Gradually, the ground underfoot changed from soft to hard-packed earth.
The charred, dead ruins were quickly left behind, and the nauseating smell in the air faded significantly.
Jiu Baiyun walked at the front, showing no reaction.
Su Zhiyun, on the other hand, seemed light on her feet, holding A Ran’s hand while occasionally glancing around, eyes sparkling with barely restrained excitement.
“Huh… Finally out!”
Su Zhiyun let out a long sigh, stopped, and looked back at the charred area shrouded in gloom.
Then her attention quickly shifted to the target ahead.
A mountain range, not particularly imposing but undulating and lush with trees, was now right in front of them.
They were standing at a relatively gentle foothill.
“Yes, we’re here.”
Jiu Baiyun responded, his voice tinged with exhaustion.
He stopped, carefully moving his body to avoid pulling his tail.
“Let’s go a bit further in this direction, away from here.”
Not to mention Su Zhiyun would be distressed, Jiu Baiyun was also wary of that Palace Master.
Both of them tacitly understood—their main fear was that the Heavenly Palace might come back looking for them.
He was really a bit afraid of seeing her.
After walking for quite a while longer, Jiu Baiyun stood on a hilltop and looked back.
The ruins were almost completely out of sight.
Even the sky no longer showed the gloom of that area.
“Do we still need to go?”
Only then did Jiu Baiyun sigh in relief, turning to Su Zhiyun to ask.
They had already traveled a long distance, but unfortunately, they hadn’t come across any inhabited places.
To establish a sect, they would need people, right?
Setting up a sect here felt strangely remote.
Su Zhiyun had similar thoughts.
There were no eerie creatures around, but also no people, and worst of all, quite a few demon beasts.
Establishing a sect here didn’t seem like a good idea.
“Let’s keep going.”
Su Zhiyun nodded.
Without another word, Jiu Baiyun swiftly turned and headed toward the valley.
But after just two steps, the Fox Demon Lord’s voice rang out.
“Wait, this place feels familiar.”
“Huh?”
Hearing the Fox Demon Lord, Jiu Baiyun stopped in his tracks and immediately became alert.
He had grown a bit afraid of the Fox Demon Lord’s “familiar” comments; every time she said that, nothing good followed.
What if this was another dangerous place?
Seeing Jiu Baiyun tense up, the Fox Demon Lord said irritably,
“What are you so nervous about! When I say familiar, I mean I think I lived here for a while!”
Jiu Baiyun gave an awkward smile, then looked confused.
“You lived here? Then where is this?”
“Where else could it be!”
The Fox Demon Lord was momentarily speechless.
If she remembered correctly, Jiu Baiyun had also been here back then—well, to chase after her.
“This is the border zone between the Eastern Demon Region and the Desolate Region!”
The Demon Domain has five regions: East, South, West, North, and Upper.
The Human Domain has six: Desolate, Savage, Spirit, Weird, Floating, and Mysterious.
Back then, she came here to see if entering the Human Domain could help her avoid Jiu Baiyun.
But after the Fox Demon Lord said that, Jiu Baiyun also felt a sense of familiarity, but only that.
“Well… it is a bit familiar… but I still don’t remember this place.”
“You…”
The Fox Demon Lord was completely exasperated by Jiu Baiyun’s words.
So back then, this guy’s mind was only filled with chasing her.
“Forget it, I won’t argue with you. There should be quite a few humans and demons here. Because of the demons, there aren’t many eerie creatures.”
“If that girl really wants to establish a sect, this is indeed a good place.”
After a pause, the Fox Demon Lord seemed to remember something and, with a playful smile, continued,
“With your current appearance and the aura of demon power, you might even get some advantages.”
“Advantages? What advantages!”
He didn’t need to think—the Fox Demon Lord was definitely up to no good.
The Fox Demon Lord had lived here for a while; there’s no telling if the demons here might mistake him for her child or something.
“Alright, just help me see which place is better for establishing a sect, and stop mocking me!”
Jiu Baiyun curled his lips, not intending to let the Fox Demon Lord continue that topic.
After a brief silence, the Fox Demon Lord’s voice, noticeably lazy and a bit impatient, sounded in Jiu Baiyun’s mind, dragging out the tone.
“Huh? Site selection?”
The Fox Demon Lord seemed to hear something absurd and let out a scoff.
“I’ve never established any sect, how would I know all your complicated site requirements?”
“You can’t expect a demon like me to help choose a site according to human standards, can you?”
Jiu Baiyun curled his lips again and said helplessly,
“If it’s really not possible, at least help me see which mountain has good spiritual energy.”
“Mountains with good spiritual energy are probably already taken. You can’t just seize someone else’s mountain, can you?”
The Fox Demon Lord said irritably.
But soon, the Fox Demon Lord changed the subject, amused.
“Didn’t I say? There are quite a few demons here that I’ve beaten up. If you’re willing, just release a bit of demon power, and then…”
Jiu Baiyun’s mouth twitched.
Before he could respond, Su Zhiyun suddenly startled and pulled A Ran behind her.
“What’s wrong?”
Looking at Su Zhiyun with confusion, Jiu Baiyun was puzzled.
He hadn’t sensed anything dangerous, so why did she suddenly hide?
However, before Su Zhiyun could say anything, Jiu Baiyun’s vision blurred, and then a “brown thing” fell with a thud in front of him.
It created a big crater in the ground and kicked up a cloud of dust.
“Cough, cough…”
Jiu Baiyun coughed twice, frowned, and quickly used a bit of spiritual energy to fan the dust away from his face.
Then, from the pit, that “lump” of brown thing staggered to its feet, wobbled for a while, straightened up, and hurriedly prostrated itself before Jiu Baiyun.
“Uh… um…”
Looking at the brown bear in front of him, which was stammering and couldn’t utter a complete sentence, Jiu Baiyun’s mouth twitched again.
Behind him, A Ran and Xiao Mu couldn’t help but snicker.
“Who are you?”
After hesitating for a moment, Jiu Baiyun asked with a frown.
Hearing Jiu Baiyun’s question, the brown bear immediately raised its head.
“I am…”
But before it could finish, Jiu Baiyun’s vision blurred again, then the ground beneath him shook violently, and even more dust flew up.
“Seriously… what’s going on now?”
“The last time it kicked up dust everywhere was bad enough, why is it happening again?”
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