Chapter 21: Chapter Twenty‑One: Nice Thinking

Jiang Yu, puzzled, took the formation board to set the array; she realized her Minor Five Elements Array was too thin: "Can you sense it?"

Wait, let me first set up the Four Symbols Array to prevent any mishap.

The little turtle, though urgent, also knows safety comes first.

Moments later, formation lights flared everywhere; Jiang Yu briefly contemplated, swapped the spirit stones filling the array's focal points for medium‑grade ones, and the entire Four Symbols formation fully defended, isolating from the outside.

"That's it. At first I thought it was a Heaven‑and‑Earth aberrant fire, but it can only be contained by your turtle shell.

Or perhaps it's a fire seed left by some great demon." Jiang Yu's small storage pouch opened and tipped; the turtle shell hit the table, and the flame inside the ice burst through the ice block, whoosh—flying toward the little turtle.

In an instant it entered its mouth and belly, Boom— the little turtle turned entirely scarlet, shell included.

"Jiang Tu!" Everything happened so fast Jiang Yu couldn't react; when she pinched out the Water Suppression Technique to douse the little turtle, the wooden table beneath it had silently turned to ash.

Moreover, its body was gradually swelling to the size of a millstone; as its neck and limbs transformed, a bulging lump on its head protruded, and when the water caused it to smoke, it roared while flipping its four legs toward the sky.

Jiang Yu saw this couldn't stand, hurriedly placed more cracked ice onto its body; the little turtle's whimper grew louder, its spirit crying out in pain.

At this moment, the dragon horn protruding from its head was sprouting at a visible speed, and its tail was also changing.

Jiang Yu, without any curiosity, after the contract knew the little turtle was a dragon‑turtle bixi (bixi) with half dragon bloodline and half mysterious turtle bloodline.

Now, she was only busy hurling the ice blocks into the corner, channeling spiritual energy into both hands, and remotely flipping the massive Jiang Tu.

The result was that her spiritual energy couldn't move it; she stepped closer, patted the storage pouch, took out a low‑grade wooden sword and a low‑grade iron sword, pressed them against its shell trying to pry it open.

Unexpectedly the turtle didn't shift; the commonly used secondhand iron sword was instantly ruined, shattering into fragments, while the sect‑issued wooden sword on her left hand suddenly became a conduit, rapidly transmitting her internal spiritual energy onto the little turtle.

"Jiang… Jiang Tu, what kind of fire is it?" Jiang Yu couldn't let go, seeing her dantian's spiritual energy being drained, she quickly slapped her right hand on the storage pouch, retrieved a Qi Pill to replenish spirit.

In less than a moment, after swallowing seven or eight high‑quality Qi‑recovering Pills, her meridians swelled, frightening her into stopping immediately.

She took out all the pills and opened them, "Jiang Tu, may I feed you pills? Answer quickly."

"Eat." the little turtle emitted a faint voice.

Jiang Yu, with one hand pinching the technique, barely used her remaining spiritual energy to lift the pill bottle and poured the medicine into its mouth.

Bottle after bottle, the little turtle seemed never satisfied, yet it no longer frantically siphoned Jiang Yu's spiritual energy.

Moments later, not only did the scarlet on its body gradually fade, but when it reached the half bottle of high‑quality Gathering Qi Pill, it refused to swallow further, and its internal fire spiritual energy reversed, flowing toward Jiang Yu.

"Quickly, together with me, refine it. This is the Azure Dragon's tamed chaotic aberrant fire, forged into a life‑born spiritual fire, capable of tempering the spiritual root."

"Hmm." Jiang Yu, hearing this, feared the wooden sword's spiritual energy would dissipate, so she closed her eyes, stood, and circulated the technique, enduring pain while guiding the fire spirit energy with a flickering flame throughout her body.

She entered meditation swiftly; the massive fire spirit power, before gathering in the dantian, first helped her burst open several new acupoints.

Then strands of flame swirled around the dantian's spiritual root, tempering the body repeatedly.

After a few minor microcirculations, she felt the pain lessen, and even noticed signs of advancement.

The little turtle, its size gradually shrinking, to help her quickly break through the barrier, leapt onto her shoulder as the wooden sword could no longer endure and turned to void, sharing the fire‑spirit energy.

It also told her through the spiritual contract that she could sit down and continue refining.

One microcirculation, two microcirculations, three microcirculations; in this room, the human and the turtle achieved synchronized breathing.

The spiritual energy of Shan Shui Valley was drawn here, gathering, and its heightened activity quickly attracted the gazes of many disciples.

The on‑duty Uncle Xiang immediately flew over to inspect; seeing the courtyard's defenses fully opened and no other anomalies, he waved his hand, dispersing the gathered disciples.

Lu Ruochan and Senior Sister Gu, who were battling a demonic cultivator in the secret realm, hadn't left; they worriedly said, "We are guarding outside."

Uncle Xiang thought for a moment, "Gu Bingwen, you guard the valley entrance for me; I must keep watch here."

For every disciple advancing in the valley, I must act as guardian.

"Senior Sister Gu, we can transmit messages at any time." Lu Ruochan, not wanting to be sent away, urged her sister to hurry.

The events outside the courtyard, Jiang Yu was completely unaware; her whole body and mind were devoted to refining spiritual energy.

As night fell, suddenly more spiritual energy surged into her, flowing more smoothly and being easier to absorb than before.

Jiang Yu was overjoyed, trained even harder; soon, it felt as if a barrier inside her was broken, "pop—pop" she advanced.

Surprisingly, she leapt two stages to the Seventh Layer of Refining Qi—truly unbelievable.

Jiang Yu, a moment of inattention, found her cultivation wavering; she quickly steadied her mind to stabilize her level.

The little turtle hopped onto the ground, staring blankly at the few ice blocks in the corner.

Until Jiang Yu's cultivation steadied and she awoke, she saw its blank stare and asked, "Jiang Tu, isn't the ice the ten‑thousand‑year cold ice?"

"One piece isn't, but with our current cultivation we can't use it for now." Though the little turtle's magical power greatly increased after absorbing the chaotic true fire, it also helped open its internal dragon pearl space.

This made its dragon traits fully manifest, yet its cultivation remained at the Fifth Stage.

"Which piece?" Jiang Yu thought, turning back to look for any cultivation‑targeting techniques, good methods she could recognize as treasures.

While speaking, she performed several Dust‑Clearing Techniques, removing impurities she had tempered from her body, and also cleared the room's ashes.

The little turtle lifted its foot, spiritual energy flaring, seized an ice block shaped like a dragon claw, and instantly sucked it into its body.

It then glanced at the other ice blocks and took them away as well.

Turning again, "Jiang Yu."

"Hmm?" Still cleaning the turtle shell on the ground, she responded, only to be seized by a massive force, then her body jolted.

Stabilizing herself, she found she was no longer in her living room but in a spacious area with mountains and water, fairly large, though lacking much vitality.

"Another space?! Won't it kick people?" Jiang Yu's first reaction was to brace her whole body, lest she accidentally fall out and hug the floor.

The little turtle rolled its eyes behind her, "This is the dragon pearl space linked to my bloodline; without my permission it cannot kick anyone."

Jiang Yu turned, stroked the tiny dragon horn she had long wanted to touch, "Can I close off for cultivation? Can I plant here?

Encounter strong enemies, can I hide here to survive?"

"Nice try. When a strong enemy appears you should run immediately, not hide and wait to be surrounded."

"I can't grow things, but if you see a suitable spot, you can plant a bit." The little turtle turned its head, dodging her magical claw.

Jiang Yu only heard the latter part; she slapped a Divine Speed Talisman, whoosh—ran off: "I'll look around to see if there's a spiritual field to open."

The little turtle pursed its mouth, muttering softly, "No insight. The dragon pearl space my mother gave me can naturally grow spiritual plants."

Jiang Yu, full of joy, ran across the whole space; it had already been two hours.

While she drew a map of the whole space for the little turtle, indicating where each thing should be planted, the two Dharma protectors outside the courtyard could no longer stay calm and wait.

Because the spiritual energy all around had already returned to calm, yet there was still no movement from the people inside the courtyard.

Lu Ruochan was the first to be unable to sit still, saying, "Martial Uncle Xiang, should we lock the pass? Jiang Yu won't be in danger, right?"