After waving goodbye and watching Ruan Xiaoyue leave, one of Xue Lanting's juniors asked her about the gift given by Miss Ruan.

"Senior Xue, the fruit that Miss Ruan gave, are you going to eat it now?"

"I plan to eat this fruit after we return to the sect. As for you, my juniors, don't worry, I will also share it with all of you."

"Thank you, Senior Xue, for being willing to share it with us. But, why don't we just eat the fruit like Miss Ruan suggested? For some reason, I feel like the fruit she gave must be very valuable."

"Are you sure? Isn't this fruit just something Little Ruan brought as a snack? If this fruit is truly a treasure, why didn’t she eat it herself? Wouldn’t she be too careless carrying such a valuable item only by keeping it in her bag?" Xue Lanting answered skeptically.

"But Senior Xue, it could be true, especially since Miss Ruan wasn’t interested when we mentioned the treasures in the alternative realm. Miss Ruan also warned us to either keep the fruit or eat it right away."

Hearing this, Xue Lanting still wasn’t convinced. She thought the fruit must be just an ordinary one that Little Ruan brought to eat. If the fruit was indeed a valuable treasure and the reason Little Ruan told her to eat it immediately was because of its healing effects, then maybe that’s why she suggested eating or storing it.

"Enough, we've talked for too long. It's better if we head straight to the White Lotus sect elder. As for the fruit, we'll eat it when we reach the sect."

After saying that to her juniors, Xue Lanting led them back into the cave to meet the elder guarding the alternative realm gate. Upon reaching the elder, Xue Lanting’s group immediately reported the demons attacking humans in the alternative realm. The elder, after hearing their information, told them to wait while he called for all the elders of the White Lotus sect.

It didn’t take long before many White Lotus sect elders arrived from the cave entrance. The female elder who led the opening ceremony of the alternative realm approached them and asked about the truth of their claims.

"Are you sure you’re not lying when you say demons have entered the alternative realm and are attacking all the cultivators?"

"White Lotus sect elder, we are not lying. We swear that what we said is true. Just like we told one of your sect's elders, the demons suddenly ambushed us, and there were so many of them. We also heard one of them say there is another gate they used to enter the alternative realm. If you don't believe us, you can send one of the elders to see the demon corpses near the entrance to the alternative realm."

After hearing Xue Lanting’s words, the female elder ordered one of the sect’s elders, whose cultivation had reached the peak of the Golden Core stage, to enter the alternative realm to verify the group's claims.

The elder entered the alternative realm to see if Xue Lanting’s group was telling the truth. After a few minutes of waiting, they saw the elder return with a pale face. The female elder immediately stepped forward to ask what had happened.

"Elder Dong, why is your face pale? Is it true that there are demon corpses inside?"

"It is true, Elder Bai. There are too many demon corpses inside. The bodies are very close to the entrance, and I also saw many human cultivator corpses in there. It seems we must gather all the remaining sect elders who haven’t entered yet to help eradicate all the demons before all of our disciples and those from other sects are killed."

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Realizing how dire the situation was, Elder Bai ordered all the White Lotus sect elders to gather the elders from other sects. Meanwhile, she interrogated Xue Lanting’s group for more information.

As Xue Lanting's group was being interrogated, the White Lotus sect elders had gathered all the elders from other sects who were waiting in the Death Forest. They relayed the information they had received from Xue Lanting’s group about the demons attacking cultivators in the alternative realm.

The other sect elders, upon hearing this, were furious. They couldn’t believe demons had entered the alternative realm and were targeting all the human cultivators inside. Without further discussion, they united and entered the realm to rescue all the cultivators and wipe out the demons.

Xue Lanting’s group was finally released after providing all the information they had. Fortunately, they weren’t asked how they had survived inside the alternative realm. Since there was nothing more they could do, Xue Lanting suggested returning to the sect.

Ruan Xiaoyue, Xue Lanting, and their juniors were lucky to have chosen to leave the alternative realm. They didn’t know that the soul of the cultivator who had created the alternative realm had awakened due to the chaotic qi caused by the battles between human cultivators and demons.

That incredibly powerful cultivator’s soul used a mysterious soul technique to forcibly absorb all the souls of the cultivators inside the realm, both human and demon. The souls absorbed would be used to heal his damaged soul.

In the now quiet alternative realm, with all living beings inside dead from having their souls absorbed, the cultivator's soul sat in meditation, waiting for his damaged soul to recover, and for the next cultivator to enter the realm so he could take their body as a vessel and regain physical form.

_____________

"We've finally arrived."

Long Linglu, still wallowing in her misfortune, didn’t realize they had arrived at the human’s dwelling as she was being carried. Hearing Ruan Xiaoyue's voice and feeling herself released, Long Linglu regained awareness and looked up to see the place where the person who had kidnapped her lived, which she believed to be a torture chamber.

Seeing a simple yet mysterious house left her speechless. Long Linglu also sensed that not only the house was special, but the entire area around it felt extraordinary.

Still in awe, Long Linglu didn’t notice that Ruan Xiaoyue had entered the house. After a while, she saw the human come out, bringing someone with them, which shocked her.

"Where is the beast you were asked to bring, RuanRuan?"

"The one in front of us is the beast I brought, Master."

"Beast? ...Isn't this a human?"

"No, look again, Master," RuanRuan replied while removing the cloak covering Long Linglu’s face.

"Huh? Horns?"

"Yes, Master, as you can see, I brought a demon dragon. This demon dragon is the beast I brought for you. At first, I was confused by what you meant when you asked me to bring back a beast we could eat, especially since there are plenty of animals around the Death Forest."

"But when I entered the alternative realm and found this demon dragon, and after being informed by Sister Xue, I realized that this must be what you meant, Master. Since you are an immortal, your perspective is different from that of human cultivators. To you, a demon dragon is like a beast that could be eaten, that’s the conclusion I reached. So I brought this demon dragon for you to either eat or keep as a pet. There was also a rare golden-beaked swan I wanted to bring, but it died from this demon dragon's attack."

"RuanRuan, you misundersto-uhum, I mean, you did well. As expected from my disciple, you understood my words and completed your mission perfectly. Well done."

"Hehehe… th-thank you, Master."

While stroking Ruan Xiaoyue's head, this human—no, the honorable master—shifted her gaze towards Long Linglu to say something to her.

"So, ...little dragon girl? May I know your name?"

Hearing the honorable master speak to her, Long Linglu immediately regained her senses. With lightning speed, she knelt and spoke joyfully to the person she now saw as her master.

"Honorable Master! Please make me your pet! I, Long Linglu, with pure blood from the divine dragon race, am willing to do anything for you, Honorable Master! I am even willing for you to ride me. Please, make me your pet!"

'My plea to become her pet sounded sincere, right? I must become the pet of this Honorable Master! This is such a huge opportunity, I can’t miss it!'

Long Linglu was ecstatic at the great opportunity before her. Her master was truly a remarkable being. If she followed this being, becoming a true divine dragon would be easy for her.

"Honorable Master… Long Linglu, is it? You don’t need to call me that. And as for making you my pet, is that really what you want?"