I'll Take You to Find Mother

Snake Valley fell silent in an instant.

Even Feng Ya Ya gaped, her two big eyes fluttering rapidly.

The Green Snake had no idea what was going on, twisting her head to look from one person to the next.

"How is this little turtle's talent? Which path should he take to advance?"

No one spoke. They only stared at Su He in astonishment.

The Green Snake's tail trembled. Humans were such a nuisance. Whatever something was, just say it. She knew the little turtle's talent was poor, but what was there to hide about that?

A snake demon who had only just awakened her spirit could not understand the rich emotions of humans.

"I heard the Azure Origin Sect has the Beast Taming Valley lineage. If... if I ask for fewer resources, could he be admitted into Beast Taming Valley?" The Green Snake's heart twisted like a knife, but she forced down her pain and made her decision.

Feng Ya Ya cried out and leaped up, hanging entirely from the Su He Turtle's head. "Big Turtle, Big Turtle! I knew it! You're the most talented beast I've ever seen!"

Gu Lin came back to her senses as well, her face full of delight. She had never expected that coming to welcome the Green Snake fellow cultivator today would bring an even greater surprise.

"?"

The Green Snake coiled herself into a question mark. She sensed that something about the atmosphere was not quite right.

"Aunt Lin, does Big Turtle need to take a master and learn arts too?" Taking a master was awful. Once you did, someone would be controlling you every day. Wrong posture, spanking; failed to memorize the Dao scriptures, spanking; unfinished homework, spanking...

But Big Turtle was a turtle. How would they spank him? Hang him up?

Imagining such a huge turtle dangling in the air and struggling, Feng Ya Ya burst into laughter.

Gu Lin smiled and shook her head. Who knew what mischievous scheme this little girl had thought up now? "Since the Azure Origin Sect was founded, only two people have ever made the testing token sound. One was the Grandmaster, and the other was your mother. This turtle is the third to possess such talent."

"Don't worry. No one can be a master to beasts. Besides, your mother has the Water Attribute. You can ask her how this Big Turtle should be raised."

"Okay!" Feng Ya Ya was overjoyed. Sitting atop Su He's head, she swung her little legs. "Come on, Big Turtle. I'll take you to see Mother. I know where she is. We'll hide quietly and give her a surprise."

Gu Lin affectionately stroked Feng Ya Ya's head. "Go on. Take good care of Big Turtle. With talent like this, he may well become a Sun-Eating Realm exotic beast!"

The Sun-Eating Realm corresponded to the Heaven-Treading Realm for cultivators. Wherever a Sun-Eating Realm exotic beast resided became an absolute forbidden ground.

The Azure Origin Sect had prospered by leaps and bounds over the past few decades, faintly showing signs of becoming Eastern Cloud Mountain's foremost sect, precisely because three Sun-Eating Realm exotic beast corpses had been discovered in a forbidden ground beneath the sect.

The Azure Origin Sect drew out the spiritual power from the corpses, filling the sect with Spiritual Energy. Rare treasures surfaced from time to time, and cultivation yielded twice the result with half the effort.

The Green Snake slowly turned her head around, frame by frame.

What had she heard? One of the three most gifted people since the Azure Origin Sect's founding...

One of the best three...

The best...

Her heartache and sympathy lodged in her throat just like that, leaving her choked and miserable. A faint pain came from seven inches below her head—that was where her heart was.

Seeing the Green Snake's stunned expression, Gu Lin suddenly came back to herself. How rude of her. She had been so astonished by this turtle's talent that she had neglected the Green Snake fellow cultivator.

Had the Green Snake fellow cultivator said something just now?

She hurriedly apologized to the Green Snake. "Please forgive me, fellow cultivator. This humble daoist has been discourteous."

The Green Snake seemed not to hear her. She stood there blankly and silently. Only after a long while did she come back to her senses and turn to Gu Lin. "Fellow cultivator Gu, if I return to the sect with you now, can I take a master, cultivate, and select a cultivation method?"

"Taking a master requires the agreement of both master and disciple. As for cultivation methods, you may choose one right now."

A green blur flashed past. The Green Snake was already coiled atop the flying boat, her tail tip slapping the gunwale. "Let's go!"

Weren't they here to fetch her? What were they waiting for? Gu Lin chuckled. Everyone needed to spend some effort when receiving beasts that had Transformed into Human. They either promised benefits or displayed their might. This Green Snake, however, was brisk and straightforward.

Gu Lin had roughly guessed the reason, but she said nothing more. She leaped onto the flying boat and looked towards Feng Ya Ya.

If Feng Ya Ya traveled with her, this turtle would be a burden. She would need to activate the flying boat's second form.

Feng Ya Ya waved to her, patting Su He's head. "Big Turtle! Let's go! We're going to find Mother."

Su He didn't know why he followed Feng Ya Ya away. Perhaps it was his heart seeking the Dao? If he stayed here, he could only fool around with crocodiles every day. The Azure Origin Sect, however, was a cultivation sect, a place of countless possibilities.

Besides, the Azure Origin Sect was only over a hundred li from Listening Sea Lake. At his current speed, following the current, the journey would take only half an hour.

Listening Sea Lake resembled a stomach pouch, while Elephant Water was the esophagus and intestines connecting to it.

Elephant Water lay north of Listening Sea Lake. Following the current for a hundred-odd li brought one to the territory of the Azure Origin Sect's Beast Taming Valley. Azure Origin had seven lineages: Beast Taming Valley, Huayang Peak, Chess Sword Pavilion, Sword Washing Pond, Evergreen Peak, Heavenly Mechanisms Pavilion, and Sword Residence, where the Sect Leader resided.

In truth, according to Azure Origin Sect rules, there was no distinction between a main lineage and branch lineages. The current seven lineages made no distinction between one another; all were Direct Descendants. It was simply that the seven founders had emphasized different things when accepting disciples, and over time, seven inheritances with their own distinct styles had formed.

Yet even now, the Azure Origin Sect had no so-called main lineage. The Azure Origin Sect Leader could emerge through competition among the seven lineages. It was simply unknown from which generation onward the other six lineages had been unable to compete with Sword Residence. Every Sect Leader came from the Sword Residence lineage, and only gradually did people begin saying that Sword Residence was the main lineage.

Especially in this generation, the current Sect Leader Feng Yi Ju and his wife Su Hua Nian had, in only three hundred years, raised the Azure Origin Sect from a mid-tier sect in the Eastern Cloud Mountain range to a position that led the pack.

Feng Yi Ju and Su Hua Nian had likewise become figures revered by all the sect's disciples.

Su He was about to meet Su Hua Nian, the Azure Origin Sect's second person whose talent had stirred the testing token.

Azure Origin Mountain towered into the clouds, thrusting straight into the heavens, beautiful and enchanting.

At the foot of the mountain stood a stubborn stone, upon which someone had casually carved a line, neither poem nor couplet: On Azure Origin Mountain stands Azure Origin Sect; within Azure Origin Sect cultivate immortals.

Su He arrived riding the waves, came ashore, and climbed the mountain. Yet he did not enter through the sect gate. Instead, Feng Ya Ya directed him toward a pool among the mountains.

Su Hua Nian possessed the Water Attribute and rarely lived on the mountain. She often dwelled beside water, serene and elegant.

A formation enveloped the pool. Looking from outside inward, one could see only dense fog. If one rashly entered without knowing how to break the formation, at best one would become lost in a haze; at worst, one would perish, body and Dao extinguished.

Yet when the mist encountered Feng Ya Ya, it automatically withdrew, allowing her to lead Su He inside.

The scenery within the formation was beautiful.

A mountain stream pool stood beside a Grass Hut. A white robe lay scattered over vines outside the dwelling. Its owner had hurried into the water after undressing, leaving the clothes piled in disarray.

"Shh! Big Turtle, keep quiet!" Feng Ya Ya whispered from atop Su He's head. "Mother is injured. She went into the water to heal, so we mustn't disturb her."

Then she remembered something else and nervously added, "You're not allowed to tell anyone, okay?"

Only when Su He nodded did she say with satisfaction, "Come on. Let's carefully enter the water and see how Mother is doing."

Su He slowly crawled into the pool. The water was freezing, several grades colder than Listening Sea Lake, almost as if it were about to freeze solid.

At the center of the pool floated a peerlessly beautiful woman, wearing only a light undergarment, suspended beneath the water. The pool water outlined her graceful figure, every rise and dip distinct. As the water rippled, her garment drifted like gauzy cloud mist. Distant mountains appeared and vanished amid the thin mist. Suddenly the wind blew the mist away, revealing the mountain's true form. Then the wind came again, and the mist returned, veiling the mountains and rivers once more.

Su He's breathing quickened. As he inhaled, the pool water surged, and that cloud mist drifted all the more urgently, the mountain peaks flickering in and out of sight.

Su He let out a long breath and set an ultimate goal: Transform into Human!

Su He made a Dao oath.

In this life, I swear I'll Transform into Human. No one can stop me!

This was a world of cultivation. In this world were Female Generals who fought across the nine heavens and looked down upon all heroes; Fox Demons who were seductive, charming, bold, and uninhibited; Fairies cold as clear frost, noble and flawless.

How could I remain a turtle for my whole life?

Transform into Human!

Su He breathed even more violently, and the current disturbed the Fairy.

Su Hua Nian suddenly opened her eyes. Her immortal sword nearly shot forth, only to stop just before Feng Ya Ya. Seeing her daughter, a smile blossomed on her cool face.

That smile possessed magic. Su He only felt his vision abruptly turn pitch-black. When light returned, the Fairy had already dressed and drifted gracefully down onto his back.