The Devil's Bargain

Xiao Chen concealed nothing from Liu Mu and Yizhen, explaining everything.

“You need to return soon,” Yizhen said. “Once everyone knows the Nine-Headed Dragon Kings have gathered, they’ll start summoning the Spirit Ship immediately.”

“Yes, Xiao Chen, don’t forget—I’ve trained Yan Qingcheng, a peerless beauty, into a perfect slave. If you don’t hurry back, you’ll regret it,” the enchantress Liu Ruyan added with a light laugh.

Yan Qingcheng, with a beauty that could sink cities and topple nations, simply turned her head away. Her peerlessly elegant face revealed neither joy nor anger. Her cultivation was sealed, and she did not want to waste words.

“It’s fine. Even if Xiao Chen refuses to lend me the Sacred Tree, I won’t treat him poorly. Let this woman stay to accompany him,” said the Devil, surging with yin mist as he appeared in the forest.

Liu Mu and the others saw him for the first time. Liu Ruyan’s face changed instantly, and she quickly retreated. The others’ expressions shifted dramatically as well.

“This is the last day. Have you still not made up your mind?” the Devil asked Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen looked at Keke, who was sleeping soundly and sweetly. Seeing her peaceful state, he sighed. This was the little white beast’s food. They were about to leave Dragon Island. If he lent the Sacred Tree to the Devil, what would Keke do in the future? Could he leave without Keke? Xiao Chen was truly troubled.

“It seems you still find it hard to decide.” The Devil withdrew.

That night passed quietly. But just at daybreak, a gust of eerie wind swept in. In the pale dawn, the Devil came again. Without a word, he wrapped Xiao Chen, the three skeletons, and Yan Qingcheng in his yin mist and vanished in moments.

Liu Mu, Yizhen, and the others wanted to stop him but knew it was impossible. The gap between them was too vast. They believed the Devil was far beyond the Demigod realm—he had not spent all those endless years in vain!

The wind was biting and cold. The Devil brought them into the snowy mountains. By now, the sun had risen. The snow-covered peaks, clad in silver, took on a unique beauty in the glow of dawn.

Keke woke up groggily. Sorrowfully, she took off the treasure-tree hat and reluctantly handed it to Xiao Chen. Seeing her dejection, Xiao Chen truly could not bear it. But he did not want to grow old and die on Dragon Island.

“You really made Keke sad,” Xiao Chen said calmly to the Devil, implying that the Devil had now offended the little white beast and might one day face its revenge.

“I’ll borrow it for a year at most. Her path of growth is long. I will repay her handsomely—this debt I will surely honor.”

“But the Nine-Headed Dragon Kings have gathered. The Spirit Ship will be summoned, and we will leave. How will you return the Sacred Tree to us?”

“That is indeed a troublesome question. I absolutely cannot leave Dragon Island on the Spirit Ship in my current state.” The Devil paused in thought. “Then I’ll keep everyone here. Let them depart only after a year.”

“Do you want Keke and me to make so many enemies? Once they learn the truth, they will surely resent us.”

“Or I could kill them all,” the Devil said coldly.

Yan Qingcheng, standing nearby, felt a chill run through her body. She had been silent since arriving in the snowy mountains, but fear lurked in her heart—this was the legendary Devil who had lived for endless ages.

“Didn’t you swear to do good? Why resort to slaughter?” Xiao Chen did not want the Devil to go that far.

“Let me think it over…” The Devil was silent for a moment. “For now, let me give you some gifts.” With that, he waved his hand and the yin mist carried them to the foot of a snow-covered mountain.

The Devil opened an ice cave. Inside, layer upon layer of magnificent ice palaces lay hidden within the mountain’s belly.

Countless pearls embedded in the walls of the ice palaces made the interior as bright as day. Passing through seven such palaces, they entered a great hall filled with weapons.

The Devil said to them, “Take whatever weapons you like. Though I dare not call them peerless treasures, some were once used by ancient immortals. I gathered them from Dragon Island’s ancient battlefields.”

The ice palace glittered brilliantly. Dozens of weapons seemed far from ordinary. But they all shared one trait: they were damaged, every single one broken.

Keke glanced at them listlessly, without any interest in choosing. She had never truly cared for weapons. Her earlier interest in the Golden Divine Halberd had been because of its aura.

The three skeletons, however, did not stand on ceremony. Each picked out a long sword—clearly ancient artifacts from ages past. They still shone with dazzling light. Though all were missing their tips, they could become exceptional weapons if re-forged. And if they truly were weapons used by ancient immortals, then no re-forging would be needed—they were already great killing tools.

Yan Qingcheng did not hesitate either. She chose two short swords: one fiery red as blood, the other emerald green like jade. The materials were unknown, but they blazed with divine light and were exceedingly sharp. The two swords seemed to be a pair, perfectly matched—except that their tips were also gone, each missing a small section.

Finally, Xiao Chen selected a weapon as well. Even though he believed the body was the best weapon, since the Devil was being so generous, he could not refuse. He chose a black, broken blade—dark and lusterless, without an edge. It looked very ancient. It was heavy in the hand, less than half a meter long but weighing hundreds of jin. Clearly, it was no ordinary object.

Since it was a broken blade, it now looked more like a thick, heavy sword. It could be used as a saber for chopping or as a sword for slashing.

“Good eye. You’ve all picked the finest pieces. In particular, this black broken blade that I most favor—to be honest, I feel it is far from as ordinary as it seems. If not for repaying your kindness, I would never part with it.”

The Devil seemed sincere. He truly regretted giving up that dark blade.

Seeing Keke’s listlessness, the Devil said, “I have a special gift for you.” He led them into the next ice palace.

As they entered, the temperature plummeted. Even a cultivator like Xiao Chen found it barely tolerable. Yan Qingcheng, whose cultivation was sealed, immediately retreated—she could not endure the cold of this palace.

The ice palace was empty, save for a ritual altar in the center. On it lay a radiant divine object—a piece of milky-white divine jade the size of a human head, crystal clear, wreathed in mist, radiating cold. The freezing aura emanated from it.

When Keke saw it, her big eyes lit up. She flew over in a flash and hugged it tightly, utterly unbothered by the cold.

The Devil explained, “This is Ice God Jade, a legendary essence of snow-vein condensed over eons—a rare spiritual treasure of heaven and earth. It is far more potent than the Snow Lotus Heart you found. But ordinary people cannot enjoy it; its yin cold is too much…”

Before he could finish, Keke took the Sacred Tree from Xiao Chen and placed it on the Ice God Jade. A crunching sound came as the sapling’s roots penetrated the jade, causing it to crack quickly.

The Devil winced. In his imagination, even a creature as divine as Keke could never fully absorb such a large block of Ice God Jade. He had planned to use most of it himself after expelling his death qi. But now Keke had given it to the Sacred Tree, and the Devil knew that even several more blocks would not be enough.

“Ya-ya…” The little white beast murmured to the Sacred Tree, as if bidding it farewell. Xiao Chen felt even more ashamed.

Colored light flashed. White mist drifted. Cracking sounds continued. The radiance of the Ice God Jade flowed like rippling water into the little Sacred Tree.

Leaving Keke to tend to the Sacred Tree, the Devil took Xiao Chen into another ice palace and spoke with him in private.

“I did not intend to say this, but since you mentioned the Spirit Ship’s departure, I can tell you a secret. There is another ship—the ‘King Ship’—that can sail from Dragon Island and break through the Forbidden Sea. I will leave on that ship in the future and return the Sacred Tree to you on the continent of immortality. I swear by the ancient kings—if I do not return the Sacred Tree, may my body and soul be annihilated.”

The King Ship!

Xiao Chen heard this secret for the first time but did not fully believe it.

“I am not deceiving you. Think—would I willingly stay here? This place suppresses divine power. If I remain forever, I will never make a true breakthrough. I let the Ancestral Dragon Spirit Ship leave without concern because I know another way to leave. Otherwise, how could I cut off my own escape? As long as the Sacred Tree helps convert my death qi into life qi, I can summon the King Ship and leave here.”

Thinking it over, the Devil’s words rang true.

The Sacred Tree had been with the Devil for ten days. He had not appeared since, sealing himself in ice within the mountain’s belly.

For these ten days, the little white beast seemed to have lost her soul. She was listless all day, uncharacteristically silent. Xiao Chen felt deeply ashamed, to the point of wanting to rush back to the snowy mountains and seize the Sacred Tree. But he did not have the strength.

On the day it happened, Keke had caused a huge scene in the mountains. But the Devil’s power was too unfathomable—he seemed far beyond the Demigod realm. He had not fought back once. He simply evaded every attack with absolute speed, and the Sealing Art could not touch him.

Xiao Chen tried hard to think of a way out. He felt Keke could not be without the Sacred Tree.

“Ya-ya…” Keke stared toward the direction of the Dragon Sacred Mountain, her expression mournful. She seemed to grieve for the Sacred Tree left by her parents.

“Keke, how about we go visit your little ferocious beast nest? In a few days, we’ll leave this place for a broader world.” Xiao Chen tried to cheer her up, seeing her so downcast.

Keke nodded vigorously. The lively, adorable little beast was now too quiet. The sadness would not leave her for a long time.

By now, the young cultivators on the island all knew that the nine Dragon Kings were complete. They were contacting the older generation of cultivators. Little Fatty Niu Ren’s elders had already made contact. If not for the elders’ lingering obsession with the legendary Ancestral Dragon, they would have summoned the Spirit Ship long ago.

But the day of departure drew nearer. The elders decided to make one last effort—if they could not find any trace of the Ancestral Dragon within half a month, they would leave Dragon Island.

Many young cultivators cursed their greed, but many also joined the search. After all, it was the legendary Ancestral Dragon, the true sovereign among dragons. The combat power of a mature Ancestral Dragon was unimaginable. The fact that it alone could summon the Spirit Ship, while the nine Dragon Kings were required to do the same, demonstrated its supremacy.

The older generation had paid a heavy price in their search. Nearly half of them had been killed by dragons when they mistakenly entered the territory of savage dragon tribes.

Yet they had also discovered a startling truth: the dragons did not prevent the young Companion Dragon Kings from following humans, as if they knew they were about to leave the island. All signs pointed to the possibility that the seal on Dragon Island could only be broken if the Ancestral Dragon and Companion Dragon Kings departed.

Xiao Chen bid farewell to Liu Mu and Yizhen. He did not even let the three skeletons follow. He went again to the Dragon Sacred Mountain area, climbing with Keke onto the cross-section of the divine tree. The little white beast looked especially heartbroken. She wandered endlessly around the place of her birth, a far cry from her former mischievous self.