Stone Fairy!

"Little Green Snake, you've got a guest today." A deep voice rang out.

The green snake stepped forward and blocked Dao Zhen's path, its scarlet vertical pupils fixed on the old turtle, its scales slightly flaring, exuding a dangerous aura.

"What, old turtle, do you want to fight me?" Green Snake's voice was crisp, but his tone was as cold as ice.

The old turtle did not answer immediately; it shifted its gaze from the green snake and returned it to Dao Zhen.

"I just sensed a familiar presence here," it said slowly, "so I came to take a look."

The old turtle ignored the green snake and looked at the shattered dragon statue inside the temple, as if confirming something.

"Back then, a Taoist priest left behind a trace of his true nature here." The old turtle's voice was slow and leisurely, as if he were recalling something from a long time ago.

"Looks like you've got it."

The old turtle looked at Dao Zhen, a cold glint flashing in its emerald eyes: "Hand over that true nature, and I'll let you leave this place."

Upon hearing this, the green snake's scales suddenly stood on end, and a strong demonic aura erupted from its body, forcing the surrounding river water to recede slightly.

The green snake angrily retorted, "Old turtle, this is my territory! Do you really disregard our centuries-long acquaintance?"

The old turtle's gaze finally turned to the green snake, and a hint of impatience appeared in its emerald eyes.

"I can ignore the fact that your legacy is here," the old turtle's voice deepened. "But that true essence must remain with me."

The green snake was about to move forward, but Daozhen stopped it.

"I'll handle it." Daozhen's voice was calm, yet carried an undeniable power.

The green snake glanced at him, hesitated for a moment, and ultimately retreated. After all, she herself had been suppressed by Dao Zhen earlier.

Daozhen stepped forward, looked at the old turtle, his gaze calm as still water.

"Why do you want this true nature?"

The old turtle stared at Daozhen with its emerald green eyes for a moment, then slowly said, "This is my own business."

At the same time, a chilling, demonic aura was rapidly rising from its body, and the things on its back fell off one by one, revealing the dark carapace underneath. Dark red light flowed within the patterns on the carapace, carrying a dangerous aura.

Daozhen shook his head: "I also have a use for this Dao True Nature."

The turtle stopped talking and suddenly sprayed two white jets of water from its mouth and nose.

The water arrow was fast and sharp, shooting straight at Daozhen's face, cutting through the river water and making a sharp whistling sound.

Daozhen dodged to the side, the water arrow whizzing past his ear.

Just then, the old turtle moved. Its huge body suddenly spun around, like a boulder, and crashed straight into Daozhen.

The river water was stirred up and surged, with countless undercurrents rushing in from all directions.

Daozhen flipped his right hand and struck out with his palm.

This palm strike looked light and airy, but the moment the force touched the turtle's shell, it produced a loud sound like a great bell.

"Thump!"

The sound waves exploded in the water, causing the surrounding mud and sand to surge. The old turtle's body faltered slightly, and it was slid back several feet by the force of the palm strike. Dao Zhen, on the other hand, used the recoil to float backward.

"You do have some skill," the old turtle said in a muffled voice, then its body suddenly shrank and then expanded.

A surge of immense demonic power erupted from its body, like a volcanic eruption. The demonic power solidified, transforming into beams of black light that shot into the sky from the old turtle's carapace.

The turtle charged again, its speed more than twice as fast as before, its massive body leaving a black afterimage in the water.

Its claws reached for Daozhen's chest, while the wrinkled head opened its mouth wide, revealing a row of jagged but sharp teeth, which it then bit down on.

The old turtle's combat experience was clearly far superior to that of the green snake.

Daozhen's expression remained unchanged as he extended both hands simultaneously.

A golden light barrier unfolded in front of him, blocking the turtle's head-on collision. Then, with a flick of his finger, a golden light struck the turtle's lower jaw, causing its head to snap to the side.

A hint of surprise flashed in the old turtle's emerald green eyes.

Dao Zhen gave it no chance to breathe. With a flick of his right hand, a golden sword aura burst forth from his fingertips, slicing through the water and heading straight for the turtle's belly.

The turtle suddenly retracted its head, pulling all four limbs and its head into its shell.

"clang!"

The sword energy struck the carapace, leaving a deep mark.

The old turtle looked surprised; its shell, which it had refined for hundreds of years, had been cracked by a single sword strike.

The old turtle suddenly opened its mouth and spat out a jet of black water, shooting it towards Daozhen.

Dao Zhen neither dodged nor avoided; he raised his right hand, and a golden light surged from his palm, splitting the black water column in two.

Then, Daozhen took a step forward, his figure flashed in the water, and he appeared above the old turtle.

With his right hand forming a sword shape, he thrust it fiercely down towards the turtle's carapace.

This finger gesture, imbued with golden light, contained a righteous and awe-inspiring aura of Taoism.

"Snap!"

Another crack appeared on the turtle's carapace, and dark red blood gushed out from the crack, spreading into a thick blood mist in the water.

The old turtle let out a painful roar, which startled the fish and sent them scattering in all directions.

Daozhen and the old turtle fought continuously in the water.

With a loud boom, the old turtle revealed its true form, which was over thirty feet in diameter. The original hundred feet in diameter was because it was carrying a piece of land on its back.

In an instant, the old turtle became even more ferocious, and a demonic aura emanated from its body.

The two sides constantly changed battlefields, fighting from open ground to deeper waters, and then both rushed to the surface.

On the water surface,

The large ship bobbed in the wind and waves. Xie Tian and Xie Ning stood at the bow, their eyes fixed on the water.

Suddenly the water surface exploded.

A huge creature burst out of the water, sending up a spray of water everywhere.

It was a huge old turtle, with a dark, black carapace, and a diameter of thirty feet, like a moving small mountain.

At the same time, a Taoist priest in white robes soared into the sky and hovered in mid-air. Rainwater fell on him and slid off automatically, while the wind blew his robes, making them flutter loudly.

Immediately afterwards, the water surface churned again.

A huge green snake emerged from the water, its body coiled up, more than twenty feet long, its green scales gleaming with a cold, eerie light in the rain.

Everyone on the large ship was stunned.

They stared at the terrifying giant turtle, the coiled green snake, and the white-robed Taoist standing suspended in mid-air, their mouths agape, yet no sound came out.

Some people even forgot to breathe, their eyes wide open, not daring to blink.

The rain intensified, cascading down from the sky like a waterfall, crashing onto the river and the boat decks, creating a dense sound like ten thousand horses galloping.

In the sky, dark clouds rolled in, streaks of lightning ripped across the horizon, illuminating the dim world with a dazzling light, and deafening thunder rumbled across the sky, making people tremble.

The giant turtle thrashed wildly on the river surface, creating towering waves.

Those waves were tens of feet high, like walls of water, rolling out in all directions.

The large ship had to retreat several miles away before it could barely avoid the impact of those giant waves.

Daozhen frowned slightly.

If the old turtle is allowed to continue causing trouble, the banks of the Heihe River will surely be flooded, and many people will be displaced.

Daozhen no longer held back, his hands forming a seal in front of him, his ten fingers flying, each movement carrying an ancient and solemn rhythm.

Then, Dao Zhen's body burst forth with five-colored light, and golden runes appeared in the void.

"Shangqing Zhenlei Xuanzhang".

As soon as he finished speaking, the sky suddenly brightened.

A bolt of purple lightning descended from the heavens with earth-shattering power, striking the old turtle's carapace with pinpoint accuracy.

"boom!"

The lightning exploded, illuminating the entire river surface in a snowy white light.

The turtle let out a mournful scream, and several more cracks appeared on its carapace, with dark red blood splattering everywhere.

But this was just the beginning. One bolt of lightning after another struck down from the sky, each carrying the supreme power of heaven and earth.

The old turtle was terrified. It desperately urged the demonic power within its body, refining all the incense and prayer power accumulated over hundreds of years.

Rays of light shot out from its body, forming a thick protective shield around it. This shield was the incense and prayer power it had received from the people along the river over the years, which was its most precious accumulation. But now, it used it all without hesitation to save its life.

However, the heavenly lightning was too domineering, and the radiant light of the incense and vows shattered inch by inch in the lightning, like glass being hit by a heavy hammer, with fragments flying everywhere.

Blood was splattered all over the turtle's body, some gushing from cracks in its carapace, some seeping from the joints of its limbs, and some overflowing from the corners of its mouth.

Its screams grew more and more piercing, echoing through the thunder and sending chills down one's spine.

The green snake had long since fled far away. It lay coiled on the water several miles away, gazing at the area shrouded in lightning, its entire body trembling slightly.

It had seen how powerful the Taoist was, but it never expected that this seemingly gentle white-robed Taoist could actually summon heavenly lightning when he got angry.

This is not something it can afford to mess with.

The green snake shrank its neck and buried its head in its coiled body, leaving only its eyes showing as it secretly watched.

The lightning gradually dissipated.

The turtle's body floated on the water's surface, its entire body charred black, covered in wounds, and its dark red blood had stained the surrounding water red.

Its carapace was mostly broken, its limbs hung limply, its head drooped, and its emerald green eyes were filled with terror and despair.

It no longer had the strength to struggle.

Daozhen's expression remained unchanged, but his dark eyes now held a kind of majesty that made people afraid to look directly at him.

"Bound".

A single word, uttered from his mouth, was like a truth.

Golden chains emerged from the void and wrapped around the old turtle's body.

The chains, formed from Daoist script, radiated a sacred and solemn light.

The chains tightened and contracted, binding the turtle's body smaller and smaller as it struggled desperately, but the chains only grew tighter.

In the end, the turtle shrank to the size of a palm.

The golden chains transformed into tiny Daoist runes, manifesting all around it. Each rune glowed faintly, firmly sealing its demonic power within its body.

Daozhen slowly descended from the sky, his feet touching the water, and scooped up the palm-sized turtle.

The turtle curled up in his palm, not daring to stick its head out.

In the distance, the green snake finally dared to swim over.

It cautiously approached, glanced at the old turtle in Daozhen's hand, then at Daozhen himself, its eyes filled with a deep-seated fear.

"That's amazing."