After his meeting with the two 'immortals', Alex went back to Luoxi.

He flew around the city and finally found the inn where they were staying. Then, Alex sneakily got into the room.

Fortunately, Hermes was still deeply asleep and didn't wake up from the earlier commotion.

Alex also proceeded to sleep, and he was swiftly put under the spell of Hypnos.

The next morning, the two woke up rather early.

"Let's go get breakfast," Hermes said as he stretched his body.

"You just want some butter tea, don't you?" 

Hermes and Alex went down and the owners of the inn greeted them.

"Good morning, Sirs, would you like to get some breakfast?" The bearded inn owner asked them.

Unfortunately, the food in the inn didn't seem very good, so they refused and left.

The narrow streets of Luoxi were lively in the morning.

The two gods inconspicuously walked through the city and made their way to the food vendor from yesterday.

On their way, a younger resident was shouting repeatedly, "The immortals of the Kunlun Mountain Sect have vanquished the ghosts!"

Someone reacted, "We can finally go out at night again!"

The residents were overjoyed at the news, and there was a somewhat festive atmosphere.

When they reached the alley which had the food stalls, Alex noticed that Hermes was staring at him for a long period of time.

A bead of sweat fell down his face, and he awkwardly asked, "Hermes, why are you staring at me like that?"

"I don't know, Alexei-boy, I just feel like you've caused some trouble during the night, did you?"

'Is it that obvious...?' Alex rubbed his head in embarrassment.

"I just defeated some 'ghost general' and met these two immortals from a nearby sect...."

"You....just...?" Hermes failed to restrain his laughter.

Alex defended himself, "However, I received a lot of useful information."

Following that, they ordered some sweet tea and yak bone broth noodle soup.

While they were eating, Hermes asked him, "So, what's the useful news your trouble brought you?"

"Well, we have to wait for the next lunar crescent before we can enter the heavenly domain."

Hermes coughed and jokingly said, "There was a quarter moon yesterday..."

"Exactly."

"Oh, and the Kunlun Mountain Sect receives delegates from the heavenly domain every month, they might be able to guide us."

Hermes nodded and proposed, "Let's visit this sect then."

With that, they decided to go to the Kunlun Mountain Sect.

However, they did not know where it was located.

Fortunately, Alex asked the food vendor, and the latter kindly told him everything he knew.

"Kunlun Mountain Sect? They have kind immortals, and they're the only immortal sect around this entire region, you can find their residence in the Kunlun mountain range west of Luoxi."

"Thank you."

_____________

After paying for their food, the two left the city, got into the chariot, and began their flight westwards.

Fortunately, they quickly reached a gigantic mountain range.

"Why is there a hole in the mounta-

A burst of sharp wind passed by them and destabilized the chariot.

They skillfully recovered their composure and perceived the reason for this disturbance.

A lizard-like creature with shiny blue scales and a long body flew at an extremely fast pace towards the mountains.

Its head, however, was unlike a lizard's and had a thick blue mane that moved along the wind.

'Is that a dragon?!' Alex's face glowed with amazement.

Unfortunately, the dragon was too fast, and it entered into man-made holes in the large mountains and disappeared from view.

The scene of the majestic blue dragon was still fresh in Alex's mind.

"When Athena warned you about leaving Hellenia, these creatures are what she was speaking of, Alexei-boy," Hermes stated and shrugged.

They resumed their short journey and were soon flying over the mountains.

Between the mountains, a large valley was visible.

From their altitude, a pristine blue lake reflected the sunlight, and around the lake, buildings signified the presence of civilization.

"This might be it, Hermes, let's land next to the lake,"

Hermes obliged, and the chariot slowed down and lost altitude.

Then, they slowly came into contact with the ground at a small clearing.

"Let's see what sects are all about then,"

Suddenly, three white-robed people flew directly over them.

They weren't flying with wings or a chariot, but...blunt swords.

"I heard two Foundation Establishments juniors brought in a ghost mother yesterday," 

"That's a great achievement, they'll be able to cross into Core Formation if they receive enough Reverence- huh?!"

One of three caught sight of the two gods below them and swiftly changed direction.

The other three followed him and they landed in front of Hermes and Alex.

One of them immediately took out something from his pockets and threw it in their direction.

*Tak*

Alex turned around and saw three sharp and small nails embedded into a tree.

It was a concealed weapon.

"Who are you?! Reveal your identities!" The most senior-looking of three shouted at them.

Alex stepped up, and replied, "We've been invited to the Sect by two disciples, I believe their names were Ma Xuefeng and Ma Guanting."

The man frowned and turned to a younger-looking woman next to him.

"Junior Sister, do any of these names ring a bell?"

The woman contemplated for a bit and then nodded, "Senior Brother, I believe the Ma siblings were the ones who have brought the ghost mother yesterday with them."

"Now that I remember it, a junior informed me that they spoke of a foreign-looking man that helped them with the mission."

The senior man nodded, and turned back to them, "I'll be giving you the benefit of the doubt!"

"However."

"I shall speak with Martial Grandfather first, follow us." 

The three flew towards the buildings.

Alex and Hermes also unfolded their wings and followed them.

"Winged humans?!" The woman seemed stunned by their wings.

___________

The building they halted at was a pagoda that was at a much higher point than the rest of the sect, and the senior man entered.

After a few minutes, he exited the pagoda, and behind him, an older-looking man followed with his hands cupped behind his back.

Unlike the others, his robe was of black color.

"Martial Grandfather!" The other two deeply bowed to the older man.