The scene fell silent for a minute. Finally, one of the beasts spoke.

“Forget it, kid. We’re powerful beings, and powerful beings have their dignity. We won’t hold it against you. It’d look bad if word got out that a few Eight- and Nine-Star Sacred Beasts were picking on someone weaker than them.”

The Purple Thunder Lightning Leopard paused, then continued.

“You reek of that Shameless Old Man, so you must’ve seen him just now. Tell us where he is, and you can leave. We’ll even guarantee your safety anywhere in the Demon Beast Mountain Range. What do you think, kid? Fair trade, right?”

I still don’t get it. Where’d you get the idea that you could take me on?

You actually called me, the Sword God, weak?

A fair trade? In your dreams...

I don’t need your protection, okay? Don’t you realize how annoying you are?

“Sorry, I don’t know.”

Still, even if I didn’t like their attitude, I had to keep up appearances and be polite.

And since they didn’t seem interested in fighting, it was hard to enjoy myself alone.

Besides, they were looking for the old man. What did that have to do with me?

I really didn’t know, so why not answer quickly and get it over with? Then I could go back to sleep in the tree.

“Don’t be so quick to refuse. That old man stole the Golden Spirit Beans we’d prepared for the Sacred Beasts a few days ago.”

Hearing Xiaobai’s instant reply, the Purple Thunder Lightning Leopard assumed Xiaobai didn’t want to reveal the old man’s whereabouts, so it went on to explain.

“Golden Spirit Beans are the only auxiliary spirit treasures of heaven and earth that Sacred Beasts need to break through and become Divine Beasts. Our Spirit Tree bears just two of them every five thousand years.”

“We could’ve let the theft slide, since he promised to return them at midnight tonight. But now he’s nowhere to be found.”

“We’ve searched all of Mountain of Heaven. Not a trace of him anywhere. And now, we’ve finally found a clue leading to him here.”

“You’re so young, and you’ve already reached this level of cultivation. That couldn’t have been easy. So be smart and take one more chance to choose your words. I, hope, you’d, bet,ter, tell, us, where, he, is.”

The beasts had waited thousands of years for the Golden Spirit Tree to bear fruit again. At last, it had given His Majesty, the Sacred Dragon Emperor, a chance to become a Divine Beast. Then, just days before the fruit was ready, they’d let their guard down for a moment—and a human old man had stolen the Spirit Beans.

Become a Divine Beast? Now they’d have to wait another five thousand years? What a joke...

The more the Purple Thunder Lightning Leopard thought about it, the angrier it got. In the end, it dropped its gentle tone and stopped caring about the dignity of the strong, speaking to Xiaobai in a commanding voice.

But Xiaobai barely paid attention to the Purple Thunder Lightning Leopard’s tone—or even its final words.

That was because the earlier part of what it had said seemed to contain a lot of information.

No wonder the old man had run like hell earlier. He’d even used a forbidden technique and pushed himself to the brink just to get away. Turns out all those Sacred Beasts were after him to collect a debt.

No wonder the “potatoes” the old man had been bringing back lately could run and jump. They were some kind of Spirit Beans, and it sounded like they’d determine the Sacred Beasts’ future.

Most importantly, no wonder the old man’s “hot-and-sour shredded potatoes” had been so crisp these past two days. They were on a whole different level from his usual cooking. Turns out he’d been using completely different ingredients.

No, from now on they had to be called “hot-and-sour shredded Spirit Beans”—a precious delicacy you could only eat once every five thousand years.

Sigh, a kind person like me would love to return the Spirit Beans to you. It’s just that they’re already in my stomach. How am I supposed to give them back? What a headache... Anyone online? I could really use some help!

As for where the old man was, ha, I only knew the general direction. It’d been so long, and he’d pushed himself to move that fast. Who the hell knew where he’d run off to by now? I wanted to know too!

You’re asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?

“Sorry, there’s nothing I can do. I really don’t know.”

There was no need to think about the answer to a question like that. If you didn’t know, then you didn’t know.

I’m just an honest person like that.