Traversing the moon on arrival, chasing it upon departure.

Sparse stars hung in the ninth heaven, twinkling faintly.

The Flying Boat pierced through the clouds, with a sparse moon and stars overhead, and a bamboo sea stretching below. The fresh autumn rain had washed away the world’s superficiality, making the bamboo forest seem newly grown, dripping with vibrant green. Yet the autumn bamboo lacked the vitality of spring, appearing all the more upright.

Sitting on the deck with a golden saber, Ya Ya looked like a young empress ascending the throne for the first time.

Having just been worshipped by bandits, it was inevitable to feel a bit juvenile.

The bandits were convinced.

Without Su He and Su Huanian even showing up, the entire stronghold had only three cultivators, one at the fourth step of Transcend Mortality, and two at the third step. Ya Ya could poke through the entire mountain with a single finger.

Over two hundred bandits, a dense crowd shouting for the leader, a spectacle unmatched by an equal number of Thunder Apes beating their chests in chaos.

These were humans!

The name of Ape Stronghold was now void. Ya Ya felt that the word “ape” clashed with her, having transformed into an ape three times and been killed each time. Now, just hearing the word made her heart tremble.

But a new name for the stronghold had yet to be decided. At the moment, one could hear the leader, sitting upright, muttering softly to herself, “Su Stronghold? He Stronghold? Huanian Stronghold? Sounds terrible, I don’t want that!”

She racked her brains but was clueless. Naming was a bit of a challenge for this little fist-sized spirit.

After a long while, Ya Ya’s face, twisted in agony, suddenly lit up, “Got it! Orient Loong Stronghold! Hehe, Aunt Xuan’s stronghold name, now it’s mine!”

This was the White Spirit small world, a name Meng Xuan had mentioned during a discussion about life, the name of the stronghold she planned to build in the future.

Meng Xuan’s mother was a Rosefinch, so naming it after the Orient Loong was mighty and domineering!

But now the name was hers! Next time she saw Aunt Golden Loong, she would show off her own stronghold!

Ya Ya, content, leaped down from the ship’s side and looked out. Suddenly, she pointed towards the forest below, “Big cat… Big bear!”

Below, a panda was struggling with a bamboo stalk, quite temperamental, bending the bamboo with a slap. The bamboo snapped back, striking it hard.

The panda immediately rolled on the ground, holding its head and emitting a dog-like bark.

Another panda on the bamboo was startled by the noise, tumbling down from a tall bamboo, its fat body jiggling like jelly.

Ya Ya clapped the ship’s side and burst into laughter. This creature was so silly! It could go extinct without being hunted!

Su He watched her, thinking how a child could be so happy.

Su He said softly, “Don’t underestimate it, that’s an Iron-Eating Beast. Your Barbarian King rode it into battle.”

Ya Ya, in the midst of laughter, suddenly froze, her head turning frame by frame, incredulously looking at Su He. She had heard the most shocking news in the world.

The Barbarian King puppet on her shoulder was dumbfounded, its axe falling from its hand, as if it couldn’t believe it!

Then the puppet, with a face full of horror, dived into Ya Ya’s pouch, pulling out a transforming puppet sculpture. The puppet, round and plump, was turning into a panda. The Barbarian King grabbed its hind legs and slammed it onto the deck, trying to stop its transformation.

But it was too late. In just a moment, a palm-sized round Iron-Eating Beast took shape, burrowed under the Barbarian King’s crotch, and started sprinting recklessly across the deck.

The Barbarian King immediately looked despondent.

Especially as the panda ran back and forth, its bristly fur piercing into the leather skirt, turning despondency into utter despair.

Su Huanian’s expression changed slightly, her slender jade finger discreetly pointed at Ya Ya’s pouch, and an imperceptible light shot out. A sliver of light fell on the Barbarian King and the Iron-Eating Beast.

The Barbarian King’s expression improved a lot, turning back to Su Huanian with gratitude.

This little thing’s Spiritual Intelligence is quite extraordinary! That cultivator who sold puppets had some skills.

Ya Ya, after a long pause, suddenly turned back, sticking out her tongue and making a face at Su He, “Daddy’s a baddie! The Barbarian King’s Iron-Eating Beast definitely isn’t this silly bear!”

Even if it wasn’t a Divine Beast, it should be a top-tier Exotic Beast. Just like the difference between Grass Turtle and Dragon Turtle, both are turtles, but incomparable!

“Teasing the child again!” Ya Ya slapped Su He’s shell and hopped off to catch the Barbarian King.

The little Iron-Eating Beast, clumsy as it was, ran quite fast and with great momentum. Despite being palm-sized, it ran with earth-shaking vigor.

Laughing joyfully and playing happily, when the Flying Boat entered the territory of Chang Yue Prefecture, Ya Ya had had her fill of fun and fell asleep next to Su He.

The Barbarian King puppet struggled out of her arms, hacking at Su He’s shell with a small axe, full of curiosity. It had never seen such a towering Giant Turtle.

An axe struck the shell. The outer form automatically retaliated, a sword qi swept across, and the Barbarian King’s unruly hair turned into sawdust on the ground, leaving a shiny bald head gleaming in the moonlight.

The Barbarian King was dumbfounded. Touching its head, it searched around, trying to explore how the Jade Turtle shell could emit sword qi.

Su Huanian smiled.

Leaning on Su He, she looked at the moon’s cold face, which now radiated a watery smile.

Such a family of three, enjoying the moonlit journey, returning home by moonlight. Upon return, her husband would still playfully tease their daughter, a scene that intoxicated her.

As if she had long been looking forward to such a scene…

From the past life to this life and onto the next.

Chang Yue Prefecture had arrived, the Flying Boat descended, and a stream picked up Ya Ya, who had transformed into a Dragon Turtle, and placed her on Su He’s back. Su He’s steps were steady, and Little Turtle felt no bumps at all.

Su Huanian retracted the Flying Boat and followed Su He with light steps. The Barbarian King rode the Iron-Eating Beast, wielding a giant axe to clear the path of withered grass, stubbornly chasing after them.

The panda ran too fast, tripped by the grass, and immediately tumbled with the Barbarian King into a rolling gourd. The Barbarian King jumped up, picked up the axe, grabbed the panda by the scruff, and ran towards the gate tower, chasing after Su Huanian’s heels. But with a thud, it hit the gate tower’s barrier, bounced back, and fell to the ground.

Getting up, it watched as the Dragon Turtle and Fairy simply stepped into the barrier and disappeared.

The little puppet, utterly baffled.

What about me?

Blinking, it saw a massive creature coming from within the gate tower, its tongue lashing out, wrapping around him and the little Iron-Eating Beast, and leaping back into Chang Yue Prefecture.

Even a toad!

Struggling to wipe off the saliva, it followed the toad inside, only to see the Dragon Turtle carrying the Fairy and its master, entering an endless lake, sinking down, and vanishing from sight.

The Barbarian King and the Iron-Eating Beast hesitated; they were puppets, how could they enter the water?

And even if they did, they couldn’t sink!

The moonlight was beautiful, sending Ya Ya back to her room. Su He and Su Huanian then went to the Star Observation Platform.

This underwater palace still had a garden-like atmosphere, with the Star Observation Platform to the northwest. There were no mountains or rivers around, even the water plants were specially treated. It was convenient for Su He to observe the stars and comprehend the Dao.

The two worked in harmony, Su He reciting the Dao De Jing, while Su Huanian’s spirit left her body, leading his consciousness straight into the starry sky.

At this moment, the Basalt constellation in Su He’s “eyes” was no longer a distant cluster of stars. The myriad stars seemed to come alive, transforming into the four great sacred beasts spanning the sky.

The Orient Loong God in the east coiled and spiraled, the White Tiger in the west roared and hunted, the Rosefinch in the south arched its back and flapped its wings, and the Basalt in the north… the Basalt was alive!

The other three sacred beasts were mere images, but only the Basalt, a turtle and a snake entwined, was traversing the waves and manipulating water in the sky.

Suddenly, a roar shook the entire starry sky.

As Su He contemplated the stars and recited the Dao De Jing daily, after a hundred days, the constellations in his eyes gradually took on this form.

He asked Su Huanian, and in her eyes, the constellations remained just that. It was he who changed, not the constellations.

Unfortunately, these star images were still illusory and fleeting. Su He guessed that if he could persist, solidifying the star images might lead to a fundamental change?

A night of star gazing ended at dawn.

Contemplating the stars during the day was much less effective, not as worthwhile as consolidating the inner world and condensing true essence.

After eating the meal delivered by the merfolk, Su Huanian rose on her sword and landed on a snowy mountain peak. The place was perennially covered in snow, devoid of Hundreds of Beasts and birds, perfect for sword practice.

A season passed, and Su Huanian’s injuries had healed. She had fought life-and-death battles and contemplated the Dao De Jing daily. These days, her cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds, her Realm progressing at an incredible pace—she had no intention of breaking through to the third step of Traverse Heaven, but in the second step of Traverse Heaven, the Star Destiny Realm, she went further and further, far surpassing the limit of an ordinary second step.

But her own limit seemed still far away.

Su He felt it was only right, after all, she was a Fairy in her previous life. In this life, retreading the path of cultivation, naturally, every step should be taken to the extreme.

Feeling the sword qi emanating from Su Huanian on the mountain peak, Su He slowly closed his eyes.

In his inner world, the small sixty-four hexagrams surrounded Mount Tai Yi, suddenly like a dragon, then dispersing into the sky as hexagram images, like a hurricane.

Above his head, myriad stars trailed across the sky—not real stars, as in Su He’s inner world, apart from the sun and moon, other stars were like illusions.

The real stars had not yet begun to condense. In fact, most Divine Beasts only had the sun and moon in their inner worlds. Only those with exceptional talent, who could pull the entire mountain and river patterns from the Realm Pearl into their inner world, had the chance to condense other stars.

The stars flickering in Su He’s sky were actually source stones.

They were pure source stones from Flame Crow and Teng Snake, stripped of their own attributes.

Not just in the sky, source stones were scattered throughout the inner world, in mountains, rivers, oceans, abysses…

There were many ways to refine source stones. They could be absorbed like spirit stones and then transferred into the inner world, or source stones could be arranged in formations within the inner world for concentrated refinement and absorption.

Su He chose the most primitive method, randomly placing them and allowing the inner world to absorb them automatically.

Barbaric and primitive, the consumption was many times greater, but the effect was excellent. This was the only way to approach a state of no dead angles or weaknesses in enhancement.

Su He was not short of world essence. There was still plenty stored in the Heng Hexagram, and he had made arrangements with Uncle Lei. As soon as the other clan uncles emerged from their shells and solidified their Realms, they would take him along when looking for a fight.

The source stones taken by force were the best.

Of course, to increase income and reduce expenditure, Su He also had plans. It was time to carve out a territory in the chaos, set up a grand formation, and continuously condense source stones without stopping.

A sliver of consciousness sank into the small sixty-four hexagrams, pulling the hexagram images away from Mount Tai Yi, encircling the entire world like a long dragon.

This was a cultivation method Su He discovered that was unique to him. The flow of the sixty-four hexagrams’ Dao rhythm could accelerate the efficiency and quality of the inner world’s absorption of source stones.

Guided by consciousness, his cultivation fell into a state of detachment and haziness. It was somewhat like the dreamlike paths of the past, but even more wondrous.

As if it existed, yet did not.

In the inner world of Qian Jiang, Su He’s consciousness awoke.

His island had completely changed, with a tank battle arena nearby, where a group of soul beasts were frolicking.

The toad had stopped running gambling rings. It was diligently managing its own game—it had created a Super Mario-like course on the island. The stages attracted many to challenge them, even Meng Xuan was inside.

The toad was also competing for business!

Soul beasts advancing always had a clear goal, which was to open their own Mysterious Realm at the ninth rank. Why not take the opportunity to experience different rules of Mysterious Realms here?

Usually, soul beasts would comprehend with their masters, setting up games and secret realms together. Unlike the toad, which had its own unique ideas.

Su He smiled and called out in the public area.

Su He: “Senior Nan Ming, how is Qian Qian Zi? Has she woken up?”

Su He was quite concerned about Qian Qian Zi, especially since this involved the soul. A slight inattention to the soul could mean a matter of life and death.

After a moment, Nan Ming Zhenren replied.

Nan Ming Zhenren: “Not yet, but Qian Qian Zi’s soul should be safe and sound, or perhaps she has an opportunity to stay outside, who knows.”

He was currently in Qian Qian Zi’s Cave Mansion, using Qian Qian Zi’s Dao-protecting Golden Lotus to slightly sense the state of her soul, which should be intact.

Su He felt somewhat relieved. As long as the soul was undamaged, no matter where she was trapped, there would always be a time to return.

Nan Ming Zhenren: “Su He, my friend, if appropriate, you might consider building a soul-summoning altar at the place where Qian Qian Zi fell, to try calling her soul. Even if you can’t summon her back, you could try to contact her.”

Even if Qian Qian Zi was unharmed, she was probably trapped somewhere, otherwise, she wouldn’t be unable to enter the Mysterious Realm.

Su He: “No problem, but… Senior Nan Ming, how do I build a soul-summoning altar? How do I summon the soul?”

This touched upon his area of ignorance. After Su He sent the message, the entire Qian Jiang fell silent. The chat area was speechless.

Warrior: “……”

Can Chen Dao Ren: “……”

Jun Lan Fairy: “……”

A uniform series of ellipses. Jun Lan sent an “incredulous” expression, exaggeratingly saying, “This can’t be a fake Dragon Turtle!”

The existence of a Dragon Turtle, with profound heritage and ancient lineage, didn’t even know how to set up a soul-summoning altar.

Everyone in Qian Jiang was talented. Jun Lan and Jun Lan Fairy were actually the same person, just sometimes male, sometimes female.When he appears as a man, he is known as Jun Lan; when she appears as a woman, she is called Jun Lan. It seems even their thoughts differ between their male and female forms.

Jun Lan and Fairy Jun Lan have never met, never seen each other, yet they are aware of each other’s existence.

Su He: “…” He also sent an ellipsis: “Esteemed seniors, I am Dragon Turtle Su He, seven years since hatching, five years in cultivation!”

A turtle that has cultivated for five years wouldn’t know how to summon a soul altar, isn’t that expected?

There was another silence in Qianjiang. Suddenly, someone felt as if their heart was pricked; five years of cultivation and already capable of slaying those at the third level of Traverse Heaven…

Does anyone else even stand a chance?

Until Meng Xuan broke the silence: “Indeed, only seven years old and already with two peerless beauties as wives, plus a legitimate daughter. I think this is even more impressive than a Dragon Turtle achieving enlightenment in a year!”

The people of Qianjiang rose from their islands, faces filled with shock, looking as if they had juicy gossip to feast on.

Everyone knew about the daughter, though she was a legitimate child, it was an accident, understandable.

When Su He saved Ya Ya in Qianjiang and called for help, he was trapped in the Dust-Free Barrier, and the toad hurriedly called for Shen Chen and others to assist.

Some things can’t be hidden, and Su He didn’t try to; he didn’t forbid the toad from sharing the story in Qianjiang. Everyone knew that Su He had a daughter, who also became a Little Dragon Turtle.

The daughter was known, but what about that devastatingly beautiful Fairy? Had she also fallen?

It’s not unusual for Divine Beasts to fall in love with humans. The master of Qianjiang, the eldest princess of Yunmeng Marsh, her father was but a mortal scholar, while her mother was a dragon of the Orient Loong God. Could there be a greater disparity than this?

Besides this Fairy, who was the other one? To be the wife of a Dragon Turtle, that too must be the fortune of ten lifetimes of cultivation.

Su He: “…”

Meng Xuan: “What’s the matter? Dare to do but not to acknowledge? Don’t make me despise you… Little! Uncle! Father!”

At this title of ‘little uncle father,’ the entire Qianjiang fell into a deathly silence.

Su He was at his wit’s end.

That enchantress Ji Feixue! Did she tell everything? Wasn’t this supposed to be known only between the two of them? Even the Xuantian Gate’s Qing Cang and the Yunmeng Dragon King probably thought that Su He would just be punished by Ji Feixue and then the matter would be dropped.

How did Meng Xuan come to know?

No wonder when she came in today, Meng Xuan didn’t greet him immediately; was it because she disapproved of him?

I’m so wronged!

Qianjiang fell silent countless times today, especially this time, it was even more profound. The consciousnesses floating above their respective islands seemed to have crashed.

On the island of Fairy Jun Lan to the left, the Fairy and the True Monarch were rapidly switching places, both shocked by the news and unable to accept it. If they switched any faster, they might meet for the first time in thousands of years.

After a suffocatingly long silence, finally, Child Akamatsu was the first to ask: “That… Princess Jin Xuan, how many aunts does she have?”

People looked at each other in dismay, the atmosphere slightly eased. Right! Meng Xuan’s father is the Yunmeng Dragon King; who knows how many princesses there were in the previous generation? This generation alone has six or seven, right?

Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief and before they could speak, a white dragon rose from the central island, circled above the island, and landed, transforming into Ji Feixue.

She looked around and noticed a figure floating above each island, all staring straight at her.

“Eh? Why is today’s welcome ceremony so grand?” It wasn’t that bubbles formed above her head with text, but she spoke out loud.

In Ji Feixue’s Qianjiang, she was the only one who could speak.

Everyone else was chatting via text, only she used voice, which was quite impolite.

Ji Feixue glanced over everyone, her gaze landing on Su He, and she smiled sweetly: “Is my little husband also here?”

Boom!

Everyone clearly heard something shatter within themselves.

Crack!

Little husband…

It really was Ji Feixue!… Unacceptable! One of them is the Yunmeng Marsh’s eldest princess, who has roamed the myriad realms for tens of thousands of years, seemingly a seductress, but in reality, apart from the friends in Qianjiang, no one else could approach her.

Even successive generations of Yunmeng Dragon Kings were sincerely fearful of her, not daring to act rashly.

The other was just a Little Turtle who had hatched a few years ago—if judged by ordinary turtle standards, he was of age and ready to mate.

But! How did these two come together?

And he’s riding two boats at once!!

Ji Feixue ignored the stunned crowd, her hand gently swiping as if checking something, then turned to look at Su He: “Little husband doesn’t know how to summon a soul altar? Let me teach you!”

She smiled, her lotus feet lightly stepping onto Su He’s island, her slender jade finger gently touching his forehead, a thought transmitted.

Not only the method for summoning a soul altar, but also various other soul-related knowledge was passed on.

Su He could access it anytime and slowly master it.

Ji Feixue sat on his shell, kicking her feet, the bells on her ankles jingling, seemingly in a good mood.

“Little husband is very concerned about Qian Qian, aren’t you?” Ji Feixue poked his forehead and asked softly, her voice melodious and pleasant.

She’s making herself at home, isn’t she?

Su He blinked, a bubble popping up above his head: “I, owe her a life.”

Qian Qian, a witch in her previous life, like Mou Wan, entered the cycle of reincarnation for him, although Su He didn’t remember a bit of it.

But deep down, he always felt that Bai Ling’s divination didn’t deceive him, it was probably true!

This debt was no longer just a favor.

Ji Feixue was taken aback, jumped down from Su He, and looked at him with a mix of surprise and delight in her eyes: “You… remember?”