In the Floating Temple, nestled deep in the Water Clan’s hidden lair, the clams were throwing quite the feast.
The giant clam shells popped open, revealing luminous pearls that sparkled like a disco ball on the rippling river.
On the water floated heaps of water weeds, presenting an extravagant array of dishes, the likes of which no one could pinpoint the chef behind this culinary wonder.
The Water Clan was hosting a grand banquet.
By the time Ke Mo arrived, all the monsters were already soaking wet, munching merrily while chatting about the fabled Celestial Divine Jade.
Little Qing Jiao, the curious little flood dragon, snatched a slice of sashimi.
“Hey, Big Mo! Don’t you even wash your claws before eating?”
Wu Daming, as a transformed dragon, always made a point to wash his claws before meals.
“Not necessary,” Ke Mo replied, grabbing the sashimi and munching it down in a flash.
It tasted divine—fresh and buttery, melting in his mouth like it had just come from the sea. Definitely silver-scaled fish.
Even the silver-scaled monsters were raving about it.
Hmm…
Ke Mo glanced over at the silver-scaled fish monsters, devouring their meals with gusto, and thought to himself: Does this count as a daily record of monstrous gluttony?
In the monsters’ world, if you haven’t gained sentience, you’re just another wild beast.
There’s also another category: Disaster Beasts.
Disaster Beasts are somewhat like the notorious troublemakers in human society—shunned by the humans and even looked down upon by respectable monsters, who consider them mere beasts.
The Ming Jiao Clan often gets labeled as Disaster Beasts (mostly by the Bird Clan), but in reality, they don’t belong to that category.
Sitting around the banquet, the monsters chatted and laughed.
Ke Mo felt like he was back in the countryside from a previous life, enjoying a feast.
“If our Water Clan got hold of the Celestial Divine Jade, I could totally turn into an ancestral dragon whale! I’d just carry a piece of land on my back, and if any humans dared to live on it, they’d have to pay me rent! I heard human rent is sky-high!”
That heroic boast came straight from Guo Jing.
“What if our shrimp clan boosted its bloodline? What would we become?”
“Oh! Wu Mo here already has the True Dragon bloodline, and if he gets the Celestial Divine Jade, wouldn’t that mean he could actually transform into a dragon?”
“If our Water Clan produced a True Dragon, wouldn’t we rule the South Border? We could strut around like kings!”
“Aren’t you part of the Crab Clan?”
“Forget the details! We absolutely must keep the Celestial Divine Jade in the Water Clan!”
“Yes, we need to unite and help Big Mo with all our might!”
The monsters were getting more and more excited.
They seemed even more confident than some other flood dragons.
Ke Mo thought: “……”
How did this turn into a spotlight on him out of nowhere?
The divine jade…
Even if he got his paws on it, he wouldn’t keep it for himself.
Looking at the eager eyes of the Water Clan talents staring back at him, Little Ke felt a twinge of guilt.
Maybe he was destined to disappoint them.
At that moment, he felt the weight of the expectations placed on him by the monsters.
If he hadn’t taken this opportunity, the Water Clan would likely have had no chance of encountering the Jade Phoenix Divine Maiden.
But here he was, sparking their hope of witnessing the birth of a True Dragon.
Afterward, he’d need to find some way to make it up to them.
Thinking this way, Ke Mo spoke up:
“There are many clans vying for the Celestial Divine Jade; the competition is fierce, and I don’t have full confidence in winning.”
“I’ve seen plenty of powerful monster geniuses; if I encounter them, I must exercise caution.”
He shared the intel he had collected about the strong monster geniuses.
The Water Clan monsters were left in stunned silence, increasingly convinced that this flood dragon not only had a powerful bloodline but was also a sharp-minded genius for gathering such accurate information.
“What about the Qingluan Divine Maiden? Big Mo, do you know anything about her?”
The Water Clan geniuses believed that the only potential threat to Ke Mo was that suspected True Phoenix bloodline bearer from Qingluan.
“Some. Not a lot,” he replied curtly.
Setting the scene.
Ke Mo fell silent for a moment before nodding.
“What aspects?”
The Water Clan leaned in, ears perked as one monster even pulled out a little notebook, ready to take notes.
“She’s quite swift on her feet.”
“????”
The crowd of monsters looked baffled.
Did he just say the Qingluan Divine Maiden was fast?
Well, she indeed was.
The Qingluan Clan could zip through the “Blue Void,” covering great distances in no time.
No wonder this flood dragon from beyond the South Border could articulate it so eloquently! If they weren’t all transformed monsters, they wouldn’t have understood him at all.
“Oh! By the way, a lot of half-monsters have shown up at the Floating Temple.”
Guo Jing pulled out a few jars of wine, pouring them into the banquet for everyone to taste while soaking in the bubble bath river.
“There are?”
Ke Mo raised an eyebrow. He had wandered around the temple for a while, but his celestial perception hadn’t caught wind of any half-monsters.
“They arrived last.”
Guo Jing slurred slightly, basking in the booze. “You tossed me pretty far, I only got back to the Floating Temple around evening and saw them.”
“I feel like… they’re not weak.”
“Half-monsters…”
Ke Mo couldn’t help but think of Brother Murong.
Murong Xiao was pursued by the Huanmo Sect for being half-monster and almost became some kind of divine child.
Could those half-monsters be connected to this incident?
“Let my celestial perception take a look and I’ll know.”
Ke Mo silently took note of this matter.
Then he pulled out some wine, exhaling just a bit, before smashing the jar to pour the liquid into the river.
“This is wine I brought from the human realm! Please enjoy, everyone!”
“Thanks, Big Mo!”
“Wow, that aroma! Time to show off my drinking prowess!”
The Water Clan monsters didn’t seem to have much stamina.
Before long, a bunch of monsters were belly-up in the river.
…..
Meanwhile, in another chamber of the Floating Temple.
A total of eight half-monsters, including Zhi Duoluo, all sat together at the same table, their monster characteristics running wild—from gills around necks to stripes on their skin, towering sizes, and even fox tails sprouting from their backs…
Yet, they shared one thing in common.
Their expressions were eerily cold, as if all human emotions had been drained from them.
“Is it true that Ke Mo has True Dragon bl**d?” mused the half-monster Qiongqi, licking his lips.
Zhi Duoluo narrowed his golden eyes. “That would explain his extraordinary strength.”
“If he falls into our hands, the revival of the True Dragon plan for our Da Shang…”
“Not just him, but that Qingluan too—her True Phoenix bl**d is even more crucial!”
“But they’re both the cream of the crop among monsters, nearly impossible to defeat.”
The half-monsters pondered deeply.
“You don’t know,” Zhi Duoluo smirked.
“When Wu Mo and Luan Bing clashed, I witnessed their confrontation firsthand. They’re bound to settle their score, and perhaps in the struggle for the divine jade, they’ll end up mutually wrecked.”
“Let’s just wait for them to exhaust each other before making our move, and then we can scoop up the jade.”
“It’s a plan to k*ll two birds with one stone!”
The half-monsters all nodded, fully convinced by Zhi Duoluo’s strategy.
Let’s do this!
