Any Demonic Beasts he left in Icefire Valley would be killed or captured by the Mount Song Sword Sect. Most of them at least. They might also leave the outer area as a training ground in which case they would control the population and hunt them as practice. That was why he felt no guilt in capturing them and sending them to the Inner World. They would live on rather than be made into materials. A few of them might be sent to join the Tiankong Clan, but for the most part they targeted bird type Demonic Beasts that could act as flying mounts. They didn’t care much about dogs, cats, and snakes.

Sage lost the Heart’s Tongue he built when his physical body was destroyed. Without it, he couldn’t communicate with these Demonic Beasts unless they were smart enough to learn the human language. Well, that’s not entirely true. He was merely too lazy. The Seething Purple Cobras were serpents and he could use their language because of his merge with the Twin Ringed Soul Serpent, along with a few others like the Fire Bellied Cobra and Blade Tail Viper. Even so, he didn’t want to waste time attempting to convince them when they weren’t likely to agree in the first place. It was much faster to just subdue them and then send them to the Inner World where his Soul Clone could spend the time to indoctrinate them.

Faced with this strange spider and plant, Sage felt it was worth his time to communicate. They were unique enough that he wanted to form a better relationship with them from the get go. He’d always been on the lookout for Demonic Plants and the few he’d run into in the past had been too powerful for him to get a hold of. Now, there was one that had a relationship with this spider, which meant he had something of an advantage in trying to coax it over to his side.

The large crab spider peered down at him from the edge of the Cauldron Plant, “How did you get here? It's not time for the miasma to weaken again.”

Ahh, so they must know the timing and hide out.

“I like you, Cousin, so I’ll tell you the truth. I’m removing the miasma and this Valley will be falling under new rulership. If you stay here, you’ll be in danger.”

The crab spider lifted his front limbs up higher, like an angry chimp trying to make himself look taller. He even hissed before speaking, “You’re threatening us! What sort of fool do you take me for? The miasma has always been, and always will be.”

“You don’t believe me?”

Sage lifted his hand and released a small cloud of the poison miasma, a sight that made the spider cringe backwards in shock. The majority of its body retreated into the Cauldron Plant’s mouth on instinct, but then it remembered the Cauldron Plant could be harmed by the miasma and darted out, lifting up its legs threateningly again, “Is that real? How is it possible? What do you want?”

“Do you like these warm ice caves that much? Isn’t it so drab and boring down here? Is it difficult to catch those cats and dogs? Come with me. I’ll take you away from here.”

The spider did not seem convinced, “This place is just fine. I can live anywhere as long as I am with my Precious. She is all that matters to me. The great couple let us in and sheltered us. We can be here together forever.”

Let you in? Interesting.

“They let you in? Do you mean Hong Ri and Hei Yue? You must have a very deep relationship with her.”

He didn’t want to call the Demonic Plant precious, especially if that might lead to riling the spider up even more. Instead he used the same appeal that had worked on King, all those years ago, “You seem to care for her greatly. Come with me and I’ll give you both a Human Seal like mine.”

He opened his shirt and showed off the seal over his heart. The symbol glowed and the spider legs disappeared from his back returning him to a purely human appearance. As if knowing the questions that would come he continued, “I know what you wish to know. It will in fact let you take a human form without having to face a heavenly tribulation. It seals up the strength of your beast body, but you will maintain your fertility.”

While he didn’t feel like directly saying the vulgar stuff, he figured that the temptation of taking their weird relationship to a new level would be enough to entice this Crab Spider and Cauldron Plant.

The Crab Spider suddenly darted into the body of the Cauldron Plant and Sage could feel fluctuations of energy. They must have developed some method of communication. After a few minutes the Crab Spider leapt out and landed in front of him, the huge spider face was at the same height as his own and he looked into two of its shiny black eyes.

“We agree.”

“Alright. Don’t resist. Are there any treasures, special resources, or soils you need to bring along? Are there any other special conditions needed for her?”

“She has everything we need in her Storage Bags.”

“Alright. Don’t resist me.”

The Crab Spider stood next to the large Cauldron Plant, hugging the side of the giant plant. Then they both disappeared, sent to the Inner World to a new site the Soul Clone just set up. Sage gave the area another sweep before returning to the surface to continue gathering the poison miasma.

In the Inner World.

The man sized Crab Spider and the house sized Cauldron Plant appeared in front of a large courtyard villa. The man they’d just been talking to was standing in front of them, even though their surroundings had changed completely. They weren’t sure what was going on, but then the man closed his eyes and when they opened the two felt something unusual in those golden eyes. They could sense something was going on, so they waited in silence. Then the man stepped forward and touched his fingers against the top of the Crab’s head. A glowing symbol appeared and the Crab felt everything changing. It looked down and saw two hands. It looked further and saw the body of a naked human. A body that responded to its commands.

By the time the Crab Spider had come to terms with its new human body, Sage had already applied the Human Seal to the Cauldron Plant. He threw a set of clothing onto the both of them, using his Spirit Power to loosely dress them in the robes. Then the man and woman threw themselves at each other. They wrapped their arms around each other and started squeezing and rubbing all over the place in ways most humans wouldn’t dare to in public.

Complete lack of manners, and completely new to the human body.

He coughed to get their attention, but they completely ignored him. He shook his head and used his Spirit Power to pry them apart with invisible telekinetic hands. He held them apart and a Memory Sphere flew out towards each of them. He held out another and mimed holding it to his forehead and sending Qi into it. They struggled for a bit and then finally did as he indicated.

After receiving the primer on human language, behavior, and culture he lowered them back down to the ground. Then he indicated the building behind them, “This is your new home. Someone will send you supplies every day, don’t hurt them. You two just enjoy yourselves. I’ll find you again in a month or so, I’m sure you’ll have questions by then.”