On the peaceful, calm surface of the lake, the figure of a man and tortoise approached from a distance.

Ye Lingchen laid on the back of the tortoise, gazing at the sky. "Oh Old Tortoise, be honest with me. You've turned into a demon right? Also, how long have you been alive? Just wait until I've learned the tortoise language. I'll surely have a good long talk with you."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "Back then when Tang the Monk went on his journey to the West, were you the one that helped him across the river? If not you, then it's most likely your ancestor."

Old Tortoise let out a low growl. Even if Ye Lingchen had not learned the tortoise language, he could hear the resentment in its voice.

"Fine, fine. I've marked that island for you. When I'm rich, I'll definitely buy it. It's not the time to move over yet." Ye Lingchen smiled bitterly. He did not expect Old Tortoise to still be thinking about that incident.

Since Life's Struggles ended, Ye Lingchen did not use the pre-planned route the program crew planned for him, nor did he take the plane. Instead, he took the water route.

He had the Water Spirit Constitution and had to bring Old Tortoise along. The water route was naturally much more convenient.

At the same time, he took the chance to look at some islands. Ye Lingchen's plan included purchasing an island. Furthermore, with Old Tortoise around, it was much more convenient to have an island. It was an essential part of the plan that he was adamant about.

China was huge and filled with resources, ranked as the top three countries in the world in terms of landmass. Islands were naturally plentiful as well. They swam from Mount Li's river all the way to the East China Sea. In order to keep it down low, they were submerged most of the time.

Along the East China Sea's coast, they found quite a number of islands. Out of all those islands, one of them had spiritual energy concentration that was far better than other locations. In other words, that island's Fengshui was excellent!

Furthermore, that island was clearly deserted, showing no signs of development. Its size was just right as well. With one glance, Ye Lingchen was extremely satisfied with it. Of course, Old Tortoise was similarly approving of that location. If not because of Ye Lingchen dragging it along, Old Tortoise might have already moved to the island to enjoy the rest of its life.

It was a great waste for such an island to be deserted like that. He had to quickly get his hands on it. That would surely make him look good.

As for rescuing the bus, it was a lucky coincidence. They were swimming toward Capital City from that direction and ran into such a situation. Needless to say, he had to rescue them!

Looking at the system, the corner of Ye Lingchen's mouth curved into a smile. Over this period of time, his popularity points had been rising consistently. At that moment, it reached a total of 4.5 million!

In times like that, Ye Lingchen fully experienced the monstrous requirements of the system. With all the commotion he had stirred up all these while only amounting to this amount, when would he actually be able to advance all his skills? One should know that it required 10 million popularity points for upping his skill to an advanced level.

Ye Lingchen furrowed his brows but then relaxed after a while. Although he had stirred up quite a commotion, people most likely did not follow him. Furthermore, this world was not limited to China. With so many people in the world, his popularity points would go up in multiples of tens of millions.

For his popularity points, he had to go further along the path of causing commotion. 'It seems that foreigners will be in for a treat. They'll be able to witness this prodigy's elegance.'

"Old Tortoise, dive!"

Ye Lignchen's ears twitched and immediately gave the order.

Old Tortoise let out a low pitched groan and quickly dove into the water without stirring up much waves in the lake.

They were already entering Capital City's vicinity. By his estimate, they would be arriving at Hill Spring Residences soon using the underground river.

Ye Lingchen knew that Hill Spring Residences was next to a park with a huge manmade lake that was connected to the various rivers within Capital City. This would be the temporary home for Old Tortoise for now.

As they swam with the river current, Ye Lingchen's frown deepened and eventually turned into a disgusted expression.

The water was too dirty. He was having difficulty seeing the underwater fauna. Fishes were almost dying out, leaving only those that would survive in polluted waters. Furthermore, the color of the water turned into an uglier color. It was obvious the pollution was getting worse.

"F*ck! I can't take it anymore!"

Ye Lingchen had never felt so wronged before. Unable to tolerate it any longer, he leaped out of the water, causing a huge splash and landed on the shore. East City Village was a village in the rural areas of Capital City. Although it was a village, it was quite well developed and lively. The village market was a bustling place by the lakeside.

However, right at that moment, the entire market turned silent. The sellers stopped their peddling as everyone shifted their gaze upon the figure that suddenly jumped out of the water.

'Filming?'

That was their initial impression. It should be filming a scene of some martial arts expert flying out of the lake. They could not deny that it did look quite cool. 'Nice act!'

Whoosh!

The very next moment, the entire lake's surface rumbled as the water roiled. Following that, a huge tortoise was seen waving its limbs, quickly scrambling out of the lake.

It was groaning as it moved, as though it had just experienced something horrible. It seemed as though it was running away from something.

"Ah! Monster!"

"Run away! The monster is going to eat you!"

"F*ck! I knew this would happen. It must be those toxic waste from the factory. Monsters are growing in the lake now!"

"Spare me, please. I'm already 40 years old and still a virgin. I've collected sufficient good karma. Please don't eat me!"

…

In 30 seconds, the originally packed market turned empty as they all fled at full speed, disappearing without a trace.

Ye Lingchen and Old Tortoise were speechless.

After running for some time, that group of people saw that the monster did not chase after them. Only then did they let out a sigh of relief and slowly collected their wits.

"Eh? That giant tortoise seemed quite familiar. Where have I seen it before?"

"Now that you mention it, there seems to be a person accompanying that giant tortoise."

"F*ck! That's God Ye and Black Warrior!"

"It's God Ye! It's definitely God Ye!"

"Why did we run?!"

In an instant, their fears were gone as their faces flushed red with excitement and they ran over with an even faster speed.

"God Ye, we're coming!"

"Which idiot shouted monster? You made me run like a fool and didn't recognize God Ye."

"God Ye, Black Warrior, you're my idols. Ahhh, wait for me!"

"Damn it. Where's God Ye?" Everyone sighed in disappointment as though they had just lost 10 million.

By the time they got back, Ye Lingchen had already gone far away with Old Tortoise. Judging by the wet stains along the shore, it appeared that they switched to a different river.

Shortly after, that sighting was reported by the news. Some people even accurately guessed at the reason.

"God Ye and Black Warrior's sudden appearance in East City Village might be due to the serious pollution of its lake, forcing them to get out of the water in a sorry state."

That news quickly received heavy scrutiny and was debated by countless people. They all felt sorry for God Ye and urged for environmental care, and for people to take up the responsibility...