Chapter 686
Dechi Water
The Merit Pool was enormous; apart from lotus flowers and a treasure pavilion, the surface seemed completely empty. But Lin Zhu knew that such an important place would not be left unprotected by the Western Paradise.
Sure enough, when he turned his gaze to the center of the pool, to the area surrounded by the most lush and radiant golden lotus of merit, his heart skipped a beat!
Beneath the surface of the water in that area, a massive shadow, as large as a small mountain, could be vaguely seen coiled up!
Lin Zhu held his breath, focused his gaze, and carefully looked through the clear, pale golden pool water.
The shadow gradually became clearer—it was a strange creature! It had a majestic dragon head, ferocious dragon horns, and golden dragon whiskers that swayed slightly in the water, but its body was not a serpentine dragon body, but a fish body covered with thick golden scales! Under its belly grew four strong and powerful claws, also covered with golden scales.
With its eyes closed, it floated quietly in the depths of the pool, as if in a deep slumber. But even in its slumber, the ancient, majestic, and awe-inspiring aura emanating from it was enough to make anyone who approached it tremble with fear!
"Golden-bearded turtle?!"
Lin Zhu gasped, instantly recognizing the legendary being!
With a dragon's head and a fish's body, four legs and golden scales, and a majestic closed eye, it prefers to live in sacred waters such as the Merit Pool and the Dragon Transformation Pool, taking it as its duty to protect them. It is extremely powerful!
Judging from the undisguised quasi-saint-level aura emanating from this golden-bearded turtle, its strength is at least at the mid-level of quasi-saint! Moreover, as a naturally born aberrant species, its actual combat power is probably much stronger than that of human cultivators or ordinary demons of the same level!
Lin Zhu's heart sank to the bottom in an instant.
Although his strength has greatly improved, when facing a mid-level quasi-saint beast, especially without the support of the Heavenly Origin Demon Stone energy and unable to unleash the full power of the God-Slaying Spear, his chances of winning a head-on confrontation are extremely low, and he may even be killed!
[WARNING. A high-strength guardian creature, the 'Golden-Bearded Turtle Fish,' has been detected. It possesses mid-level Quasi-Saint strength and is currently in a state of light slumber. The host must conceal all auras and act with extreme caution. The Heaven-Concealing Talisman can greatly conceal the host's presence, but if the host actively attacks or causes excessive energy fluctuations, it may still awaken the creature. Once awakened, the consequences will be unimaginable.]
The system notification sounded promptly, confirming Lin Zhu's judgment.
"Light sleep..."
Lin Zhu stared intently at the enormous shadow deep in the pool, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead.
He had no doubt that once the big guy was awakened and discovered that he, the "little thief," was stealing the merit water, he would definitely launch a thunderous attack without hesitation and tear him to pieces!
"We can't force it... We absolutely mustn't alert it."
Lin Zhu forced himself to calm down, his mind racing. "The Heaven-Covering Talisman is still working. As long as I don't intentionally kill myself, don't reveal my killing intent, and don't cause too much energy disturbance, it shouldn't be able to detect me. The system also said that it's only in a light slumber, but not on alert... Perhaps, there's a chance?"
His gaze once again greedily fell upon the pool of shimmering, pale golden essence of merit water. Having come this far, and seeing such a "generous" sum of "ill-gotten gains," how could he possibly leave empty-handed?
"Fortune favors the bold... Bah, it's law enforcement that's fraught with danger!"
Lin Zhu gritted her teeth and made up her mind.
He carefully took out the blue gourd he had obtained on his journey to the west from his pocket.
This gourd is of good quality and has a large internal space. The Chaos Green Lotus once used it to store divine water containing 100,000 merits and gave it to Lin Zhu.
Lin Zhu aimed the gourd's mouth at the merit water by the pool, and with a slight thought, activated the gourd's absorption power.
A tiny, almost negligible suction force emanated from the gourd, and a small area of the merit water at the edge of the pool was silently drawn into the gourd as a thin stream.
Success! The golden-bearded turtle showed no reaction, remaining deeply immersed in its slumber.
Lin Zhu was overjoyed, but then his brows furrowed. He realized that the gourd was absorbing the merit water at a very slow pace!
Moreover, although the merit water in this pool is extremely pure, the essence of essence, its "concentration" or "density" seems to be... lower than the bottled divine water given by the Chaos Green Lotus before?
He estimated that, at this speed and given the gourd's capacity, filling it would only hold the equivalent of ten thousand merit units of divine water. Compared to the previous Chaos Green Lotus, which delivered one hundred thousand merit units per gourd, the "merit content per unit volume" of this pool of water seemed to have been reduced?
"Tsk, how unscrupulous! They even mixed the water in the Merit Pool... oh no, is the natural concentration not high enough?"
Lin Zhu muttered to himself, feeling somewhat annoyed. But then he thought, "This is a whole pool of it! Quantity leads to quality! A lower concentration is fine, but there's so much of it!"
Seeing that the golden-bearded turtle still didn't move, Lin Zhu gradually grew bolder.
Ten thousand merits for a gourd? That's far too little! It doesn't match the scale and determination of his "strict enforcement" this time at all!
His eyes darted around, and a smile that was both ferocious and excited appeared on his face.
He carefully put the blue gourd back, and then... took out ten more gourds from his storage space!
These ten gourds are each about the height of a person, and are dark purple in color. The surface of the gourds is naturally engraved with mysterious spirit-gathering and capacity-expanding runes, and their grade is obviously much higher than that of the previous cyan gourd!
These were spoils he obtained when he "confiscated" a certain ignorant demon. Each gourd had an extremely spacious interior, specifically designed to store liquids such as spiritual liquids and wines, with an astonishing capacity!
Lin Zhu roughly estimated that each of these ten large gourds had a capacity at least ten times that of the previous green gourd! In other words, each large gourd could hold at least 100,000 units of divine water! Ten of them would be... a million units of merit!
"Hey hey hey..."
Lin Zhu rubbed his hands, looking at the ten gourds that were as tall as a person, then at the sleeping golden-bearded turtle in the pond, and then at the vast and boundless Merit Pond. His eyes gleamed with a simple yet fervent light, like that of a "porter".
"Amitabha Buddha, it wasn't easy for you to accumulate such a large fortune. However, taking from the people and using it for... uh, for law enforcement, can be considered a perfect deed. Today, let me help you 'lighten your burden' and 'keep safe' these 'properties' that are easily coveted!"
He no longer hesitated, but his movements remained extremely gentle and cautious.
He picked up the first large gourd, gently dipped its mouth into the merit water at the edge of the pool, and then fully activated the gourd's absorption power, while using his own magic power to restrain and calm any minor energy ripples that might occur during absorption.
"Gurgling..."
This time, the absorption was significantly more intense than before. The pale golden merit water seemed to have found an outlet, forming a clear stream that surged into the enormous purple gourd. The water level at the edge of the pool dropped slightly at a visible rate!
Lin Zhu's heart was in his throat as he stared intently at the golden-bearded turtle in the center of the pond.
Fortunately, the enormous shadow remained motionless, as if it had been sleeping there since time immemorial, completely unaware of the slight changes at the edge of the pool.
"Great! There's hope!" Lin Zhu was overjoyed and became even bolder.
He quickened his pace slightly, and the first large gourd was soon filled, heavy and radiating a rich golden light of merit.
He quickly put away the first gourd, immediately put on the second one, and immersed himself in the pool again, starting to suck it up frantically!
"Gurgle...whoosh..."
The sound of the water being drawn in seemed a little louder than before, and the water level at the edge of the pool dropped again, this time by a more noticeable margin!
Lin Zhu was completely immersed in the joy and excitement of the "harvest." He was like the most greedy miser, with only the pale golden water flowing into the gourd and the gradually decreasing water level in the pool in his eyes.
He replaced one large gourd after another, frantically drawing water from the Merit Pool.
The third gourd was filled...
The fourth gourd was filled...
The water level at the edge of the pool has noticeably sunken down by a large area!
The Merit Pool was vast, and although hundreds of thousands of merit units of divine water had been drained, it was perhaps only a drop in the ocean compared to the entire pool. However, the signs of the water level drop were clearly visible at the edge of the pool.
Lin Zhu picked up the seventh gourd, ready to continue his "moving business," his face beaming with a satisfied smile after his "hard work."
However, he failed to notice, or rather, in his extreme excitement and focus, overlooked a subtle change—
In the center of the pool, deep within the area surrounded by golden lotuses of merit, lies the enormous shadow of the Golden-Bearded Ao-fish, which has remained motionless like a small mountain. Its long whiskers, which droop into the water like golden silk, trembled slightly, almost imperceptibly.
Like a slumbering behemoth that sneezed softly in its dream.
Or perhaps it's some kind of instinctive, subtle warning sign that your "belongings" are rapidly slipping away?
Lin Zhu was completely immersed in the immense joy and sense of accomplishment of "transporting" the merit-enhancing divine water. Although the "merit content per unit volume" of the divine water in this pool seemed to be lower than he had expected, the sheer amount was overwhelming!
Thick, pale golden water jets continuously poured into the enormous purple gourd. Each gourd, once full, meant that at least 100,000 merits had been earned!
The first... the second... the third...
He moved swiftly, changing gourds one after another, completely focused, his eyes only on the ever-decreasing water level and the increasingly heavy gourds in his hands.
Five large gourds, each as tall as a person, were quickly filled and weighed down into his pocket, meaning that at least 500,000 merits were already in his pocket! Looking around, the merit pool, which was originally full, had a significantly lower water level in the area near him; roughly estimated, it had dropped by at least one-tenth!
"Five hundred thousand... still not enough! Far from enough!"
Lin Zhu licked his slightly dry lips, his eyes burning with a fierce "fire of law enforcement." "The 'stolen money' accumulated over countless years in the Western Paradise—can it be represented by a mere 500,000?"
Now that I, Lin Zhu, have come today, bearing the heavy responsibility of purifying Buddhism and confiscating embezzled funds, and even more so the expectations of the Buddhas of the Western Paradise who are fighting bloody battles outside, and His Majesty the Jade Emperor who places high hopes on me, how can I be soft-hearted and give up halfway? I must press on with all my might and 'safeguard' all these 'ill-gotten gains' that easily incite greed and corrupt the heart of the Dao!
He was completely unaware of the commotion caused by his frantic extraction of water from the pool—although he tried his best to suppress the fluctuations of his magical power, the disappearance of such a huge amount of water from the pool, and the resulting changes in the water flow and water level, were like a resounding bell tolling in the dead of night for some extremely sensitive beings!
Just as Lin Zhu picked up the sixth large purple gourd, preparing to continue his efforts and immerse the gourd's mouth into the pale golden pool of water once more—
A sudden change has occurred!
"Roar--!!!"
A deep, majestic roar, yet containing boundless fury, erupted from the deepest part of the Merit Pool, from the core area surrounded by the golden lotus of merit, like a dormant volcano suddenly erupting or like ancient thunder exploding at the bottom of the pool!
The waters of the entire Merit Pool trembled and churned violently at this roar! Countless lotus flowers swayed, and the treasure pavilion shook! A vast, ancient, and terrifying pressure, filled with rage and killing intent, swept across the entire Merit Pool area like a tangible tsunami!
Lin Zhu trembled violently, his hands froze, and he looked up in horror!
In the center of the pool, the enormous shadow that had been quietly looming like a small mountain had now come to life!
Those dragon eyes, which were originally tightly closed and as big as millstones, were now fully open, burning with raging golden flames, like two shrunken, furious suns, fixedly and precisely on the white-clad figure by the pool who was holding a large gourd and in an awkward position!
The Golden-Bearded Turtle, no, it should now be called the guardian of the Pool of Merit, has fully awakened!
Its massive dragon head slowly rose, its golden whiskers thrashing wildly like angry snakes, and its mouth opened and closed, emitting a piercing yet soul-shaking roar that sounded like metal rubbing together.
"Who dares to trespass on my sacred Western Paradise and steal the Holy Water of Merit?!"
The sound waves rolled on, making Lin Zhu's eardrums ache, and the protective spiritual light around his body flickered violently.
Only now did he truly realize how terrifying the strength of the beast before him was! The pressure of the mid-level Quasi-Saint was released without reservation, like a mountain of billions of tons pressing down on him, making it difficult for him to even breathe!
Lin Zhu looked at the dragon's eyes, which were filled with rage, and then looked down at the large gourd in his hand, as well as the faint golden line of water still attached to the mouth of the gourd. The expression on his face quickly changed from initial horror to... something subtle.
He blinked, as if he hadn't heard the question, or perhaps he thought the question was... superfluous? He actually lowered his head again and continued to circulate his magic power, sucking in the last bit of merit water connected to the gourd's mouth until the gourd was completely full, making a soft "glug" sound. Only then did he pat the gourd with satisfaction and put it away.
Then, he raised his head again to meet those dragon eyes that seemed to be spitting fire. Instead of the panic and fear of being caught red-handed, his face showed a slight frown, revealing a look of... being disturbed for no reason, and even a little displeased.
Seeing Lin Zhu's reaction, Jinxu Aoyu was first stunned, then his anger intensified! This thief, caught red-handed and with the stolen goods, not only didn't flee or kneel, but dared to remain so calm, even... continuing to put the stolen goods away right in front of him?! This was blatant provocation! He was treating him as if he didn't exist! (End of Chapter)