Don't Mess with that Turtle

This was a place meant for a long dwelling; designing it was extremely difficult, especially since the location Su He had chosen was full of plant roots. Ensuring the cave's durability while excavating was complicated.

This wasn't a job that could be completed in one day.

The wounds on the hind legs from the otter's scratches had already healed, and would be completely better in at most two days. After this long slumber, his recovery abilities had improved significantly.

Su He emerged from the semi-finished cave, surfaced to breathe, and then quietly dived back underwater.

A carp swam by unabashedly in front of him.

A blatant provocation.

With a motion swift as an arrow, Su He's turtle head shot out and clamped down on the body of the carp, flinging it against the pebbles at the bottom of the pond to knock it unconscious.

Fish were tenacious and not easily killed. Being unconscious was enough. Su He flipped the carp over and bit through its spine, leisurely tearing at the fish flesh. It tasted slightly of mud and the fish scales tended to get stuck in his throat. Su He's favorite was still shrimp, with its extremely fresh and delightful flavor bursting in his mouth, truly a pleasure to indulge in.

And shrimp shells were good for calcium.

This kind of food, without any doubled quality, could only serve to fill the stomach. The Big Salamander had gone off to who knows where, and there were no victims to rob.

Suddenly, Su He pondered a question. The dice only appeared when he stole or snatched something, so did killing a prey count as stealing its life and freedom?

The carp hadn't died, so no dice appeared?

Live creatures couldn't be rolled for.

Su He clawed open the carp's head and pulled out its heart with a bite, the lively fish heart throbbed in his mouth.

"I've stolen a fish's heart," Su He continuously reassured himself in his heart, but the dice did not appear.

Apparently, one couldn't exploit a bug.

Su He summarized the rule: It only counted if he robbed the target of its "possessions beyond the body."

The Big Salamander silently emerged from who knows where, carrying two large shrimp and eyeing Su He's carp.

Su He gave it a glance.

...

Shrimp Quality ×3

Carp Quality ×2

Crying Baby Fish ×1

Su He discovered a rule he could exploit legitimately: The carp he had caught couldn't be rolled for in the dice game, but once the Big Salamander stole it and he snatched it back, it then became possible.

It was completely viable to foster a thief to strengthen oneself!

After enjoying a delightful meal, he returned to the semi-finished cave, buried the entrance with mud, and Su He slept soundly until sunset on the third day.

The Wolf King on the shore stared unblinkingly at the pond.

It was very patient.

The wild wolves beside it had eerily green eyes, either from hunger or from their wolf eyes becoming clearer as evening approached.

Once he confirmed it was safe, Su He crawled out of the cave; his body was somewhat heavier, and taking advantage of the remaining sunset glow, one could see he had become much darker.

Not just the turtle shell, but even the skin had darkened; he now looked like a pure black turtle. If there was a bit of a sheen to him, he'd resemble a black jade carving.

It was a bit... disappointing.

In this world, white was esteemed: White Snake, Peacock, White Deer...

Any beast of a bit of divine aura appeared holy in white. What did my black color represent?

A destined villain?

Fortunately, along with the darkening, his skin had also become much more tough. The wounds left by the otter had completely healed, leaving only faint flesh-colored traces on his dark skin.

His strength had increased as well; with a single kick, Su He burst forth from the water, nearly doubling his speed from before!

In the past, Su He had also eaten good things, and with the dice, he never lacked quality items. But the enhancement to his body was never so exaggerated; it just made his growth rate far exceed that of a normal turtle.

After consuming the Demonic Fruit, he could distinctly feel his body evolving rapidly. The exquisite foods he previously couldn't absorb were now completely within his reach.

Thinking of food, he felt hungry again, and even a bit of an itch to gnaw on a chew stick.

But turtles don't have teeth; at the time of hatching, he had a big tooth, but it fell out after five or six days.

However, Su He could definitely feel a tingling in his gums. Was he going to evolve teeth?

Su He was a bit worried.

Could this be an evolution towards becoming an Exotic Beast? Did the Demonic Fruit that was meant to enhance quality lose its demonic effects?

Restless in his heart, Su He snatched back half a carp from the Big Salamander and chewed on it carefully to relieve the itching sensation in his teeth. His gaze then shifted back to the large shrimp at the bottom of the pond; he had to eat more to evolve.

Improve his digestive abilities and digest the Demonic Fruit as quickly as possible.

So there would be fewer dreams in the long night.

Looking at the green lotuses in the pond, it would be half a month at most before they started blooming, and within a month the pond would be covered. The slovenly Taoist's appointed time was drawing near.

The opportunity must not be missed, the senior had said.

Su He was making plans.

"Screech!"

A cry of an eagle came from the high skies. Su He instinctively retracted into his turtle shell.

It was instinct.

When he was still struggling to survive in Tinghai Lake, he had narrowly escaped being captured by eagles several times. He had also seen several turtles, torn apart by eagles, their bodies left in shambles.

An eagle couldn't break a turtle shell, but it would drop it from a hundred meters high, and even the sturdiest shell couldn't withstand such torment.

Su He tucked himself under the water, slightly drawing in his limbs, giving the eagle no place to grip. If this were on Earth in his previous life, a turtle of his size wouldn't need to worry about an eagle.

But this was the Mystery Huang World, and it was not uncommon to see giant eagles with wingspans of two to three meters.

The water rippled as a green snake also submerged. It wasn't avoiding the eagle, but rather it was trying to prey on Su He.

This fellow's brain was somewhat lacking; Su He stayed motionless, with only one claw gently stirring the water to maintain balance, leading the swimming snake to mistake him for a fish.

Green snakes had poor eyesight and couldn't rely on their tongues to sense vibrations; they mostly relied on water disturbances to identify objects ahead. Su He had encountered green snakes coming at him more than once.

It tasted quite good.

The green snake lunged at Su He, opening its mouth to feed, when suddenly a fishy wind blew above its head. The grey falcon that had been hovering suddenly swooped down, its claws tearing through the water toward the prey.

The target was the green snake!

Lucky!

The falcon wasn't very large, with a wingspan of about ten feet. It would have been difficult to carry off Su He; it knew its limits and went straight for the green snake instead.

There were quite a few grey falcons in the area. The surface of Tinghai Lake next door had a diameter of over a hundred miles, with the large river Elephant Water flowing through it, sustaining too many living creatures.

Grey falcons nested in the southwestern high mountains of Tinghai Lake.

Su He longed for Tinghai Lake. Although there were fierce beasts in the lake, the turbulent waters would quickly disperse the breath he exhaled, making it safer, so long as one was careful. It was unlike now, being trapped in a small pond by a pack of wild wolves, while also having to guard against the Wolf King deploying otters to hunt turtles.

The grey falcon skimmed the water's surface, grabbed the green snake, and beat its wings to fly up and return to its nest.

A spark of inspiration flashed in Su He's mind. His turtle head shot out in an instant, biting onto the tail of the green snake.

Flight attendant, take me for a ride!

The struggling green snake was stretched taut in an instant, and the grey falcon sank downward from the pull. Surprise flashed in its eyes, but then it sensed the scent of the Demonic Fruit.

This grey falcon, with a wingspan exceeding three meters, should have no problem carrying a snake weighing about two pounds along with a turtle weighing twenty to thirty pounds.

The path from the small pond to the high mountain where the grey falcon lived inevitably passed over Tinghai Lake, which was perfect for moving house.

With great difficulty, the grey falcon flapped its wings and lifted off the ground, barely rising thirty to fifty feet before it began flying westward with effort.

On the ground, the Wolf King, upon catching the scent of the Demonic Fruit, exploded in an instant, howling and roaring as it followed in pursuit. Its speed was not less than that of the burdened grey falcon.

Goodbye, Wolf King!

See you, Wolf King!

Don't bother seeing me off, Wolf King!

The grey falcon sped along, leaping over the pond, flying over hillocks, tracing an arc in flight, and then with the breeze, its flight became smoother.

The pack of wolves was desperately chasing on the ground, watching the turtle in the sky grow further and further away. The Wolf King roared in anger, baring its teeth and howling.

Bye-bye now.

Su He waved his paws cheerfully.

Then, "Snap!" a crisp sound echoed.

The green snake couldn't withstand the pull between the grey falcon and Su He.

It broke!

Su He fell to the ground with a smack, not coming to his senses for a moment. Fortunately, he was already near Tinghai Lake, right over the shallow mudflats.

Good news: it hurt, but no injury.

Bad news: up ahead was Crocodile Beach, where a group of crocodiles was looking in this direction all at once.

Su He shuddered, then heard wolves howling behind him as the pack caught up.

A chill shot straight from the turtle's shell to the tip of his tail.