Chapter 141: Chapter 137: Mountain Guardian Beast

"Wuu..."

But the great turtle seemed completely lost in its grief, paying no attention to Lin Tianhe’s voice.

"Ling~"

Yin Yi rummaged under the grass mat again and pulled out several fist-sized, yellow turtle eggs from beneath a patch of soft, dry grass.

It placed the turtle eggs in front of the great turtle, then silently returned to Han Ning’s side.

Zhao Jingjing sniffled, her eyes filled with sympathy. "Teacher Lü, let’s take it back with us. If a lone turtle like this stays here, I’m afraid it won’t be long before it’s eaten by the surrounding Soul Beasts."

"Taking it back isn’t a problem, but it has to be willing," Lü Xiuning said, looking at the great turtle wailing in sorrow.

Han Ning and the others watched for a while longer. Seeing that the great turtle had no intention of acknowledging them, they simply walked out to the main cave, sat down, and took a short rest.

"Teacher Lü, are we going to keep exploring, or should we head back first?" Han Ning took some chocolate out of his waist pouch and offered it to Lü Xiuning and the students around them.

Lü Xiuning thought for a moment, then said:

"Let’s go back. We’ve collected 52 Copper-Feathered Falcon eggs and 16 giant purple snake eggs, for a total of 68. That’s enough to assign a second Soul Beast to the several dozen strongest people at the academy. If everyone wants to look for other types of Soul Beasts, we can come back in a few days."

"Everyone’s Soul Beasts have been through two battles, and their Spiritual Energy is heavily depleted. If we keep exploring and run into another powerful Soul Beast Race, we’ll be at a serious disadvantage."

Teacher Zheng added:

"Alright, let’s head back then. This place isn’t as safe as we thought. The Soul Beasts from the valley seem to come up here from time to time to hunt other Soul Beasts. If we’re going to excavate the Nitre Mine, we’ll need communication tools and a group of relatively powerful Soul Beasts for protection."

"That way, if anything unexpected happens, we can notify the academy immediately."

They rested for about five minutes.

From the cave beside them came a rustling sound.

The great turtle staggered out of the cave entrance, with four blood-stained turtle eggs placed in the cracks on its shell.

’I suppose the female turtle in the cave must have hidden these eggs under the dry grass out of desperation, which is how they avoided being eaten.’

It trudged over to Han Ning and Lin Tianhe, opened its mouth, and spat out three ping-pong-ball-sized, earth-yellow Crystal Stones. It then nudged the Crystal Stones in front of Han Ning.

Then, it whimpered at them, looking at them pitifully like an abandoned puppy.

"You want to come with us?" Han Ning asked, ignoring the Crystal Stones and stroking a relatively unscathed patch of skin on its head.

"Wuu~" The great turtle didn’t understand Han Ning’s words; it just kept whimpering.

Han Ning nodded and put the Crystal Stones back into the cracks on the great turtle’s shell. "Then come with us. Come to our academy, and we’ll make you our Mountain Guardian Beast."

"A Mountain Guardian Beast... That’s right! Come back with us, and we’ll all live together!" Lin Tianhe beamed.

Seeing the great turtle show its willingness to go back with them, the group no longer lingered and quickly left the cave.

...

By the time the group returned to the academy, the sky above was already starting to brighten.

Han Ning remembered that they had set out in the morning, and now, returning to the academy, the sky was brightening again.

This meant they had spent a full day and night at the bottom of the valley.

It was early morning. Near the dormitory area, many students were already awake, taking their Silver Lotus Wood to clear the nearby wasteland and plant various fruits and vegetables.

The great turtle’s arrival attracted a lot of attention.

Lü Xiuning and Teacher Zheng went to find Dean Wu to explain the situation.

The other students returned to their dorms to rest.

Han Ning and Lin Tianhe didn’t hurry back. Instead, they gazed at the desolate area around the dormitories, wondering where they could build a suitable habitat for the great turtle.

"This turtle should be an Earth Type Soul Beast that prefers rocks and earth. Building it a rocky shelter like a cave and filling the ground with soil should be enough."

He speculated, drawing a comparison to the environment Egg Pancake liked.

"Jiji!"

Just then, Egg Pancake stuck its claws into the ground, condensed a small rock, and then repeatedly gestured with its claws to outline the shape of a large house.

Perhaps because they were both Earth Type Soul Beasts, Egg Pancake and the great turtle were quite close. They had been sticking together ever since they returned to the academy.

"Hey, Han Ning, Tianhe, what’s the deal with this big turtle?"

As Han Ning was considering where to build a shelter for the great turtle, some passing students saw the scene and gathered around curiously.

"Wuaa..." The great turtle retracted its claws and curled up on the muddy ground at the corner of Building A, looking completely uninterested in its surroundings.

"Sigh, it’s a long story..." Lin Tianhe heaved a long sigh and recounted the great turtle family’s tragic fate to the other students.

"That... is even more tragic than what happened to us?" Hearing the story, the crowd couldn’t help but sigh in sorrow.

"Well, regardless, now that the great turtle is here, it’s one of us. We have to build it a comfortable new home."

Han Ning looked around, then pointed to an uninhabited, rarely-trafficked spot not far from Building C, just below Building D, and continued,

"Let’s build its shelter there. I can see that spot from my window, so if it ever gets into a conflict with other Soul Beasts or people, I’ll be able to notice it right away."

The great turtle was a wild Soul Beast, after all. It might have a temper that humans couldn’t quite figure out, so the possibility of conflict couldn’t be ruled out.

"It’s not great to keep calling it ’great turtle.’ How about I give it a name? What about Da Yan?" Lin Tianhe seemed quite pleased with his naming style.

Han Ning had no desire to comment on it at all.

’Da Yan it is, I guess. It’s not like I’ll be commanding it in battle anyway. As long as it’s not a name like Fido or Sparky, it’s fine.’

As they spoke, the two of them, along with their Soul Beasts and a few students who had volunteered to help, walked over to the empty space next to Building D.

Seeing them leave, Da Yan tagged along right behind them.

Han Ning recalled that Da Yan’s cave had been lined with plenty of dry grass, so he said to the students around him, "Sorry to bother you all, but could you go get some dry grass? The comfortable kind, good for lying on. No quilts or soft cushions. It’s an Earth Type Soul Beast, so it probably wouldn’t be used to things like that."

"You got it," a few students replied enthusiastically before heading off on their own to find suitable dry grass.

"Han Ning, is there anything I can do?" Lin Tianhe asked, standing there at a bit of a loss.

When it came to raising turtles, he was completely in the dark.

"You... go find Liu..." Han Ning started to say, but suddenly remembered that Teacher Liu Yueming was severely injured and couldn’t even communicate normally.

His expression darkened. After a two-second silence, he continued, "Go ask Teacher Fang if he can come over. He should know the basics of raising turtles."

"Okay."