Dirty Tactics

Xu Xian believed that if you wanted something, you had to fight for it yourself.

Asking others was never as good as relying on oneself.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!" He tried hacking with a knife, slashing with a sword, and smashing with a hammer, but nothing worked.

"Gurgle, gurgle..." He even tried boiling it in a pot, which only ended up giving it a nice bath.

Xu Xian considered himself quite the expert when it came to tormenting people.

Yet, facing a mere tortoise, he could only sigh in frustration.

It simply wouldn't die. It couldn't be broken at all.

He was panting from exhaustion, yet the opponent hadn't even lost a single scale. It seemed that aside from its pair of long whiskers, this old tortoise truly had no weaknesses.

He had thought about poisoning it, but this creature was not only immune to fire and water and invulnerable to blades, it was also completely resistant to all poisons.

Xu Xian seemed to understand why the Li family it spoke of would rather go to such lengths to lock it up here instead of just stewing it.

It simply couldn't be killed.

It was still this difficult to deal with after being suppressed for so long; he couldn't imagine how tough it must have been when it was first sealed.

The old tortoise didn't die and simply continued its relentless mockery.

"Come on, keep going. Give your granddaddy a nice massage."

"Don't stop, do me..."

The obnoxious, mocking voice never ceased for a moment. It felt as though it had won another round against Xu Xian, and its heart was filled with smugness.

Xu Xian couldn't take it anymore and said coldly, "You're the one who forced my hand."

The old tortoise was fearless and jeered, "Just do it already. Use that move, use your Sword Tower to mess with me..."

The old tortoise admitted that the boy's sword strike was indeed fierce. In terms of pure attack power, it was comparable to a strike from a ninth-stage mortal stage tribulation transcendence expert.

However...

That sword strike could cut through a boundary wall, but it couldn't harm a single hair on its body.

It wasn't afraid at all. Xu Xian couldn't do anything to it, and the only thing that frustrated it was that it couldn't do anything to this little brat either.

With that sword strike, if he wanted to leave, it truly couldn't stop him.

Since neither could best the other, neither would get the upper hand.

Even if it couldn't physically harm him, it could still disgust him.

Why wouldn't a mental assault cause damage?

When it came to being disgusting, this kid was far behind it. It was utterly triumphant.

"Haha! I just love the way you hate me but can't do anything about it! It feels great!"

It was still gloating.

Xu Xian silently pulled out a pot.

It continued to gloat, "What? You want to boil me again? Come on then, boil away! Your Lord Tortoise hasn't had a bath in over a million years anyway. A few more washes won't hurt."

Xu Xian didn't say a word. He just silently untied his belt and took off his pants.

It glanced over. Hmm... it really wasn't small, but what did he want to do?

It wasn't until the next second that it realized the gravity of the situation.

An ominous premonition flashed through its mind. It panicked, and its arrogance instantly vanished.

It desperately tried to shrink back.

It watched as Xu Xian poured water into the pot and then... proceeded to leave a massive deposit inside.

The moment the youth stood up and looked toward it...

It knew it was finished!

"What do you want to do?"

"Don't you come over here!"

"Aren't you disgusted by yourself!"

"I told you not to come over..."

It wanted to run, but there was nowhere to go. Xu Xian picked it up by the shell.

Xu Xian pinched his nose and held it over the pot. He didn't speak, but his intent was already self-evident.

Looking at the yellowish substance in the pot beneath it...

The old tortoise completely panicked. For the first time, fear appeared in those emerald eyes—deep fear, along with despair.

Helplessness.

It was truly terrified. Before it even went in, the pungent smell was already hitting its spirit sense.

"I was wrong! I was truly wrong!"

Xu Xian gave a wicked smile and said sinisterly, "You don't realize you're wrong. You just realize you're about to be covered in filth."

"I beg of you..."

"I'll give it to you..."

The youth turned a deaf ear and simply let go of his hand.

With a splash, the old tortoise fell in.

It was covered in it!

Xu Xian was quick. With a thought, he directly sealed the lid.

He didn't forget to fasten it tightly.

The pot shook violently, the walls being struck repeatedly, accompanied by the sounds of dry heaving.

"Blegh~"

"Let me... blegh... out... blegh."

"Blegh..."

"You little brat, you'll... blegh... pay for... blegh... this."

"Blegh..."

Xu Xian kicked the pot far away and muttered to himself.

"You forced me. I told you not to push me. I can't kill you, but I can certainly disgust you to death."

Over the next few days, the little book spirit remained in a deep sleep, never waking.

Xu Xian did nothing else. From morning till night, he just ate. He took out everything edible in his warehouse that had a strong flavor.

He just ate.

He ate ravenously!

He even proactively sealed his cultivation to become an ordinary person, eating his fill and then letting it all out.

To maximize the effect, he even ate raw croton seeds.

Fearing he wouldn't have enough space and that the smell would overwhelm him, he directly pulled out the furnace he had used to refine pills for Yao Xiaoxiao. He fitted a lid on it with an opening.

He threw the old tortoise along with the chains into that alchemy furnace.

He sat on top of it, letting a torrent loose every day.

Spicy, numbing, and sour flavors fermented in his stomach. That smell could be described in one word.

Overwhelming.

Inside the furnace, the old tortoise was caught between life and death. It couldn't seal its senses, nor could it break out of the cauldron.

It wanted to die but couldn't. Every time it opened its mouth to scream, it got a mouthful.

It tried to shrink into its shell, but the inside was also full of...

It swam in that yellow sea, realizing for the first time that ordinary waste could actually have such immense destructive power.

It regretted it. It truly regretted it. Why did it have to provoke him for no reason?

If it had just pretended not to see him at the beginning and hadn't lied about the Shadow Soul Stones being its own droppings, would it have had to suffer like this?

If it hadn't tried to stop him when he wanted to leave, would this have happened?

Or, if it hadn't been so obnoxious and hadn't mocked him, but instead spoke to him properly, would it have been humiliated like this?

Countless thoughts swirled in its mind, much like the different fermented smells in the furnace, constantly stimulating the old tortoise.

There were so many possibilities, yet it had chosen the worst one.

A mayfly might not be able to shake a great tree, but it could certainly make the tree feel revolted.

But regret was useless now. That kid didn't listen to a word it said.

It had clearly compromised. Whatever he wanted to know, it would tell him. If he wanted to learn Delusion, it would teach him.

Anything was fine.

But he acted as if he couldn't hear it at all.

He was determined to torment it.

He had a completely reckless attitude.

In the dark sea of waste, time passed so slowly.

Just like that, Xu Xian continued his business for six whole days.

The little book spirit finally woke up. When it emerged from Xu Xian's mind like before, it took one look.

It was stunned!

Looking at its master sitting atop the furnace with a dejected expression and pale lips, its heart suddenly tightened. What had happened?

Xu Xian said weakly, "You're awake?"

"Um." The little book spirit responded in a daze and couldn't help but ask, "Master, what happened to you?"

Xu Xian waved a hand and said calmly, "It's nothing. I just had a bit of an upset stomach for a few days."

An upset stomach?

The little book spirit tilted its head, its mind full of question marks.

What a strange term. A cultivator with an upset stomach?

It felt as though its system hadn't finished booting up yet.

Before it could react, Xu Xian said weakly, "You should step away for a bit. I have to go again."

The little book spirit's gaze finally fell upon the cauldron.

The Pupil of Insight instantly saw through everything. It saw a tortoise lying in a pool of yellowish matter.

Its thoughts spun rapidly, and it understood everything in an instant.

It let out a cry of pure disbelief, "Oh my god!"