The Medallion
Chapter 998 Delay In Rocky's Journey

Based on his previous experience, Rocky was certain he and this Fire Rock Turtle would end up in a fight. He was not worried, because his current strength was more than enough to deal with such a creature. Without a doubt, it would surrender or crumble under his power.

However, the fierce fight that he expected did not happen. The Fire Rock Turtle did not advance to challenge him. Instead, its body started to shrink and slipped back into the ethereal crystal which served as its shell.

Before long, the crystal gave off a strong spiritual power and became ablaze with radiant spiritual flame. It spread like wildfire and burned the ground several meters from where he stood. The flame was so fierce, Rocky could not go near it. The situation just became more difficult for him.

Rocky's head began to ache. He could not attack the ethereal crystal, even if it would force the Fire Rock Turtle to go out. Blasting the crystal would cause it to break and could hurt the Fire Rock Turtle. If that happened, all his efforts would be in vain. It was just too risky.

"What a weak creature! Shame on you!" Rocky felt so frustrated, he could not help but curse. Back when he tried to capture the Dark Heaven Insect, it required a lot of force. After all, it was a brutal confrontation. But it was not as irritating as this. This creature hid itself inside the shell and did not respond despite his efforts. Everything he did was pointless, and it annoyed Rocky.

Rocky needed to get on in his journey and hunt the spiritual treasure as soon as possible. He could not afford to waste so much time with the Fire Rock Turtle. With this, he focused his mind with the task at hand, hoping to come up with an idea on how he could seduce it to come out. A moment later, he took out the few magical saliva he had kept, and placed the bottle right in front of the turtle. If it relented and dared to come out, he would knock it out at once.

However, the Fire Rock Turtle was more cunning than he expected. It resisted the temptation of the magical saliva and did not made a single sound, let alone come out. It was wise enough to choose its safety over the magical saliva.

Rocky became more distressed when the turtle refused to come out. Anxious, he paced back and forth, but failed to come up with another idea. He knew he needed to calm down, so he sat down on the ground and closed his eyes.

A couple of hours went by, and the day was about to end, but the Fire Rock Turtle never came out. It seemed determined to stay inside the crystal until Rocky gave up and left.

Before long, Rocky opened his eyes. He looked at the unmoving turtle and let out a sigh. He stared at it for a few more minutes, then stood up from the ground. Without a word, he walked towards Robin, and then led him away.

The Fire Rock Turtle was fearful and cautious. It stayed in the ethereal crystal for another hour, even after Rocky left. After a little while, the crystal trembled slightly and the bright spiritual flame died down. A small, round head popped out of the crystal and looked around with its tiny eyes. Confident that no one else was around, it stretched out its miniature body little by little. It moved at a slow pace until it smelled the magical saliva. Suddenly, it became fearless and crawled towards its goal. As the Fire Rock Turtle busied itself with the magical saliva, a beast shadow crept up beside it without a noise. Instantly, the crystal horn on its head lit up.

The Fire Rock Turtle sensed the presence of the silent figure beside it. Panic-stricken, it wanted to retreat into the ethereal crystal once again, but it was too late. It could not move its small body. Rocky was smiling from ear to ear.

"You could escape a flying spear, but you could not guard against an invisible arrow. That strategy worked well on you!" An hour ago, Rocky felt that the Fire Rock Turtle was near its breaking point after it stayed motionless with him for hours. He figured it would go hungry and would come out any time. He also knew that it would try to get rid of him. However, Rocky considered the power of the spiritual flame released by the ethereal crystal. It was too dangerous, and he decided not to fight against the Fire Rock Turtle to avoid any accident. Instead, he pretended to give up and left. But he did not leave at all. The moment he was out of sight, he summoned Ken and instructed it to sneak quietly near the turtle. They waited for the perfect time, and it was not too long when the turtle came out. The plan worked perfectly. There was no escape for the turtle, the moment it let its guard down and went out of the crystal.

The technique Rocky and Ken used was very effective, but this kind of capability would only work if the opponent was taken off guard. In the case of the Fire Rock Turtle, it was motionless for a long time, and became careless when it thought no one else was around. It was attracted to the magical saliva, and it allowed Ken to accomplish its job easily.

Rocky then opened the Magic Spiritual Space with his spiritual power and instructed Ken to take the Fire Rock Turtle inside. He later tied it tightly with the same chain he used to tie the Dark Heaven Insect. This prevented the turtle from slipping back into the crystal. Rocky planned to tame it once he had returned from this journey. He would subdue it slowly, the same way he tamed the Dark Heaven Insect. It took him almost a day to catch the Fire Rock Turtle, but it was worth it. This turtle was rare and was very difficult to replace. More so, it possessed the ability of producing valuable treasures.

And it was Ken who made it all possible. It was Ken who discovered the cave, and it was its extraordinary ability that captured the turtle. If it wasn't for Ken, catching the Fire Rocky Turtle would remain a dream for Rocky.

Another day had passed, and there was still no lead to replace the spiritual treasure. Rocky had to go on with his journey. After he had secured the turtle, he moved on to explore the Hell of Dragon Fang. Meanwhile, the treasure hunting teams led by the six princes lingered around the Hell of Dragon Fang. They were scattered in different places in search of the treasure the emperor asked them to replace. There were so many of them, that even the smallest team had more than 20 masters. The Hell of Dragon Fang was a habitat of spirit-manipulated beasts, and the treasure hunting activities disturbed them.

Soon, all the teams were too exhausted to continue hunting. They had fought all kinds of spirit-manipulated beasts, and several men were wounded or had died. The teams led by two princes suffered the most because of their lower strength.

No one really knew what kind of spiritual treasure they were looking for. It was a dark and extremely dangerous place. As if they were looking for a needle in a haystack. Grand masters like Lucas could only assume the location of the treasure based on their experience and training. Nothing was certain, and it was impossible to succeed.¶¶¶¶¶¶