It wasn't some random creature that appeared—it was Brocade. He grinned at Evan Yang, and Evan was clearly happy, laughing, "I didn't expect you to wake up in a situation like this. What about Jade Rabbit?"
"Her? Still sleeping, but she should wake up soon. Just not sure when exactly," Brocade replied with a smile.
Evan Yang looked at Brocade and laughed, "It's been years, and your aura's totally changed."
"Of course. My inheritance memories all unlocked halfway through, learned a bunch of stuff, felt like I was dreaming—so I just woke up now," Brocade chuckled.
"So, can you help me out now? I'm stuck like this, can't move at all," Evan Yang said helplessly.
"Don't worry, it's just a restriction, right? Watch this." Brocade swiped his sharp claws and Evan Yang's body suddenly loosened up, able to move again. Evan couldn't help but say, "Man, that move is seriously sharp."
"Obviously! This is my specialty. Let's go." Brocade flicked his hand, and a tunnel appeared before Evan Yang. Evan followed it out, soon reaching the surface. Brocade now looked like a young guy, with a tuft of yellow hair on his head, looking pretty goofy.
"Is this your true form?" Evan Yang asked with a smile.
"Of course, boss. What do you think? Pretty cool, right?" Brocade spun in place, and Evan Yang laughed, "Cool."
Just then, the Black Tortoise lying on the ground seemed to notice something. It stretched out its head, staring at Evan Yang and Brocade not far away. Shock turned to astonishment, then it muttered, "What kind of creature are you?"
Brocade turned back, "Me? My boss calls me Brocade. What kind of creature? Not telling. Are you the divine beast Black Tortoise?"
"Of course! When you see the divine beast Black Tortoise, you should kneel!" The Black Tortoise shouted, acting all high and mighty like divine beasts always do around regular demon beasts.
"Dream on. I'm not kneeling for you," Brocade laughed.
"You brat, so cocky—let's see how I deal with you today!" With that, the Black Tortoise flew into the air, head and tail extended. Evan Yang said to Brocade, "Careful, this divine beast is no joke."
"Relax, watch me go toe-to-toe with a divine beast," Brocade grinned.
Brocade stood on land, smiling, "Flying so high—come down if you've got guts!"
Hearing that, the Black Tortoise whipped its tail down, aiming straight at Brocade. Evan Yang stepped back a few paces at Brocade's signal. Brocade vanished in a flash, and the Black Tortoise snorted, "All you do is dodge—pathetic."
But when Brocade disappeared, he left zero aura behind—like he'd really vanished. Then, in a blink, he popped up somewhere else, jumped onto the Black Tortoise's back, and laughed, "Hey, turtle shell, watch me crack you open!"
"You've got some earth-escape skills, I'll give you that. But you think you can break my shell? Keep dreaming!" The Black Tortoise's head and tail retracted, then it started spinning super fast in the air, with Brocade spinning along.
"Seriously? That's how you play?" Brocade jumped back to land. Once Brocade disappeared, the Black Tortoise paused and laughed, "Well?"
"Boss, this guy's shell is really tough—hard to deal with. Got any ideas?" Brocade grumbled, running into trouble as soon as he popped out.
Evan Yang knew Brocade's earth-escape skill was top-notch. If they worked together, maybe they'd have a shot at the Black Tortoise.
So after Evan Yang sent his plan to Brocade via voice transmission, Brocade said, "Alright, boss, just watch me."
Brocade grinned at the Black Tortoise, "Hey, old turtle shell, if you've got guts, come down here. What's the point of staying in the air?"
"What'd you just call me?" The Black Tortoise was a divine beast—no way he'd let someone insult him like that, so he snorted coldly.
"Old turtle shell," Brocade replied with a grin.
"Fine, I'll come down—and I'm gonna crush you!" The Black Tortoise dropped fast, slamming hard where Brocade was standing, but Brocade had already vanished. He reappeared near the tail, but the Black Tortoise wasn't dumb; it instantly pulled its tail in and snorted, "Trying to sneak attack me? Dream on."
Up front, Evan Yang made his move, blasting a bolt of lightning onto the Black Tortoise's head. It didn't do much, but it definitely pissed the beast off. The Black Tortoise roared, "You brat, you dare sneak up on me? I'll deal with both of you today!"
With that, the Black Tortoise angrily lashed its tail at Brocade, while its head opened wide and blew a fierce wind at Evan Yang. Evan quickly vanished, splitting into countless clones.
Seeing all Evan Yang's clones, the Black Tortoise froze for a second—couldn't tell which was real. Then, five of the clones whipped out zithers and started playing.
The music didn't do much to the Black Tortoise, but after being pissed off by Brocade and Evan Yang, its mood swung wildly—it was definitely getting affected.
The Black Tortoise went berserk, attacking Evan Yang and Brocade like crazy. That gave them the opening they needed. Brocade's sharp claws flashed near its tail, slicing deep—even the beast's tough body couldn't stop the wound from bleeding. The Black Tortoise was furious, chasing Brocade, but his earth-escape was first-rate, so the beast couldn't catch him.
Meanwhile, Evan Yang's clones kept playing, making the Black Tortoise stomp so hard the ground shook, and the nearby waters surged into massive waves. That showed just how insanely powerful it was.
"Even wounded, it's terrifying," Evan Yang muttered to himself, but his hands didn't stop—he kept the Black Tortoise in a frenzy.
Brocade seized the chance, popping up again and slashing across its head—blood gushed instantly, leaving the Black Tortoise even weaker. Evan Yang kept ramping up the music, Brocade kept attacking, and when the beast was nearly driven insane, Evan Yang sneered, "Now's the time."
With that, he appeared right in front of the Black Tortoise and dragged it into an inner illusion. The beast soon quieted down, its shell stopped spinning, and it just stared blankly. Brocade watched Evan Yang curiously, not sure what he'd done.
Time ticked by, until Evan Yang snapped back, "Divine beasts really are something else. Grew up fighting nonstop—no wonder its illusions are so complicated."
"Boss, what now?" Brocade asked, worried the Black Tortoise might wake up.
Evan Yang said, "Leave it to me." Then he sealed several points on the Black Tortoise's body, and the beast jolted awake. When it realized it couldn't move its head or tail, it shouted, "You bastards, what did you do to me?"
"Black Tortoise, I know you're tough, but in this state, just submit already," Evan Yang said.
"Dream on! I'm a divine beast—how could I submit to a human and a mere demon beast?" the Black Tortoise retorted stubbornly.
"Is that so? Then I'll just drag you back into that illusion," Evan Yang laughed.
The Black Tortoise remembered how terrifying that illusion was and got scared. He changed his tune, "Alright, I'll tell you how to restore the creatures here, but you have to promise to let me go afterward."
"So you're bargaining with me now?" Evan Yang laughed.
"That's right," said the Black Tortoise.
"Then swear on your soul. If you try anything funny, your soul gets wiped out," Evan Yang said.
The Black Tortoise nodded, and under Evan Yang's instructions, swore the oath. When he finished, Evan Yang asked, "So, how do we restore the creatures?"
"I'll take you somewhere, then you'll understand," said the divine beast Black Tortoise.
Evan Yang nodded and released the Black Tortoise. Its wounds healed up fast, making Evan Yang admire its strength. The Black Tortoise said, "Hop on, I'll take you."
Evan Yang and Brocade jumped onto its shell, and the Black Tortoise dove into the water, speeding along. Evan Yang and Brocade chatted on the shell, catching up.
Eventually, a small island came into view. The Black Tortoise said, "See that island? Go there. There's a floating bead on it—that bead is the cause of all this. If you put it away or destroy it, everything will go back to normal."
"What kind of bead is it, exactly?" Evan Yang asked curiously.
"It's a treasure left here by a powerful cultivator—used to be my master. You'd better be careful. If my master comes back and finds you messing with it, I'll still side with him against you," the Black Tortoise warned.
Evan Yang took a deep breath. Someone who could make the Black Tortoise a pet—that's some scary power. But he'd already made up his mind. He had to act fast, so he told Brocade, "Let's go."
The two flew over and landed on the island. Right away, they felt a strange force coming from the center. Curious, they walked in and saw a pillar of light connecting heaven and earth. Inside was a bead, spinning with seven colors—bright and weird, and definitely mysterious.
"I'll check it out first. You stay here," Evan Yang said to Brocade.
Brocade said, "Boss, maybe I should go instead."
"No need, I'll do it. You stay put." Evan Yang replied, then flashed over to the pillar and tried to touch it. His hand got stuck, and his power started getting sucked into the bead.
"No way—if it keeps draining like this, I'll be a dried corpse!" Evan Yang panicked, shifting his body and pulling hard. Brocade saw and shouted, "Boss, let me help!"
Brocade grabbed Evan Yang and yanked him hard, but even so, Evan's power kept getting sucked in, and his hand wouldn't budge—it just kept draining.
Not far away, the Black Tortoise sighed, "Told you—you guys are way too weak for this. Good luck." With that, he disappeared.
Evan Yang never expected he'd end up getting drained to a dried corpse today. Brocade anxiously used all his strength to help, but nothing worked.