Ao Cang shook his head: "No, it's similar to the worship of gods and Buddhas that was popular before the interstellar era. The gods and Buddhas themselves do not become weaker as the number of worshippers increases. On the contrary, they become stronger as they receive a lot of wishes and offerings."

"As for the protective energy that will be returned to them, it will be brought by them themselves. I am just a tool to transform their prayers into protection."

Qiao Mei had forgotten about this, but after feeling relieved, she still didn't tell Ao Cang and just did it this way.

She hadn't heard Xu Wenfeng's opinion yet, and she was absolutely unwilling to let Ao Cang take the risk unless absolutely necessary.

After all, he wasn't a sacred beast that everyone could accept; rather, he was a fallen sacred beast that everyone despised from the very beginning.

...

After watching the video that Qiao Mei brought back, Xu Wenfeng's expression was just as shocked as Qiao Mei's when she first saw the actual scene.

But soon, the shock in his eyes vanished completely, replaced by solemnity.

"You should not get involved in this matter for now. If the royal family and the four major families find out that the Federation army knew about this but did not report it, they will definitely not let it go so easily. However, this is related to the security of the entire interstellar space in the future, so I guess they will come up with some methods that are worth trying."

After saying that, he looked at Qiao Mei and emphasized to her, "In particular, we can't let anyone know Ao Cang's identity, and we can't let him do anything at this critical juncture, otherwise I'm afraid even I won't be able to protect him. Xiao Mei, do you understand?"

Qiao Mei nodded, her red eyes filled with deep thought and worry: "I understand, thank you for reminding me, Grandpa."

Based on what Miyakyo had told her before, she could guess that the large amount of death energy being extracted by the Federation army was being drawn from living Holy Fallen Beasts.

If the Federation army knew that Ao Cang's recovery was going well, but that he still had a lot of death energy left in his body...

They will definitely try every means to capture him, trap him in one place, and continuously extract his life force.

They might even subject him to all sorts of inhumane research because of his ability to recover.

After all, Ao Cang is not a human being in the strict sense, so there is no need to have any humanitarian spirit towards him.

But she's different.

If it really came to that, she felt she would do anything to prevent Ao Cang from being captured.

That evening.

Ao Cang noticed that Qiao Mei had become a bit overly nervous.

Not only did they close the doors and windows tightly, but they also used detection instruments to check if there were any surveillance or listening devices around.

By the time everything was finished, it was already midnight.

She finally got into bed with him, but even then, she wouldn't allow him to transform into his dragon form.

"The situation is special right now, so please try to maintain your human form as much as possible, otherwise I'm afraid."

She held him tightly, as if she wanted to embed him into her very bones.

Mo Yinxing noticed that something was wrong with her mood, but instead of saying anything, she obediently snuggled closer to her.

His golden dragon eyes reflected her worried expression, and he gently stroked her face with his large hand, saying, "If An'an wishes, I can be your god, just for you."

He used to think that to protect the world, he needed to give his all.

But now it seems that's not the case.

He can also use his brain and other methods to play his role, just like a human being.

Because he didn't want Qiao Mei to be worried or sad.

Qiao Mei didn't expect him to say that. She was stunned for a long time before kissing his lips and telling him that he didn't need to do that.

"Liking someone doesn't mean turning them into the person you want them to be. As a god, you possess divine power that ordinary people cannot have, so of course you can't just say nothing and do nothing."

"Even if I really asked you not to protect others, and you did it, you would still be very unhappy, right?"

Ao Cang nodded: "Yes, but compared to that, I care more about your feelings now."

For thousands of years, he has helped countless ordinary people and fulfilled his duties as a deity countless times.

But after meeting Qiao Mei, he realized that he cared more about her emotional state than about making other ordinary people feel at ease and happy.

If he could, he wouldn't even want to still be associated with the identity of a god.

It is said that with great power comes great responsibility, but he only wanted his responsibility to encompass Qiao Mei alone.

Qiao Mei is currently very sensitive and cannot tell whether Ao Cang is telling the truth or lying.

Even so, she was still moved and pleased to hear his biased words.

She couldn't resist clinging to him, her desire undisguised.

Ao Cang understood what she meant and, going along with the atmosphere, gave her what she wanted.

For a period of time afterward, Qiao Mei seemed to become obsessed with the feeling of skin-to-skin contact with him, and would always pull him into her pleasure time and time again.

It wasn't until the fifth day, when Shang Duojin said that his father was celebrating his sixtieth birthday and had invited them to a banquet, that she temporarily stopped her clingy relationship with Ao Cang.

Ao Cang didn't find her sudden clinginess annoying; on the contrary, he enjoyed it very much.

However, her body clearly couldn't withstand the strain for long, so he secretly breathed a sigh of relief when it stopped.

If this continues for a while, people will definitely notice something wrong with her walking posture.

When attending a birthday banquet, you shouldn't dress too casually.

While Qiao Mei was choosing clothes for herself and Ao Cang on the website, she received a message from Yan Qing.

He said that the rough draft of the wedding dress he designed for her and Ao Cang was finished, and he wanted her to take a look. He would then find some time to go to her place to choose the fabric.

GanGan: [The new fabric is better than the previous batch, so you might want to take a look again. Since Shang Duojin's father's birthday banquet is coming up soon, how about I bring the fabric over so you can see it there?]

Qiao Mei was just about to say that when she saw Yan Qing bring it up, she readily agreed.

The birthday banquet will begin on Wednesday evening.

When Qiao Mei and Ao Cang arrived at the venue, they saw Shu Qingqing at the hot spring pool in the outer hall of the banquet hall.

I was about to call out to her when a female voice interrupted me.

"Oh dear, this must be Xiao Jin's fiancée, right?" The woman who spoke was wearing a purple evening gown, and her meticulously made-up face had a somewhat mean expression.

Although his eyes were squinting and smiling, there was no trace of laughter in them.

Her gaze fell on Shu Qingqing's chestnut-brown short hair, and she clicked her tongue in amazement: "Oh, I didn't even realize you were from Orchid Star? Since Xiao Jin took a liking to you, your family background must be quite good, right? I recently heard that a woman from Orchid Star came to Empire Star looking for her ungrateful daughter. You wouldn't believe how scary she was."

Shu Qingqing didn't want to pay attention to her at first, but when she heard what she said next, she frowned instantly.