To yao like the softshell turtle, bitterly seeking out the Dao on their own was unquestionably far too difficult.

It was extremely easy to go down the wrong path, leading to fatal disaster.

Thus, Su Yi was well aware of why the softshell turtle revered him so highly.

“Aren’t you worried I’ll implicate you?” said Su Yi with a faint smile.

Earlier, although Wei Xian’s words were insulting, he was right about one thing: throughout the Great Zhou, numerous people saw him as a harbinger of disaster and feared nothing more than getting mixed up with him.

The turtle was silent for a while. Finally, it said, “Your Excellency, I won’t lie to you. Learning of your recent accomplishments has only made me increasingly convinced that you are no ordinary cultivator! Your battle with Shi Fengliu today has proved that my initial opinion was right on the mark.”

As he spoke, the three-hundred-year-old yao’s gaze heated up, and its voice rumbled, firm and decisive. “Besides, were I worried about inviting disaster, I wouldn’t have spoken up earlier. Even if I’d died sticking up on your behalf, I wouldn’t have any regrets!” 

The group on board the tower ship couldn’t help but feel moved. Who would have thought a softshell turtle with such terrifying yao qi would revere a seventeen-year-old like Su Yi to such a degree?

Su Yi nodded, then glanced at Wei Xian. “Tell me, then. What should we do with him?”

Wei Xian was so scared, his mind went blank. He quivered from head to toe, and his soul practically left his body. His knees thudded to the ground as he bowed once more.

He opened his mouth as if to speak, only for Su Yi’s divine sense to bear down on him, leaving him unable to produce so much as a single word.

The turtle’s expression was serious; it realized Su Yi was testing it. A while later, it said gravely, “Your Excellency, the way I see it, someone so two-faced and capricious is unworthy of you punishing him yourself! If you kill him, it will only hurt your prestige.

Having said this, it waved one of its massive forelimbs and reached for Wei Xian from afar, as if it were crushing an ant. It squished him into a meaty pulp, and blood flowed from the gaps between its claws.

This bloody spectacle provoked a series of gasps and shrieks from the passengers. The entire ship was thrown into uproar.

Wen Yuchong was so scared that the blood drained from his face.

“Your Excellency, going forward, allow me to punish such unworthy characters on your behalf!” said the turtle piously.

Never mind killing Wei Xian; even if Su Yi ordered it to devour the entire tower ship, it would do so without hesitation.

Su Yi sighed. “Little turtle, you’re clever, but you lack wisdom. As I conduct my affairs, how could I possibly concern myself with others’ insults?”

The softshell turtle was briefly stunned, then inwardly panicked. It assumed it had failed Su Yi’s “test”, so it hurriedly said, “Your Excellency….”

“Say no more,” said Su Yi before it could continue. “Your talent and aptitude might be lacking, but your sincerity is rare and valuable, and your bravery in the face of death is commendable. Wait off to the side.”

He then walked through the air and landed back on the tower ship.

When he saw Su Yi’s sudden arrival, Wen Yuchong was so startled that he instinctively retreated several steps back, and his hair stood on end; he assumed Su Yi was here to kill him.

But how could Su Yi pay any attention to a minor character like him? He ignored Wen Yuchong completely.

Instead, he glanced at Fu Qingyuan and Gu Caining. “Want to ride this little turtle all the way to the Jade Capital with me, you two?”

Fu Qingyuan’s mind went blank, and he said in a daze, “Earlier, my junior apprentice sister and I failed to recognize you, so we said and did many things we shouldn’t have… Brother Su, you… Don’t blame us, do you?”

Su Yi laughed. “You took great care of me. What do you mean, you ‘did things you shouldn’t have?’”

Although he said this, Gu Caining couldn’t help but say, “Su… Young Lord Su, you really don’t blame us?”

“Of course not,” said Su Yi. “How about it? Want to keep traveling with me?”

Fu Qingyuan and Gu Caining glanced at each other, then nodded. Both of them were well aware that if they stayed, once Su Yi left and Wen Yuchong and the others calmed down, they’d inevitably interrogate them about their connection to Su Yi.

It would be hard to avoid the others rejecting them and viewing them with enmity.

“Let’s go.” Su Yi didn’t delay. He waved, and with a single swing of his sleeves, a formless power lifted the two of them into the air and onto the distant turtle’s back.

Had any other martial artist stepped onto its back, the turtle would have viewed it as an insult, and it would have exploded in fury.

But this was Su Yi, so it was beside itself with delight. It felt deeply acknowledged, and it even felt the urge to throw back its head and shout for joy.

“Take us to the Jade Capital.” Su Yi casually sat down. He had to admit it; the turtle’s back was like a mountain, and it was far more stable than the ship.

“Yes, sir!” The turtle’s limbs started moving, and it shot through the current, carrying its three passengers.

Those remaining on the tower ship watched this play out from a distance. All of them felt dazed.

Riding a giant softshell turtle through the Qinglan River?

This really was the bearing of an immortal!

“He… Actually didn’t pursue what I said earlier…” Wen Yuchong sighed in relief, but at the same time, he felt deeply ashamed.

This was how it felt to be completely overlooked.

….

Whoosh~

The softshell turtle swam through the river, neither fast nor slow, as steady as a mountain.

Throughout this journey, Fu Qingyuan and Gu Caining couldn’t help but feel as if they were dreaming; this was their first time crossing the river in such a way.

And when they faced Su Yi, they were nowhere near as at ease as they’d been before. They now behaved with an additional unspoken layer of reverence.

Su Yi naturally sensed it.

Before he revealed his identity, the two of them saw him as their peer, and they spoke freely and without reservation.

Now that they knew who he was, on an instinctive level, they no longer dared treat him as a member of the same generation…

This situation was perfectly normal.

In the Nine Provinces of the Wilds, when some older-generation experts wandered the world, they wouldn’t reveal their abilities in front of others except when absolutely necessary. 

Otherwise, who knew how many lives they’d startle along the way? Revealing too much power would only bring unnecessary disturbances and trouble.

Thus, when experts who’d achieved greatness in their cultivation traveled amongst mortals or visited other places, they’d hide their auras. Some would even disguise their appearances.

Part of this was to avoid startling others, while part of this was to avoid others’ troubling them.

The heart of this was that one party was like a heavenly dragon, while the other was like an ant crawling on the ground. The gap between them was vast and insurmountable.

Take now, for instance. Even if Su Yi tried to ease and improve their relationship, there was nothing he could do to dispel the awe in their hearts. There was no way they could ever laugh with carefree ease in front of him as they had before.

Time slipped by.

Just an hour later, a thin strip of riverbank appeared in the distance. It was a vast harbor, with docks stretching as far as the eye could see and sails as dense as trees in a forest. It was a bustling, lively scene. 

“You can stop here,” said Su Yi. If they got any closer, given how massive the turtle was, it would inevitably startle the people on the riverbank. 

“Your Excellency, that’s Dragon Ford Ferry Crossing up ahead. Once you step onto the shore, follow the official road for about thirty miles, and you’ll reach Dragon’s Gate Pass,” said the softshell turtle respectfully. It stopped, most of its massive body submerged; only the top two feet of its shell were visible. “Go through the pass, and you’ll arrive in the Jade Capital.”

Su Yi rose, then smoothed out his robes. “You’re already a yaoling, and you’re only one step away from taking on human form. You can go seek out Tao Qingshan. Have him teach you the art of transformation. If you can undergo metamorphosis, become a true yao cultivator within three months, and step into the Origin Dao, come back and find me. I’ll teach you a suitable cultivation technique.”

The turtle said excitedly, “Many thanks, Your Excellency! I absolutely won’t disappoint you!”

It knew that it had already won a certain degree of approval, but this was far from enough. It was only by reaching Su Yi’s conditions that it would win Su Yi’s full recognition. 

Even so, the softshell turtle was beside itself with delight. It realized that an opportunity to receive an immortal’s guidance was right in front of it. Now, all it had to do was seize this chance!

“Right, do you have a name?” asked Su Yi.

Is he planning to grant me a name? The softshell turtle forcefully repressed his excitement and delight, then said, “Your Excellency, over the years, the people of the mundane world have called me only ‘the Qinglan Water Monarch.’ If possible, I hope you can grant me a name!”

Su Yi instantly smiled. His gaze swept around the area, and he said leisurely, “You dwell in the sediment of the Qinglan River, but despite years of hard work, you’ve yet to take on human form or step onto the banks. Although your talent is somewhat lacking, you’re connected to me by fate. When the day comes that you transform and prove your Dao, I wouldn’t mind giving you a Daoist name.”

A Daoist name!

The turtle said with excitement, “I won’t disappoint you, Your Excellency!”

Fu Qingyuan and Gu Caining glanced at each other. Both were confused. It’s just a Daoist name. Is it worth being so happy about?

The two of them weren’t true cultivators. They didn’t understand how meaningful the act of bestowing a Daoist name was. The name didn’t just represent the giver’s hopes for the recipient; it was also a form of acknowledgment and protection!

This was especially true in ancient, peak-level orthodoxies. There was a ritual specifically for giving someone a Daoist name, and its rules were strict. It required prior discussion and negotiations from the powerful and influential before it could proceed.

Who a disciple received their Daoist name from could even influence their prospects!

Of course, ordinary cultivators typically just gave themselves their titles. Usually, this was a way of showing off.

Su Yi’s decision to grant the turtle a Daoist name wasn’t because he planned to take on an apprentice; he just wanted to give the turtle a degree of status, recognition, and protection.

This was simply a way of telling the outside world that the turtle was under Su Xuanjun’s projection, that’s all.

Fu Qingyuan and Gu Caining didn’t know any of this. They naturally couldn’t understand why the turtle was so happy.

“Let’s go.” Su Yi waved his sleeves, and invisible power lifted his companions as he proceeded to the riverbank, walking directly across the water’s surface.

“Take care, Your Excellency!” The turtle bid him a respectful farewell. When it saw Su Yi arrive safely on shore, it shot him one last reluctant look. Then, it re-submerged its entire massive frame, turned, and swam off.

It planned to seek out Tao Qingshan and make preparations for undergoing metamorphosis! 

On that day, Su Yi clashed with the vice leader of the Hidden Dragon Sword Sect on the Qinglan River. In the end, it was the latter that fled in disgrace. Even his mount was killed.

On that same day, Su Yi rode the softshell turtle all the way to the Dragon Ford Ferry Crossing and entered the limits of the Great Zhou’s imperial city, the Jade Capital!

This was the fifteenth day of the fourth month.

Nineteen days remained until his planned trip to the Su Family estate.