“Ah, I almost forgot, there was actually one more thing I wanted to ask.” Relic had made his way towards the door when he suddenly turned and looked at Cornelius.

“What is it?” Cornelius could be seen rubbing the belly of the two dog beasts, their tails wagging happily in the air.

“Hana, my sister, will be beginning her cultivation journey soon. Can you lend us your immortal cave while she trains?”

“That little girl?” Cornelius remembered the little girl who would sit underneath the large tree with her brother every morning until the afternoon. “Sure.” He replied.

Immortal caves were strong holds reserved for only the strong. It was a place cultivators would reside to without the worries of the outside world. Some could spend decades maybe even centuries just cultivating in their immortal caves. Thus, immortal caves were not just well hidden most of the times, but also incredibly personal.

Yet, Relic asked as if it was a normal thing to ask and Cornelius accepted it as if it was nothing.

The bonds between these two were much less obscure as it was in the beginning and they both held a certain amount of respect for each other.

“DouJi, Dougu, up!”

The two dog beasts that were previously resting suddenly sprang up and barked happily at their masters commands.

Suddenly, a swirling force of energy erupted beneath the black and white dog beasts. The swirling force encapsulated both of the dogs, transforming them into ferocious beasts. In an instant, the two small lazy looking dogs turned into ferocious 2m tall beasts!

“Get on.” Cornelius said as he saddled onto one of them.

Relic quickly got on the other and almost immediately, the dogs sped out the door like a flash of light.

The dog beasts were incredibly agile and quick. As soon as they exited the home, they leapt into the sky and landed on to a roof top. They glided from roof to roof, much to the amazement of on lookers. Yet, every step was so soft they barely made a sound.

…

“Wah, mommy, mommy, look!” a young boy pulled on his mother to look at the amazing beasts.

The mother looked at her where her son was pointing at only to see blue skies.

“There’s nothing there. Come, we are late for your studies.” She quickly pulled her son away.

...

The black and white dog beasts soon made their way to the edge of Heaven’s Peak. The vast sea of green forest stretched towards the horizon.

However, even as the two dog beasts neared the edge of the mountain they did not stop. Rather, just as they reached the ledge, they jumped forward in an astounding manner.

They plummeted downwards but no one showed any fear. In fact, the dog beasts had their tongues sticking out as it waved in the air. They quickly landed on to the side of the mountain and continued running down a trail on the side of the mountain.

“Here it is.” Cornelius suddenly said. He took out a jade talisman which suddenly shined.

At the same time, a section of the mountain began to disappear as a black hole was revealed.

They quickly entered into the hole at the side of the mountain. Moments after, formation runes lit up and the section of wall once again looked as if it was a part of the mountain.

….

Inside, vibrant colours immediately came across Relic’s view.

A lush green field of grass was spread across the ground floor. In the center was a massive tree, roughly the height of half of the mountain. The head of the tree was lavished with green leaves which radiated light, illuminating the entire cave.

Near the cave walls were a running stream of water which trailed onto the grass floor and into a medium sized lake. If one were to take a drink from this lake they would immediately recognize it as spirit water!

Relic eyes widened at the scene. This was the most extravagant immortal cave he had ever seen in his life.

“Mr. Savior, welcome back.” A beautiful female voice rang in both their ears. “Oh, it seems you have brought a guest.”

The leaves from the tree suddenly rustled as a long shadowy figure began to slither down.

Within moments, a 119m long snake appeared in front of Relic and Cornelius. She had a mixture of gold and black scales covering her glistening body. Her large sparkling eyes had two varying colours of red and gold. In front of such a large spirit beast, one would think it would strike terror in anyone who glanced upon it. Yet, when relic stood in the presence of this snake he felt she had a certain aura of elegance and majesty.

“Hello, my name is Diana.” She said with a slight bow.

“A golden eyed serpent… no, is she a red eyed serpent?” Relic muttered.

“This is my friend, Relic, he will be frequenting here soon with his sister in order to train her in cultivation. I hope it won’t bother you too much.” Cornelius said with a smile.

“What are you saying, of course it won’t. This place belongs to Mr. Savior. I’m only a guest; I will not impose any more than I already have.” She replied.

The two shared a brief moment of silence as they gazed at one another.

Cough…

The two immediately snapped out of their gaze and looked a bit flustered.

“Hello, it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” Relic said.

She smiled and nodded.

Relic then turned to Cornelius and said, “Thank you for allowing us the use of this immortal cave. If there is anything I can help you with, please feel free to ask.”

Cornelius shook his head. “If your plan works, I will be the one thanking you for saving all of us.” He took out an empty jade slip and held it next to the jade talisman he used to get into his immortal cave. The runic patterns of the jade talisman suddenly appeared onto the jade slip. “Here, use this whenever you want to get in.” He tossed the jade slip to Relic.

Relic quickly stored it into his mortal spatial ring and headed back onto of the dog beast he came in on.

“I’ll be back soon.” He said. The dog beast howled and returned outside where it brought Relic back to the surface.

…

Relic first went back to their home residence only to find no one was there. He quickly thought about where Hana had left and decided to check their family restaurant.

He soon arrived to a small restaurant called Astors’ Foods, and could see a small group of children hanging around outside with smiling faces.

“What’s going on?” he wondered.

Relic entered into the restaurant to find the place filled with laughter and people. His jaw was immediately left agape and his eyes widen when he saw what was happening.

Jiro was currently waiting tables their food. He had food trays on top of his wings, back, and even his head. Where ever he walked, children would be following him and touching his soft feathers.

(“Wh-what are you doing?”) Relic asked.

Jiro heard Relic’s voice and immediately cried tears of joy. (“Help me!”)

(“What happened?”)

“(It’s your sister! She dragged me in here and forced me to work! At first I had nothing to do so I thought I might as well. Who would’ve thought more and more people would show up. After a little while, the place became full and she wouldn’t let me go no matter what I did!)”

“Jiro, there are more dishes for table three.” Hana suddenly appeared beside Jiro. Jiro countenance seemed to suddenly pale as his head drooped slightly.

Relic couldn’t believe his eyes. A little girl was giving orders to a divine spirit beast and that same beast was listening to those orders. If this happened in any of the major city or towns, it would definitely be a sight to see.

“Brother, you’re back. Where did you go?” Hana noticed Relic at the front with his jaw wide open.

Relic quickly regained his composure and gave a wry smile. “Hana, I found a place for you to start cultivating. Do you want to head there now?”

Hana’s eyes light up, and excitedly spoke. “Yes!” However, she quickly remembered something. “But… our shift isn’t over yet.”

Relic suddenly realised Hana had changed her clothes and was now wearing a typical waitress outfit. In her hands was a tray of dirty dishes ready to be washed.

Jiro suddenly made eye contact with Relic with menacing eyes, as if to tell him to speak with his sister.

“Ah, that reminds me, why did you have Jiro work as a waiter? You should know, outside, he is a very powerful spirit beast. He doesn’t really like doing these types of jobs.” Relic said.

She turned to look at Jiro. “Jiro, is this true, are you unhappy being here with me?” She walked up and asked Jiro with tears in her eyes.

“Geh….” Jiro was speechless. He was born as a divine spirit beast and lived in a secluded area which humans did not dare to tread. He was unfamiliar to humans before his capture, only what he heard from other of his kind. If you were to describe how Jiro generally felt about humans, it would be that he hated them! Yet, when she asked him this question with that face, his heart slightly shook and he unconsciously shook his head.

“I knew you wanted to be with me!” She placed down the tray of dirty dishes and stuffed her face into his soft feathers and embraced him tightly.

Relic could only give Jiro a pitiful chuckle.

“Relic, you are here. “ Marie, their mother, appeared behind her two children. Her long braided brown hair shifted from side to side as she walked. She quickly gave a hug to both her children and smiled.

“Hana told me you had something you needed to do. Was it something for your teacher?” she asked.

Relic nodded. ”Actually, he wants to meet Hana as well. He wants to see if Hana has any aptitude in cultivation as well.”

Tears suddenly began to well up in Marie’s eyes. “I-I never thought the heavens would give us so many opportunities to our family.”

Relic’s heart warmed seeing the tears fall down from his mother’s face. He didn’t remember them in his past life and even in this life; his relation with his parents was only in name. But now, he could see the unconditional love a mother had for her children and it truly affected him.

Marie turned to Hana and said, “Don’t let this chance slip by. If he accepts you as a student you must make sure you practice hard so someday you can achieve anything you want.”

“Mn, I will!” Hana replied.

Marie then turned toward s Jiro.

“Thank you for helping out today.” She smiled.

Jiro only turned his head as if he saying he didn’t care.

Finally, she turned back to Relic.

“Jiro can really drum up business. If you three aren’t too busy, just drop in every once In a while, okay?” She embraced her kids once more and continued to wait the tables.

Relic and Hana headed out the restaurant much to the disappointment to many in the restaurant.

Once outside, they hopped onto Jiro and immediately headed towards the edge of the mountain. Jiro dived once more, following Relic’s directions and stopped near a section of the mountain where Relic proceeded to take out a jade slip.

A hole magically appeared and all three headed in without hesitation.

….

“Wah…” Hana’s eyes sparkled as she twirled around in the grassy field of the immortal cave. She felt like she had suddenly teleported to a completely different but beautiful place.

“Welcome you two.”

Cornelius stepped out and appeared in front of Hana and Jiro.

Upon seeing the mayor of Heaven’s Peak, Hana immediately stood up and bowed her head slightly. “Mayor!”

“So you’re Hana.” Cornelius laughed. “I hear you are beginning your cultivation journey today. My place is free for you to use as you wish. Learn well!”

“Yes!” She responded. Though, she actually didn’t even know why the mayor was here. Relic didn’t say anything to her prior.

Jiro also began to take a look around the place went he suddenly felt something which sent a shiver down his spine and his feathers stand up.

“Jiro?” Hana, noticed Jiro abrupt change.

Jiro immediately took a battle stance as he faced towards the top of the large tree in the center of the place.

“Oh my, I didn’t realize I would get to eat some chicken today.” An alluring yet venomous female voice sounded in everyone’s ears.