I'm a Human cultivator. Would you still cling to me?

Ao Yan had lost his heart, and all the bravado he'd shown before vanished in an instant.

He stared at the empty space in his chest. His expression shifted from blank shock to a twisted, utter terror.

"No... No!"

"I don't want to die! I haven't become the Ancient Dragon King yet. I don't want to die!"

"Xing Mu, save me!"

The enormous jellyfish floated in the seawater, its body shimmering with brilliant, multicolored light. It watched as Ao Yan lost his Indestructible Heart.

After a brief silence, she said, "Young Master, you gave this servant her life."

"This servant will return it to you now."

"Stars, please break through the chaos and confusion, and guide me to the Indestructible Heart."

Everything happened too quickly. Ao Jiao was keeping the Ghost-faced Dragon Nightmare pinned down. When she saw Xing Mu begin to use the Starry Sky Method, she hurried to her feet.

"Stop!"

But the Ghost-faced Dragon Nightmare dug his claws into Ao Jiao, holding her fast and preventing her from leaving.

The whole thing happened in a flash. There was no time to stop it.

Li Yan watched with his own eyes as the enormous jellyfish's brilliantly colored, transparent body began to wither like a flower.

He stared at the scene in disbelief. Xing Mu, one of the Four Evils, was actually setting herself alight, becoming a beacon for the Stars and guiding them!

The enormous jellyfish was visibly shrinking, melting away as rapidly as a burning candle.

Blind devotion.

The words surfaced in Li Yan's mind. He'd never imagined that the powerful Xing Mu would sacrifice herself for the Ghost-faced Dragon Nightmare.

"These days... people still sacrifice themselves for love?"

Li Yan had always been coldhearted, but seeing Xing Mu set herself alight to guide the Stars shook him to the core.

The jellyfish shrank until she was no bigger than a bowl, then burned herself away completely.

The Ghost-faced Dragon Nightmare's body, too, began turning into starlight. He was transported into the rift in the chaos to search for his Indestructible Heart.

Having burned herself away, Xing Mu spoke in a weak voice.

"Young Master, this servant... this servant can only help you this far."

"Before you leave, Young Master, would you be willing to tell this servant..."

"Could you love this servant, just once? Even if... even if it lasted no longer than a shooting star?"

Seeing that he'd been saved, the Ghost-faced Dragon Nightmare showed not the slightest remorse.

Just before he was transported away, he sneered, "Xing Mu, you're nothing but my servant."

"I'm a member of the Dragon Race, and you're nothing but a jellyfish that cultivated into a spirit."

"There's a gulf between us as wide as heaven and earth! Would a mighty dragon ever fall for a pet it raised? Ridiculous!"

With those words, Ao Yan was carried by the power of the Stars into the chaotic space to search for his Indestructible Heart.

Xing Mu had burned away her life to save him, and all she got in return was Ao Yan's cold, merciless honesty.

In the eyes of a dragon, this jellyfish was nothing but a plaything he'd raised.

Would a person fall in love with the cats and dogs they kept at home?

If they really did... well, then they'd be in the "benevolent longevity" district.

No matter how much a normal household loved its cats and dogs, they were still just pets.

And Ao Yan falling for a jellyfish? What a joke!

Having received her answer, Xing Mu gradually lost her vitality. Like a piece of trash drifting in the seawater, she floated along with the currents.

Who could have guessed that this transparent orb, no bigger than a bowl, was Xing Mu, one of the Four Evils?

Li Yan's expression was calm, but his feelings were a tangled mess.

He hadn't expected the Ghost-faced Dragon Nightmare to leave without even offering a few words of comfort.

It did fit the Ancient Dragons' single-minded nature. They said exactly what they thought, no matter how harsh it sounded.

Li Yan regretted that he hadn't managed to kill Ao Yan.

But his purpose in coming here had been to obtain the Dragon Race's secret treasure.

He'd already gotten the Coiled Dragon Pillar, and he'd also acquired the Yuan Xu Turtle Shell, one of the Four Evils.

The Yuan Xu Turtle Shell was as large as a giant island. It could easily serve as a mobile immortal abode.

He knew when to quit while he was ahead. They couldn't stay in the Eastern Wasteland Ruins any longer.

After all, White Jade Capital had already sent Yan Po Shan down to investigate the situation here. They had to get out, fast.

"Ao Jiao, let's go!"

Knowing Yan Po Shan would soon reach the Eastern Wasteland Ruins, Li Yan didn't dare delay any longer. If White Jade Capital caught up with them, Ao Jiao might lose her life.

"Okay!"

Ao Jiao knew Li Yan had gotten the treasure, so she stopped fighting.

But before they left, Ao Jiao carefully brought the transparent orb, no bigger than a bowl, with her.

Li Yan glanced at it curiously. "Isn't Xing Mu dead? Why are you taking her with you?"

"The Four Evils don't die so easily. Xing Mu's true form is an Immortal Jellyfish. As long as she isn't killed, she can live forever."

An Immortal Jellyfish?

Li Yan thought he'd read about this unusual deep-sea jellyfish somewhere before.

When it aged or suffered serious injuries, as long as it didn't die, its cells could reprogram themselves, reversing its development from the adult stage back to its juvenile polyp stage. In theory, it could live forever.

Li Yan looked at the transparent orb. It thumped like a heart, beating over and over.

Xing Mu had burned away everything, only to return to her infancy.

Perhaps Ao Jiao could tell what was puzzling him. She gave a bitter smile.

"Xing Mu and I go way back."

"She's a gentle girl, much too innocent. She obeyed my good-for-nothing older brother far too readily."

"To repay him for saving her life tens of thousands of years ago, Xing Mu stayed by my brother's side. But my brother... because they were different species, he was always cold toward her. He only ever treated her as a servant."

Ao Jiao, the giant dragon, breathed out a stream of hot air through her nostrils and sighed. "One old friend after another has fallen. There aren't many people left who I still know."

"Xing Mu isn't bad by nature. I can't bear to lose another old acquaintance from the past."

Having lived as long as Ao Jiao had, most of her acquaintances had long since died or been reincarnated.

To the Ancient Dragons, with their long lifespans, tens of thousands of years were no more than their youth.

Seeing Ao Jiao take the little orb, no bigger than a bowl, with her, Li Yan said nothing.

But a thought suddenly struck him, and he tentatively asked, "Your brother said he didn't feel anything for a jellyfish. Even after Xing Mu stayed by his side for so many years, could he really remain completely indifferent?"

Ao Jiao swam onward with Li Yan. She fell silent for a moment.

"I think that's normal. We Ancient Dragons aren't the Human Race."

"Humans are promiscuous. They like fooling around with the Demon Race and the Ghost Race."

"But we Ancient Dragons are only interested in our own kind. We very rarely marry outside the clan. We're nothing like Human cultivators."

Ao Jiao's words left Li Yan feeling both helpless and amused.

But she did seem to have a point.

The Human Race did have plenty of stories about love affairs with demons and intimate encounters with all kinds of nonhuman beings.

The most common examples were Xu Xian and the White Lady, not to mention tales of love that transcended the boundary between humans and ghosts...

After laughing, Li Yan slowly asked a question.

"If I told you I was a Human cultivator, would you still cling to me?"