Night Fishing

Su He lurked beneath the water, silently watching Lu Ming's corpse. The dice had yet to descend—this man was not dead yet, or perhaps there was still an oriole waiting behind.

Otherwise, even the clothes on Lu Ming's body should have triggered a dice roll.

A hand suddenly reached out from underground, grabbed Lu Ming, and fled into the distance.

Sure enough, an oriole lurked behind.

Earth Escape!

He knew sorcery—at the very least, he had Blasted Open his aperture.

His speed was astonishing. Su He could not catch up. This person wanted to steal Lu Ming's inheritance!

Su He let out a roar. The camel-hoof imprint on his forehead Shattered, and camel hair abruptly shot out from atop Turtle Mountain. In midair, it transformed into a gigantic cactus, becoming a streak of green light that smashed down upon Lu Ming's corpse.

"Spare me!" A shriek was swallowed by that flash of green.

There was neither sound nor explosion, no deafening boom. Jing Shui Mountain collapsed and turned to sand in utter silence, becoming a desert in the blink of an eye.

Lu Ming's corpse fell to the ground. Beside it lay a woman's corpse. Both bodies dehydrated and dried in the wind in one seamless motion.

Su He's mouth fell open.

He stood there, dumbstruck.

This was the power of a single strike from a Profound Moon Exotic Beast? This was the attack of that mad camel? Master Zhuang!

For the first time, Su He had an intuitive grasp of what cultivation meant.

A First Profound Moon exotic beast was already like this—then what of Su Hua Nian, who was said to have entered the Heaven-Treading Realm?

He suddenly felt the immortal sword on his back weighing heavily upon him. If its three strikes were unleashed, would they not bring down the very sky? A hint of green sprouted from the hearts of the two corpses. They were two plants, budding, growing stalks, intertwining, and blooming into a Twin Lotus Flower.

One Piece of dice rolled onto the lotus: three points.

The flower withered, bearing a pair of Yin-Yang Jade Pendants.

Curious, Su He crawled over.

The yin fish and yang fish on the jade pendants could join or separate. When Su He lightly touched them, a stream of information entered his mind.

Love Token!

These jade pendants were called Love Token, the key to a cave abode.

The pendants were divided into yin and yang, with a man and woman each holding one half. When the pendants joined, their hearts became Interconnected, allowing them to open the cave abode and obtain its inheritance.

This should have been the inheritance Lu Ming spoke of.

Su He put away the jade pendants.

They were useless to him. He could not possibly pledge love for three lifetimes to a Female Turtle just to open a cave abode!

Su He shuddered and shook his head.

He could choose not to Transform into Human, but he could not have a Female Turtle.

By This Time, Su He had accepted the reality that he was a divine beast, and that he would likely find it difficult to Transform into Human again.

After taking the jade pendants, he turned and left.

There was nothing valuable left on the two corpses. As they turned to sand, even their clothes weathered away and crumbled. Master Zhuang's move was far too domineering—it had the potential to be a prodigal's technique, yielding not the slightest gain after one strike.

Especially all the spirit herbs on Jing Shui Mountain...

The thought made Su He's heart ache. He had avenged one grudge only to forge another. The person who had just tried to take Lu Ming's corpse was, unsurprisingly, Qiao Ling.

The two had been Dao companions.

That woman had likely broken out of prison. She probably had not been among those stripped of their cultivation and expelled from the sect this time.

His enmity with Master Shui Jing had grown deep.

She was a woman with a poor mind, a petty heart, and a talent for drilling into ox horns.

Women like that were the hardest to provoke. They would not care about sect rules, or even life and death. Next time he saw Master Zhuang, he had to ask for another handful of camel hair.

Su He returned to the river and headed for Su Hua Nian's Nameless Mountain.

Destroying Jing Shui Mountain would probably earn him punishment. He needed the Fairy to cover for him.

The autumn air was crisp, the moon bright and the stars sparse. After swimming seventy or eighty li, he heard a sound: "Whoosh—snap!" Someone was casting a fishing rod.

It was Feng Yi Ju.

Su He's Turtle Scale bristled as he immediately connected with Su Hua Nian's immortal sword.

Feng Yi Ju had been waiting for him on purpose!

The Azure Origin Sect was so vast, and the Sect Leader had matters as numerous as ox hairs to deal with. Why would he go night fishing for no reason along Su He's inevitable route?

Feng Yi Ju wore a straw rain cape and a Bamboo Hat, dressed like an old fisherman. Seeing Su He stop, he Beckoned to him. "Did you kill him?"

His calm tone struck Su He's mind like a muffled thunderclap.

Su He kept his mind connected to the immortal sword, calling frantically from the Bottom of Heart: Fairy! Fairy Su! Say something! Can't you speak through the immortal sword? Say something! Fairy Su's three sword strikes would be a sure thing against others, but against this Sect Leader, Su He Didn't Know whether they would work.

"Don't be nervous." Feng Yi Ju smiled. "I only came to apologize to you."

Su He: "The other day, when I tried to take the chance to place a restriction on you, I was the petty villain."

Feng Yi Ju flicked his rod as he fished, his tone open and candid. "I won't pretend otherwise—even now, I still want to place a restriction on you. Who wouldn't want to control a divine turtle?"

That was not something one should say in an apology. Su He narrowed his eyes, unable to fathom what medicine this man was selling from his gourd.

"But some things can be done, and some cannot. As Chief Xia said, since you possess intelligence, you should be treated as an ordinary Azure Origin Disciple. And since you are a divine beast, raising your standing by one generation is only proper."

Seeing Su He's suspicious gaze, he shook his head with a smile. "You do not trust me, nor do I trust you. The Azure Origin Sect has stood safely for thousands of years—how could a divine turtle suddenly emerge? If the turtles of Azure Origin possessed Divine Beast Bloodline, whether strong or weak, it should have shown itself at some point over the past thousand years."

Su He fell silent.

He Didn't Know where his divine turtle bloodline had come from. Just as Feng Yi Ju had said, if the turtles of Listening Sea Lake possessed divine turtle bloodline, there should at least have been some sign over the millennia, shouldn't there? But how was he supposed to explain this? Could he suggest that the Azure Origin Sect try feeding high-quality flesh and blood to some turtles? Feng Yi Ju reeled in his line, baited the hook with another worm, and cast again. Looking at Su He, he said, "You were not born in Azure Origin. You came from elsewhere."

"But it does not matter. Chief Xia said you are only three years old. For a three-year-old turtle, your origins can only be traced back one year. And it was only after coming to Azure Origin that you embarked on the path of a divine beast. I will acknowledge you as belonging to the Azure Origin Sect."

"Let us make an agreement!"

He extended a hand toward Su He. "As Long As you have not betrayed Azure Origin, I will not place a restriction on you. I can even grant you the treatment due a divine beast. But you must also shoulder the responsibilities of a divine beast: Suppress Fortune, Guardian Sect Gate—legend says turtle divine beasts can foresee danger. Can you?"

Su He squinted at him.

"Apparently not. Otherwise, you would not have rammed headfirst into me."

"Then that is how it shall be. You do your part, and I will do mine. Let us Do One's Best to get along harmoniously. How about it?"

Su He did not move, pondering for A Long While. Then he nodded.

"Good!" Feng Yi Ju clapped his hands. "Like This, everything from before shall be wiped away. I heard you have obtained Elder Ge's cultivation method and are about to begin cultivating. Have you chosen a cultivation ground?"

Su He was silent for a moment. He wanted to stay by Su Hua Nian's side, but that was not very realistic. Su Hua Nian was recovering from her injuries; if he submerged himself in the pool, he would gradually alter its environment.

Su He Looked Towards Listening Sea Lake.

"Listening Sea Lake?" Feng Yi Ju pondered briefly. "That will do. Then Listening Sea Lake shall be designated as your cultivation ground. Tomorrow, the sect will send Yellow Turban Warriors to build a cultivation ground tailored for you. Go on, then!"

Su He turned and left.

This Sect Leader did not conceal his malice. Or perhaps that, too, was a kind of forthrightness? Did this count as reaching an agreement with Feng Yi Ju? Listening Sea Lake had truly become his territory now.

Yet for some reason, Su He did not like this feeling—talking with people, getting things done, being Schemed Against, being flattered.

It was as though these people regarded him entirely as a person.

For no reason at all, Su He disliked that feeling. Instead, he missed the past two years of struggling to survive in Listening Sea Lake—fighting the Giant Salamander for food, evading the goshawk's hunt, and swimming amid the Crocodile Pack.