‘Someone’s actually here?’ swept past Fang Xing’s mind as he grew a little worried. Whether it was after he’d entered the tomb or the time leading up to it, he’d always been unafraid in large part because he was fully prepared. With his Book of Revelation, they were able to seek out luck and avoid calamity and everything was within his control, but now a person was suddenly speaking to him in this deathly place.
Or, perhaps it wasn’t a person, but it was still something alive and with intelligence.
After Fang Xing’s initial surprise, he quickly drew a step backwards and placed his blade protectively in front of himself. "Who’s this? Are you human, ghost, beast, or demon? Why not come out for a walk?" he loudly asked.
The golden crow also let out a loud cry. His eyes s.h.i.+fted left and right, and he prepared himself to flee at any moment.
"I am the great saint—the Black Tortoise. Little thief, where did you pop out from?" the same voice rose up once more, the sound echoing from one end of the hall to the other in an awe-inspiring manner.
Fang Xing finally found out where the voice was coming from this time. A stone tablet was standing beside the throne, with its surface covered in a thin fog that Fang Xing couldn’t see through even with Mystic Eye. Although the fog kept him from seeing what had been written or even what language was used, he could still tell something had been recorded on it. And the one who had spoken was actually beneath the stone tablet: a stone tortoise that’d awakened without anyone noticing.
Fang Xing looked at the stone tortoise with curiosity. "The turtle b.a.s.t.a.r.d spoke?" he asked a few moments later.
The stone tortoise angrily yelled out, "Little thief speaks nonsense; I am the great saint, the Black Tortoise! How dare you intrude upon the immortal’s hall without permission! How shall this crime be tried?"
Fang Xing looked at the tortoise closely. The Book of Revelation activated to appraise it once more, and it turned out to just be a stone tortoise that was carrying a stone tablet. However, it was impossible to tell why it had suddenly awakened and started behaving like a living being since it was apparently also a nonliving item. The Book of Revelation had spent some time on its appraisal but was still unable to see through its cultivation level; instead, it showed that this tortoise had been trapped by a special curse called the "Imprisoned Sentinel of Heaven’s Monument" that prevented it from moving even an inch.
‘This old turtle b.a.s.t.a.r.d can’t move, so there’s not really anything to be afraid of…’ Fang Xing thought to himself. However, this stone tortoise had appeared in this ghostly grand hall without explanation; even though it couldn’t move, Fang Xing didn’t dare to go rampant without first uncovering its details. Countless schemes went through his mind before he impolitely replied, "What intruding the immortal’s hall? You didn’t even lock the doors…."
The tortoise was surprised to hear such impertinence in the boy’s response. After a few moments, it yelled out, "The doors of the immortal’s hall will always be half open for the person destined to arrive. There is no reason for them to be closed. Yet you, boy, entered without an invitation; you are therefore a thief…."
Fang Xing’s eyes lit up as he laughed. "Then I must be that destined person!"
The stone tortoise angrily scolded, "What nonsense! Do you have the Order of the Immortal’s Hall?"
"Nope!"
"Those entering without the great Order of the Immortal’s Hall are entering without invitation. To enter without invitation is to therefore be a thief!"
"Someone who arrives with an invitation is a guest, right? For someone like me to come without an invitation means I’m the person who was destined to come…."
This left the tortoise not knowing what to say. After some time, he finally spoke up in a solemn voice, "Your tongue is sharp, boy; this saint shall not debate with you. I only ask you this: after entering this hall, have you taken anything?"
Fang Xing clapped his hands in a very innocent manner. "How is that possible? I only came inside for some sightseeing!" The lie was so blatant and fake that even the golden crow behind Fang Xing felt a toothache coming on.
The stone tortoise was even more speechless at this, but it calmed itself before replying, "Boy, the person this immortal’s hall has been waiting for was determined a thousand years ago. Within a hundred years, this person will certainly come with the Order of the Immortal’s Hall, and although I do not know who this person is, they will not be you. Everything within this immortal’s hall is prepared for him. For you to take anything will bear consequences; be careful not to die beneath his sword one day in the future…."
Fang Xing grew angry at this. "You think your grandpa is so easy to scare?"
The stone tortoise was at a loss for words once more. It paused before continuing, trying to bring the topic back on track with cold words, "No. For you to come here alive at only Spirit Stage means you do have some luck on your side. I, the great saint, the Black Tortoise, shall give you a chance. If you are willing to sign a blood contract with me to become my servant, then there shall be a large fortune awaiting you. It may also be possible for you to one day roam unhindered in this lower realm."
"F*ck your uncle, why don’t you become my servant?" After Fang Xing’s scrutiny, he found this stone tortoise could truly only speak and couldn’t even do so much as move its neck, let alone walk. Fang Xing’s guts had only grown larger, and for this old turtle b.a.s.t.a.r.d to suggest he become its servant made him particularly angry. After cursing at it, he stopped talking and walked up with an open hand to grab the fox mask on the throne.
It was at this time that the stone tortoise suddenly let out a loud noise, and an unknown force within the great hall began to compress towards Fang Xing. Through the corner of his eyes, Fang Xing saw the formation within the great hall had begin to move once again, with the eight pa.s.sageways s.h.i.+fting so that the pa.s.sageway of death was positioned in front of him. If he forcibly continued ahead, it was certain he’d step into the pa.s.sageway of death and be completely at the formation’s mercy.
After a moment of surprise, a pair of golden wings appeared on Fang Xing’s back. He drew quickly into the air with a flap of his wings before changing direction and returning to his original location.
The stone tortoise laughed. "I only work for the successor to this immortal’s hall. What abilities do you have to speak such delirious words as having me as your servant? Heh, brat, this saint had been willing to give you this opportunity, yet you are unwilling to accept; do not blame me for being ruthless in order to suppress you…."
Fang Xing felt a s.h.i.+ver in his heart. ‘This old turtle b.a.s.t.a.r.d can actually control the formation….’ Although the stone tortoise couldn’t physically move, being able to control parts of the formation made it a rather terrifying existence all the same.
Fang Xing had the power of the Book of Revelation, and he originally wasn’t worried of stepping into the pa.s.sageway of death; however, if someone were to control the formation and purposefully use it against him, it would be immensely dangerous. An automatic formation couldn’t compare at all to a formation actively controlled by an enemy, after all. It was akin to a knife on the ground compared to a knife in an enemy’s hands—the two were completely different things.
Despite the stone tortoise saying he would suppress Fang Xing, however, the formation was only activated and didn’t move any further. After weighing up the old turtle’s tone and words, Fang Xing immediately realized the old turtle b.a.s.t.a.r.d was merely trying to scare him, and even seemed as though it felt killing him would be a waste. ‘Seems like this old turtle b.a.s.t.a.r.d has something to ask of me, and wants me to do something for it?’
Giving it some quick thought, Fang Xing smirked and said, "Don’t get angry now; let’s have a chat…."
As for the stone tortoise, its arrogance only rose as he coldly responded, "What is there to chat about? Time to suppress…."
Despite those words, the formation still did not move. Fang Xing was even more certain this old turtle was in fact unwilling to kill him and laughed. "If you were to kill me, it’s likely that in the next hundred or even thousand years, no one would come inside again. How about this: let’s have a chat. You said if I were to become your servant, you’d give me some good stuff, but you can’t just leave empty promises, right? What is this ‘good stuff’ you mentioned? Why don’t you tell me about it first…."
Surprised, the stone tortoise coldly responded, "If you do become my servant, within the entire immortal’s hall, aside from the immortal’s pellets and the lotus, everything, before the real successor shows themselves, you will be able to use…."
Fang Xing’s eyes glistened when he heard this, and he pointed to the fox mask on the throne. "Does it include that?"
The stone tortoise looked at the fox mask and thought to itself, ‘This brat seems to be rather clever. If I were to say the fox mask cannot be given to him, he would surely not sign the blood contract. After waiting for so long, only this brat managed to come inside—I can’t kill him just yet…. Oh well, I shall agree then. After all, once he’s signed the blood contract, he won’t be able to deny my commands. I’ll simply stop him by force!’
Once the stone tortoise thought it through, it replied, "Of course you can. However, once the successor of the hall arrives, all items shall be returned to its rightful owner."
Fang Xing laughed. "Of course. I’m not the kind of person who would borrow things and never return them. How do I sign the blood contract?"
This filled the stone tortoise with joy, and it spat a jade talisman from its mouth. "Place a drop of your blood essence with some of your True Spirit into this jade talisman!"
‘So it’s similar to the Soul Lantern of the Qing-Yun Sect….’ After taking a closer look at the jade talisman, the Book of Revelation soon appraised its usage. Like the Soul Lantern, this jade talisman was used for agreements, but it was a good deal stronger. Although the Soul Lantern at the Qing-Yun Sect would have limited control over Foundation Stage cultivators, it had almost no control over anyone in or above the Golden Core Stage, allowing them to easily break through. This jade talisman was similar in theory to the Soul Lantern, but the strength of its control considerably higher, giving it power over even someone in the Budding Soul Stage.
"How about it, boy? If you sign this contract, you shall find yourself with great fortune and will be able to achieve great success in the future…."
After thinking on it for a bit, Fang Xing suddenly replied, "Let me consider it!" He then sat down with his legs crossed and eyes tightly shut, as though truly considering the matter.
The golden crow behind him was a little agitated and cautiously kicked Fang Xing before telling him not to sign. As soon as the stone tortoise saw what the golden crow had done, it immediately cursed out, "That thief crow, do you want to die?"
The golden crow was sent into a fright and no longer dared to speak.
After a short while of deliberation, Fang Xing slowly opened his eyes and smiled. "Ok, I agree!"
The stone tortoise let out a sigh of relief. It opened its mouth and blew the jade talisman outward so that it settled in front of Fang Xing. "Then drip some of your blood essence!" it coldly commanded.
Fang Xing nodded. While the golden crow agitatedly watched on, Fang Xing slit his finger and let a drop of blood essence drip onto the jade talisman. Overjoyed, the stone tortoise sent out an invisible force to cover the talisman and bring it back to its stomach so it could use its Spirit Sense to verify it.
While the tortoise was checking it, Fang Xing rushed towards the throne and grabbed ahold of the fox mask. As he did so, he realized there was a glistening jade scroll beneath the mask, and he casually took that with him as well before returning to his original location and motioning towards the golden crow to quickly leave.
Once the the stone tortoise had made certain the jade talisman did indeed contain Fang Xing’s blood essence, he felt relieved—something like this couldn’t be faked. When it looked back up and saw Fang Xing had already taken the fox mask and was quietly leaving with the golden crow, it laughed out, "Come back, boy. Since you are now my servant, I have something for you to do. Go to the Azure Sea and bring me the Dragon Ball of the current Dragon King."
"Ok, not a problem!" Fang Xing loudly answered before urging both his and the golden crow’s steps to go faster.
The stone tortoise felt something was odd and yelled out, "Leave that fox mask behind! This saint has other spirit weapons for you!"
"No need, this one will do just fine…" Fang Xing called back before grabbing the golden crow and breaking out into a run.