Upon seeing this bone, Jiang Ning sent a wisp of spiritual sense into his spatial ring.
A tiger bone obtained from Hong Minghu appeared in his hand.
Comparing the two, Jiang Ning understood.
Though the patterns differed, their nature was the same.
"According to Hong Minghu..."
"Certain extraordinary beings develop special patterns within their bones, which he called 'divine patterns.' These patterns contain the rules and principles of heaven and earth."
"With these patterns, those extraordinary beings can unleash terrifying combat techniques."
"From this perspective, the electric eel's innate lightning control must have stemmed from these patterns embodying the rules of heaven and earth within its bones."
"Calling them 'divine patterns' feels too abstract. They should be considered the manifestation of the Dao's rules 'Dao patterns' would be more accurate!"
Jiang Ning mused silently.
He then extracted the special bone from the eel's body, rinsing it clean of impurities with the lake water. His heart swelled with joy.
The patterns on the tiger bone Hong Minghu had given him could be mastered and utilized, representing the application of internal energy at a technical level.
Similarly, this electric eel's skull bone should have the same effect.
With this thought, he focused his gaze on the lightning-imbued bone.
After observing for a few breaths, he closed his eyes.
At this moment, the old turtle nearby craned its neck to look at Jiang Ning.
It had just witnessed how Jiang Ning effortlessly slaughtered the Thunder Eel that had previously beaten it to near death.
The water-controlling technique made it feel as insignificant as a firefly compared to the moon.
As a member of the turtle clan, it had gained the innate ability to control water after becoming a demon.
It seemed miraculous, but in reality, its effects were limited.
It could only manipulate water within a few feet of itself.
But with a mere wave of Jiang Ning's hand, it sensed that all the surrounding lake water instantly fell under his command.
It had secretly tried to resist but found itself unable to exert control over even a single drop of water nearby like an ant trying to shake a towering tree.
At this moment, it finally understood the true nature of the being it had pledged allegiance to.
In an era where gods no longer existed, this was a deity who commanded the waters.
Meanwhile, Jiang Ning closed his eyes and casually visualized a flood dragon in his mind, imprinting it with the lightning patterns he had just observed.
The next moment, he opened his eyes.
With a mere flick of his wrist
Crackle boom!
A surge of lightning erupted before him.
Then, with a single palm strike, he sensed something in the surrounding air being stirred, and a thunderous flood dragon burst forth from his palm.
The lightning-wreathed dragon roared ferociously as it surged forward.
The dim lakebed was instantly illuminated by the dazzling flash of thunder.
In that instant, streaks of lightning erupted from the lake floor, converging into the thunder dragon and further expanding its size.
"Mother of...!" The old turtle, seeing the thunder dragon charging straight at it, splayed its limbs before instantly retracting into its shell.
The thunder dragon grazed past its head and crashed into a nearby stone pillar.
The pillar absorbed the thunder dragon like a sponge, swallowing it whole without a sound.
Seeing this, Jiang Ning couldn't help but reveal a trace of astonishment in his eyes.
"This place is not one to linger in for long," he muttered inwardly.
Having witnessed the bizarre phenomena here, he understood that this place was far from ordinary it likely concealed some earth-shattering secret.
But he had no intention of digging deeper.
He had no desire to be the cat killed by curiosity.
From what he had read in books, this world was far more complex than it appeared on the surface.
His current strength might make him a notable figure in Luoshui County or Dongling Prefecture.
But in the grand scheme of the Great Xia Empire? He was nothing.
In the vast river of history? He wouldn't even make a ripple.
Who knew what ancient secrets these strange phenomena might be tied to?
Just like the Black Lotus Mother, he had encountered before.
From their conversation, he knew that this so-called deity must have been extraordinary in ancient times.
With this in mind, his gaze shifted to the three fruits on the Thunderclap Tree.
But then, his eyes suddenly sharpened.
He focused on the Thunderclap Fruit at the very top of the tree.
He remembered just moments ago, that this Thunderclap Fruit had borne nine lightning marks, indicating it had grown on the tree for ninety years.
But now, the nine marks had transformed into a single lightning pattern that ran through the entire fruit.
The appearance of this pattern signified a qualitative transformation in the fruit's potency.
Only a hundred-year Thunderclap Fruit would condense such a lightning pattern.
Realizing this, Jiang Ning's breathing quickened slightly.
Any rare treasure, upon reaching ten, a hundred, or a thousand years of growth, would undergo a qualitative leap in power.
The enhancement wasn't a simple linear increase it was exponential.
In the next instant, his figure flickered like a swimming dragon through the water.
In the blink of an eye, he arrived before the Thunderclap Tree.
With a single pluck, the hundred-year Thunderclap Fruit fell into his grasp.
The moment it touched his hand, a burst of static electricity crackled across his palm, sending a faint numbing sensation through his fingers.
Only after a couple of breaths did the electric discharge fade.
Seeing this, a faint smile tugged at Jiang Ning's lips.
With the hundred-year Thunderclap Fruit now in his possession, his heart swelled with exhilaration.
The Thunderclap Fruit contained the power of lightning.
It could temper the internal organs and amplify one's cultivation.
An ordinary ten-year Thunderclap Fruit could, on average, increase one's cultivation by a year's worth of effort for every decade of its potency.
A ninety-year Thunderclap Fruit, therefore, could grant nine years of cultivation.
And that was just the average.
Jiang Ning was confident that, given his innate talent and the repeated refinement of the Celestial Nectar, his absorption efficiency would far surpass the norm.
In other words, a ninety-year Thunderclap Fruit could easily grant him over a decade's worth of cultivation.
What did that mean?
An average fifth-rank martial artist, accumulating power bit by bit over ten years, wouldn't even match the gains from a single ninety-year Thunderclap Fruit.
And now, that ninety-year fruit had somehow completed its transformation becoming a hundred-year Thunderclap Fruit.
Its effects would undoubtedly be extraordinary.
Such a treasure, if sold, could easily fetch hundreds of thousands even a million taels of silver.
But such a thought never crossed his mind.
Thirty years of cultivation his inner energy would be as vast as the sea.
Sixty years it would be as deep as the abyss.
His current cultivation had already surpassed forty years.
With this hundred-year Thunderclap Fruit, reaching sixty years was a certainty.
Such an advancement was not something mere wealth could buy.
Then
Next, he plucked the remaining two Thunderclap Fruits from the tree one fifty years old and the other twenty.
Once this was done, he flashed onto the old turtle's back.
"Let's go, old turtle!" Jiang Ning commanded.
"I'm a turtle, not a tortoise!!" the old turtle grumbled under its breath, casting a longing glance back at the massive electric eel lying beside the Thunderclap Tree.
Seeing this, Jiang Ning suddenly realized his oversight.
The previous white dragon fish, not yet a demonic beast, had already provided him significant benefits let alone this fully demonized electric eel.
With that thought, he raised his hand and beckoned.
The lake water surged, lifting the enormous eel's body and carrying it toward them.
Jiang Ning grabbed the eel with one hand and said, "Let's leave first. I'll let you eat your fill once we're out of here."
"Yes, Master!!" The old turtle's excitement was palpable.
Demonic beasts possessed incredibly robust physiques, and their flesh was a potent tonic for fellow demons.
Hearing Jiang Ning's promise, the old turtle was instantly reinvigorated.
Soon after, the man and the turtle arrived at a sandy patch of lakebed overgrown with aquatic plants.
Jiang Ning tossed the eel's head to the turtle, letting it feast at its leisure, while he kept the rest of the carcass to take back with him.
A six-meter-long demonic eel its meat would be highly nourishing even for him, let alone ordinary people.
Such a treasure was worth bringing home.
After setting aside the eel's massive body, Jiang Ning retrieved the Thunderclap Fruits from his spatial ring.
"Twenty years old."
Seeing the two lightning marks on its surface, he immediately recognized its age.
"I wonder how much this twenty-year Thunderclap Fruit will boost my cultivation."
With that thought, he took a bite of the fruit's tough outer shell.
Crunch
A crisp sound echoed as his sharp teeth tore off a large chunk of the flesh.
Crackle
At the same time, a faint static discharge buzzed in his mouth, sending a tingling numbness through his lips.
"Ordinary people really wouldn't be able to enjoy something like this," he mused, amused by the slight electric shock.
For him, it was just a mild tingle but for a normal person, it would be enough to cause injury.
A few more bites later, the entire twenty-year Thunderclap Fruit was devoured.
Immediately, he sat cross-legged on the lakebed.
Channeling his blood and qi, he activated the movements of his stomach.
In an instant, he felt fine currents of electricity burst from his abdomen, spreading through his organs alongside a wave of warmth.
Sensing this transformation, Jiang Ning recalled a secret technique he had learned earlier the Furnace Refinement Art.
The Furnace Refinement Art allowed the body to become a furnace, using blood and qi as fuel to refine medicinal substances within.
This technique not only increased absorption efficiency but also reduced toxin buildup and purified the medicinal essence.
After all, all medicine carries some degree of toxicity.
Might as well give it a try!
With a thought, he visualized a furnace in his mind.
Boom
His blood and qi ignited violently.
A crimson glow emanated from his body as waves of scorching heat radiated outward.
Nearby, the old turtle watched in astonishment.
Curious, it tossed a piece of eel meat toward Jiang Ning.
Within moments, the meat's appearance changed its previously translucent, jelly-like texture turned opaque and firm, as if cooked.
"That intense?!"
The turtle's jaw dropped, and it hastily retreated several meters.
It had no intention of accidentally becoming turtle soup.
As an ambitious turtle with dreams of becoming a millennium-old demon and condensing a demonic core, self-preservation was key.
Once at a safe distance, it resumed gnawing on the giant eel's head.
Meanwhile, deep in the lake where the water was naturally still, the heat radiating from Jiang Ning's body began to churn the surrounding water, creating a bubbling, near-boiling effect.
At the same time, Jiang Ning felt the Thunderclap Fruit's energy rapidly refined by the Furnace Refinement Art, dissolving into pure vitality that surged through his body, permeating his internal organs.
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