Fang Yuan’s sword hand did not waver, nor did his gaze left the tortoise eyes and its every motion.
The tortoise watched the blade for a long beat then sighed, like the sound of loosened dust from the ridges of its shell.
"Fine." The words were half concession, half bargain. "Stay here then. But make sure you wait for , it’s really important."
It shifted its massive bulk, the motion slow and purposeful. "I will bring you what you need right now."
Fang Yuan kept the point of his sword trained on the tortoise.
The tortoise’s mouth closed, and with a creak that sounded like a canyon sliding, it drew back and vanished.
Fang Yuan did not move right away, he watched the position where the tortoise had just dissapeared from.
Then, slowly, he sheathed his sword and returned to the library where Fang Lian was.
He drifted into the library and halted at the edge of the circle where she sat, still deep in ditation.
From the way she sat, he could tell she was finally beginning to understand the martial manual.
He hesitated, should he drag her out of the trance and waste this chance, or let her continue and risk everything?
A minute passed as he watched her breath, the silence thick enough to be a thing.
He drew in three long breaths and then let out a dry, exasperated sound.
"If I die today," he muttered to no one, "I’m going to kill whoever made this system. I’ve never seen anything more useless, can’t even earn system points."
He shook his head, more to clear himself than in frustration, and moved.
Where others might have raised a neat little ward, Fang Yuan unfurled his true qi and poured into form.
The library was swallowed by a burnished light as he cast the Golden Shell Armor, First Form: Cowardice, outward.
The golden sheath blood like a shell around the entire room, its light humming as it took shape.
For a place this large the strain was enormous, the shell drank his qi like a glutton but he was willing to risk it all to protect her.
With over a hundred thousand system points’ he calculated he could buy himself twenty Nascent Soul pills.
And along with the leftover elixirs from his previous quests, he calculated he could last at least a full month, if he rationed it precisely.
He watched the golden barrier settle, felt its steady pulse protect the chamber, and then knelt a fraction closer to the motionless girl.
His voice dropped with resolve.
"Make proud, little one," he said.
Then he rose and stepped outside to see that the titanic tortoise was already back, waiting as though it had never left.
Its enormous shell cast a jagged shadow over the stone courtyard.
Without a word, it opened its maw and spat out two items. A wild beast core thudded against the ground, pulsating qi that rivaled that of a peak Nascent soul.
Beside it fell a strange flower, pale as winter moonlight, its petals shimring with a faint frost.
The tortoise spoke, it’s voice low.
"I am offering you that beast core in exchange for you to spare the two kingdoms."
"And also that herb which will cure your wife without harm," the tortoise rumbled. "It is called Moonfrost Lily, it is highly coveted by every spirit beast, for it can heal any ailnt a spirit beast has. Human, at least say thanks."
Its molten eyes narrowed, studying Fang Yuan before continuing,
"I want you to know this, your wife is born with a unique trait where she can form affinity with any beasts she cos into contact with. Because of that, the Moonfrost Lily will work on her as well."
There was a short pause before it continued once more. "Also, that sa gift makes it possible for her to form soul bonds with spirit beasts... but in the off chance that amy of her bonded beast dies—"
The tortoise stopped speaking.
A cold wind swept across the mountain ridge, dragging the silence out until it felt suffocating.
Fang Yuan’s jaw clenched and he bit down on his lip, eyes darkening as a dreadful thought clawed at him.
"What happens," he asked quietly, "when the bond beast dies?"
The tortoise’s gaze flickered, just once before it sank it’s voice.
"She will suffer a ntal collapse. And if fortune favors her... she won’t die but her mories may be lost."
A heavier pause.
"And in the off chance that favor doesn’t favors her... There’s no saving her and she will simply die."
Fang Yuan’s fingers tightened until veins stood out across his hands.
His breath was unsteady, his gaze turning sharp enough to cut.
"And after knowing that," he said slowly, voice edged with frost, "you still want to spare the two kingdoms?"
For the first ti, the titanic tortoise faltered. Its colossal form seed to shrink beneath the weight of his stare. Understanding dawned in its eyed.
It finally realized that Lin Zhaoyue’s soul beasts... had perhaps been killed by those very kingdoms.
And if that was true, then asking Fang Yuan to spare them... was no simple request.
The tortoise drew in a long breath, then exhaled.
"Human, i know you are angry," it rumbled, voice no longer mocking but solemn, heavy, truthful. "But I am not asking you to spare those kingdoms out of sympathy. Compassion has nothing to do with this. I am only doing this for survival, yours and mine."
It lowered its massive head, shadows crawling across the lines of age carved into its shell.
"To be honest... I am not rely a beast. I am the gardener of this world. A held captive by those with power."
"Think of this world as a vast garden," it continued. "And in that garden, instead of vegetables and fruits, it’s you humans... the sects... even the spirit beasts and among them all, those who grow strong enough are considered the ripe ones."
User Comments
0 comments from readers