Wait, How Did My Digital Girlfriend Become a Sword Immortal? Chapter 690: Are you really going to give me some?

The situation was becoming increasingly complex.

The atmosphere in the vicinity grew stiflingly hot...

The Celestial Jade Lion sensed the shift immediately.

There wasn't just one or two, but dozens of them.

Dozens of formidable auras—as deep as the abyss, as volatile as active volcanoes, and as terrifying as the awakening of ancient gods—instantly locked onto it with unwavering focus.

Each presence felt as heavy as a mountain range and as vast as the ocean, radiating immense realm pressure.

Those icy, covetous, and burning stares converged upon it all at once, as if they were inspecting a choice cut of spiritual meat.

As a creature born naturally as an innate spiritual being, it had never been subjected to such blatant and predatory scrutiny.

The Celestial Jade Lion lowered its massive claw and slowly rotated its neck, turning with extreme stiffness to survey its surroundings.

The desolate basin it had known was gone from its sight.

In its place was a colossal plaza.

Dozens of figures stood at the perimeter of this square.

They were old and young, towering and short, stout and lean.

Some possessed snowy hair and beards, exuding an air of immortal grace and transcendent bones; others wore masks of cold severity, their killing intent tightly suppressed.

A few even wore bizarre robes and sat atop peculiar, square magical tools, observing the beast with intense fascination.

But they all shared one thing in common!

The Qi emanating from every single individual caused the core deep within the lion's body to shudder.

It was a manifestation of absolute suppression at the very level of life hierarchy.

The old monster kneeling at the front was particularly terrifying, surrounded by a dense cloud of hovering flying swords and wearing a cloth strip over his eyes. Even with his vision blocked, his casual gaze made the Celestial Jade Lion feel as though it would be ground into jade marrow powder by those nine thousand swords at any moment.

Furthermore, there was the man standing next to that little thief.

For such a powerful figure to be kneeling before him...

What kind of entity was this man?!

Dozens of pairs of eyes watched it.

Every pair was frighteningly luminous, resembling hungry predators that had finally cornered a succulent prey.

The fervor and greed swirling in their eyes almost condensed into physical flames capable of melting the beast.

They even leaned forward instinctively, like a pack of wolves prepared to strike, merely awaiting the command to tear it apart and claim their share!

The air across the plaza felt as if it had turned to solid lead, weighing so heavily that the Celestial Jade Lion's massive frame struggled to draw breath. Only the faint hum of the vibrating flying swords, sounding like the melodic whispers of death, pierced into its jade marrow crystal "ears."

Inside the Celestial Jade Lion's throat, the sphere of purple-gold light—once brimming with destructive power—vanished silently like a popped bubble.

Its raised claw, which had been ready to crush everything in its path, froze in mid-air before being retracted with extreme caution and slowness.

The world-shaking roar that had been building in its throat was suddenly stifled, as if by an invisible giant's hand, causing the sound to shift completely halfway through.

"Roar——……Woo……Awoo? (´;ω;`)"

It eventually devolved into a whimper of grievance, confusion, and sheer terror, even carrying a hint of desperate fawning.

Its massive purple-gold body lowered itself with profound humility, bit by bit, until its enormous head was buried between its front paws. Only its flickering purple-gold eyes remained visible, darting around in panic as it stole glances at the terrifying figures that made its soul quake.

At this moment, its only wish was to turn back into a harmless ball of stone, invisible to the world.

...

In the end, the Celestial Jade Lion was given a severe thrashing.

After all, it had dared to threaten the Sect Master, and an affront to the Sect Master was an insult to the Ancestor. As the old monsters of the Moon Shadow Sect, how could they possibly permit such insolence?

Naturally, they could not.

Furthermore, if they didn't deliver a beating, the Ancestor wouldn't be able to witness their loyalty or see the "effort" they put into his service.

Consequently, they pummeled the Celestial Jade Lion with great enthusiasm, though they took care not to kill it since it was a valuable asset to the Sect.

Despite being a natural spirit of heaven and earth with a body of Celestial Jade Marrow crystals, the creature still possessed a form akin to flesh and blood.

Some of the old monsters began secretly shoving pills into the lion's mouth; once they realized the medicine was working to heal it, the group resumed the beating with even more vigor.

It became a continuous cycle: a handful of pills, followed by a flurry of blows.

Five hours later.

The massive form of the Celestial Jade Lion lay before Chen Huaian, paralyzed with fear.

"So, you were the one who intended to harm this venerable one's disciple? Is that so?" Chen Huaian said, tapping lightly on the lion's great horn.

"Woo woo woo..." The Celestial Jade Lion looked up with a face swollen from the assault, shaking its head frantically before kowtowing repeatedly.

"From this day forward, you shall remain within my Moon Shadow Sect and supply us with top-grade spirit jade. Do you have any objections?"

The Celestial Jade Lion shook its head once more.

It wouldn't dare to object...

Anything was better than another beating.

Strangely, it found this realm far more comfortable than its previous home.

Even though the spiritual energy here differed from that of the Celestial Jade Marrow, it was significantly more potent and concentrated.

Absorbing the local spiritual energy to generate Celestial Jade Marrow wasn't a bad deal; it simply meant it couldn't be as gluttonous as it used to be...

Internally, the Celestial Jade Lion felt quite pathetic.

"To ensure you remain on your best behavior while this venerable one is away, a contract must be established."

Chen Huaian reached out a finger and pressed it against the beast's forehead. As a drop of his vital essence merged with it, his divine sense was etched into the deepest parts of the Celestial Jade Lion's soul.

In truth, his divine sense lacked much influence over the creature here.

However, within the Cangyun Realm, a single thought from him could now decide the lion's life or death.

The moment the soul imprint was finalized, the pet section of his character panel updated. Alongside Muscle Tyrant, the Celestial Jade Lion's data appeared.

[Celestial Jade Lion: Age 1 day - A natural innate spirit creature, manifested from Celestial Jade Marrow. Capable of refining heaven and earth spiritual energy into premium-grade Celestial Jade Marrow. Consumes spiritual energy and various precious ores.]

Wait, it can actually produce premium-grade Celestial Jade Marrow?

Chen Huaian's eyes narrowed slightly. If that was the case, the Moon Shadow Sect would never suffer from a lack of resources again.

The Celestial Jade Lion was a classic example of "eating grass to produce milk." It was impossible for it to create Jade Marrow out of nothing; even a natural spirit had to obey the laws of energy conservation.

Chen Huaian reached into his storage and pulled out several ores from the Cangyun Realm that were considered low-value.

These stones lacked spiritual energy but were saturated with thunder and fire elemental energies—forces that most Cultivators couldn't process directly. He wondered if the Celestial Jade Lion could utilize what ordinary humans could not.

He had expected the beast to turn its nose up at these "spiritless" ores.

To his surprise, the lion's eyes widened instantly. It stared at Chen Huaian with a look of pure disbelief in its massive purple-gold eyes.

It seemed to be asking him:

—Are you really going to let me eat this?

Observing the creature's hungry expression, a thought occurred to Chen Huaian.

Was it possible...

That the Celestial Jade Lion actually preferred these waste materials?

Maybe it didn't just crave high-end items like Celestial Jade Marrow?

Perhaps the only reason it had lived on Earth Star eating its own Marrow was because there was simply nothing else there to consume?

...