Chapter 77: Ice and Fire Refinement of Turtle
Chapter 77: Ice and Fire Refinement of Turtle
Just as Chu Liang was about to leave to talk to Manager Cui, a slow-moving elderly man entered the courtyard.
He wore a coarse linen robe, was hunched over heavily, and had a head of sparse white hair, looking very elderly. His walking pace was frustratingly slow, yet each step exuded an unexpected strength that contradicted the frailty usually associated with old age.
This seemingly beggar-like elderly man had no reason to be in a courtyard of the Li Family Estate. It was unknown as to how he had managed to slowly make his way into the estate.
If anyone working for the estate were in the courtyard, they'd find his presence strange. However, there was only a koi fish in the courtyard.
Fixing her gaze on the peculiar-looking old man, Liu Xiaoyu'er blinked a few times before asking, "Bald old man, did you come to bring me some food?"
"Hehehe..." The old man emitted a hoarse laugh and gradually raised his head, saying, "Yes, little girl, I can't walk anymore. Can you help me?"
Without suspecting anything, Liu Xiaoyu'er walked over and offered her assistance, holding onto the old man's elbow.
However, the old man's other hand swiftly extended, deftly flipping over to grab Liu Xiaoyu'er's arm.
With a sinister smile, he declared, "I've finally caught you."
"Hmm?"
Liu Xiaoyu'er looked at him in confusion, attempting to help the old man walk. After a couple of tries, she realized he remained motionless.
Puzzled, she questioned, "Bald-headed old man, what are you doing?"
"Little girl, do you know who I am?"
The old man grinned, and in a sudden transformation, his aged face expanded and elongated. A neck protruded over a foot, morphing into an ugly, smooth head with sharp fangs!
It was the head of a turtle!
In astonishment, Liu Xiaoyu'er stared at the unexpected transformation, immediately recognizing the creature's true form.
"You are that wicked turtle demon!"
"Hehehe..." The old turtle chuckled, "You two little koi fish devoured the precious treasures I painstakingly nurtured for years. Do you think you can just run away like that? Not a chance. As long as I eat you, all those years I spent nurturing the Amber Vermilion Grape and Flying Fish Soul won't be wasted."
As it spoke, it opened its menacing jaws, ready to swallow Liu Xiaoyu'er whole.
"Ahhhhhhh..." Liu Xiaoyu'er screamed. Although she had the Flying Fish Soul, she was firmly caught and couldn't break free.
At the critical moment, a commanding voice rang out, "Stop!"
A green light flew over, enclosing Liu Xiaoyu'er entirely. She instantly became like a huge zongzi. This was the second time the young girl had been wrapped in the green leaf enchanted tool, but this time it saved her life.
Bang!
Creak...
The old turtle bit onto the green leaf enchanted tool, grinding its teeth and producing a harsh, ringing sound.
After grinding its teeth for a while without any effect, it resentfully lifted its turtle head, glaring angrily at the person who had just arrived.
It was Chu Liang, who had hurried back after sensing the call of the Crimson Executioner.
This demonic creature in front of him was the source of the sword's anger, and this old turtle was enveloped by an aura of resentment. It had committed great crimes!
"Kid... you are a cultivator, and this little girl is a demon. You have no business interfering in the affairs between demons," the old turtle said insidiously.
"She is just an innocent little fish, and this land is the territory of humans. I cannot let you commit a crime here," Chu Liang replied firmly.
"Innocent?" The old turtle's voice suddenly became sharp. "Are you calling her innocent?"
"Do you have any idea how much effort I've put into cultivating the Amber Vermilion Grape at the bottom of the Qinnan River for over a hundred years?!" the old turtle exclaimed with frustration. "To speed up its maturation, I nourished it with the blood of countless creatures."
"My original plan was to consume the larger grape when its medicinal properties reached five hundred years," the old turtle explained, his voice carrying a sense of fury. "Then, I intended to spend more time nurturing the smaller one. By consuming both, I would gain a thousand years of Dao cultivation, transcending into Dao and finally becoming a human!"
Chu Liang couldn't help but be secretly shocked by what the turtle just said. No wonder this creature emitted such a strong aura of resentment, catching the attention of the Crimson Executioner. Using the blood of countless innocent creatures, the old turtle had forced the Amber Vermilion Grape to ripen prematurely. This turtle likely had something to do with the frequent drowning cases in the Qinnan River in recent years.
It was evident that he couldn't let the old turtle escape today.
"But just the day before I was ready to harvest, these two fish somehow found their way into the cave," the old turtle continued. "Each fish ate one grape. They devoured my Amber Vermilion Grape! When I discovered this, I intended to eat them, but they managed to escape. I could forgive them for eating my grapes. However, one of them fled into the water mansion that had caught my attention for a long time.
"The Flying Fish Soul in that mansion had been nurtured by me for hundreds of years. It was finally about to reach the time when it would fuse with my body. Yet, she fused with it!
"I am a turtle demon. It took me several days to walk here. Do you know how that feels? For the past hundred years, I've dreamt of using the Flying Fish Soul to enhance my speed and become a demon that could walk normally.
"Aaah..."
Even as the old turtle recounted past events, his anger remained palpable.
Watching the creature's expression of pain and frustration, Chu Liang could somewhat empathize with its feelings.
The feeling was like earnestly singing the birthday song and making a wish, only to have someone blow out the candle before you could open your eyes. The frustration would stick in your throat, impossible to be spat out or swallowed. This kind of grudge could turn you into a zombie if you had died on the spot.
And this old turtle had been waiting for hundreds of years, so one could imagine how frustrated he felt.
"If you stop me, I will eat you too!" the old turtle roared angrily, his eyes filled with hysteria. "Can you protect her and yourself?"
Having said that, he advanced, rushing toward Chu Liang.
One step, two steps, three steps, four steps...
After a while, he only walked about ten zhang.
"..."
Chu Liang showed a hint of sympathy in the corner of his eye and couldn't help but say, "Old man, with your walking speed, you shouldn't come ashore to fight people, okay? I'll draw a circle here, and you can walk towards this circle. I'll go get lunch. I'll still be standing in this circle when I come back. I promise you that I won't move a step. If you manage to reach here, I'll fight you."
"Arggggg..."
The old turtle became unbearably enraged. This mockery had indeed touched a sore spot. If it weren't for his slow movements on land, he wouldn't have been so eager for that Flying Fish Soul.
In a fit of rage, he twisted its body, transforming back to its original form!
Bang!
With a resounding crash, a giant azure turtle, several dozen zhang tall, appeared in the courtyard, almost filling the entire space!
Even for powerful demons, it was rare to completely reveal their true form on human territory. This was because doing so exposed their demonic aura entirely, making it detectable by cultivators within a radius of dozens of miles.
However, he no longer cared about such concerns. He just wanted to kill the cultivator in front of it first and then go back to devour the zongzi with fish meat filling!
"Raaar—"[1]
The giant turtle roared, lifting his long neck and emitting a black radiance from his mouth!
Seeing this, Chu Liang didn't hesitate anymore. He flipped his hand and summoned the Crimson Executioner from the White Pagoda, activating the sword of righteousness that seethed with anger.
Sizzzzzzle—
The Crimson Executioner ascended into the air, leaving afterimages of the sword light behind that merged into two talismanic characters. With a pointed sword, the talismanic characters shot out with the sword qi.
It was the Dual Talismanic Sword of Ice and Fire!
While the Dual Talismanic Sword was a basic technique in the Dao of Talisman-Making, the Crimson Executioner could transform the Hundred Swords Seal into the Ten Thousand Swords Seal. Therefore, even though the Dual Talismanic Sword of Ice and Fire was not a high-level technique, its power could be amplified a hundredfold when executed by the Crimson Executioner.
Rumble—
As soon as the sword was drawn, there was a rolling thunder. A frosty white dragon and a fiery red dragon, both swirling, converged into a two-colored violently rotating column of air. The dragons roared and howled, shaking the surroundings.
The giant turtle lifted his head and spat out a black beam of light. Without hesitation, Chu Liang unleashed the Dual Talismanic Sword of Ice and Fire. The black beam of light collided with the sword tornado, and the black radiance dissipated.
The next moment, the sword tornado advanced rapidly, continuing to bombard the giant turtle. The turtle was shocked, realizing the danger. He retracted his head and simultaneously retracted his limbs, sealing himself within his shell.
He had withdrawn into his shell!
Relying on this turtle shell, the turtle had roamed freely in the Qinnan River water region for many years. No one had ever breached his defense.
But now, he encountered Chu Liang's Dual Talismanic Sword of Ice and Fire with the power super amplified.
Sizzle—
The sword tornado struck the turtle shell. The two great forces swirled angrily and entered the shell; they were like a frosty dragon and a fiery dragon roaring and twisting as they pushed into the shell. This was like a punishment from the heavens!
The forces of ice and fire alternated in their pathway, breaking through the turtle's extremely tough defense.
Boom—
The stalemate was brief. The sword tornado then penetrated the defense of the turtle shell and collided with the retracted turtle head.
There was ice! Fire! And endless explosions!
There was not a single turtle head in the world that could withstand such devastation. In an instant, the helmet and armor were thrown off, and pitch-black blood spilled like a flood. In the next moment, it was frozen by the frost and vaporized by the flames, leaving only a dried-up skeleton to collapse softly.
The turtle head had been refined by ice and fire.
The battle ended in an instant. Only a landscape of emptiness remained.
1. Can turtles roar? Just pretend they can. ☜