Turtle Immortal? Immortal!

"My skin feels so much better, what's going on?" Recalling how the water in the bathtub had turned murky after her bath—requiring several changes before she was finally clean—Bulma was utterly bewildered. It felt as if her sweat glands had done a year's worth of work in a single day.

It was unrealistic to attribute this to excessive exercise; she had prepared thoroughly for this trip, bringing along plenty of Hoi-Poi Capsules for transportation, so she hadn't been hiking.

Furthermore, she had put in quite a bit of effort searching for the previous Dragon Ball, and no such situation had occurred then.

"If there's one special circumstance, it's today—meeting these two strange kids. And eating their fish. Could it be because of that strange fish?" Thinking of this, Bulma grew excited. That fish seemed to have beautifying and skin-nourishing properties.

As Bulma pondered, Goku emerged, already dressed in his usual outfit; it was as if he hadn't bathed at all.

"You're done? Perfect, I have a question for you." Seeing Goku come out, Bulma immediately leaned in. "Goku, the fish you treated me to earlier—you caught it, right? Where did you catch it? Can you tell me?"

"In the lake," Goku said earnestly, thinking to himself that this woman was quite silly. Where else would a fish be?

"...I mean—never mind. I couldn't catch that kind of fish anyway, and I might lose my life for the sake of beauty."

"Um, Goku, can I discuss something with you? That fish—can you catch more? I'd like to buy some."

"You like eating fish? You were so resistant at first... I get it, you must have never eaten fish before. You're so pitiful. If you like it, I'll give you one next time."

"That's great, it's a deal! Once we find the Dragon Ball, you must remember to catch me a big one like the last one," Bulma said, overjoyed, and immediately struck a bargain with Goku.

A moment later, Wuchen came out after washing up. "It wasn't the fish; it was the vegetables and fruits that caused the change in you. If I can resurrect my grandfather, I can provide you with more of those vegetables and fruits."

Yes, he had heard their conversation. He figured that after eating the fish cooked with spiritual fruits and ingredients, this woman had purged the impurities from her body, leading to certain changes.

"Vegetables and fruits?" Bulma recalled the moment she ate the fruit and didn't feel the other party was lying. Perhaps it was some kind of undiscovered, miraculous fruit. "It's a deal then, you can't go back on your word."

"To thank you for the fish and fruit, I'll treat you to a big meal." In high spirits, Bulma immediately took a pile of food from the refrigerator to share with Goku and Wuchen.

"This thing called bread is so hard to eat," Goku said, clearly unhappy, perhaps accustomed to big fish and meat.

"Goku!" However, under Wuchen's reprimand, he ate obediently. It is worth noting that Wuchen ate very little during this meal, which was highly inconsistent with his usual appetite.

As the saying goes, a full stomach leads to thoughts of... the Sandman. It was time for bed.

Since there was only one bedroom, Bulma planned to sleep on the bed while the two brothers slept on the floor.

Wuchen, however, indicated that the sofa was fine, rejecting the suggestion of sharing the room and opting to sleep on the living room sofa with Goku.

Inside the room, Bulma felt it was quite strange; these two brothers were rather unique. "It's rare to find such decent boys, but it's a pity they're too young. If they were a bit older... Oh my, what am I rambling about? Sleep!"

Before long, Bulma drifted into a deep sleep. Early the next morning, she stretched lazily; she had slept exceptionally well and felt incredibly light. She didn't know if it was an illusion, but she felt her strength had increased significantly.

"Hmm? Where are they?" Stepping out of the room, there was no one on the sofa. Once outside, Bulma saw the two brothers swinging their staffs. "No wonder they're so strong; they're so diligent." The scene of Goku knocking down a Pterosaur with a single strike yesterday was still fresh in her mind.

"Sink your energy into your dantian, watch your breathing, watch your stance..."

"What language are you speaking? Why can't I understand a word of it?" Driven by curiosity, Bulma walked over, but she couldn't understand a thing as Wuchen chattered away to Goku.

Yes, Wuchen was speaking the language of his past life, and Goku knew it too. Goku had grown up immersed in both languages, so he was naturally bilingual without needing instruction.

Because the two languages had many untranslatable terms, the language of his past life was more convenient for teaching cultivation, which Bulma naturally couldn't understand.

"It's nothing. Since you're up, let's get ready to go," Wuchen urged, seeing that Bulma was awake.

"So mysterious," Bulma turned back to pack, deciding not to press the issue.

"Big Brother, what is that? A turtle? Why does it look so strange?" At that moment, Goku spotted something—it was a large Sea Turtle.

"A Turtle Beast, looks like it might have mutated," Wuchen said, not recognizing the creature either. "Pity we don't have a pot, or it would make a decent soup."

"Is it tasty? Big Brother, I want to eat it!"

"Kind people, could you give me a bucket of salt water? It would be even better if you had some seaweed," the Sea Turtle said, asking for water. Like Bulma, it hadn't understood the brothers' whispers.

"!" Wuchen was slightly startled. Was this Turtle Beast about to become a spirit?

"Are you really tasty?" Goku, like a curious child, struck up a conversation with the turtle, drooling with curiosity.

"Ah?! No, you can't eat me! Look at how hard my shell is, how could I possibly be tasty?" The Sea Turtle pulled its head into its shell, speaking weakly.

"Is that so? Alright then, who are you? Why did you come here?"

"I am a Sea Turtle. I live in the ocean and reside on Turtle Hermit Island. I don't know how I got lost. Can you take me back? I will reward you." The turtle poked its head out again, speaking earnestly.

Turtle Hermit Island? 'Hermit'? The Sea Turtle's words startled Wuchen. There are immortals in this realm? That shouldn't be; there isn't even spiritual energy here, so how could one become an immortal?

"What is the sea? Is it tasty?" Ignoring Wuchen's reaction, Goku asked his classic question.

"Don't tell me you two have never seen the ocean?" Bulma had finished packing and walked over, pulling out an electronic map. "Let me see... the nearest ocean is 118 kilometers away. How did this turtle survive getting here?"

"Bulma, do you have salt water? He seems thirsty," Goku said, quickly asking Bulma for salt water on the turtle's behalf.

"I really can't stand you," Bulma said, impatiently taking out a Hoi-Poi Capsule to manifest the house she had just packed away, then retrieved a bucket of salt water from inside.

The Sea Turtle drank the source of life, and its whole body—or rather, its whole turtle-self—felt refreshed, and it once again asked them to take it to the sea.

Goku and Bulma disagreed on this; Goku wanted to help, while Bulma found it troublesome.

Wuchen, however, remained silent, though he was inwardly astonished.

By the looks of it, Bulma didn't seem surprised that this pitifully weak turtle could speak, and that in itself was very strange.

A beast speaking human language without any cultivation—bizarre. A delicate woman taking it in stride—also bizarre.

"Let's give it a ride; we can't just watch it die," Wuchen said, casting the deciding vote out of curiosity. A fine sentiment about not watching it die, though one wondered who had been thinking about turtle soup earlier.

"You two!" Bulma was a bit annoyed, but before she could lash out, she seemed to remember something.

She immediately took out the Dragon Radar and compared it to the electronic map; there was indeed a Dragon Ball near the nearest ocean. "I really can't do anything with you lot. Let's go."

And so, the group, plus the turtle, headed toward the ocean.