The elder's expression was complex, his eyes lowered as if in deep thought. "Possession by a lingering soul... that is a possibility."
"Is there anything else you two have noticed?"
He turned his gaze towards Zhong Zi and Dong Ling. "The moment the grey spiritual energy around him appeared, those celestial soldiers seemed to instantly regain their spiritual energy."
The barrier, which had been on the verge of collapse moments ago, now appeared remarkably stable, so full of spiritual energy it was practically overflowing...
Distracted by the ghost tribe's assault, the celestial soldiers hadn't even realized this.
Zhong Zi nodded, his face grave. "If we don't retreat, the ghost tribe might be defeated because of this."
Given enough time, the lingering souls would exhaust their stamina and spiritual energy, while the divine realm's celestial soldiers would only grow stronger.
Once in such a predicament, the advantage of the lingering souls being untouchable would vanish, and the celestial soldiers would be able to harm them.
"No wonder the divine realm is so hard to breach... it turns out all of this is the doing of that grey spiritual energy," Dong Ling's eyes glinted coldly, his expression equally serious.
The elder nodded slightly. "If we wish to breach the divine realm in one fell swoop, it seems we must first find a way to deal with the grey spiritual energy."
If the Divine Emperor's grey spiritual energy was inexhaustible, then the divine realm's celestial soldiers would be like a bottomless pit, constantly drawing spiritual energy.
"And another thing." The elder paused, his suspicious gaze falling upon Dong Ling and Zhong Zi. "What's going on with the two of you?"
Zhong Zi blinked, not understanding what the elder meant. "You mean...?"
"When I was high in the sky just now, I saw everything on the battlefield. That young man was clearly protecting you with all his might," he said, looking at Dong Ling.
Zhong Zi's eyes widened, and his entire face began to turn red, even the tips of his ears flushing with suspicious crimson. "No! It's not what you think!"
Dong Ling's heart fluttered in panic. It felt as if their secret relationship had been discovered by a family elder, leaving him speechless...
The elder chuckled deeply, amusement clouding his eyes. "I have lived for thousands of years, what haven't I seen?"
He hadn't been entirely sure before, but when he saw Zhong Zi's flushed cheeks, everything clicked into place.
"Don't forget to send me a wedding invitation on your big day."
"Elder..."
...
At the same time, by the Silan Sea of the demon race.
"Why are you here?" Ting Lan asked Xiao Zi in confusion, water still dripping from his body.
Xiao Zi's expression was disturbingly grim. He strode forward and pulled a robe from his storage ring, wrapping it tightly around Ting Lan.
"Have you no shame? You dare appear naked in broad daylight?"
Ting Lan looked at him blankly. Wasn't this how he always appeared...?
"I'm used to it..." He scratched the back of his head, smiling foolishly.
Xiao Zi shot him a glare, then turned to Xiao Diao. "And you, why are you here?"
The little fellow never usually left the palace. Why had she come to Silan Sea today?
To his surprise, Xiao Diao looked at him for a moment before turning her head away, seemingly still sulking. "What's it to you? I can go wherever I want."
Xiao Zi frowned, staring at her suspiciously. "Are you angry? Angry with whom?"
"You," Ting Lan interjected.
As soon as he spoke, Xiao Zi looked at him in confusion. "Angry with me? Why?"
Ting Lan glanced at Xiao Diao. Seeing no reaction from her, he continued, "You used her. You bought her food just to trick information out of her."
Hearing this, Xiao Zi realized that the little one had overheard his conversation with Lin Ze and was now sulking to herself.
Xiao Zi sighed and walked to Xiao Diao, crouching down in front of her. "I haven't even gotten angry with you yet, and you're already angry with me?"
The little creature kept her face turned away, refusing to look at him. She knew Xiao Zi was referring to the incident where he had exposed his identity, but... kuAiδugg
"You exposed yourself to save me, weren't your intentions also malicious! Just to get information from me!"
"I thought you were different from the Master, but now it seems, pah! You're all the same kind of people!" The little one grew more indignant as she spoke, her voice becoming hurried.
Xiao Zi couldn't refute this. He admitted that everything the little one said was true; he had indeed intended to use her to obtain clues about the divine realm.
"We... don't really have any relationship, do we?" A slightly helpless voice sounded.
Xiao Diao froze, her body stiffening. Relationship...
He was the former Demon Emperor, an enemy of the divine realm, while she was Mo Ze's contracted beast, belonging to the divine realm...
Yes, logically speaking, they had no relationship whatsoever. They could even be considered enemies.
But... Xiao Diao lowered her head. She just felt wronged...
Whether it was the divine realm, the demon race, or the entire Nine Heavens, there was nowhere for her to go.
Now, after finally encountering someone who treated her well, it turned out he was just using her to get intelligence...
As she thought about it, tears began to well up in her eyes, and she couldn't stop sobbing.
"What are you crying about?" Xiao Zi sighed deeply and reached out, pulling her into his embrace.
This time, Xiao Diao didn't resist, allowing him to hold her.
"Stop crying. Judging by your voice, you're a girl, aren't you? Your face won't look pretty if you smudge it with tears." His slender fingers emerged, gently wiping away the little one's tears.
"It's none of your business. We don't have any relationship anyway..."
"Then break the contract?" Ting Lan had wanted to say this earlier, but Xiao Zi had interrupted him.
Both heads turned in unison, staring at him. Xiao Zi couldn't help but ask, "How can breaking a contract be easy?"
Mo Ze was in the divine realm. To break the contract, one would have to capture him alive and swear an oath to dissolve it.
To his surprise, Ting Lan shook his head, his gaze incredibly serious. "I'm not talking about that method."
"The merfolk tribe has a special way of breaking contracts. As long as the contracted beast is willing, they can unilaterally dissolve the contract with their master."
This method was designed to prevent humans from arbitrarily capturing merfolk and forming contracts. After all, in human eyes, merfolk were a coveted treasure that could grant immortality and eternal youth.
Without some means of self-preservation, wouldn't merfolk have become extinct long ago?
"Your search for your tribe..."
"Yes, it was also to ask about this method for Xiao Diao."
Xiao Zi raised an eyebrow. He had thought Ting Lan wanted to leave Xiao Gui's side. That wasn't the case, which was good.
"What do you think?" He lowered his head, looking at the little ball in his arms.
Xiao Diao naturally wanted to break the contract, but what about after breaking it? Where would she go?
"Even if the contract is broken, you'll still use me... won't it be the same..." Xiao Diao's head drooped, looking exceptionally lonely and pitiful.