Secretly Telling You

Su He rammed into it headfirst, only to be swatted back by a claw.

The White Tiger's sharp talons scraped across his shell with an ear-piercing screech.

His shell was injured!

This was the first time an attack had failed to be completely blocked by his shell.

Luckily, Su He had pulled his head in quickly. Otherwise, the White Tiger would already have hugged him to its chest.

Of course, Su He had not accomplished nothing. He bit down on the White Tiger's elbow and tore off a chunk of flesh. Blood spread through the lakebed.

Azure Origin Sect, Prison Suppression.

Lu Ming's gaze suddenly sharpened. He sensed that the White Tiger had been injured, and his breath caught before he sighed in relief. It was fine. They were trying to capture a divine turtle with a Divine Beast Bloodline—how could it escape without injury? Even suppressed by the Myriad Force Talisman, it could still injure the White Tiger. This turtle's bloodline was likely terrifyingly pure. That was a good thing! The stronger it was, the greater the White Tiger's talent would improve after devouring it. Correspondingly, he himself would receive even greater benefits.

Good! The White Tiger had a ghost servant; it could attack from afar and defend up close. That turtle was surely doomed! Hopefully, the White Tiger would move quickly, lest other beasts catch the scent of divine beast blood and come to snatch it away.

Beneath Listening Sea Lake, Su He heard a shrill screech behind him. The ghost servant abandoned the Green Snake and hurried back to protect its master.

The dagger thrust straight at the base of Su He's tail.

Despicable!

He twisted aside, and the serrated edge of his shell skirt blocked the dagger. At the same time, he instinctively bit toward the ghost servant's arm.

His bite closed on something icy, fishy, and foul. Halfway through, it suddenly bit into nothing.

Su He's eyes brightened. The instant this ghost servant attacked, it became solid! It could be bitten!

"Ang~"

He let out a meaningless cry, but the Green Snake understood at once. Her body coiled like a spring, and just as the ghost servant stabbed another dagger toward Su He Turtle's Claw, a Water Arrow pierced through the lake and punched through the ghost servant's head.

The resentment in the ghost servant's eyes instantly turned dazed and empty. Its sack-like body burst like a bubble with a pop and dispersed.

Within Azure Origin Sect, Lu Ming's expression changed abruptly. He sensed the White Tiger's ghost servant vanish.

His heart began pounding.

How could this be?! He had gone through painstaking efforts to choose that ghost servant for the White Tiger. He had even secretly refined it with the Ghost Gate Art. Though it was still immature, it feared neither blades nor axes. How could a mere wild beast destroy its ghost servant?! Could it be that the turtle's bloodline was special, allowing it to ignore the ghost servant's intangibility?

If so... his heart pounded faster. If the White Tiger devoured it, would it be able to inherit that ability as well?

The excitement on his face was nearly impossible to suppress.

No. He had to find an excuse to send away Law Enforcement. He needed Linked Perception and shared vision—he had to personally watch the White Tiger devour the divine turtle!

"Roar!... Glug glug..."

The White Tiger roared, then swallowed a bellyful of lake water.

It was not an aquatic animal. It could dive only because tigers naturally knew how to swim, and because as a Three-Star Exotic Beast, it could hold its breath with its powerful lungs.

After exhaling several times, it was already choking on water. Still, its physique was powerful; it would probably take at least several hours to drown it.

Su He did not dare wait.

The White Tiger was only a pet. Outside, there was still Lu Ming, who could fly with Sword Control. Who knew when that fellow would come?

Delay bred change!

"Ang~"

He gave a low roar, greeted the Green Snake, and paddled toward the White Tiger again. At the same time, he swept both claws, conjuring two ribbons of water that wrapped around the White Tiger's claws like jelly.

The White Tiger swatted at him, but with the water ribbons cushioning the blow, it no longer injured his shell.

Su He dipped and raised his body. His turtle head shot out in an instant, biting down at the base of the White Tiger's neck. Just as the White Tiger swung its claw toward him, he tore backward, ripping open a slab of flesh at its neck.

An artery burst, and blood gushed out.

"Roar!"

"Smack!"

Su He was swatted away again. His internal organs shook, and darkness filled his vision.

Within Azure Origin Sect, Lu Ming abruptly stood up, his face changing drastically.

He sensed that the White Tiger had suffered serious injury.

How? How was that possible? How could a turtle suppressed by the Myriad Force Talisman injure the White Tiger? Judging by what he had sensed that day, that turtle should not have been the White Tiger's match even without any restraints, much less while suppressed by the Myriad Force Talisman! What had gone wrong? Were those released beast pets fighting the White Tiger? The White Tiger was the strongest beast pet of this batch, but two fists could not defeat four hands. Could all the beast pets Feng Ya Ya had released be targeting the White Tiger?

Had I tried to be clever, only to make a fool of myself? "Senior Brother from Law Enforcement, please wait a moment. Something has happened to my White Tiger. Let me take a look."

Opposite him, a young man in Law Enforcement Hall robes said, "Junior Brother Lu, rest assured. Beast Taming Valley has had some unexpected trouble, and many beast pets escaped. Perhaps the capture team injured Junior Brother's Lifebound Beast. Once it is caught and allowed to recuperate for a few days, it will..."

Before he could finish, Lu Ming's eyes had already gone vacant. His Linked Perception had gone out.

What an insolent fellow! The Law Enforcement Disciple's expression darkened. Even Beast Taming Valley's chief disciple should not slight him so!

The struggling White Tiger's eyes flickered slightly, becoming lively. Lu Ming had come to share its vision.

The moment Lu Ming opened his eyes, he saw nothing but scarlet. Blood-dyed lake water blocked his vision. Before he could understand the situation, he heard a sharp sound of something breaking through water.

Then—

Pop! Like a ripe grape bursting, darkness instantly swallowed his vision.

In Prison Suppression, Lu Ming suddenly came back to himself, his face black as ink. Blind! One of the White Tiger's eyes had been shot blind.

This was retaliation! The ability to fire arrows could not possibly be that turtle's divine ability. A Beast Taming Valley disciple must be capturing escaped beast pets. They had deliberately shot his White Tiger blind! What Beast Taming Valley disciple did not recognize his White Tiger?

Jealousy? Trying to cut off his path of cultivation? Lu Ming flew up with Sword Control in fury, ready to rush out of Prison Suppression. But the Law Enforcement Disciple cast a net of magic over his head.

"Presumptuous! Does Junior Brother Lu intend to break out of prison?"

Breaking out of prison within Azure Origin Sect was a grave crime. Even if one had been wrongfully imprisoned, one could appeal and seek compensation, but one could not escape. Otherwise, not only would one receive no redress, the punishment would be increased threefold.

Lu Ming was pinned to the ground. He lifted his eyes and glared hard at the Law Enforcement Disciple, then offered no explanation. He circulated his art and entered Linked Perception again.

The White Tiger struggled beneath the water. It could not even roar anymore. The artery in its throat and its windpipe had been bitten through. Bubbles uncontrollably gurgled from its windpipe as lake water poured into its lungs.

Using the remaining tiger eye, Lu Ming watched and struggled to see through the blood-red lake water.

He saw it.

There was no one opposite it—only a turtle shaking its head as it lunged forward with vicious bites.

Lu Ming was stunned. This turtle was not suppressed by the Myriad Force Talisman?

Its aura had not grown stronger. How had it broken through the Myriad Force Talisman?

Yu Lin? Yu Lin had not been lured away by him and had gone to give lectures again?! Had he seen the spirit talisman Lu Ming had left on the turtle shell? Killing intent flowed through the depths of his heart.

Yu Lin could not be allowed to live! No, that was not right. Doubt rose in the heart. Even though this turtle was free from the Myriad Force Talisman's restrictions, it still could not possibly be the White Tiger's match. Why had the White Tiger been bitten to near death?

The White Tiger struggled. Following its gaze, he saw the turtle shell pressing firmly atop the White Tiger's back.

The Myriad Force Talisman shone with brilliant clear radiance.

Lu Ming stood there, utterly at a loss.

He did not know where to begin untangling his thoughts when he heard the sound of an arrow breaking through water again. His vision immediately plunged into darkness. The only remaining tiger eye had been shot out as well.

All he could hear was the turtle's hissing roars.

Within Azure Origin Sect, Lu Ming jolted awake and spat out a mouthful of blood, his face white as paper.

Its heart!

That turtle had broken the White Tiger's heart!

The White Tiger would not survive.

The White Tiger was his Lifebound Beast. If it died, its master would inevitably be implicated. Serious injury was the lesser concern; no matter how severe the injury, Azure Origin Sect could still heal it.

But with the White Tiger gone, his path of cultivation was severed! "Turtle!" Lu Ming clutched his heart and fell down, blood seeping through his clenched teeth as he let out a hoarse roar.

Wretched beast! You severed my path of cultivation for no reason at all. I will certainly kill you! And the Azure Origin Disciples behind you, along with those shameless elders who privately claimed the divine turtle with their disciples! "Turtle!" he shouted.

"Eh?" A childish voice came over. "Senior Brother Lu also had a beautiful turtle?"

At the entrance to Prison Suppression, two law enforcement disciples escorted a little girl inside with helpless looks on their faces.

Feng Ya Ya.

This escort was rather unique. They had used a string of Sugar-coated haws to coax Feng Ya Ya inside.

This little ancestor didn't know what madness had seized her. She had set the Beast Taming Valley cages ablaze and released more than half the beast pets. The Sect Leader had flown into a rage and sentenced her to labor in Prison Suppression to reflect on her mistakes.

Was this punishing her? This was punishing Prison Suppression! What had us Suppression Prison Disciples done wrong?

Feng Ya Ya skipped up before Lu Ming. "I'll secretly tell you, senior brother—I have a turtle too. He is in Listening Sea Lake. I made an agreement with him that after a hundred days, he would come see me."

"Senior Brother Lu, are you in so much pain because someone took your little turtle away?"

She patted Lu Yu's shoulder and comforted him, "Don't worry, Senior Brother Lu. Mother placed a Warning Rune on my turtle head, so I'm not afraid of him being taken away."

Lu Yu's eyes suddenly flew wide open. He spat out a mouthful of blood, fell down, and lost consciousness.