'Don't antagonize it!' Little Yang said in a panic.

'I know what I'm doing.' Dyon said softly.

Little Yang almost got into a screaming contest with Dyon. You know what you're doing? You didn't even know what your opponent was two minutes ago! Then, you actually asked us for help with solutions! Now you're doing something so blatantly stupid yet you want us to believe you know what you're doing?!

However, before he could say any of these words, Little Yin put a small paw under his jaw, keeping his mouth closed.

Dyon's thoughts were simple. Even if he had to give up some of his treasures as an apology for intruding this mineral sprite's territory, he had to maximize his chances at gaining forgiveness.

Weren't souls that had lost their bodies as hosts known as spirits as well? These notions came from the same root. Spirits and sprites were just souls without an appropriate vessel.

A mineral sprite was able to use precious metals and rocks as temporary vessels, but this wasn't a true body. In the end, they were just spirits too.

Souls. Spirits. Sprites. Three words with near identical definitions, all connected with one another in some form. Since this was the case, wouldn't Dyon's pure soul energy make this mineral sprite feel more comfortable?

As though in response to Dyon's thoughts, the overwhelming danger lessened slightly even as Dyon's body seemed to glow with a magnificent halo. Madeleine's presence became hidden within it, shrouding whatever threat this mineral sprite thought that she might be.

At that moment, the oddly shaped rainbow metal-like core suddenly stopped spinning. It was then that Dyon felt as though a pair of eyes had trained onto his body. Unfortunately It was also then that the danger he felt spiked as a clear sense of greed projected from the sprite.

'You idiot!' Little Yang finally shook away from his little sister. 'Sprites spend their entire lives finding appropriate vessels for their spirits! You think that just because I told you of a few love stories that they all have good hearts?! There are very few, VERY FEW, stories of Sprites even having good relationships with humans, let alone falling in love with them!

'You just did the equivalent of walking into a war camp as a scantily clad woman before meandering amidst men who hadn't seen one in decades! Fool! Fool! Fool!' Little Yang almost passed out in anger. Dyon's words of 'I know what I'm doing' kept ringing in his mind. Do you now? Do you really know what you're doing? Now you'll die! Great job!

Dyon didn't reply to Little Yang's tirade of words. His muscles were flexed, his eyes were narrowed and his nerves were on absolute edge. Every fiber of his being were focused on only two things: the woman in his arms and the sprite before him.

However, nothing could have prepared him for what happened next. No matter how fast his reflexes were.

The walls of the mountain of silver distorted, shooting forward with their sharp edges pointed toward Dyon.

Dyon's eyes didn't even have time to contract before his shoulders and thighs were pierced. It was obvious by the sprite's actions that it wanted to stall Dyon's movement, but was unwilling to harm him. Luckily, this meant that it avoided Dyon's chest and thus, other than a small scrape to Madeleine back, she remained unharmed.

She wanted to call out, but she refrained herself from doing so. She was aware that Dyon was using his presence to hide her from view of the sprite. These sorts of creatures relied on their own divine sense to view things, but just like eyesight, divine senses could be fooled. No matter what cultivation level this sprite had reached, its divine sense would never be stronger than Dyon's!

Of course, the question was obvious why hadn't Dyon hidden himself and the answer lay in the fact his feet were connected to the mountain of silver. Before he could use his wings, the sprite had already locked the movement of his legs. It didn't need divine sense to realize that Dyon was standing right before it because connected to the mountain itself.

Dyon didn't so much as flinch when he felt his bone being pierced through, nor did his focus waver. His eyes remained trained on the oddly shaped rainbow rock floating before them. It was several hundred meters across, hovering with a menacing aura.

Crimson blood tinged with rose-bronze flowed out from Dyon body, causing him to sneer. 'This bastard wants to bleed me out?'

The sprite was being overly cautious precisely because it was wary of Dyon's soul strength. It had to make sure that when it entered Dyon's mind's eye that he was in as weakened as state as possible. That said, it was just cautious, not hesitant.

With its senses, it had pinned down that Dyon's soul strength was of the peak celestial realm. Although this was rare for humans in its mind, in comparison to it, it wasn't enough. The sprite laughed to itself, already sizing up Dyon's body as though it was its own already.

Handsome, sturdy, so many good constitutions. Powerful, great potential. It couldn't have been happier. It would have to use some of its own strength to widen Dyon's mind's eye since this boy's soul strength was so weak, but other than that, everything was perfect.

What made the sprite especially happy was that according to its calculations, Dyon's body should be able to withstand its strength. This was perfect!

To think it had almost killed this intruder. It didn't even remember the fact that it had initially sensed two and not one individual. Still, even if it did, it wouldn't care as long as Dyon didn't escape.

Hmph, you came here to steal my body, so now I'll steal yours! The sprite manically laughed to itself, watching Dyon bleed out as the hours turned to days. It had already been stuck in this Mystical World for billions of years, who cared about waiting a few weeks or months?

Still, it couldn't help but think that this mere human was quite tenacious. How much mental energy did it take to stay so focused for so long? However, at least this human's body was clearly weakening. It could sense Dyon's muscles trembling and his blood replenishment rate slowing down drastically.

From beginning to end, Dyon never let go of Madeleine's body. He held her tightly to himself. In fact, he was chatting with her with a bright smile on his face as though nothing was happening. He told her stories surrounding the celestial babies and their antics. He told her about how annoying the Demon Sage was and how he practically had to seal him to stop him from killing himself. He also told her about how he had plans to lock her, Ri, Clara and Amphorae up for daring to run around so much.

His words were so wild and funny that Madeleine lost herself in laughter sometimes. Every time it happened, she would catch herself and remember just what kind of situation they were in. She wanted to heal Dyon to stop this madness with her life characteristic, but she knew that that would only prolong his suffering.

As time passed, Dyon's healthy bronzed skin paled into a sickly color. His muscles lost their volume and he became less and less capable of ignoring his broken and shattered bones. He could feel his consciousness fading away, begging for a rest. No matter how strong his soul strength was, it was difficult to ignore the weakening of his body. The power of the toddler in his mind's eye and his actual soul seemed so connected sometimes yet so disconnected at others.

Soon, what Dyon thought were simple blinks started extending their stay from fractions of a moment, to several seconds. It seemed that other than his grip on Madeleine, everything else was slackening.

The greed of the sprite grew, causing its temporary vessel to glow brighter and brighter with every passing moment.

Suddenly, one day, four months later, its patience reached a breaking point.

It laughed in its mind. You're mine now!

**

Months earlier, Clara and Ri stepped out from a private courtyard within the Water Mist Sect to find Little Wind waiting patiently for them. By now, the beautiful bird beast had grown to have an over fifteen-meter wingspan and was quite capable amongst peak essence beasts. The good news was that with its wind affinity, its speed lost out to most saint beasts in no way.