Xia Li was utterly baffled right now, completely unable to understand the thought process of this transformed demon tiger before him.

  After all, this was his first time conversing with a demon.

  "Is there any need to deny it? Humans with demon fetishes are more easily trusted by us."

  She didn't see any reason to hide this point.

  "Let's not fixate on this. Why do you think doing that kind of thing counts as repayment?"

  Xia Li wondered if demons also had a tradition of pledging themselves in marriage when they couldn't repay a debt.

  "This goes back to ancient times. Cultivators generally wouldn't save demons, but ordinary mortals were more willing to help. However, the way mortals hoped to be repaid was usually by becoming the demon's partner."

  "Over time, becoming the savior's companion became a fairly typical form of repayment. Any human who saved a strange demon could be considered a potential demon-fetishist."

  "Throughout history, fox tribe, crane tribe, and snake tribe have consistently topped the 'repaying by becoming a wife' rankings. So I figured I could repay you this way too."

  The tiger girl's words left Xia Li silent.

  Mortals weren't stupid—sometimes they were even shrewder than cultivators. They understood that demons' earnest nature of repaying debts was their shortcut to a happy life or even class advancement.

  Any demon capable of transforming couldn't have low cultivation or weak bloodline. Protecting one family would be simplest of tasks.

  After several generations, the demon blood in their descendants would gradually dilute into spiritual blood, giving them the foundation for cultivation—from then on, they'd have "bloodline" and could embark on the cultivation path.

  So for mortals, coupling with demons benefited not only the present but future generations. Even imperial princesses and noble ladies weren't as desirable as demon women.

  As for female human cultivators?

  Would female cultivators even look at mortals? For the same life-saving grace, tossing a few spirit stones and pills was already generous. If they even taught cultivation techniques, the mortal would have to kneel in gratitude.

  So mortals had summarized a pattern, spreading these experiential tales through folk stories.

  Saving demons brought super high returns—encountering one was profit. This further increased mortals' goodwill toward demons and the rate of human-demon unions.

  "That's a typical stereotype. Anyway, I don't need you to repay me that way. Besides, shouldn't only lesser demons do that? You're a greater demon after all..."

  Xia Li could sense roughly how strong she was. Demons didn't follow human cultivation paths, so they had no cultivation realms.

  Demons cultivated similarly to martial arts—training qi, blood, physical body, and demon core.

  This tiger girl's blood and qi strength was roughly at mid Meridian Opening level, and this was while she was weakened. At her peak, she was definitely at late Meridian Opening or even peak Meridian Opening.

  Martial path Meridian Opening corresponded to the mystic path's Golden Core stage.

  A demon with at least late Golden Core strength could definitely be called a greater demon.

  "Lesser demons repay mortals that way. I'm a greater demon, but are you a mortal?"

  "That works too?"

  Xia Li was astonished. It was actually quite logical when he thought about it—lesser demons repaying mortals, greater demons repaying cultivators, demon kings repaying great powers.

  "Where do you think humanity's countless bloodlines came from? Besides the descendants of great powers, there are the various demon bloodlines from ancient times when demons and humans were one family."

  "And you..."

  The tiger girl suddenly moved close to Xia Li's face and began sniffing carefully.

  "Could I have a drop of your blood essence?"

  "What for?"

  "To check if your ancestors had a demon fetish."

  "That's definitely impossible!"

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Xia Li bit his fingertip and directly condensed a drop of blood essence. The tiger girl opened her mouth, indicating for him to drop it in. After Xia Li dripped the blood essence into her mouth...

  She lowered her head to savor it carefully, her eyes showing deep contemplation.

  "Your ancestors not only had one, but they were quite bold—they even went after dragons! You have extremely diluted dragon blood."

  "What?"

  Xia Li couldn't laugh anymore.

  "Yellow Dragon? Yinglong? Azure Dragon of Leize? Wow, did your ancestor have a dragon fetish?"

  The tiger girl gradually sensed more—not just dragon blood, but multiple types of dragons.

  "I... I don't know how to respond."

  At this moment, Xia Li recalled a legend—a saying that people in his era would mention as a symbol of national pride.

  Descendants of the dragon. Heirs of the dragon.

  Now he really was a dragon descendant.

  His ancestors really did go after dragons!

  Anyway, Xia Li wouldn't comment on this explosive history. What exactly happened in that Spirit Era when humanity first emerged, alongside countless demons—Earth still hadn't compiled a complete history of that period.

  But based on currently known information, the origins of Earth's humans seemed even more mysterious. At least his lineage had deep connections with dragons in ancient times.

  Well, being connected to dragons was fine.

  The power of dragons needed no elaboration—dragons were essentially demon royalty.

  "Anyway, this suggests your demon fetish might be hereditary. Unfortunately, the dragon blood you inherited is too diluted—practically nonexistent."

  "Whatever, I don't need bloodline power right now. Let's get back to business. Just help me move around in the Savage Continent as repayment. I don't want to clash with the demon tribe."

  Xia Li figured having a demon beside him would signal to other demons that he was demon-friendly, reducing many conflicts.

  "Alright, put a control collar on my neck then. When we meet your kind, I'll pretend to be your demon slave. When we meet mine, I'll explain the beast-control ring is just decoration."

  The tiger girl was willing to cooperate with Xia Li.

  Speaking human words to humans, speaking demon words to demons—this way the journey should go smoothly, benefiting both.

  "But I don't have a beast-control ring."

  "Didn't you collect the spoils around me when you saved me? There must be one in those storage devices."

  "Let me look..."

  Xia Li immediately began searching through the spoils he'd collected earlier and quickly found a beast-control ring.

  "Here, set the control method yourself."

  After Xia Li handed the beast-control ring to the tiger girl, she put it around her neck without hesitation.

  "Also, give me some clothes. Clothes conjured from fur consume spiritual energy."

  "Hold on..."

  Xia Li found a plain long dress among the spoils and handed it to the tiger girl.

  She cancelled her transformation without any shyness, immediately exposing her entire body to Xia Li. But Xia Li didn't avert his gaze—instead, he took the opportunity to examine her closely.

  "Like looking that much? Then do you want to just touch?"

  After changing, she seemed displeased with Xia Li's gaze.

  "Let me try!"

  Xia Li immediately walked forward and touched the tiger girl's face.

  "The skin texture is similar to us humans. Even the meridians and acupoints are nearly identical. Rather than transformation, this is more like a complete change in life form."

  "Is demon transformation really this miraculous? And why do they all transform into humans?"

  Xia Li was curious about this. Demons on Earth didn't actively transform—only demons kept and subdued by humans would be forced to transform.

  "I'm not sure about that either. When you visit my tribe as my guest later, the tribal elders should know why."