Chapter 127: Memory of the turtle beast

Lin Yuan didn’t ask another question.

He was just filled with many thoughts. Whatever memory the Turtle had remembered, the suffocating hesitation in its voice was like a warning enough that the library was no place for this conversation.

He carefully picked up the forbidden leather scroll, wrapping it in a clean cloth before tucking it securely under his robe. The moment his fingers smeared its edge, that same faint, raspy heat flared across his back. He let out a calm glare across the empty aisle. The essence lamps flickered faintly under the darkness in the room.

"Let’s go," Lin Yuan thought to himself, nodding his head slightly.

He walked out of the library without looking back.

The night wind felt cold against his face as he walked through the quiet pathways of Red Talon Hall. The sect was unnaturally calm following the brutal battle against the monkey tide.

The normal late-night laughter and boisterous banter among disciples was replaced by the pale, rhythmic footsteps of patrolling guards. Lin Yuan kept his head low, maintaining a steady pace without looking back.

Hidden under his robes, the scroll rested groaning against his ribs, while inside his sea of consciousness, the turtle remained dead silent.

After reaching his quarters, he pushed the wooden door open, stepped inside, and slammed it shut.

After checking that no lingering senses were outside his room, he concentrated a small streak of beast essence across the walls, creating a simple sound proof layer. And he calmly sat beside his wooden table, placing the scroll carefully between his hands. He stared at it for a long, quiet moment before opening the wrapped cloth around it and concentrating his mind deep into his sea of consciousness.

The turtle beast slowly sprawled out from his ring into his sea of consciousness, its eyes closed frantically. Lin Yuan crossed his arms, his spiritual form hovering before it.

"Where have you seen this mark?" Lin Yuan asked, his voice echoing in his mind.

The eerie silence lingered between them for a few seconds. But, there is nothing. Finally, the turtle slowly opened its old eyes.

"Long ago..." the turtle muttered, its voice resonating in his mind, "before you were even born in this world."

Lin Yuan’s expression changed, and the turtle knew far more than it had admitted. "What does that mark mean?"

The turtle stared calmly into the void in his mind, thinking about its memories buried under many years. "I have seen references to it in old beast records... specifically regarding an archaic rite known as the ’Beast Summoning Ritual.’"

"Beast Summoning Ritual?" Lin Yuan frowned, twitching his brows.

"Yes," the turtle replied, its expression remaining solemn. "But don’t misunderstand the name. It wasn’t a simple ritual for summoning a beast from another location or world. The records described it as a ritual capable of calling something across boundaries that ordinary cultivators could never cross."

"Boundaries?"

"The boundary between places... or between worlds."

Lin Yuan listened in pure eagerness.

"At the center of that ritual," the turtle continued, blinking its eyes, "was something called a Boundary Vessel."

Lin Yuan remained silent for a second. "What is a Boundary Vessel?"

The turtle shook its head once before speaking. "That’s the problem. The records never clearly defined it. Some records described the Boundary Vessel as a physical body capable of receiving something from beyond the world, others described it as a soul. And some beast inscriptions referred to it as a beast capable of crossing the boundary itself. The records I saw were incomplete."

Lin Yuan stared toward the wrapped scroll on his table. His mind immediately flashed back to the broken lines he had decoded — ’Heavens and hells bow to the demons... A soul from the other world... chosen vessel.’

His expression became truly complicated. Could those words really be connected to him, his past as Noir, and his strange arrival in this body? Or was he simply forcing connections with overthinking?

He slowly clenched his fist. He refused to panic over incomplete fragments again. There was too little information, and until he had proper proof, he decided to ignore thinking about it.

****

Meanwhile, pairs of footsteps echoed through the eastern wing of the Red Talon archives. An elder accompanied by a few patrol guards stepped into the forbidden library.

"The records say this area is usually sealed after midnight," the elder asked, smearing his white beard.

"Yes, Elder," the guards said at once.

The elder looked toward the old shelves, sensing that something was off. One guard crouched near a dark corner, pointing at the floorboards. "Elder, there are faint footmarks of dirt here."

The elder crouched down, running his fingertips over the wooden floor. They were fresh marks, and he concluded that someone had come here recently.

"Search the entire area!" the elder commanded, waving his sleeve.

The guards scattered, checking the shelves, tables, essence lamps, and ancient archives, but every record remained undisturbed.

"If someone entered this library at this time..." The elder stood up slowly, his eyes widening, "then what were they looking for?"

Lin Yuan sat cross-legged on his bed. He was unaware of the searching guards, and the scroll remained untouched on the table; he had already decided not to open it again tonight. Instead, he turned his focus to his immediate limitation — his absurd beast essence consumption.

He slowly closed his eyes, and initiated the compression technique he had memorized from the library manual. Normally, his beast essence swirled inside his aperture like a vast, rumbling lake which is powerful.

Every time he commanded his high-rank tiger beasts or used strong abilities, immense quantities were consumed. The compression technique attempted to force the beast essence pool into a denser, purer state.

He guided his spiritual consciousness into his aperture while slowing his breathing. The beast essence slowly began rotating. He gradually increased the movement speed, drawing the outer layers inward. The sweat immediately appeared on his forehead as a faint vibration lingered throughout his core. Extreme control was required, and one slip could destabilize and destroy his aperture.

And slowly twenty minutes passed.

After that, a thick pulse reverberated through his aperture. Lin Yuan opened his eyes, feeling the immediate change. The compressed beast essence occupied less space, but its energy was purely more concentrated. His internal efficiency rose from 40% to 41% but occupied less space. A faint smile touched his lips.

"It worked," Lin Yuan grinned, nodding his head.

He continued practicing, repeating the cycle again and again. The process was painfully slow, but the effect was real. Instead of infinitely expanding the size of his beast essence pool, he could increase the thickness of power contained within it.

Then, something strange happened. A tiny strand of compressed beast essence moved out from the main pool and traveled through his meridians straight toward his back.

The male white tiger tattoo absorbed it instantly. Lin Yuan froze, and another tiny strand followed, then another. The twin white tiger tattoos were absorbing the refined essence automatically.

He watched carefully without interfering, letting hours slip by as the tattoos silently devoured the compressed energy, settling into a warm, peaceful shimmer across his shoulder. Lin Yuan stopped after a few hours, his breathing frantic as sweat dripped from his chin.

"Interesting..." He touched his back, feeling the gentle warmth. "What exactly are you two doing?"

Both of the white tigers did not respond, and the room fell silent.

At dawn, the eastern gates of Red Talon Hall opened. A group of travelers entered the sect, led by the senior elder who had been sent to the central continent. Behind him there were the two scouts, accompanied by three young men.

At the front, there was a young man wearing a simple bamboo hat — Chi Leiyang, a member of the distant Chi Clan main branch and a Core Beast Realm — Lower Stage investigator whose core beast was a Lightning Panther.

Beside him walked a tall young man with his hand resting back casually against his sword hilt — Xue Jianhong, also a Core Beast Realm — Lower Stage cultivator from the Xue Clan, bonded with an Ice Bear Beast. The weapon at his waist was one of the twenty-five great swords of the Origin World: Frostfall.

Walking between them was a younger boy, Mu Yue Cang Ming.

As they crossed the courtyard, Cang Ming suddenly stopped, his eyes landing on someone walking across the opposite side.

It was Lin Yuan.

A faint recognition flashed across the boy’s face. "Wait... He is the one from Green Hollow City who killed the demonic cultivator Gu Shiyan, right?"

Chi Leiyang and Xue Jianhong looked over, instantly recognizing him. Lin Yuan felt their gazes and turned his head, locking eyes with the three investigators calmly. He just looked at them once, and started walking on the courtyard calmly.

"This brat..." Chi Leiyang murmured, letting out a faint breath, "he’s always there whenever there’s a major problem."

Cang Ming nodded. "That’s what I’ve heard."

The senior elder led the three investigators up the steps to the main hall, pushing open the massive wooden doors. Inside, Xue Hongzhao was already waiting, his face pale from the stress. But the moment his eyes landed on Xue Jianhong, his pale expression instantly disappeared.

"Jianhong!" Xue Hongzhao strode forward and pulled the young investigator into a tight, crushing embrace.

"Old man..." Xue Jianhong’s expression turned instantly grim.

"You finally came!" Xue Hongzhao laughed loudly, slapping his back.

Xue Jianhong sighed heavily, patting the sect master’s shoulder before stepping back. His expression slowly turned serious as he looked at Xue Hongzhao.

"What happened, my old man?"