A long snout, half-open, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth and a blood-red tongue.

  Its slightly fred nostrils exhaled wisps of translucent vapor with a steady huffing sound. A pair of dark, slit-pupiled eyes, even deeper in color than its scales, moved slowly within their elongated sockets. And atop its bare skull sat two grotesquely twisted horns, their shapes strange and unsettling.

  "What an ugly beast!" The words escaped my lips before I could stop them. My sense of aesthetics insisted that even the ugliest bck beetles on Mount Fulong were better-looking than this thing.

  What was this creature?

  It had to be the one that insulted us earlier, the one that called us fools. And that deadly fireball? Definitely it's doing it.

  An obnoxious, hideous creature—yet so unbearably arrogant!

  As soon as I finished speaking, its massive head suddenly turned in my direction. Its pupils stopped moving, and its eyelids lowered slightly, narrowing into two thin purple slits.

  I had a bad feeling—it must have heard me. Not good.

  Without hesitation, I darted behind him. If this creature got angry and decided to hurl another fireball at me, I'd be in serious trouble. I might be a tree yaokai, but I was definitely not fireproof.

  "The dragons of the Eastern Sea wield both water and fire. Since you can stir the waters and spew fmes, it seems you must have ties to the Eastern Sea."

  He spoke slowly and deliberately, arms crossed over his chest, addressing the beast without a hint of fear.

  "Hmph." The creature's face remained expressionless, but a deep, rumbling chuckle echoed from its throat. "Seems you know a thing or two. But let me give you some advice—stay out of my business. That little warning just now was me being merciful. Take your foolish girl and get out of Daizhou City immediately, and I might just spare your lives!"

  His extreme rudeness didn't seem to bother him at all, but I was livid at being called a foolish girl.

  No one—no one—had ever dared to call me stupid. Not even that detestable Jiujue, who had begrudgingly admitted to my intelligence. And now this hideous, uninvited yaokai thought it could insult me?!

  I was just about to sh out when he shot me a warning gnce, silently stopping me in my tracks.

  "Born a dragon, yet instead of aiding the Dragon King in governing the seas and bringing rain to bless the people, you come to the mortal realm, wreaking havoc and taking lives. Your crimes are beyond forgiveness!"

  His expression remained calm, but his tone had lost its earlier lightness.

  "If you still have any sense of remorse, surrender now and return with me to the heavens to face judgment!"

  I stood at the back, stomach full of suppressed anger, eyes sharpened, waiting to see how he would subdue this filthy creature.

  “Hahahaha.” It ughed uncontrolbly, every scale on its body trembling. After its ughter subsided, it sneered, “And what if I refuse to repent?”

  “Hehe.” He chuckled as well. “Then I'm afraid you won't be leaving here in one piece today.”

  “The Dragon King of the Eastern Sea himself couldn't subdue me with his Dragon-Binding Chains, and you, a mere pale-faced boy, think you can?” Its eyes widened slightly, its tone dripping with disdain and contempt. “The one who won't be leaving in one piece might just be you.”

  “Dragon-Binding Chains?!” At those words, his eyebrows arched slightly. “I once heard that a wicked dragon had been sealed in the ice prison of the Eastern Sea Dragon Pace for six hundred years. But twenty years ago, that dragon managed to escape. The Eastern Sea was searched for years, yet no trace of it was ever found. So, you've been hiding here, in this remote and desote Daizhou.”

  “You sure know a lot.” It lowered its head and licked its cws. “I don't care who you are. Just don't bother dreaming about capturing me for glory—you won't get the chance.”

  “Is that so?” He let out a cold ugh. “Well, we’ll just have to find out.”

  “Heh heh…” A chilling chuckle rumbled from the creature's nose, sending a shiver down the spine. Its narrow purple pupils widened considerably, filled with unrestrained arrogance. “Since you seem so eager to die, I might as well grant your wish.”

  With those words, it pressed its cws into the ground, lowering its neck as a deep growl rumbled from its throat. Though not loud, the sound carried immense force, shaking the very sky uncontrolbly. The sheer tension of impending danger was enough to make one's heart pound in terror.

  The air crackled with hostility—swords drawn, bows bent.

  My chest tightened. A fierce battle was inevitable.

  “Arrogant fool,” he murmured, his tone as rexed as ever.

  Unfortunately, his unwavering composure did nothing to steady me. My rising worry and fear drowned out the defiant satisfaction I had felt earlier, hoping he would teach that creature a lesson. Now that they were truly about to fight, that petty wish had completely vanished.

  The dull ache persisting in my foot kept reminding me just how powerful that creature's attacks were. And to make things worse, I had just heard it mention something about a Dragon King and some kind of binding chains that couldn't even hold it back.

  Dragon King—"King" was a title reserved for truly formidable beings, wasn't it? If even a king couldn't subdue this creature, then dealing with it was definitely no simple task.

  If I still had a choice right now, I would rather he pull me away and retreat three steps—no, thirty steps—without hesitation. I wouldn't care if that massive creature mocked us as cowards or ughed at us for running away. None of that would matter.

  His safety meant more to me than anything else.

  The enemy's aggressive aura, its overwhelming power—sure, they were terrifying, but only for a moment. They could startle me, but they couldn't shake me to my core.

  But he…

  Just the thought of him getting hurt made my heart feel like it had been scorched by ten fireballs, burned to a crisp with pain.

  “Let go… Can we not fight it?” I tugged at his sleeve, my voice trembling with quiet desperation, pleading with him.

  He turned to look at me. “Don’t be afraid. It absolutely won't be able to hurt you.”

  “I'm not—”

  Just as I was about to expin, he suddenly pressed a fingertip against the center of my forehead.

  A bone-chilling cold spread from that single point, rushing through my entire body like a tidal wave. In an instant, it felt as though I had plunged into a frozen ke in the dead of winter—an unbearable, piercing cold that was ten, no, a hundred times worse than when I had fallen into the mountain stream that winter years ago.

  And yet, despite the cold, it wasn't painful. An unseen force seeped into every inch of my skin, flowing gently through my body and meridians. My ragged breaths gradually steadied, and an unfamiliar lightness filled my limbs. Even the lingering pain and wounds on my foot faded away, dissolving beneath the current of this mysterious energy.

  What had he done to me?

  This sensation… it was nothing short of miraculous.

  “The fire-repelling seal will protect you from any fire-reted attacks.” He withdrew his hand, lowering his voice with a soft chuckle. “I know you’re afraid of its fireballs. Though it won't get the chance to hurt you again, this protection should put you more at ease. Stay here and don't move. Once I've dealt with this beast, we'll go home.”

  So… he was casting a spell to protect me.

  I had thought he was too focused on confronting that creature to even notice my injured foot.

  Touching my now ice-cold forehead, I stared at him in a daze. “Then… be careful. That thing really does seem strong.”

  “Heh, you sure do dote on that foolish girl.” A sneering voice drifted over from the other side. “But if you think a mere fire-repelling seal is enough to keep her safe, you're far too naive.”

  Yet, time passed, and none of the catastrophic sounds I had anticipated came.

  Instead, all I felt was a cool breeze, carrying a familiar scent, drifting gently to my side.

  "Heh, why are you covering your eyes?!"

  A rge, warm hand wrapped around my trembling wrist and gently pulled it down.

  Huh?!

  He's back?!

  I opened my eyes in surprise, and sure enough—there he was, standing before me, unscathed. His expression was calm, his lips curved in a faint smile, as if he had never been in any danger at all.

  "Thank heavens! I thought that yaokai would hurt you." Relief flooded through me, and I wiped away the fine beads of sweat that had formed on my forehead.

  "It may be strong, but injuring me is no easy feat." He lifted his gaze toward where the enemy stood, his brows knitting together slightly. "It seems I have no choice but to wound it today."

  After all this time fighting… had he not even used his full strength yet?!

  I was stunned.

  "You managed to use a substitution technique in an instant… Which one of those old immortals from the Heavenly Realm do you serve?"

  The evil creature growled in frustration, its dripping wet cws trembling with fury.

  The attack it had been so sure would take his life had ended up grasping nothing but an illusion, a wisp of mist that vanished upon contact.

  "And haven't you lived for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years? Doesn't that make you one of the ‘old immortals’ yourself?" He smirked, casually throwing the insult back at the creature before his tone turned serious. "Wicked dragon, surrender now while you still can."

  At his words, the creature's glowing eyes flickered. Suspended in midair, its massive body rose and fell slightly—no longer as reckless and arrogant as before. It seemed that this seemingly insignificant opponent had finally shaken it to the core.

  For a long moment, it said nothing. Then, as if reaching some decision, it lowered its head and sneered.

  "Heh… Surrender? Not a chance! You'll never catch me."

  What?!

  What trick was it trying to pull now?

  I panicked. This unrepentant beast had committed grave sins, yet instead of admitting its guilt, it acted as if it was justified.

  Just as I was fuming, the evil creature suddenly threw its head back and let out a thunderous roar. Its massive body tilted upward, cws tearing through the air as it bolted in the opposite direction like a streak of lightning.

  Thick, inky-bck clouds surged out of nowhere, rolling in to shroud its form completely, hiding every trace of its escape.