Lian Changsheng fell into thought.
For now, Lian Changsheng was not afraid of the Sea God. A god's true body could not descend to the lower realm; at most, he could send down an avatar. But a mere Sea God avatar was not worth Lian Changsheng's attention. Still, for the sake of his future plans, he did not want to enter the Divine Realm's sight so early.
He had also sensed an immensely powerful wave of Spiritual Power just now. Lian Changsheng guessed that it had been the Sea God investigating him, but he was not worried. With the Six Vaults Immortal Thief, even if the Sea God observed him from the Divine Realm, he could not easily uncover everything about him. At most, he would know that such a person existed.
But if Lian Changsheng released the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King just because of a single sentence from Bo Saixi, it would make him seem far too spineless. Unless Bo Saixi paid a price, he would not compromise so easily.
Watching Lian Changsheng sink into thought, Bo Saixi could not help recalling the exact contents of the Sea God Lord's decree just now—The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King was a soul beast This Seat had deliberately preserved. It was a soul ring and trial prepared for the Sea God Inheritance's successor. Therefore, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King could not die now. Stop this Azure Wolf from killing it immediately.
Bo Saixi silently thought, Sea God Lord, with my current strength, I can't beat him. My appearance didn't attract him either. How am I supposed to stop him?
Just as Bo Saixi was distracted, Lian Changsheng replied, "I can do that. But if I release the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King just because you said so, wouldn't that make me look like a pushover?"
"Look at my mount's mother. See what it did to her?"
"It even stole the Azure Sea Demon Dragon Emperor's great opportunity—the True Dragon Essence."
As he spoke, Lian Changsheng pointed at the severely injured Azure Sea Demon Dragon Emperor.
"Uh..."
The Azure Sea Demon Dragon Emperor, who had been quietly watching with her daughter, froze when she suddenly heard Lian Changsheng mention her. She had merely been watching the show with her daughter, only for the show to suddenly involve her.
"Also, do you know how many treasures I spent to defeat the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King?"
"I used an unimaginable amount of precious herbs and treasures just to rapidly restore my Soul Power. Without those treasures restoring my Soul Power, I could never have been the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's opponent."
"Since you want to save the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, what about my losses? Will you compensate me?"
Lian Changsheng continued his miserable complaint. After all, because of the Whale Rubber incident, his sacred image had already been ruined. Why should he care about saving face now? He might as well maximize his gains and take whatever he could get.
The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King and the Azure Sea Demon Dragon Emperor mother and daughter, who knew the full story, stared at him in stunned disbelief.
"You!" The Deep Sea Demonic Whale King was about to angrily expose Lian Changsheng's shameless lies.
Then it saw Lian Changsheng staring at it with icy eyes, as if saying, Say another word, and I'll make sure you shut up forever.
At the same time, the Azure Sea Demon Dragon Emperor and her daughter thought, How shameless. Absolutely shameless.
Bo Saixi's face turned pale at his words. She had no idea whether what Lian Changsheng said was true.
She had arrived midway through the battle and truly did not know what had happened before her arrival. Hearing Lian Changsheng demand such enormous compensation, a sense of bleakness spread through her heart.
She had thought that after revealing her identity, Lian Changsheng would give her some face and release the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King; or perhaps, after seeing her beauty, he would take a liking to her and give her some face.
Yet Lian Changsheng seemed completely uninterested in everything about her and gave her no face whatsoever.
He was plainly saying that he had paid so much for the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, and she wanted him to let it go with just one sentence? Impossible. If she wanted him to release the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, she had to produce treasures that could compensate for his losses.
"Then, since Mr. Lian wants compensation before releasing the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King..."
"We will compensate Mr. Lian for his losses."
"May I ask Mr. Lian to release the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King now?"
Bo Saixi let out a deep sigh and spoke helplessly. There was no helping it—the world of soul masters respected strength above all else. She could not defeat the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King, yet Lian Changsheng had toyed with it at will and could even kill it. This showed just how powerful he was. He could be called truly invincible beneath the godly rank. With no ties to Lian Changsheng, trying to reason with him would only earn a response from his own "reason"—his fists.
So whether Lian Changsheng's claims were true or false, he was the strongest person present. Whatever he said was the truth. Even if it was a lie, it had to become the truth. After all, they needed something from Lian Changsheng and could not afford to offend him. They could only curry favor with him.
"Since you've put it that way, I'll release the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King." Having received the answer he wanted, Lian Changsheng waved his hand and dispelled the lightning cage trapping the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King and his wife.
The moment the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King saw the lightning cage around it vanish, it abandoned its wife without a second word and frantically swam into the distance without looking back, terrified that Lian Changsheng would change his mind and turn it into a dead fish.
Seeing this, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's wife stood there blankly instead of leaving. She simply watched as the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King gradually disappeared from her view, then actually swam toward Lian Changsheng.
"What's going on? Why aren't you leaving?"
Lian Changsheng watched the scene with a strange expression. Why was the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's wife swimming toward him? Why was she not leaving with the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King?
"Lord Soul Master, the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King has treated me so heartlessly. I no longer wish to have anything to do with him. From this day on, I have severed all ties with him. I only ask Mr. Lian to take me in. I am willing to assume human form and serve as your slave or maid."
As soon as she finished speaking, white light burst from her body, and her enormous form slowly vanished amid the dazzling radiance.
When the white light faded, a woman appeared in its place. She wore a blue dress, had long dark-blue hair, and warm, gentle eyes.
The woman in the blue dress was tall and shapely, with curves in all the right places. Her skin was delicate and fair, while her gentle features and tender red lips gave her a soft, beautiful charm that naturally inspired affection.
The woman in the blue dress walked before Lian Changsheng, knelt, and said, "Greetings, Master."
Seeing this, Lian Changsheng smiled. "Very well. Follow me from now on. Do you have a name?"
The woman in the blue dress replied, "In answer to Master, this servant has no name. I ask Master to bestow one upon me."
Hearing this, Lian Changsheng thought, Her name was never mentioned in the original work. Everyone simply called her the Demon Empress. Now that I've subdued her ahead of time, the Demon Empress from twenty thousand years later will cease to exist.
Lian Changsheng said, "Then your name will be Shui Rou."
Shui Rou respectfully replied, "Thank you, Master, for bestowing me a name."
Lian Changsheng sighed helplessly. "Call me sir from now on. And stop kneeling to me. I'm not used to that."
"Yes, sir." Shui Rou rose to her feet.
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