29 Earth Endowing Tortoise

What they planned for the first half of the month had been accomplished yet they had no concrete plan for what to do next.

Dean had something in mind but he had to also make sure his companion's desire was satisfied.

In the end there was one thing that Leonard seemed very compassionate about.

More herbs.

The only thing he was told was that the herbs grew close to the Core Circle but as long as they don't offend large animals they should be fine and that it was all for a "big project"

Dean shrugged off the mysterious guise Leonard tried to pull off and joined in for the fun.

It didn't affect his plan and instead helped it in the long run.

The specifications of the herb was that it had the name River's Widow.

River's Widow would be a single red flower hanging close to the edge of a river and instead of growing in flower beds, they would grow at least a 1 meter away from each other.

Heading towards a nearby lake there were many green bushes and bright fishes that swam through the water.

The plain was covered with luminescent grass and clear of trees unless one walked away from the river.

After using a few branches and some green leaves from the bushes created a great shelter for Leonard and Dean.

Accepting that their home was covered, a source of water and plenty of food, they began their work.

It was incredibly tiring for both of them to do such unusual labor as this was a new experience.

A quick method was to just cut all the bushes in an instance using Dean's weapon but the barbaric violence would instead destroy the herb as it was very fragile.

They had to individually remove the surrounding bushes and get Leonard to use his special tools to remove the flower and keep it in his Space Ring.

It was quite distracting as there were many traps in the surrounding that Dean had to disarm.

'Did someone forget their tools.'

Dean would've believed that the traps were for fishing but the problem is that you wouldn't use a bear trap for fishing, would you?

Ignoring the nuisance, Dean and Leonard had managed to collects hundreds of these flowers in a single day.

Night had already arrived, allowing Dean to take a nap while Leonard stayed awake, looking out for any suspicious creatures.

*Crackle*

There was a resounding snap of branch that followed with a few thumps. Leonard payed closer attention to the reverberating ground but it became much fainter as time passed.

The mysterious creature that caused this had already moved away from the area, pacifying the troubled heart of Leonard/

If worst came to worst he would have to wake up Dean but after all this trouble they both needed a rest.

One morning had arrived, Leonard was not physically drowsy but spiritually.

This sensation made him unable to cultivate making him unsatisfied and slightly cold to Dean.

Dean obviously saw this strange temperament but said nothing and waited for the next night.

However his plans didn't always go exactly as planned.

The thumping noise in the previous night was a prelude for the disaster that was about to happen today.

Leonard had obviously not told Dean as he suspected that it was just a wandering beast that had accidentally crossed path with them.

*THUMP*THUMP*

Echoing its dominant tyranny, the thumping noise had returned to their area.

Each thump inched closer towards them as the noise became louder.

Dean and Leonard glanced towards to the location where the shaking of the earth originated from.

A silhouette of a giant tortoise emerged. With a height less than its surrounding trees, it was still a beast that couldn't be underestimated as Dean guessed the tortoise's height to be 15m tall.

Absolute supremacy was overruling their presence as the tortoise's true appearance finally appeared.

The sleek void black color shaded the top half of the tortoise's heads.

Correct, there were two heads.

Dean confirmed this after taking another look at the two necks covered with lustrous golden scales with an undertone of silver.

Four buff and scaly stumps called legs followed that had three pure white claws for each leg, stabilizing its weight by embedding those claws into the ground to control itself.

Instead of an astonishing shell pattern on the tortoise's back, there was a whole environment on it with the center holding an enormous tree.

Dean wondered what level this creature was and whether he should run if it was too powerful while Leonard took a careful look at the tree and exclaimed

"Wait, Dean. I'm not sure if I remember this right but... that's an Earth Endowing Tortoise."

Dean had never heard of this and repeated

"Earth Endowing Tortoise?"

Leonard took a glance back at the tortoise and confirmed his thoughts.

"A tortoise that takes in the Earth Elements at an early age. It can't use magic however its attacks are absolutely deadly if taken head on."

Hearing of the immense danger that Leonard had described, Dean wanted to evacuate from this area immediately but Leonard continued

"The trees on its back contains very rare ingredients for potions and pills. If we make a deal I can create a few pills that I guarantee will allow you to enter the next few Nascent Soul levels without any problems afterwards"

Dean was about to tell Leonard that being greedy will only cause their death but hearing the opportunity of skipping a few levels attracted his interest.

"Fine, we can fight it but if the tortoise is too strong then we immediately run."

Glancing back at the tortoise Leonard nodded to the agreement.

Being on guard, they both brought out their weapons.

A black polearm with an axe's cleaver attached to the side that had the ability to instantly behead a Nascent Soul cultivator given they let down their guard.

Leonard held a blue longsword that released a cold killing intent that fought against the dominating aura of the tortoise.