Ye Xiaotian was not surprised by Xu Xiaoshou’s reaction. He said calmly,

“Aje is a divine puppet. It has also been the subject of Elder Qiao’s research for decades, and he is also the person closest to it.”

“You should know how much a spirit array caster, who is truly obsessed with the way of spirit array, would love and care for a divine puppet with spiritual intelligence. It is just like…”

“His child.”

Ye Xiaotian paused and smiled.

Perhaps Xu Xiaoshou could not fully understand what he was saying.

However, as Qiao Qianzhi’s friend, Ye Xiaotian knew that Qiao Qianzhi’s love for Aje was no less than Xu Xiaoshou’s.

In fact, it was even better than that.

After all, Qiao Qianzhi was an old man who had no children and spent most of his life on Aje. How could he not have any attachment?

When Ye Xiaotian saw that Xu Xiaoshou did not react, he continued.

“Actually, when you came into contact with Aje from the Tianxuan Gate, your Elder Qiao already knew about it, but he didn’t stop you from bringing it out. This is also one of his research strategies.”

“We’re trying out a possibility…”

“Aje was a first-generation divine puppet that was tossed into Abyss Island because it lost control and only knew violence and slaughter. We wanted to know whether there’s a way to ‘establish a bond’ that could make Aje become controllable because of feelings.”

“This is something that your Elder Qiao has tried for decades and failed. Although he likes Aje very much, it can not be denied that his experiments have hurt Aje to a certain extent… yes, this is inevitable.”

“Therefore, it is already very difficult for your Elder Qiao, to get along with Aje normally.”

Ye Xiaotian suddenly changed the topic and looked deeply at Xu Xiaoshou. “Fortunately, you did it. You established a very deep bond with Aje.”

“Mama…”

At this moment, a sudden voice appeared.

Xu Xiaoshou’s chest trembled, and the metal ball inside shone with a red light.

As if sensing that there was a dispute between the two parties, Aje was ready to fight.

Xu Xiaoshou knew that he could not hide anymore, so he reached out to comfort Aje. He sent a message to show that the person in front of him was not an enemy and that there was still room for communication between the two parties.

Ye Xiaotian lowered his gaze and swept it toward Aje who was in Xu Xiaoshou’s embrace. However, he did not try to take it by force. Instead, he continued to calmly meet Xu Xiaoshou’s gaze with an inquiry look.

He treated Xu Xiaoshou as an equal. He did not care about the relationship Xu Xiaoshou had brought about by addressing him as the “Headmaster.” He did not try to use this relationship to force Xu Xiaoshou.

On the contrary, Ye Xiaotian respected Xu Xiaoshou’s choice and only tried to persuade him to a certain extent.

He could understand Xu Xiaoshou’s feelings for Aje, but at the same time, he also thought that as long as Xu Xiaoshou calmed down, he would understand that his persuasion would be more beneficial to Aje.

Xu Xiaoshou was silent. His fingers gently stroked the metal ball in his arms, and his eyes seemed to be hesitant.

He could also see the sincerity of the headmaster.

Moreover, based on his understanding of Elder Qiao, he was an elder who would treat all the disciples in the outer yard as his own children. Although he was usually a little greedy, there was nothing to say about his personality and character.

The people of Tiansang Spirit Palace more or less had some minor flaws, such as Elder Sang’s gloomy and paranoid nature, Elder Qiao’s little money-grubber nature, and Ye Xiaotian’s height…

But in fact, they were all very nice people.

After pondering for a moment, Xu Xiaoshou made up his mind and became firm.

He looked straight ahead, shook his head, and continued to refuse.

“To both of you, Aje is a test subject. To me, it is a partner.”

“The past Aje was already very miserable. Now, I will not allow it to be harmed in the slightest!”

The harm here did not refer to the damage caused by battle, but to the man-made damage caused by research.

For example, when Aje was first born. Xu Xiaoshou did not know about it, but he could imagine the damage caused by losing control and being captured and repeatedly modified…

If Aje really returned to Elder Qiao’s hands, it might have to face dissection, modification, advancement, and other cutting or slicing research…

Xu Xiaoshou was very afraid of this kind of “research”.

This was because he had a “passive system” in his mind. Ever since he obtained this thing in the Tiansang Spirit Palace, he had always been worried that he would be captured and sliced up for research because of his rapid advancement in cultivation level.

Later on, after he knew that no matter how fast his cultivation level advancement was, he still had a Bazhun’an above his head, he was completely relieved.

However, this definitely did not mean that he had lost his fear of the unknown, ‘being studied’.

Since even he was afraid that such a terrifying thing would happen, how could Aje, who was still a baby, withstand it?

Xu Xiaoshou was determined because of this. He held the metal ball tightly in his arms and refused to let go at all.

“You won’t hurt Aje, so why would we…” Ye Xiaotian could see that Xu Xiaoshou was sincere, and he also knew that the other party did not say this because he only wanted to have Aje, a powerful force.

He was happy that Aje had found such a faithful owner, and he was also relieved that Xu Xiaoshou did not forget his original intention even after he joined the saint servant. At the same time, the corners of his lips curled up, and he said with a smile,

“Xu Xiaoshou, right now, your thoughts are just like your master’s, paranoid to the heavens.”

“The current situation is that your partner is sick and has not been cured for decades. There is a possibility that the illness will break out at any moment.”

“Now, there is a person who has spent decades cultivating such a specific healing skill just for it. He has mastered the skill to cure your partner’s illness.”