After hours of travel, Chi Mei and Xue Hui eventually arrived at the Black Spring, which was located at the very edge of the Heavenly Fate Plateau.
Chi Mei halted in her steps, her eyebrows knitted together as she stared into the deep, dark chasm, which happened to be the entrance to the Immortal Tortoise Realm, a subsidiary realm occupied by the Demon Beast Clan.
She was deep in thought, her mind racing as she tried to come up with a way to bring Xue Hui into the Immortal Tortoise Realm without him being discovered and attacked by the other demon beasts.
While she had made it sound quite simple when she offered to guide Xue Hui through her clan's territory, Chi Mei now realized that the task itself might be impossible to pull off, considering that Xue Hui and the girls with him were all humans.
Biting her bottom lip, Chi Mei turned to ask Xue Hui to wait somewhere while she returned to her clan and informed her grandfather about him. She was thinking that her grandfather might have a way to conceal Xue Hui's presence, which would allow him to enter the Immortal Tortoise Realm without attracting any attention.
"Moi Ca, Julin, you two need to return to the Garden. This place is too dangerous for both of you to enter," Xue Hui ordered, making the two girls let out voices of complaint.
"But, Big Bro, you said we were going to sightsee and enjoy lots of food. How are we gonna do that if you're going to send us back to the Garden?" Xiao Julin whined, making an expression as though she had been wronged.
Xue Hui shook his head, his hand moving to rest atop Xiao Julin's head.
"We already did that. You got to see and eat a lot of good stuff since we left Glory City. What I'm asking you now is to let Big Bro go to a dangerous place without putting you and Moi Ca in danger. Once I'm done here, I'll bring you out again to sightsee. Is that okay?" he asked.
"Only if Big Bro promises to bring food from this place to the Garden and let Julin and Moi Ca eat it. Then Julin is okay with returning," she declared, crossing her small arms over her chest and making an expression as though she wouldn't take no for an answer.
Xue Hui let out a quiet laugh, finding the little girl's appearance amusing before nodding his head. This caused the glow in her eyes to shine even brighter, similar to how a child's eyes light up when receiving a new toy.
"Okay, you two stay there. Don't make too much of a ruckus with Silver. Moi Ca, make sure Silver doesn't get drunk while you're there. I might need to call upon him for something," Xue Hui instructed.
"Master, permission to concoct a Nine Transforming Pill," Moi Ca said while saluting like a soldier.
"Permission denied," Xue Hui answered without missing a beat.
"W-Why not!?" Moi Ca protested, looking very dissatisfied.
"Learn to maintain your alchemy flame for a day first. Then you can try concocting pills. Nine Transforming Pills would take five hours to make even with your alchemy flame," Xue Hui answered.
"A-a day is too much, Master," she whined.
"An Alchemy Sage can maintain their flame for months without taking a break," Xue Hui countered.
This made Moi Ca's shoulders slump in defeat, swallowing her complaint now that Xue Hui had brought up an Alchemy Sage as an example.
"Okay, I'll work hard to keep my flame lit for a day."
After Moi Ca said those words, she and Xiao Julin were swallowed by the rippling space around them, which surprised Chi Mei, who had been watching from the background.
"W-What happened to them? Where did they go?" she asked in confusion.
"I just sent them somewhere safe. Now that it's just the two of us, it'll be much easier to enter the Demon Beast Clan's territory," Xue Hui explained, which earned a scoff from Chi Mei.
"What makes you think you can enter our realm just like that? I get that you're strong, but I wasn't just trying to scare you when I said there are people in our territory much stronger than you. My grandfather is one of them. And being human is reason enough for the other demon beasts to kill you," Chi Mei retorted, sounding very irritated.
Xue Hui was treating the matter of entering the demon beast territory far too lightly.
Humans and demon beasts were like oil and water; the two races simply couldn't coexist peacefully with each other. She herself hated humans. If Xue Hui weren't her clan's benefactor, she would have long since run back to the Demon Beast Clan to inform them about him.
Instead of answering, Xue Hui simply shook his head and let out an amused laugh, which obviously irritated Chi Mei even more. She was about to retort at him again when Xue Hui's spiritual energy leaked from his body, and an orange-colored Origin Sphere appeared in front of them.
Chi Mei wore a worried expression on her porcelain-like face, thinking she might have overstepped by speaking too bluntly to Xue Hui, which might have enraged him.
She took a couple of steps back once she heard the Origin of Dreams let out a soft hum before exploding into an orange mist.
The mist then engulfed Xue Hui, completely hiding his appearance from Chi Mei's view.
"W-What's happening?" she stammered as the scent of the human that was Xue Hui completely vanished, replaced by a scent she was very accustomed to.
At the same time, the orange mist was swept away by the passing breeze, revealing the now completely different-looking Xue Hui.
While he retained most of his original appearance, the added features made him look like someone who belonged to her Red-Scaled Winged Naga Clan. Red scales ran down his neck and arms, while his pupils became slits, resembling the eyes of a ferocious snake.
If anyone saw him, they would undoubtedly believe that Xue Hui was a demon beast, both from his appearance and his scent alone.
"H-How? How can you turn yourself into a demon beast? Don't tell me you're a half-beast? But even so, half-beasts can't hide their human scent completely like you did," Chi Mei exclaimed in disbelief, her beautiful lips parted as her crystal-like eyes shone with bewilderment, making it clear just how shocked she was by Xue Hui's transformation.
"It's just a little trick of the mind, nothing too complicated. I believe that with my current appearance, entering your Demon Beast Clan's realm would be no issue at all," Xue Hui said with a grin, looking very confident in himself.
That smug look of his did a great job of snapping Chi Mei out of her daze. She was still curious since Xue Hui hadn't really answered her questions, but she let it go since she couldn't force him to give her an answer.
With a disgruntled look, she crossed her arms over her chest before huffing.
"Hmph! First of all, it's not the Demon Beast Clan Realm. No one calls our subsidiary realm by that name. It's the Immortal Tortoise Realm. Make sure not to forget that. People would look at you like you're an idiot if you called our realm some 'Demon Whatever Realm.' Second, carry yourself with proper decorum. Now that your appearance is similar to that of my Red-Scaled Winged Naga Clan, if you do something foolish, your actions would not only reflect on me but on my entire clan as well. So make sure to keep yourself in check."
She lectured him, making Xue Hui's eyebrow twitch in irritation.
"Oh, so you're telling me I'm not someone who carries an air of dignity? That's quite funny to hear, since I pride myself on being a refined person," he said as he leaned forward, bringing his face close to Chi Mei's.
With his face inches away from hers, the disgruntled look on Chi Mei's face disappeared, replaced by one of panic and bashfulness. She wouldn't say it out loud, but Xue Hui's demon beast form was probably the most handsome appearance she had ever seen in her entire life.
"S-Stay back!"
Her face burned even hotter. She had intended to yell those words, but they came out soft and vulnerable instead. It didn't help that she saw Xue Hui's smile stretch into a knowing grin before he retreated and walked to the very edge of the chasm.
Chi Mei let out a shaky breath. She didn't follow him right away, instead waiting for the redness on her face to subside.
Xue Hui's eyes were fixed on the endless darkness. "At the bottom of this chasm lay the Immortal Tortoise Realm, a subsidiary realm dominated by the Demon Beast Clan."
"It was crazy to think that this realm was only a few miles away from Glory City itself. This alone was proof that their current actions against Glory City had been heavily instigated by the Demon God Sect."
The thought cast a shadow over Xue Hui's face. He still didn't know the reason behind the Demon God Sect's actions. If it was all caused by Divination, it only meant that the Demon God Sect had seen something in the distant future that posed a threat to their sect, and Glory City would be a part of it.
While he was deep in thought, Chi Mei walked beside him and reached out to grab his hand. Xue Hui was snapped out of his thoughts as a soft, smooth, and warm sensation spread through his hand.
"Only people with the Tortoise Mark can freely enter and leave our Immortal Tortoise Realm. The only way for you to enter is by having me hold your hand," Chi Mei said in a steady voice, doing her best not to blush again.
Xue Hui nodded and held her hand tighter before the two of them jumped into the chasm.
End of Chapter 135
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