"I apologize... I've never heard that name before."
Grandmaster Lu Qing stroked his beard and answered honestly. Bai Fanxian studied the elderly man's face, eyes narrowing. His emotions were steady. Even his qi held still. He wasn't lying.
"I see..."
"That's your companion's name?"
Grandmaster Lu Qing could guess.
"...Mm."
Bai Fanxian didn't deny it, even though the possibility that her companion was still alive after ten thousand years had passed was vanishingly small.
Then how did he come to have that fake skin?
"The person who gave it to me said it was an ancient treasure."
"Ancient... treasure?"
"Like the door or those items you saw at the entrance. They're creations made using lost ancient knowledge. Even now they're worth quite a lot."
The elderly man gestured toward the mechanical door at the entrance.
"Those came from that world, too..."
"Fine... I understand."
Bai Fanxian nodded. Perhaps it was An Weiying's inherited legacy. Perhaps something made by her disciples. None of that mattered to Bai Fanxian.
After a long silence, she spoke.
"I have a proposal."
"Yes?"
"I can take you to the Myriad Demon World..."
THUD!
Before she could finish, Lu Qing shot to his feet again. He nearly reached out and seized Bai Fanxian by the shoulders — and would have, if her qi hadn't burst out to stop him first.
"You... are you serious?"
Blood was already trickling from the elderly man's nose. But he was so stunned by the words he'd just heard that he didn't spare it a thought.
"But there's a condition..."
"Name it!"
Bai Fanxian was taken aback by his eagerness once again. Clearly, the person waiting in that world meant everything to him.
"Come work for me."
"That..."
"I mean become my person completely. Then I'll take you along."
The elderly man who had been so eager a moment ago fell hesitant. He had expected Bai Fanxian to ask for rare materials or precious items. He hadn't expected her to ask for his loyalty.
And yet, when he thought about it honestly, it wasn't a bad arrangement at all. He stood to gain far more than he lost. He'd heard plenty of rumors about how well this young woman treated her people. Many cultivators would have jumped at the chance to serve under her. Yang Po was one such person.
But still...
"Could you change the condition?"
Grandmaster Lu Qing declined, his expression pained.
Bai Fanxian looked at that elderly face. There had to be a reason.
"What a pity..."
She sighed.
Because Grandmaster Lu Qing's identity would be very useful to her.
Both his public and private personas. Whether the identity of "Grandmaster Lu Qing," a Tier-4 alchemist, or the "mysterious elderly shop owner" who held the cultivators' information network in his hands — neither could be overlooked.
But that wasn't the most important thing.
What mattered was that this man had reached at least the Sage realm!
Contrary to his "Grandmaster" title, his actual cultivation surpassed that by a full major level.
And if measured by quantity of power alone, it might already exceed even that.
Judging by his character, he was someone worth having on her side. If she could bring him over, the advantages would be considerable.
"...This might seem rude, but could you tell me how you plan to get to the Myriad Demon World?"
The elderly man couldn't help himself. After turning her down, he was well aware of how shameless the question was. But Bai Fanxian didn't conceal a thing. She thought that if he saw, firsthand, that the journey was truly possible, it might yet change his mind.
"You — little dark one."
"It's Kuro, meow!"
The little black kitten had let one sentence slip earlier and been silenced by the Dragon Queen's threatening glare. But now that Bai Fanxian had called for it herself, it responded without fear of being scolded.
"This kitten..."
Lu Qing's brow furrowed as he studied Kuro with surprise. He'd been so focused on Bai Fanxian that he'd forgotten the cat was there.
He'd even forgotten it was a demonic beast that could speak.
"Have you ever heard of the Dimension-Rending Cat species?"
"Dimension... Rending Cat."
Lu Qing frowned deeply. He studied the little cat with interest, then his eyes went wide, and he walked straight to a corner of the room where several old books were stacked together.
He picked up a large book with a light brown cover that looked very old, carefully dusted it off, and turned through it page by page.
"...Found it!"
The elderly man stopped at one page. On it was an illustration of a small, fully black kitten rolling on the ground. No matter how you looked at it, it hardly seemed like something that should carry such a fearsome name.
But comparing the two, Lu Qing couldn't deny it — the Kuro before him was identical to the one in the illustration.
"To think I'd encounter something this rare in a place like this."
Lu Qing closed the book and looked at the little black cat, which stretched its neck proudly.
"This ancient text says the species should have gone extinct long ago."
"Oh...?"
Bai Fanxian raised an eyebrow. She reached out and gently stroked the little cat's head.
"You're that rare?"
"I told you so, meow! Hahaha!"
Kuro, basking in that gentle touch, laughed like a child showing off a prize, rubbing contentedly against her hand.
Even after hearing her method, Lu Qing's expression didn't brighten.
"But that's probably still difficult..."
The elderly man sat down again and sighed.
"...What do you mean?"
Bai Fanxian caught something in his voice. There was no hope in it — no warmth — even though he'd just learned a path to the Myriad Demon World existed.
"The Dimension-Rending Cat species can open dimensional portals between worlds, that's true. But there's still one problem."
"..."
"The rifts they create are extremely unstable. Only Dimension-Rending Cats themselves — whose bodies were shaped by nature for exactly this — can safely pass through. Any other living creature that slips in might, if lucky, emerge somewhere on the other side. But if unlucky..."
GULP!
Tang Yeye, who had been listening in silence, swallowed hard.
"...Either their body is torn apart, or they wander lost inside a dimensional rift with no way out."
"..."
WHOOSH!
"...Meow!?"
Unrestrained killing intent exploded from the Dragon Queen the instant she heard those last words. She turned on the trembling kitten with murder in her eyes, not bothering to conceal herself in the slightest.
Besides, she'd already made her assessment — this old man was likely on her lady's side.
The reason for her fury was simple: this furball had nearly gotten Bai Fanxian killed the very first day they met. Only luck had saved them — Kuro's power had simply run out before it could finish the job. But if Bai Fanxian hadn't come here today and learned the truth — if she'd simply waited for the next full moon and gone through — the odds of her making it back were next to nothing.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. She wouldn't have believed, a few short months ago, that a Dragon Queen like herself could grow this attached to such a small group.
"Meow meow! Sorry, meow! Kuro didn't know, meow!"
The little kitten could only tremble, turning to look at Bai Fanxian with wide, pitiful eyes. Tears welled and spilled. It seemed even Kuro hadn't known how close it had come to putting this young woman in mortal danger.
"Hic... meow..."
Faced with the little one's genuine remorse and grief, even the furious Dragon Queen found herself softening. She'd bullied it often enough — but she'd never actually hurt it, never truly frightened it. The affection between them was more like an older sister and a younger brother. Since it was clearly remorseful and hadn't meant to, it would be petty to keep scolding it.
But even if she forgave it, what she worried about most was her lady.
If Bai Fanxian was angry enough to end this little creature right here and now, she couldn't stop that.
"..."
Bai Fanxian didn't say a word. Kuro watched the young woman's slender hand reaching toward it and could only tremble — making no move to flee. It simply closed its eyes and accepted whatever was coming.
Pat...
"...Meow?"
Instead of pain, a gentle wave of warm qi rolled through it, soothing the anxious trembling in its chest. The little kitten looked up, confused, as Bai Fanxian stroked its head.
"...Not angry, meow?"
"...You didn't mean to."
Bai Fanxian smiled faintly. What she sensed from this little one was nothing but innocence and sincerity. It had never once thought to put her in harm's way. It had simply not known.
"...So that's how it is."
Several things fell into place for Bai Fanxian. She had wondered why the people at the Goddess Palace in the Myriad Demon World hadn't used this Dimension-Rending Cat to travel when they needed help. Now she understood — the risk had been too great.
"As I said. Even at its strongest — at the full moon — the danger is likely still too high..."
"But I've traveled through dimensions before..."
Bai Fanxian didn't want to give up. She thought of the day she had traveled to the Dragon Queen's dimension and murmured to herself.
And then Lu Qing said something that stopped her cold.
"That worked because the portal I created was enhanced to be safe..."
"That's true... without your portal the risk would probably incre—"
"..."
"..."
"..."
The room fell silent for nearly ten full breaths.
The elderly man sat perfectly still, sweating, because he had apparently let slip something he shouldn't have. The great Grandmaster Lu Qing sat with his head bowed, lips trembling and eyes twitching. Slowly he raised his face to meet those sharp eyes — eyes that felt capable of slicing his skin just by looking.
"Lu Qing..."
The name came out quietly. But the ice in her voice made the old man flinch.
"...What exactly do you mean by that?"