The lake remained calm, showing no response whatsoever. Xiang Shaoyun shouted a few more times, leaving his voice reverberating in the area. But still, no response came.

"Boss, time to apply some force," said Money.

"Sure. Feel free to go into the lake and get that fellow out for me," Xiang Shaoyun agreed.

"Boss, that's not a good idea. I'm still too young. I'm not used to dealing with an old fellow like that," said Money timidly.

Xiang Shaoyun rubbed his nose and said, "What else can we do, then? Continue shouting. I believe that fellow will come out sooner or later."

After a while of shouting, Xiang Shaoyun took some gold lunar liquid out when he saw that the gold-scaled dragon turtle was still not responding. He said, "The lord in the lake, I have some gold lunar liquid here. This is a gift this kid has prepared for you. If you like it, please grant this kid an audience."

He then poured a few drops of the gold lunar liquid into the lake. The gold lunar liquid mixed with the lake, causing a spot on the lake to become more vibrant as though a golden lotus was blooming. It presented quite a dazzling sight.

Xiang Shaoyun stared at the lake, hoping for any sort of response. Unsurprisingly, a change appeared on the surface of the lake. A dreadful attraction force appeared and devoured a large amount of the lake water and all the gold lunar liquid that had dripped into the lake. In fact, the water level of the lake dropped somewhat by the time it finished.

Xiang Shaoyun quickly stepped back. He knew the gold-scaled dragon turtle was about to appear.

Whoosh!

A towering figure burst out of the lake, sprinkling the area with golden drops of lake water. Xiang Shaoyun's eyes widened as he stared at the enormous figure. With a look of disbelief, he said, "This is the so-called gold-scaled dragon turtle? Are you kidding me?"

The figure before him was not a gold-scaled dragon turtle. It was a goldmark toad covered in protrusions. Its body was the size of a small hill, and golden stripes akin to a mysterious formation lined its whole body. Its massive eyes stared down at Xiang Shaoyun, causing him to feel a chill creep up his spine.

"Human kid, hand over your gold lunar liquid, and I'll spare your life," said the goldmark toad.

The goldmark toad was an extremely rare demonic beast. Although it wasn't a species naturally born for battle, it could devour everything in existence. Thus, goldmark toads could wreak great destruction. More importantly, their blood was an extremely precious healing item that could save anyone on the verge of death with only a single drop.

Xiang Shaoyun recollected his thoughts and said, "Lord toad, this kid is interested in conducting a transaction with you. I need a piece of goldblood stone, and I'll give you some gold lunar liquid in return. What do you think?"

"Kid, you're quite gutsy to talk terms with me. Hand the liquid over, or I'll swallow you alive," threatened the goldmark toad as he sent his demonic aura forth toward Xiang Shaoyun.

Xiang Shaoyun could sense a strong pressure pushing down on him. He hurriedly stepped back and ran away without a second thought. He knew the goldmark toad was probably not planning to have a fair trade with him. If he still stayed, he would be stupid.

Xiang Shaoyun moved deftly and was one kilometer away in the blink of an eye. That far away, he finally felt safe. But the moment he thought of that, a fearsome attraction force started dragging him back toward the lake.

"Shit! Gravity field!" Xiang Shaoyun roared as he utilized the profundity of earth. His entire body glowed with a brown radiance as layers of heavy energy wrapped around him. The air around him twisted as the gravity worked at stabilizing his footing.

Alas, the goldmark toad's devouring force was too terrifying. The gravity field instantly collapsed, and Xiang Shaoyun was pulled over like a weed pulled from its roots. Fortunately, Xiang Shaoyun had a rich experience facing many powerful young experts. When he was about to get pulled into the goldmark toad's mouth, the Holy Spirit Banner appeared in his hand. He swung it at the toad.

The Holy Spirit Banner was a saint weapon that had come to form through a series of evolutions. It contained the resentment of countless evil spirits and the blood of numerous warriors, which was how the banner had turned into something more than a war banner and become a fatal weapon.

A torrential resentment surged forth toward the goldmark toad. The power behind the resentment was enough to turn any Emperor into ashes and destroy a Saint's soul foundation.

The goldmark toad finally felt fear. He stopped inhaling and started exhaling, pushing the power of resentment far away together with Xiang Shaoyun and his banner. Xiang Shaoyun cut a sorry figure as he was blown far away, and he was disoriented for a second.

He quickly calmed his mind and got back on his feet. His first thought was to flee because he wasn't confident the Holy Spirit Banner alone was enough to defeat the toad. But before he could, with a flash of gold, a figure landed before him.

"Hand over your gold lunar liquid, and I'll trade for it with a goldblood stone," said an incomparably ugly man with golden curly hair.

The middle-aged man was none other than the goldmark toad.

Tightly gripping the Holy Spirit Banner, Xiang Shaoyun asked, "For real?"

Right after he asked, a goldblood stone half the height of an adult thumped onto the ground. He jumped. The goldblood stone looked the same as goldsteel stone, but if one paid more attention, one would be able to see scarlet spots that looked like bloodstains on it. The golden stripes running all over it were incredibly dazzling.

Xiang Shaoyun was completely stunned when he saw the big piece of goldblood stone before him. He was overwhelmed with joy. A goldblood stone this big could totally be split into more than 10 smaller pieces, enough to increase the strength of over 10 cultivators. One ought to know that the goldblood stone found by the previous disciple in the lake was only the size of a fist. It was nothing compared with this piece before them.

"Kid, are you trading or not?" the goldmark toad snapped.

"Of course! Of course I'm trading!" Xiang Shaoyun hurriedly nodded his head.

Soon, Xiang Shaoyun took out a jade bottle the size of a regular wine bottle. It was filled with gold lunar liquid. He handed the bottle over and said, "This bottle is filled with gold lunar liquid."

"Just this much?" the goldmark toad grumbled unhappily.

"Yes," Xiang Shaoyun clenched his teeth and answered.

In truth, this bottle of gold lunar liquid was only a fraction of what he had. But he was confident the toad would not reject his offer. Just as the goldmark toad was about to take the bottle, a different voice rang out, "Kid, I have a bigger goldblood stone here. I'll trade for your gold lunar liquid."