On a rare sunny day, with the bright moon hanging high, a few wisps of white clouds were swept away by the wind.
A flying boat was slowly gliding under the moonlight.
On the boat, Su Huanian leaned against the railing, standing gracefully in her light blue dress that shimmered in the moonlight, as if woven from the waters of a stream.
Gazing at the clouds drifting past the flying boat, she seemed like a serene fairy, exuding an elegant and cool temperament that made others feel unworthy to approach.
Yet, a pair of mischievous eyes were unaffected, even growing more brazen as they landed on her. Su He lay on the deck, watching Su Huanian, as the wind pressed her clothes tightly against her body, perfectly outlining her impressive figure.
The Little Girl was running back and forth on the deck, having been cooped up in Changyue Mansion without anyone to spar with, she was going stir-crazy.
The flying boat wasn’t moving fast; there was no need to rush since they were out for leisure, not hurrying on a journey.
Tired from running, the Little Girl came back and stealthily pressed on the rudder, causing the flying boat to suddenly accelerate and shoot straight up into the sky.
The Little Girl cried out in a panic, hastily turning the rudder downward, and the flying boat plunged headfirst, piercing through the clouds with a howl, heading straight for a low mountain.
The mountain was brightly lit, illuminating the entire summit, with a long line of torches snaking up from the foot of the mountain.
Atop the mountain was a bandit stronghold, the scent of meat wafting in the wind, and the air thick with the smell of alcohol. In the center, half a chest of gold ingots and several chests of copper coins were laid out, as a group of bandits divided the loot, eating meat and drinking themselves into a stupor.
Suddenly, a loud cry from above: “Yikes! Run for it below! I don’t know how to pilot a flying boat!”
The mountain chieftain was a young man around twenty-two or twenty-three years old, with an extraordinary demeanor. Sitting on a tiger-skin chair, he did not join the bandits in their revelry but drank alone from a jug.
Hearing the shout, he looked up and saw a two or three-year-old girl piloting a flying boat, heading straight for the stronghold.
He was shocked!
Leaping up, a flying wheel rose behind him to intercept the flying boat.
The flying wheel collided with the flying boat, shattering into pieces with a crack—Su He’s flying boat had no defenses, but that was relative to Divine Beasts and those who could Traverse Heaven. Against such Transcend Mortality attacks, there was no need for defense; a direct collision would suffice.
“Yikes! We’re going to crash!” The Little Girl shouted, struggling to turn the rudder with all her might, and finally managed to bring the flying boat to a sudden halt ten feet from the summit.
The fierce wind from the flying boat slammed into the hillside, instantly flattening the mortal bandits to the ground, pots and pans shattered everywhere, the bonfire was snuffed out, and then, as the flying boat steadied, it exploded back to life with a bang.
Even the mountain chieftain could barely stand, his skin blown downward by the wind.
Squeak!
The flying boat corrected its position, no longer vertical but horizontal, and came to a steady stop.
“Yikes!” The Little Girl patted her wildly beating heart, turned to look back at the empty flying boat, and glared resentfully into the clouds.
Bad Father!
The moment she touched the rudder, Father had scooped up Mother and leaped out of the flying boat, now hovering in the clouds.
Father must have approached her just for Mother’s sake, right?
The Little Girl carefully descended the flying boat, her face full of apology as she looked at the bandits scattered on the ground.
The mountain chieftain was astonished by the flying boat, having never seen one so huge and magnificent in his life.
Even more astonishing was that the pilot was just a two or three-year-old little girl!
A strategist-looking man stumbled towards the chieftain, whispering urgently in his ear: “Brother! Brother! It’s just a little brat, she must have stolen her family’s flying boat, or even someone else’s.”
“We…” He opened one hand and then clenched it into a fist.
The mountain chieftain’s face changed instantly, and with a slap, he knocked the strategist to the ground: “Are you insane?! A family with such a flying boat, are they ordinary? You mess with the girl, are you tired of living?”
The strategist was shocked, looking up: “What is Brother thinking? My brain hasn’t been eaten by a bat beast! I mean, let’s recruit her! With such a patron, wouldn’t we have the wind when we want wind, and rain when we want rain?”
The chieftain’s breath hitched, but he shook his head: “Such beings are little ancestors, we can’t afford them! If we want to go left and she wants to go right, what then?”
Moreover, such characters could easily overwhelm their small fish and shrimp-like stronghold with the slightest disturbance!
Whether good or bad, it’s best for bandits to keep their distance. That’s the key to survival.
But he heard the strategist laugh: “Brother, she’s just a little brat! As long as we coax her back, won’t she be malleable?”
Can’t they even coax a child?
“Human traffickers?” A milky voice asked by their ears.
“Of course not!” The strategist waved his hand. Such tasteless acts, how could they commit?
“Ah! But you’re up to no good!” The milky voice sounded a bit confused. The two men were startled, turned around, and saw a tiny fist, magnifying in their eyes, and suddenly smashing down in front of them.
Boom! The air shattered.
The two felt a blast hit them, like a mountain crashing into them, and they were both sent flying, breaking the “Upholding Justice” flag in the courtyard.
“Let you be round!”
“Let you be flat!”
The small voice shouted, and the two bandits were smashed into the ground, then bounced back into the woods, trying to escape only to see the little girl punch the air, and the surrounding air sucked them back like a vacuum.
“Granny! Spare us!” They cried out.
This was no ordinary little girl; this was an old demon in the guise of a baby, a wolf in sheep’s clothing!
“Granny, we were just talking! Our Ape Mountain Stronghold is a righteous stronghold! We’re not bad people!”
Look, we only robbed a few chests of copper coins and half a chest of silver in a year. It’s not even enough for the underlings to eat. We brothers even have to chip in!
Otherwise, who would still be lingering in the Sense Realm? We would have advanced long ago!
You’re good people?
The Little Girl blinked, her mouth twitching slightly: “But, I’m not a good person!”
The Barbarian King said, to be a king, one cannot be a good person. You can be not bad, but you definitely can’t be good.
The two bandits were dumbfounded.
When Su He arrived carrying Su Huanian on his back, he saw a group of bandits with their hands tied behind their backs, strung up on the mountaintop, with the two leading cultivators even more so hung by lightning on a flagpole, twitching with every electric shock.
“Father! Mother!” The Little Girl ran towards them, then suddenly stopped, her two index fingers poking each other, sneaking glances at Su Huanian, fearing her mother’s blame.
After waiting for a long while, Su Huanian did not scold her, and she quietly looked up to see her mother stepping onto the flying boat.
The Little Girl blinked and cautiously followed, stepping on Su He’s paw as she passed by.
“Bad Father!” She huffed.
Su He laughed heartily, glancing at the bandits tied up all over the mountain. They had the aura of bloodthirst, but it wasn’t strong. They had committed robbery, but probably hadn’t gotten around to murder and arson yet.
The Little Girl’s lightning wasn’t strong; it would dissipate in at most three hours.
Then let them hang! Su He was a Divine Beast, not a judge; he couldn’t deal with right and wrong.
Boarding the boat, the flying boat headed east. On the deck, Su Huanian, with a small ruler from nowhere, snapped it on the Little Girl’s palm, her voice cold: “If it weren’t for your father stopping the flying boat today, it would have crashed into the stronghold, and all the people in the stronghold would have died because of you! Are their crimes punishable by death?”
Cultivators can stay away from mortals, but they must not despise life. Otherwise, any Demon Subduing Realm cultivator could come out and slaughter nations, cultivate evil arts. Would the world still be the world?
The ruler snapped down. Su He looked up at the clouds, hearing but not listening. The little one was getting a bit carried away, even daring to snatch a flying boat; if she deserved a beating, she should be beaten.
After a while, a little red bun sat next to Su He, hugging her knees, not in high spirits. It was unclear whether it was because of the spanking or because she knew she was wrong.
Su Huanian hit hard.
But as the sun rose and a great city appeared before them, the Little Girl had completely recovered, leaning on the railing and pointing at the city, shouting excitedly.
The flying boat descended, and the three entered the city. Today was a day for the family to enjoy themselves.
The city did not forbid cultivators; in the sky, people were Sword Riding, and on the ground, Exotic Beasts roamed.
This was a city specially inquired about from Xia Dali, which seemed like a city but was actually an interesting Sect. The city’s yamen, prison, and constables were all fellow sect brothers. The Sect Leader was the city lord.
Cultivators and mortals lived together, creating a colorful scene.
Su He concealed his aura and followed the crowd into the city.
Upon entering the city, there were constant shouts of vendors selling sugar figurines, paintings, acrobatics, water… an endless variety of trades.
The Little Girl darted through the crowd, stopping in front of a puppet stall: “Father, Mother, here!”
It was a stall set up by a cultivator, with puppets on the stall constantly changing their true appearances, even their height and weight.
A boy was shouting: “Esteemed seniors! Neighbors! These are storytelling puppets specially Sacrifice and Refined by my master—not that the puppets tell you stories, but you tell them stories, and once a story is finished, the puppets automatically transform into the characters of the story, perfectly performing the tale!”
Next to him, another child was demonstrating, telling a group of brand-new puppets a legend of the Divine Turtle causing chaos in the sea, and indeed, some puppets transformed into Divine Turtles, with a stage turning into an ocean. The fighting and romance were extremely lifelike.
“Esteemed ones, this item can be used by both cultivators and mortals. Tell a story, and it will be performed. There are three grades: high, medium, and low. The highest grade is vivid and lifelike, almost real…”
This man knew how to do business. The lower-grade puppets could be bought with gold and silver. The higher grades required spirit stones and elemental crystals. Business was booming!
Some scholars pooled money to buy a set, and some ladies with veiled faces bought the highest grade, while buying, they let everyone hear their doubts in a very small voice: “If I explain a sword manual to it, I wonder if the little puppet could practice swordplay for me? Hmm, it’s worth a try. Maybe it could help me improve my swordsmanship…”
“Exactly! It can practice swordplay!” A crowd immediately thought of various grand reasons.
The puppets, after hearing the stories and transforming into characters, were extremely lifelike and had great potential.
The Little Girl swept away all the high-grade puppets on the stall, not only did the two boys gape in amazement, but even the master carving under the cart raised his eyes to look. Even the old man inside the cart, half-mad and half-sane, chuckled.
The carving cultivator let down the curtain, telling the inside: “Master, sleep well, I’ll buy you a sugar figurine later!”
When Su He came to pay, he saw a puppet in the Little Girl’s hand already taking shape, turning into a burly man with a beast skin around his waist and a bronze complexion, his muscles bulging.
The burly man sat on the Little Girl’s hand with a golden knife and a big horse, his hands stacked on a giant axe, slightly raising his eyes to look at Su He: “You there, Dragon Turtle! I am the lord of the hundred thousand mountains, today I take you as my mount, have you any objections?”
Oh! Little Barbarian King!
The Little Girl laughed heartily, placing the puppet on her shoulder, and ran forward. The puppet kept shouting “I, the lord” and “mount” and other words that made people want to crush it.
“Do you want a ruler?” Su Huanian walked beside Su He, asking with a light laugh.
Su He snorted: “A little puppet, and it needs a ruler? I could blow it into sawdust with a breath!”
Su Huanian smiled gently. Was it the puppet that deserved a spanking?
The Little Girl ran ahead, and Su He and Su Huanian followed behind, Su He looking around.
“What are you looking for?” Su Huanian asked.
“A bad review! Such a big market, and there’s no candied hawthorn seller!”
Su Huanian laughed, how could there be candied hawthorn sellers in this season? As if thinking of something, a smile flashed in Su Huanian’s eyes, she whispered: “Turtles don’t eat hawthorn.”
“You eat it!” Su He turned his head, their eyes met, and they both laughed lightly.
So you haven’t forgotten this scene either!
At Xuanqing Temple’s trial illusion, buying candied hawthorn, making clay figures, Su He had not forgotten, and Su Huanian remembered too.
They smiled at each other and turned their heads to look for the Little Girl who had run off.
Inside the yamen, the city lord put down his teacup, wiping the sweat from his forehead. A cultivator beside him asked softly: “Brother, is it really that legendary Dragon Turtle? Should we line up to welcome him to our Taiyue City?”
Taiyue City was different from ordinary sects, opening its gates in all directions, doing business with all sides, and well-informed. Perhaps their Daoist skills were not as good as others, but when it came to experience, ordinary sects couldn’t catch up even if they tried.
The news of the geniuses of the Ten Great Immortal Sects, the defiant lone cultivators, and various Divine Beasts, as long as it was related to the survival of the sect, they paid attention.
How could they not know about a Dragon Turtle entering the city so openly?
The city lord exhaled, shaking his head: “This one is clearly out with his family for fun, why should we appear and disturb their peace?”
That little girl was calling him “Father” so affectionately! Moreover, the Dragon Turtle had retracted his aura, but the little girl had not. That was clearly a humanoid Dragon Turtle!
The Dragon Turtle’s bloodline must be extremely pure.
This was a big secret unknown to others, to come forward and tell the Dragon Turtle that we know your secret? That’s seeking death!”Do not show yourself! But tell the disciples to be extra vigilant. Those street rats and hooligans better stay quietly at home today. If even one dares to come out, I will grind their bones to dust afterwards!”
The Junior Brother beside him nodded and bowed, “Yes, Senior Brother!”
He turned and left to carry out the order.
…
“Big! It needs to be big! Very big! Daddy isn’t blue, he’s pure black!” A child’s voice came from a stall.
Su He looked over and saw a little Dragon Turtle arguing with the stall owner.
The owner swallowed hard and nodded. It was terrifying! A mere child, because he couldn’t describe a Turtle clearly, transformed right in front of him into a Little Turtle!
Is this a demon? The aura of human and beast is the same, so it’s not from the Demon Morphing chapter. A demon capable of taking human form must at least be in the Demon Subduing Realm, and looking at the true form of this little Dragon Turtle, it actually has a dragon’s head and flashes with electric light. It must not be an ordinary demon.
The ‘Daddy’ she mentioned—is it the legendary Exotic Beast of the Traverse Heaven Realm?
The cultivator’s carving knife flew swiftly, and in a moment, a Dragon Turtle was sculpted to form, not as a blue Turtle with electric light as described by the child, but as a Divine Turtle made of ink jade, with a majestic serpent on its back.
A breathtakingly beautiful Fairy was carved on the back of the Divine Turtle, with a Little Turtle beside her, kicking its legs up in the air.
A family of three.
The cultivator played it smart; he simply couldn’t imagine how to carve the world’s most beautiful Fairy from the description given by the little Turtle demon.
He could only look at the little Turtle demon and imagine what she would look like when she grew up.
Indeed, she was a nation-toppling beauty!
The child was satisfied with the clay sculpture.
“Quick, burn it, quick!” she revealed her human form, urging him on.
The cultivator twisted his fingers, and with a breath, a flame burst forth, landing on the clay sculpture, which in moments transformed from a clay model into an object resembling porcelain and jade.
Su Huanian leaned on Su He, watching him chuckle softly.
Is it really predestined? Look at the child’s unintentional act; isn’t it identical to the Dragon Turtle in the illusion?
While they laughed, the child had already taken out a crystal from her small purse to pay, eagerly running towards them with the statue in her arms.
The stall owner heaved a sigh of relief. Indeed, it was just an elder in the guise of a child, who was not afraid of the burning heat of the porcelain. This was not something forged by mortal fire, but true fire he had condensed!
Following the gaze of the child elder, one could see a huge Divine Turtle and a woman beside it, like a banished immortal.
So there really was such a Fairy in this world, and the little girl had not lied…
The child hopped onto Su He’s back, kicking her feet, showing off the porcelain sculpture to Mother, while Su Huanian listened quietly.
After passing through the market, they came upon a horse field, with horseback riding, cuju, and even dragon boat races on the river…
After enjoying each activity, the sky had already darkened.
The stalls gradually closed up, and the child, content, stepped onto the Flying Boat, following the two back to Changyue Mansion.
Passing by the previous stronghold, the torches were mostly extinguished, and the boisterous shouts of eating and drinking were gone, leaving only a flickering light in the hall of brotherhood, which seemed extremely desolate.
Curious, the child asked Su He to stop the Flying Boat and descended. From afar, they saw only a few people in the hall, warming themselves by a few pots of charcoal, dim and gloomy.
The child kicked open the door, and the leader glared fiercely, only to see the girl from the daytime standing at the doorway with her hands on her hips.
His courage instantly drained, and he collapsed with a thud: “Little ancestor! It wasn’t me who broke free; the lightning disappeared on its own! Please, miss, spare my life! We are just commoners who couldn’t survive at the foot of the mountain and had to turn to banditry. I have a sick mother in bed and a young son in pain. Even so, we have never killed a single commoner in our raids!”
In a few sentences, the bandit started with his mother and went on to talk about his dead father, dead wife, and injured son…
As if there was no one more miserable in the world.
The child looked up and asked outside the house: “Daddy, is it okay to kill such a pitiful person? If he’s killed, he won’t have to live so pitifully!”
The bandit was stunned.
Su He chuckled on the Flying Boat; the bandit had treated the child as an ordinary two or three-year-old, not realizing that before he even spoke, she knew what he was going to say.
With just one word, she could tell truth from falsehood.
But this little one, specifically running to the stronghold… Tired of the game of subduing Exotic Beasts, did she want to subdue the stronghold, truly wishing to conquer a realm of mortals and ascend to the throne as the Empress?
The Empress?!
The next day dawned.