Seeing this, Li Sheng gained a rough understanding of the strength of the Tortoise. The Spirit Turtle was slightly stronger than a Despair-level demon, but killing it was impossible. Li Sheng signaled Tuantuan to suppress the demon and then silently chanted to possess. The enormous body of the Tortoise instantly turned into a yellow gas, surging towards him. Li Sheng's tall and upright figure quickly swelled into a giant of about ten zhang, his body radiating divine light like a celestial being.

With his fists clenched, he felt the surging energy within him, and his battle intent surged. Observing the endless stream of yellow gas surrounding him, he summoned the seeds of heavenly-grade divine powers. Tri-colored spheres floated behind him, devouring the surrounding energy. Gradually, a peculiar rhythm was nurtured among the three seeds. Li Sheng focused and sensed that he had established a connection with this world, clearly feeling a wondrous rhythm. "Martial Dao's true intent?"

Feeling the heavy, distant aura, Li Sheng understood that this was the earth attribute true intent bestowed upon him by the Spirit Turtle. After a few breaths, half of the sky behind him turned gray, as if the chaos had not yet opened. Suddenly, a massive golden eye opened in the boundless chaotic mist. Instantly, the void flickered with lightning, and golden thunderclouds formed in the chaotic mist, violently striking the silver giant demon, turning the world into a golden ocean.

"Roar!" The scales of the giant demon bristled, feeling a strong threat, and it howled, sending countless silver lights into the sky to counter the golden lightning. While Grand Masters wield the true intent of martial arts, Despair-level demons possess their origins; though different, both can suppress lower-level cultivators and demons, extinguishing any thoughts of resistance.

Feeling the extraordinary phenomena behind him, Li Sheng's heart swelled with pride; he could finally partake in battles of this level. Although in a possessed state, it was enough to excite him. Hundreds of golden lightning strikes rained down, shattering the scales of the silver giant demon, filling the air with the scent of roasted meat.

With his heart stirred, another red giant eye appeared behind him in the chaotic phenomenon. Raining down from the sky, crimson flames transformed into a phoenix thousands of zhang long, swooping down with massive wings. The world instantly turned into a sea of flames, the intense heat leaving black marks in the void and turning the earth into scorched soil, cracking in all directions.

Before the phoenix arrived, crimson flames surged around the silver giant demon. With thunder above and flames below, the demon's fierce flames were thoroughly suppressed. Dense silver light surged from its body, swiftly forming a massive silver cocoon to shield against the strikes of lightning and fire. "These demons know fear?" Li Sheng's eyes flashed with surprise.

From the chaotic sea, a pair of pale white giant eyes arose. Dozens of black lines extended toward the silver cocoon, devouring everything in their path. The cracks consumed all nearby lightning and flames, and dozens of spatial rifts fell, turning the once resilient silver cocoon into mere tofu, instantly shattering.

Seeing this, Li Sheng quickly dispelled the three extraordinary phenomena. Although the origin of this Despair-level demon was hard for ordinary people to utilize, he happened to have a Deep Abyss clone. Though he currently lacked secret methods, as long as he found them and used these demon origins for cultivation, his progress would be astonishingly rapid, so he couldn't allow the spatial rifts to devour them.

"Chirp chirp!" Tuantuan stood on Li Sheng's shoulder, clapping her little hands in encouragement. "There are still four Despair-level demons... We must quickly deal with them to liberate Tuantuan's suppression powers." Li Sheng muttered to himself, then instructed Tuantuan to continue her suppression, as the dim phenomenon behind him once again shone brightly, crashing toward another black giant demon.

Next, Li Sheng collaborated with Tuantuan to eliminate all four Despair-level demons within the formation, restoring peace to the array by midnight. After releasing his possession, Li Sheng felt fine, but the Tortoise appeared considerably worn, its body shrunk several times and its aura weak, as if drained. Sensing through their contract, he found the Tortoise only needed to rest for a day to recover, so he let it recuperate while heading towards the Spirit Gathering Chamber.

Along the way, Li Sheng took out a black spirit stone to check on the situation in other areas. Upon entering his mind, a message from his senior sister made him laugh and cry. "If you dare disturb my cultivation again, I won't wait for those demons to attack. I'll just destroy your little sect myself!"

"This Empress is truly something... But if you dare to act up now, you might find yourself getting punished..." Li Sheng murmured, then looked downward to see a message left by Miss Qingyi. Her message was depicted vividly through mental imagery, illustrating the scene at that time. "Void Curtain... Such a treasure?"

"Treasure Pavilion truly deserves its reputation as a top-tier sacred force. Fortunately, it only exposed the power of the formation; other buildings in the sect remain hidden." Li Sheng didn't dwell on it and expressed his gratitude for her kindness. As long as a coalition of Grand Masters didn't attack, he had little to fear, provided he didn't go out recklessly.

The public messages recorded the battle situation in Lingchuan Prefecture. Yu Jinsong killed five demons, Tai Shu Hua killed six, Mo Tian Shui killed four, and the master of the Stars Island killed one. "Only four people have records of kills after a day; the other Grand Masters could only suppress them. Remarkably, nine strongest Grand Masters have fallen..."

"The situation seems quite dire." Including his five kills, a tenth of the demons had been eliminated that day; if all went smoothly, they could clear out the remaining demons in half a month, though that was merely an ideal scenario. The number of demons was still overwhelming, and no one could guarantee what would happen next.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

Exiting the spirit stone space, Li Sheng began cultivating the fourth divine seed. For the next two days, the anticipated fierce assaults did not arrive; only two demons came near the end of the task. After being suppressed by Tuantuan, Li Sheng possessed them in turn to eliminate them. Only when the task notification sounded did Li Sheng's heart finally relax.

"Task completed, would you like to settle?"

"Settle!" Li Sheng thought, looking toward the distant horizon, knowing some changes must have occurred for it to be so easy.

"Nightmare-level special task completed, settling rewards..."

"Settlement complete; reward: special secret realm, Fishing Pool"

"Task completion degree: perfect. Additional reward: god-level fishing rod"

"Fishing Pool... god-level fishing rod? Am I supposed to become a fisherman?" Li Sheng furrowed his brow, filled with confusion. Suddenly, he felt a weight in his hand; a crooked, two-meter-long fishing rod appeared, resembling a withered branch.

Seeing this, Li Sheng's mouth twitched, feeling like he had been pranked, and he casually dropped it aside.

"Thud!" When the rod hit the ground, a violent roar echoed as if the sky had collapsed, shaking his head. Realizing something was off, Li Sheng forced himself to withstand the dizziness and dove underground. In an instant, the unremarkable fishing rod sank over a hundred zhang deep into the ground. Fortunately, there was a weak sensation connecting them; otherwise, with its appearance, it would have been hard to locate.

Gripping the fishing rod, Li Sheng's earlier underestimation vanished; he now understood it was a treasure, along with that Fishing Pool. Thinking this, he flew upwards.

As soon as he surfaced, he heard Tuantuan's complaints about someone smashing through her cozy sleep. Feeling guilty, he reassured her, then checked the panel, seeing the sect's protective formation was under repair and would be restored in about ten minutes, which relieved him.

A sense of wonder arose within him; he had just tossed aside the fishing rod, yet it had easily pierced the fourth-tier protective formation. How strong would it be if wielded with full force? "Such strength would be better as a weapon, why make it a fishing rod..."

Li Sheng mused, then flew outside the sect, eager to test just how strong this thing truly was. However, the moment he left the sect, the fishing rod vanished from his hand; upon returning, it reappeared.

After several trials, he understood that it couldn't leave the sect. He wasn't too disappointed; now that the Nightmare-level special task was over, with no potential crises, he could boldly develop the sect.

Reflecting on the outbreak of the demon disaster and the initiation of the task, he realized that Miss Qingyi had been the most beneficial to him and the sect; not only did she help him quickly prepare resources and advance spirit stones, but she also delayed collecting payment, allowing him to gather it at his leisure.

Without her significant assistance, overcoming this crisis would have required tenfold effort. Of course, this was closely linked to his earlier choices; without those two rescues, this situation wouldn't have been possible.

"When we meet again, I must repay her kindness..." Li Sheng's brows relaxed as he headed back to the sect.

Moments later, by the Spirit Pool, Li Sheng found an empty space and placed the Fishing Pool's projection in the center of the pebbled area.

"Would you like to place the Fishing Pool here?"

"Yes!" Li Sheng nodded.

As he spoke, a misty glow began to spread outwards. A few breaths later, as the glow dissipated, an oval-shaped pool appeared on the ground. The pool was about twelve square feet, mostly made of gray rocks, with the actual opening only the size of a basin.

Looking at the mini fishing pool before him, Li Sheng couldn't help but feel a few dark lines appearing on his forehead. Despite his inner discomfort, he didn't act out of line, following the example of the fishing rod. He stepped closer, crouching down to examine the pool.

There was no flowing water in the pool, and the background was somewhat dim, dotted with starlight, resembling a sea of stars. Even though the scene in the pool was right before his eyes, he always felt a sense of infinite distance between him and it.

He moved his hand slightly, pulling over a wooden stick about ten feet long. Holding one end, he poked it into the pool, but had to stop as he approached the bottom. "It looks like it's a foot deep, but this stick has gone a zhang deep and still hasn't hit the bottom"

Li Sheng muttered thoughtfully, then picked up the stick. The next moment, he was startled to see that only a foot was left above the surface; the part that had touched the pool had mysteriously disappeared.

Looking closely, he saw numerous tiny bite marks on the end of the stick that had touched the pool's surface, as if something had gnawed at it. A chill rose within him; even just a foot away, he hadn't noticed that the stick had been eaten away. "This fishing pool is definitely not simple and extremely dangerous!"

Gazing at the seemingly small waterhole, Li Sheng's expression turned serious. He called over Tuantuan, instructing her to strengthen the array around the area so that no one but him and Bai Ye could approach. Although Tuantuan was puzzled, she obediently waved her little hands, raising a dozen invisible walls to enclose the area.

A few breaths later, Li Sheng's figure and the fishing pool disappeared from view. Satisfied, he nodded and remembered the god-level fishing rod he had received as a reward. When he held it in his hands and examined it closely, a line of text appeared before his eyes.

"An ancient fishing rod lost by a powerful being, capable of fishing for all things."

"Note: The host's cultivation level is too low; can only fish once every ten days."

"Once every ten days?" Li Sheng raised an eyebrow. From his experience, such limited-use items were bound to be extraordinary. He looked around and noticed a pit on the right that perfectly matched the shape of the fishing rod's bottom.

Seeing this, he tried inserting the rod into the pit and found it fit snugly. Li Sheng sat down and cast the fishing line into the pool. The fine fishing line shimmered with a white glow, and the slightly rusty hook suddenly emitted a chilling gleam, making him shiver involuntarily.

In a daze, he thought he heard a distant roar coming from the pool. Aware of the peculiar nature of the fishing pool, Li Sheng sat there cautiously, holding his breath. Suddenly, the fishing rod trembled slightly, as if something had bitten the hook. But when he prepared to lift it, the rod returned to stillness.

During this process, he felt a slight wave of fatigue rising within him. Being highly focused, he quickly identified the source of this strange sensation; it was the fishing rod in his hands. "Using essence as bait to fish"

A realization flashed in Li Sheng's eyes. No wonder he had struggled to attach bait to the hook earlier; it all stemmed from this. Understanding the rod's function, he didn't resist the subtle pull; instead, he actively fed it more energy.

As Li Sheng willingly 'added bait,' the unremarkable fishing rod glowed, appearing adorned with countless tiny stars, giving it a deep, ancient feel. "So this is the true nature of the fishing rod"

Li Sheng mused, and suddenly a sorrowful roar echoed from the fishing line, causing it to sway violently. Feeling the pull from the rod grow stronger, he realized it was time for something significant to emerge. Li Sheng focused intently, his eyes gleaming as he stared at the surface of the pool. "It's about to come out"