Su He looked at the treasure Flame Crow had sent him, a garment light as gossamer—not really a garment, its shape indescribable, like a wisp of smoke that enveloped his entire body when draped over him.
This thing didn’t even require refinement; whoever held it could use it.
Wearing it didn’t add a layer of defense, but rather… it seemed to isolate him from the world, as if the Formation above could no longer detect him.
It could block random blades probably for the same reason; the blades couldn’t detect the living being beneath this layer of clothing.
A die landed on the garment, spinning round and round. Su He immediately threw the garment into his external space.
The die followed suit, landing on two.
Garment x2
Is this even considered looting? It’s clearly compensation!
Meng Xuan flew up amidst thunder and lightning: “That’s the amniotic membrane of a naturally formed miniature world.”
Her dragon whiskers fluttered as she glared at Su He: “Afraid I’ll rob you?” Stingy, she thought, seeing him pocket it immediately. As if a Dragon Turtle had never seen treasures before?
Su He: “……”
He shook his head: “I’m afraid the Formation will judge that I’m relying on the treasure to ascend and forbid me from taking the Token.”
This explanation was barely acceptable. Meng Xuan explained to Su He: “Only naturally formed miniature worlds have amniotic membranes, also known as geotextiles. Flame Crow used it directly without refining it into a treasure, but you can ask your aunt to refine it into a treasure for you.”
Not just Flame Crow, all Divine Beasts were not adept at refining treasures. The more delicate operations like treasure and pill refining, the less proficient the top-tier Divine Beasts were—of course, this was relative to the combat power of Divine Beasts.
A Divine Beast with an unfathomable lifespan, what don’t they understand?
“Keeping the geotextile is correct, just wearing it up there would be looked down upon.” The geotextile prevents the Formation from launching attacks, and although anyone who’s not blind can see Dragon Turtle’s combat power, who doesn’t have a mouth capable of spinning tales?
Su He looked again towards the second area.
The Golden Dragon secretly transmitted: “Don’t move too fast, that place is extremely beneficial for water-type Divine Beasts. Even if you feel the aura is incredibly difficult and obscure, or even harmful to the body, try to absorb as much as you can!”
After speaking, she winked at Su He and turned to head down the mountain.
Su He: “??”
This was no longer a hint; it was an outright indication, wasn’t it?
What’s extremely beneficial for water-type Divine Beasts, if not the Lake Trigram? Lake represents great waters! The only thing more suitable for water-type Divine Beasts than the Lake Trigram is the Water Trigram.
So, Yunmeng Marsh doesn’t forbid foreign Divine Beasts from absorbing the essence of the Lake Trigram?
Su He looked towards the second area, where a Henggong Fish was struggling to reach the mountain top, its body shining as it desperately repelled something, as if the air around it was poisonous.
Su He licked his lips and leaped into the second area.
The suddenness of his previous arrival had left him unprepared, but this time he felt it personally. The second area seemed empty, but upon entering, he could sense the abundant water element, spiritual power pressing down on his shell like a mountain of a thousand jun.
With every step, thick water elements hindered him, and inside the boundary bead, the small Lake Trigram flickered with light, desperately absorbing the essence of the Lake Trigram.
No more unabsorbable mist formed around the small Lake Trigram; the die seemed to consider the entire Lake Trigram essence as one, its roll permanently effective.
At the peak of Mount Tai’a, the motionless sorcerer opened his eyes, looked at his hands for a moment, then returned to calm.
Su He observed the small sixty-four trigrams revolving around Mount Tai’a.
He could control these trigrams at will, but when they encountered an external trigram of the same phase, they would uncontrollably absorb its essence.
It was like a ticking time bomb.
Without thinking, he knew that those who possessed trigrams were all supreme beings, casually drawing away the essence of their trigrams.
He would be beaten, even killed!
Su He tried to control the small Lake Trigram to stop absorbing the essence, but its light brightened, and the absorption became even more vigorous.
Rebellious child!
The sixty-four trigrams were indeed Su He’s, without a doubt, otherwise the die wouldn’t have descended.
The problem was, now the small sixty-four trigrams were like the heart of a grass turtle, beating beyond Su He’s control.
Only the fully solidified small Eternal Trigram could be completely controlled by Su He.
Su He moved forward step by step, extremely slowly. In terms of slowness, the turtle triumphed over all Divine Beasts. The heavy water element pressed down on him, his shell creaking.
The hardest part of this challenge was not to move fast, but to move slow. To stop and absorb the essence of the Lake Trigram, one had to withstand the suppression of the Lake Trigram’s water element.
But not everyone wanted to move slowly to absorb the essence.
Ahead, the Henggong Fish desperately tried to speed up.
It seemed the Lake Trigram’s water element was a deadly poison to it.
The Henggong Fish looked back at Su He, confusion in its eyes. This Dragon Turtle wasn’t using any methods to disperse the surrounding water elements, it seemed to be… absorbing?
Su He’s combat power was witnessed by it firsthand, unattainable for this Henggong Fish that had just passed the Heavenly Tribulation. To fight and win against those beings over twenty thousand years old, with two layers of Heaven opened, was inconceivable.
Is this what a Dragon Turtle is?
The water-type Dragon Turtle is the pinnacle of all water-type Divine Beasts. It didn’t disperse the surrounding water elements; could it be that the water element here was originally meant for absorption?It flicked its whiskers, attempting to dispel the radiance from its body, but the Hexagram Water Element pressed down in an instant. In a mere moment, the Henggong Fish seemed as if it had been thrown into a boiling oil pan, its entire body emitting a sizzling and popping sound, skin splitting and flesh bursting open.
With a piteous scream, the Henggong Fish thrashed and leaped about, the more it jumped, the greater the damage from the Water Element became, quickly stripping away flesh and revealing bone.
Enduring the intense pain, it tried to absorb a strand of the Water Element, but even its innards exploded.
Utterly miserable.
“??”
Su He hummed softly, tossing out a lichen to wrap around the Henggong Fish, stopping the Water Element from corroding and harming it. Only then did the Henggong Fish gradually recover, and it let out a low cry towards Su He: “Thank you!”
The voice was pleasant to the ear, clearly a female. But it seemed a bit slow-witted.
After expressing its gratitude, it cast a resentful glance at Su He: “Why are you unharmed when exposed here?”
Su He remained silent for a moment, then said, “I have an external form!”
Although he didn’t have an external form, and the Water Element seemed to cause him no harm, saying so might hurt the Henggong Fish.
Henggong Fish: “…”
I’m the fool!
Its protective light screen rose again, it shook its fins, took back the lichen, and returned it to Su He: “Thank you, fellow Daoist, for the rescue. I advise you not to comprehend here; even the Flame Crow couldn’t grasp it…”
It suddenly stopped talking, casting another resentful glance at Su He, then flicked its tail and swam towards the mountain peak.
Su He could hear the Henggong Fish muttering as it left: “He is the Dragon Turtle… He is the Dragon Turtle…”
What’s the Flame Crow compared to the Dragon Turtle? Just because the Flame Crow couldn’t do it doesn’t mean the Dragon Turtle can’t!
The Henggong Fish sped towards the mountain peak as fast as it could. After a while, seeing no movement behind it, it turned its head only to find that the Dragon Turtle had already completely stopped in place, with the Water Element forming wave illusions, one after another crashing onto its shell.
The Henggong Fish opened its mouth but said nothing.
Is this the world of the Dragon Turtle? The dreadfully toxic Water Element that it desperately avoided was just for surfing here?
A Greedy Wolf and a Zhan topped with lightning entered the second area. The Water Element tilted, the Greedy Wolf’s moon-white fur emitted a faint glow, and Zhan’s third tail gave a light flick, repelling the incoming Water Element, causing it to flow around both sides.
The effortless manner of the two beasts filled the Henggong Fish with envy.
Zhan’s first tail possessed a space-restricting Divine Ability, the second was of the fire series, and the third was for defense…
The Greedy Wolf, with its agile steps, approached Su He, who seemed to be in contemplation with his eyes closed.
Its breathing became more profound, and the crescent moon on its forehead flickered.
Was it going to attack the Dragon Turtle? The Henggong Fish’s breath tightened, and it let out a baby-like cry, rushing over.
But then it saw Zhan flash in front of the Dragon Turtle.
“He is comprehending the Dao!” Zhan looked at the Greedy Wolf.
Everyone wanted to fight the Dragon Turtle, especially after being suppressed by Bai Ling for twenty thousand years, the urge was uncontrollable upon seeing the Dragon Turtle.
But a beast should have its style!
A fight should happen when the Dragon Turtle was prepared, not when it was wholeheartedly comprehending the Dao. Would you dare to take advantage of its vulnerability?
The Greedy Wolf glanced at Zhan: “Don’t be so foolish!”
Did Zhan’s entire clan have brains only for fighting?
They were not enemies, and to attack the Dragon Turtle while it was comprehending the Dao would mean even the Greedy Wolf’s clan couldn’t protect it. It was merely curious to see this Dragon Turtle.
What kind of methods did it have that made its clan uncle concede before they even fought, causing it to lose thirty thousand merits? After this matter, it would find the Dragon Turtle for a fight—not out of emotional grudges, but purely for a friendly competition.
It walked past Su He towards the mountain, passing the Henggong Fish with a snort, wanting to mock it.
But then Zhan blocked its way, looking at the Henggong Fish with a barbed tongue licking its lips, grinning like a leopard-headed cat: “Not bad! I like it!”
It liked this fish with the courage to recognize and repay kindness.
The Henggong Fish shrank back; fish and cats were natural enemies, even though this was a leopard… a leopard was still a big cat!
“If you have a chance, come to Zhang’e Mountain, I’ll show you around.” Zhan waved its paw and climbed up the mountain against the Water Element.
Zhang’e Mountain was not just a mountain; its vastness was indescribable. Both the Flame Crow and Zhan’s ancestral lands were located here, yet the relationship between the two clans was quite ordinary.
The Henggong Fish was flattered.
Divine Beasts had their hierarchies, and the only fairness was in lifespan. The Henggong Fish clan could only open up to the third heaven at most, a weak clan.
Whether it was Zhan or the Greedy Wolf, both were unattainable existences for it.
The Henggong Fish looked at Zhan and the Greedy Wolf, who were beyond its reach, then glanced down at the Dragon Turtle, lowered its body, and once again flicked its tail, swimming slowly towards the mountain peak. It found its own rhythm, neither chasing those ahead nor fawning over those behind.
Su He’s consciousness gradually relaxed, the prepared Mountain God Seal and domain also released their power, and his consciousness sank back into the boundary bead.
At this moment, the little Hexagram joyfully leaped, and the shaman on the peak of Mount Tai once again opened his eyes to look at his right hand.
There, a pen was faintly taking shape.
Extremely ethereal! It seemed as if it would shatter upon touch.
The moment the pen began to form, Su He sensed that the initial formation of a Heaven-Opening Divine Artifact had taken place.
The pen-wielding shaman would be his first Heaven-Opening Divine Artifact.
It took three to four months for the little Heng Gua to form a shaman, but the little Hexagram took just over an hour to begin shaping the pen.The disparity was glaringly obvious.
It was unclear whether it was because the dice had been blessed, enhancing the quality of the Dao Rhyme of the Lesser Exchange that was being absorbed, or if this primordial divine artifact was more important than the witch’s pen, taking up a larger proportion.
There was still a whole month left before the Dragon God Festival. It was uncertain whether Su He could completely condense the pen into form within this month.
Su He had no plans to continue ascending. Who knew if snatching the Cave Mansion Token would count as robbery. Once the dice rolled a certain number, that would be quite the spectacle.
He would just stay here for the month, absorbing the Dao Rhyme of the Lesser Exchange. When he needed rest, he would freeload for a night at the Princess Mansion of the little golden dragon.
They were Divine Beasts, after all, not so particular about things.
After an indeterminate amount of time, Su He slowly opened his eyes. The waning moon was at the edge of the sky, signaling the time just before dawn.
A figure had appeared beside him at some unknown time, a gentle woman dressed as a maid, with a soul beast resembling a pitaya fruit hopping around her.
The little golden dragon circled nearby, and upon seeing Su He awake, brought its dragon head closer, throwing him a look: “Auntie wants to see you!”
Su He was taken aback.
The maid greeted him with a graceful bow, a smile on her face: “Honored guest, long time no see!”