【Master... You really do change your tune faster than pages turn...】

Norton made a snide remark, but Li didn’t care. It wasn’t like he’d chosen this, and he couldn’t beat Shirley anyway. If he put up a desperate resistance, he’d still have to fight to the death in the end. But this wasn’t a dead end yet, so there was no need to risk his life. The last time, Phoebe had backed him into a corner. With nowhere left to run, he’d fought with everything he had.

There was no need for that now. You had to know how to read the situation: never back down when you shouldn’t, but retreat when you had to. Li wasn’t about to die here over something that wasn’t worth it. He had everything to gain and nothing to lose, so why not agree?

“Before I leave the Abyss of the Underworld, I’ll do everything I can to keep you alive. By the way, do you know that dragon? The one who rules the Abyss of the Underworld?”

“Of course I do. I was there when she was born. She was a beautiful girl, just like those two children. When she came into the world, every flower in the Abyss of the Underworld bloomed, and every magical beast knelt in her direction. Even I did. That child might well be the next Dragon King. She was so beautiful, so powerful—the most beautiful being I have ever seen.”

Li thought of the White Wolf Twins, then of the beauty Shirley had described. When the Dragon Clan was born—no, in Li’s memory, dragons were just big lizards with wings and horns. Even if they were beautiful by a magical beast’s standards...

He shook his head. He felt like he was overthinking it.

“Will I get a chance to meet that dragon? Maybe she could take me out of the Abyss of the Underworld.”

“That child has never left the Abyss of the Underworld since she was born. And she’s already begun splitting her dragon egg, so she won’t have time to deal with your affairs for a while. Of course, if you help keep me alive for a year, I think I can talk to her about it. It all depends on whether you can achieve my goal.”

That damn goal...

She was splitting her dragon egg—in other words, that dragon might be hiding somewhere, sitting on her egg right now. If he went looking for her now, he’d probably die without a trace...

No matter the species, a mother protecting her young was at her most terrifying—in both temperament and fighting power.

Li couldn’t risk it right now, but...

If he didn’t take the risk, he’d be away from home indefinitely. Chloe might have fallen into a deep sleep, but if she stayed that way... Chloe would definitely...

Li didn’t dare think about it.

“What’s that dragon’s name? Where does she live?”

“You’re planning to look for her?”

Li nodded. No matter what, if there was even a chance, he had to try. He’d already fallen into the Abyss of the Underworld. It probably couldn’t get any worse than this. Rather than fret over it here, he’d rather take a gamble. That was just how Li was. There was no point in hesitating.

Hesitate and you lose! Make a move and you get wrecked for free!

“Are you not afraid to die?”

“Some things matter more than my own life. I’ve already fallen into the Abyss of the Underworld, so do I really need to be afraid of dying? ...Spending the rest of my life here with regrets would be far more painful. If I were afraid of death, would I have resisted you? I know it wouldn’t do me much good, but I’m not just going to wait around to die.”

“You’re an interesting person. Even knowing you can’t win, you still keep striving for what you want. All right, I’m willing to help you. But shouldn’t you start keeping me alive now? Since you’re Hortons’s disciple, you should at least be able to manage that much, right?”

He’d almost forgotten about that...

Keep her alive...

How was he supposed to keep her alive?