Sean pointed to his own face.
Lily Bai leaned in and gave him a quick kiss.
Only then did he say contentedly, "Do you know what the most beautiful and precious jewel in the world is?"
Lily Bai: "The most?"
"Yes, the very most!"
Lily Bai thought for a moment and said, "If we're talking about the very best, it has to be the Demon Dragon Spine Bead."
There are several kinds of Demon Dragons.
Fire Demon Dragons, Water Demon Dragons, and Flying Demon Dragons like Azure Flame.
Hidden within the ridges of their backs are naturally formed beads.
Once these spine beads are forged, they become the world's most beautiful, most dazzling, and most moving jewels.
It can protect the body, ward off evil, and even prolong life.
Sean nodded. "The one I gave to Soren Lann was Azure Flame's spine bead."
Lily Bai looked incredulous. "But... usually you can only harvest a spine bead after the Demon Dragon dies! How did Azure Flame manage it?"
"She dug it out while still alive! How else could she have done it?" Sean shook his head.
"That must've hurt so much!" Lily Bai frowned. "Why would she do something like that?"
Sean was silent for a moment before saying, "There’s a legend that spine beads hold a mysterious power. If their owner pours a heartfelt wish into them, that wish can come true…"
...
After Sean and Lily Bai left, Soren Lann opened the Storage Pouch.
The moment he opened it, auspicious multicolored light appeared, and the energy made him feel incredibly comfortable.
He poured out the contents and found a bracelet inside.
The beads strung into the bracelet were stunning—Demon Dragon Spine Beads?
Even as Divine Lord of the Radiant Domain, he had never seen so many spine beads at once.
There were twelve in total, all about the same size, made into a bracelet.
But the golden thread stringing the bracelet wasn’t finished yet, so it was only half complete.
Judging by its size, it was meant for a man.
Was that why Sean assumed it was a gift from Azure Flame to him?
Soren Lann shook his head and prepared to put the bracelet away.
Just then, he noticed something odd—there seemed to be writing inside the beads.
He picked it up again and poured spiritual power into it.
There really were words inside the spine beads.
One spine bead, one word—twelve in total.
Let, go, of, the, past, start, anew, in, happiness, and, joy.
Just a simple blessing.
Plain words.
But together, they formed a gentle, enduring power that made his heart leap.
This power... these blessings...
Could it be... these spine beads weren’t harvested from a dead Demon Dragon, but from her?
Did she carve them out of her own living back ridge?
Then infuse her own wish into them, preparing to give them to him?
A single tear fell onto the bracelet as Soren Lann slipped it onto his wrist.
Such deep, beautiful meaning shouldn’t be let down…
...
Back at Drake Abyss, Adrian Drake sneaked over to find them, reporting that the Soulbinder Talisman had already fallen into the princess’s hands.
"She won’t suspect anything, right?" Lily Bai asked.
"Trust me!" Adrian said. "She would never guess that someone deliberately put that Soulbinder Talisman into her hands."
Lily Bai nodded.
"But why go to all this trouble?" Adrian asked.
Lily Bai replied, "Obviously, to solve the case."
"So… who will she use the Soulbinder Talisman on?" Adrian was puzzled.
Lily Bai pulled out a Surveillance Talisman. "Let’s watch patiently from now on. We’ll know soon enough who she’ll use it on."
The image in the Surveillance Talisman showed Princess Quinn Xiao.
She was holding a Messenger Charm, talking to someone.
Judging by her words, the person on the other end was probably her mother—the Celestial Empress.