A Familiar Snake

The lazy autumn sunlight painted rainbows through the curling fragrance of Tranquil Peace Hall.

Disciples came to eat from time to time.

Tranquil Peace Hall managed the meals of all seven branches. The hall gathered the disciples from those branches with the greatest talent for immortal cooking, and the medicinal cuisine they prepared each day was always in short supply.

The sun had already climbed to its zenith, yet disciples still streamed endlessly through the food line. The queue remained orderly, without the beloved spectacles of cutting in line or bullying.

Except for...

"Turtle bastard! How dare you!"

A roar shattered the peace of Tranquil Peace Hall. A mountain-bearing giant turtle came flying out of the rear hall as though fleeing for its life, while a middle-aged woman wielding a ladle chased after him with fangs bared and claws raised.

Everyone looked at one another. Wasn't that Aunt Qiu, who served the meals? What had happened?

Those who had witnessed the scene yesterday quietly said, "That's Feng Ya Ya's turtle. He must have come to steal food again."

The crowd was stunned. "A turtle stealing Aunt Qiu's food? Is he tired of living? Does he want to add another dish to everyone's meal?"

Su He ran for his life, with Aunt Qiu hot on his heels.

Aunt Qiu was only an ordinary person, albeit a rather sturdy one. Su He could have flattened her with an ordinary water sphere, but... he felt guilty. He did not dare.

Clang, clatter, bang! A ladle struck Su He's back, sending him rolling off Turtle Mountain.

"Turtle bastard, if you've got the nerve to steal medicinal cuisine, then stop running! One vat wasn't enough, and you stole three!" Aunt Qiu cursed in the street.

When this bastard had stolen the first vat, Aunt Qiu had not thought much of it. She assumed the madam had paid again, buying food for the little girl and the turtle.

Then the Hall Master had asked her in a daze why she was not stopping the turtle from stealing food today.

Only then had Aunt Qiu learned that no one had paid today. This fellow had come to eat for free.

By the time she had grabbed her ladle and chased after him, the turtle had already stolen three vats.

Su He ran with his head down, fleeing toward a tributary of Elephant Water. This was not his fault. The dice had been useless; only on the third vat had it rolled Quality Points, and only two at that. He had wanted to get at least three points today as well.

Aunt Qiu was merely an ordinary person, yet she was astonishingly fast. Just as she was about to catch up, Su He Moved the Mind. The entrance to Turtle Mountain's cave flashed, and a medicinal cuisine vat was thrown out with a thud, landing before Aunt Qiu.

Aunt Qiu hurriedly steadied it, afraid the medicinal cuisine would spill. By the time she secured the vat and tried to pursue and kill him again, the turtle had already plunged headfirst into Elephant Water and swum toward the riverbed.

Aunt Qiu flew into a rage and cursed from the shore. Only when she could no longer see even Su He's shadow did she return to Tranquil Peace Hall in a huff and smash her ladle into the Hall Master's head.

The Hall Master stared at her blankly.

"You know Mother can't use Dao arts, so why didn't you use Sword Control to chase him?! He stole two vats of medicinal cuisine and ruined them!"

The Hall Master rubbed the swelling on his head, his face full of grievance. "Why would I chase him? Didn't you see the 'Su' written on Turtle Mountain? That's the Madam's turtle. If he takes the medicinal cuisine, I can just ask the Madam for payment afterward. I can even get the money for the vats back! Why would I chase away such a fine customer?"

Aunt Qiu: "..."

If they could get the money back, why had he not said so earlier? And he still had the nerve to argue!

Bang! Bang! Bang!...

Su He lurked beneath the water, with dark Black Water stretching beneath him.

Elephant Water was too deep, too vast. Even a waterborne giant beast like Su He regarded it with awe.

The water was so deep that sunlight no longer reached the riverbed, leaving it pitch-black. It was also so broad that Azure Origin Mountain stood on this side, while the opposite shore could not be seen.

Fortunately, Turtle Mountain's cave could be used as a storage-type artifact. Things Su He did not proactively take in could not enter the cave, and river water could not flood inside. Otherwise, without Feng Ya Ya guarding the medicinal cuisine, Su He would have been reluctant to carry it in here just to feed the fish.

Turtle Mountain had originally been a cave abode meant for someone to refine, but the refinement had stopped shortly after it began. Now it only had two functions: storage and image recording.

Because it was a cave abode, that Rogue Cultivator had demanded a function that recorded the cave abode's images. It could monitor remotely and record the cave abode's spiritual plants and spirit pets.

Su He had no use for that function.

After Crawling Out of Elephant Water, he found an empty place and swallowed an entire vat of two-point medicinal cuisine. Full and satisfied, he felt a little at loose ends again.

He ambled back toward Su Hua Nian's pool and ran into a group of familiar chirping beauties halfway there.

They were a group of female disciples who had only recently entered the sect.

One of the bolder girls waved at Su He. "Hey! Big Turtle, where's your violent little girl?"

They were new disciples who had attended the formation class with him yesterday.

Everyone looked at Su He curiously.

After only one day apart, this turtle had grown even more handsome. The mountain on his back made him look majestic and imposing, like the divine turtle from myths that carried the world upon its back.

"Your violent Little One was supposed to attend class with us, wasn't she? Why didn't she come today? There's a lecturer teaching Dao arts today."

Someone teased Su He. It was probably like seeing a dog walking its owner on the road and simply having to go over and tease it.

Su He turned around and followed them toward the place where class was held.

Wasn't this important matter coming right to him? Being a turtle had its advantages. At the very least, no one would be wary of a turtle. Su He could sneak in to learn, and no one would care.

"Eh? Are you attending class for your owner?" The female disciples were all curious.

That was actually a good idea. Feng Ya Ya had helped him greatly, and she would likely help him even more in the foreseeable future. If he used Turtle Mountain to record the lessons...

Would that count as repaying kindness with enmity? Feng Ya Ya would surely hate him until her teeth itched, but her fairy-like Mother might reward Su He instead.

Perfect! The Dao arts lecture was held at Li Nan Courtyard's training grounds.

The training grounds were paved in white marble, inlaid with a flock of swallows flying north from the south. It symbolized how stepping onto the Dao path was like the swallows abandoning the warm, comfortable south and facing the bitter cold of the north.

Li Nan Courtyard carried the same meaning. These newly entered disciples were those swallows. From this day onward, the Dao path would be lonely, with comfort gone forever.

Su He recognized today's lecturer. It was actually that Fat Daoist who had snatched away his white tiger.

When the Fat Daoist saw Su He, he froze for a moment, then revealed a gentle smile. He pointed inside the training grounds, signaling for Su He to look.

Su He looked over and saw a Green Snake coiled properly atop a meditation cushion within the training grounds. Beside her stood an even more well-behaved mountain goat.

When the goat saw Su He looking over, it shrank back in fear. The Green Snake, however, raised her head and flicked her tongue rapidly, looking exceedingly delighted.

"You're here!" Her mature voice carried a hint of seduction.

Su He was happy too.

He had not expected to encounter the Green Snake here. It seemed Azure Origin Sect truly did not care about one's origins and treated the Demonic Race equally.

"Ang~" Su He softly greeted her.

"I'm very well!" the Green Snake replied. "The fellow disciples in the sect are very friendly. I have my own little courtyard, special meals, and the sect even gave me a Storage Ring. What about you?"

This turtle possessed extraordinary talent, but he could not Transform into Human. Even after entering the sect, he would only be a beast pet. He might even have his talent exploited or his soul imprisoned and turned into someone's Lifebound Beast...

Thinking of this, she felt sorry for Su He.

His talent was so high, and he had even eaten a Demon Transformation Fruit, yet he could not Transform into Human. That could only mean the Demon Transformation Fruit had been of poor quality. Good fortune toyed with people!

Toyed with beasts.

As she pitied him, she pointed with her tail tip at the ring hanging around her neck.

It was not the one-dou space Storage Ring standard for new Azure Origin Sect disciples, but an upgraded version. Only those who had graduated from Li Nan Courtyard and joined the seven branches could receive this Three Feet ring.

The Storage Ring contained a space three feet on each side, making it very convenient for storing miscellaneous items.

Su He gave an "ang" and took a vat of medicinal cuisine from Turtle Mountain.

When he had stolen the medicinal cuisine earlier, his luck had exploded with the first vat, rolling a six. The second vat had yielded five points. There were now eleven vats of ordinary medicinal cuisine in Turtle Mountain's cave. How could Turtle Boy possibly finish all that?

The exquisite aroma of the medicinal cuisine instantly pervaded the air, drawing side glances from every disciple in the training grounds. Even the Fat Daoist instructor looked over.

The Green Snake's swaying tail tip froze as though struck by a immobilization spell.

It was this medicinal cuisine, no mistake. For two days in a row, she had received a small bowl. The fellow disciple delivering it had said that Tranquil Peace Hall could not even prepare much of this medicinal cuisine in a month. Among Azure Origin Sect's thirty thousand disciples, only elders and disciples of sufficient rank could eat it.

Ordinary disciples could not buy it even if they wanted to.

Could not buy it...

A whole vat...

And this medicinal vat had appeared out of nowhere. It had to be a storage artifact like a Storage Ring, right? This vat was more than three feet wide! Her Storage Ring could not possibly hold it!

The Green Snake looked at Su He with grievance...

(ノ｀ー)ノ┻━┻ To hell with pitying this turtle! You called this a miserable life? I'm the one who deserves pity! Jealousy twisted the snake's face beyond recognition.