Don't Mess with that Turtle

A crocodile got beaten up, this fella, relying on its large size, actually tried to snatch Su He's Sunbathing Stone.

How is this tolerable?

Su He had already given up the title of Turtle King, not a single turtle was willing to listen to his commands, and since turtles couldn't voice their opinions, Su He couldn't understand them even if they had any.

He wanted to become the Crocodile King.

To snatch the Sunbathing Stone from the Crocodile King and not get beaten up was simply impossible.

This was a giant crocodile, over twelve and a half yards long, that Su He hadn't been able to beat a few days ago; they had kept to their respective territories. Su He originally wanted to coexist peacefully for another month.

But since it came to snatch the Sunbathing Stone, he could no longer back down.

To tame the crocodiles, he first needed to establish an invincible image. This old croc had crossed his line.

Su He ducked his head to avoid the crocodile's bite. With a flurry of his limbs, he shot forward as a water arrow, clamped onto its tail with his mouth, and rapidly swam, dragging the old croc out of the group. Taking advantage of the momentum, he spun and flicked the water, writhing his body.

Pia!

With all his might, he swung the old croc around and smacked it down onto the water's surface. Recently, Su He hadn't lacked for food, and his strength had been growing. Exploiting the buoyancy, he was now capable of flinging a giant croc that weighed a thousand weigh.

The prerequisite was to get a hold of its tail.

The old croc lost consciousness and lay stiff on the water's surface. The surrounding onlooking crocodiles swiftly backed off, leaving a void around them.

They looked at Su He, each pair of eyes filled with terror.

Good, the first step to taming was to completely subdue them. To let fear seep into their very core, so they wouldn't dare to harbor even the slightest thought of resistance from the bottom of their hearts.

Even if Su He was sleeping, hibernating, or hadn't shown up for a long time, the shadow of fear would remain in their hearts.

The old croc was unconscious for a good seven or eight breaths—turtle breaths—before it slowly came to, and the first thing it saw upon opening its eyes was Su He looking down on it condescendingly, his turtle eyes flashing with a wild and domineering look.

"Get lost! The Sunbathing Stone, mine!"

Su He grandly made a noise, transmitting a notion.

The old croc probably really understood, or maybe it was just scared. It twisted its tail and fled, burrowing into the crowd of crocodiles and never daring to come out again.

Su He leisurely crawled onto the Sunbathing Stone and splayed out, lying on top of it.

These days he had grown increasingly fond of basking in the sun; the year's weather had been abnormal, but the general trend hadn't changed. The temperature was starting to drop.

The various fruits on the shore were also ripening to a seductive red, emitting an enticing aroma.

Autumn had arrived early, and at this time in past years, Su He would have at most one more month before he had to start hunting voraciously, storing energy in preparation for hibernation.

Calculating for this year, it just so happened that he could digest the Demonic Fruit right before hibernation, and then he could transform into human form—or should he?

Suddenly, Su He felt uneasy; he was no longer certain.

Over the past two months, he had clearly felt his own evolution, but there wasn't the slightest hint of turning demonic!

The Green Snake he had encountered more than twenty days ago had already mastered demon techniques and could use Fog Release. Meanwhile, Su He didn't even show a trace of mastering demon techniques.

The only benefit the Demonic Fruit had brought was the continual evolution of his body, with his turtle shell and skin becoming tougher and his strength growing.

Not a single demon technique.

Could it be that when I transform into a human, I'll be a blockhead swinging an eight-hundred-pound Drumming Gold Hammer?

A frustration welled up in Su He's heart.

He even occasionally felt a foreboding sense, always suspecting he couldn't turn demonic, couldn't become humanoid.

This feeling was like checking his scores for a college entrance exam in his previous life, when the webpage was refreshing in loops.

It was also like confessing to a goddess, during the moment just before she spoke.

He was racked by uncertainty.

Suddenly, Su He plunged his head into the water and shook it vigorously, casting aside all sorts of distracting thoughts. He lifted his head and pressed a crocodile down into the water with one claw, snatching its waterfowl from it.

The second step in taming: the king enjoys the food first, regardless of who caught the prey.

Three points, quantity.

By the time that crocodile resurfaced, Su He had already torn off the fattiest part of the waterfowl's buttocks and tossed it three buttless dead birds.

```

The crocodile was befuddled, yet certain that the bird tossed over was not for the overbearing Turtle King to eat, but for itself. It carefully swallowed the bird, taking care not to create any splashes.

Su He surveilled the crocodile group, savagely beating the two crocodiles that were too beaten up and trying to slink away, then herded them back. He also forcibly seized the prey of all the crocodiles that had made a catch, tore off the most succulent parts and threw double back to them—except for the prey that was quality improved.

After making the rounds, Su He became overfed once again.

Filled to fourteen parts out of fifteen, he couldn't swallow another bite.

Su He returned to the Sunbathing Stone and sprawled on it lazily.

A day passed quietly, with the Golden Crow setting and the new moon climbing.

At this time, it was probably the early days of the month, with a shallow crescent. Combining this with the weather, Su He guessed it might be the early September in the lunar calendar.

Based on the climate and vegetation, Su He estimated the location of Tinghai Lake, which would be roughly in the area of Hubei or Hunan if compared with his former life in China—assuming the vegetation pattern in Mystery Huang World was consistent with China.

Of course, this was merely a rough comparison; the two worlds undoubtedly couldn't be spoken of in the same breath.

According to the ramblings of the unkempt old Daoist when he was drunk, just the territory of Qingyuan Gate alone spanned ten thousand miles. And Qingyuan Gate wasn't even considered a major sect; sects like this were not as numerous as cow hair but there were still a hundred or so of them.

How vast must the entire Mystery Huang World be?

The rules of the two worlds are entirely different; otherwise, with such a large world, the gravity would be tens of thousands of times that of Earth. Wouldn't people coming here from Earth be superhuman?

Su He lay on the Sunbathing Stone, staring at the stars in the sky, listening to the chirping of the autumn insects, while the roars of beasts rose and fell in the distant mountain forests. Its hearing had become sharper over time, able to clearly hear the howling of wolves ten miles away.

In the mountain forests, the beasts bustled with activity—fleeing for their lives, fighting, bloodshed, and delicacies…

Both turtles and crocodiles were nocturnal creatures, but having eaten too much during the day, Su He could eat no more. He merely symbolically snatched the crocodiles' food, ate the fatty parts, and then generously rewarded them double.

This giving and taking turned the night into a feast for the old crocodiles. Unexpectedly none of the hundreds of crocodiles were really hungry, all having had some food.

Su He was utterly stuffed. Finally, as dawn broke, he struggled to sprawl on the Sunbathing Stone and dozed off in a daze.

When he woke up, the sky was overcast.

Somehow it had started to rain again. The rain wasn't heavy, but the gloomy weather and falling temperatures made the turtle reluctant to move. Perhaps having overeaten the night before, the crocodiles were rarely hunting today, most of them languishing in the water, deeply asleep.

They were all very well-behaved, with no crocodile daring to climb onto Su He's Sunbathing Stone. Su He had no chance to display his kingly aura.

He shook his tail and swam into the water, heading towards the surface where he had encountered the Green Snake the other day.

The lake, the drizzle, and a Giant Turtle moving through the water were a sight to behold, with the turtle's jet-black shell glistening translucently, very much like something out of a Xianxia world. If an ancient bridge rose behind and a man flew over with a sword halfway up, the ambience would have been perfect.

The place where he'd met the Green Snake wasn't far, and he was there in a moment. The water surface was calm, with only raindrops wrinkling it. Su He stayed still in the water, nostrils flaring, taking a long breath.

The sense of smell in turtles is keen.

While it could not compare to soft-shelled turtles, it was much better than humans, especially since his recent evolutionary advancements had boosted his body functions in all areas. Su He felt his sense of smell was even more sensitive.

That's why lately he preferred to stay underwater; he was still not used to the pungent scents and the muddle of sounds on the surface.

Among the wind and rain, a mix of scents wafted, but the scent of the Snake Demon's Demonic Fruit was not among them.

Su He thought for a moment, then followed the direction the Green Snake had fled the other day. Animals instinctively head for their nests when frightened, so the snake's nest should be in this direction.

Su He wanted to find the Green Snake.

Not to cause trouble, but to see how the Green Snake mastered its demon arts. They both ate the Demonic Fruit, so why was he treated with prejudice?

After swimming four or five miles, a faint snakey stench reached his nostrils. Su He discerned the direction and swam towards the source of the scent. After just two or three miles, he occasionally saw swimming snakes.

Further ahead was a shallow bank, and the snake's nest was ashore—a secluded valley by the lake, which was more suitable for snakes but actually pretty good for turtles too.

The faint scent of the Green Snake's Demonic Fruit was carried over with the wind. It was lighter than the last time they met. Ordinary animals that had never eaten the Demonic Fruit would probably not be able to distinguish it by now.

The Snake Demon was pretty much safe.

Coiled on an old willow tree in the valley, the Green Snake suddenly lifted its head, its tongue flicking rapidly.

It sensed the scent of the Demonic Fruit, much richer than its own. Along with the Demonic Fruit's scent, there was also a faint smell of water.

It was that turtle!

Encroaching on its territory?

The killing intent in the Green Snake surged.

```