Zhao Xi couldn't help but burst out laughing, touching the Prime Minister's dark green tortoise shell: "I was just teasing you!"

"Hmph!" The prime minister pried her hand away with his claws, then shrank back into his shell, looking sullen. "I know without you telling me. Mortals like turtles, and turtles lay lots of eggs, so they're practically worthless!"

I thought it was just a joke, but I didn't expect the little guy to be really sad.

He wiped his tears with his paws and sobbed, “I secretly went ashore with Father God. When mortals were selling small animals, they would give away cages with the purchase of the animals, but when it came to selling turtles, they would give away turtles with the purchase of flower pots… Waaah~ I even told Father God that it was lucky I was a sea turtle, otherwise I would have become a freebie with the flower pots… Waaah…”

Zhao Xi couldn't help but think that many parents would make the same joke, saying that their child was picked up from a trash can.

The speaker meant no harm, but the little one who took it to heart was really upset!

She looked apologetic, her eyes sparkling, and said softly, "Pets and food have prices, but the little ones in the animal park can't be priced, do you understand?"

The prime minister paused, blinking inside the tortoise shell, clearly not understanding.

"You're not a pet, nor are you food; you're my little one from the Hundred Beasts Garden. Regardless of your race or whether you can form a Core in the future, as long as you have spiritual roots, you'll be just like everyone else. You live in the pond now, but once you take human form, you'll have your own little room. Your food is made from the most spiritually potent ingredients we've carefully selected. Before you came, your senior brothers and sisters practiced breathing exercises in the mountains; we even built the breathing room for them. You're our precious treasure!"

Zhao Xi gently patted the turtle's shell with her fingertips, coaxing, "Even if you compare it to a pet, think about it. Those owners who cherish you would be willing to spend a lot of money on you, to create the best scenery for you, and to feed you the finest fish and shrimp. In the eyes of those who love you, your value is far more than just five yuan."

"Furthermore, think about the other cultivators outside the Hundred Beast Garden. They are human too, but their sects don't cherish them and exploit and enslave them. What's the difference between them and ants or small beasts? It doesn't matter what you were born into. Even if you were given away for free, we would treat you very well."

The prime minister's mood improved, he stopped crying and started laughing, and a faint blue light emanated from his body.

It's quite amazing, but the more common a small animal is, the more closely its mood is related to its cultivation. The more carefree and cheerful it is, the more relaxed and healthy it becomes, and the faster its cultivation speed can be.

The overflowing spiritual energy is a manifestation of a crystallized fragment of a demon core.

Zhao Xi was overjoyed. She picked up the Prime Minister and leaned down to give it a quick kiss on the tortoise shell: "You are both my treasures~"

The Prime Minister shyly covered his eyes with his tortoise claws until Zhao Xi wanted to put him back on the tiger's back, at which point he removed his claws: "No wonder Father God likes you~ Father God is often sad, if only you could make Father God happy."

Does Lin Che often feel sad?

Zhao Xi suddenly became curious: "Why is he often sad?"

"The Crystal Palace used to be this big~~" The Prime Minister stretched out his limbs and claws, gesturing to indicate a super large area, "He kept so many comrades~~~"

"Fellow soldiers?"

"They're aquatic spirit beasts~~ There are many divine beasts and many demonic beasts~~ Whether they're powerful or weak, the biggest spirit beast I've ever seen is bigger than our garden~ The smallest is only as small as a fingernail~ It's a baby sea anemone~"

He tried to gesture with his fingernails, "Oh dear, I've lost my fingernails..."

Why should he support you?

"If our demon kin kills us, he'll use our spiritual energy to create countless more of our kind and release them into the water. Waaah... I'm just a little grass turtle~"

Zhao Xi couldn't help but tap his tortoise shell lightly: "Again?"

"No, Father God called me Prime Minister, but I said I wanted to be his general!"

"Through cultivation, you can become very strong!"

"But I'm a grass turtle, I can't swim to the deep sea... Waaah..."

Zhao Xi wondered, "...So how did you live with your father god before?"

Prime Minister: "That's right! I have spiritual roots. Once I reach the Core Formation stage, I can fight in the deep sea! Yay!"

Zhao Xi was speechless.

This little guy is impulsive and seems quirky, but he's actually just a simpleton.

To make his escape easier, he went hungry for several meals and deliberately shrunk himself.

Those foods were fed to the spirit pet.

No wonder when Atu went to feed the panda, he found it burping from being so full, its belly round and plump.

"After you get back to the Beast Garden, quickly soak in the Spirit Spring, and I'll make you some fish soup!"

"I want to drink so much, so much, so much~~~ I want to reach the Core Formation stage~~~"

The prime minister, clinging to the tiger's fur, shook his head and shouted, breaking the silence of the mountain forest in the dead of night.

*

It is said that later, when disaster struck, the cultivators scattered and fled, and Shao Ende's sect disbanded on the spot.

Indeed, some people want to return to the Hundred Beasts Garden, but their images and identities are all posted on the newly added bulletin board outside the teahouse.

The Beast Garden's protective array will drive away trespassers. They know that the Beast Garden cultivators are renovating the ruins of the Five Spirits Sect, so they deliberately wait for them in blind spots not covered by the array.

Even so, no one was willing to speak well of them.

The Animal Park is truly a wonderful place, and the director is an enlightened and kind person!

In other sects, their betrayal, harming disciples, and stealing sect resources would all be considered serious crimes.

Other sects wished they could tear them to pieces so that they could become their complete slaves.

The cultivators even thought the headmaster was too kind, as he spared their lives by simply asking them to hand over spirit stones and treasures!

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