Gu Yue Stood at Attention, Crying and Sniffling. Lin Yan Took One Look at Her: "Kind of Cute."

Gu Yue shuddered in fright.

Her body reacted faster than her brain, instinctively straightening her upper body.

Her two short little legs trembled as they braced against the stove.

The fat on her belly sagged downward, and she could not stand steadily no matter how she tried.

In her panic, her tail swept wildly across the floor.

Only by relying on her tail for support did she barely manage to straighten up.

Her two front claws overlapped in front of her round, fair belly.

Her shoulders were still twitching.

Tears hung at the corners of her eyes, and the tip of her nose was red.

Her mouth was pursed as she let out faint sobs.

Aggrieved.

Yet standing perfectly straight.

Lin Yan stared blankly at the fat dragon trembling as she tried her hardest to stand at attention.

Kind of cute.

Lin Yan shook that thought out of his head.

He focused his spiritual power and sent out a thread of it.

It slowly seeped into Gu Yue's body.

The instant his spiritual power touched her dragon body,

he sensed an extremely faint, yet undeniably existing, fluctuation of Soul Power.

It was too weak.

Lin Yan withdrew his spiritual power and calculated inwardly.

A Soul Ring condensed from Soul Power of this intensity

would at most be a white Ten-Year Soul Ring.

It would be of limited help to him.

But if he could destroy a few more eras,

ripen the batch of mushrooms he had just thrown in,

and harvest a wave of energy to feed back into her,

he should barely be able to push her to the threshold of a Hundred-Year Soul Beast.

Still, even if it was only a Ten-Year Soul Ring, it would be enough.

In this era, the Spirit Pagoda monopolized everything.

A living wild Soul Beast was itself priceless.

Even if she could not form a contract with him, simply selling her would earn him a considerable sum.

Of course, it would be best if he could contract with her directly.

After all, she was the strongest creation to come out of his culture dish.

She could barely count as his own daughter.

Keep the profits in the family.

"Can you become a Soul Spirit?"

Lin Yan stared at her and asked, word by word.

"Can you form a contract with me?"

Gu Yue froze.

A Soul Spirit?

He wanted me to become his Soul Spirit?

He wanted to form a contract with me?

Her eyes widened into perfect circles.

Her mouth fell slightly open.

What kind of joke was this!

I am the mighty Silver Dragon King, ruler of the Soul Beasts, half of the Dragon God, the World-Devouring Dragon—

Even if I die, even if you stew me into soup, even if you strip off my scales and sell them for money,

I will never submit!

It could not be denied.

This body of hers harbored a fear of Lin Yan etched deep into its genes.

That fear did not come from a difference in strength.

It came from something more fundamental, more ancient—

like a rabbit seeing an eagle, like an antelope seeing a leopard.

It was the mark of a natural enemy engraved into the bloodline by millions of years of evolution.

Her body trembled whenever it saw him.

Her instincts screamed at her to flee whenever she faced him.

But she was a proud dragon!

How could a proud dragon become a human's Soul Spirit?

I was born between heaven and earth. How could I live forever beneath another's rule!

A surge of heroic spirit rose from Gu Yue's heart.

It overwhelmed her fear, overwhelmed her trembling instincts.

She abruptly raised her head, puffed out her chest, and opened her mouth.

Letting out a—

"Meow!"

—a soft, childish yet forceful roar filled with unmistakable refusal.

Then she shook her head hard.

Her chin was raised high.

Tears she had not wiped away still hung at the corners of her eyes.

But her expression had become proud and untouchable.

Lin Yan watched her like this.

Expressionless, he fell silent for two seconds.

Then he reached out and picked up the kitchen knife beside him.

Bang!

The kitchen knife chopped into the stove beside Gu Yue.

Gu Yue froze.

The pride on her face was shattered into pieces by that strike.

In its place rose terror from the depths of her marrow.

Her body began trembling uncontrollably.

Her tail puffed up like a feather duster.

"Then I can only strip off your scales and sell them for money."

Lin Yan's voice was calm.

As if he were merely stating an objective fact.

"Your scales are pretty good. They are hard enough, and they can condense elements."

"They should sell for a few thousand."

Gu Yue: "???"

A few thousand???

My magnificent Silver Dragon King scales are worth only a few thousand in your eyes???

No, no, no.

The price was not the point—

The point was that you wanted to strip off my scales???

While I'm alive???

"Meowowow—!!!"

Gu Yue let out a shriek.

Her body reacted before her mind could.

She sprang from the stove, landing on all fours.

Then she sprinted madly toward the window.

Freedom!

She wanted freedom!

She wanted to escape this devil!

The window was right before her—

Moonlight streamed in and spilled across the windowsill.

Like a path of light leading to freedom—

Thud!

She slammed headfirst into some invisible barrier.

The barrier could not be seen or touched.

But it was harder than a steel plate.

Her entire body crashed into it.

Her scales scraped against the spatial barrier with a muffled sound.

Then she was bounced back.

She landed sprawled on the floor.

Her tail remained frozen in midair in the pose of her sprint.

Spatial Sealing.

Those four words flashed through Gu Yue's mind.

Lin Yan crouched down.

He poked her belly with a pair of chopsticks.

It was soft and squishy.

The tips of the chopsticks pressed a little dent into it.

Then bounced back.

"This isn't my fault either."

His tone carried a matter-of-fact calmness.

"You ate my mushrooms."

"You destroyed my world."

"And you peed in my pot."

"I—DID—NOT—PEE!!!"

A shrill, tearful, childish voice exploded through the kitchen.

Gu Yue abruptly sprang up from the floor.

Her limbs braced against the ground as she tilted her head back and glared at Lin Yan.

Her chest heaved violently.

Her tail cracked against the floor.

Every scale stood on end.

The entire dragon radiated the hysteria of someone driven into a corner.

She spoke.

Human speech.

Her voice was that of a clear, bright young woman.

But it cracked from excessive agitation.

She sounded like a mix between a cat whose tail had been stepped on and a little girl who had not been weaned.

"I didn't pee! I did not pee!! That was Elemental Purification! Radiance of seven-colored elements! How many times do I have to tell you!!!"

"I'm a dragon! A noble dragon!! Dragons do not need to excrete!!!"

After shouting that last sentence, her voice completely gave out.

All that remained was her ragged panting and tears swirling in her eyes.

Then she saw that Lin Yan's expression had not changed at all.

He simply looked at her with those utterly placid eyes.

As though he were looking at a puffed-up hamster.

Gu Yue's anger suddenly deflated.

Because she realized—

He simply did not care.

Whether it was urine or Elemental Purification,

whether she was a noble dragon—

none of it mattered before this boy.

All he wanted was the result.

Either a contract, or stripping her scales.

There was no third option.

"I don't care."

Just as expected.

Lin Yan's voice rang out, neither salty nor bland.

"Who could even drink something that colorful?"

He drew back his chopsticks.

Then he held up two fingers in front of Gu Yue.

"Now I'm giving you two choices."

The first finger.

"First, I strip off your scales and sell them for money."

The second finger.

"Second, become my Soul Spirit."

He paused, then added,

"From now on, as long as I have a mouthful of soup, you definitely won't go without."