Spirit Beasts!

Watching the Ao Xiaobao Whirling Turtle put away the jewels and jade on its back, while its two little eyes warily stared at Zhou Hao.

Zhou Hao was helpless.

Isn't it only dragons that like shiny things?

You're just a Whirling Turtle, okay?

However, as the jewels and jade on its back decreased, Zhou Hao discovered that although Ao Xiaobao's body was also black and red like other Whirling Turtle, it presented a more noble purple color.

That's not all.

Unlike the regular patterns on the shell of a common Whirling Turtle, the patterns on its back are irregular polygonal shapes.

On those patterns, countless black and white dots are arranged in arrays, seemingly containing infinite mysteries.

As Zhou Hao gazed at the scene, he felt as if he were seeing countless stars spinning before his eyes. Even with the strength of his divine consciousness, he felt dizzy and quickly looked away.

Seemingly sensing that Zhou Hao was looking at its shell, Ao Xiaobao swayed its body, and a purple light flowed around the shell behind it.

After the radiance dissipated, its shell was no different from that of an ordinary Whirling Turtle.

"Are you a human cultivator?" Ao Xiaobao stared at Zhou Hao with wide eyes and asked curiously, "Why do you have tortoise shell patterns on your body, but no tortoise shell?"

Zhou Hao was taken aback.

"I am human, of course I don't have a tortoise shell."

As he spoke, he stopped activating the Xuanwu Great Divine Ability, and the tortoise shell patterns on the surface of his skin disappeared.

"I've heard there are many beautiful gems in the human world?" Ao Xiaobao asked again, "Are they as beautiful as the ones I just collected?"

"Those are just decorative pieces set in the wall; the truly beautiful gems are used to make jewelry."

Zhou Hao could tell that the little Whirling Turtle in front of him had innocent eyes and seemed to be quite young.

Swish!

A beautiful hairpin appeared in Zhou Hao's hand. The white pearls inlaid on it emitted a warm and precious aura in the dim hall, making Ao Xiaobao stare in disbelief.

"See that? The pearls on this hairpin alone are more valuable than all your gemstones combined," Zhou Hao teased.

As he spoke, more and more jewelry appeared in his hands.

Dozens of exquisite pieces of jewelry, such as a gold-threaded hairpin with eight treasures and pearls, a red gold necklace with a fish-shaped design, and a jewel-encrusted purple gold crown, were all found by Zhou Hao from the storage treasures of the elegantly dressed young man Yu Zichi.

Most of these jewelry pieces are non-ranked magic treasures, with only a few being Human-Rank Magical Treasure. Although they don't significantly improve combat power, they all share one thing in common: they are exquisitely beautiful.

Perhaps, this is the only purpose of these ornaments.

At least when Zhou Hao started taking out these gorgeous jewels one by one, Ao Xiaobao's eyes widened in envy.

"I'll trade with you." Ao Xiaobao took the gems he had just put away from his storage magic item and piled them up on the ground.

"No trade." Zhou Hao shook his head. "I don't even know you, why should I trade with you?"

"My name is Ao Xiaobao, I am 862 years old, and I have just entered the Purple Mansion. My father is Ao Xuan, and he is at the Primordial Spirit realm..." Ao Xiaobao rambled on, revealing all his background in one go.

"Then how did you get into this palace?" Zhou Hao asked again.

You should know that this Turtle-Serpent Palace is so powerful that even a Loose Immortal or a terrestrial Earth Immortal cannot enter without the key to the Immortal Mansion. A small Whirling Turtle that has just entered the Purple Mansion —well, for a Whirling Turtle with a long lifespan, less than a thousand years old is equivalent to a human infant.

The fact that a tiny Whirling Turtle, not even out of its infancy, could enter this Turtle-Serpent Palace, a place even Loose Immortal Earth Immortal couldn't access, was precisely what intrigued Zhou Hao the most.

"There's an entrance beneath this palace; that's how I came in," Ao Xiaobao said.

"No formation?" Zhou Hao asked in surprise.

"Yes, I have."

Ao Xiaobao looked at the human cultivator who was asking all sorts of questions but wouldn't say whether he could trade jewelry with him, with suspicion.

"That formation was quite complex. It took me most of the day to get in, and I was so exhausted that I slept for several days to recover."

Walked for most of the day?

It's quite complicated?

Zhou Hao stared in astonishment at the little Whirling Turtle in front of him.

Could he be a master of formations?

Thinking back to the mysterious patterns on its shell that he had just seen, Zhou Hao had a sudden thought and asked, "Is it because of those patterns on your shell?"

"Hmm." Ao Xiaobao nodded. "My father said it was a natural phenomenon, that I was carrying the ' Luo River Book ' on my back, and that I shouldn't reveal myself to the outside world. I forgot to hide it after I woke up, so don't tell anyone when you go out."

After saying that, it frowned and asked, "Are you willing to trade with me or not?"

"No." Zhou Hao shook his head again. "These jewels are my prized possessions; how can I just give them to you? Unless..."

"Unless what?" Ao Xiaobao asked anxiously.

"Unless you become my spirit beast." Zhou Hao blinked, deliberately toying with a crimson gold plate-shaped necklace in his hand.

"Since you've become my spirit beast, my treasures will naturally be no different from yours. And not only will I give you all of these, but any beautiful jewels I acquire in the future will also be yours."

Tempted by Zhou Hao's dozens of exquisite jewels, Ao Xiaobao agreed after less than three seconds of consideration, accepting the imprint of the spirit beast talisman and willingly becoming his spirit beast.

Looking at Ao Xiaobao, who wore a jeweled purple-gold crown, a red-gold garland of gold and a silver fish necklace, and whose tortoise Ao Xiaobao was piled with exquisite jewelry, Zhou Hao smiled.

Although it might seem like he was just fooling a child, he naturally didn't want to miss out on a divine beast as gifted as Ao Xiaobao.

In fact, it is quite common for human cultivators to form spirit beast contracts with demonic beasts and then adventure and grow together in the future. Many demonic beasts are also willing to seek out human cultivators who can help them grow in the future.

After all, not only in the Xia Clan Great World, but also throughout the entire Three Realms, human cultivators are a dominant and powerful force.

Having a powerful master is tantamount to having an extra mountain to lean on.

After taking Ao Xiaobao as his spirit beast, Zhou Hao led it back along the corridor, preparing to return to the Divine Ability Hall where he had previously received the inheritance.

Although some palaces remained unexplored, Ao Xiaobao had already swept through them all by the time he arrived.

They returned to the Divine Ability Hall, and not long after, the Slovenly True Person also returned from the left corridor.

Judging from the joy on the Slovenly True Person's face, he had gained a great deal inside the palace.

When the Slovenly True Person saw the spirit beast Little Treasure, he was quite surprised, not expecting that there were other living beings in the palace.

Zhou Hao didn't mention the innate mystery on its shell, only saying that Little Treasure's innate ability was to break formations.

Even so, the Slovenly True Person was quite envious.

For prodigies like them, ordinary divine beasts, even those with noble bloodlines, offer only a very limited boost to their combat power.

Moreover, humans have a much higher level of comprehension than demons. Even if they capture a spirit beast, hundreds of years may pass, and the master may have already entered the Nascent Soul stage or even become Earth Immortal Loose Immortal, while the spirit beast is still stuck in the same place.

Only special spirit beasts like Ao Xiaobao, who excel at support, can provide them with the greatest assistance.

It should be noted that there are quite a few powerful cultivators who are skilled in array formations, but studying array formations is extremely time-consuming.

With a spirit beast like Ao Xiaobao, who excels at breaking formations, Zhou Hao will at least no longer have to worry about encountering formations.

"Zhou Hao, is that Divine Camel Daoist still in the Immortal Mansion?" the Slovenly True Person asked.

Having enjoyed all the benefits within the Immortal Mansion palace, it was time for them to leave.

"He's not in the Immortal Mansion." Zhou Hao sensed it slightly and shook his head. "He's currently tens of thousands of miles away from the Immortal Mansion. He must have suffered a loss at the hands of the Whirling Turtle Clan and doesn't dare to come in again, so he's waiting outside for us to come out."

"Now that we have received the inheritance of supernatural powers, our strength has greatly increased. We can take this scourge out together," said the Slovenly True Person.

Zhou Hao nodded.

There's no such thing as being able to thief for a thousand days but not being able to guard against thieves for a thousand days.

If the threat posed by the Divine Camel Daoist is not resolved, his journey to the Upper Sect will still take millions of miles, and he will ultimately become a calamity.

"But right now, the palace is guarded by the Daoist soldiers of the Whirling Turtle Clan, and two ancient demons with primordial spirits have set up restrictions. If we want to get out, we'll probably have to rely on you, my spirit beast."

After saying that, the Slovenly True Person smiled and looked at Ao Xiaobao.

Zhou Hao also looked at it.

"Leave it to me." Ao Xiaobao, wearing a purple-gold crown, raised his head and said confidently.

It had long been tired of staying by its father Ao Xuan's side, and now that it had recognized Zhou Hao as its master, it not only received many 'rare treasures', but also had the opportunity to leave home and venture out into the world, so it was naturally eager to do so.

The Slovenly True Person has refined the central core of the Turtle-Serpent Palace. Although his cultivation level is not high enough to recognize the entire Immortal Mansion as his master, he can at least control all the formations in the Turtle-Snake Hall.

An invisible wave flashed by, Ao Xiaobao's figure suddenly disappeared from the main hall.

Within the Immortal Mansion.

When Ao Xiaobao, adorned with dazzling jewels, appeared before Ao Xuan.

The ancient demon, who had lived for millions of years, couldn't help but cover his forehead, unable to bear the sight.

When he heard his youngest son say that he had recognized a master, become a spirit beast, and wanted to go out and explore with Zhou Hao, he was overjoyed.

Ao Xuan felt utterly helpless.

Despite our best efforts, we couldn't prevent it all; our precious Little Treasure was kidnapped...

I've been a bit tired these past couple of days, and I wasn't feeling great this morning, but I'm feeling better now. I'll continue. I should be able to write another two or three chapters. I'll try to keep updating by 10,000 words per chapter.

The timing is uncertain; I'll post it as I write it.