I bear witness to immortality in the human world.

Chapter 147 Seizing the Pearl
"Senior Brother Qian, shall we make our move?"

Somewhere on the riverbank, a disciple from the Seven Martial Alliance's inner hall asked Qian Qiu a question.

Qian Qiu remained calm and said, "No rush, this is just the beginning. Let the clam demons absorb it for a while."

Not long after.

Water splashes rose everywhere along the Baimo River, and whirlpools of varying sizes emerged, from which jade-colored pearls floated. Then, one by one, the clam spirits revealed their true forms.

Most of these clam demons are at the first or second stage of transformation, and some are even only in the initial stage of demonization, not even reaching the first stage. At this moment, they are all frantically surfacing from upstream, rushing to the surface.

The scene was truly spectacular!

"So this is what it means for spiritual tides to surge and for giant clams to refine pearls."

Wu Ming's gaze also shifted slightly.

Although the Baimo River is not wide, it is very long. At this moment, large clams are floating on the surface of the river, swallowing and expelling spiritual tides to refine their pearls. With such a huge number scattered across the river, it is impossible for even the most accomplished disciples from various sects to collect them all.

These clam demons clearly possessed intelligence; they knew that only by collectively emerging from the river at this time to refine the clam pearls could a portion of them be fortunate enough to complete the refining process, swallow the pearls, and return to the deep waters.

Wow!
The water flowed swiftly and rolled downhill.

As time passed swiftly, a clam demon in the distance finally completed the tempering of the clam pearl. It closed its two mouths, about to swallow the pearl into its shell, and then disappear back underwater.

But at this moment,
Swish!
Suddenly, the closest figure made a move. It was an inner member of the Seven Martial Alliance. He was holding a heavy sword and, with great agility, leaped into the air above the river. He then slashed down with his heavy sword.

The slash was incredibly fast, and with a snap, it struck the clam's shell, forcibly closing its open shell. At the same time, the left hand reached out and scooped up the pearl in mid-air.

"Haha, I'll take the first shot."

He grinned and, after slicing the giant clam with his heavy sword, he used the momentum to somersault through the air, crossing the river and landing on the opposite bank.

Some people nearby glanced at him, but no one stepped forward to compete with him.

The main problem is that there are too many clam demons emerging along the river at this moment. The clam pearl he snatched was merely a clam pearl condensed by an ordinary second-stage clam demon, and it did not reach the level of a 'blood essence clam pearl', which is extremely common here.

"Gulu."

The clam demon whose pearl was stolen, because its shell was extremely tough, was only slightly dented by the heavy sword of the martial artist who had coagulated blood three times. It gurgled out a stream of river water, as if making a very unwilling sound, but it still immediately left the surface of the river and sank rapidly to the bottom.

The people nearby, including the member of the Seven Martial Alliance who had taken the pearl, did not pursue him further.

These clam demons lurk at the bottom of the White Desert River year-round and generally do not harm human lives. They will not die even if their pearls are taken, but will continue to breed new pearls. Therefore, unless absolutely necessary or if they overdo it, no faction will deliberately hunt and kill these clam demons. Only by keeping them alive can they produce pearl resources once every three years.

Swish! Swish! Swish!!!
As each pearl was refined, the disciples of various sects on the riverbank also made their moves. They were all agile and turned into afterimages as they swept across the river to seize the pearls.

Wu Ming remained calm, blending into the crowd. He leaped forward, gently pressing down with his spear to force the shell of a clam demon to close and sink it to the bottom of the water. Then, he reached out and scooped up a clam pearl.

This is a pearl condensed by a second-stage clam demon, about the size of an infant's fist. It is a high-quality 'Spirit Essence Clam Pearl', worth about two thousand merit points. For Wu Ming now, it is only better than nothing.

"Ok?"

After scooping up the clam and testing it out, Wu Ming didn't continue. Instead, he spread his spiritual senses and searched along the riverbank. Soon, his gaze shifted and he turned his attention to a certain spot upstream.

Then, gripping his black iron spear, he leaped and bounded upstream at lightning speed.

at this time,

The forces that had gathered on the riverbank dispersed upstream and downstream, each searching for precious pearls. Pearls from large clams that had not yet fully transformed into demons, as well as low-quality pearls from first-stage demon clams, were no longer considered desirable. Only the high-quality pearls condensed by second-stage demon clams were being targeted.

As Wu Ming ran along the riverbank, a huge black shadow soon appeared in the middle of the river ahead. It was an extremely large clam demon, its body a full five feet long. Its mouth was open, and its demonic power stirred up the water on the river surface, forming a huge whirlpool with a diameter of nearly seven feet. In the center of the whirlpool, a bright red clam pearl, as red as blood, floated.

Blood Essence Pearl!
Wu Ming had used this item to nourish his blood and qi before, so he could recognize it at a glance. Although the Blood Essence Pearl in front of him was slightly smaller than the one he had used before, it was still a rare item, worth at least 30,000 merit points.

Even if some three-transformation demons with relatively low intrinsic value are brought back intact, according to the rules of the Demon Suppression Bureau, the total merit points earned from slaying the demons often amount to less than 20,000.

At this moment, the rushing river water surged down, and wisps of spiritual energy from heaven and earth were visible to the naked eye in the spiritual tide, being drawn in and flowing into the blood-red clam pearl. This blood-element clam pearl, nurtured by a three-transformation great demon, was naturally not only eyeing Wu Ming, but also several true disciples of the Black Fiend Sect and the Profound Jade Sect.

"It's Wu Ming!"

"Be careful, he's a terrible shot."

"Don't be afraid. We'll just take the pearls and run. He can't do anything to us."

Several disciples from various sects noticed Wu Ming's arrival and showed some apprehension on their faces. The fellow disciples from the same sect moved closer together and immediately assumed a stance of joining forces.

Wu Ming remained calm and ignored it, staring at the Blood Essence Pearl in the river. Time passed slowly, and before long, the giant clam demon, which was breathing in and out spiritual energy, suddenly opened and closed its mouth slightly.

"Holy crap!!!"

A strange sound suddenly echoed across both sides of the river.

The voice was extremely deep and indescribable, containing a powerful spiritual pressure that instantly stunned the disciples of several sects on both sides of the riverbank.

At that moment, the Blood Essence Pearl, which had been tempered, suddenly burst forth with a dazzling blood-red light, and then instantly sank downwards, disappearing into the middle of the clam demon's shell in a mere instant.

creak.

The clam demon's enormous shell closed at an extremely fast speed, intending to swallow the Blood Essence Clam Pearl and then sink into the water to escape.

But that's it.

Clang!
A silver spearhead darted forward, striking and flicking the clam shell hard, sending sparks flying.

Wu Ming's eyes flashed, and with a flick of his spear, he caused the clam demon's shell to pause briefly from closing. Then, he swept the spear tip across the blood essence clam pearl, which was almost swallowed by the clam demon's flesh!
The Blood Essence Pearl itself is not a tough object. Not to mention a master who has condensed blood three times, even a martial artist with one or two blood can easily smash it with a full-force attack using a weapon.

Once the Blood Essence Pearl is broken, the blood essence contained within it will rapidly dissipate, and its efficacy will be greatly reduced. Therefore, when plundering the pearl, martial artists rarely use weapons to sweep it away.

This is often done out of necessity, when there is no longer any concern about whether the pearl will break.

Ding!
Wu Ming's spear swept across the Blood Essence Pearl. Normally, with the strength of a three-blood martial artist, the spear tip would only need to lightly glide across to shatter such a pearl. However, the spear tip that Wu Ming swung out at this moment was as soft as flowing water. Although it was a fine steel spearhead forged from black iron, the moment it touched the pearl, it was as if silk was gliding across it, without harming the pearl itself in the slightest.

With a crisp "ding," Wu Ming's spear, through a series of entanglements and adhesions, managed to pry the pearl out of the center of the giant clam's flesh. Then, with a gentle pull, he sent the pearl flying horizontally, tracing an arc in the air before landing on the opposite bank.

"Gulu!"

This three-transformation clam demon was clearly extremely intelligent. Seeing its pearl being taken away, it was filled with shock and anger. It squeezed its clam flesh and suddenly sprayed a stream of water towards Wu Ming.

This water could hardly be called flowing water anymore; its speed was terrifying, almost like a water blade. If it hit someone, even a martial artist who had achieved three blood-clotting techniques would be disemboweled on the spot.

Wu Ming was in mid-air, unable to find any leverage, and it seemed impossible for him to avoid the water blade. However, he seemed to have anticipated this scene, and his expression remained unchanged. He leaned back sharply, barely grazing the edge to avoid the water blade. Then he swung his spear downwards, smashing it onto the giant clam's shell. The force of the blow was so strong that it forced the two huge shells to close together.

boom! ! !
The giant clam was smashed into the river by Wu Ming's spear, creating a huge wave that stretched for several meters.

Wu Ming used the force of the shot to flip through the air and land lightly on the opposite bank. Then, he bent down and gently scooped up the Blood Essence Pearl that had fallen into the sand.

All of this happened in the blink of an eye. It wasn't until Wu Ming obtained the Blood Essence Pearl that the true disciples of the Black Fiend Sect and the Profound Jade Sect were able to neutralize the effects of the sonic wave attack from the clam demon.

"Damn it."

"This clam demon actually possesses such abilities..."

Some people frowned deeply when they saw the Blood Essence Pearl fall into Wu Ming's hands.

"Impressive. Not only did he get rid of the clam demon's influence in the first place, but he also mastered the balance of strength and flexibility in his spear technique to an extremely high level. Apart from Senior Brother Xiao Yang, I'm afraid no one could withstand more than a few of his moves."

Some people looked at Wu Ming with a mixture of fear and admiration. Even if he had gotten rid of the clam demon's influence immediately, he probably wouldn't have had time to seize the clam pearl in that instant. The methods Wu Ming displayed were beyond their reach.

Seeing the pearl fall into Wu Ming's hands, the disciples of the various sects shook their heads, none of them having the intention to snatch it by force. After taking a look, they dispersed upstream and downstream to continue searching for new targets.

(End of this chapter)