Facing the sudden change, I pondered for a moment. I didn't withdraw the Xuan Yuan Sword, but on the contrary, I channeled more monster power into the sword and continued to stab at the black rock below.
The movement in front of us was obviously related to the black rock. We had been busy for half a day just to understand what the black rock was. Now that we had seen the results, how could we stop?
With my full power, the Xuan Yuan Sword's speed became faster and faster. Just as it was about to stab the black rock, the entire island suddenly shook. I was shocked to find that the Xuan Yuan Sword's speed suddenly slowed down when it was about to touch the black rock. It became extremely slow and then stopped moving. Then, it slowly retreated. I couldn't stop it no matter how much strength I exerted.
The alarm bells in my head rang and I didn't want to fight against the power anymore. I wanted to withdraw the Xuan Yuan Sword first before doing anything else. However, when I did that, I found that the Xuan Yuan Sword wasn't under my control. It didn't retreat faster but maintained its previous speed. It floated in midair and hovered there.
At the same time, I suddenly stepped on empty air. The entire island seemed to sink. The calm lake water suddenly surged towards the center of the island. The Spirit Snake and I hurriedly flew up to stabilize our bodies.
I looked down and saw that the entire island had sunk to the bottom of the lake after a few seconds. Only some plants were left floating in the surging lake water.
Before we could figure out what was happening, our vision suddenly darkened. An enormous object appeared above our heads. It was as though it had covered the entire sky, shrouding us in its shadow.
Not only that, but there was a power in the shadow that I couldn't resist. It was as deep as the abyss and as deep as the mountain. I was completely terrified and my body felt numb.
This definitely wasn't the power of the Monster Emperor as even the Monster Emperor wouldn't have such power!
I didn't have the time to look up and immediately urged all the power in my body to struggle to escape. However, I was shocked to find that no matter how hard I tried, my body seemed to be frozen on the spot. I could move my hands and feet but I couldn't move a single step.
It was the same for the Spirit Snake behind me. I didn't know why he had turned into his dragon form. His body was moving back and forth, but he kept spinning on the same spot.
I was in a hopeless situation so I didn't struggle anymore. I lifted my head to look at the shadow above my head. At first glance, I saw a pitch-black object that covered the entire sky. After looking around, I could see that the shadow above my head was actually a giant turtle.
Looking at the giant turtle's pitch-black color, I instantly understood. The giant black rock that the Spirit Snake and I had attacked with all our power should be its shell. The island that we were standing on should be its entire shell!
No wonder I was able to sense that abnormal energy earlier. It turns out that the entire island is a living creature!
My mind moved like lightning. My first thought was that the Black Tortoise, an ancient divine beast, had a tortoise-like body and was even stronger than the four vicious beasts. If it wasn't the Black Tortoise, who else could it be?
The human world had the existence of an ancient God Beast, Black Tortoise. Its body was like a turtle and its power was even stronger than the four Vicious Beasts. Apart from the God Beast Black Tortoise, who else could it be? "
The Four Savage Beasts were originally the subordinates of Monster God Ling and I could easily control them. However, this Divine Beast, Black Tortoise, was a mystical being nurtured by heaven and earth. It obviously wouldn't recognize my identity as Monster God Ling and Emperor Ku. Furthermore, the actions of the Snake Spirit and I just now were obviously not friendly to it. I had no idea what would happen next.
At this moment, the Snake Spirit should have recognized the Black Tortoise's identity. It lifted its head and stopped moving its body. Instead, its body kept trembling. It was unknown whether it was because of the Black Tortoise's power or the fear in its heart.
After waiting in silence for a long while, the Black Tortoise in the air finally moved. It moved its limbs as though it was swimming slowly in the water. It came to the side of the Xuan Yuan Sword that was floating in the air. It extended its huge turtle claw and grabbed the Xuan Yuan Sword that was as small as a toothpick. It held it in its hand and studied it for a while. Then, it slowly turned its head and stared at me with its dim yellow eyes.
Its eyes looked like a puddle of stagnant water that had experienced the vicissitudes of life. I couldn't see any emotion in its eyes. Its pitch-black eyelids only opened and closed once in a while. Every time it opened and closed, it looked as though it had gone through a change of day and night.
After staring at me for a long time, it slowly moved its claws and put the Xuan Yuan Sword back to its original position. Then, it slowly twisted its body and swung its limbs as it swam away like it was swimming.
Its movements seemed extremely slow, but as its limbs moved, its body rapidly moved until it disappeared into the water vapor on the surface of the lake. It became a blurry black dot and then completely disappeared.
At this moment, the restraints around the Spirit Snake and I disappeared along with the Xuan Yuan Sword.
The two of us hastily circulated our monster powers to stabilize our bodies. I extended my hand to retrieve the Xuan Yuan Sword. After carefully inspecting it, I didn't find any abnormalities. Then, I used the Sword Nurturing Technique to swallow it back into my stomach.
The Spirit Snake was still foolishly staring into the distance. When it saw me looking at it, it returned to its human form and muttered to me, "That thing just now … Was it the Divine Beast, the Black Tortoise?"
I nodded. "It should be it."
The Spirit Snake's face was filled with misfortune and fear. It said miserably, "I thought that I would pick up some treasure. Why did I encounter such a thing … I was stunned just now. I thought that both of us brothers would die here today."
I also felt fear, but at this moment, I was even more bewildered.
The Black Tortoise was one of the four spirits of the Heavens and Earth. It was the God of the North. At the same time, the North belonged to the Water and the Underworld. Thus, it was also called the Water God and the God of the Underworld. According to the records, it didn't seem to have any connection with my life. I didn't know why it had looked at the Xuan Yuan Sword and observed my actions.
After staying silent for a long time, I returned to the Black Dragon Beast with the Spirit Snake and continued to travel along the Ruo River.
The Divine Beast, the Black Tortoise, had suddenly appeared and didn't communicate with us at all. Thus, it was useless to think too much about it. I could only secretly note it down in my heart. When I returned to the human world, I would communicate with people. Perhaps, I would be able to peep into the Ancient Divine Beast's thoughts.
This small interlude made the Spirit Snake and I quiet for a few days. At the same time, whenever we encountered an island, we would subconsciously observe it for a long time to see if it was the Divine Beast, the Black Tortoise, or another Divine Beast.
However, among the four spirits, only the Black Tortoise was a beast that liked peace. The other Divine Beasts didn't have the patience to float on the water and form islands.
As a matter of fact, we didn't encounter such a thing again. After traveling in fear for a few more days, we didn't think about it anymore. We continued to hunt ferocious beasts in the water, slowly moving forward while relying on Beast Cores to increase our cultivation base.
Several months passed in the blink of an eye. With the help of countless beast cores, my cultivation base advanced step by step towards the great circle of the Monster God realm. Finally, one day after half a year, I sensed a change in my body and temporarily stopped advancing. I landed on an island and went into seclusion for three months, breaking through the late Monster God realm and reaching the great circle of the Monster God realm.
The peak of the Monster God Realm was equivalent to the cultivation base of the Human Realm. It was equivalent to reaching the peak of the Dawn Realm. In other words, I was only one step away from the Dawn Realm!
This was the cultivation base of Old President Li, Celestial Master Zhang, the Sacrificial Evil Spirit, and the Lord of Penglai!
In other words, my cultivation base was now at the same level as theirs. Coupled with the sharpness of the Xuanyuan Sword, it was very likely that they were no longer my match.
At this moment, I felt that everything was unreal. Thinking back to when the Gate of the Mountain and Sea Realm had opened, although it had only been a few years, my memories had already become blurry.
If I had this cultivation base back then, perhaps even if President Li and Celestial Master Zhang joined forces, they wouldn't have been able to stop me …
My mind was in a state of chaos. After a long time, I shook my head and came to my senses.
The past was the past, and it wasn't good to look back. Now that the Mountain and Sea Realm had opened and the world had changed, the half-step Dawn Realm was no longer the limit of cultivation. In the Monster Domain alone, there were several true Dawn Realm Monster Emperors. If I wanted to establish myself in the upcoming war, or to fulfill the long-cherished wishes of Monster Emperor Jun and Emperor Ku, I needed to continue exploring the path of cultivation.