“A fake is a fake. No matter how convincing your imitation, you’re not of dragon lineage.” Yun Ya couldn’t even be bothered to open his eyelids. “You may fool others, but you can’t fool me. Once I knew you were false, the rest was easy to deduce.”
“You’re fundamentally metal—this fact cannot be changed. Therefore, every monster you transform into carries metal somewhere on its body.”
Feng Miaojun let out a soft exclamation of surprise, then realized it was indeed true.
The statues in the River God temple all carried weapons; the monsters that fought the Wei Kingdom cultivators all wielded swords and halberds; even the white flood dragon that ambushed everyone had large silver fangs. Thinking about it now, no matter what form this River God took, in the end, it still relied on its true body to harm enemies. So every creature it created was false, merely having the appearance and texture of the real thing. What truly controlled everything was the alligator demon’s blade, the assassin’s dagger, and the white flood dragon’s silver fangs… all these were the liquid metal monster’s true form.
The advantage of this method was obvious—opponents would attack the vital points of the illusion while ignoring that their true enemy was merely an unremarkable weapon!
Having figured out this key point, Feng Miaojun admired Yun Ya even more. There were many details she couldn’t have connected, yet Yun Ya could discover the truth from the slightest clues. For a man to be so attentive to detail, how could she not feel uneasy with the little secret she kept in her heart?
“So, our biggest gain from this journey is a liquid metal monster?” she summarized.
“A liquid metal monster that has merged with a mirage pearl—it can be counted as two treasures,” Yun Ya said, stroking his chin. “But I still feel we’ve overlooked something.”
She felt the same way—their trip to Cao Village seemed somewhat unfulfilling.
The liquid metal monster looked resentful. “Am I not enough?”
It had transformed into a small marten with soft, fine fur without a single imperfection. Feng Miaojun couldn’t stop caressing it, no wonder Cao Qinghe enjoyed holding it all day.
“Liquid metal monsters have intelligence, but I’ve never seen one as chatty as you,” Yun Ya gazed at it thoughtfully. “Have you had any extraordinary encounters before?” Opening one’s spiritual apertures was the first step in cultivation, something difficult even for ordinary beasts to achieve, let alone metals and stones. However, liquid metal monsters were already rare in the world, so he wasn’t certain if this one was an exception.
“I don’t remember,” the liquid metal monster replied in a muffled voice. “From the moment I gained consciousness and could form memories, I already knew this much.”
The differences between individual beings were indeed vast. Perhaps this particular liquid metal monster was special?
Yun Ya’s fingertips lightly tapped the table. “Liquid metal is rare. What kind of magical tool should we make with it?”
He said “make,” not “transform.” Feng Miaojun immediately understood his meaning. “How about crafting a soft whip?”
“That works,” this was indeed a good idea. “Liquid metal’s flexibility and extensibility are far superior to other materials, with the perfect balance of hardness and softness.”
Feng Miaojun stroked the marten’s thick fur with a tone of regret: “It’s just a pity to waste the spiritual awareness it’s developed.” Even knowing it was fake, the texture was still first-rate.
The liquid metal monster listened with growing unease and hurriedly said, “Wait, wait a moment, I don’t want to die!”
Feng Miaojun was greatly surprised: “Do liquid metal beings also have concepts of ‘life and death’?”
Yun Ya remained composed: “Don’t worry. After wiping out its consciousness, it will still retain the properties of liquid metal and can be forged into a divine weapon.”
The small marten, hearing this, had all its soft fur flatten down, appearing very dejected. “Alright, I surrender. I acknowledge you both as my masters. Please don’t kill me!” If these two truly wanted to forge it into a divine weapon, they would have already erased its consciousness, so why waste so many words with it?
By obediently submitting, it might still avoid much suffering.
“You can also acknowledge masters?” She had only heard of magical tools accepting masters; for intelligent beings, this was supposedly very difficult.
“I can.” It transformed back into its liquid metal form, a mercury-like flowing liquid metal. It gestured for both of them to extend their hands, and dropped a bead of mercury into each palm.
The liquid dried instantly in the air, turning a transparent bright gold.
These were… gold beans?
“This is my pledge of allegiance,” the liquid metal monster looked somewhat withered, clearly creating these two gold beans wasn’t easy. “They’re separated from my core. Any damage to them will be reflected on my true body—AHHHH!”
Before it could finish speaking, Yun Ya’s palm ignited with a small flame of true fire, heating the gold bean until it glowed red.
The liquid metal bounced up sharply, its entire body also emitting red light with a hissing sound. It wailed loudly, “Stop burning! Stop burning! I’m going to melt!”
It suddenly became scalding hot, burning a large hole in the leather couch. Even Feng Miaojun at the side felt the radiating heat as if sitting beside a furnace. She quickly said, “Stop! Don’t burn the carriage.” She picked up the tea from the table and extinguished the flames on the couch.
Only then did Yun Ya withdraw his true fire and the liquid metal monster was doused from head to toe. Fortunately, its temperature was high, and the tea instantly evaporated into steam.
Liquid metal monster: “…” This master was too cruel. How could it continue living like this in the future?
Yun Ya, unaware he’d been labeled, just held the liquid metal in his hand and examined it carefully: “It works effectively.” This was equivalent to holding the liquid metal monster’s lifeline in their hands; from now on it would have to be completely obedient. Though liquid metal was an excellent material for forging divine weapons, a liquid metal creature craftier than humans was unique in the world, and erasing its consciousness would be too wasteful.
“Can you transform into jewelry?”
“Yes.”
“Transform into a pair of earrings, dragon-shaped ones. Don’t turn into a flood dragon again.” He frowned. “Flood dragons are too ugly.”
Though its aesthetic taste was questioned, the liquid metal still divided itself in two and obediently transformed into two earrings. The pendants took the form of silver dragons half-hidden among clouds, particularly exquisite.
“The horns are too sharp. You’re transforming into a dragon, not a mountain goat.”
“Make the nose a bit shorter.”
Feng Miaojun and the liquid metal monster: “…” An earring smaller than an earthworm, was it necessary to be so picky?
Just as Feng Miaojun was enjoying watching Yun Ya display his hair-splitting personality to the extreme, he took four tiny rubies and placed them as dragon eyes, then said to her: “Raise your head.”
Before she could even complete her thought, her body had already followed his command, lifting her delicate face and conveniently brushing her hair behind her ears.
He carefully helped her put on the earrings, his movements unusually clumsy. Her earlobe was small and rosy, a lovely teardrop shape. Yun Ya’s gaze traveled downward, seeing her gracefully curved neck and the delicate collarbone inside her collar. Further down was strictly covered by clothing, though that hilly landscape seemed to have risen a bit.
Hmm, when did she start growing up? He seemed to have never noticed.
“Is it done?” Feng Miaojun shifted uncomfortably. He was too close; the man’s breath brushed against her sensitive ear, making it unbearably itchy.
His fingers left that warm spot, and then he lowered his head to be level with her gaze, examining carefully.
He stared so intently that Feng Miaojun’s face grew slightly warm. She asked softly, “Does it look good?”