They watched as the continent floating in the North Sea came into view.
A faint glimmer of understanding stirred in Nüwa's heart.
Mystic light flashed beneath her feet, and she hovered quietly in the void. Gazing at the boundless continent, whose expanse stretched untold billions of miles, she said, "Fellow Daoist Black Tortoise, are you here? Nüwa has come to pay you a visit."
The Black Tortoise was an extraordinary beast of heaven and earth who had endured since ancient times, from the Kalpa of the Fierce Beasts onward. Yet through the Heavenly Dao's machinations, he was destined to face a tribulation of supporting the heavens.
Thus, he had never assumed human form and remained in his original body to this day.
Seeing the two Sages, Nüwa and Daochen, arrive, an immense head emerged from the depths of the sea. Two eyes like shadowy moons turned toward them.
With each breath he took, countless waves surged.
It was a terrifying sight.
"I already understand why you two have come, but there is something I wish to ask."
The Black Tortoise's deep, thunderous voice echoed between heaven and earth.
"Please speak, fellow Daoist. If we can answer, we will certainly tell you."
Nüwa bowed slightly, a trace of complicated emotion in her phoenix eyes as she looked at the Black Tortoise.
He had gained sentience at the very dawn of creation and survived both the Kalpa of the Fierce Beasts and the Dragon-Phoenix Tribulation, only to become a heavenly pillar during the War of the Liches.
Not only would countless ages of cultivation scatter in a single stroke, but such a sorrowful fate awaited him.
It was far too bleak.
Even Daochen nodded slightly at his words, signaling that the Black Tortoise could speak freely.
Seeing this, the Black Tortoise swayed