“Let’s go. We should return early.”
Mu Wanwan glanced at the merfolk still swimming around them, feeling slightly nervous.
Mr. Dragon caught her wrist. He clutched the jade slip tightly in one hand and smiled at her. Beneath the dim light, his eyes shimmered with a faint golden glow, more dazzling than coloured glass.
His voice was clear and infused with tenderness. He drew out the final syllable longer than usual, almost as though he were acting spoiled.
“All right.”
Mu Wanwan was still somewhat unaccustomed to hearing him speak that way.
Her cheeks gradually heated as Mr. Dragon led her away, swimming out through the other side of the market.
…
While the human and dragon were preparing to return to the deserted island and rest temporarily, inside the Xianqing Pavilion—
The “Pavilion Master” pulled back the black cloak covering her face, revealing an exceptionally radiant appearance.
She had a pair of deep-set, azure-blue eyes framed by long eyelashes. Her golden hair fell over her shoulders in curling waves.
When she removed the cloak, her beautiful, lustrous silver tail was also revealed. The shape of her tail fin was distinctive—one possessed only by members of the merfolk royal family.
Her cultivation aura was also exposed. She had not yet reached the fifth rank.
She was the merfolk tribe’s third princess.
“These pills really are excellent.”
The third princess carefully opened the jade bottle containing the Spirit-Congealing Pill. She brought it towards her shapely nose and cautiously inhaled its fragrance.
As the pill’s refreshing scent spread through the air, her sea of consciousness instantly became clearer. Even the exhaustion that had accumulated in her heart over the past few days—caused by the Demon Realm’s invasion and their fruitless appeals to the dragon race for help—lessened considerably.
“And the Snow Condensation Pills… I’ll take them to Elder Brother and let him try them. Perhaps they can reduce some of the demonic energy inside his body.”
She sighed and rubbed her aching forehead.
She had only just finished muttering when a somewhat rough voice sounded from behind her.
“What are you planning to let Elder Brother try?”
She turned in surprise.
“Hai Ren, you’re back already? I haven’t had enough time pretending to be the Pavilion Master yet.”
“Mm.”
The man called Hai Ren was a special lifeform raised by the ruler of the merfolk kingdom. He was also the true Pavilion Master of the merfolk kingdom’s Xianqing Pavilion.
“Two people came to purchase information just now, and they gave me these pills.”
The third princess handed him the two jade bottles.
“Three fourth-rank Snow Condensation Pills and one Spirit-Congealing Pill I’ve never heard of before.”
Hai Ren merely smelled the pills before his brows knitted tightly together.
He had not expected customers to arrive during the less than two hours he had temporarily stepped out.
“What information did they purchase?”
“All the recent information concerning the dragon race, some information about the witch and demon tribes, and a map leading to Yifa City,” the third princess explained. “I did what you taught me. I searched for the information inside the information sphere, placed it into jade slips, and gave it to them.”
Hai Ren looked at her bewildered expression, his rugged face filled with helplessness.
He had been raised by the merfolk tribe, and the third princess was no different from a younger sister to him.
“These pills are of exceptional quality. They aren’t something an ordinary person could refine.”
“Aren’t they only fourth-rank pills?” The third princess pouted.
Her cultivation was not particularly strong. The only reason the visitors had failed to detect it was because the Pavilion Master’s cloak was special and could conceal cultivation levels.
“…”
Hai Ren did not answer.
He looked at her with a headache and secretly felt relieved that she had no idea the person who had just come to purchase information was very likely the Dragon Lord himself.
“It’s fine. You should return first.”
Hai Ren stroked her long hair.
“I still have matters to handle. I’ll take the pills to Elder Brother later.”
“All right.”
Although the third princess was somewhat wilful, she still listened to him. She stopped bothering him and departed, swaying her beautiful tail behind her.
Hai Ren breathed a sigh of relief.
He sealed the barrier and carefully examined the pills. From them, he was almost able to confirm Mu Wanwan’s identity.
She truly was the prospective junior sister their master had taken an interest in.
His head began to ache.
He hurriedly examined the information sphere that had been accessed. A moment later, his grave expression relaxed.
Fortunately, the information had been up to date.
News that the dragon race and witch clan had signed a contract had arrived an hour earlier.
Hai Ren quickly composed a message.
Their communication methods were not as convenient as Leng An’s. They had to rely on specially made communication tokens to transmit information back to the Alliance.
Only after completing all of that did he finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Because of the recent conflict involving the dragon and witch clans, their formerly neutral Alliance of Special Lifeforms had also become involved because of Mu Wanwan.
Hai Ren felt slightly bitter.
He was a special lifeform born in the sea. Before his master had accepted him as a disciple, the merfolk tribe had given him a home.
When the merfolk tribe encountered disaster, he had begged his master for help. His master had indeed assisted them, but their enemy was the Demon Realm. The Alliance did not possess a large-scale army, so they would still lose.
Now, he could only hope that the Dragon Lord would reclaim his authority as soon as possible and lend the merfolk tribe a hand.
Hai Ren felt that he was being rather selfish.
In truth, the Dragon Lord did not owe the merfolk tribe anything.
Back when the Dragon Lord had travelled through their lands, he had been one of the continent’s most powerful experts. He had also been remarkably handsome, and his reputation had not yet become so terrible. Naturally, many people had developed feelings for him.
The third princess, Hai Jiu, had been one of them.
Unfortunately, the princes had all blindly doted on their younger sister. They believed that, with her unparalleled beauty, there was no possibility that he would reject Hai Jiu.
Therefore, they had made the request publicly.
However, the Dragon Lord had not been interested in the slightest and rejected her outright.
Humiliated and furious, Hai Jiu had demanded to know whether she was not beautiful enough or unworthy of him.
Hai Ren still remembered the dragon’s arrogant appearance at the time.
He had stood upon the raised platform, dressed in an exquisitely tailored formal robe. Perhaps because he had become impatient, his phoenix eyes had turned brilliant gold. His expression was mocking, and his voice was sharp enough to wound.
“Your understanding of yourself is remarkably accurate.”
Jiu’er had immediately burst into tears from anger.
At the time, Hai Ren had also believed that the dragon had gone too far. But thinking about it now, the man had never been interested in her in the first place. Rejecting her had been perfectly normal.
Not long afterwards, several incidents occurred, and the dragon’s reputation plummeted.
Jiu’er had not loved him as deeply as she claimed. However, she remained resentful over the rejection, and since she had not encountered anyone else she liked, the matter had dragged on for several years.
Merfolk lived very long lives, so those few years were nothing to them.
Later, the dragon’s horn had broken and his face had been disfigured. Jiu’er had then completely abandoned her feelings.
Hai Ren knew that she had never truly loved the Dragon Lord himself. What she had admired were his formidable strength and handsome appearance.
Once both of those things disappeared, the feelings most people held for him vanished as well.
Unexpectedly, he had truly managed to wait until he found someone who loved him solely for the dragon he was.
Hai Ren smiled.
The ugly dragon who had once fallen to the bottom and been trampled by countless people had received the love of someone extraordinarily gifted—a person who was highly likely to become one of the continent’s greatest alchemists in the future.
It truly was…
The unpredictability of life could be deeply ironic.
Hai Ren stopped dwelling on the matter and carefully stored the pills away.
…
Mr. Dragon and Mu Wanwan soon returned home as well.
The small island remained peaceful.
While Mr. Dragon examined the information, Mu Wanwan hurriedly took Mengmeng out.
The plump little chirp had been confined inside for quite some time, but he was still all right. After chirping several times upon emerging, he quickly recovered.
Mu Wanwan took out the piece of sea candy she had specially saved for him and allowed Mengmeng to hold it while nibbling away.
Just like his old father, he loved sweet things. →_→
After settling the fluffy chirp, Mu Wanwan took advantage of Mr. Dragon’s continued focus on the information and hurried back to the room to change her clothes.
Although the outfit had been quite comfortable, wearing it was far too embarrassing.
She felt much more at ease in ordinary clothes.
She had just finished changing and taken out the glowing marine plants when Mr. Dragon entered with a grave expression.
“Madam.”
He called to her and handed her the jade slips.
Mu Wanwan sent her spiritual energy into them and swiftly browsed their contents.
A moment later, she opened her eyes and looked worriedly at the dragon before her.
“Mr. Dragon.”
Her emotions were actually rather complicated.
In addition to news of the alliance between the dragon and witch clans, the intelligence also mentioned that Jiu Qing and Uncle Chen’s tribe were attempting to seize power.
This was the first time she had learned that Uncle Chen and Aunt Hua were so powerful.
“I’m here.”
Mr. Dragon gently tucked a strand of hair that had fallen beside her ear behind it.
After a moment of silence, he softly said, “Madam, there is something I need to tell you.”
At first, there were certain things he had been unwilling to tell her.
Gradually, he had become afraid to tell her.
In the end, he no longer knew how to begin.
“All right.”
For once, the human and dragon sat quietly beside each other on the edge of the bed.
Mu Wanwan waited for him to speak.
However, after a long time had passed, he had still not uttered a single word.
She was just about to say something when she noticed the dragon looking rather uneasy.
His dark eyes gazed at her. His lips moved slightly, his eyelashes trembled, and a faint flush spread across his face.
Mu Wanwan: “…?”
“Spiritual sense.”
Mr. Dragon finally gathered his courage. His voice was extremely soft.
He wanted her to know.
He wanted her to make the choice herself.
Spiritual sense?
Had he not said that he wanted to tell her something? Why had he suddenly mentioned spiritual sense?
Did he intend to communicate with her through their spiritual senses?
Seeing how embarrassed he was, Mu Wanwan also became affected. The tips of her ears gradually warmed, but she still tried her best to understand what he meant.
“Do you mean you want me to release my spiritual sense?”
The dragon’s face grew even redder, and he nodded.
“Mm…”
Mu Wanwan thought she understood.
She slowly closed her eyes and began guiding her spiritual sense outwards.
Mr. Dragon’s entire body stiffened. He was extraordinarily nervous.
Spiritual sense could be used to accomplish many things.
Someone as powerful as him could use it to investigate his surroundings and gather information. He could also manifest a spiritual domain to suppress his enemies.
Those were all combat applications.
They were also the only ways he had ever used his spiritual sense.
However, he had heard other dragons say that when two highly compatible people completely opened their seas of consciousness and allowed them to merge, it was an extremely pleasurable experience.
They could also exchange the information contained within their seas of consciousness.
He had never been so intimate with another living being before.
Instead, the thought filled him with an unfamiliar panic and helplessness.
Before he coaxed Madam into releasing her spiritual sense, the room had already been filled with Mr. Dragon’s powerful spiritual energy.
However, it carried no aggression whatsoever.
His breathing became slightly uneven, and Mu Wanwan also started feeling nervous.
She carefully guided the spiritual sense within her sea of consciousness—which was not particularly powerful—outwards, little by little.
In the next instant, she sensed the other formidable power permeating the space around her.
An indescribable sensation immediately swept through her.
Her cheeks burned, and she abruptly opened her eyes, meeting Mr. Dragon’s narrow, moist gaze.
He did not appear to be doing any better than her.
In fact, he looked even worse.
Mu Wanwan felt slightly reassured.
The two strands of spiritual sense gradually came into contact, and she saw his long-absent dragon ears suddenly emerge.
She silently straightened the toes that had curled the moment their spiritual senses touched.
Then she felt information flowing through their connected spiritual senses, entering her mind little by little.
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