"Wait." Mo Tiange stopped the Cang Dragon from speaking further. "How do I know you're not trying to deceive me this time?"
The Cang Dragon opened its mouth, then froze.
After a long while, it finally said, "But you defeated me, yet didn't kill me..." It had thought that for humans, such behavior expressed goodwill.
Mo Tiange said calmly, "I didn't kill you because you were once my Great-Great-Grandfather's spirit beast. Out of respect for him, and since you pose no threat to me, letting you go is no trouble."
These words made the Cang Dragon sense Mo Tiange's powerful confidence. It couldn't help but ask, "Then you..."
"But do you also hold goodwill toward me out of respect for my Great-Great-Grandfather?" Mo Tiange looked directly at it. "After all, the Spirit Beast Contract has expired. To me now, you're just a demon beast."
The Cang Dragon floated in mid-air, its gaze growing distant. Its injuries were not light, with thin streams of blood continuously dripping into the sea.
"We demon beasts may hold hostility toward humans," the Cang Dragon said peacefully, "but if a human saves us, we feel gratitude too. Six thousand years ago, I lived in the Guixu Sea. My entire clan was slaughtered, and I was nearly killed as well. It was my master who saved me. That's why I willingly entered a Spirit Beast Contract with her and became her spirit beast."
Mo Tiange's gaze shifted slightly. She reached into her Qiankun Bag, took out a jade bottle, and tossed it over. "Take this. Your injuries are severe."
The Cang Dragon opened its large mouth and caught the bottle. Its eyes held confusion. "You..."
"I also want to make a deal with you."
The Cang Dragon shook its head but said nothing.
"I know you demon beasts have no access to pills, so your cultivation is much slower than humans'. And the leap from Seventh-Rank to Eighth-Rank is the hardest hurdle for demon beasts. If you cross it, you can take human form and become a true spirit being. But if you fail, you remain forever a demon." Mo Tiange raised an eyebrow, speaking with some pride. "I can give you pills that might help you successfully advance to the Eighth-Rank. But in exchange, you must have one of your descendants form a Spirit Beast Contract with me, and tell me that secret."
At this point, Mo Tiange smiled. "Of course, the bottle of pills you're biting now isn't part of the deal. It's just to heal your wounds."
"..." The Cang Dragon didn't use its spiritual sense to communicate further. A flicker of doubt passed through its eyes, but it quickly bit open the jade bottle and swallowed all the pills inside.
Soon, a faint layer of Spiritual Qi appeared around its body, enveloping its wounds. Then white light shone from the injured areas, and within that light, the wounds healed at a visible rate.
After a while, the light dissipated. The Cang Dragon twisted its neck and swished its tail. "Thank you. My wounds are much better."
Mo Tiange smiled slightly. "Then can we discuss our deal?"
The Cang Dragon hesitated before saying, "Our Cang Dragon Clan lives happily in this sea. I don't want my descendants to become spirit beasts for human cultivators again."
Facing this answer, Mo Tiange laughed. "Even if I give you pills that could help you advance to the Eighth-Rank?"
The Cang Dragon twisted its body, head dipping downward as if struggling. After a moment, it said, "Advancing to the Eighth-Rank isn't simple for demon beasts. I followed my master for a thousand years and only rose from Fifth-Rank to Seventh-Rank. No matter how many pills my master gave me, I never broke through to the Eighth-Rank. I don't think it's worth trading my descendants' freedom for."
Hearing this, Mo Tiange nodded gently. "You care deeply for your descendants."
The Cang Dragon blinked, releasing some goodwill. "As long as you stop hunting the sea beasts in this area, I'll still tell you that secret. That offer remains valid. Although we sea clans hunt each other normally, your indiscriminate killing disrupts the balance between us. Our Cang Dragon Clan lives well here and doesn't wish to abandon this place."
"I understand." Mo Tiange sighed, her gaze sweeping over the Cang Dragon. Yet she said, "But how can I believe your secret is true?"
The Cang Dragon was taken aback. It swished its tail, seeming troubled. "This, I..."
"You were willing to risk coming up to stop me for your descendants' sake. That shows your race cares deeply for its young, correct?"
The Cang Dragon fell silent at these words. After a long while, a determined light flashed in its eyes. "Human, even if you kill me, I won't hand over my descendants' freedom."
Mo Tiange laughed and waved her hand. "Don't refuse so hastily. Let me ask you this: you're only a Seventh-Rank demon beast, yet you can live nearly ten thousand years. I imagine your Cang Dragon lifespan can reach over ten thousand years?"
The Cang Dragon hesitated, then nodded. "Correct. At least ten thousand years or more."
"Then to you, a human cultivator's lifespan is very short, yes?"
After a moment's silence, the Cang Dragon agreed again. "Yes. When I began following my master, I'd already lived several thousand years. At that time, my master was still young. But after my master passed away, I've lived several thousand more..."
"Then having your descendant follow me—even if I eventually become as powerful as your master—would only cost it a little over a thousand years of freedom, correct?"
The Cang Dragon didn't dispute this conclusion. "That's right."
Mo Tiange smiled. "What if I could help it break through to the Eighth-Rank? Would a thousand years of freedom be worth it then?"
Hearing this, the Cang Dragon froze. Its eyes flickered with doubt, calculation, and hesitation.
Mo Tiange knew it needed time to consider, so she didn't press. She simply swayed the Heaven-Earth Fan in her hand, looking around as if merely enjoying the scenery.
Advancing to the Eighth-Rank was an almost irresistible temptation for demon beasts. Although this Cang Dragon had refused once, refusing a second time would be difficult.
After a long while, a voice sounded in her mind again. "You're only at the Sixth-Rank yourself. Can you really do this? This is something even my master couldn't accomplish."
Mo Tiange smiled. "Wait here a moment, and you'll see if it's possible."
With that, she touched the center of her brow and activated an art. Under the Cang Dragon's astonished gaze, she entered the Void Heaven Realm.
The Flowerless Golden Fruits were gone, used to heal Dao Lord Jinghe. But she still had other spirit medicines that could aid advancement.
After walking through the medicine garden, Mo Tiange plucked a Hundred-Result Fruit and exited the Void Heaven Realm.
Seeing her suddenly reappear before it, the Cang Dragon was startled. It shook its head, unable to comprehend—had humans invented some new spell? But then its gaze was drawn to the Hundred-Result Fruit in Mo Tiange's hand.
Though it had long lived in the sea, that didn't prevent it from recognizing this was a Ten Thousand Year Spirit Fruit!
A Ten Thousand Year Spirit Fruit contained vast Spiritual Qi. If consumed, it truly might enable a breakthrough to the Eighth-Rank in one go!
Seeing the Cang Dragon's shocked expression and its barely concealed fixation on the fruit in her hand, Mo Tiange smiled. "Do you believe me now?"
The Cang Dragon couldn't help but swallow hard, reluctantly tearing its gaze from the Hundred-Result Fruit to look at Mo Tiange. This time, it remained silent for a very long time.
Mo Tiange wasn't anxious, merely waiting patiently.
After quite a while, the Cang Dragon's voice sounded. "Human, I believe you. Although you're not as powerful as my master was, with treasures like these, perhaps you really can help your spirit beast break through to the Eighth-Rank." It hesitated, then said firmly, "Very well. I'll go tell my descendants and see if any among them are willing to become your spirit beast."
Mo Tiange smiled. "Fine. Go ahead. I'll wait here."
The Cang Dragon nodded, swished its tail, dove beneath the sea surface, and urgently submerged.
Mo Tiange watched where it had disappeared, then put away the Hundred-Result Fruit. She wasn't afraid the Cang Dragon might devise some scheme to seize it by force. A spirit fruit that could help it advance to the Eighth-Rank was something it definitely wouldn't want to share with other Seventh-Rank demon beasts. Moreover, agreeing to her terms might allow another Eighth-Rank demon beast to emerge among its descendants—a very attractive prospect for this Cang Dragon who so cherished its young.
As for why she was going to such lengths to acquire a Cang Dragon as a spirit beast—partly because she felt this race possessed wisdom ordinary demon beasts lacked, but more importantly, because its descendants were this old Cang Dragon's weakness. Initially, it had harbored such malice toward her, trying to lure her to her death. How could she dare believe any secret it told? Only by taking one of its descendants as a spirit beast would she dare trust its words were true.
Not long after, Spiritual Qi fluctuations came from the sea surface again. Mo Tiange discerned that the leader was a Seventh-Rank demon beast, accompanied by several Fifth and Sixth-Rank ones.
Moments later, the Cang Dragon surfaced with its descendants. "Human, several of my descendants are willing to accept your conditions. You may choose one from among them."
Mo Tiange looked down. Besides the old Cang Dragon, there were five smaller ones—three at Fifth-Rank, two at Sixth-Rank, their bodies much smaller than the elder's. The smallest one still bore an injury on its tail—the one she had wounded initially.
"You... all agree?"
The five small Cang Dragons swished their tails but didn't answer immediately. One asked, "Can you really help Grandfather advance?"
Mo Tiange was even more surprised. "You can speak human language too?"
The old Cang Dragon said, "We Cang Dragons, once we reach the Fifth-Rank, possess intelligence no lower than that of other demon beasts at the Eighth-Rank."
"Ah." Mo Tiange nodded, answering the previous question. "I can only give it a spirit fruit that might help it advance. Whether it truly succeeds, I cannot guarantee."
The five small Cang Dragons looked at each other, then excitedly slapped their tails against the water. "Then we're all willing."
Hearing this, Mo Tiange smiled. It seemed not only did the old Cang Dragon cherish its descendants, but these descendants also greatly respected their ancestor. That put her mind at ease.
She turned to the old Cang Dragon. "Are these descendants of yours all thousands of years old?"
The old Cang Dragon said, "Xiaofan is only eight hundred. The others range from over a thousand to over four thousand years old."
"Xiaofan?"
The small Cang Dragon with the injured tail patted the water surface timidly. "That's me."
The old Cang Dragon used its fin to point at the others. "This is Xiaoyu, Xiaofeng, Xiaokai, and Xiaoyun."
Mo Tiange felt like laughing. These Cang Dragons' names were quite amusing. She couldn't help but ask, "What about you?"
The old Cang Dragon replied, "I'm called Xiaoqing."
"..." Mo Tiange had the urge to burst out laughing. Her ancestor Mo Yaoqing was truly a character! This old Cang Dragon's voice sounded like an elderly human man, yet it was called Xiaoqing—such a name!
She forced down her laughter and asked, "What's your surname? Don't tell me it's Cang?"
"No." The old Cang Dragon shook its head. "We're surnamed Bai. I'm Bai Xiaoqing."
"..." This time, Mo Tiange not only wanted to laugh hysterically but also pound the ground.