With a sweep of his divine sense, Ye Liuyun instantly located the blue whale.

The creature was staring wide-eyed, watching their experts fight.

He immediately sent a few more powerhouses to reinforce them, while his golden pupils sized up the whale’s cultivation—nothing amiss; solid Fifth-Layer Unity.

“Strange—why isn’t anyone attacking it?”

He wondered: if all these cultivators had tracked it here, why hadn’t a single one tried to capture or control it?

“Unless none of them can see it—only we can. Don’t forget, that whale-demon is a grandmaster of arrays,” his clone reminded.

Ye Liuyun’s golden gaze combed the spot again and relayed everything he saw to Qiong Qi.

After studying it, Qiong Qi replied, “I can only tell it’s a natural formation. What it actually does—I can’t say.”

Ye Liuyun thought, If this whale is the sea-demon, what does it want by luring us here?

He replayed every step since the first encounter and concluded the target was most likely Dragon Girl; nothing else seemed worth the effort.

But it was only guesswork. Whether the demon would act, whether this whale even was the demon—he still had no proof.

Outwardly he watched the battle; inwardly he plotted.

When his experts finished off the last opponent, he simply beckoned and led everyone upward toward the surface, ignoring the whale.

The whale goggled, utterly at a loss.

This time Ye Liuyun deliberately brushed its mind through its eyes and felt the flicker of confusion.

Still, he didn’t stop. Once they broke surface he poured on speed and streaked toward the treasury Leng Qingxiao had marked.

They hadn’t gone far when a distant whale-song reached him; his divine sense caught the creature trailing far behind.

He smiled. Whatever it was, it had them in its sights. Even if it wasn’t the demon itself, it was tied to it.

Fine—let it follow. He’d loot the treasury first, deal with the whale after. Might even find a use for it among the treasures.

Ye Liuyun and one clone went back to cultivation; the other clone piloted the group.

He also warned Dragon Girl: “I think it’s after you. No idea why it hasn’t struck yet.”

“Never imagined that whale was the sea-demon! But its cultivation feels wrong.”

“Cultivation can be hidden. If it’s really that strong, masking it is easy.”

“I’ll stay extra careful whenever I’m outside,” she promised.

He nodded; he’d still need to let her out again and watch the whale’s reaction.

After the clone had flown a long stretch, they paused to rest.

Ye Liuyun brought Dragon Girl out for air.

The moment the whale saw her it glided closer, singing a greeting.

“It’s asking why we left,” Dragon Girl relayed.

Ye Liuyun answered, “Tell it the trench was too dangerous and we’re not going in. Say it’s free to go wherever it wants, but to stop following us. Watch how it reacts.”

When she did, the whale grew frantic; its giant tail slammed the sea, sending a mountain of water thundering astern.The sudden move made everyone jump, instantly on guard. Ye Liuyun pulled the dragon girl behind him, afraid the blue whale might lash out and hurt her.

The whale moaned again, speaking to the dragon girl.

“It says the trench is full of resources and we shouldn’t give up,” she relayed to Ye Liuyun.

Instead of replying mentally, he said out loud, “Tell it we can’t get in—let it fetch the stuff for us.”

Both Ye Liuyun and his clone were watching the whale’s eyes; it clearly understood him. The dragon girl passed the message on.

After her transmission, the whale answered with another low moan.

“It knows a teleport array that drops straight to the trench floor. It can take us,” she translated.

“Why didn’t it say so earlier?” Ye Liuyun asked aloud.

This time, when the dragon girl inquired, the whale played dumb and stayed silent.

Seeing no answer, Ye Liuyun told her, “I don’t trust it anymore. Unless it steps into my pocket world and enters the array with me, we’re not going. I’m not risking our lives for a few more materials—we already have plenty, we won’t miss what we don’t have.”

After the dragon girl relayed that, the whale circled once, thinking, weighing pros and cons.

Ye Liuyun didn’t give it long.

“Forget it,” he said to the dragon girl. “We’re not gambling on a beast that can’t even think straight.”

Without letting her send another word, he took her hand, waved the others, and started to leave.

A single mournful “woo” stopped them; the whale called the dragon girl back.

“It agreed,” she sent happily to Ye Liuyun.

He pretended to ponder, then gave a reluctant nod. “Fine—last try. If this fails, we leave the Desolate Sea at once.”

Meanwhile he had Qiong Qi and the other array masters set a trapping formation inside his pocket world. The sea-beast knew arrays, but it wouldn’t break out instantly; he only needed a moment.

He feared the whale’s power might shatter his world’s barrier. Lei Ming, Nine-Headed Demon Dragon, and Black Tiger were ready to strike; three Xuanwu beasts formed the second wave. Devil Vine and his second clone lay in ambush, and a ring of fire chariots waited outside for the instant the whale was pulled in.