Elephant Water

Su He turned his head and saw Master Zhuang gazing at him with a face full of resentment.

Su He blinked.

You want some?

He handed over one of the fawns.

As if mice had crawled onto its feet, the camel shrieked and leaped onto Su He Turtle's shell mountain, avoiding the mangled fawn—an alligator's catch; one could hardly expect it to look elegant.

It stomped its hooves furiously on Su He Turtle's shell mountain, snorting and wheezing.

It was probably cursing.

You bastard, you bastard—have you ever seen a camel eat meat?

The camel could not stand the sight of such bloody carnage.

Not eating? This one had even been enhanced in quality.

Su He swallowed the fawn in two or three bites, then opened his mouth and let several little silver fish clean the scraps from between his teeth.

He had only had teeth for a little over two months, and using them still felt awkward, as though there were always something extra or something missing.

The camel stamped its hooves on his back. As it stamped, the hoofbeats gradually found a rhythm, accompanied by its snorting wheezes.

It seemed to be singing, but it was actually speaking.

It was asking what Su He was doing here. Once the little silver fish had finished cleaning the scraps and swum away with flicking tails, Su He turned his head and replied, "Aang~"

Supervising work, eating, cultivating.

The camel snorted twice in disbelief.

How could he cultivate when this place was full of water?

Su He froze for a moment, then understood. This camel was too intelligent—so clever that Su He had overlooked the fact that it was still merely an exotic beast.

Exotic beasts did not develop spiritual intelligence. Their IQ was not much higher than that of ordinary beasts. This camel was already an exception.

Among the myriad forms of living things, there were always exceptions.

Su He gave several low calls: I'm a turtle. I was born to be in water.

The camel blinked its large eyes and went blank for an instant, then suddenly shrank back, looking as if it had been struck by revelation. It nodded, jumped down from the turtle shell, and walked across the water.

It turned back and called to Su He: Follow me. I'll take you somewhere good.

You need Water Essence Spiritual Power for cultivation, so you should follow me.

Azure Origin Sect was more or less safe now, especially if he followed Master Zhuang.

Su He turned toward Su Hua Nian and gave a long cry.

The Fairy had come to help him design an array, yet he was running off halfway through. Leaving without a word would be improper.

Su Hua Nian glanced faintly in his direction, her voice sounding directly in Su He's mind. "Do not learn to drink from it."

Hurry, hurry. The camel snorted and wheezed, bouncing about across the water's surface in excitement.

The waves raised by the Yellow Turban Warriors became tame and obedient beneath its feet. Though the camel was a desert exotic beast, it rode the waves as though walking on level ground.

Su He, a divine beast of the water, had to do his very best just to keep up.

The gap in their strength was too great.

In the blink of an eye, a hundred li of water were cast behind them. The camel led Su He above Elephant Water, raised its forelegs high, then smashed down and plunged into the water, charging straight toward the bottom of Elephant Water.

Su He had been born in Listening Sea Lake and often swam into Elephant Water, but he had never dived to its bottom. In the past, he had been unable to do so. Three months ago, he could not even dive to the bottom of Listening Sea Lake at a depth of thirty zhang, much less Elephant Water.

Now, it was reverence for the unknown. He did not know what lay beneath Elephant Water and did not dare venture in lightly.

But with the camel leading the way, there was no need to worry.

The farther downstream Elephant Water flowed, the broader it became. Its cross-section resembled a convex shape. The water's surface was only a little over a hundred li wide—on Earth in his previous life, it would not even have counted as especially wide—but its width increased geometrically the farther downstream one went.

After diving seventy or eighty zhang, sunlight could no longer reach them. Everything was pitch-black. Above them stretched a dim band of water. Su He remained on high alert and followed closely behind the camel.

The camel could not breathe underwater, but the nose ring it wore continuously supplied air to its nasal cavity while preventing water from flowing back in. Strings of bubbles rolled upward.

After descending another two hundred zhang or so, the view suddenly opened up. Sunlight could not reach this place, yet the riverbed glittered with light.

Glowing grass, shimmering fish, fluorite stones like streetlamps...

One breath of river water filled his lungs with cool freshness!

The Water Essence Spiritual Power here was more than twice as abundant as above! Only because Listening Sea Lake had become his cultivation ground and he had set up an array there had its spiritual power surged enough to show signs of surpassing this place.

Su He was like a foolish roe deer entering a city for the first time, unable to take it all in.

More than half the living creatures here were ones he had never seen before.

When he turned his head, he saw the camel lying on the riverbed like a husky, teasing a large shrimp. It even looked as though it wanted to bite it.

Are you crazy? That thing is poisonous! One bite, and you'll spit out your gall!

Su He cried out.

The camel reluctantly spat out the shrimp, then wagged its swollen tongue at Su He to show off. The swelling visibly subsided.

Profound Moon Exotic Beasts were not afraid of such a little poison.

The camel hopped and skipped as it led Su He wandering about. After turning through two gorges, the view suddenly opened up before them: a lush expanse of Water Grass, with schools of fish swimming through it.

Several enormous turtles drifted about in twos and threes.

Most of them radiated savage auras; some even bore stars atop their heads. They were Exotic Beasts.

The moment the turtles saw the camel, they scattered as swiftly as if they had seen the plague god. Yet the camel was oblivious, holding its proud head high like a king inspecting his domain.

At the center of the Water Grass stood a stone platform, and atop it was a tiny temple. The temple was only half a person tall, its inside and outside covered in algae that shimmered with a faint glow. Within lay a reclining statue.

It was Old Daoist Ge. The statue was lifelike, even the chicken leg in the old daoist's hand exquisitely rendered.

Stretching out its neck, the camel drew a token from the cloth sack on its back and spat it into the temple.

A flash of light swept through, followed by hearty laughter.

"Haha! This old daoist can finally go home for a look!"

The stone statue inside the little temple jumped out. Upon touching the water, it grew, becoming as tall as a person in the blink of an eye. With a shake of its body, Water Grass and algae came rustling down.

Old Daoist Ge was not a real person; the stone statue in the temple had come to life. He circled Su He three times, then nodded in satisfaction. "What did you feed this Dragon Turtle of yours? He's grown this big in a year?"

Su He stared, Stunned. At last recovering his senses, he lay prone on the ground and lowered his head slightly toward the old daoist.

This old daoist was the senior who had led him onto the path, so it was only right that he pay this respect.

One Person and One Turtle had originally agreed to meet on the Seventh Day of the Seventh Month, but through a chain of mishaps, they had missed each other and delayed it until more than three months later.

Patting Su He's shell, the old daoist laughed heartily. "Not bad! Truly godly and magnificent. Once this old daoist gets out of the Three Rivers Wasteland, I'll give you a grand gift!"

He had fought someone earlier and brought down a mountain. A treasure had been nurtured within that mountain—just right for a Meeting Gift.

They had only just met and were still rejoicing when they saw a green crocodile chasing a turtle in their direction.

The green crocodile had three stars above its head, while the turtle had only one.

Old Daoist Ge jumped up and cursed, "Grandson Thief! While this old daoist was away, you dared hunt my turtles!"