You Understand Me!

The old tortoise was not surprised by those words; it had long expected this, knowing that Bai Mang wouldn't have gone through all this trouble just to listen to its pathetic stories.

He definitely wanted something.

And here it was, he was finally asking for it.

Since he had spoken up, the tortoise could naturally set its own conditions; the essence of a trade was not necessarily mutual benefit, but it had to be an exchange.

The old tortoise asked, "How can I trust you?"

Xu Xian said indifferently, "Do you have a choice?"

"You have to give me some kind of guarantee, right?" the old tortoise continued.

Xu Xian chuckled. "You're quite an interesting old tortoise. A guarantee? What kind of guarantee? How about I swear an oath for you?"

The old tortoise thought that sounded acceptable.

But Xu Xian's tone suddenly shifted, becoming sinister. "However, I dare to make an oath, but do you dare to believe it?"

The old tortoise froze for a moment, then shook its head frantically.

"I don't dare."

That was the truth.

Xu Xian extended his palm. "Then stop talking nonsense and hand it over."

The old tortoise's eyes flickered as it said for no apparent reason, "You know, [Delusion] is my life-bound divine ability."

"That's just more nonsense," Xu Xian said.

The old tortoise proposed, "How about this? Why don't you take me as your master?"

Xu Xian watched it quietly.

It looked quite ugly, but its dreams were quite beautiful.

The old tortoise explained, "Don't worry, I won't make you kowtow, and you don't need to show me filial piety. It's just a formality. If I become your master, then if you ever try to kill me, it would be betraying your master and ancestors. It would give me some peace of mind."

Xu Xian was speechless; sometimes, he really couldn't understand if the creatures of this era all had such high moral standards.

First, there was Xiushe, who wanted him to swear an oath by his own master.

Now there was this old tortoise, wanting to be his teacher so he wouldn't commit the sin of betraying his master.

He really didn't understand how these two old monsters, who had lived for so long, could still be so naive.

He couldn't understand it, but he respected it; perhaps old beasts like them cared deeply about inheritance and the bonds of a sect.

Of course, it was also possible that they were simply being foolish in the face of a hopeless situation, seeking a bit of psychological comfort.

Last time, Xu Xian had compromised, but this time, he had no intention of agreeing.

After all, today was not like the past, and truthfully, Xu Xian had begun to care about the concept of sect inheritance himself.

In the past, he was only a disciple, so he hadn't felt much.

But now, he was someone's master as well.

As a teacher, one should be a role model, even if no one knew.

But man proposes and heaven disposes; who knew when the boomerang of fate might come flying back?

He stroked his chin, musing, "Actually, I don't really want to learn it that much. How about I just have some soft-shell turtle soup instead? It's more practical and less of a hassle..."

Seeing that Bai Mang was completely unmoved, the old tortoise stopped insisting and immediately compromised. "Wait! I'll give it to you!"

It hadn't really expected to succeed anyway; it was just a try. Besides, even if it gave him the divine ability, what of it?

Obtaining it was one thing, but being able to learn it was another entirely.

Xu Xian gave it a sidelong glance and let out a light snort.

The old tortoise reached into its shell and fumbled for a long time before reluctantly handing over a black, plastic-bound book to Xu Xian.

"Here, take it."

Xu Xian took it, glanced at the old tortoise, and casually began flipping through it.

The ancient manual had some years on it; even this immortal-grade paper had yellowed, soaked in the mottled marks of time.

Xu Xian flipped through page after page, while the Little Book Spirit hovered nearby, stretching its neck to watch.

The old tortoise spoke from the side, "I've given the thing to you. If you can't learn it, you can't blame me. After all, cultivation is a matter of talent."

Xu Xian was amused. Talent?

If you said I had no manners, I wouldn't argue with you, but if you said I had no talent, then we really need to have a long talk.

Xu Xian had spent sixteen years in the cultivation world; he lacked many things, but talent was not one of them.

However, he didn't pay any attention to the old tortoise; at this moment, his focus was entirely on the divine ability in his hands.

[Delusion], a god-grade illusion technique for fabricating reality.

In essence, it was a type of formation, except this formation used all things in heaven and earth as nodes, powered by one's own divine sense and cultivation.

It had a certain level of difficulty to practice, and the threshold for entry was not low.

Setting aside the Little Book Spirit's Pupil of Insight, this was the highest-grade manual in Xu Xian's possession.

Whether he could actually learn it was hard to say.

Xu Xian also noticed that this [Delusion] and the primordial demon art of the demon race were actually somewhat similar, and he wondered if the demon race were descendants of this old tortoise.

Had they been suppressed here together back then?

After finishing the book, he didn't forget to ask the Little Book Spirit, "How is it? Is it reliable?"

He still needed to distinguish truth from falsehood.

The Little Book Spirit frowned and nodded. "Mhm, it's pretty much there. It should be real."

"No extra 'ingredients' added?"

"Doesn't look like it. The script and the paper have some serious years on them. You can't fake this kind of aging so realistically," the Little Book Spirit analyzed.

Xu Xian asked casually, "You even understand archaeology?"

The Little Book Spirit tilted its head. "What is archaeology?"

Xu Xian gave a simple explanation.

The Little Book Spirit realized what he meant and said modestly, "Then... I should have a modest understanding!"

Xu Xian caught the drift.

"Got it!"

He tucked the secret manual away; he would have plenty of time to practice it in the future, so there was no rush.

The Little Book Spirit looked at the old tortoise and asked, "Does Master really plan to let this guy go?"

Xu Xian pursed his lips, a troubled expression on his face.

He certainly didn't want to let it go.

But...

He responded via divine sense, "The main thing is, as you said, we can't kill the damn thing!"

The Little Book Spirit gave a wicked smile.

Xu Xian caught it instantly.

The Little Book Spirit looked at him, and he looked at the Little Book Spirit. Xu Xian urged, "Don't hide it. Tell me, what bad idea do you have?"

The Little Book Spirit was displeased and said resentfully, "What do you mean 'bad idea'?"

"Fine, fine, fine, a good idea then. Tell me, tell me quickly," Xu Xian coaxed like he was dealing with a child.

The Little Book Spirit pouted and said, "I was thinking, why don't we just take it with us?"

"Take it with us?" An unexpected answer; Xu Xian couldn't help but be surprised. "How?"

The Little Book Spirit pointed at the stone stele and said nonchalantly, "How else? Just move the whole stele away with us."

Xu Xian's gaze followed the finger to the stone stele, his eyes lighting up.

If they did it that way, he was suddenly very interested.

His enthusiasm was instantly piqued.

To speak plainly, he had wanted that stone stele ever since he first saw it.

However, he still had concerns. "Is it reliable?"

The Little Book Spirit understood its master.

Master definitely wanted it.

He was only worried about whether it could be moved and if there would be risks involved.

It patiently analyzed the situation. "I've studied it. This stele has been here for a very long time, and the person who erected it must have met with an accident, so the divine sense on it has long since dissipated. Simply put, this stele is now an ownerless object. Just like the Bixu Mirror, it's a wild magical artifact. Whoever picks it up, owns it."

"Although I can't make Master its new owner, I have the means to throw it into the Divine Sword Pool."

"Take it out when you need to use it, and put it back as soon as you're done."

"It'll be very useful for smashing people."

"As for this old tortoise, there's no need to worry. It has been suppressed for so long that its strength is already at its end. Even if it loses the suppression of the Nether Pool and this world, it's absolutely impossible for it to break free from the shackles of the stone stele."

"So, we can completely move both the stele and the tortoise together."

"This is a two-for-one deal."

Xu Xian was now completely energized, and the way he looked at the Little Book Spirit became affectionate as he said warmly:

"You understand me!"