“Vastspace Mountain and the Timelight Tower are both in here, aren’t they?” Lu Yun undid the Bell of Chaos and placed it around the little fox’s neck again.

“You aren’t mad, are you?” Venturing a hesitant question, the little fox neither admitted nor denied things.

“What would I be mad about?” Lu Yun rubbed his knuckles hard into her head.

Tushan… was the sovereign of Qingqiu Mountain. Not only was she the matriarch of the Qingqiu foxes, she was also the leader of all monster spirits in the great wilderness. It wasn’t an exaggeration for later generations to deem her the monster spirit ancestor.

Current monster spirits were just splitting off from gremlins and sprites. They weren’t their own race yet, so their status wasn’t much higher than humans in the great wilderness. However, they possessed greater talents and sharp claws, so their condition in this day and age was better than the human race.

The great wilderness was the world of connate demon gods—they were the true rulers of the world. Whether it be humans or monster spirits, or even divine spirits, all were lowly, base creatures in the demon gods’ eyes.

Just as Fuxi protected the human race, so too did Tushan guard the monster spirits.

……

“Are you really not mad?” The little fox jumped on top of Lu Yun’s head, her two furry ears twitching gently. “I only found out who I was when I went back with them.” She still felt compelled to offer a word of explanation.

“Just like Fuxi left his senses in the world of immortals… so you too split off one ethereal and one corporeal soul-part?” Lu Yun thought of how Xing Mou and Liu Qingmiao were both reincarnated from the little fox’s soul-parts. They’d then developed complete souls and become their own individual beings.

The little fox shook her head, her soul was complete now too. “I was scared by the thing born of the immortal dao… Fuxi didn’t mean to leave his senses in the world of immortals either. That thing injured him and forced him into leaving them behind.

“That thing ripped his skin off with its own hands! His eyes were corrupted because they saw it! Thankfully, there’s nothing to worry about, though,” Miao continued seriously. “The four of us joined hands and sealed that demonic thing away. It won’t come out and cause trouble in the short term.”

“Demonic thing?” Lu Yun frowned. Fuxi hadn’t said anything about the entity, just that Lu Yun needed to be careful.

“Yes, the first demonic thing to be born under the immortal dao!” The little fox jumped down from Lu Yun’s head and burrowed into his arms. “The demons you know and see now all originate from this era. Even Ah Zhi’s a demon born of these times!”

Ah Zhi was a Fated Spider, an exceedingly strong connate demon god. She was a pure demon and naturally born this way, but her personality was so laidback and easygoing—in other words, lazy—that a demonic nature didn’t corrupt her mind.

“But the thing in the future will be a demon born beneath the immortal dao! Though the immortal dao still isn’t complete, it’s stronger than the primitive great dao and even the human dao you know. Therefore, a demon born beneath it will be stronger too!

“Ji Du and Luo Houluo are just babies compared to it![1]

“You know about the origins of the immortal dao… there is too much resentment in it and the karmic repercussions are too great. The destructive appetite of that demon will be far greater than anything demons now can muster.”

Lu Yun took in a deep breath and nodded slowly, taking in all the ramifications of what the little fox was saying.

“Since you’ve found yourself again, have you recovered your strength?” He gave up on the topic of the future demon.

“If I’d kept sleeping in the resurrection layout, I might’ve been able to…” the little fox responded plaintively. “But first that blood dragon wanted to eat me, then you woke me up. Thankfully, little girl Mo Yi gave me her core essence. Otherwise, it would’ve been hard to find myself even after going back to Qingqiu Mountain.”

When Mo Yi had severed her cultivation to experience the void realm, she’d gifted her domineering power to the little fox so the latter could consolidate her own core essence.

Lu Yun rubbed his forehead.

“I’m going to search for the nine connate spirit roots, do you know where they are?” his tone turned grave. “I can give up on the other spirit roots, but I have to find the Constellation Willow!”

The Constellation Willow of his time was the desolate willow holding down the fort in the Skandha Range. It’d helped Lu Yun a great deal, so he would never refine it. Therefore, he had to find its version in this day and age!

To Lu Yun, the future was something set in stone. He was here because the future was an indisputable reality, so no matter what he did, things would only develop according to the progress of history and wouldn’t impact future generations.

If he obtained the Constellation Willow here, then the future birth of the desolate willow would occur through other means. That was the hope he clung to.

“The Constellation Willow?” The little fox blinked. “It’s Luo Houluo’s greatest treasure. It should be with him.”

Luo Houluo was a great connate demon god, the greatest of this era. He was an existence on the level of Fuxi and the creator of the four blood demons in Lu Yun’s time.

“What cultivation level does Luo Houluo have?” Lu Yun frowned.

“Beyond great emperor, which makes him of the chaos realm under the great dao,” replied the little fox. “But… if your replica was present, he should be able to defeat a chaos realm expert.”

The little fox’s cultivation level was actually quite close to Luo Houluo’s, but she still felt that she wasn’t Xing Chen’s match. Lu Yun was the master of the sacred land in the future and creator of numerous combat arts. His battle philosophy spanned several aeons and wasn’t something that any being of this era could match.

“No wonder Luo Houluo attacked me as soon as he saw Xing Chen… so it looks like we do know each other from before!” A grin curled Lu Yun’s lips. “Where does he live?”

The little fox dug her claws into Lu Yun’s collar. “I want to go too! I’ll show you the way!”

Several hundred rays of sharp killing intent locked onto Lu Yun as soon as the little fox said that—the true experts of Qingqiu Mountain.

“All of you, back off!” The little fox jumped onto Lu Yun’s head and voiced a piercing whistle. “That’s an order!”

An indomitable bearing roiled out from the little fox as the Bell of Chaos around her neck tolled with resonant bell rings. The foxes of Qingqiu Mountain didn’t dare defy her and retreated.

“I’m in the true divine realm now, I’m stronger than you!” proudly declared the little fox from her vantage point on top of Lu Yun’s head.

“I want to see someone first before we visit Luo Houluo.” Lu Yun thought for a moment. “Ling Weiyang, also known as Ashu.”

1. The first is the demon god and the second is his master. The crazy one who slaughtered everything in the West Sea and wanted to kill Lu Yun, which led to two representatives from the Firmanents showing up and blasting the ancient time ruin apart.