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Lu Xuan stood on the back of a giant turtle, holding a large whip, striking the turtle’s head so hard it made a clanging sound.

The giant turtle tried to retract its head, but a hand of magical power gripped its neck, immobilizing its entire body, rendering it motionless.

“Stop hitting me, please… I was wrong, I was wrong…” the giant turtle pleaded, its face swollen and bruised.

“Where did you go wrong?” Lu Xuan handed the “whip” to Nangong Xuan, instructing her to continue hitting.

“This old one shouldn’t have harbored greedy thoughts upon seeing you all. And I shouldn’t have been enticed by that water snake to take you to the lake center to overturn the boat…” the giant turtle sobbed, turning to Nangong

Xuan.

“Please be gentle, Miss… Hit slower, slower… I beg of you…”

If someone were there at that moment and observed carefully, they would realize that what Nangong Xuan held wasn’t a whip, but a long, thick water snake.

This water snake was in league with the giant turtle.

The turtle had brought Lu Xuan and others to the lake center, intending to flip them into the water.

The lurking water snake tried to ambush them but was killed by Lu Xuan on the spot.

Lu Xuan refined the water snake into a crude magical treasure and added a buff to it—

Each strike reduced a year of the giant turtle’s cultivation.

Being hit on the head with the body of its accomplice, its cultivation plummeting, the giant turtle was scared witless, pleading for mercy without regard for its dignity.

“Miss, please stop… If you hit me more, I won’t be able to maintain my form and carry you across the lake…”

The turtle looked pitifully.

“We have our own spiritual boat; we don’t need you to carry us across,” Cheng Lingzhu said, tapping her Phoenix Blood Sword on the turtle’s back.

“Eh?” The turtle shivered, sensing that she was tapping right above its heart.

Even with the protection of its shell, it felt no security.

The turtle felt it was in serious trouble.

“If you don’t need me to carry you, why did you call me at the shore?” the turtle couldn’t help asking.

“We were about to cross the river at the shore when we saw you with some intelligence. We thought of enlightening you, offering you an opportunity, ” Cheng Lingzhu tapped with her sword.

“I didn’t expect you to harbor intentions of ferrying people to harm them, acting like a heartless ferryman.”

“That’s right,” Lu Xuan nodded. “Besides, crossing the lake on a turtle feels different from a spiritual boat. I wanted to experience it.”

Nangong Xuan: “Clang, clang, clang, clang…”

The turtle was on the verge of tears.

What kind of situation was this?

For tens of thousands of years in the Demon Emperor’s secret realm, not a single person would come.

Why would a cultivator who entered today offer someone an opportunity?

It now wanted to slap its past self.

Heaven was feeding it, and it had overturned the bowl.

The opportunity was right in front of it, but it turned into a deadly disaster…

“This old one admit their mistakes and are willing to offer treasures as compensation,” the giant turtle pleaded for mercy. “It seems you are heading towards the central palace, aren’t you?”

“Oh?” Lu Xuan raised an eyebrow. “From your words, it seems you are quite familiar with the Demon Emperor’s secret realm?”

“Of course, I am familiar,” the giant turtle quickly extended its neck and patted its chest with a claw.

“The lords may not know, but this secret realm of the Demon Emperor is different from others. Before its emergence, time within the realm flowed extremely slowly, perhaps hundreds of times slower than the outside world.” It paused for a moment.

“It’s the work of the Demon Emperor. It’s possible that hundreds of years have passed outside while only a year has passed here. Although I am not aware of the current era outside or which emperor reigns, time in this secret realm passes very slowly.”

The giant turtle added, “Of course, this is what my great-great-great… Grandfather passed down. So many generations have passed, there might be some omissions, so please forgive any inaccuracies.”

“Your ancestor knew even the formation the Demon Emperor set up in the secret realm?” Lu Xuan was intrigued.

“My ancestors had their moments of glory,” the giant turtle waggled its head, looking proud.

“My ancestor was the Demon Emperor’s footstool turtle. Every time the Demon Emperor traveled, it had to accompany him.”

Lu Xuan:

What exactly did “footstool turtle” mean?

Lu Xuan, who had studied archaeology, had read about it in books.

It described how ancient Demon Emperors, who cared about their appearance, used dragon-blooded exotic beasts to pull their carriages, which were quite tall.

The carriages, when landing, had a gap from the ground.

While the Demon Emperor could step on auspicious clouds or golden lotuses to descend, doing so himself lacked the air of nobility.

Hence, the footstool turtles were used.

Whenever the Demon Emperor disembarked, the footstool turtles would fly over and lie down, allowing the Demon Emperor to step on them to descend.

Due to the stable shape of turtles, “footstool turtles” also symbolized stability and protection of the realm.

One ancient Demon Emperor had an enormous carriage, requiring nine footstool turtles to extend the disembarking ladder fully.

Thus, whenever he disembarked, the entire footstool turtle family had to participate.

Nine generations of turtles, large and small, would line up, perform magic, and create heavenly phenomena. As the Demon Emperor disembarked, grand ceremonial music would play.

This was called the “Ninefold Ascension Staircase,” featuring special effects and sound.

Moreover, it was also an opportunity for the footstool turtles.

Being frequently in contact with the Demon Emperor, who had his own Dao laws, benefitted the turtles in their cultivation.

Lu Xuan had read a record during his tomb raiding days.

It mentioned that during the era of the ancient Demon Emperors, a Demon Emperor was recruiting footstool turtles.

Usually, this was a matter within the circle.

However, many turtle clans participated this time.

Even the young master of the Xuanwu clan sneaked out to sign up and was beaten severely by the clan leader upon discovery.

The reason was that the Demon Emperor not only possessed formidable strength but was also a… barefoot empress.

Lu Xuan stated that he didn’t have such a fetish and didn’t understand the feeling of an empress’ feet stepping on his back..