"Dead?" Zuan was taken aback. All previous investigations indicated that the seventh-ranked gold medalist had drowned here. If he had died and then entered the water, how could he have kept it from the professional personnel of the Embroidered Robe Envoy?

"You're probably trying to distance yourself from this." Zuan himself had personally examined the seventh-ranked gold medalist and confirmed that he had drowned. Naturally, he didn't believe the turtle spirit and guessed that it was afraid of being retaliated against if it told the truth.

“Absolutely not,” the turtle spirit swore to the heavens. “Even if I harmed some cultivators back then, it was only in self-defense. I am a kind-hearted demon.”

Zu An sneered repeatedly. If his cultivation level were lower, he would probably have been strangled to death on the spot by the several dark blue hands that suddenly emerged from the ground. Naturally, he did not believe his nonsense.

Seemingly sensing his emotions, the turtle spirit immediately felt its hair stand on end: "If I really want to harm someone, it's to absorb their life essence to help with my cultivation. Dead people are useless to me, so I have no reason to harm them."

"Absorbing people's life essence?" Zu An thought of the Mosquito Taoist and Mr. Bat from back then. They were all extremely evil, absorbing people's life essence. However, there were indeed no signs of being drained on the seventh-ranked Gold Medalist.

"I only fight back occasionally, when someone tries to harm me. Humans don't taste good," the turtle spirit hurriedly explained. "I mainly cultivate by absorbing the essence of the sun and moon."

Zuan suddenly remembered what he had said earlier: "What did you mean by becoming the water god?"

The turtle spirit explained, "As long as the people around here continue to believe in my existence and offer me incense and sacrifices, over time, I will be able to cultivate using the power of their faith. This is much faster than simply absorbing the essence of the sun and moon. In our circle, this is called becoming a god. I have only completed half of this process. The people around here are gradually believing that there is a mysterious existence in the Blackwater Pool, and occasionally some people come to offer sacrifices, but it has not yet become widespread."

Zu An's face darkened: "Aren't you deliberately deceiving the people?"

This practice, known in ancient times as "evil god lewdness," was a target of vigorous crackdowns by local governments.

"Of course not, I will reciprocate and ensure good weather and peace in the area," the turtle spirit hurriedly explained.

"You can even influence the weather?" Zuan asked, somewhat surprised.

"I am an aquatic creature, and with the power of faith, it is not difficult for me to bring down some rain within a certain range," the turtle spirit said with some pride. "Of course, I cannot take care of anything beyond that range."

Zu An was secretly amazed. He never expected that these spirits and monsters would have such a path to advancement. Of course, such divine abilities were far from the kind of gods he had imagined, but they were almost similar to the Earth God and River God in his previous life's mythology.

After hearing the details of the water god's ascension, Zu'an was somewhat convinced that the death of the seventh-ranked gold medalist had nothing to do with him: "Tell me in detail what happened that day. As the water god of this region, you shouldn't be able to hide anything that happened in the Blackwater Pool from your eyes and ears, right?"

The turtle spirit nodded hurriedly: "That's right. About a month ago, I was cultivating in my cave when I suddenly heard a splash outside, as if something heavy had fallen into the pool. I quietly went out to check and found a corpse floating in the pool."

"Are you sure he was already dead?" Zuan asked.

“Of course,” the turtle spirit replied, “Although I am not as powerful as the immortal, I can still tell whether a person is dead or alive. There was a woman standing by the pool at the time, and it must have been her who threw it in.”

"A woman?" Zu'an was taken aback, and many possibilities flashed through his mind in an instant.

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He casually picked up a twig and started drawing in the water, and soon Zhang Zitong's portrait appeared.

In order to master the skill of making everyone look the same, he studied painting techniques extensively and even received guidance from Yu Yanluo, a master of this art. Now, painting is a piece of cake for him. Although he only met Zhang Zitong once, he has memorized all her features.

At the same time, Blue Fly's ability makes it as easy for him to paint in water as it is on paper.

Seeing the woman before him, who seemed to be alive, the turtle spirit was somewhat shocked, thinking to himself, "Are you the water god or am I? This immortal is indeed unpredictable."

His tone became even more respectful: "Reporting to the Immortal, I am not certain. The woman was wrapped in a black robe and her face was covered, so I could not see her face."

"Did that woman have any distinctive features?" Zu An pressed.

“There’s nothing noteworthy. The immortal knew I didn’t want too many people to discover my true form, so he didn’t dare get too close at the time,” the turtle spirit seemed to think that such an answer was worthless. In order not to anger the other party, he tried hard to think about everything that night. “By the way, that woman seemed to have said something.”

The turtle spirit pondered for a moment, then repeated, "It seems to be 'If only we had been discovered sooner!'"

"If only it had been discovered sooner!" Zu An was full of questions. What did this mean? If the other party had dumped the body here, why would they want it to be discovered sooner?

He asked a few more questions, but when he found he couldn't get anything new out of them, he said to the turtle spirit, "I will investigate what you said. You are not allowed to run away during this time, otherwise if I find you, I will kill you without mercy."

The turtle spirit bowed and scraped in fear and trepidation: "I dare not deceive the immortal. Moreover, I have spent hundreds of years here, and only now has the matter of the water god made some progress. If I escape, everything will have to start all over again. I don't have that much time left."

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