Starting as pearl divers, they have endless jobs.

Chapter 191 Obtaining a Grade 5 Spirit Pearl, Setting Off Again (7K)

Inside the stone house, the light from the oil lamp cast a long shadow of Chen Ye.

Before him lay a stack of yellowed sect logs, densely filled with tiny characters recording various trivial events that had occurred at Blackwater Lake over the past few hundred years.

These logs are not confidential files, but simply a record of the work done by the disciples in charge over the years. The contents are varied and disordered, ranging from a bumper harvest of spirit pearls in a certain area of ​​water on a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, to a disciple being punished for private fighting on a certain day of a certain month of a certain year.

Chen Ye had been sitting here listlessly for several days.

He extracted all the records about the black water mill, trying to find patterns in them.

"On the fifteenth of the third month, it was cloudy. Black water mills appeared in the western three waters, and five pearl divers died."

"On the ninth day of the seventh month, the weather was clear. Black water mills appeared in the northern reef group, and three pearl divers died."

"On October 20th, a thick fog appeared on the rocky beach to the south, where a black water mill was found, and eight pearl divers died."

……

As Chen Ye read through the records one by one, his brows furrowed more and more tightly.

There is no pattern whatsoever.

Whether from the perspective of time, weather, or location, the appearance of this black water mill seems random and full of uncertainty.

This is very troublesome.

An unpredictable, rule-based evil spirit is like a time bomb hanging overhead; no one knows when it will fall.

"Damn it, what's going on with this thing?" Chen Ye was getting a little annoyed.

He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his throbbing temples.

The deep ditch on the west side is currently the most likely place to produce fifth-grade spirit pearls. If he can't solve the problem of the black water mill, he won't dare to go into the water easily.

Chen Ye forced himself to calm down.

Since we can't find a pattern in the events themselves, let's try a different approach.

He set aside the logs that recorded the disaster and picked up another stack of files that looked thicker and more boring.

This is a report on the annual output of spirit pearls in various waters of Blackwater Lake.

"In the 721st year of the Blood Lotus Calendar, the Black Stone Beach waters produced a total of 17,000 Grade 9 Spirit Pearls, 7,000 Grade 8 Spirit Pearls, and 963 Grade 7 Spirit Pearls..."

"In the 744th year of the Blood Lotus Calendar, the Black Stone Beach waters produced a total of 21,000 Grade 9 Spirit Pearls..."

These dry numbers would probably make any disciple dizzy.

But Chen Ye looked at it very carefully, and even took out paper and pen to categorize and count the output of each year and each region, making a huge table.

Soon, an incredibly detailed output data chart appeared before his eyes.

Chen Ye's gaze slowly moved across the chart, initially finding nothing unusual.

The production of spirit pearls fluctuates every year, which is normal, as it is related to the underwater environment, the number of pearl divers, and their efficiency.

But when he inadvertently compared this output chart with the previously compiled records of the black water mill incident, a startling discovery made him sit up straight instantly.

"Wait... what is this...?"

His finger landed on the record of the 744th year of the Blood Lotus Calendar.

This year, the production of spirit pearls in the Black Stone Beach waters reached a historic peak, especially the number of seventh-grade spirit pearls, which was almost three times that of previous years!
In that same year, the number of times the black water mill appeared also reached a historical high, a total of eleven times!
Coincidence or something else?
Chen Ye immediately turned his attention to other years.

"In the 812th year of the Blood Lotus calendar, production peaked... Black Water Mill appeared nine times."

"In the 835th year of the Blood Lotus calendar, production was at its lowest point... Black Water Mill appeared three times."

As he compared the data point by point, a clear pattern emerged in Chen Ye's mind.

There is a strange positive correlation between the frequency of Blackwater Mill appearance and the output of Spirit Orbs!
The more you collect, the more often it appears!
"So that's how it is..." A look of understanding flashed in Chen Ye's eyes.

He instantly recalled what had happened some time ago.

Since his arrival, he has greatly increased the enthusiasm of pearl divers by using both kindness and strictness, resulting in a much higher output of pearls in Black Stone Beach than ever before.

Then, in the rocky area to the east that they frequented, the spirit pearls were almost all harvested.

That's why Manshan suggested trying their luck in the more dangerous, but potentially richer, deep ditch on the west side.

As a result, they encountered a black market mill.

All the clues came together perfectly at this moment!
"So it turns out this thing doesn't depend on the weather, but on how many spirit pearls it has taken?" Chen Ye muttered to himself, leaning back in his chair, a serious look on his face.

Because the behavior of this blackwater lake is very much like that of a self-aware living being.

The pearl in the lake is its treasure.

You can take it, but you can't take too much.

If you over-exploit the area in a short period of time and disrupt the balance of spiritual energy in a certain area, the lake will throw a tantrum and release the Black Water Mill, this debt collector.

So this isn't some evil spirit at all; it's clearly a revenge mechanism from the bottom of the lake!

“Interesting…” Chen Ye’s fingers tapped lightly on the table.

The previous managers were either incompetent and couldn't collect many spirit orbs, so they rarely triggered this mechanism.

Or they are either twisted in temperament, their minds are entirely focused on torturing pearl divers, and they have no time to study these tedious data.

So for hundreds of years, no one discovered this secret.

Everyone thought that the Blackwater Mill was a natural disaster, and that encountering it meant you were just unlucky.

Having figured this out, Chen Ye's anxiety vanished.

Now that we know the pattern, there are plenty of ways to avoid it.

However, new problems also arise.

Chen Ye's next target is a fifth-grade spirit pearl.

Even in the inner waters, a spirit pearl of this grade would be an absolute treasure, and the spiritual energy it contains is incomparable to that of a sixth or seventh grade spirit pearl.

If taking a seventh-grade spirit pearl is equivalent to taking one hundred dollars from a lake, then taking a fifth-grade spirit pearl might be equivalent to taking ten thousand dollars.

Even though the black water mill doesn't appear every time, it still means huge risks, and at this moment, Chen Ye hates risk the most.

We need to think of a solution!

Chen Ye narrowed his eyes, his brain starting to work at lightning speed.

Soon, a bold idea gradually took shape in his mind.

Since the rule of this lake is balance, and taking too much will lead to its destruction, if I take a high-grade spirit orb and then replace it with a few low-grade spirit orbs, can I fool this so-called retribution mechanism?

When the idea first came to mind, even Chen Ye himself thought it was a bit far-fetched.

Use a spirit pearl to exchange for a spirit pearl?
If any disciple of the Blood Lotus Sect knew this, they would probably think he was crazy.

Do you need to know what a Spirit Pearl is?
That's hard currency, cultivation resources, and contribution points!
The Blood Lotus Sect went to great lengths, exploiting countless prisoners, all in order to extract just one more spirit pearl from this Blackwater Lake.

And what do you do? You want to throw the spirit pearls you painstakingly collected back into the lake?
This is an utterly wasteful and extravagant act by a spoiled brat!

But for Chen Ye, this was a perfectly normal thought.

After all, his purpose in coming here was not to capture spirit pearls or simply to earn contribution points for the Blood Lotus Sect. He wanted to obtain higher-grade spirit pearls, then activate the Other Shore Ark to travel through the heavens and gain even greater power!

Under this premise, what does losing a few spirit orbs matter?
That’s right, that’s it!
Chen Ye immediately made the decision and then began to refine the details of the entire plan.

First, he needs enough spare spirit orbs as bargaining chips.

During this period, thanks to Qin Qing, Shi Hu, and Yan Bo, three powerful assistants, the output of spirit pearls in Black Stone Beach has remained high.

Besides the portion that was handed over to the sect and the portion given to Senior Brother Zhou, Chen Ye also secretly kept a considerable amount for himself.

He opened the storage bag and took inventory.

There are more than thirty seventh-grade spirit beads.

There are also five sixth-grade spirit pearls.

This is the savings he's accumulated over this period of time.

The spiritual energy contained in a Grade 5 spirit bead is roughly equivalent to ten to fifteen Grade 6 spirit beads, or hundreds of Grade 7 spirit beads.

He couldn't possibly take out hundreds of Rank 7 spirit beads to exchange for them, so the safest way was to use a few Rank 6 spirit beads to combine with a dozen or so Rank 7 spirit beads to make a deluxe package and throw it back into the lake.

This way, we can ensure that the total amount of spiritual energy is sufficient without suffering too much loss.

Secondly, there's the time and place of the action.

The deep ditch on the west side remains the only option.

The place was remote and the environment was complex, making it ideal for him to carry out this kind of secret operation.

As for the time, the sooner the better.

The longer the night, the more things could go wrong. Who knows if the sect's higher-ups might suddenly decide to come down and inspect the place?

Before taking action, thorough preparations must be made.

Chen Ye took out various supplies from his storage bag.

Superior-grade Yin-dispelling talismans, water-repelling pills, detoxifying pills, wound-healing medicines...

He even spent contribution points to exchange for a second-grade defensive robe, the Xuan Shui Armor, from the Merit Hall. Although the grade was not high, it was better than nothing.

After careful preparation, it happened late one night three days later.

The sky was covered with dark clouds, and not a single ray of moonlight or starlight could be seen.

A thick fog rolled over the lake, reducing visibility to less than three meters. The icy lake wind felt like a knife cutting into your face.

It was perfect weather for murder and arson—no, for fishing!

Chen Ye left the stone house quietly.

Without alerting anyone, he went to the dock alone, untied the mooring line of a small boat, and paddled into the water like a ghost.

The small boat, propelled by his true energy, made no sound, skillfully avoiding the underwater reefs, and sped off towards the deep ditch to the west.

Throughout the journey, Chen Ye maintained a high level of concentration, remaining vigilant for any disturbances around him.

The inland waters are far more dangerous at night than during the day.

Many powerful water monsters, active only at night, are now roaming this dark hunting ground.

Chen Ye could even sense several powerful and malicious auras sweeping past the bottom of the ship, but his Nightstalker profession allowed him to blend perfectly into the darkness, so these water monsters did not detect his presence.

About half an hour later, the small boat arrived at its destination.

A deep ditch on the west side.

Even though the place is shrouded in gloom during the day, it becomes even more eerie and terrifying at night.

A thick, impenetrable black fog enveloped everything, and the water was completely still, so deathly silent it was unsettling.

The air was filled with a bone-chilling cold, several times colder than other bodies of water.

An ordinary cultivator would probably be shivering from the cold just standing here.

Chen Ye took a deep breath, affixed the high-grade Yin-dispelling talisman he had prepared to his body, swallowed a Water-repelling Pill, and then stood at the bow of the ship, gazing at the bottomless darkness below.

In his Eye of Calamity, this body of water was interwoven with countless chaotic and ominous black lines of calamity, exuding an aura of destruction.

It was indeed the most dangerous place in the entire Black Stone Beach.

But at the same time, beneath those dense lines of tribulation, Chen Ye also saw a faint yet resilient golden line of fortune.

Risks and opportunities coexist.

Without further hesitation, he tied the storage bag containing the spare spirit orb to his waist and plunged directly into the water.

icy!

Even with the dual protection of a superior Yin-dispelling talisman and the talent for Yin-cold tolerance, Chen Ye still felt the bone-chilling cold the moment he entered the water.

The lake water in this deep ditch was far colder than he had imagined, as if it could penetrate directly into his soul.

Chen Ye dared not be careless and immediately activated the Star River Qi Refining Technique within his body. His powerful true essence flowed through his meridians, while simultaneously urging the blood and qi power of a Grandmaster.

A scorching heat burst forth from his body, like a small sun, instantly dispelling the chill that enveloped his entire being.

After his body warmed up, Chen Ye began to slowly descend.

The further down you go, the dimmer the light becomes, and the water pressure increases exponentially.

After descending about 100 meters, it was pitch black all around.

Any cultivator at the Sea Condensation Realm would be blind in this environment, forced to rely solely on their divine sense to investigate.

But this was not a problem for Chen Ye at all.

Nightcrawler's Shadowborn talent grants him even better vision in the dark than during the day.

The diving skills of the Tanka people have given him an abnormal level of adaptability to water pressure.

Therefore, this lakebed, which was a death trap for others, posed no threat to Chen Ye. At this moment, unidentified aquatic plants swayed in the undercurrent, emitting a faint phosphorescent glow.

Every now and then, enormous underwater monsters would swim past him, stirring up surging undercurrents.

Each of these demonic beasts possessed an extremely powerful aura; even the weakest among them was likely at the Sea Condensation Realm.

Chen Ye carefully avoided them, concealing his aura to the extreme, and then activated the Spirit Clam Sensing Skill.

In an instant, everything within a 20-meter radius centered on him appeared in his mind in a peculiar way.

Most of the area was a deathly gray.

But in some corners, there are white specks of light, some strong and some weak.

Each point of light represents a magical clam.

"many!"

Chen Ye was overjoyed.

This deep ditch truly lives up to its name; because it is rarely visited by humans, the abundance of clam resources here is simply outrageous.

Within his sensing range, there were hundreds of countless tiny points of light!
However, the brightness of these light spots was relatively weak, indicating that they contained at most sixth or seventh grade spirit pearls, which were not attractive to him.

Chen Ye did not stop and continued swimming into deeper waters.

Time passed by minute by minute.

Chen Ye didn't know how deep he had dived, and his Spirit Clam Sensing Skill finally made a new discovery.

At the edge of his sensing range, an unprecedented bright spot appeared!
The light was no longer ordinary white, but had a faint blue tint, bright and dazzling, like a star in the night!
"found it!"

Chen Ye's spirits lifted, and he immediately swam in that direction.

After traversing a jungle of giant corals and navigating a bottomless ravine, he finally reached his destination.

It was a relatively flat expanse of silt.

The light that the clam sensed was located in this muddy area, but Chen Ye was not excited. Instead, he calmly observed his surroundings.

According to the work log, high-grade spirit orbs are often accompanied by powerful guardian beasts.

This is like the law of nature: precious treasures are always coveted by venomous snakes and ferocious beasts.

Chen Ye slowly spread his divine sense, like an invisible fine net, sweeping across the surrounding waters inch by inch.

Silt, reefs, aquatic plants...

He didn't overlook any corner that might be hiding danger.

However, after searching around, he found nothing.

The surroundings were quiet, except for a few small, blind fish, and not even a slightly larger monster.

"Strange... Could it be that I'm just lucky, and this spirit clam doesn't have a guardian?"

Chen Ye felt a sense of unease.

But he always felt that things weren't that simple.

As the saying goes, something unusual must be amiss. Chen Ye did not let his guard down and instead activated the Eye of Calamity once again.

hum!
The world before my eyes changed instantly.

The once pitch-black lakebed is now filled with countless lines, some bright, some dark, some thick, some thin.

Most of them are represented by normal gray lines.

But in the muddy ground surrounding the target, Chen Ye's pupils suddenly contracted.

He saw an incredibly thick, almost solidified black line of calamity!
The calamity line, like a lurking venomous snake, lies deeply buried beneath the mud, perfectly blending into its surroundings, exuding a chilling aura of destruction.

Something extremely dangerous is lurking in this mud!

Chen Ye broke out in a cold sweat instantly.

If it weren't for his Eye of Fortune, which allows him to see through the essence of things, it would have been impossible to discover this lurker using only his divine sense!
This guy's ability to conceal his aura is simply unparalleled!

What a treacherous beast!

Chen Ye's gaze turned cold, and then, pretending not to have noticed anything, he slowly swam towards his target, the long sword he had exchanged from the Merit Hall at his waist already quietly in his hand.

The distance is gradually closing.

Thirty meters...

ten meters...

The instant Chen Ye's toes touched the edge of the muddy ground.

boom!
The entire muddy ground seemed to come alive and suddenly exploded!

A huge black shadow, as fast as lightning and carrying an extremely foul stench, shot into the sky from the mud, opened its blood-red maw, and viciously bit down on Chen Ye's head!
Golden-striped Black Serpent!

The moment the shadow burst out of the mud, Chen Ye saw its appearance clearly.

This is a giant snake as thick as a water bucket and over thirty meters long!

What's most terrifying is that this giant snake's body color can change with the environment!
When it lies dormant in the mud, its scales are a murky dark brown; when it emerges, they instantly turn a deep blue, matching the lake water.

Perfect disguise, perfect infiltrator!
This beast is indeed the Golden-Patterned Mystic Serpent, a creature that even Inner Realm cultivators find troublesome underwater!

At this moment, the giant mouth is right in front of us!
The sharp fangs gleamed with a ghostly green venomous light, enough to send chills down one's spine just by looking at them.

The Golden-Patterned Serpent had calculated the timing and angle perfectly, launching its fatal attack at the moment when Chen Ye was least prepared.

Any other cultivator at the same level in the Sea Condensation Realm would likely be swallowed whole and turned into a pool of blood before they even had time to react to this sudden attack.

But it was facing Chen Ye.

Just as that gaping maw was about to close.

Chen Ye leaned back at an incredible angle, narrowly avoiding the fatal bite, and then slashed out with his longsword.

In Chen Ye's eyes, the world before him had been replaced by countless lines, some thick and some thin.

And that enormous golden-patterned serpent, under the gaze of the Eye of Calamity, had no more secrets left.

A thick, solid line of calamity, emanating an ominous black aura, extended from its brow and pierced through its entire body.

That is its lifeblood, the source of all its life activities.

Once this line is severed, no matter how high one's cultivation level or how strong one's physical body, there is only one way out: death!
Therefore, this sword strike was devoid of any fancy moves and directly slashed at the black line of calamity.

laugh!
The calamity line was severed, and the massive body of the Golden-Patterned Serpent stiffened abruptly, its sweeping tail stopping halfway.

Time seemed to stand still at this moment.

A look of bewilderment flashed in the golden-striped black serpent's lantern-sized eyes, followed by endless fear and disbelief.

It felt no pain.

But it could clearly sense that the life force within its body was being drained away at an unstoppable speed!
Like a punctured balloon, no matter how much it struggles or tries to unleash its demonic power, it cannot stop the dissipation of its life force.

Its power, its demon core, its divine soul... everything is rapidly heading towards its end.

why?
In the end what happened?
It doesn't understand.

It only saw that tiny human make a single sword strike into an empty space.

Then he died.

Pfft!
The enormous snake, having lost all its strength, crashed heavily back into the mud, stirring up a large amount of turbidity.

Those once fierce snake eyes had completely lost all their luster.

Kill with one blow!
Facing this powerful water demon that even cultivators at the Inner Realm would find troublesome, Chen Ye cleanly and decisively ended the battle with just one sword strike.

This is the domineering nature of the Eye of Calamity!

Ignoring defense and cultivation level, it strikes directly at the source, killing with a single blow!

Of course, this is not without its costs.

That sword strike just now almost drained a third of Chen Ye's true essence.

After all, the power required to sever such a thick line of calamity is extremely terrifying.

If it weren't for the Star River Qi Refining Technique he cultivated, which made his true essence far more abundant than that of other cultivators of the same level, this single sword strike would probably have drained him dry.

After calming his turbulent blood and qi, Chen Ye looked at the enormous corpse of the Golden-Patterned Black Serpent and felt a wave of lingering fear.

That beast is indeed incredibly powerful. If I hadn't noticed that sneak attack beforehand, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Fortunately, it ended without any serious harm.

Chen Ye ignored the snake corpse. Even though this kind of monster was a treasure trove, with its gall bladder, skin, and bones all fetching a good price, he didn't have time to deal with it right now.

Chen Ye quickly swam to the center of the muddy ground and began digging according to the location marked by the clam's perception.

Soon, a huge spirit clam, the size of a tabletop, with a body that resembled warm, jade-like material, appeared before us.

Its shell is covered with strange, naturally formed patterns, complex and mysterious, like some kind of ancient talisman, emitting a faint halo in the darkness.

Just by looking at it, Chen Ye could feel a pure and powerful spiritual energy rushing towards him.

Without a doubt, this is an absolutely top-grade spirit clam that is nurturing a high-grade spirit pearl!

Chen Ye's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly drew the spirit shovel from his waist and pried it open at the gap in the spirit clam!
Click!

A crisp sound.

The clam shell opened with a snap.

In an instant, an indescribable, dazzling light burst forth from the crack in the clam shell!

The light was colorful and dazzling.

A pure and dense spiritual energy spread wildly in all directions along with the burst of light.

Chen Ye held his breath and carefully opened the clam shell completely.

Within the thick clam meat, a pearl the size of a chicken egg, crystal clear and translucent, with what appeared to be colorful auspicious clouds flowing inside, lay quietly.

It is like the most perfect work of art in the world, radiating a captivating and mesmerizing luster.

A Grade 5 Spirit Pearl!

It's definitely a Grade 5 Spirit Pearl!
Even with Chen Ye's calm and collected nature, he couldn't help but feel a surge of joy at this moment.

Then Chen Ye carefully removed the fifth-grade spirit pearl from the clam meat.

As soon as he got his hands on the spirit pearl, a warm and powerful spiritual energy surged into his body, making all the pores on his body open up, as comfortable as soaking in a hot spring.

It's indeed a good thing.

However, Chen Ye was not blinded by joy. He first put away the fifth-grade spirit pearl and then took out the chips he had prepared beforehand.

Three sixth-grade spirit beads and twenty-five seventh-grade spirit beads.

This is the toll he prepared for this operation.

Looking at these spirit pearls, Chen Ye felt no heartache and poured them directly into the spirit clam.

After doing all this, he even thoughtfully closed the clam shell again before turning around and swimming vigorously towards the lake.

Chen Ye was unaware that the moment he left, the deep water began to stir.

Tiny vortexes appeared out of nowhere and then disappeared quickly, but the frequency of these vortexes kept increasing.

Just then, the spirit clam that Chen Ye had refilled with spirit pearls suddenly emitted a soft light.

The light shone on the dark lakebed, and the restless water gradually calmed down, returning to its tranquil state.

Chen Ye was unaware of all this. At this moment, he had successfully returned to the lake, then leaped up and landed steadily on his small boat.

Without hesitation, Chen Ye immediately steered the boat back.

Stone houses on a small island!

When Chen Ye returned here, he immediately closed the door and added several layers of restrictions.

Then he let out a long breath, sat down at the table, and took out the fifth-grade spirit pearl from his storage bag.

Under the dim light, this spiritual pearl emitted a magnificent and captivating luster, dazzling all who beheld it.

Looking at the hard-won spirit pearl, Chen Ye felt relieved and then held it in his palm.

[The Ark of the Other Shore has detected high-quality, absorbable spiritual energy. Should it absorb it?]

Chen Ye had been planning this for a long time, and this was the moment he had been waiting for. Therefore, he did not hesitate at all and directly chose yes.

The next moment, Chen Ye felt a great light shine before his eyes, and then his consciousness was pulled into a bizarre vortex of light and color...

(End of this chapter)