Only three seconds? He's already the Lord of All Realms, so it doesn't matter.

They opened up Li Laosi's meridians and planted a seed of immortality in his dantian. No matter what the foundation of an ordinary person is, the time limit to reach the Qi Refining stage is two months.

Standing under the shade of the fairy willow tree, Li Laosi felt the tremendous changes within his body, the fullness that permeated every part of his body.

He curiously examined himself from head to toe. "This... I can cultivate too? Haha!"

However, Chen Hong's joy was short-lived. He told Li Laosi about the Immortal Seed, and Li Laosi's expression changed instantly.

"Why didn't you say so sooner? This, this..."

Li Laosi felt a mix of emotions, both joy and worry. Although he did not know how difficult cultivation was, he had heard about it.

Chen Hong, who was physically strong and quite talented in his youth, has not yet broken through to the Qi Refining stage even after receiving immortal techniques. The difficulties he faces are self-evident.

He realized he was now in a difficult situation and had been truly tricked.

If he had to choose again, he would rather stay at home fishing by the lake than risk his life on this spiritual practice.

"It's too late to regret now; with gain comes loss."

Chen Hong patted him on the shoulder and told Li Laosi about the treasure hidden at the bottom of the lake.

Li Laosi, who had just been frowning, suddenly beamed with joy. "Why didn't you say so sooner?"

Chen Hong's predicament was no problem at all; his secret bait would allow anyone diving into the lake to pass through unimpeded!

He revealed the secret of the bait—

"This bait is made from a kind of herb from the mountains, covered with a thin layer of ordinary fish bait."

Those silly fish wouldn't be able to smell the herbs inside; once they swallowed it, they would quickly lose their strength.

Chen Hong clapped his hands in admiration. He originally planned to rest tonight and make plans tomorrow, but Li Laosi, who had just signed the death waiver, insisted on rushing to Dahu overnight.

He cherishes his life. When faced with unknown immortal techniques, once the initial excitement wears off, he's terrified!

So, under the cover of night, the two climbed over the back mountain of Shuitian Village and returned to the shore of that lake.

Li Laosi immediately pulled out a pile of ground grass powder from the cloth bag at his waist, only then remembering:

"wrong!

"That breath-holding technique you mentioned, I don't know it yet..."

He looked at Chen Hong, "So you said you'd come back tomorrow?"

Chen Hong was somewhat helpless, so he had to leave Li Laosi on the shore, holding onto the vines he had prepared beforehand, while he himself dived into the lake alone.

"Hold on tight, I'll pull the cane and you can lift me up."

After giving his last instructions, Chen Hong turned and walked to a rock high on the lakeside, held his breath, and jumped.

As the water splashed and scattered, the icy lake water instantly enveloped Chen Hong, making him shiver.

He barely opened his eyes in the lake and saw four or five piranhas swimming towards him. Chen Hong remained calm and raised his clenched fist forward.

The specially prepared herbs instantly dispersed in the water, emitting a slightly pungent herbal scent that effectively repelled the piranhas swimming towards him.

The fish all avoided the herb, allowing Chen Hong to easily approach the bottom of the lake.

"So deep!"

Only after personally diving into this great lake did Chen Hong realize how unfathomably deep it was. He counted the time at each air vent and swam faster toward the bottom.

Before long, he looked into the depths of the lake and saw a whirlpool, and in the center of that whirlpool shone a precious light!

A faint blue halo spread out in the water, hidden within the whirlpool, and was not obvious.

"It seems there's no doubt that it's the treasure."

Chen Hong stopped being distracted and desperately tried to get closer to the whirlpool in the water. Just as he was getting closer and closer to the precious light, a dark shadow swam past him.

He gradually saw the blurry shadow clearly, and it turned out to be a large fish that was nearly two meters long!

The large fish resembled an ordinary piranha, but Chen Hong, who had been cultivating for many days, immediately saw through its disguise.

"It possesses cultivation!"

Li Laosi, who was standing on the shore pulling at a rattan cane, saw the cane trembling violently in his hand. "Could it be that Brother Chen has encountered some misfortune..."

Meanwhile, in the Chen family's backyard, Ye Xuan, who had been observing the two searching for treasure, also noticed the large fish when his senses penetrated to the bottom of the lake.

He bypassed the large fish and saw a palm-sized bead at the center of the whirlpool.

It was completely translucent, radiating a precious light, and contained extraordinary spiritual power. Presumably, the fish in this lake had all undergone some changes due to the influence of this pearl...

At this moment, in order to protect himself, Chen Hong distanced himself further and further from the big fish and the pearl.

Chen Hong was immediately anxious. He realized that he could no longer keep running away, so he drew a short knife from his waist.

He stood in the water, gazing at the huge fish with its gaping maw rushing towards him.

"There's still some time..."

Chen Hong seized the opportunity, imbued the short sword with his spiritual power, and threw it with all his might when the big fish was less than half a meter away from him.

The spiritual energy pierced through the resistance in the water, and only then did the sharpness of the dagger appear.

But the big fish wasn't stupid. Seeing the short knife approaching, it immediately closed its mouth; the short blade and weak spiritual power had no effect on its tough skin.

Taking advantage of the moment when the big fish was reacting, Chen Hong quickly swam back to the vicinity of the precious pearl.

But just as he was about to grab him, Li Laosi on the shore estimated that it was about time, so he began to pull hard on the vine and slowly pulled Chen Hong up.

"..."

The two, now back on shore, stared at each other in silence.

However, this was not entirely fruitless. Chen Hong at least explored the situation at the bottom of the lake. He felt that he still needed to wait until Li Laosi mastered the breath-holding technique before the two of them could together obtain the precious pearl.

So the two hid in the dense forest behind the mountain, and one taught the other, and before dawn, Li Laosi had a general grasp of the breath-holding method.

Although he doesn't have enough breath and can only hold it for fifteen minutes, he should be able to keep that big fish occupied without much trouble.

This time, Chen Hong untied the thick hemp rope from his waist, tied one end to a huge rock on the shore, and tied the other end tightly around his waist and to Li Laosi.

The two dived into the water together, and the piranhas in the lake seemed to have conspired beforehand, quickly lunging at them.

He continued to use Li Laosi's bait to scare away the fish. This back-and-forth had consumed two months' worth of his bait. He only hoped that there really was a treasure in the lake, otherwise he would have lost everything.

The two quickly arrived near the whirlpool at the bottom of the lake. It was the first time Li Laosi had ever seen such a big fish, and his hand holding the spear was trembling.

Chen Hong parted ways with him here, sending Li Laosi to lure away the big fish while he retrieved the pearl.

Seeing that the big fish was about to rush towards him, and having run out of herbs, Li Laosi had no choice but to pick up his spear and start poking around wildly.

But his poor marksmanship was thwarted when the big fish swooped down on him, knocking him aside. He felt as if his internal organs had been displaced, and though he was in pain, he couldn't even cry out...

Chen Hong quickened his pace, using his spiritual power to create a layer of light and flame that enveloped his arm before plunging into the whirlpool in the water.

Holding the crystal-clear pearl, the spiritual energy emanating from it immediately made his eyes shine brightly.

Chen Hong grabbed the rattan cane around his waist and rushed to the shore, then pulled Li Laosi, who was being chased, ashore from there.

"Phew, damn it, I almost broke my back!"

Although he angrily cursed the big fish in the lake, his anger vanished when he saw the precious pearl.

Li Laosi looked left and right, afraid that there might be no one around. He also carefully observed the surroundings before quickly stuffing the item into his pocket.

The two then took the pearl and quietly returned home before dawn.