The sword fell, the wind ceased, ripples stirred on the water, and clouds rolled across the vast sky.
The little book spirit vanished, retreating into the sea of consciousness, while the phantom of the giant tortoise dissolved into nothingness.
The world returned to a peaceful, empty stillness, as if nothing had ever changed.
Only Xu Xian remained, standing there alone, his lips slightly pale.
'Was the strike in vain?'
No.
A sharp crack echoed.
A tiny, almost imperceptible fissure suddenly appeared on the boundary wall before him.
Then, the crack extended upward and downward, spreading left and right—one, two, three... hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of cracks.
The sound of crunching and cracking was incessant as the fog-shrouded space shattered like a mirror struck by a heavy fist.
Finally, with a loud boom, it collapsed.
The fragments fell to the ground!
Without smoke, dust, or sound, the true form behind it was revealed.
Xu Xian looked up and saw a dark blue suspension mirror hanging there.
A black stone stele stood beside it.
And then there was nothing else.
The ground was still a marsh, and the sky was still a sea of clouds crisscrossed by the ten-colored sky.
Xu Xian was stunned, his eyes widening.
'Huh?'
'Where is the tortoise?'
'Did I get it wrong?'
'Was that strike really for nothing?'
'It couldn't have run away...'
After a brief moment of confusion, he began to move, his steps so fast they were like flashes of light, and in the blink of an eye, he stood before the stone stele and the suspension mirror.
As he drew closer, he saw that the massive stone stele, about ten zhang high, was densely wrapped in black chains.
They were incredibly thin, like strands of hair.
At first, Xu Xian thought they were spider silk or silkworm threads, but after closer inspection, they were indeed chains.
Probing with his divine sense, he could even see the interlocking iron links.
Exquisite and tiny.
Xu Xian could not help but be shocked.
Anyone who had ever forged metal knew that making large objects didn't necessarily require great skill, but creating something this small and precise was the mark of a true master.
The craftsmanship of these chains was beyond reproach. Even if Xu Xian tried, he might not be able to replicate it.
They were simply too thin and too small, as if they had been forged by a blacksmith from a land of miniatures.
His throat bobbed involuntarily as he swallowed hard.
Then, following the direction where the fine iron chains were connected, he slowly lowered his head.
When his gaze finally settled, Xu Xian immediately gasped.
His brows furrowed, his expression shifting rapidly through a range of complicated emotions.
"This..."
At this moment, his feelings could not be described with words.
On the ground,
the giant tortoise had been so startled by the previous sword strike that its legs had given out, and it was now sitting on the floor.
It was currently looking up at Xu Xian, its eyes showing neither panic nor fear.
It just looked a bit dazed.
Its previous arrogance had vanished, and its smug mouth was now shut tight.
One tortoise and one human stared at each other in silence—the human was real, and the tortoise was also real.
The giant tortoise suddenly sprang to its feet, hands on its hips, and barked a command.
"What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a tortoise as domineering as me?"
Xu Xian's mouth twitched. He was truly afraid this thing would jump up and punch him in the knee.
He took half a step back, then crouched down, reaching out with his thumb and forefinger to grab the long white eyebrow above the tortoise's left eye and lifted it up.
He dangled the creature right in front of his face.
"Ow! You dog! Don't pull my eyebrow! Put me down!"
"I told you to take your hand off! Did you hear me? I command you to let go!"
It shouted at the top of its lungs, its face contorted in pain as its arms and legs flailed wildly outside its shell.
Unfortunately, while its momentum was at a maximum, its damage was zero, and the level of humiliation was off the charts.
Xu Xian laughed, truly laughed this time. Looking at the old tortoise, which was only about the size of a rice bowl, he simply couldn't hold it in.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, who would believe that the massive, heaven-blotting tortoise from before was actually this tiny in its true form?
In terms of height alone, the little book spirit and this turtle were about the same size.
This was beyond ridiculous!
How did such a tiny thing dare to be so arrogant?
Xu Xian felt like he could crush it to death with a single finger.
It wouldn't even be enough to make soup for two people.
He couldn't hide the disdain and contempt in his eyes as he scoffed, "Tsk tsk. Didn't you like to hide? Come on, show me how you hide again."
The old tortoise clearly felt insulted. This was blatant humiliation. It began to struggle even more violently.
It looked as though it would rather lose its eyebrow than endure this indignity, as it cursed, "You Li family brat, if you have the guts, let me go!"
"A tortoise can be killed, but not insulted!"
"Let me go!"
Xu Xian was the type who always paid back his debts. Since the tortoise had mocked him earlier, now that it was in his hands, he would make it pay back a hundredfold.
It was one thing if it didn't back down, but it even dared to make threats.
Then they would see who was more ruthless.
"Since you're in my hands and still shouting, I'll play with you until you're half dead."
He held the old tortoise by its eyebrow and began to spin it in a dizzying circle, swinging it left, right, up, and around before slamming it toward the ground.
He swung it with both hands.
With practiced ease, he gave the old tortoise a true experience of what it felt like to be a yo-yo.
The sensation was something that could only be felt, not described.
The old tortoise wanted to curse, but all that came out was a trembling, electronic-like vibration as its world spun out of control.
Its stomach was turning, and its head was spinning...
Xu Xian didn't just swing it; he also mocked it just as it had mocked him before.
"Since you're so old, I'm just helping you loosen your bones."
"Does it feel good?"
"Weren't you quite the loudmouth earlier?"
"Go on, keep shouting!"
As he continued to swing it, a sharp rip echoed, followed by the old tortoise's scream.
"Ah!"
The creature flew out of his hand, dragging the dense network of iron chains behind it as it slammed heavily into the massive stone stele.
A muffled thud rang out.
Xu Xian was startled. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the tortoise was gone, and he was only holding a clump of white hair.
He frowned, looking troubled. 'It broke?'
'Is it really this flimsy?'
What else could he say? This old tortoise's eyebrows were truly not made for heavy use. They had snapped after only several minutes of swinging.
The quality was abysmal. If this were on Earth, he would have demanded a refund without a return and left a scathing review.
He threw the clump of white hair onto the ground, not forgetting to rub his fingers in disgust.
Beneath the black stone stele, the old tortoise propped itself up and stood shakily, feeling a circle of little stars dancing around its head like a drunkard stumbling about.
Strange sounds escaped its mouth.
After a long while, it finally managed to steady itself and raised its tiny, short hands to touch its brow.
In that moment, the tortoise felt as though the sky had fallen.
The white eyebrows it had grown for so many years were gone.
"Ah!"
In its rage, it let out a cry.
It glared at Xu Xian with bloodshot emerald eyes that flickered with an eerie light, gritting its teeth as it hissed, "You Li family brat, I'll kill you!"
With that, it charged toward Xu Xian on its short legs.
Xu Xian shifted back slightly, estimated the distance, and then stood still. The old tortoise was aggressive, but with the chains weighing it down, it eventually came to a halt right in front of him, just inches away.
It flailed its limbs desperately, but there was always a tiny gap between it and Xu Xian.
Despite its posturing, it couldn't close that final inch, and its damage remained at zero.
Xu Xian narrowed his eyes and taunted it word by word, "Hit... me... then!"
Rate on N.U.
