Chapter 325: Turtle Hermit
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
At the foot of Turtle Mountain, countless people gazed at the mountain. There were nobles, Arcana Plane cultivators, as well as Dharma Plane cultivators.
An extremely intense battle seemed to have erupted on Turtle Mountain. However, they could clearly see the stone steps below the palace. There was no mist there and everyone could vividly see two people. Although the two figures appeared to be very tiny in their eyes, they could still figure out who they were.
Qin Yuan, the youngest son of the king of Qin, and Ye Wuchen, the Swordmaster of the seventh summit of Fuyun Sword Clan, had arrived at the final stone steps, trying to reach the top. They seemed to have encountered an extremely strong resistive force. Qin Yuan stopped when he was halfway through the stone steps and did not continue to walk.
On the other hand, Ye Wuchen’s body looked as proud as a pine and as straight as a sword. He walked forward step by step. Although he was slow, everyone could see him moving. With every step that he took, he was leaving Qin Yuan even further behind.
At first, everyone thought that the outcome of the contest was obvious and Qin Yuan would certainly win. But what could they say now?
When Ye Wuchen reached the top of the stone steps, sunlight from the sky sprinkled onto his body. At this instant, he seemed to be showered in an endless radiance and had become the most dazzling existence. If a person from the royal family of Liu Kingdom managed to reach the top of Turtle Mountain, he could inherit the throne.
Now, Ye Wuchen managed to reach the top.
Surprise filled everyone’s eyes. Nobody had expected Ye Wuchen to be able to do so. From now on, Ye Wuchen, the Swordmaster of the seventh summit of Fuyun Sword Clan, could be compared to the best geniuses of Eastern Barren Territory.
Qin Yuan was still standing at his spot. He also tried to advance forward, but eventually, he failed and was blown back to the bottom of the stone steps. The battle between Ye Futian and Qin Li also stopped. They raised their heads to look at the stone steps above them when they saw Ye Wuchen’s body disappearing from their view. A smile appeared on Ye Futian’s face. We won.
The peak of the Turtle Mountain.
Ye Wuchen walked forward. At the moment, the pressure had already disappeared. He walked past a door and arrived at an ancient palace. It was a stone palace, and there were many complicated symbols on the ground. Looking at the symbols, Ye Wuchen actually found them to be extremely mysterious, but he could not understand them.
“I am Ye Wuchen. Greetings, Turtle Hermit,” Ye Wuchen said. He only had one arm and could not fold his hands. Therefore, he could only bow slightly to salute. At the moment, his white shirt was covered with many frightening bloodstains.
A figure slowly climbed out from the stone door of the stone palace. It was a turtle. The turtle extended his neck and looked at Ye Wuchen. His behavior was very much like a human, and furthermore, he appeared to be very old. Liu Feiyang had said that Turtle Hermit was the totem of Liu Kingdom and had lived for countless years. He was literally an old monster.
The crawling speed of turtles was extremely slow, often so slow that people would lose their patience while waiting. Luckily, Ye Wuchen was a very patient man. He stood quietly at his spot.
Turtle Hermit approached him and extended one of his feet which looked like the arm of a person. He took a willow branch and started drawing on the ground. The symbols around Ye Wuchen lit up. They released a dazzling radiance and appeared to be very mysterious and unpredictable.
The symbols were made up of countless figures and were changing continuously as if they were trying to derive the future. Finally, a diagram was formed. Turtle Hermit looked at Ye Wuchen. His look was gentle but filled with some sympathy.
“You should leave Liu Kingdom,” Turtle Hermit said with a human voice. This was the first thing that he said.
Ye Wuchen was puzzled. He looked at Turtle Hermit, stunned, and said, “I don’t understand.”
“Liu Kingdom’s events will bring you misfortune. You will be involved.” Turtle Hermit’s voice was very soft.
Hearing this, Ye Wuchen felt a wave of coldness surging through his body. He was not afraid of danger. With his determination, he managed to reach the top of Turtle Mountain. However, he was afraid that he would not be able to change anything. Turtle Hermit claimed that Liu Kingdom’s events would bring him bad luck. Did it mean that he could not change the fate of the kingdom?
“Senior, can you predict the future?” Ye Wuchen asked.
Turtle Hermit shook his head. Even this action was performed very slowly.
“Nobody can predict the future. It is just that I can see what normal people cannot, and from there make some deductions,” Turtle Hermit said slowly. “There are laws governing everything in the world. I can see more of them because I live longer than others. Furthermore, my talents in cultivation are limited, and therefore I can only spend my time doing these boring things.”
“Senior, since you cannot see the future, everything is still unknown,” Ye Wuchen said.
Turtle Hermit stared at him and a warm smile appeared on his face. Ye Wuchen had such a firm faith, but he was not strong enough to change anything. Ultimately, he was only a young Arcana Plane cultivator.
“Wait for a while. I’ll let your friends in,” Turtle Hermit said. Then, he walked back through the stone door with the same slow speed.
…
At the moment, many people were gathered below the stone steps on Turtle Mountain where Qin Yuan was at. They included Qin Li, Qian Shanmu, Ye Futian and his team, as well as the people from various top forces. They all saw Ye Wuchen reach the top of the stone steps. On the other hand, Qin Yuan had fallen down the steps.
Qin Yuan had lost to Ye Wuchen.
Qin Li’s face was somewhat gloomy. He looked at Qin Yuan and said, “Go and try again.” From his tone, it seemed that he was not very respectful towards his young uncle.
Qin Yuan’s mother was Concubine Nan, a charming lady. He would obviously not respect the son of such a degrading woman. His father was the crown prince of Qin Dynasty, the righteous successor to the throne, and he was the grandson of the king.
Some gloominess flashed across Qin Yuan’s handsome face as he raised his head to look at the stone steps. He knew that it would be useless even if he tried again.
Some other people tried, but they gave up after only a short while. They did not want to marry anyone from the Liu Kingdom and therefore did not have to go through this suffering.
Suddenly, a mist formed from Spiritual Qi appeared across Turtle Mountain. The dense mist enveloped the whole mountain and soon everyone’s vision blurred.
“What is happening?”
A strange expression appeared on everyone’s face. In the mist, Ye Futian saw a path in front of him. Then, he heard someone say, “Come up.” The voice was gentle but seemed to have a magical power. A weird expression appeared on Ye Futian’s face, but he still decided to follow the path in the mist and went up the mountain.
After walking for a while, the mist slowly dissipated and Ye Futian’s surrounding became visible. He realized that he was in front of a stone palace. Ye Wuchen was standing there.
Have I reached the top of Turtle Mountain?
“Wuchen.” Ye Futian approached Ye Wuchen. Then, he saw an old turtle crawl out from the stone door. The turtle stared at him with a gentle look, causing Ye Futian to feel very strange. The action and demeanor of the turtle were very much like a human.
“Senior, did you bring me here?” Ye Futian asked.
Turtle Hermit nodded. He slowly walked up to Ye Futian, after which he did the exact same action as before. He drew with a willow branch and a dazzling light was emitted. Countless symbols started changing continuously. However, unlike Ye Wuchen, many diagrams appeared in the end. Turtle Hermit raised his head and looked at Ye Futian. Smiling, he said, “Too many variables. I can’t deduce anything.”
“Senior, what are you doing?” Ye Futian’s face was filled with doubt. Liu Feiyang had said that Turtle Hermit had an unfathomable ability and knew the past, present, and future. Of course, Ye Futian did not believe in that. Nobody could predict the future. Even an astrologer could only estimate the upper limit of a person’s fate. There would still be countless unforeseen events in his life.
Turtle Hermit looked at Ye Futian and said, “You were born extraordinary.”
Ye Futian was stunned. It seemed that the so-called Turtle Hermit indeed had some abilities. He also knew that he had an unusual background. Emperor Ye Qing, the Snow Ape, and the behavior of his godfather all proved this.
“In the illusion, you saw many beautiful ladies?” Turtle Hermit smiled and looked at Ye Futian.
“Err…” Ye Futian was speechless. This old turtle even knows about that? Was that not merely an illusion?
“Beauties still decay into mere skeletons after death. That’s just an illusion and does not reflect my true nature,” Ye Futian said in a righteous manner.
“Images spring from your heart.” Turtle Hermit looked at him with a faint smile.
Ye Futian widened his eyes at the old turtle. This is nonsense. I was not bewitched by the illusions.
“The desire for food and sex is part of human nature.” Turtle Hermit smiled and said, “It is natural to fantasize about something nice. This desire is normal.”
Anyone who lived in the world would have desires. Otherwise, he could not be called a human. When one did not have any desires, one would be a saint, but also a devil.
Today, countless people had climbed Turtle Mountain. Turtle Hermit saw many things, including normal desires and distorted, evil ones. Some people were elegant and very good-looking. However, the desires hidden in their hearts were the complete opposite.
Ye Futian was speechless; he had been caught red-handed. If he knew this earlier, he would not have climbed Turtle Mountain.
This turtle was really a b*stard. He could actually peep into everyone’s illusions. Could this be the reason why the king of Liu asked them to climb the mountain?
Thinking about this, a strange look appeared on his face. This meant that Turtle Hermit also saw the illusions that the people of the Qin Dynasty encountered.
“Senior, let’s talk about my friend.” Ye Futian changed the topic.
“You are blessed.” Turtle Hermit smiled. Ye Futian did not understand what he meant by “blessed.”
“As for your friend, I advised him to leave. Otherwise, he will face misfortune,” Turtle Hermit said. “But he seems to be really stubborn.”
“Misfortune?” Ye Futian’s look froze. Was it not enough for them to climb Turtle Mountain?
“Senior, what do you know?” Ye Futian asked.
“Let’s not talk about this. Come, follow me.” Turtle Hermit crawled slowly into the stone palace. Ye Wuchen and Ye Futian looked at each other. Then, they followed him into the stone palace.
The interior of the stone palace was actually very unusual, as if they had entered another world instead of just a stone palace. In this place, there was the radiance from the sun, the moon, and the stars. Rain and snow fell from the sky, sand danced in the air, as well as lightning and cold wind. Together, the many scenes depicted a picture of the entire world.
“I have made this over my whole life. It contains the simplest laws governing everything in the world. My level is not high enough and I cannot understand the real laws, but it should be of some use to the two of you. How much of it you can comprehend depends on yourselves,” Turtle Hermit said slowly.
Ye Futian started to feel the world. The sunlight that was pouring down, the wind blowing across, the violent lightning, and the other elements were all running according to their own laws. It was fascinating indeed.
“Senior, I have a few other friends on Turtle Mountain. Can you let them in as well?” Ye Futian asked Turtle Hermit.
“You slippery little guy.” Turtle Hermit looked at Ye Futian, then he smiled and nodded. “Anyway my days are numbered. I’ll fulfill your wish then!”
