Chapter Fifty-Three: Living Off a Woman

A female crocodile demon at the ninth-grade Great Demon cultivation stage slammed on the brakes, stopping right in front of Jiang Xuan.

Plop~!

Her massive, gaping maw snapped shut, and her two snouts bumped against each other.

Was Jiang Xuan’s first kiss really gone just like that???

The snouts separated, and with another sound effect, another damn "plop"!

Jiang Xuan’s eyes widened in sheer bewilderment, his mind completely blank!

Looking at the female crocodile demon, though she hadn't transformed into human form, Jiang Xuan could somehow clearly read a look of utter bashfulness across her face!

"In all my years growing up, you're the very first beast to call me a fairy!"

"I couldn't brake in time just now and kissed you. You, um, you aren't going to be mad, right?"

Jiang Xuan: ......

His first kiss! His first kiss! And he was damn well planning to save it for... the Empress!

"Hehe, of course I'm not mad. Being kissed by a fairy is my absolute honor."

Smiling on the outside while weeping on the inside, Jiang Xuan felt a bitter agony in his heart.

"You really know how to talk! I just love your type!"

"I wonder, would you be willing to mate with m—"

"Ah, well, I haven't achieved my dream yet, and my cultivation is so low, so I haven't really thought about that side of things."

Before the word "mate" could escape her lips, Jiang Xuan hastily interrupted her to keep her from going on.

Matters like this were no child's play; a union without love was nothing short of a tragedy!

"A dream? What kind of dream do you have?"

"Do you need to go outside? Surely not, right? We crocodile demons cultivate the fastest right here in the Corpse-Vessel Swamp. Where else could there possibly be a better place to cultivate?"

The female crocodile demon was puzzled, but as she sized Jiang Xuan up, she only grew more fond of him.

Just as Jiang Xuan was about to speak, three or four other crocodile demons wriggled their bodies and swam over leisurely in the distance.

"A Thousand Faces!"

In an instant, Jiang Xuan gathered all his focus and activated his disguise technique.

Every single second spent lingering here was sheer torment for Jiang Xuan.

To suppress the Golden Crow bloodline and toxicity raging within his body, he had to maintain a delicate balance.

Yet maintaining that balance was far from simple.

At the very least, Jiang Xuan was currently burning through a substantial amount of spiritual energy with every passing moment.

"Sister Hua, what are you doing here? By the way, aren't you supposed to be leaving this place soon to head to the Boundless Realm?"

"Anyway, since Black Ghost is around, once the two of you become Spirit Demons, he can just take you with him."

"Right, Sister Hua, why don't we head outside for a bit and hunt down some food to bring back? Otherwise, our whole big family is going to starve to death soon!"

"Hmph, who is this kid? How come I've never seen him before? His aura is unfamiliar too!"

Only upon drawing close did the other crocodile demons notice that there was a beast at the third-grade cultivation stage accompanying Sister Hua.

"In our Corpse-Vessel Swamp, you wouldn't starve to death even if you didn't eat or drink for ten years! You lot are just gluttonous!"

"My business is none of your damn concern! It's not like I'm mating with you!"

Hua Jui scolded them irritably before sidling back up close to Jiang Xuan.

"By the way, I still don't know your name."

"I, um, I'm Jiang Xuan. I've always been sleeping on the outer edges and don't like to move around much, so it's normal that you haven't noticed me."

He pulled the excuse straight out of thin air, his face neither flushing nor his heart racing.

Taking advantage of the moment while they were swimming over, Jiang Xuan cast his gaze around to survey the surrounding environment.

Despite the vast expanse of the Corpse-Vessel Swamp, the crocodile demons within weren't overly densely packed, though their total population was likely not small.

Because of this, occasionally spotting a few unfamiliar faces probably didn't seem all that strange.

"Right, his name is Jiang Xuan, and he's my cultivation companion!"

"W-What the hell? Cultivation companion?!"

"What the fuck? Wait... who agreed to this?!"

Glancing over fiercely, Jiang Xuan glared straight at Sister Hua, grinding his teeth in frustration.

Yet the moment Sister Hua looked back at him, Jiang Xuan forced a wide, foolish grin on his face.

"Oh ho, looks like Sister Hua's spring of love has finally arrived?"

"You've got it made, kid. Sister Hua is the big boss of our swamp—from now on, you'll always have meat to eat!"

"Tsk tsk, never thought Sister Hua would actually take a fancy to someone at the third-grade cultivation stage. Truly bizarre."

"What's so bizarre about it? You lot, if you've got nothing better to do, go hunt up some food and bring it back! Stop stirring up trouble here!"

"Understood! Then we'll head outside and fetch something back as a tribute to Sister Hua!"

The few crocodile demons quickly swam away, heading toward the outer edges of the Corpse-Vessel Swamp.

Once they broke the surface of the water, Jiang Xuan could no longer see them.

"Jiang Xuan, what did you mean by that dream you mentioned earlier?"

"Tell Sister Hua, and I'll help you achieve it sooner so we can get right to our dual cultivation~!"

Suddenly, Jiang Xuan's sphincter tightened in panic!

Sister Hua rubbed her body against Jiang Xuan's. This behavior was far beyond merely intimate—it was downright predatory!

"Er, Sister Hua, why don't we walk and talk at the same time?"

"Before this, I was afraid of getting bullied and didn't dare venture further in, so..."

"Who dares bully you? Damn it, Sister Hua has got your back!"

"Even that Lu Qiu fellow has to show me some respect around here!"

"Lu Qiu? What kind of ball is that?"

What kind of ridiculous name was that? Jiang Xuan let out an awkward, dry laugh.

"You don't even know that? Looks like you've reached a whole new level of cowardice, huh?"

"Lu Qiu is the only Spirit Demon here. That's just how the rules work in our swamp."

"Only when a new Spirit Demon appears can the old Spirit Demon leave the Corpse-Vessel Swamp."

"Though this time around, Black Ghost and I both reached the ninth-grade Great Demon stage at the same time. We'll see which of us ends up staying behind."

So that was how it was.

No wonder the Corpse-Vessel Swamp had such a terrifying reputation in the outside world.

Swimming deeper into the Corpse-Vessel Swamp, Jiang Xuan's body gradually grew accustomed to and memorized the environment below.

What shocked Jiang Xuan was just how deep this Corpse-Vessel Swamp actually went.

Looking out into the distance, everything below was pitch black, making it impossible to see what the bottom looked like at all.

Along the way, they encountered quite a few crocodile demons, their cultivation levels all resting within the Great Demon realm, with the majority being even stronger than Jiang Xuan.

Fortunately, with Sister Hua backing him up, no one paid him much mind.

Jiang Xuan never expected that freeloading off a partner could come so naturally to him.

"Well? What is your dream then?"

After wandering around for half a day, Sister Hua was beginning to grow impatient.

Throughout the trip, Jiang Xuan had been beating around the bush to stall her, but he had no other choice.

What really drove Jiang Xuan crazy was: weren't there supposed to be plenty of magical artifacts around here? Could he have actually been scammed?!

That shouldn't be right!

During his hunts over the past few days, every beast he encountered that possessed a magical artifact claimed it had come from the Corpse-Vessel Swamp!

Yet from the moment he descended into the swamp until now, Jiang Xuan hadn't sensed the spiritual aura of a single magical artifact, leaving him no choice but to wonder if he had been duped.

"Well, Sister Hua, I've been hoping to get my hands on a magical artifact. That's my dream."

With that, Jiang Xuan cast an awkward, sidelong glance at Sister Hua.

He already looked like an unfamiliar outsider; if this aroused Sister Hua's suspicion, forget about a magical artifact—whether he could even keep his life hanging by a thread was anyone's guess...

Upon hearing this, Sister Hua simply looked back at him, her expression completely blank.

This gave Jiang Xuan a massive fright. Could it be...

"Oh, you should have just said so earlier! Is that all?"

"Don't tell me you didn't know that the magical artifacts here are meant for our own clan members to use?"

"Come on, Big Sis will take you to pick one out! We'll pick the finest one!"