Omen of Great Calamity

Five months passed.

Little Turtle's cultivation under Chu He had begun to show results.

Though it was merely an ordinary wild beast, its foundation was far from weak.

After all, it had spent several years at Chu He's side and eaten quite a few good things.

Although most of them had gone to waste because it did not know how to cultivate, what remained was still enough to gradually transform it.

Its cultivation carried the feeling of deep accumulation finally bursting forth.

Though Chu He had not put much effort into teaching it—more accurately, he had merely given it a cultivation method and scarcely paid any further attention to it—the precious pills and spiritual medicines he occasionally fed it were far more useful than any instruction.

In just half a year, Little Turtle could already fight warriors at the fifth or sixth level of the Acquired Realm. With that sturdy turtle shell of its, even against warriors at the seventh or eighth level of the Acquired Realm, it could preserve its life for a short while if it was outmatched.

More importantly, as it cultivated, the speed at which its intelligence awakened increased considerably.

Now, it was no longer an ordinary turtle!

For instance, when it walked now, it had started imitating Chu He. Two claws touched the ground while the other two were held behind its back. However, its short little tail dragged along the ground, making it sway from side to side as it took tiny steps. It looked rather strange.

The Book Repository remained quietly tucked away in an inconspicuous corner of the river of time as the years rushed past.

Until one day, the peace was broken.

"Little Chu Brother, I'm back!"

Zhao Yuling's voice carried in from far away.

Chu He set down his book, a smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.

"This girl has only been away once, yet I can tell from her voice that she's become much livelier. Going out to gain experience really does help."

Chu He nodded.

It seemed that occasionally walking among the mundane world truly had its uses.

Before long, a fragrant breeze washed over him. Zhao Yuling, dressed in white like a female swordswoman and carrying a longsword, appeared before Chu He.

Though they had only been apart for a few months, Zhao Yuling had changed quite a bit.

Her figure had become much more balanced.

Running about outside truly gave one more exercise than staying cooped up at home.

Both in mindset and in physique.

Zhao Yuling had eaten too well in the past, and her figure had always carried a slightly rounded look. Now that she had slimmed down, she was unmistakably a beauty in the making.

"Mm. Not bad."

Chu He voiced his approval.

After several months, Zhao Yuling's foundation had grown even more solid.

"Little Chu Brother, you have no idea how fun the martial world is outside! This time, I took part in a martial arts tournament, met so many experts, and even made a name for myself."

"Outside, they call me the White-Robed Fairy. I even made it onto the Martial Arts Earth Ranking, and people say I'm the number one of this generation."

Zhao Yuling chattered away, beginning to tell Chu He about everything that had happened outside.

She was brimming with excitement.

Chu He smiled as he listened quietly.

This girl really knew how to stir things up. In just a few months, she had practically turned the world upside down out there!

If her strength had not been great enough and her methods numerous enough, she might well have met with an accident!

Just then, a little thing taking slow, tiny steps passed between them. Its little mung-bean eyes stared straight ahead, its head held high and its shell puffed out.

Out of the corners of its eyes, it kept glancing at Zhao Yuling.

It was clearly making its presence known.

Though half a year had passed, it still remembered Zhao Yuling, who had often tormented it before.

"Eh! Little Turtle, why are you walking on two legs?"

Zhao Yuling finally noticed Little Turtle. She looked it up and down, surprise filling her eyes.

Little Turtle shot Zhao Yuling a sidelong glance, raised its turtle head, tucked its claws behind its back, and swaggered away in tiny steps.

After three days apart, one should look at someone with new eyes!

Now, it was a turtle that could walk upright!

"This head is much tougher than before!"

Zhao Yuling snatched Little Turtle up and lifted it by its head.

She flicked various parts of Little Turtle's body with her fingers, producing a series of dull thumps.

"Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!"

Little Turtle bared its teeth and flailed all four claws wildly in midair in protest.

Yet Zhao Yuling ignored it completely and proceeded to tease it to her heart's content.

Little Turtle was much sturdier than before, which gave her a fresh sense of novelty.

After Zhao Yuling returned, the Book Repository was lively for a time. However, having spent time outside, she had grown a little wild and restless. Chu He saw this, and in order to temper her mindset further, he sent her back into the martial world to continue gaining experience.

Time flew like a shuttle, and in the blink of an eye, another five years passed.

Chu He was already sixty-seven years old!

He had also spent fifty-three years in the Book Repository.

His cultivation had reached the late fifth level of the Fourth Turn, steadily advancing toward the sixth level of the Fourth Turn.

As for Little Turtle, after five years, it had long broken through the shackles of beastkind and reached the mortal-transcending level of beasts, equivalent to a human Innate expert.

It had become even more humanlike, and could already balance a rag atop its head as it helped Chu He clean the entire Book Repository!

Zhao Yuling, meanwhile, had not returned to the Book Repository for half a year. No one knew what had happened!

By rights, she should have returned once during this time!

Though Chu He had never made it a rule, it had long become her habit.

Every half year, she would return punctually.

To report that she was safe, tell Chu He about interesting things outside, and relieve his boredom.

"Could something have happened to the little girl?"

Chu He muttered to himself.

Though Zhao Yuling had spent the past five years forging her Innate foundation to an incomparably solid state and had already reached the Xiantian Invincible level, where she could break through into the King Realm at any time—if Chu He had not wanted to temper her mindset, she could have entered the King Realm long ago—even so, her cultivation was considered among the very best in the entire Xia Clan.

But that was only when Half-step Kings did not appear.

Once she provoked a Half-step King, her current strength would still be somewhat precarious!

Though Chu He had given her a Forbidden Technique for self-defense, he feared she might not have time to use it—or might forget to use it, since he had given it to her years ago.

Chu He's mind stirred.

The sudden intuition that Zhao Yuling was in danger was definitely not because he worried too much.

At his current level of cultivation, he possessed an unfathomably mysterious sense of the fortune and misfortune of those around him.

Every sudden intuition was never simple.

It was like ordinary people: when a loved one died, even if they were not nearby, they would suddenly feel their hearts pound with dread or have nightmares.

Thinking this, Chu He took out an Eight Trigrams Jade Plate. It was a treasure he had obtained from one of his check-ins. Combined with his cultivation, it could calculate the fortune and misfortune of most living beings below his realm.

Chu He controlled the jade plate with his mind and began calculating based on Zhao Yuling's birth date and eight characters.

In the end.

The hexagram revealed!

An omen of great calamity!

Chu He's expression changed slightly, and he frowned.

She really had encountered danger.

He rose from his recliner and said to Little Turtle, "I'm going out for a day. Stay home and behave."

Little Turtle raised its head with a baffled look, utterly unable to make sense of it.

Chu He did not care whether it had understood. His body moved, and with a single step, he crossed out of the Book Repository, soaring into the sky and vanishing from sight.

This was the first time he had left the Book Repository after decades of continuous check-ins.

He had to make quick work of this, resolve the matter, and return before midnight tomorrow to continue checking in.