“This approach does him no good whatsoever. He would surely have arrested Third Brother and taken him back to the royal capital to press charges. How could the situation be as calm as it is now?” Mo Ti Zhun had always been looking for opportunities to bring down the Li family. This time he had finally caught a weak point and would certainly exploit it to the fullest. How could he possibly allow things to remain so peaceful?

Li Shi Long’s chest heaved as he slowly exhaled the frustration in his heart. These principles—how could he not understand them? But knowing and enduring were two different matters. With his son’s whereabouts unknown, what father could remain composed?

“Father, what is the second piece of news?”

“It came from the Princess Consort: Mo Ti Zhun went to see His Majesty and told him he had taken on an eleven-year-old girl as his new disciple. His Majesty was greatly pleased and bestowed numerous rewards, including a residence for his disciple right next to the Imperial Mentor’s mansion.”

Li Yuan Pei’s eyebrows furrowed slightly: “Is Mo Ti Zhun’s new disciple so pleasing to His Majesty? His previous three disciples never received such treatment.” It wasn’t unusual for the Jin King to add congratulatory gifts when the Imperial Mentor took on a disciple, given his position, but such lavish rewards?

Li Shi Long waved his hand dismissively: “Wang Shi Hao’s assassiKingdom attempt on Mo Ti Zhun has surely been reported to His Majesty by now. His Majesty’s rewards might be intended to appease Mo Ti Zhun. However, the timing of this female disciple’s appearance is somewhat coincidental.”

Wang Shi Hao’s assassiKingdom attempt had failed, and Mo Ti Zhun had brought back a new disciple when he returned to the capital. The timing was too coincidental—could there be a connection between these two events?

Li Yuan Pei thought for a moment and said: “She’s still young.”

Father and son exchanged a glance, their thoughts aligned.

The next day, Feng Miao Jun rose even earlier and took the same ordinary carriage to Little Solitary Mountain. Cao De Huan yawned as he helped her open the Smoke Sea Tower.

This time, Feng Miao Jun wanted to learn about rare birds and exotic beasts. She first expressed interest in the “Expansion” itself, and following the monster’s instructions, she found a pile of relevant books and flipped through them one by one.

In the current world, many strange creatures still hide in deep mountains, vast marshes, and places rarely visited by humans. It went without saying that even more existed before the current era—it was an age when rare beasts roamed freely. However, “monsters” as a category were not naturally occurring spiritual beasts but rather products of artificial creation.

They were the handiwork of the Other Race.

The Other Race was too mysterious; in the paper volumes Feng Miao Jun could access in the Smoke Sea Tower, only a few sentences mentioned them. They were evil and powerful, and once held the upper hand in confrontations with humans and demons. The “Expansion” was a creature created for war.

Before the current era, many powerful demon beasts naturally possessed internal dimensional spaces—storage spaces that could contain living things. The Other Race developed the “Expansion” based on this concept. These creatures didn’t have powerful offensive capabilities, but they possessed tenacious vitality, could endure various harsh environments, and had the ability to migrate long distances. Most importantly, they possessed enormously vast internal spaces that could load large quantities of supplies for use in warfare.

In the distant wars of the past, they were used for loading and transporting; while in later generations, this particular “Expansion” became Emperor Hao Li’s private library.

She flipped through the books one by one, finally seeing the name “Ao Fish” in a detailed outline, causing her heart to skip slightly.

This was the true reason supporting her diligent study in the Smoke Sea Tower. She had already planned—Mo Ti Zhun knew about her experience at Ascending Dragon Pool and drinking the Ao Fish’s blood, so displaying a moderate interest in the Ao Fish wouldn’t arouse the master’s suspicion.

The key was “moderate.” This meant she wouldn’t have many safe opportunities to browse these materials, so Feng Miao Jun read very slowly and meticulously, striving to imprint every character in her mind.

Ao Fish, of dragon lineage, transform into dragons after passing through the Three-Nine Heavenly Tribulation, then soar through the nine heavens. So, the lightning and thunder she encountered when she fell into the Ascending Dragon Pool that day—was that the Ao Fish undergoing its tribulation?

Indeed, before its transformation into a dragon, it would certainly cultivate to the most perfect state. Both Yun Ya and Mo Ti Zhun had targeted that moment, likely because the spiritual energy contained in the dragon pearl would be at its fullest.

The book also mentioned that whether dragon or dragon-kin, all their cultivation was concentrated in their dragon pearl, equivalent to a demon’s core. It stored magical power for the owner’s use at any time. Conversely, the inner core was also the demon’s most important treasure—if it shattered or was carved out, the demon’s lifetime of cultivation would be completely wasted. Those with strong vitality might be able to condense a new inner core, but the probability was extremely small.

Without the inner core, would a demon be ruined? Feng Miao Jun blinked, not missing the measure word “one” in the text.

Did this mean demons could only possess one inner core? Otherwise, if one was shattered or carved out, it would at most result in decreased cultivation—how could it directly ruin them?

What about dragon-kin then?

She hurriedly searched again for the “dragon” category, spending another hour before finally seeing a small line in the book: “Dragons, turtles, and snakes all produce element pearls.”

Element pearls were not dragon pearls but treasures formed by the owner’s comprehension of the Great Way, often carrying special attributes. For example, a thunder element pearl could enhance the power of thunder-system divine arts used by its controller, a water element pearl corresponded to water-control divine powers, and so on.

Feng Miao Jun was stunned.

Assuming a dragon pearl was unique and already belonged to Yun Ya… could what she had swallowed be the Ao Fish’s element pearl? But that wasn’t right either, because the book also stated that dragon element pearls were produced in the brain, snake element pearls in the head and tail, and turtle element pearls at the bottom of the shell.

She remembered clearly that she had entered the Ao Fish’s crop to retrieve that pearl—that location was quite distant from the “brain.”

She couldn’t help but recall what the Ao Fish’s soul had said:

“Yun Ya misjudged my cultivation level.”

“After I passed four hundred years of age, I could condense a second dragon pearl. He only took one.”

But after reading today’s materials, Feng Miao Jun was filled with deep questions—could the Ao Fish condense a second dragon pearl?

Admittedly, every individual organism had its uniqueness; perhaps this Ao Fish was special and could truly condense a second dragon pearl. But these common facts were accessible even to her in books—how could Yun Ya not understand them?

He could calculate the exact time of the Ao Fish’s transformation into a dragon, so how could he misjudge its cultivation level?

He had split open the Ao Fish’s skull, and Feng Miao Jun didn’t believe he hadn’t searched thoroughly several times, yet he had only found one dragon pearl, with no so-called element pearl.

What did this indicate?

The dragon pearl… truly might only exist as one.

Then what exactly had she swallowed?

That cursed Ao Fish’s soul had indeed deceived her! Feng Miao Jun couldn’t help but press her hand against her chest. Perhaps it was psychological, but she now felt nauseated and uncomfortable.

What should she do next? She didn’t even know what she had eaten—even in the Smoke Sea Tower, where should she begin her search?

She rubbed her temples, forcing herself to gather her spirits and think through the matter from the beginning. The Ao Fish’s soul had deceived her into eating that pearl to make them share a life force, so killing her would also kill Yun Ya. This meant…