Chapter 222
A cry like that of a young beast shook the Cheonnam Alliance headquarters.
The eaves of the pavilions trembled, and the cultivators standing around the Flying Immortal Platform instinctively raised their magical treasures before them.
But no one dared move first.
They did not think they were the target of the third-tier turtle demonic beast’s glare.
Its golden eyes, each as large as a small pond, followed only Baek Cheong atop the flying magical treasure.
“Huh.”
Profound Void Perfected Person looked back and forth between the third-tier turtle demonic beast and Baek Cheong.
Its mouth, larger than a house, had opened, but he could sense no killing intent.
Rather, it kept bobbing its neck as though it had finally met someone it had been waiting for a long time.
“How strange.”
“What is?”
“It is not uncommon for a demonic beast that has awakened its spirituality to remember kindness it has received. However, even among spirit beasts, it is rare for one to welcome a person this warmly.”
He gazed with interest at the blue jade tablet resting on the turtle demonic beast’s head.
The tablet was thickly covered in dirt, as though it had crossed a rugged mountain path, but it had no cracks or scratches.
It seemed to have come all the way to the Cheonnam Alliance headquarters while taking care not to lose the object placed on its head.
“Cheong-ah, what kindness did you show this spirit beast last time?”
“I brought down a little rain and hid it with a formation while it was asleep.”
“It followed you this far for nothing more than rain and a formation?”
Baek Cheong nodded without breaking eye contact.
But inwardly, she suspected another reason.
‘Because I fed it fifty high-grade spirit stones.’
Even for an ordinary third-tier spirit beast, fifty high-grade spirit stones were no small matter.
For a turtle that had followed her because it lacked spiritual energy, they would have been even harder to forget.
Perhaps it remembered being fed high-grade spirit stones more than the rain.
‘Could it have come to repay my kindness?’
If so, calling it a good spirit beast would not be entirely wrong.
It had come to repay what it had eaten, so it was certainly a creature that knew gratitude.
All she had to do was confirm what it had brought.
‘As expected, merit!’
Baek Cheong lightly pressed her lips together to hide her swelling anticipation.
Profound Void Perfected Person, who had been glancing sideways at her moments earlier, did not ask anything further.
After lightly surveying the turtle demonic beast, he tilted the flying magical treasure downward.
“It seems to bear no hostility, so let’s go down and take a closer look.”
“Yes.”
The flying magical treasure slowly descended into the open space in front of the turtle.
The closer they got, the more clearly the demonic qi emanating from the turtle demonic beast could be sensed.
The blades of grass covering the ground lay flat despite the absence of wind, and the banners hanging from the pavilions continued to tremble.
The cultivators standing guard retreated as the flying magical treasure descended.
Several looked urgently at Profound Void Perfected Person, but when the Nascent Soul grand cultivator waved a hand, they could not step forward.
The turtle demonic beast quietly watched the approaching flying magical treasure.
Not only that, its enormous head slowly lowered in accordance with the treasure’s movement.
When the flying magical treasure reached a height slightly above the ground, its golden eyes turned toward Baek Cheong again.
“Ang!”
The turtle waited with its mouth open.
The second cry was smaller than the first, but it made it much clearer that the turtle wanted something.
At this, Baek Cheong unconsciously covered the waist where her spatial magical treasure hung.
‘Is it asking for high-grade spirit stones again?’
It was the exact same mouth she had seen before.
Even when it had demanded the next stone as soon as it swallowed one, it had looked up at her like that.
Profound Void Perfected Person was beside her, and the cultivators of the headquarters were gathered around at a distance.
If she took out high-grade spirit stones now, the story she had hidden from her father would be exposed immediately.
If the fact that she had fed it as many as fifty came to light, it might not end with a lecture like last time.
‘Spirit stones are absolutely off-limits.’
She had to find another way.
Fortunately, the turtle liked not only spirit stones but also the rain from the Rain-Calling Art.
Baek Cheong spread her palm toward the turtle waiting with its mouth open.
“Do you perhaps want rain?”
The turtle did not react as though it understood.
It was the same as before: they could not communicate.
Still, there was no harm in testing it.
As she formed a hand seal with one hand, pale clouds gathered over the turtle’s shell.
Water qi scattered through heaven and earth seeped into the clouds, gradually taking on an inky hue.
Pitter-patter.
A few thick raindrops fell first, tapping the turtle’s forehead.
Its golden eyes closed languidly.
Its mouth, which had remained open, slowly shut as though satisfied.
‘Thank goodness, it’s satisfied with rain.’
Baek Cheong sighed inwardly in relief and infused more spiritual power into the Rain-Calling Art.
The clouds swelled to both sides, covering the entire small-mountain-sized shell.
A torrential rain soon poured down all at once.
Rainwater streamed down the turtle’s head and neck.
The trees growing from its back shook their leaves violently, and multiple streams formed between the moss.
The turtle lifted its body as though it had been waiting for this.
Its long limbs, extending from within its belly shell, planted themselves on the ground one after another.
Then it alternately raised its hind legs and wiggled its enormous rear.
Thump.
Boom.
Each time it moved a foot, the ground of the headquarters rumbled low.
Thinking the demonic beast was rampaging, the guards simultaneously infused their magical treasures with spiritual power.
“Don’t move.”
Profound Void Perfected Person’s calm words held the cultivators back.
Several glyphs engraved on his sleeve glimmered faintly, gently dispersing the tremors around them.
Since the cultivators did not attack, the turtle paid them no attention and stood in the rain.
With its eyes closed and its body bobbing, it was no different from a young beast excited by playing in water.
“It really likes it.”
Profound Void Perfected Person laughed as though dumbfounded.
“It did the same thing when I met it before.”
“For a third-tier demonic beast to enjoy rain infused with spiritual energy this much... It seems especially drawn to the rainwater mixed with your spiritual power.”
Baek Cheong did not answer and made the rain slightly heavier.
As the rain grew stronger, the dirt piled atop the shell flowed downward.
The moss and vines that had taken root there for a long time were also swept away by the current.
Each time the turtle bobbed its body, wet clods of earth fell in showers.
As the downpour continued for a while, the shape that looked like a small mountain gradually disappeared.
Instead, the dark blue shell, wet with water, regained its original luster beneath the sunlight.
Clear water flowed through the deeply carved grooves, and puddles left here and there rippled like little ponds.
The turtle gave its rear one last vigorous shake and stretched out all its limbs.
“Hmm.”
Profound Void Perfected Person carefully examined the cleanly exposed shell and thick legs.
“Its appearance is not much different from the ordinary turtle demonic beasts one commonly sees. There are few old scars on its carapace, and the demonic qi leaking from its demonic core is still close to the early third tier.”
“Is it a young turtle?”
“Compared to a cultivator, one could see it that way.”
As he said this, he looked down at the turtle’s head, which drooped as it basked in the rain.
“Of course, even if it looks like a young child, it has probably lived for several hundred years. It would be more accurate to say that its spirituality is immature compared to its age.”
A turtle that had lived several hundred years was enjoying water play and wiggling its rear.
It could not understand human speech, and whenever it wanted something, it cried like a young beast.
Perhaps it was because it had spent so long asleep in hibernation.
‘Hundreds of years old, yet a young turtle.’
Baek Cheong watched with interest and slightly reduced the spiritual power she was channeling into the Rain-Calling Art.
The rain thinned into a drizzle, but the turtle did not cry.
It merely stretched its neck long, as though satisfied, and kept only its golden eyes half-open.
When their gazes met, the thoughts filling her mind returned to merit.
‘If it really is because of merit...’
Last time, after swallowing fifty high-grade spirit stones, the turtle demonic beast had spat out an unusual belly shell for her.
This time, it had come all the way to the headquarters and even waited for her.
It might have brought another object, or it might be here to show her how to use the belly shell.
If merit had actually brought her this spirit beast as a fortuitous connection, what she could gain from it in the future would not end with just one thing.
‘As expected, it really does seem like something big.’
The farther her thoughts reached, the more anticipation swelled in her small chest.
She wanted to examine it up close and see how devotedly the turtle followed her.
However, quite a few cultivators were watching nearby.
There had never been any way to hide a demonic beast the size of a small mountain.
If she could not evade anyone’s eyes, it was better to move openly.
So Baek Cheong walked to the edge of the flying magical treasure and looked down.
“May I go closer?”
“This old man will be watching, so go ahead and see where this connection leads.”
Profound Void Perfected Person answered without hesitation.
His action came from confidence that he could protect her no matter what happened.
‘It won’t suddenly attack me, will it?’
Baek Cheong descended from the flying magical treasure, slightly tense.
Supporting her toes with spiritual power, she landed on the ground, and wet earth touched her feet.
“Is it really all right for her to approach that closely?”
“Even if it’s a spirit beast, it’s still a third-tier demonic beast. What if it loses its temper...”
“Profound Void Perfected Person is watching, isn’t he? If it were dangerous, he would have stopped her already.”
“True. With a Nascent Soul grand cultivator there, nothing should happen.”
Baek Cheong pretended not to notice people’s reactions and approached the turtle.
With every step, the golden eyes slowly followed her.
The closer she got, the larger it felt, even more than she had imagined.
If it opened its mouth, it could swallow someone her size without even needing to chew.
Knowing the turtle had no hostility, she had no reason to be afraid.
‘It should be all right, right?’
The turtle opened wide its half-closed eyes and stared only at her face.
When she came within arm’s reach, its breath fiercely tossed her hair.
Taking her final step, she slowly extended her hand.
Its golden eyes followed the small hand for a moment.
The cultivators nearby tightened their grips on the magical treasures in their hands.
At last, the turtle demonic beast leisurely lowered its eyelids as though it had been waiting for this.
Its head, held high, also obediently lowered until it was within reach of Baek Cheong’s hand.
Baek Cheong’s palm gently touched its rough, rain-soaked forehead.
“Oh...”
“The demonic beast...”
And the turtle demonic beast did not shy away.
Rather, it tilted its enormous head even farther, simply accepting Baek Cheong’s touch.