This was a secluded mountain valley nestled within the Vast Mountains. The forest was lush and verdant, green vines entwined around the trees, and a clear stream babbled through the valley. Not far from the stream stood a Small Wooden House in silent solitude.
At the same time, a purple figure flew swiftly over from afar through the azure sky, carrying an unidentified blue object. She finally stopped above the valley and slowly descended onto an open space before the wooden house.
Yan Qingcheng slowly set Bai He down on the ground, then withdrew the Undying Sky Wings behind her.
"Are you all right?"
Seeing Bai He's pale face, Yan Qingcheng could not help asking softly.
"I'm fine, hehe..."
Bai He forced a smile, though his legs were still trembling.
After this experience, Bai He felt that every bit of his fear of heights had been utterly used up. Put simply, he had gotten used to it...
Being carried by a slender belt at an altitude of ten thousand meters for over half an hour, he had personally experienced what it meant to hang between life and death. That thrill was more intense than anything he had felt since the day he was born.
"Then come inside!"
Hearing Bai He say that he was fine, Yan Qingcheng nodded. After telling him to follow her, she turned and walked into the Small Wooden House.
Seeing Yan Qingcheng enter, Bai He pulled himself together and followed her inside.
It was only a small wooden house, no more than three or four meters in length, width, and height, yet everything within it was exceptionally well furnished.
There were bamboo chairs, bamboo tubes for drinking water, bamboo chopsticks for eating, as well as a small bronze mirror and a smoothly polished wooden bed.
"Sit."
Yan Qingcheng gestured invitingly to Bai He, then took a seat in a bamboo chair beside her.
"Oh, thank you."
Seeing how polite Yan Qingcheng was being, Bai He suddenly felt somewhat at a loss. By rights, was he not supposed to be a captive? Why was she treating him so courteously?
Bai He felt a little bewildered, but he sat down in a bamboo chair as well.
"Tell me, little brother. Who are you?"
Sitting upright in her bamboo chair, Yan Qingcheng questioned Bai He.
"Sister Yan, what are you talking about? Didn't I already say it? My name is Bai He. I accidentally ended up on this island, and my identity is naturally that of a Sailor who came along with the ship! A lucky survivor whose vessel was destroyed by the Eight-Armed Evil Dragon! Hehe!"
Bai He replied with a strained smile.
The moment Yan Qingcheng asked about his identity, he instinctively did not want to tell her the truth.
"Hehehe! Little brother Bai He, don't lie to me. Your strength has already reached the Mortal Shedding Realm, and you're clearly exceptionally talented. How could someone like you possibly become a Sailor? If you keep lying to me, I'm going to get angry!"
Yan Qingcheng let out a charming giggle, then reached out and hooked a finger beneath Bai He's chin, lifting it as she breathed softly, "And the form you displayed before me not long ago gave me almost exactly the same feeling as the Eight-Armed Evil Dragon I faced back then. Not to mention the lifelike Eight-Armed Evil Dragon tattoo on your body. Tell me, little brother Bai He. Who exactly are you?"
"I... I'm just a Sailor! This Eight-Armed Evil Dragon tattoo must be for protection, to pray for the Sea God's blessing! Hehe..."
Bai He wiped the cold sweat from his brow, but still did not reveal the truth.
"In ancient legends, the Eight-Armed Evil Dragon is a vicious beast that stirs up storms upon the sea. I've never heard of anyone tattooing an Eight-Armed Evil Dragon on their body. Are they tired of living?"
Yan Qingcheng slowly straightened up, folding her jade-like arms across her chest. Her large, bright, spirited eyes, like stars, quietly stared at Bai He. Her long black hair drifted gently in the air, and a faint fragrance wafted to his nose.
Yet Bai He did not feel the slightest hint of lust. Instead, he felt an inexplicable pressure.
"I..."
Bai He's lips moved, but the prepared words in his heart would not come out no matter what.
After a long while, Bai He let out a helpless inward sigh. He could no longer deceive her, so he ultimately decided to reveal part of the truth.
"I actually came here after Shattering the Void from the Human Realm..."
Bai He told Yan Qingcheng of his origins.
"The Human Realm?"
A trace of surprise flashed through Yan Qingcheng's eyes, but there was even more confusion. In her perception, Bai He could not possibly possess the strength to Shatter the Void!
Seeing the shock in Yan Qingcheng's eyes, Bai He briefly explained why he had come to the Realm of Longevity. He had merely hitched a ride, so there was no need to think too much about it!
"And then? Who are you? Why do you carry the aura of the Eight-Armed Evil Dragon?"
Yan Qingcheng continued questioning him.
"Uh..."
Bai He paused. He could not say it was because of the system within him and the Heavenly Tablet Mystic Skill, but he could not say nothing either. He could only embellish the truth a little! Bai He gritted his teeth.
"Actually... it's because I have dragon blood in my body!"
"Sister Yan, you should know that other races can take human form as well. My family is a Dragon Blood Family that inherited dragon blood. But after generation upon generation of inheritance, in the spiritual-energy-starved land of Jiuzhou, my family's bloodline became thinner and thinner."
"But after coming to the Realm of Longevity, where the spiritual energy far surpasses that of Jiuzhou, and especially after arriving on Dragon Island—perhaps because I returned to our ancestral homeland—the dragon blood within me began to awaken. And because the source of my bloodline was the Eight-Armed Evil Dragon, the original form of that bloodline appeared upon my body!"
Bai He spun a wild tale, explaining why he possessed the Eight-Armed Evil Dragon's aura. At first hearing, it sounded rather plausible, but it was nothing like the truth.
Yan Qingcheng merely watched Bai He quietly as he spoke, as if saying, Hehe, keep making things up.
"Is what you said true?"
After Bai He finished, Yan Qingcheng finally spoke.
"Of course it's true!"
Bai He answered righteously. What he had just said was already everything he could reveal without crossing his bottom line.
Anything more? Impossible!
"Then can you explain why the tattoo on your body bears the appearance of an Accompanying Dragon King? Can the status of an Accompanying Dragon King also be passed down through bloodline inheritance?"
With a faint smile that was not quite a smile, Yan Qingcheng pointed at the large tear in Bai He's clothes over his chest. The Eight-Armed Evil Dragon tattoo within had a head that closely resembled the Ancestral Dragon, rather than the Eight-Armed Evil Dragon's original savage crocodile-dragon head. This was an obvious trait of an Accompanying Dragon King!
"That must be because they saw my extraordinary talent, so they bestowed upon me the status of Accompanying Dragon King of this generation's Eight-Armed Evil Dragon clan!"
Bai He argued stubbornly.
Only then did he realize that the Eight-Armed Evil Dragon Soul within him was actually an Accompanying Dragon King. Thinking back, there did seem to be an Evil Dragon King in the story, and it really was the dragon egg Xiao Chen had spared—the very dragon egg he had consumed!
"So you really do know these things!"
Hearing Bai He's defense, Yan Qingcheng suddenly said expressionlessly.
Bai He was immediately startled. Logically speaking, someone from the Human Realm should not know about Accompanying Dragon Kings, even if he were a descendant of a Dragon Blood Family.
"That's perfectly normal! I am, after all, a descendant of the Dragon Blood Family. There must be records about this in my clan!"
Bai He could only forcefully patch the hole in his story. As long as it sounded logical on the surface, he could make up the rest as circumstances demanded.
Yan Qingcheng quietly watched Bai He. Bai He stared back at her without yielding. At this point, all he could do was stubbornly hold his ground.
"All right. Let's say what you said is true... Would you be willing to follow me, then?"
Yan Qingcheng nodded noncommittally at Bai He's words, then her expression abruptly changed.
"Whether you desire peerless beauties, endless wealth, or divine weapons and treasured manuals, I can satisfy you!"
A faint smile appeared at the corners of Yan Qingcheng's lips. Combined with her devastatingly beautiful face and dreamlike, lively aura, it left Bai He momentarily entranced.
"Then what if I want you?"
The words suddenly slipped out of Bai He's mouth.
Before you continue