The next day.
When Luo Qi woke up, the sky was already bright.
The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Yan Huaichen sitting not far away, silently staring at her.
Their eyes met, and against those dark, piercing pupils, all of Luo Qi’s drowsiness scattered in an instant, leaving her fully alert.
“You… why are you here?”
Luo Qi looked around—only Yan Huaichen was present, no one else.
Yan Huaichen took in her movements at a glance, let out a cold laugh, and said with an unreadable tone:
“Otherwise what? Thought we’d left?”
Luo Qi: “…”
Yan Huaichen averted his gaze and pointed at the roast rabbit that had been kept warm with a spell nearby. “Roasted too much. Waste not to eat it.”
Luo Qi: “…”
The rabbit meat sat on the roasting rack, golden in color, crisp and tempting, exactly the same as when it had just been cooked.
Luo Qi looked up at Yan Huaichen, who was silently drinking his wine, and thought to herself that someone with such a cold disposition could still have such a warm-hearted side.
Of course, one couldn’t rule out the factor of “if she starved to death, no one would lead them to catch spirit demons.”
Luo Qi never owed anyone favors, nor did she take advantage of others.
Now that Yan Huaichen had placed the food right there for her and said what he did, refusing any further would just seem overly fussy.
Luo Qi took out the spirit fruits she had picked yesterday from her Sumeru Space, walked over to Yan Huaichen, and handed them to him.
The first thing Yan Huaichen noticed wasn’t the large pile of fruits held in the woman’s hands.
It was those blindingly fair wrists.
The wrist was pale and slender, and a string of crystal-clear red jade bracelets only made her skin look even more delicate, as if it might break at a touch.
The man’s thin lips pressed together lightly before his gaze finally moved to the fruits.
“What’s this?”
Luo Qi raised an eyebrow, a slight smile curling at the corners of her lips. “A gift in return. These fruits are quite sweet.”
Xiao Bai, who had witnessed the whole scene from the side, saw Yan Huaichen accept the fruits and swaggered over to the roast rabbit, tail wagging lazily, drooling as it stared at the fragrant delicacy.
The moment Luo Qi turned around and saw Xiao Bai’s gluttonous expression, she couldn’t help but laugh, tearing off a piece of rabbit leg and handing it to the little one.
Xiao Bai clutched it tightly with both front paws and immediately started gnawing on it.
Watching it wolf down the food, Luo Qi once again wondered if her Companion Divine Beast was a counterfeit.
Luo Qi sat on a fallen tree trunk and took a bite of the crispy, tender rabbit leg. The meat was fine and fresh, rich in flavor.
She looked up and saw Yan Huaichen idly toying with a fruit between his fingers. The man’s fingers were well-proportioned, like jade, quite pleasing to the eye.
If she hadn’t personally witnessed this man ripping out a spirit demon core with his bare hands, she would never have believed that such beautiful hands could commit such cold-blooded, ruthless acts.
As if noticing Luo Qi’s gaze, Yan Huaichen turned his head toward her without warning.
Caught in the act, Luo Qi calmly averted her eyes and changed the subject.
“My name is Luo Qi. What’s yours?”
Yan Huaichen lowered his gaze, staring at the green fruit in his hand for a long moment before slowly speaking:
“Huaichen.”
“Huaichen?” Luo Qi repeated. “That’s a nice name.”
Hearing this, Yan Huaichen leaned his back against the ancient tree, a faint curve forming on his thin lips, but he said nothing.
If anyone familiar with him were here, they would surely notice that there was no hint of pleasure in his brows at the compliment—on the contrary, his eyes were filled with nothing but cold mockery.
Luo Qi didn’t pay much attention to Yan Huaichen’s expression. Thinking of his obsession with spirit demons, she casually asked:
“Do you really need spirit demon cores that badly?”
This time, the man answered quickly.
“Yes. Very badly.”
Luo Qi: “Why?”
Yan Huaichen didn’t hide it from her and answered frankly: “Spirit demons are creatures condensed from the spiritual qi of heaven and earth. Their cores contain the most concentrated spiritual qi, suitable for cultivation.”
Luo Qi had thought of many reasons, but this was the one she hadn’t considered.
Generally, spirit demons that could develop spiritual intelligence and successfully form cores were all heavenly spiritual plants.
They possessed an innate advantage that other species didn’t have.
Therefore, when a spirit plant cultivated into a spirit demon and formed its demon core, it could break free from the constraints of that small patch of land and move freely.
And precisely because spirit demons developed intelligence early, they had a strong ability to evade danger.
Moreover, these creatures were highly lethal and extremely difficult to capture.
So although many people coveted the spiritual qi of spirit demons, very few were willing to hunt them.
After all, the cost paid didn’t match the reward gained.
Thinking of this, Luo Qi offered a sincere piece of advice:
“Spirit demons are born of heaven and earth, with a strong instinct for self-preservation. Rather than chasing after them, it would be better to draw in the spiritual qi of heaven and earth and cultivate on your own.”
This time, Yan Huaichen was silent for a long while and didn’t respond.
Just as Luo Qi finished packing up and was about to grab Xiao Bai to continue hunting spirit demons, Yan Huaichen’s deep voice suddenly came from behind her—
“This place is located at the border between the mortal world and the Seven Great Immortal Sects of the Cultivation Realm—the Mist Forest. It’s fraught with danger. The closer you get to the heart of the forest, the higher the chance of encountering high-rank demonic beasts. How is it that Miss Luo came here all alone?”
Luo Qi held up the little furball and replied, “Xiao Bai and I got lost. We stumbled into this place by accident.”
Yan Huaichen glanced at the furball in her hand, then rose to his feet. Standing at his full height, he towered nearly a head above Luo Qi.
That indescribable sense of pressure washed over her once again.
Yan Huaichen turned sideways to look toward the north, his deep, mellow voice betraying no discernible emotion.
“This place not only connects the Mortal Realm and the Seven Great Immortal Sects, but is also the only path to the Demon and Devil Races.””
As he spoke, he suddenly turned his head to glance at her, his tone ambiguous: “Miss Luo, do be careful not to wander into other places by accident.”
Luo Qi’s delicate brows furrowed slightly. She felt there was a hidden meaning behind his words.
Following his earlier gaze toward the north, she asked, “Is the Demon Race’s realm to the north?”
Yan Huaichen looked at her with a faint, inscrutable smile. After a long moment, he lazily hummed an “Mm.”
“A place as fierce and treacherous as the Demon Race’s territory is hardly suitable for someone like you, Miss Luo.”
Luo Qi: “…”
A day later.
The Mortal Realm.
Surrounded by the bustling market and vendors everywhere, Ting Bai and Yi Ze gradually grew bewildered.
Watching Luo Qi, who was “leading the way” at the front, Ting Bai and the others couldn’t help but wonder if this woman was simply toying with them.
Spirit Demons were born of heaven and earth, typically dwelling in deep mountains and dense forests.
Therefore, capturing Spirit Demons required going to places rarely visited by humans.
But this Miss Luo Qi—oh, she was something else. She had brought them straight into the clamorous, crowded Mortal Realm!
Such a noisy, restless environment was unpleasant even for them, let alone Spirit Demons accustomed to living in the deep mountains and old forests.
Ting Bai stepped forward and caught up with Yan Huaichen.
Ever since they had entered the Mortal Realm, the group had been traveling on foot, with the Nether Tiger following in the shadows.
“Brother Chen.” Ting Bai lowered his voice. “Can she really lead us to Spirit Demons? I get the feeling she and that dimwitted Spirit Beast are just out here playing around.”
It was hard to blame Ting Bai for thinking this way.
After all, Luo Qi had spent the entire journey admiring the scenery, browsing the markets—much like a young lady from a wealthy household out on a sightseeing trip.