Chapter 239: A Creature of Spirit, the Clear Water Clam King

Ning Fei swam freely through the depths. In the live stream, the Submarine kept him perfectly framed in the center of the screen. The shot was incredibly steady, making for an exceptionally smooth viewing experience.

As the camera panned out, the viewers saw a wide variety of fish swimming through the lake.

South Lake's waters were remarkably clear. For a fleeting second, the viewers actually felt as if Ning Fei were soaring through the air, roaming in total freedom.

This was part of the mystery that the underwater world held over the dry land above.

Beneath the surface, creatures could move in true three-dimensional space—forward, backward, left, right, up, and down.

Watching a single organism move like this wasn't all that striking.

But when countless fish darted about in erratic, unpredictable patterns at the same time, that profound sense of freedom and mystery immediately surged to life.

"Right now, South Lake is mostly filled with small fish, but they grow fast. If we scatter some fish feed, they'll mature in no time."

Ning Fei explained as he swam forward.

"Look over there. There are actually turtles in South Lake!"

His eyes lit up as he pointed ahead.

This genuinely surprised him.

He had never dived down here before, so he had no idea what lay at the bottom.

South Lake sat in a rather unique location. Water flowed directly into it from springs inside the mountain, which prevented outside fish from entering. At the same time, the stream flowing out of the lake had an extremely narrow mouth, trapping whatever was already inside.

Given these geographical constraints, the local fish population was naturally quite small.

By that same logic, however, a wide variety of other freshwater creatures thrived here.

The Submarine immediately panned over to film the spot. Through the lens, the viewers could clearly see a turtle paddling slowly just ahead of Ning Fei.

"It's an ordinary turtle, also known as a pond turtle."

"Liu Laicai, the owner of a nongjiale in Qinshan Village, raises quite a few of these pond turtles. His soft-shell turtle soup is actually pretty famous around here."

"I didn't expect to find this kind of turtle in South Lake."

Ning Fei was delighted.

This was his lake.

The more treasures it held, the happier he naturally felt.

He continued his descent.

The center of the lake was also its deepest point. Dropping down twenty meters, it was undeniably a deep body of water.

The clam marked on his map was located right around this central hub.

Ning Fei touched down on the lakebed and adjusted his suit's air pressure to keep himself comfortable.

"Everyone, look at this!"

Standing on the muddy lakebed, he pointed at the ground.

The viewers were already intensely curious about everything down here, so they immediately focused on where he was pointing.

They watched Ning Fei dig a bivalve slightly larger than his palm out of the silt. It was a deep, solid brown and looked quite hefty.

"There are actually clams at the bottom of the lake!"

"Whoa, looking at that makes my mouth water."

"Yeah, is that a clam? It's huge. It would be amazing stir-fried."

"Who would've thought South Lake had a whole hidden world down at the bottom!"

"It's a lake no one has visited in decades. Finding all sorts of freshwater creatures down here is totally normal."

Ning Fei then explained, "This is a Clear Water Clam. It belongs to the class Bivalvia and the order Unionida, making it a type of freshwater mussel."

"At the same time, Clear Water Clams are among the few freshwater clams capable of producing pearls."

"Nowadays, most people farm pearl mussels for cultivation, simply because they have a much higher probability of producing pearls."

"Clear Water Clams are much more laid-back. Some will never produce a pearl no matter how you cultivate them, so very few people bother farming them."

"Freshwater clams have terrible mobility. They mainly rely on a hatchet-shaped foot to slowly plow their way through the mud on the lakebed."

"I really didn't expect to find so many Clear Water Clams down here."

Ning Fei looked ahead, easily spotting quite a few of them half-buried in the silt.

He had originally assumed he would find pearl mussels down here. Pearl mussels were essentially just clams, earning their title purely because they produced pearls.

The chances of a Clear Water Clam producing a pearl were much lower, but because of that very rarity, clear water pearls fetched a significantly higher price.

The current market was flooded with pearls from ordinary pearl mussels. They were incredibly cheap, wildly inconsistent in quality, and generally had a lackluster texture.

In the broader pearl market, seawater pearls remained the most expensive. They contained far more natural minerals and nutrients, were almost entirely perfectly spherical, boasted a warm and delicate luster, and felt exceptionally smooth to the touch.

Ning Fei continued to roam the lakebed.

He swam at a leisurely pace.

Before long, a school of small fish swam past and actually started following him, trailing along in his wake.

The viewers marveled at the sight.

It seemed that even freshwater fish couldn't resist Temple Master Ning's charm.

As he navigated the depths, Ning Fei frequently paused to take in the scenery around him.

The underwater landscape held a distinct and vibrant beauty of its own.

Everywhere he looked, creatures glided freely and happily through the water.

Occasionally, a large fish would thrash past, fiercely chasing down a school of smaller fry, putting the raw vitality of aquatic life on full display.

'There are so many Clear Water Clams down here.'

'Which one is hiding the treasure?'

Ning Fei wondered to himself.

He was already close to the location marked on his map.

In other words, the most precious treasure located by his Treasure Seeking Technique had to be hidden inside one of these nearby Clear Water Clams.

However, bivalves died the moment they were forced open. Pearl mussels, for instance, were guaranteed to die the second someone harvested their pearls.

A clam could only open its shell to a maximum of sixty degrees naturally. When humans pried them open, they forced the shells apart to a full 180 degrees—which was essentially the equivalent of snapping them in half at the waist.

Therefore, Ning Fei couldn't possibly go around forcing open every single Clear Water Clam just to check. That simply wasn't his style.

Right at that moment, he suddenly paused.

Staring at the muddy lakebed beneath his feet, he murmured, "Found it. This should be the one!"

He then addressed the viewers in his live stream.

"My luck is pretty good."

"I never expected to find a Clear Water Clam King resting at the bottom of South Lake!"

On the screen, the viewers watched Ning Fei crouch on the lakebed and gently wipe the silt off the surface of what looked like a large rock. Only then did everyone realize it wasn't a rock at all.

"Holy shit? That's a Clear Water Clam?"

The netizens immediately cried out in shock.

"It's enormous!"

"Is this the Clear Water Clam King?"

"Temple Master Ning really stumbled upon a treasure this time."

"This lakebed expedition is absolutely insane. I can't believe a freshwater clam this massive even exists."

"That's some prime seafood. It would definitely taste incredible boiled."

"A clam that big probably wouldn't even fit in a single stew pot."

The chat instantly ignited with excitement.

The clam was roughly the size of a rice cooker. Among freshwater bivalves, an individual this huge was an absolute giant.

Ning Fei hovered beside it, carefully inspecting the Clear Water Clam King.

His Treasure Seeking Technique was a skill designed to locate the most precious animal, plant, fungus, or artifact within a one-kilometer radius.

Now came the real question.

Did the technique lead him here specifically for the Clear Water Clam King itself? It was entirely possible that the clam didn't actually hold a pearl.

Still, for it to grow this large, the chances of it harboring a pearl were extremely high.

"Judging by its shell, this Clear Water Clam King has been alive for thirty to forty years."

Ning Fei explained, carefully examining the massive clam buried in the silt.

"In harsh natural environments, freshwater clams usually live for about ten years. Captive ones can reach twenty. Clear Water Clams are unique, however; some of them can live for an exceptionally long time."

"This specific clam is essentially at the equivalent of a hundred and twenty human years."

"What? A hundred and twenty years old!"

Hearing this, the viewers were thoroughly stunned.

A hundred and twenty years was an incredible milestone. Looking at it that way, this clam really had lived a remarkably long life. No wonder it had earned the title of "Clam King."

Ning Fei then continued, "My master used to say that any creature that lives a long life possesses a spirit."

"So I definitely won't do anything to harm a spiritual creature like this."

"However, with a Clear Water Clam this massive, the odds of it containing a pearl are huge."

"Next, I'm going to see if I can pry it open while ensuring the Clear Water Clam King survives."