“Wait.” Mo Tiange stopped the Sea Dragon before it was about to speak. “How would I know you’re not lying to me this time?”

The Sea Dragon opened its mouth and was stunned.

After a long time, it said, “You beat me, but you didn’t kill me…” It thought this was a human act of kindness.

Mo Tiange said lightly, “I didn’t kill you because you were once Great Ancestor’s Spiritual Beast. For her sake, you’re no threat to me, so it doesn’t hurt to let you off the hook.”

This sentence showed the Sea Dragon Mo Tiange’s high degree of confidence, and it couldn’t help asking, “You…”

“But are you kind to me for the sake of Great Ancestor?” Mo Tiange looked it straight in the eye. “After all, your spiritual beast contract has expired. You’re just a demonic beast to me now.”

The Sea Dragon floated in midair, eyes remote. The wounds on its body weren’t light, with small small streams of blood dripping into the sea constantly.

“Us demonic beasts are hostile to humans, but if humans save us, we will be grateful,” the Sea Dragon said calmly. “Six thousand years ago, I lived in Returning Ruins Sea. My whole family was slaughtered and I was almost killed; it was Master who saved me. Therefore, I was willing to sign a spiritual beast contract with my master and become her spiritual beast.”

Mo Tiange’s eyes moved. Her hand probed into her Qiankun Bag and she took out a jade bottle and tossed it to the Sea Dragon. “Eat it. You have serious injuries.”

The Sea Dragon opened its mouth and bit into the jade bottle. Its eyes showed some doubt. “You…”

“I also want to make you a deal.”

The Sea Dragon shook its head and said nothing.

“I know that you demonic beasts have no medicinal pills to eat, so your cultivation is much slower than that of human beings. Moreover, advancing from the seventh to eighth rank is the most difficult obstacle for demonic beasts. If a demonic beast could pass this stage, it would transform into a real spiritual beast. Otherwise, it would be a demonic spirit forever.” Mo Tiange raised her eyebrows and said quite confidently, “I can give you the medicinal pills that might help you advance to the eighth rank, but in exchange, you must get your offspring to sign a spiritual beast contract with me and tell me the secret.”

After saying this, Mo Tiange smiled. “Of course, the medicinal pills you’re taking right now aren’t part of the deal. They’re just to heal your injuries.”

“…” The Sea Dragon didn’t reply. There was a gleam of doubt flashing in its eyes. But soon, it bit open the jade bottle and swallowed all the medicinal pills in it.

Soon afterwards, a light spiritual aura appeared around its body, enveloping its wounds. Straight after, a white light lit up the wounds. The injuries healed as quickly as the naked eye could see.

After a while, the light dissipated and the Sea Dragon turned its head, wagged its tail, and said, “Thank you. I feel much better.”

Mo Tiange smiled slightly. “Shall we talk about our deal then?”

The Sea Dragon hesitated for a moment and said, “Us Sea Dragons live happily in the sea. I don’t want my descendants to become a human cultivator’s spiritual beasts.”

Upon hearing this answer, Mo Tiange smiled. “Even if I can give you a medicinal pill that will help you get to the eighth rank?”

The Sea Dragon wriggled with its head down, as if hesitating. After a while, it said, “It’s not so simple to advance. I was with my master for a thousand years, but I only advanced from the fifth to the seventh rank. No matter how many medicinal pills my master gave me, I still wasn’t able to break through to the eighth rank. So I don’t think your medicinal pills are worth trading for the freedom of my descendants.”

Upon hearing this, Mo Tiange nodded softly. “You care for your descendants very much.”

The Sea Dragon blinked and showed some kindness. “As long as you stop hunting the sea beasts in this area, I’ll tell you the secret. It’s still valid. Although us sea beasts hunt each other on a daily basis, your indiscriminate killing will destroy the balance between us. Us Sea Dragons have a good life here and don’t want to give up our home here.”

“I see.” Mo Tiange sighed, eyes resting on the Sea Dragon. She said, “But how can I believe that your secret is true?”

The Sea Dragon was stunned and wagged its tail, looking a little upset. “Well, this… I…”

“You were willing to risk coming up to stop me for your descendants, so this means your species cares for your future generations very much, right?”

This sentence made the Sea Dragon silent for a long time, and a determined light flashed in its eyes. “Human, even if you kill me, I won’t surrender the freedom of my descendants.”

Mo Tiange smiled and waved her hand. “You don’t have to refuse so early. Let me ask you—you’re only a seventh-rank demonic beast but were able to live nearly ten thousand years. Presumably, your Sea Dragons’ lifespan can reach tens of thousands of years?”

The Sea Dragon hesitated for a moment and nodded. “Yes, we can live for more than ten thousand years at least.”

“So human cultivators’ lifespans are very short to you, right?”

After a pause, the Sea Dragon agreed again. “Yes. When I followed my master, I had lived for thousands of years. At that time, my master was still very young, but after her death, I lived for thousands of years afterward…”

“Well then, if you force your descendants to follow me in the future, even though I’d be as strong as your master, they would only be giving up a thousand years of freedom, right?”

The Sea Dragon didn’t disagree with this conclusion. “That’s right.”

Mo Tiange smiled. “So, what if I could help your descendants rush up to the eighth rank? Would giving up a thousand years of freedom be worth it then?”

Upon hearing this, the Sea Dragon paused for a moment. Doubt, calculation, and hesitation flashed in its eyes.

Mo Tiange knew it needed time to consider. She didn’t pressure it; she merely shook the Heaven and Earth Fan in her hand and looked around as if she was standing there to enjoy the scenery.

Advancing to the eighth rank was almost an irresistible temptation for demonic beasts. The Sea Dragon had refused it once, but it was hard to refuse again.

After a long time, its voice rang out in Mo Tiange’s mind again. “You’re only in the sixth rank. Can you really do that? Even my master failed to do that.”

Mo Tiange smiled. “Just wait here for a moment, then you’ll find out.”

As she spoke, Mo Tiange pointed to the space between her eyebrows and started the technique. Then in front of the Sea Dragon’s shocked eyes, she entered the Virtual Sky World.

The Flowerless Golden Fruits had been used to heal Lord Daoist Jinghe’s injuries. However, she had other spiritual panaceas that could help advance one’s cultivation rank.

Wandering about the medicinal fields, Mo Tiange picked a Baijie Fruit then left the Virtual Sky World.

The Sea Dragon was startled to see her suddenly reappearing in front of its eyes. It shook its head, unable to understand, and wondered if human beings had invented some kind of new magic art? But shortly after, its eyes were attracted by the Baijie Fruit in Mo Tiange’s hands.

The Sea Dragon had lived in the sea for a long time, but that didn’t prevent it from recognizing a ten-thousand-year-old spiritual fruit!

Ten-thousand-year-old spiritual fruits contained huge spiritual aura. If it could get one, it might indeed help it advance to the eighth rank!

As she saw the Sea Dragon’s shocked expression and seeing as it couldn’t look away from the fruit in her hand, Mo Tiange smiled. “Do you believe me now?”

The Sea Dragon couldn’t help gulping and trying to shift its eyes away from the Baijie Fruit with difficulty. It looked at Mo Tiange and was silent for a long time.

Mo Tiange wasn’t in a hurry; she just waited patiently.

After a long time, the Sea Dragon’s voice rang out. “Human, I believe in you. You’re not as powerful as my master, but with these treasures, perhaps you can really help your spiritual beast break through the eighth rank.” It hesitated for a moment and finally said firmly, “Well, I’ll go tell my descendants and see if any of them would like to be your spiritual beast.”

Mo Tiange smiled. “Okay, just go. I’ll wait here.”

With a nod of its head and flick of its tail, the Sea Dragon dived eagerly into the sea.

Mo Tiange looked at where it disappeared and put away the Baijie Fruit. She wasn’t afraid it would come up with some idea to steal it because she thought it definitely wouldn’t want to share the spiritual fruit that could promote advancement with other seventh-rank demonic beasts. And if it made that deal with her, it would be possible for him to have another eighth-rank demonic beast among his offspring, which was very attractive to this Sea Dragon who cared for his offspring very much.

Mo Tiange tried every possible way to get a Sea Dragon as her spiritual beast because there was no doubt that this race had wisdom that common demonic beasts didn’t have. More importantly, its descendants were the Old Sea Dragon’s weakness. How could she believe the secrets it told her when it initially showed so much malice against her and wanted to trick her into death? Only when she accepted its offspring as her spiritual beasts would she dare to believe what it said to be true.

Not long after, some spiritual aura came up from the sea again. Mo Tiange glanced at the water’s surface and saw several fifth to sixth-rank demonic beasts led by a seventh-rank demonic beast.

A moment later, the Sea Dragon appeared with its descendants. “Human, my descendants here are willing to accept your deal. You can choose one of them.”

Mo Tiange looked down and saw not only the Old Sea Dragon, but there were also five little Sea Dragons; three of them were in the fifth rank and two of them were in the sixth. They were much smaller in shape than the old Sea Dragon. The smallest one had a wound in its tail—it was the one she had wounded in the first place.

“You… Are you all willing to do it?”

The five Young Sea Dragons wagged their tails and didn’t answer immediately. One of them asked, “Can you really help grandpa advance?”

Mo Tiange was even more surprised. “You can also speak the human language?”

The Old Sea Dragon said, “As long as us Sea Dragons reach the fifth rank, we have wisdom no lower than regular eighth-rank demonic beasts.”

“Oh.” Mo Tiange nodded. Then she answered the former question. “I can only give your grandpa a spiritual fruit which may help him advance. As for whether he can really obtain advancement, I can’t guarantee.”

The five Young Sea Dragons looked at each other and patted their tails excitedly. “We’re all willing to do it.”

Upon hearing this, Mo Tiange smiled. It seemed that not only did the Old Sea Dragon love his descendants, but the descendants also respected their ancestor very much, so she was relieved.

Mo Tiange turned to the Old Sea Dragon and asked, “Are they all thousands of years old?”

Old Sea Dragon said, “Xiaofan is only eight hundred years old. The other four range from over one thousand to over four thousand years old.”

“Xiaofan?”

The little Sea Dragon with wounds on its tail patted the water and said timidly, “That’s me.”

Old Sea Dragon pointed to the others with its fins. “That’s Xiaoyu, Xiaofeng, Xiaokai, and Xiaoyun.”

Mo Tiange wanted to laugh. These Sea Dragons’ names were funny and she couldn’t help asking, “What about you?”

Old Sea Dragon answered, “My name’s Xiaoqing.”

“…” Mo Tiange held back the impulse to laugh wildly. Her ancestor Mo Yaoqing was really a genius! The Old Sea Dragon sounded like an old man, but he was called Xiaoqing! A young girl’s name!

She suppressed her smile and asked, “What’s your last name? Shouldn’t it be Sea?”

“No.” Old Sea Dragon shook its head. “Our last name is Bai, so I’m Bai Xiaoqing (even more girly).”

“…” Mo Tiange not only wanted to laugh wildly this time, but she also wanted to hit the ground.