The Giant Tortoise

Xu Xian’s hands moved with incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, he had picked the area clean, not wasting a single piece.

Even those that were already halfway submerged were scooped up by him.

The little book spirit did a rough count and found that there were thousands of these stones.

It had to admit that its master possessed an extraordinary talent for picking up money.

In the entire Fanzhou, there were likely few who could rival him.

After Xu Xian finished his collection, he looked up at the sky, waiting and waiting...

He thought more might fall, but clearly, he was overthinking it.

After a long while, his neck began to feel a bit sore. "Is that it?"

The little book spirit remained indifferent.

Xu Xian toyed with the last Shadow Soul Stone in his hand and muttered, "This stuff really does fall from the sky."

For no particular reason, the little book spirit remarked, "Why do I feel like something is taking a dump right on our heads?"

Xu Xian shot it a frustrated glare. "Who would poop out stones, and so many of them at that?"

"Uh..."

The little book spirit was speechless.

Xu Xian urged, "Go back up and take a look. See if there really is something up there."

"Oh!"

The little book spirit was just about to take action and enter the Aurora Sea to investigate once more.

However, a low, long cry suddenly echoed from the firmament.

Buzz! Buzz!

The sound was as deep as the tolling of a bell, reverberating throughout the sky above the Aurora Sea. Xu Xian’s head buzzed along with the sound.

He instantly became alert, as if facing a great enemy.

What was that sound?

Straining his eyes to look up at the source of the sound, the originally calm ten-colored sky suddenly twisted and deformed.

Then it began to churn violently, condensing into a massive vortex.

From within that vortex, an ancient and vigorous aura surged forth, ravaging the surroundings as it rushed toward them.

Xu Xian panicked, his hands secretly forming a seal, ready to summon the Sword Tower at any moment. The little book spirit also took on a guarded expression.

This was because this aura surpassed even that of Yun Zheng and Bai Ze from before.

In an instant.

Within the vortex in the churning clouds, a dark object poked out.

It looked like an inverted mountain. Xu Xian swallowed hard.

That mountain continued to emerge, as massive as a meteorite. When it was fully revealed...

Xu Xian finally saw its true form.

It was not a mountain, nor was it a meteorite.

It was a head.

Specifically, it was the head of a tortoise.

The head emerged from the sea of clouds while the body remained hidden within. Where the ten-colored sky churned, within the originally empty mist, thick iron chains as massive as celestial pillars could be seen faintly, hanging down from the heavens.

Xu Xian’s brain worked at high speed, his sea of consciousness in total disarray.

He had been up there before, and there was clearly nothing. Where did this thing come from?

And how did those chains appear out of thin air?

In the next second, a pair of eyes slowly opened on that massive tortoise head.

Two deep green pupils hung in the sky like stars.

It looked down at Xu Xian like a giant gazing at an ant or a tiny gnat.

The world was silent. There was no wind, yet the clouds in the sky rolled and shifted, gathering and dispersing on their own.

The world before them seemed to overlap with another world, or perhaps it was as if an illusion had faded to reveal the truth.

One by one, chains plummeted from the clouds, plunging into the water beneath their feet. Each one was as thick as a thousand-year-old tree.

At the peak of the firmament, within the sea of clouds and the ten-colored light, a massive and terrifying figure slowly condensed.

It was faint and hazy.

It was indeed a tortoise, an old tortoise so large that one could not see its end in a single glance, with a heavy and dark shell on its back.

The skin exposed outside the shell was covered in dense black scales.

Aside from the head poking out of the clouds, the tortoise’s body and four limbs were bound by countless chains.

Even its tail, which was barely visible, was wrapped three times on the left and three times on the right, layered heavily with restraints.

Those chains were as dense as a spiderweb, and the creature was like a mosquito or fly caught in the web, unable to move.

The world felt foreign.

Xu Xian was horrified.

The change had come so abruptly that it caught him completely off guard.

However, those chains felt strangely familiar.

Xu Xian could not be mistaken. These chains were identical to the ones in the Divine Sword Pool that imprisoned the Twelve Divine Swords.

It was just that the chains here appeared more numerous, thicker, and denser.

It was hard to imagine what kind of foul entity it was to deserve being imprisoned and restricted by so many chains.

Xu Xian instinctively backed away, his desire to fight vanishing. Only one thought remained in his mind: if it dared to move, he would run.

The kind of running where he wouldn't hesitate for even a second.

The giant tortoise looked at Xu Xian.

Xu Xian looked at the giant tortoise.

The chains hung silently across the sky. The world was so quiet that one could hear a pin drop; only the youth's heartbeat could be heard.

Thump, thump.

The echoes of his heart.

The giant tortoise exhaled.

"Huff!"

Two thick plumes of gas surged from its nostrils, dispersing into a faint mist.

They turned into two gusts of strong wind that rushed downward, causing the surrounding iron chains to shake violently and sending ripples across the surface of the pool.

The youth's face twisted under the pressure as a bone-chilling cold arose.

In just an instant, he felt his entire body go stiff.

Frost already hung from his hair, cheeks, and even his eyebrows.

The wind died down, the water stilled, and the iron chains stopped swinging. Xu Xian raised a hand to wipe his face, brushing away the ice shards while cursing inwardly.

"Damn it!"

The giant tortoise spoke in human tongue, saying word by word, "You like my droppings?"

Xu Xian was stunned, his eyes glazed over.

This was an ancient language. It was not the demon tongue, nor the language of the human race, nor the language of the demon race or spirits. In his database, this ancient language had never been used in Fanzhou.

Yet, somehow, Xu Xian understood it.

[You like my droppings?]

The gazes of the little book spirit and Xu Xian fell almost simultaneously on the Shadow Soul Stone in his hand...

Xu Xian furrowed his brows, a hint of disgust quietly flashing in his eyes.

"Droppings?"

The little book spirit raised an eyebrow, thinking to itself that it had actually guessed correctly.

The little book spirit and Xu Xian exchanged a glance before looking back up at the giant tortoise, their hearts filled with a mix of complex emotions.

The giant tortoise's tone was flat, yet it carried a hint of curiosity as it spoke three more words.

"Can't understand?"

Xu Xian swallowed hard and asked, "Can you... drop more?"

The giant tortoise's eyes shifted, and it gave an unprecedented response. "I can."

Xu Xian pondered for a moment. "Then please, go ahead. I'm ready."

The giant tortoise: "..." To be asked to defecate right upon meeting, was this right?

Xu Xian: "..." It did seem a bit impolite.

The little book spirit: "..." This feels very wrong.

The world fell silent once more. The giant tortoise changed the subject, taking the initiative to break the silence.

"You are the first living being to come here. How did you manage it?"

Xu Xian frowned. He couldn't exactly say he had hitched a ride on its droppings to get down here.

That would be too embarrassing!

So he answered ambiguously, "I don't know either. I fell into the Nether Pool and then sank down here."

The giant tortoise said calmly, "I do not like being deceived."

Xu Xian compromised. "Fine, I admit it. I came down here sitting on your droppings."