The wind was gentle, and the lake water softly lapped against the shore. A breeze passed through, rustling the bamboo forest.

Su He gazed up at the starry sky, the twinkling stars reflected in his eyes, as he silently recited the Tao Te Ching in his heart.

A cool breeze blew by, and without notice, Ya Ya had reverted to her human form in her sleep, snuggling comfortably into Su Huanian’s embrace. Su Huanian, sitting sideways on a bluestone, leaned against Su He’s turtle shell and fell into a deep sleep.

In the distance, within the only green-tiled brick house of Changyue Mansion, Green Snake entered holding an elixir. Upon entering, she saw Elder Qiao awake, his complexion still pale and his eyes lifeless, yet he gazed through the window at Dragon Turtle and Su Huanian by the lake thirty li away.

Seeing Green Snake come in, his eyes slightly focused, and he nodded in salute: “Thank you… Fairy, for taking care of me these past few days. This old man has awakened.”

A human body with a snake’s tail and wings – what kind of demon was this? Elder Qiao felt once again that his knowledge was limited and shallow.

Green Snake chuckled: “Senior Uncle doesn’t recognize me? I am Green Snake!”

Elder Qiao was surprised: “Green Snake of Snake Valley?” The same snake demon that joined Qingyuan Sect with Dragon Turtle? It was understandable for a snake demon to transform into a half-human, half-snake form, but wings too?

“Which elder did you take as your master?” Calling him Senior Uncle meant she must have apprenticed under a peer. It seemed Green Snake’s talent was not low.

Green Snake shook her head: “Su Sister took me as a disciple on behalf of our master, into the Sword Cleansing Pool.”

Su He went to attend the Dragon God Ceremony, and Green Snake stayed to guard Ya Ya as she transformed. With a little guidance from Su Huanian, she discovered Green Snake’s talent in swordsmanship.

Beasts have pure minds with few distractions, making them more suitable for the path of the Sword Cleansing Pool. Due to Su He’s relationship, it was inappropriate for him to take Green Snake as a disciple, so he did so on behalf of their master.

Elder Qiao shook his head with a wry smile: “Even Su Nephew has learned to snatch disciples for his master. If your master knew from the underworld, he would surely smile.”

Green Snake smiled; she didn’t have many thoughts about the master she had never met. All her swordsmanship and cultivation level were taught by Su Huanian. Her current bloodline was left by the deceased Dragon Turtle sister.

She placed the elixir box on the table: “This is a new elixir refined by Sister Su for Senior Uncle’s injuries. After taking it, Senior Uncle can meditate and refine it.”

“Thank you!” Elder Qiao thanked her again: “I don’t know how you nephews and nieces saved me? Where is that traitorous disciple of mine now?”

As he spoke, disappointment, pain, and determination flashed through his eyes.

Green Snake shook her head: “It was Su He who saved you. We haven’t seen the scholar; he must have fled elsewhere.”

Elder Qiao’s expression changed drastically, and he stood up abruptly, forgetting to take the elixir: “This is bad! That traitor persuaded the Sect Leader to stir up internal strife in Qingyuan. I must return! You must also come back with me. Su Niece should also return; her prestige is high, and she can suppress the situation by force. The Sect Leader will have to consider her!”

Thinking back to the great battle of Qingyuan, when Su Huanian cut her hair, she severed ties with the Sect Leader. It was no longer appropriate to call her ‘lady’.

Seeing the anxious old man, Green Snake admired him in her heart. The first thing he cared about upon waking was not his own arms but the sect. The older generation of Qingyuan truly regarded the sect as their home.

“Senior Uncle, please rest assured!” Green Snake said softly: “Feng Yiju is already dead. The scholar… offended Dragon Turtle and still wants to run? He must not have the courage to stir up trouble in Qingyuan now. Who knows where he’s hiding.”

Elder Qiao was suddenly stunned, hardly believing: “Feng Yiju… is dead?”

The Sect Leader who was wise for two hundred years, then declined for sixty, and suddenly burst forth, manipulating even Xuantian Sect within his grasp, was dead?

Elder Qiao found it unbelievable.

Dragon Turtle?

He looked in the direction of Su He, and saw that Dragon Turtle had grown several sizes larger than when he last saw it. More importantly, the aura it unconsciously emitted made Elder Qiao’s breath catch.

The little Dragon Turtle that needed his protection two years ago now exuded a wild aura, like a fierce beast from ancient times, capable of taking his life with a single roar.

Su Huanian slept soundly beside him. Unaware of what had happened, such a formidable Traverse Heaven existence was truly asleep, not even waking from their conversation.

Dragon Turtle…

Elder Qiao looked up at Green Snake: “Dragon Turtle is not infallible. When I saw that traitor, he was worshiping a Zhu Yan, which, according to the traitor, is also a Divine Beast, the pride of the Zhu Yan clan, the strongest talent in twenty thousand years, unparalleled in combat. It is a top-tier existence among Divine Beasts, just participated in the grand ceremony in Yunmeng Marsh, and was treated as a distinguished guest! Dragon Turtle…”

Elder Qiao shook his head slightly. Turtles and monkeys, the turtle always loses out.

Green Snake burst into laughter, leaving Elder Qiao at a loss, before she said: “Senior Uncle need not worry. Dragon Turtle also attended the Dragon God Ceremony in Yunmeng Marsh. The Zhu Yan you mentioned was beaten half to death by Dragon Turtle under everyone’s watch, and the elders of its clan didn’t even show up. A Flame Crow of the same realm and status as the Zhu Yan was even slain by Dragon Turtle. The elders were detained in Yunmeng Marsh.”

She looked at Elder Qiao, then suddenly realized, and chuckled: “Do you not understand what kind of existence Dragon Turtle is?”

Hmm? Elder Qiao didn’t react for a moment, still shocked by the news Green Snake had shared.

That Zhu Yan, who was so arrogant that he had no chance to resist and had his arms completely severed, had once been beaten half to death by Dragon Turtle?

In his shock, he looked at Green Snake, wondering what kind of existence Dragon Turtle was.

Green Snake smiled: “In this world, there are three thousand large worlds and a hundred thousand small worlds, with tens of thousands of Divine Beasts. If ordinary Divine Beasts are compared to high officials and generals, then the Dragon Turtle, Dragon, Phoenix, and Kylin clans are emperors—the supreme emperors, the kind that are beyond question!”

She looked at Elder Qiao with pride flashing in her eyes: “Before the Dragon God Ceremony in Yunmeng Marsh, a Teng Snake attacked our Dragon Turtle, and the Dragon Turtle elder directly annihilated the Teng Snake clan! The Teng Snake’s rank is not below that of Zhu Yan, and may even surpass it!”

This was something she learned before the Dragon God Ceremony in the small world of Bailings, from the Golden Dragon Meng Xuan. Being with Su He, aside from other things, her knowledge increased daily.

A Golden Dragon wanted to hire her as a military advisor for his stronghold – who would believe such a thing if she told them?

Elder Qiao stood frozen, the massive news refreshing his worldview. He had seen Divine Beasts in his thousand years of cultivation!

Back when the older generation of Qingyuan followed King Jing to attack the Tianshou Great World, they gained some insight. At that time, there was a brocade chicken with eyes under its wings that appeared to take away a group of natives from the Tianshou Great World who had been captured.

King Jing didn’t even think twice and agreed immediately. He treated the brocade chicken with respect and personally escorted it out of the Tianshou Great World.

Later, he heard that the brocade chicken was just an ordinary kind of Divine Beast.

Even so, King Jing did not neglect it.

What kind of existence was King Jing? The foremost among the ten great immortal gates, the direct descendant from the Daoist ancestral home of Guiwang Mountain! His status was equivalent to a prince from the Fenghuang Palace.

Only Guiwang Mountain could command all Daoist sects to attack a great world!

The mermaid from the Tian Shui clan of Old Taoist Ge was brought back from that battle.

When Elder Qiao came back to his senses after digesting the news, Green Snake was no longer in the room, and the elixir was quietly placed on the table.

Elder Qiao sat down with a wry smile. Was Dragon Turtle such an existence? Its status and identity were probably not below that of King Jing!

His traitorous disciple had once persuaded the Sect Leader to try to restrain such an existence?

The sky gradually brightened, the stars faded, but Su He could still sense the presence of the stars with his eyes closed. Fading did not mean disappearing.

A night of contemplation did not yield any enlightenment. He knew too little about the Way of the Stars. Su Huanian’s mother came from the Heavenly Star Palace, and Su Huanian herself had a good understanding of the Way of the Stars. They could discuss it later.

If it involved the secrets of the Heavenly Star Palace, why not exchange treasures with the Heavenly Star Palace? Su He would not divulge the secrets here; it was just a means of contemplation.

Su Huanian woke up early, and at the moment, she was swallowing the morning glow.

The morning glow and the moon were the cheapest heavenly materials and earthly treasures, cheap because they could be seen every day and were available to everyone. But their effects were tangible.

Su He faced the east, his dragon head protruding, stretching his neck, inhaling through his nostrils.

Two streams of purple qi were drawn into him. This breath was almost imperceptible, long and ethereal, like a whale drawing water, lasting for nearly half a cup of tea time. When no more purple qi could be drawn after sunrise, Su He slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

On the turtle shell, Little Turtle imitated him, exhaling a breath of turbid air with a milky voice and a long chant.

Elder Qiao approached, waiting for the three to finish their morning practice before coming over. He looked at the little turtle on Su He’s back, his eyes full of shock. He had just witnessed the little girl in red clothes flip her body and turn into a little Dragon Turtle.

Ya Ya’s transformation was not part of the beast transformation chapter. Old Taoist Ge and he were close friends, and he was too familiar with the beast transformation chapter. Ya Ya’s beast and human forms were somewhat like the true form and human form of a demon.

Even when she appeared in human form, she was a human-shaped Dragon Turtle, unlike the unrelated human and beast forms in the beast transformation chapter.

“Senior Uncle Qiao,” Su Huanian greeted the approaching old man with a slight bow.

Su He smiled: “Senior Uncle Qiao has awakened?”

Elder Qiao nodded. He had received too much news overnight, and his mind was a bit slow to catch up, but because there was so much news, he could accept even the most shocking things without crashing.

“Ya Ya is…” he asked in confusion.

Su He smiled: “It’s just a coincidence!”

Elder Qiao had secretly protected the law for several months, and even the Clear Mirror was first gathered by the Qingyuan elders. Su He had a very good impression of him.

Elder Qiao shook his head. A coincidence that resulted in a Dragon Turtle? Why not give me such a coincidence? After striving for a thousand years, I don’t want to struggle anymore. I also want to be a Dragon Turtle, to live an easy life—even without waiting for death!

Suppressing the sigh in his heart, Elder Qiao nodded slightly in greeting: “I shouldn’t disturb the cultivation of the two nephews, but I must come at this time.”

Elder Qiao’s tone was sincere: “Thank you for saving my life, nephews.”

Su He shook his head: “It’s what I should do. Senior Uncle has protected the law for several months, and I have not yet thanked Senior Uncle.”

This kind of thing, thanking each other endlessly, had no end. Elder Qiao didn’t dwell on it, remembering the favor in his heart: “I’ve delayed for a long time, and only woke up today. I should properly thank the two nephews, but Qingyuan is troubled, and I must leave immediately. I came especially to bid farewell to the two nephews.”

Qingyuan Sect was also in troubled times, now split into two sects. The No-Form Sword Sect and Qingyuan Sect had lost their Sect Leaders at the same time, yet they monopolized Dongyun, likely causing endless troubles!

Su Huanian was silent for a moment: “This place is northwest of Qingyuan. If Senior Uncle wishes to return, it won’t take long by Sword Riding. But can Senior Uncle’s body handle Sword Riding?”

Elder Qiao laughed heartily: “It’s just that my arms are gone, not that my cultivation level is completely wasted. How could there be any reason I can’t ride a sword?”

After laughing, he looked at Su Huanian with a more serious expression: “Upon returning this time, Qingyuan will choose a new Sect Leader. Who do you nephews think is suitable?”

With Feng Yiju dead, regardless of the grievances involved, the Dragon Turtle and Su Huanian in front of him were now the highest combat power in Qingyuan.

If the two of them wished, they could indeed determine the Sect Leader with a single word!