Dao Field

Good stuff.

Pity it hadn't been snatched. Otherwise, the quantity would have at least doubled.

"I found no problems with the cultivation method, but its spirit-absorbing effect was somewhat weak, so I modified it for you." Su Hua Nian touched Su He's brow with one finger, imprinting an art formula into his mind. When he tried it slightly, he found that it meshed perfectly with the Turtle Longevity Breathing Art.

Yet the spiritual power he absorbed did not seem to have increased. It was still the same amount, and breathing had become slightly more difficult.

Su He looked at Su Hua Nian in confusion.

Su Hua Nian seemed somewhat weary, and her voice softened a little. "You are a water-attribute divine beast. You need not absorb other spiritual energy. This Spirit Absorption Art will absorb only water-attribute spiritual energy."

After observing him for a day, Su Hua Nian had discovered that Su He's cultivation method was of no low grade. This was absolutely not something Elder Ge could have created in merely a year.

It had taken at least sixty years of painstaking effort—unless it had come from somewhere else.

The fairy was incredible! Su He practically wanted to shout himself hoarse. One day! In just one day, she had created a cultivation method suited to him, one that absorbed only water-attribute spiritual energy.

Should I say it was only to be expected of Su Hua Nian?

Su He's eyes brimmed with admiration, and a faint smile touched Su Hua Nian's lips.

The fairy truly looked better when she smiled. Usually, she was far too snow-pale and plain.

This turtle's gaze had become even more humanlike. Su Hua Nian softly asked, "Can you breathe underwater?"

Su He nodded.

"Then cultivate underwater. Water spirits are abundant beneath the water, so the results will be better." Pity she did not understand turtle anatomy. Otherwise, ordinary Spirit Absorption Arts did not merely absorb through the mouth and nose; every pore across the body did so as well.

This turtle had no pores, only a shell all over its body. How could scales absorb spiritual energy through the skin?

"Have you chosen a dao field?" Su Hua Nian asked.

On the path of cultivation, there were Dharma, wealth, companions, and land. The Dao was the foundation; without a method, there was no way to cultivate.

Wealth was an external object, yet it could send charcoal in snow or add flowers to brocade. Pills, magical treasures, spirit stones, and the like could all make up for one's shortcomings.

Companions walked forward hand in hand. Enemies, masters, and fellow cultivators could all be cultivation companions. Ya Ya, Su Hua Nian, Elder Ge, and even Lu Ming were all companions on Su He's path of cultivation.

A dao field was land. As cultivators cultivated—beasts in particular—they inhaled and exhaled Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, altering their surroundings, while those surroundings in turn affected their cultivation. Places inhabited by strange beasts often became all manner of forbidden lands. Those strange beasts that brought great droughts or floods wherever they appeared were all like this.

As a divine beast, Su He was naturally no exception.

Su He fell silent, his eyes dimming somewhat.

"You want to leave?" Su Hua Nian asked.

Su He truly wanted to leave. Azure Origin Sect gave him no sense of security, especially Feng Yi Ju. Su He did not mind joining some sect, becoming its guardian divine beast for a thousand or ten thousand years, even until death.

But he minded restrictions! No one liked being a slave. Hadn't all the gods and Buddhas filling the heavens refused to enter the Investiture of the Gods? Su Hua Nian did not understand Beast Language, but she understood human hearts. She extended her fair jade fingers and tapped Su He's Turtle Mountain Immortal Sword, channeling a strand of dharma power into it.

"This sword is yours to command. With a thought, you may strike three times, each carrying the force of my Full Power Strike. If you wish to leave, no one in Azure Origin Sect can stop you."

Su He's breathing caught. He believed her.

A woman like Su Hua Nian inspired trust for no reason with a single glance—she disdained lying.

How laughable. He actually deeply believed that a fairy would stand against her own cultivation companion for him.

"If you have not chosen a dao field, you may listen to the advice of Beast Taming Valley's chief," Su Hua Nian suddenly said.

The dense fog outside the woods parted, and Xia Da Li entered after straightening his robes. When Su Hua Nian had sent him a message that morning saying the trial had changed, Xia Da Li had been quite puzzled.

He had merely given the Trial Token to Su Hua Nian; the trial had not yet begun. Knowing Elder Ge's temperament, he had intended to drag things out for a while and truly obtain the cultivation method through persistence.

Yet after only one night, the trial had actually ended?

He, the person presiding over the trial, had known absolutely nothing! Elder Ge disliked red tape and did not wish to interact excessively with others. He preferred strange beasts—whether they could be raised or eaten, he loved them all.

His three-courtyard residence had been built outside the valley, beyond the surveillance of Beast Taming Valley's formations. Xia Da Li could not very well spy on a senior's dao field.

Only when Su Hua Nian's Paper Crane reached him did he learn that the trial had ended and that an accident had occurred.

The spell he had left on the divine turtle for detection and protection had not been triggered, which was highly unreasonable. No matter how neglectful of proper business he was, he should not have made such an error.

"Senior Sister Su!" Xia Da Li cupped his fists to Su Hua Nian in salute. His manner was proper, completely unlike his usual carefree and unkempt self.

In the entire Azure Origin Sect, his respect for Su Hua Nian even surpassed that which he held for Feng Yi Ju.

Well, when he had broken rules as a child, she had beaten him before.

"Are there results?" Su Hua Nian asked. She had sent word in the morning, and he had arrived only at night, so there should already have been a result. Xia Da Li might be unkempt and indifferent to red tape, but he was at least reliable.

Xia Da Li nodded. "It was Lu Ming. He still showed no remorse even in Prison Suppression, so his cultivation was abolished and he was expelled from the sect."

Xia Da Li did not mention the detection spell. Before they uncovered the truth, it was not good to act rashly.

"Roar?" Su He raised his head. Him again! What the hell did I ever do to offend him? Last time, he had been the one who schemed against him. That son seemed to have his eye on this whole body of divine beast flesh and blood. Again and again, for no reason at all!

Cultivation abolished and expelled from the sect—this phrasing sounded terribly familiar. If one did not kill a snake, endless calamities would follow. Su He narrowed his eyes.

This time, Lu Ming's scheme had surely been exceptionally sinister; otherwise, it would not have resulted in his cultivation being abolished.

This thief must die!

"Roar?" Su He asked.

Xia Da Li replied, "He was expelled from the sect, so naturally he must find somewhere to heal. He would not dare return to Beast Taming Valley, so he can only go to..."

He suddenly stared hard at Su He. "What do you want to do? Are you planning to pull up the weeds and remove the roots?"

His tone became several degrees sterner. "Do you know that he is now at Junior Sister Shui Jing's Jing Shui Mountain? Even if Junior Sister Shui Jing has not been home these past two days, it is still the dao field of an Enlightened Spirit Realm expert. Junior Sister Shui Jing's cultivation may not be high, but she excels at formations. Her mountain-protecting formation in particular combines an Illusion Formation with a sword formation. You cannot break through it.

Even if you do break through, what will you use to kill Lu Ming? His cultivation may have been abolished, but his tempered flesh still remains. You cannot possibly ambush him, can you? You are so huge—what, will you hide underwater? You cannot do it. I advise you to behave yourself..."

Thank you for the guidance!

Su He turned and left, only for Xia Da Li to call after him. "You are not allowed to go! You are making it sound as if I were teaching you how to carry out an assassination. Someone wants to see you now. You cannot leave!"

Su He turned back and looked at him in surprise. Wasn't he? Right now, I want to see no one. I only want to kill someone.

"No matter what, you received Elder Ge's cultivation method inheritance. One of his people has come to see you, yet you would simply leave without regard for them. Would that not be improper? If word spread, it would damage your reputation as a divine beast. People would say you were an Ordinary Wild Beast that knew neither gratitude nor righteousness." Xia Da Li drawled, his eyes fixed directly on Su He's.

Su He huffed and puffed for a long while before letting out a stifled, aggrieved roar.

Su Hua Nian watched quietly. Only then did she ask, "Who is it?"

She had long sensed a strange aura beyond the formation. That aura was wrapped in a Special Space; unless it was split open, she could not sense who the incoming person was.

A peculiar expression arose on Xia Da Li's face, as though the person's name was difficult to speak. He shook his head and smiled helplessly. "Master Zhuang!"

Su Hua Nian froze. A touch of playfulness unexpectedly appeared on her cool, aloof face, and she let out a laugh. With a point of her fair jade fingers through the air, the formation's mist parted.

Then...

A burly camel swaggered in with the gait of someone who recognized neither kin nor kinship.

The reek of alcohol assaulted them head-on.

Su He's turtle eyes widened.

He knew this camel!