Don't Mess with that Turtle

Su He suddenly turned around and saw several water snakes lightly swimming towards him.

The one at the forefront was obviously the Snake King, two zhang long and as thick as a small leg. It was a beautiful emerald green, very elegant. Su He actually perceived a "charming" quality from a snake.

It had eaten the Demonic Fruit as well!

Both the turtle and the snake were certain of each other's identity.

The scent of the Demonic Fruit was impossible to hide. The two sides stood in silent opposition, each wary of the other, and neither launched the first attack.

The water snakes following the Snake King quickly swam forward, encircling the Snake King in the middle to protect it.

Clearly, this wasn't their first time. The snake that protected its own Demonic Fruit couldn't have done without the help of its snake followers.

This is nature.

In the struggle for the Demonic Fruit, social animals always have an advantage over solitary animals. Just the growth of the Demonic Fruit over Nine Heavens, if not for social animals, it couldn't be defended.

If it weren't for Su He cutting in, the Demonic Fruit in the small pond would certainly have belonged to the Wolf King. That wolf pack had more than twenty wolves, capable of facing any threat.

Except for Sixth Brother.

Su He and the Snake King quietly faced each other, then simultaneously began to retreat slowly, neither having the intention to strike. Both estimated the other's size and threat level, tacitly removing each other from their own menus.

After retreating five or six zhang, the Green Snake suddenly opened its mouth and released a cloud of mist, instantly shrouding the snake group. Su He was startled and quickly dove under the water surface. Battling with snakes was always more advantageous underwater than on the surface.

Looking up from under the water, the Green Snake released a thick fog that enveloped the snake group, using it as cover to quickly dive down and swim away into the distance.

It retreated with just a smoke bomb.

Somewhat intelligent but not overly so.

However, it could release fog! Only Exotic Beasts and demons could master such extraordinary abilities. Swallowing clouds, exhaling fire, summoning wind, calling down lightning…

Exotic Beasts could not become demonic, and hence were not interested in the Demonic Fruit, even resisting it. This Green Snake must be an ordinary snake that had eaten the Demonic Fruit.

It had only eaten the fruit for a few days, and it already had Divine Skills?

Why don't I have any?

Su He swam towards Tinghai Lake, feeling aggrieved for himself.

After several days of heavy rain, the sky was finally clearing up. Fish, shrimps, and crabs all swam up to the surface to breathe, often encountering various species. Old Crocodiles swam back and forth hunting prey, stirring up countless splashes.

This area was originally Crocodile Beach.

Several crocodiles saw Su He and looked eager to approach, but hesitated at the sight of his size.

This was because the scent of the Demonic Fruit had faded a lot during the time he had been asleep, and his body had also grown too much for the crocodiles to handle. If it were the same as before, these old Crocodiles would have pounced without care.

Su He swam calmly, looking for a place to settle down for an extended period.

The wolves had their wolf pack, and snakes had their snake group. Su He wanted to find a small island to see if he could domesticate a turtle group. He didn't need them to do anything else, even if they could just serve as a warning while he was asleep, it would be very good.

There were crocodiles that couldn't let go of the idea of cutting open Su He to steal the Demonic Fruit.

They followed behind.

Su He adjusted his state and swam forward at a steady and unhurried pace. Several lotus flowers drifted on the water surface. Although battered by wind and rain and fallen, they seemed to have blossomed beautifully.

This sleep had been too long; the lotus flowers had already bloomed.

The day he had agreed upon with the scruffy Taoist had arrived.

Su He swam towards the agreed upon small island from memory.

The following crocodile finally couldn't hold back and the first one suddenly accelerated towards Su He, its jaws wide open, fiercely biting towards Su He's hind leg.

A foul stench assaulted his nostrils, and Su He quickly withdrew into his turtle shell.

Crack!

The crocodile snapped its two fang-like teeth on the Turtle Shell Skirt Saw and was left reeling, its brain thundering with shock. It looked utterly bewildered and unsure of what to do when Su He turned around and clamped down on its forepaw, pulling back and flipping it over in one swift motion.

Crack!

The entire paw was twisted and torn off.

Blood spread out in the lake. The gory scene did not scare off the other two crocodiles; instead, it roused their ferocity, and they charged towards him, roaring furiously.

Su He swiftly retracted into his turtle shell, staying immobile as a mountain, uninfluenced by their gnawing and biting.

After this period of hibernation, his turtle shell had grown even harder. The crocodiles bit down and sent reverberating shocks that painfully rattled his internal organs, yet the turtle shell showed no sign of damage.

Bang!

A crocodile bit down on the turtle shell, failing to break it. Instead, it clamped down and, like a bullet, propelled Su He toward another crocodile.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Su He bit down on the hind leg of this crocodile and gave a fierce kick on the underbelly with his hind foot, tearing off a large chunk of leg meat. At the same time, his claws dug into the crocodile's belly, promptly gutting it.

The intestines spilled out through the wound.

Writhing in agony, the crocodile flicked its tail, knocking Su He away, but it dared not pursue him, fleeing as if in panic, blood streaming behind it.

Three crocodiles had been reduced to two.

The remaining one no longer approached, instead it slowly swung its tail and slinked away quietly.

Su He settled in the water for a moment, his organs pulsing steadily. Once sure that the three crocodiles had fled, a sense of pride welled up within him.

The crocodiles could do him no harm; there weren't many species left in the lake that posed a threat to him.

He raised his turtle head and swam proudly toward the agreed-upon island.

A heavy rain had completely transformed Tinghai Lake, erasing much of the island from Su He's memory.

It took Su He a whole day to locate the small island, which now was just a barren hillock, lonely above the water's surface.

As Su He circled the island, he saw no sign of the scruffy old Daoist, only a turtle statue submerged in water, indicating that the old Daoist had once been there.

Su He had missed the appointment.

Lying beside the stone turtle, Su He was dazed for a long while but finally laughed helplessly. On the island, he gathered stones around the statue, creating the shape of an old Daoist drinking wine.

I've come for our appointment, but I'm late. May we meet again if fate allows.

To gain it would be my fortune; to lose it, my destiny.

Having consumed the Demonic Fruit, he would have other opportunities to seek the Dao in the future; there was no need to be overly concerned about gains and losses.

Being a turtle for two years, if he had learned anything, it was to take gains and losses in stride. Especially as a young turtle, there was no need to be happy about finding food, as a predator could be lurking behind. Nor was there need to be upset about prey escaping; better to promptly search for more food.

A wild beast obsessed with gains and losses would not survive.

Survival in the wilderness requires caution and the capacity to be carefree.

Outside the Qingyuan Territory, in a special realm, the scruffy old Daoist who was relishing a greasy chicken rump suddenly stopped chewing and lifted his head, "Child, it seems I have made a mistake!"

The child was perplexed.

The old Daoist said gravely, "If that little turtle swallowed the Demonic Fruit, the fruit itself would provide a suitable legacy for it. If it did not, it should follow the Path of Exotic Beasts. The Breathing Technique is not suitable for it in any case. I should not have left that stone turtle."

I hope that little turtle really did miss the appointment. Or perhaps an earthquake shook and cracked the stone turtle, or a volcano erupted and split it? Or at the very least a flood drowned it. The stone turtle represents the Breathing Technique, only useful in the wind; submerged at the bottom of the lake, it's just an ordinary statue.

This realm is special, out of sync with the outer world, as if it is a unique space. The old Daoist was still unaware of Qingyuan's heavy rain.

At this moment, Su He was feeling a bit excited; he was lucky, for not long after leaving the small island, he found a truly suitable "Water Mansion."

It was a dilapidated Pill Furnace, with its pill room gone, leaving only the tripedal base upside down on the lakebed. The body of the furnace was crusted with a thick layer of rock-like material, inhabited by shellfish. Water grasses swayed with the current around it.

The furnace was quite large, with a diameter of at least fifty or sixty feet.

Digging a "concave" entrance into the lakebed to crawl into the Pill Furnace, and using pebbles to block the entrance, it would be a nice place to rest.

Su He decided this was where he would set up his home.

A cultivator seeks nothing more than clothing, food, shelter, travel, wealth, a mate, and a place to practice. Su He's needs were even simpler: just food and shelter. Now, all he aspired for was a companion, to tame a group of crows to serve him.

This was not something he could accomplish in a day or two. The pressing issue was food.

Having arrived at Tinghai Lake, with fish, shrimp, and crabs aplenty, Su He found he had no source of food.

Perhaps due to the different living environment, the fish in Tinghai Lake were craftier, and Su He's size made it hard for him to snatch their food.

A turtle of Su He's size would typically employ a "wait-and-ambush" hunting strategy, motionless as if dead, before suddenly striking when prey approached.

But Su He needed to snatch and chase, which made such tactics unsuitable for him.

He was starting to miss the Big Salamander.

Su He crawled out from the Pill Furnace and swam leisurely toward Crocodile Beach.

Given his size, even if he found the Big Salamander, it wouldn't be suitable for teaming up with Su He anymore.

If all went as expected, he would have to move his dining area to Crocodile Beach.