Tamed Snake

The lazy autumn sun painted streaks of color through the fragrant mist of Tranquil Peace Hall.

From time to time, disciples would come to dine.

Tranquil Peace Hall managed the meals for the Seven Veins. The hall gathered the disciples with the most Immortal Chef talent from the Seven Veins, and the Medicinal Cuisine they prepared daily was always in high demand.

The sun was already high in the sky, yet the line of disciples waiting for food remained endless. However, the queue was orderly, with no instances of the dreaded cutting in line or bullying.

Except...

"Turtle bastard! How dare you!"

A roar shattered the tranquility of Tranquil Peace Hall. A giant turtle, carrying a mountain on its back, fled from the back hall as if shot from a cannon, with a large auntie wielding a ladle chasing after it, teeth bared and claws extended.

Everyone exchanged bewildered glances. Wasn't that Aunt Qiu, the one in charge of serving meals? What on earth was going on?

Those who had witnessed the spectacle yesterday whispered, "That's Feng Ya Ya's turtle. It must have come to steal food."

The crowd stared, dumbfounded. "A turtle stealing Aunt Qiu's meals? Is it tired of living? Does it want to add an extra course for everyone?"

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

Aunt Qiu was just an ordinary person, albeit a strong one. Su He could have easily subdued her with a simple water ball, but—he felt guilty and didn't dare.

Clang! Clang! A ladle smashed onto Su He's back, and he tumbled down from Turtle Mountain.

"Turtle bastard, if you have the guts to steal Medicinal Cuisine, have the guts to stop running! One vat wasn't enough, you stole three!" Aunt Qiu cursed.

When the bastard stole the first vat, Aunt Qiu hadn't thought much of it, assuming it was Madam paying for food for the little girl and the turtle.

But then the Hall Master, looking dazed, asked her why she was letting the turtle steal food today and not doing anything about it.

Only then did Aunt Qiu realize that no one was paying today, and the creature was here to eat for free.

When she chased after it with her ladle, the turtle had already stolen three vats.

Su He bolted, heading towards the Xiangshui Tributary. It wasn't his fault; the dice hadn't been kind, and he only rolled Quality Points on the third vat, and it was just two points. He had hoped to get at least three points today.

Aunt Qiu, though an ordinary person, was incredibly fast. Seeing that she was about to catch up, Su He's mind stirred. The entrance to the cave on Turtle Mountain flickered, and a vat of medicinal cuisine was thrown out, landing with a thud in front of Aunt Qiu.

Aunt Qiu hastily caught it, afraid of spilling the Medicinal Cuisine. After steadying the vat and preparing to pursue again, the turtle had already plunged into the Xiangshui, swimming towards the riverbed.

Aunt Qiu was furious. She stood on the bank and cursed loudly. Not until she could no longer see any sign of Su He did she grudgingly return to Tranquil Peace Hall and smash her ladle onto the Hall Master's head.

The Hall Master stared at her, bewildered.

"You know I can't use Dao Art, so why didn't you chase him on your sword?! He stole two vats of Medicinal Cuisine!"

The Hall Master rubbed the bump on his head, looking wronged. "Why should I chase him? Don't you see the 'Su' character written on Turtle Mountain? That's Madam's turtle. If it steals medicinal cuisine, I'll just ask Madam for the money later. I'll even get the cost of the vats back! Why would I chase away a customer from a good business?"

Aunt Qiu: "..."

If he could get paid, why didn't he say so earlier? And he had the nerve to be right!

Bang! Bang! Bang!...

Su He lurked in the water, the dark depths beneath him.

The Xiangshui was too deep, too vast. Even a giant water beast like Su He felt a sense of awe towards it.

The water was so deep that sunlight couldn't penetrate to the bottom, plunging everything into darkness. The river was so wide that Azure Origin Mountain was on one side, and the opposite bank was out of sight.

Fortunately, the cave on Turtle Mountain could function as a storage artifact. Anything Su He didn't actively collect couldn't enter the cave, and the river water couldn't spread inside. Otherwise, without Feng Ya Ya protecting the Medicinal Cuisine, Su He wouldn't have dared to carry it in to feed the fish.

Turtle Mountain was originally a cave mansion for someone to refine, but the refining process was stopped shortly after it began. Now, it only had two functions: storage and recording video.

Because it was a cave mansion, the rogue cultivator had requested the function to record the cave mansion's video, allowing remote monitoring and recording of the cave mansion's spiritual value and spirit beasts.

Su He couldn't use this function.

He climbed out of the Xiangshui and found a secluded spot. He swallowed the entire vat of Medicinal Cuisine with two Quality Points. Full and satisfied, he felt a bit aimless again.

He ambled back towards Su Hua Nian's pond and encountered a group of familiar-looking young women halfway there.

It was a group of newly initiated female disciples.

One of them, bolder than the rest, waved at Su He. "Hey! Big turtle, where's your violent little girl?"

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

Everyone looked at Su He with curiosity.

After just one day, the turtle looked even more majestic. The mountain on its back made it seem imposing, like the divine turtle of myth carrying the world.

"Your little violent one was supposed to attend class with us today, wasn't she? Why isn't she here? Today, there's a lecturer talking about Dao Art."

Someone teased Su He, much like people who see a dog walking its owner and can't resist stopping to tease it.

Su He changed direction and followed them towards where the class was being held.

This was precisely what he was here for. Being a turtle had its advantages; at least no one would be wary of a turtle, and Su He could sneak in to learn without anyone paying attention.

"Oh? Are you here to attend class for your master?" the female disciples asked curiously.

This was actually a good idea. Feng Ya Ya had helped him a lot, and in the foreseeable future, she would continue to help him even more. If he could record the instructor's lectures using Turtle Mountain and play them back for her...

Would that be considered biting the hand that feeds him? Feng Ya Ya would surely be furious, but her fairy-like mother might reward Su He.

Deal! The Dao Art lecture hall was located in the Li Nan Courtyard Dao Field.

The Dao Field was paved with white marble, inscribed with a flock of swifts flying north from the south, symbolizing that once one embarks on the Dao Path, they must abandon the warm and comfortable southern swifts and face the severe northern cold.

Li Nan Courtyard carried the same meaning. These newly initiated disciples were like these swifts, their Dao Path henceforth lonely, with no more comfort.

Su He recognized the lecturer for today; it was the Fat Daoist who had stolen his White Tiger.

Upon seeing Su He, the Fat Daoist paused for a moment, then offered a gentle smile and gestured towards the Dao Field, indicating Su He should look.

Su He looked and saw a Green Snake coiled obediently on a meditation cushion within the Dao Field, with an even more obedient Goat beside it.

Seeing Su He look, the Goat flinched in fear, but the Green Snake raised its head, flicking its tongue rapidly, appearing extremely delighted.

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

Su He was also happy.

He hadn't expected to encounter the Green Snake here. It seemed Azure Origin Sect truly didn't discriminate based on origin and treated all demonic races equally.

"Roar~" Su He greeted her softly.

"I'm doing well!" the Green Snake replied. "The Fellow Daoists in the sect are very friendly. I have my own small courtyard and specialized meals. The sect even provided me with a Storage Ring. What about you?"

Although this turtle had unparalleled talent, it couldn't transform into a human. Even after joining the sect, it would be a Pet Beast, its talent might be exploited, or its soul imprisoned to become a Lifebound Beast...

Thinking of this, she felt pity for Su He.

With such high talent and having eaten the Demon Transformation Fruit, yet unable to transform into a human – it must mean the Demon Transformation Fruit was of very poor quality. Fate plays tricks!

Tricks on beasts.

While pitying him, she pointed with the tip of her tail to the ring worn around her neck.

It wasn't the standard one-dou spatial Storage Ring for entering Azure Origin Sect, but the advanced version, a three-chi ring obtained only after graduating from Li Nan Courtyard and joining the Seven Veins.

The Storage Ring had a three-chi square space, making it very convenient for storing miscellaneous items.

Su He let out a "Roar" and took out a vat of Medicinal Cuisine from Turtle Mountain.

When he had stolen Medicinal Cuisine before, the first vat had been incredibly lucky, rolling a six. The second vat rolled a five. Currently, there were eleven vats of ordinary Medicinal Cuisine in the cave on Turtle Mountain. Which little turtle could possibly finish all of them?

The aroma of the exquisite Medicinal Cuisine instantly spread, drawing the attention of all the disciples in the Dao Field, even the teaching Fat Daoist looked over.

The Green Snake's twitching tail tip seemed frozen in place.

It was indeed this Medicinal Cuisine. For the past two days, she had eaten a small bowl of it. The fellow disciple who delivered the Medicinal Cuisine said that Tranquil Peace Hall could barely make a small amount of this Medicinal Cuisine in a month. With Azure Origin Sect's thirty thousand disciples, only the Elders and disciples of sufficient rank could have it.

Ordinary disciples couldn't even buy it.

Couldn't buy it...

An entire vat...

And this vat appearing out of nowhere must also be a storage Artifact like a Storage Ring, right? This vat was already larger than three chi! Her Storage Ring couldn't fit it at all!

The Green Snake looked at Su He with a wronged expression...

(ノ｀ー)ノ┻━┻ To hell with your pity! You call this a miserable life? I'm the one who should be pitied! Jealousy contorted the snake's face.