The centipede looked to be only about the length of a finger, so tiny.

"It’s so tiny."

Its mistress had just called it tiny.

The centipede on Javier Sinclair’s hand vanished.

Celeste Grant felt only a faint ripple of Spiritual Energy. In the blink of an eye, a green figure materialized before her.

A short distance away, a giant centipede had appeared before her.

"Oh my god..."

She’d always thought he was just raising a little centipede.

The behemoth now before her was the furthest thing from tiny.

’This aura... It’s a Seventh Rank Demon Beast! Any higher and it’ll be able to take on a human form.’

This was the first time she had seen the centipede Javier Sinclair kept grow so large.

If she weren’t already accustomed to life in the Cultivation World, the sudden appearance of such a creature would have scared her to death.

But as a Golden Core Stage Cultivator, she certainly wasn’t afraid of such things. More importantly, since Javier Sinclair was its master, it wouldn’t harm her, no matter what it was.

The centipede’s body was so massive that it filled the entire area as it crawled in a circle around Celeste Grant and Javier.

It coiled around Celeste Grant and Javier Sinclair, bringing its head right up to her face.

"SKREEE... CHITTER..."

’Tiny?’

’Am I tiny?’

’If this place wasn’t so small...’

’I could be even bigger.’

’I’m very impressive!’

’How could I be tiny?’

Celeste Grant glanced at it.

Then she looked at Javier Sinclair.

"What is it chittering about?"

Javier Sinclair reached out, patting the centipede’s head. "It says it’s very big," he said in a low voice.

Celeste Grant couldn’t help but laugh when she heard that.

The centipede was very clean, with a cool, translucent quality. While its appearance was a bit frightening at first, it was definitely beautiful for a centipede. Once she got used to it, she found it quite good-looking.

"It’s beautiful."

Hearing this, the centipede leaned its head over and nuzzled against her.

’The mistress is beautiful, too.’

Javier Sinclair smacked its head to one side.

"That’s my wife."

’So unfair.’

’Master has a wife now. He doesn’t want me anymore.’

’But the mistress is so beautiful, I like her a lot too.’

Celeste Grant gazed at Sprout’s enormous body and its countless, scalp-tingling legs.

The longer she looked, the brighter her eyes grew. ’As expected of The Archfiend’s Spirit Beast,’ she thought, ’it looks absolutely vicious.’

Most female cultivators would be terrified at the sight of such a Demonic Beast.

A wicked grin spread across her face. "Lend me Sprout for a while," she said suddenly. "The next time I see Jocelyn Grant, I’ll set it on her. Have it chase her down and take a few bites."

’Even if it can’t kill her...’

’A Seventh Rank Demon Beast, a Jade Centipede, can still make her suffer immensely.’

The mere thought of it made her happy.

Javier Sinclair had the same thought. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

He was happy as long as she was happy. The two shared a wicked grin.

"Of course."

Javier Sinclair waved his hand, and Sprout shrank down, landing on his palm.

He picked it up and handed it to her. "Perfect. It can protect you when I’m not around."

He glanced at Sprout.

"From now on, she is your mistress. Protect her well."

Sprout lifted its head and nodded.

Celeste Grant stretched out her hand.

The green centipede crawled onto her hand.

Celeste Grant picked it up and looked at it.

"Truly beautiful."

’Happy!’

’So happy!’

’The mistress says I’m beautiful.’

’Not like Master, who always calls me ugly.’

"Sprout! You’ll be rolling with me from now on."

As she spoke, she held out her hand, and a leaf-shaped, green Space Ring appeared in her palm.

She pressed her fingers together and used a bit of magic to reshape the Space Ring, placing it directly on the centipede’s head. The next moment, the Space Artifact bonded with its body, becoming an ornament.

"Here are some Cultivation Resources for you."

It took a peek inside.

Its eyes lit up at the sight of the mountain of Spirit Stones piled within.

It nuzzled her fingers obediently.

’Mistress... *This* is my true master.’

Javier Sinclair was speechless.

’Has my Spirit Companion already defected?’

He poked it.

"Look at you, acting like you’ve never seen anything good in your life. Have I been mistreating you?"

’No.’

’But the mistress gave me so much more... *sob*.’

Celeste Grant smiled at Javier Sinclair. "It’s bonded to you. How will I summon it?"

Javier Sinclair tapped her on the forehead. The next moment, she felt a new connection form between herself and Sprout. Now, she could summon it at will, even from a great distance.

"You can now," Javier Sinclair said.

Celeste Grant nodded.

"Mhm, I feel it."

’His Spirit Companion is a Seventh Rank Demon Beast, the Jade Centipede,’ she mused. ’Does he have other Spirit Beasts? A mount, perhaps?’

The original story had very few plot points about Javier Sinclair and never mentioned any of this.

She had heard rumors that Javier Sinclair had a mount, a ferocious one at that, but no one ever specified what it was. She’d been in the Bloodfiend Den for so long without seeing it, so she assumed it was just a rumor and he didn’t actually have one.

With this in mind, she asked, "I heard you have a mount. How come I’ve been here for so long and never seen it?"

Javier Sinclair froze, giving her a look that clearly said, ’You don’t know?’

"You don’t know?"

Celeste Grant blinked.

"Know what?"

She heard him say, "But you’ve already seen him."

Celeste Grant shot him a questioning look.

"I have? Where? When?"

He replied, "It’s Jade. He’s around you every day. I thought you knew."

"Who did you say?"

Celeste Grant choked.

She stared at him in utter shock, finding it hard to believe.

"I can’t have misheard. Are you sure? Isn’t he your Right Protector? I always thought he was a Human Cultivator."

"He’s not."

Javier Sinclair shook his head slightly. "I forgot to mention... he wears a Magic Treasure that conceals his aura, so he normally appears to be a Human Cultivator."

’Who am I?’

’Where am I?’

’It feels like I just heard something impossible.’

’The Archfiend’s mount... is the Right Protector?’

Celeste Grant was speechless.

Seeing her stunned expression, Javier Sinclair said calmly, "Jade’s true form is The Azure Dragon, and his cultivation was at the Late-stage Nascent Soul. His cultivation is only at the Golden Core Stage now because he was severely injured in an ambush, which caused his cultivation level to fall."

Celeste Grant really wanted to scream, ’Holy shit!’

’Maybe everyone assumed I already knew, so no one bothered to tell me.’

"I know jack shit... He’s The Azure Dragon? So Jade is a Divine Beast in human form? He’s a Demon Cultivator?"

Javier Sinclair nodded.

"He is."

’So all this time, I’ve been ordering a dragon around to do my bidding?’

’That’s a *dragon*! I’ve never even seen one before. What does The Azure Dragon even look like? Is it like the ones on TV?’

Celeste Grant thought of something.

"In that case," she realized, "The Azure Dragon, the White Tiger, and the Vermilion are all around me."

’Isn’t this the kind of treatment reserved for a protagonist?’

’Or could it be...’

’...that Jocelyn Grant’s luck has been almost completely stripped away?’

’The protagonist’s role has changed hands, and now it’s my turn?’

At this thought, she smiled. "So now we’re just missing a Black Tortoise, and we’ll have a full mahjong table."

The book she’d transmigrated into never mentioned the Black Tortoise, and it wasn’t among any of Jocelyn Grant’s fated encounters either.

Since The Azure Dragon, the White Tiger, and the Vermilion all exist, the Black Tortoise must be out there somewhere, too. The only question is where.

’Anyway, if it doesn’t show up, so be it.’

’But if it does... I’ll snatch it.’