Edited by RED

Yi Si smirked at hearing that, then clapped his hands. Another dozen or so black-clothed men immediately appeared to the side, along with Chen Yong, Mo Dingtian, Leng Shang, Yun Wudi, and the others. Only, Yun Wudi’s aura seemed a little off; he looked to have suffered from severe injuries.

“Is it fine to let them go?” Xu Pingfan asked.

Yi Si looked at Xu Pingfan and said, “You must be that housekeeper of Xu Clan. These trash aren’t useful to me; all I want is that sword.”

Hearing such, Xu Pingfan ignored the longsword held at his neck and turned around. He persuaded Li Wandong, “Give them the sword. Otherwise, neither of us will get away alive.”

Now, Li Wandong was totally flustered, his hands trembling non-stop. Seeing Xu Pingfan demand the sword he obtained after so much effort, he looked over to Yi Si, who was smirking, and said, “Housekeeper Xu, mind your own business. There’s no way I’m giving up this sword.”

“Oh, so you mean to not hand it over?” Yi Si asked.

“Don’t you come over. If you do, I’ll kill him.” Right now, Li Wandong was showing a terrified look on his face, without a hint of the demeanor of someone from a great cultivation school. He fully understood that the Abyssal Beast School could only bare their fangs within Mirrorlink. Against those from the super top-classed schools, it would be an act of suicide.

“Do it. I don’t need him at all. All I want is that sword in your hand,” Yi Si continued.

Li Wandong seemed to have remembered something, then said frantically, “You want the sword? Fine, but you must first step back. I’ll hand it over once I reach safety. Otherwise, I’ll destroy this sword!”

Yi Si couldn’t help but frown. He didn’t speak any more; his aura suddenly erupted.

At this moment, the young master of Xu Clan, who was still in Four Divinities Cavern, was now attempting to break the seal at the entrance to Black Tortoise’s cave.

“Failed again. How should I break this “Forbidden” character’s seal? Why do I keep feeling uneasy inside? Could there be something happening outside?” Xu Qi said anxiously.

Next to him was the Black Tortoise. It looked at the shining golden “Forbidden” character by the exit and said, “Perhaps we’re using the wrong method to break the seal. Earlier, I saw that disgusting thing ramming into the seal and it seemed to grow dimmer. Maybe we should try that?”

“Hm? Yeah, I saw that, too. But who should be the one to try it?” Xu Qi said as he glanced at the Giantwood Python next to him, then shifted his gaze to Black Tortoise.

“Big Brother, my injuries aren’t fully healed yet,” the python said, sounding aggrieved.

“Whatever, drop your act, you two. Aren’t you just hoping for me to be the one to do it? Fine, I’ll do it,” Black Tortoise said directly.

A happy look lit up Xu Qi and the python’s faces and they hurriedly moved back, afraid that the Black Tortoise’s ramming would hurt them.

After Xu Qi and the Giantwood Python made way for it, Black Tortoise’s large frame began to shrink, slowly reducing down to about the size of the python. Then, a blue light gradually arose from its body.

Its long neck, too, gradually retracted back into its shell, as well as its four claws, as it turned into a fully retracted tortoise.

“Uncle Tortoise, your name isn’t for show, indeed. You truly live up to your name,” Xu Qi teased, making exaggerated faces at the python.

Black Tortoise ignored the little brat, however. It rushed at the seal and flipped itself, using the hardest part of its shell to smash against the seal.

Boom! The blue light intertwined with the golden radiance upon contact.

Xu Qi rubbed his hands as he watched the collision, a powerful burst of aura spreading out. His palms were sweaty, praying silently. He hoped the Black Tortoise would successfully break through that seal.

After a while, the light slowly faded and Black Tortoise was bounced back, landing heavily on the ground, its shell facing downward.

Black Tortoise extended its dragon head and said helplessly, “It’s futile, little brat. I felt it during the collision earlier. This seal will retaliate with a stronger force as you release a stronger aura to break it. Brute force doesn’t work.”

“Flip yourself over first, Uncle Tortoise. I won’t be able to hold my laughter seeing you like this,” Xu Qi mumbled, covering his mouth.

Black Tortoise rolled its eyes back at the little brat and extended its claws, flipping itself rightside up.

“Oh, you’re pretty agile. I’m impressed,” Xu Qi continued teasing.

“Brat, you’re not anxious anymore, are you? How dare you keep using me as the butt of your joke!” Black Tortoise roared with a hint of anger in its voice.

“Don-Don’t get angry, Uncle Tortoise. I know that your gigantic stomach could ferry a ship1. You should be the bigger man and don’t mind me. Let’s focus on finding a way to get out,” Xu Qi hurriedly replied.

Black Tortoise didn’t plan on harping on it, focusing its gaze at the dimmed “Forbidden” character at the exit.

“Perhaps, I should try that,” Xu Qi muttered and slowly walked to the exit.

He arrived at the exit and extended his hand, emitting rainbow energy in his palm and slowly touched the seal. His palm was lightly pushed back, as if the seal was an invisible wall.

Xu Qi sat on the ground in meditation stance, then yelled at Black Tortoise, “Uncle Tortoise, I’ll have to trouble you to give me another dose of Revitalizing Jet. I want my energy to be optimal.”

Black Tortoise didn’t reply to him and directly shot out a dense blue-colored energy jet at Xu Qi. Upon contact, it immediately turned into mist of shimmering blue light, enveloping his entire body.

Soon, Xu Qi felt his energy at its maximum capacity. He slowly stood up and willed for a golden flame to appear with a flip of his palm.

“All-tempering Flame! You little brat actually had such a godly thing!” Black Tortoise recognized the flames in this little brat’s palm immediately and cried out in astonishment.

The Giantwood Python trembled uncontrollably at the sight of the golden flames in its unconscionable master’s palm. Its body belonged to the colder side of the spectrum and was afraid of flames. Even after becoming this unconscionable master’s follower for a period of time, it didn’t know he had such fearsome flames in his arsenal. Now, it couldn’t afford to offend him lightly in the future; that flame was too scary.

On the other hand, Xu Qi naturally didn’t have the mood to care what Black Tortoise and the python thought. He controlled the All-tempering Flame and threw it at the seal.

The moment the All-tempering Flame came in contact with the seal, a part of the gigantic “Forbidden” character was burned off.

“There’s a chance!” Xu Qi cried out in surprise and quickly extended his hand into the burned off area. To his surprise, his hand wasn’t met with any obstacle and could reach past the seal.

Black Tortoise had been paying attention to the situation here. It, too, was mad with joy when it saw a part of the seal being burned away.

Xu Qi pressed on and increased the output of the All-tempering Flame, but to his dismay, he could only burn off a small part of the seal. He turned and yelled at Black Tortoise and the Giantwood Python behind him, “Come over, quickly. I can’t hold the flames for long!”

The two quickly sped toward him.

“Little Snakey, quickly turn into your tiny form and go to the other side. Uncle Tortoise, could you reduce your size a little more?” Xu Qi continued yelling anxiously. He sensed that the seal would be recovering soon and he wouldn’t be able to keep it open.

Hearing such, a golden light shone from the python’s body, slowly turning into the palm-sized golden snake. Before it could say anything, it was grabbed by Xu Qi’s free hand and thrown at the seal.

As expected, Little Snakey passed through the burned off part of the seal unobstructed, returning to the other side of the cavern.

“Are you alright, Little Snakey?” Xu Qi yelled.

“I’m fine, Big Brother, quickly come through the gap,” Little Snakey answered anxiously.

Seeing as he succeeded, Xu Qi turned to Black Tortoise and said, “Uncle Tortoise, turn smaller, quickly! It can’t be that you are unable to, right?!”

Black Tortoise didn’t answer him. It turned around and looked at the lake, the place where it was sealed off, with a complicated gaze.

“Don’t be getting sentimental now. Transform, quickly. I sensed that the seal is starting to recover. I can’t hold on any longer!” Xu Qi yelled anxiously.

Black Tortoise suddenly noticed the ominous beast, Primal Chaos, who was at the opposite shore. It was now slowly advancing toward them. Black Tortoise sighed as blue light was emitted from its body, shrinking itself. In the end, it too, was reduced to the size of a palm.

Seeing that, Xu Qi similarly didn’t bother to say anything and grabbed this “tiny tortoise”, throwing it out. As it was thrown, Uncle Tortoise’s cursing was heard.

“Damn you! So hot! It’s so hot, little brat. Just you wait!”

Xu Qi raised his head and looked at the gradually recovering “Forbidden” character, then looked back at the approaching Primal Chaos. He grit his teeth and instantly enveloped himself in flames, turning into a little man of fire.

The little “fireman” immediately dashed past the exit, and at that moment, the gigantic “Forbidden” character was restored to its original state.

“We’re finally out,” Xu Qi lay flat on the ground, looking at the seal before him. The ominous beast, Primal Chaos, too, arrived at the exit and began ramming at the seal.

Its actions made Xu Qi, who was merely inches away, quickly crawl up and yelled toward the Four Divinities Cavern, “Little Snakey, Uncle Tortoise, where are you?”

“Big Brother, you’re stepping on me; it hurts,” the python cried.

Xu Qi hurriedly jumped aside and was about to say something.

“Little brat, are you doing this on purpose? You’re stepping on me!” Black Tortoise’s thunderous voice immediately roared.

Hearing such, Xu Qi moved his feet. This time, he paid more attention to avoid stepping on either of them.

Just as his feet moved away, blue line shone at his toes and slowly grew in size.

Black Tortoise returned to the size of an adult. Upon seeing Xu Qi, it immediately shot a jet of water at him, instantly soaking his body.

However, it wasn’t solely for the sake of making fun of him. The jet of water was, in fact, the Revitalizing Jet. It knew that manipulating the All-tempering Flame would deplete this little brat’s energy like a broken faucet. Thus, it restored his energy while simultaneously punishing him.

Xu Qi found the Giantwood Python and placed it in his sleeve, saying, “Thank you, Uncle Senior. I’ll be making a move; my feeling of uneasiness is getting stronger. I’m worried about the situation on the outside. We’ll be heading out first!”

Then, Xu Qi activated his Soul Displacement Technique and sped off, heading toward the Four Divinities Cavern. Black Tortoise was stupefied for a moment, unsure of what was going on. It let out a sigh and rushed to the cavern after him.

As they left Black Tortoise’s “home”, sounds of kong kong could be heard from deep in the cavern, originating from Primal Chaos. They sounded really sorrowful.

Soon, Xu Qi arrived at the Black Tortoise Cavern’s entrance with the python in tow. He felt a sense of relief at the sight of the familiar scene of the Four Divinities Plaza.

Immediately after, Black Tortoise appeared in the Four Divinities Plaza, dashing out from its cavern. Black Tortoise looked around the plaza silently.

Xu Qi quickly walked to Black Tortoise Cavern’s entrance and manipulated his rainbow energy, slowly shutting the gigantic stone door. He had to do it; he was truly worried Primal Chaos would come out from it.

When he was done, Xu Qi said to Black Tortoise and the Giantwood Python, “Uncle Tortoise, Little Snakey, stay here for now. I’ll head outside first! If there’s a situation, I might summon you; prepare yourselves!”

Then, Xu Qi turned and ran to the plaza entrance.

------

At the same time, in Rivulet City, Xu Clan mansion, Li Wandong was holding Xu Pingfan hostage and was at a standoff with Yi Si and his Shadow Wind Sect disciples, with Stellar Splitter in hand.

However, Yi Si didn’t seem to have much patience. After waiting for a while, he broke the silence, “Since you’re not cooperating, don’t blame me!”

His silhouette disappeared from where he stood, charging at Li Wandong and Xu Pingfan!

TL Note:

1: Xu Qi is referring to Black Tortoise’s stomach capacity/肚量, which sounds the same as 度量, meaning its magnanimity.