Making Waves

The instant the white snake looked over, Su He felt as though the entire world had slammed into him, sending him flying in an instant.

He woke with a start, still in the small lake of Snake Valley, but the moonlight no longer shone over it.

This was the green snake's inheritance. He had been expelled.

One dice quietly landed before Su He: five points!

What a pity. If he could have remained within the green snake's inheritance, Su He should have been able to learn the inheri...

Suddenly, Su He froze.

Something extra had appeared in his mind: making waves! The "making waves" from stirring wind and making waves! The inheritance the green snake had received this time was stirring wind and making waves. Su He had not seen the first half, stirring wind, only the latter half, making waves, and thus obtained this portion of the inheritance.

Making waves could control currents and raise towering billows that reached the heavens. Of course, that was the white snake's ability. Having only just received the inheritance, he could at most stir up a tiny splash, no greater than the spray kicked up by slapping the water.

Su He could now only—he raised a claw, as though grasping a ribbon, and scooped up a stream of lake water.

No, this was not making waves.

Making waves could raise colossal waves reaching the heavens, but it could not lift water like a ribbon. This was... Water Manipulation! The white snake's inherited making waves had, after the dice rolled five points, become a divine power akin to Water Manipulation.

A divine power! Not demon arts, but a divine power, an instinct as natural as eating and drinking. It was as if it were an ability Su He had been born with.

Spell arts and divine powers were fundamentally different.

Spell arts were learned; divine powers were innate.

If one had to put it that way, humans eating, drinking, defecating, and urinating were all divine powers, merely far too ordinary. But from a plant's perspective, they were miraculous beyond measure. That thing could actually eat!

Divine powers! Divine powers were abilities one naturally possessed. They could not be learned or taught.

A person could not teach their divine power to another, just as a bird could never teach a cat to fly.

But spell arts could be taught.

The dice could not only improve learning efficiency, but also advance stolen inheritances.

He just did not know how this advancement multiplier was calculated.

Stolen prey could be increased precisely fivefold, whether in quality or quantity; at the very least, those were tangible objects. But how could demon arts be accurately calculated as fivefold, or raised to the fifth power? Su He slowly sank to the bottom of the lake, pondering in secret. Only when the full moon sank into the western frontier did the moonlight around the green snake gradually fade. With confusion in its eyes, it slowly came back to itself.

The green snake glanced at Su He and ignored him. It had already grown accustomed to this over the past while; this shameless turtle often clung to its place.

The green snake's eyes had become even more spirited these past few days. The hundred-day mark was nearing, the Demon Transformation Fruit was nearly digested, and its intelligence was beginning to awaken.

The green snake slithered down from the tree and into the lake, flicking its tail as it repeatedly stirred the water.

It wanted to make waves, but failed to raise any.

The green snake was not discouraged. Inherited demon arts had to be learned slowly. In the nearly three months since it had eaten the Demon Transformation Fruit, it received an inheritance of demon arts every full moon. It had spent over a month in hardship cultivation to master each of the first two demon arts. This time, stirring wind and making waves was even more difficult.

Especially making waves. It always felt as though something was missing, making it hard to grasp.

Perhaps because it was not a water snake? Green Snakes could swim, but they were not water snakes.

Su He sank beneath the water, turning his turtle head back and forth as he continually examined his body. The more he calmed himself, the more clearly he sensed the changes within. It was as though the ability to control water had fused into every inch of his flesh.

Any water that touched him could be controlled by him, not even the tip of his tail excepted.

What a fitting combination, a turtle and Water Manipulation. It was far more useful than merely making waves.

He had stolen an extraordinary inheritance.

Su He poked the green snake, climbed ashore, and used his claw to draw a Water Essence Rune upon a stone.

Talisman script was the direct manifestation of the essence of all things in the world. To observe talismans was to comprehend the Dao. Having stolen the green snake's making waves inheritance, leaving it a Water Essence Rune could count as making up for it somewhat.

At worst, before hibernation, he would give it high-quality food several more times.

Su He dove into the lake and paddled his way back to Crocodile Beach.

Whether because he had just obtained a divine power or because he had been influenced by it, Su He now preferred staying underwater even more. He controlled the water currents to coil around him like serpents, as though his whole body were about to merge with the lake.

Previously, he could only rely on the webs between his claws to paddle. Now, every stroke carried the Water Manipulation Divine Power. The water he moved seemed to solidify, just like gripping a cable beneath the water to pull himself forward. His speed had more than doubled.

This divine power should also be capable of practice and development. Perhaps in the future, he would not even need to paddle when traveling; a wave could carry him as he roamed the four seas.

By the time he returned to Crocodile Beach, the crocodiles had basically finished their night of hunting. After eating some tribute from the crocodiles, Su He suppressed the joy in the bottom of his heart and forced himself to nap for a while.

He had not eaten food with quality improvement of five or six points lately, but little by little, a little became a lot, and his body had accumulated a great deal of energy. After storing it up for a while, he could sink into deep sleep once more.

His shell had shown signs of loosening and molting again these past two days. His next evolution was approaching. This time, it should be a longer slumber, perhaps even merging with hibernation.

The Demon Transformation Fruit was also nearly fully digested.

The sun stood high in the sky, shining down on the languid Crocodile Beach.

Just when Su He thought Yu Lin was no longer afraid of teaching and would not come again, two immortal swords arrived late. They landed on a bluestone and transformed into two people.

Yu Lin and a young man around twenty years old.

He was a young man who looked gentle, yet was impossible to like. Su He felt a faint aversion toward him.

The instinct of beasts.

After landing, Yu Lin pointed at Su He. "Junior Brother Lu, this is the turtle I told you about. Take a look and see whether it has eaten a Demon Transformation Fruit, whether it is a beast about to Transform into Human."

When Junior Brother Lu saw Su He, his eyes lit up. "It truly is imposing and extraordinary. Let me test it." He took a small mirror from his robes. This was the Heavenly Mystery Mirror, specially used to examine Demon Transformation Fruits.

If any beasts had eaten a Demon Transformation Fruit, it could reveal them as well.

The Heavenly Mystery Mirror showed no reaction at all—it could not detect the Red Fruit. The Slovenly Old Daoist had said so long ago.

Junior Brother Lu shook his head. "What a pity. This is a mysterious turtle about to become an Advanced Exotic Beast. It has not consumed a Demon Transformation Fruit."

Yu Lin's clenched hand slowly opened, though several traces of regret showed on his face. "What a pity."

It would not transform into a demon, so no one would know about yesterday's social death...

The way he looked towards Su He became kind again. Then you are still my Head of Vegetarian Hall.

Junior Brother Lu put away the Heavenly Mystery Mirror and gave Yu Lin a cupped fist salute. "Since it is not a transforming beast, this junior brother shall not delay Senior Brother's practice lesson any longer. When Senior Brother begins teaching, do not forget to notify this junior brother. I'm going to cheer for Senior Brother!"

Junior Brother Lu knew I was practicing lessons here! Yu Lin's face reddened as he returned his junior brother's cupped fist salute, watching him depart with Sword Control.

Yu Lin fell silent for a moment, then suppressed his shame and began the day's lesson anew.

Yesterday, he had only briefly explained talisman patterns, which had counted as an introduction. Today, he began from the very basics, explaining each talisman pattern one by one.

Though it was merely a practice lesson, he treated it with extreme seriousness. He truly seemed to regard the crocodiles below as his junior brothers and junior sisters, overlooking not a single detail. He even dealt sternly with an incident of students fighting.

For some unknown reason, two crocodiles began fighting. With a pointed finger, he suspended them upside down over the lake, while a small ruler smacked their crocodile bottoms with loud slaps.

The day's lesson ended rather early. Perhaps because of yesterday's practice, he had relaxed considerably today. Just as evening glow rose in the west, he ended the day's class and departed with Sword Control.

Night fell once more. A figure slowly emerged from behind the mountain rocks along the shore.

It was Junior Brother Lu, who had left by Sword Control that morning. At this moment, he frowned as he watched Su He, approaching step by step.