“What’s wrong with you? Why is your face so red?”

“Tch! It’s your husband’s fault!” Tian Yueling replied to Xiao Xiao as her forehead furrowed. “I went to look for him to talk, but he was intimate with Big Sis Yu!”

“Pft! Hahaha!” The Ling Sisters burst into laughter; even Nangong Nichang, Qiao Lingzhi, and Yue Tu looked at her amusedly.

“Why are you guys laughing at me?”

“Big Sis Yueling! Isn’t it your own fault?” Ling Xiya asked as she shook her head. “I don’t know about your habits within your clan, but this flying artifact is our husband’s private property, and you shouldn’t barge into his room so casually.”

Ling Yu’er nodded in agreement. “For now, you are an outsider, so you should understand the etiquette for entering other people’s private rooms, let’s alone a man’s room.”

“Tch!” Tian Yueling gritted her teeth without being able to refute their words.

“Next time, you’d better knock on his door first, or you’ll see something like that again.” Xiao Xiao then asked her. “How long will it take us to arrive at the Death Village? And how long will it take us to reach the Ancient Garden from there?”

“Hmm?” Tian Yueling observed the changes in the wind and estimated Icarus’ speed first. “The speed of this flying artifact is very fast, and I reckon we will arrive at Death Valley tomorrow morning. However, I can’t be sure about our trip to the Ancient Gaden, as I myself have never been to that place before, so I don’t know the exact situation in that area.”

“Do you think they can come with us to that place?” Xiao Xiao asked again as she pointed at the other four women.

“Yu’er might be able to go with us with the help of her fox bloodline.” Tian Yueling then stopped for a moment. “However, the three of them don’t have any beast bloodlines, and their cultivation is still in the mortal realms. So they shouldn’t come with us, or they will hinder our journey.”

Tian Yueling’s words did not offend Nangong Nichang and Qiao Lingzhi, as they were aware that their strengths were inadequate. Even so, they still hoped to be able to see the Ancient Garden, especially since it was a rare opportunity, but they did not express their wishes.

However, Ling Xiya protested against her. “Big Sis! Even though my cultivation is far below yours, I am also quite experienced, so I will still go with you all to that place, and I won’t cause any trouble to you guys.”

“Up to you then.” Tian Yueling replied with an indifferent shrug, as she had already warned her, but Ling Xiya still insisted on going with them, so she was too lazy to think about her safety.

“I think it’s fine if they go with us.” Yue Tu suddenly said. “Even though my bloodline is not as strong as Mo Chen and Yu’er’s, my cultivation is above Yueling’s, and I can protect them from those beasts.”

Hearing that, Xiao Xiao turned to the three women, and she noticed Nangong Nichang and Qiao Lingzhi’s expectant expressions. “All right, all of you will go with us to that place, and Big Sis Yu won’t let anything bad happen to you either.”

“Yay!” They exclaimed happily after hearing that, but Tian Yueling frowned at Xiao Xiao’s decision, and she still thought that the three of them were burdens to them.

Ling Yu’er suddenly suspiciously asked Tian Yueling. “Anyway, what do you want to talk to our husband about?”

“Haha!” Yue Tu laughed and blurted out. “Yueling wants to talk to Mo Chen because she wants to taste his Yang Qi.”

“Shut up, Rabbit!” Tian Yueling shouted at her before turning around to leave them.

“She’s so old, but she’s too spoiled and childish.” The other women also agreed with Xiao Xiao’s assessment of Tian Yueling.

.

.

.

Elsewhere, a woman walked to a small pond, but her arrival surprised the woman who was observing the water beasts in it. “What are you doing here, Helena? You just joined this sect yesterday, and your cultivation is still too low, so you should not waste time and focus on your cultivation.”

“Senior Lang Zhi, why are you so strict?” Helena asked the female golden desert wolf as she sat on an empty bench. “I felt tired from cultivating and wanted to get some fresh air, and I saw you were having fun here, so I decided to come to you. Besides, I’m still not used to the environment of this sect, so I wanted to see the areas of this sect as well.”

Lang Zhi nodded in understanding and told her. “You can go look around almost the entire sect area, but you can’t go to the area leading to the upper area of the cliff, and it is designated for our leader and some of the elders. Even I myself don’t have the right to go there, and they will punish us severely if we violate it.”

“Oh?” Helena was surprised to hear that, especially since she still didn’t know about the rules of the Hidden Valley Sect. “Why don’t you have the right to go up there? After all, your cultivation is already at the five god realms, and you are also a Di-class disciple, so you should be able to go up there, right?”

“You’re not wrong about that.” Lang Zhi replied with a nod. “However, the situation in our race is quite complicated, and we are also divided into three levels.”

“Aren’t you guys demi-humans? Why do they have to divide everything into levels?” Helena asked with a puzzled look.

“They divide us based on our talents, and people with low talents like me will be treated unfairly.” Lang Zhi released a heavy sigh before she continued. “I’m over a hundred thousand years old, but my cultivation can hardly advance further, and it has been stuck in the lower heavenly god realm for so many years, so they put me as the gatekeeper.”

“I see.” Helena nodded in understanding because the situation in her original realm was not much different, and the people above her placed great importance on a person’s talents. If they are deemed useless, then they will be sent to the workers’ quarters, and they will work there for the rest of their lives. “Does that mean those who live in this area are people who are considered talentless?”

“Not really.” Lang Zhi answered by shaking his head. “Our younger generations still blend together, except for those who are considered to have extraordinary talents. However, the older generations truly separate themselves, and they don’t want to mix together with people without talent. Even though elder Xing Yang is an elder, her talent is considered ordinary, so she lives in this area.”

“Then what about those who are talented enough?”

“They live in that area.” Lang Zhi answered as she pointed in a certain direction, and Helena looked in that direction. “As you can see, they live more comfortably, and the treatment given to them is much better than that of me and the others.”

Helene nodded repeatedly. “Have you ever thought about seeing the outside world, Senior Zhi?”

“Hmm?” Lang Zhi turned to him with a raised eyebrow. “Aren’t those humans very barbaric? According to our history, humans have always tortured and enslaved our race, but two courageous warriors succeeded in freeing us from human colonialism. However, our ancestral realm was destroyed because of their actions, so our ancestors left that place and spread to various realms in every corner of this universe.”

“En, I’ve heard about them.” Lang Zhi turned to her in surprise. “One of them came from the demi-human dragon race, and the other one came from the abyss dark tiger race, right?”

“Yes.” Lang Zhi then asked her. “Was that spirit woman the one who told you everything?”

“Yes, Big Sis Yu is our sister, and she is a very experienced cultivator, so she shares a lot of stories with you.”

“I see.” Lang Zhi then asked again. “Is the man who came here with you yesterday your husband?”

“Huh?” Helena was surprised that Lang Zhi was able to notice Ling Yun’s presence.

“Hehe.” Lang Zhi chuckled and told her. “Even though I was considered talentless by my seniors, I am a wolf, and my sense of smell is very sharp, so I was able to notice his presence. Besides, I can smell his body scent on all of you, so I suspect that he is your husband. Moreover, I could also feel a frightening aura from him, so I deliberately pretended not to notice his presence.”

Helena sighed softly after listening to her words. “You are right; he is indeed our husband, and his name is Mo Chen. However, he is not a beast but a human, and-”

“What?” Lang Zhi exclaimed as he looked at Helena in shock, and then asked with a frown. “Why are you all willing to marry a human? Did he force you guys to become his wives? Did he use underhanded methods against all of you?”

“Senior Zhi, you are wrong about our husband, and he absolutely did not force us to be his wives.” Helena then told Lang Zhi about her meeting with Ling Yun back then, but she altered the story a bit, and she also told her about his meeting with Philia, Fay, and Feng Ling’er.

Even though she had heard all that, Lang Zhi still seemed doubtful about everything. “Is he really that kind?”

– To Be Continued –