Luckily, it was a girl—if it had been a burly man, Hua Jian might have lost half her life.
She gently pushed the girl off, gasped for air, then quickly shut her eyes again to avoid being noticed.
Playing dead was better than being targeted by those Spirit Kings.
She was waiting for a twist—don’t forget, there was another powerful person besides her and Linglong who had escaped the Dream, and that one hadn’t made any noise yet.
As long as A Meng made a move, everything would be fine!
Then, she could do what she did best—fishing in troubled waters.
Before long, Hua Jian heard a loud wingbeat, followed by a powerful aura in the upper part of the cave.
This aura was far above a normal Spirit King, but a bit short of a Ling Emperor.
Peak Spirit King? Was this A Meng’s true strength in reality?
Honestly, Hua Jian felt a bit let down. She had hoped that the Guardian Spirit Beast of such a difficult Secret Realm would at least be at Ling Emperor-level.
But as it turned out, it was just a Peak Spirit King. That meant the Treasure probably wasn’t anything amazing either.
At best, it was just Imperial-grade—not worth a fortune.
But it made sense. In the Dream, A Meng had fought those Spirit Kings valiantly but didn’t have the power to one-shot them; her real level matched that performance.
While everyone was distracted by the wingbeat above, Hua Jian quickly rolled off Linglong, laying low to watch the show.
A Meng’s true form looked like a giant butterfly, with colorful wings almost identical to those in the Dream World.
But unlike the sharp-edged wings in the Dream, her wings in reality looked slightly blurred at the edges, as if not entirely of this world.
As A Meng flapped her wings, Young Master Shenxu’s subordinates all looked terrified. If the Guardian Spirit Beast attacked, their fate would be grim.
And soon, that fear was validated.
A Meng, who had been sleeping above, suddenly dove straight at Young Master Shenxu and his group holding the Treasure Map.
But as she was about to touch them with her blade-like limbs, the Treasure Map suddenly shone brightly and bounced her away.
A Meng tumbled through the air, then tried again, only to be repelled by the golden light, bumping her head hard.
Seeing this, Young Master Shenxu’s group breathed a sigh of relief.
The Treasure Map was amazing—not only did it shield them from the dangerous mist, it kept the Guardian Spirit Beast at bay. Wonderful.
Too bad they only had a Treasure Map Fragment. They couldn’t reach the altar to claim the Soul Liquid above it.
They’d need two Treasure Maps to resist the pressure and claim the prize.
“Since this Spirit Beast can’t stop us, let’s go take it from that old man!”
Sure they were safe, Young Master Shenxu decided to act—opportunity couldn’t wait. He had to get the Treasure Map before anything changed or backup arrived.
His beautiful attendant, his most trusted Spirit King, picked him up, ensuring he, the weakest, wouldn’t hold the team back.
They charged at Xia Lao like wolves. Seeing this, Xia Lao could only flee with Chai Xianyun—he was outnumbered and couldn’t win.
Young Master Shenxu’s group unleashed Spirit Techniques madly, but Xia Lao dodged them all, though their stray attacks killed several unconscious cultivators on the ground.
These people were all desperadoes, with no hesitation about killing.
The smell of blood quickly drowned out the sweet scent of the mist, making the cave’s atmosphere terrifying.
The area where Hua Jian and Linglong had been lying was nearly hit, and the two barely managed to avoid the attack.
The Spirit Kings didn’t care at all, and the others nearby were turned to bloody pieces.
Linglong frowned at the sight; anyone with a shred of decency would find this hard to accept.
The two groups, hunter and hunted, paid no attention to the two girls who had stood up—their focus was entirely on each other.
Once Hua Jian and Linglong got to their feet, A Meng landed in front of them, tapping Hua Jian’s head with a claw as if to say hello.
“Can you still talk now?” Hua Jian asked, eyeing A Meng’s beast form.
Not being able to talk just felt off.
A Meng shook her head. Among Spirit Beasts, she was exceptionally gifted, having gained human-like intelligence at Peak Spirit King, but her body still made speech hard.
“I have a way—we can make a temporary Contract. With a Contract, a Spirit Beast and its contractor can communicate soul-to-soul!” Linglong quickly raised her hand, eager to help.
Many Spirit Masters raised Spirit Beasts as partners, and the Contract system was well-developed. As the Saintess of Yaochi, Linglong naturally knew some of it.
“But I can’t Contract with A Meng—only you can, Hua Jian.” Linglong scratched her head, embarrassed.
“The Contract I know can only be used between humans and Spirit Beasts. I’m not a complete human, so it won’t work for me.”
As a Little Dragon Girl, she had to learn special contract magic, but the Yaochi Sect Leader hadn’t taught her yet.
A Meng pointed at herself, then at Hua Jian, her big eyes full of protest.
‘Her?!’
Contracting with Linglong would be fine; her looks and behavior in the Dream made her trustworthy.
But Hua Jian?
Hua Jian’s label was “bad woman.”
“I’m not even picky about you, and now you’re picky about me? Want our help or not? They’re about to finish over there.” Hua Jian was wounded—when had she ever been treated like this?
Usually, people flocked to her. Today, a Spirit Beast actually turned her down—A Meng really had some nerve!
Did this mean they had to get involved no matter what?
A Meng looked over; Xia Lao was getting cornered.
Forget it—she’d listen to Linglong this time.
“The Contract doesn’t bind either side; either can break it at will. Its only use is letting A Meng and you communicate soul-to-soul. Any objections?”
Linglong bit her finger, prepping the ritual, and asked Hua Jian and A Meng.
Neither objected—if there were restrictions, they’d be less willing.
A Meng was the Guardian Spirit Beast of the Secret Realm Treasure; her main task was protecting it from outsiders.
She couldn’t really leave the Secret Realm with Hua Jian.
As for Hua Jian, she just found having a huge butterfly around awkward—better to go their separate ways after this.
Once both agreed, Linglong wrote the Contract using her Dragon Blood.
Looking at the unfamiliar writing, Hua Jian muttered, “Your handwriting is so bad, I can’t read it at all.”
“This is contract script. It’s normal if you can’t read it,” Linglong held back from giving her a chop, telling them to place their fingerprints on the Contract.
“Left or right doesn’t matter. This Contract is completely equal.”
These pure whiteboard Contracts were the easiest—unlike all those restrictive ones, even someone with just a basic understanding like Linglong could make one.
After all, its only purpose was to create a Contract so human and Spirit Beast could communicate soul-to-soul.
Hua Jian and A Meng pressed their prints on either side. As the blood contract ignited on its own, Hua Jian felt a faint link to A Meng.
‘Hey, can you hear me?’
She called out with her soul.
A Meng was still dazed, but after Hua Jian kicked her, she snapped back, replying, “Strange, I feel like I’ve changed somehow.”
“Huh? Linglong, did you add something to the Contract?” Hua Jian looked at Linglong. “A Meng says she feels different.”
Linglong shook her head—she hadn’t added anything, except maybe using better materials.
Using Dragon Blood made the Contract more stable and increased the backlash if someone broke it, but this contract was meant to be temporary and had no restrictions, so the Dragon Blood was pretty much pointless.
“It wasn’t me.”
“So A Meng, how exactly do you feel different?” After Linglong’s denial, Hua Jian turned to A Meng. If she felt different, what exactly had changed?
A Meng answered by action: in a burst of rainbow light, she suddenly shrank to the size of a normal butterfly, becoming much cuter.
When she landed on Hua Jian’s hair, she looked just like a beautiful hair ornament—no one would guess she was a Peak Spirit King Spirit Beast.
And for some reason, my obsession seems to have changed. I was supposed to guard that Seed until it sprouted, but after the Contract, my obsession feels like it’s shifted to guarding you.
A Meng’s voice was puzzled; she didn’t know why, but she could sense the change.
Now, looking at Hua Jian was like how she looked at the un-sprouted Seed before.
“Ew, that’s giving me goosebumps. Let’s hurry and solve the problem—Chai Clan won’t last much longer.” Hua Jian shivered, suspecting Linglong really had added something extra, otherwise A Meng wouldn’t act so brainwashed.
Just a while ago she looked down on her—now she wanted to guard her? Was that right?
Hua Jian didn’t deny that she had a unique charm to Spirit Beasts, but surely not to this extent?
“I tried earlier—can’t attack them. That golden light blocks all things from the Secret Realm.”
“So, what can you do, or do you know what kind of Spirit Beast you are?” Hua Jian asked as she loaded a Big Air Bullet into her Spirit Tool.
Asking a Spirit Beast if it knew its own species was rather weird, but Hua Jian hadn’t realized how odd it sounded.
“Um, Spirit Beasts usually don’t know their own names unless a human has told them,” Linglong whispered.
Spirit Beasts get their names from humans. If they never hear it from people, how could they know what they are?
“Oh, right!”
“My power works mainly on the soul—I can attack souls in the Dream World. In the real world…I can’t do much.” A Meng explained.
Her abilities worked hand in hand with the Secret Realm’s special rules—the colorful mist brought people into Dreams, and she could destroy their souls there, converting the energy to feed the Seed.
This had gone on for who knew how long. When there were no intruders, she would slumber endlessly.
But this time, something went wrong—someone had blocked the mist, leaving her powerless and seeking help from others.
“That’s pretty useless. I’ll try knocking them out; you get ready to rip their souls apart.” Hua Jian discreetly raised her gun, aiming at the celebrating Young Master Shenxu.
Just as she was about to pull the trigger, the woman carrying Young Master Shenxu turned and looked straight at her.
They’d been discovered? Hua Jian’s heart jumped, then saw the woman give her a wink.
Whoa, was she flirting with her?!
No, something was definitely off—Hua Jian quickly lowered her gun, telling Linglong and A Meng, “That woman is trouble. She saw me about to attack, but didn’t warn her master—instead she smiled at me!”
That smile seemed to say, “Little sister, don’t mess up my plan. Once I’m done, I’ll give you a good reward.”
Don’t ask how Hua Jian read all that from a wink—she just could.
The style made Hua Jian think of a ridiculous but plausible theory—could that woman be from Wanhuagu?
Only Wanhuagu people would act like that!
As she prepared to share her guess with Linglong, the Secret Realm changed once again.
A third beam of golden light descended from the heavens!