Upon returning to the Heavenly Realm, Qi An went straight to the Hehe Immortal Palace.
As soon as she entered the palace, she shouted at the top of her lungs, “I’m back!”
All the busy immortal officials immediately halted their work. After a brief silence, they all swarmed toward her, looking her up and down to see if she was missing any arms or legs.
Once they confirmed she was unscathed, they clicked their tongues in wonder, all sighing that the Demon Clan must have had a change of heart, as they truly hadn’t harmed a single hair on her head.
Hearing this, Qi An felt as though there was a hint of regret in their words. Shifting her gaze, she saw a fellow official holding a piece of paper, on which various parts of the human body were written; following each line were several dots and names.
At first, Qi An did not understand what those were, but combined with their strange expressions and a moment of contemplation, she suddenly realized: Hah, these guys were running a betting pool on her!
She squinted closer at the paper there were bets on her losing an arm, bets on her missing a leg, but not a single person had bet on her returning whole and unharmed.
She gritted her teeth in frustration. Why hadn’t the bookmaker told her about this betting pool? If she had known sooner, she would have bought one less immortal net and bet on herself returning safely instead!
Seeing her gloomy expression and her intense gaze at the ledger, the officials felt a bit guilty and began to console her one after another.
“Little An, you know our luck in gambling has always been poor; we lose on everything. We made this bet as a roundabout way to pray for your safety, right?”
“That’s right! Look, you’ve returned safe and sound isn’t that proof that our prayers worked?”
To frame a betting pool as a blessing they certainly had a silver tongue, leaving Qi An with no room to argue.
Just then, a cry of alarm came from outside the palace. Judging by the voice, it seemed to be the head of their immortal palace, the Old Man Under the Moon.
They rushed out in a crowd to find the Matchmaker pressed tightly against the wall at the entrance, his body stiff, not daring to move, as if he wished he could embed himself into the masonry. In front of him was a massive demonic beast, baring its teeth and pacing back and forth beside him, looking exactly as if it had found its prey.
All the immortal officials were startled. Although there were Upper Gods in the Heavenly Realm who kept spirit beasts from various realms, it was their first time seeing a demonic beast of this rank.
Since the palace was filled with civil immortal officials who lacked the martial power to subdue high-grade spirit beasts, many of them felt a sense of retreat, yet they couldn’t leave their leader behind. For a moment, the officials hesitated.
At this, Qi An stepped forward. Under the shocked gazes of the gods, she reached out to stroke Jiangbu’s head. When Jiangbu obediently rubbed against her palm, she said, “It’s very well-behaved; you don’t need to be afraid. Besides, look, it’s wearing a ring—it’s harmless.”
The officials took a look and, seeing the Yi-An Ring, finally set their minds at ease.
Looking back at the Matchmaker, who had now regained his composure, he smoothed his slightly disheveled clothing as if nothing had happened and looked calmly at Qi An. “Little An, where did you get this demonic beast?”
Qi An said nonchalantly, “The Demon Lord gifted it to me.”
The officials fell into a sudden silence, followed by a collective sharp intake of breath. That brutal and ferocious Demon Lord had gifted a demonic beast to their simple, innocent little immortal?
A conspiracy! It must be a conspiracy!
They swarmed Qi An, persuading her, “Little An, your immortal age is still too low; you don’t understand that one can know a person’s face but not their heart. You can’t just accept everything people give you!”
“Indeed! Think about it—why would the Demon Lord gift you a spirit beast out of the blue? He must have ill intentions.”
Qi An knew they held a massive misunderstanding of Mo Qing. Before going to the Demon Realm, she wouldn’t have believed the Demon Lord was a good person either. However, she doubted they would believe her if she told them Mo Qing simply had a hobby of gifting things. She could only try her best to put in a good word for him: “The Demon Lord is actually very kind. You will know once you have spent time with him.”
It would have been better had she remained silent; as soon as she spoke, the officials wore looks of indescribable complexity, as if to say, “It’s over our innocent and kind little immortal fairy has been kidnapped by a villain!”
Qi An had never known that she was viewed as such a naive and innocent image in their eyes. While feeling indignant for Mo Qing, she also felt a tiny hint of happiness.
Listening to everyone’s earnest persuasion, the Matchmaker finally found a gap to ask Qi An: “Little An, has your cultivation improved significantly?”
Only after the Matchmaker pointed it out did everyone notice that Qi An’s immortal aura seemed to have grown since a few days ago.
Qi An said proudly, “Yes! While I was in the Demon Realm, the Demon Lord fed me quite a few spiritual pills!”
The officials gasped again.
First a demonic beast, then spiritual pills—what exactly does this sinister Demon Lord want to do with Qi An?
“The Demon Lord is truly very kind!” Seeing their slightly terrified expressions, Qi An quite helplessly took out the Xian-Yuan Dan Shu (Scripture of Fate) and the letter. “Look, he has agreed to the marriage between Prince Yangxu and Princess Yuejiao.”
The eyes of the gods, led by the Matchmaker, lit up. They immediately tossed aside the matter of their innocent immortal being deceived by the sinister Demon Lord, their eyes gleaming as they stared at the scripture and the letter.
The Matchmaker solemnly received the two items from Qi An, his eyes even brimming with hot tears. He had originally held no hope for Qi An, yet he hadn’t expected her to actually succeed!
A whole month! This matter had tormented them for an entire month! Every time he saw the Heavenly Emperor, he didn’t dare lift his head for fear of being held accountable. Finally, he could look the Heavenly Emperor in the eye with dignity, no longer having to be timid!
He was so excited he could hardly restrain himself, and he immediately wanted to share a celebratory hug with Qi An. However, Jiangbu stood in his way just in time, glaring at him and forcing him back a few steps with its gaze.
The Matchmaker wasn’t annoyed; he just laughed. “Then I will go report to the Heavenly Emperor first. Once this matter is successfully completed, I will arrange an official immortal position for you at the Hehe Immortal Palace.”
Upon hearing this, Qi An was overjoyed and urged him to go quickly.
Once the Matchmaker left, the fellow officials gathered around Qi An to ask this and that, offering advice here and there. Finding the clamor unbearable, Qi An slipped away on the pretext of taking Jiangbu to the Immortal Beast Garden for registration.
Upon arriving at the Immortal Beast Garden, Jiangbu seemed to show some resistance, not wanting to part with Qi An. Qi An also could not bear to leave it there, but she had not yet obtained an official position and did not have her own immortal residence. Currently, she shared a small courtyard with other immortals and truly had no place to accommodate it.
She bent down to hug Jiangbu, saying guiltily, “Please bear with it for a few days. Once I have my own immortal residence, we can live together.”
After hearing this, Jiangbu, though still reluctant, followed Qi An into the Immortal Beast Garden obediently.
From afar, Qi An saw a male immortal official feeding the spirit beasts. She waved her arm and called out his name: “Yao Qin!”
Yao Qin was an official of the Immortal Beast Garden who had been responsible for training Qi An when she first started working there as an odd-jobber. Yao Qin had also ascended from being a mortal, but more than a hundred years earlier than Qi An. In the Heavenly Realm, where most were born as gods or immortals, he and Qi An shared a sense of mutual sympathy as “fellow countrymen,” so he took extra care of her, and they were quite close.
Compared to the officials at the Hehe Immortal Palace, Yao Qin’s concern seemed much more normal: “I heard you went to the Demon Realm, and I was very worried about you. Thankfully, you are alright.”
“It’s more than just being ‘alright’, I even benefited quite a bit!”
Qi An briefly mentioned Mo Qing’s generosity and kindness, leaving Yao Qin stunned as he listened. Once she finished, Yao Qin sighed, “This Demon Lord is truly good.”
“Exactly!” Seeing that someone had finally taken her words to heart, Qi An was on the verge of tears of joy.
“So this is the demonic beast named Jiangbu that the Demon Lord gifted you?” Yao Qin asked as he looked at Jiangbu. “It actually looks a bit like the Black Gold Blood-Flame Beast described in ancient texts.”
Yao Qin was a spirit beast enthusiast and had researched all ten thousand beasts of the six realms. However, Qi An still hadn’t expected him to identify Jiangbu’s breed at a glance.
“You really are amazing! Jiangbu is indeed a Black Gold Blood-Flame Beast.”
Her compliment left Yao Qin completely bewildered this was truly the legendary Black Gold Blood-Flame Beast? He stared blankly at Jiangbu for a long time, then looked at Qi An with a complex expression. “Do you know the meaning behind gifting a Black Gold Blood-Flame Beast?”
Qi An was puzzled—what meaning could there be in gifting a spirit beast? Seeing her look of confusion, Yao Qin knew she was unaware, so he explained, “This Black Gold Blood-Flame Beast is not an ordinary demonic beast; gifting this beast represents…”
“Is Immortal Qi An here?”
Before Yao Qin could finish, a resonant voice interrupted him, and then a divine messenger stepped leisurely into the Immortal Beast Garden.
Qi An stood up and bowed. “I am Qi An.”
The messenger returned the bow. “Then please come with me, Immortal.”
Qi An was filled with trepidation. In that instant, her actions over the past year flashed through her mind like a slideshow. She pondered for a long time, but she was certain she hadn’t done anything illegal.
Anxiously, she asked, “May I ask where we are going, Divine Messenger?”
The messenger said, “The Heavenly Clarity Palace.”
The Heavenly Clarity Palace was the grand hall where the Heavenly Emperor summoned the immortals. Qi An’s heart surged. She was finally going to see the Heavenly Emperor again!