Miss Loser is too enchanting

Xiaohuo, with Dugu Qianye in tow, landed in a clearing, only to find upon descent that the area was densely covered with a sort of serrated, brown grass; from a distance, it looked just like a huge swath of stones.

"Sister, what is this?" Xiaohuo, seeing that Dugu Qianye had gotten down and had been staring blankly at the grass, asked.

"This is Serrated Grass, be careful not to cut yourself on it. If its serrated edges cut your skin, it will take the opportunity to inject an anesthetic fluid into your body. Even those at the Divine King Peak would find it hard to resist. Recovery could take as little as half a day, or as long as ten to fifteen days," Dugu Qianye explained while carefully guiding Xiaohuo away.

Having exited the thicket of Serrated Grass, Dugu Qianye carefully transplanted a clump into the Refining Demon Pot.

"Let’s go see if there are any Spiritual Beasts around, find one and ask where to find the Fuyu Flower," Dugu Qianye said.

"Okay." To avoid causing Dugu Qianye any trouble, Xiaohuo immediately mimicked her form and perched on Dugu Qianye’s shoulder.

They had thought they would quickly encounter a Spiritual Beast, but even as darkness fell, they hadn’t seen a single living creature.

"Sister, why do I feel there’s something strange here?" Xiaohuo said, "Isn’t it said that there are a lot of Spiritual Beasts here? How come we haven’t encountered even one today?"

"It is indeed a bit strange," Dugu Qianye said while poking at the fire before her, "If the masters said they exist, they definitely do, or at least they used to. Either we haven’t encountered them yet, or something has happened here."

"So what do we do? If we can’t find a Spiritual Beast, we won’t know where to find the Fuyu Flower!" Xiaohuo exclaimed.

"Let’s wait and see tomorrow," Dugu Qianye suggested.

She wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she constantly felt as if countless eyes were watching her, a very uncomfortable sensation. However, when she focused to sense her surroundings, she detected no people or Spiritual Beasts.

"There’s a problem here." Just as Dugu Qianye was considering getting up to look around, Jiang Yu, who had been sleeping in the Skeleton Earring, suddenly came out. After glancing around the dark surroundings, he frowned and said.

"Jiang Yu? Why have you come out?" Dugu Qianye was surprised to see Jiang Yu. This petulant man had been in deep slumber ever since he had come back the last time, and even when Dugu Qianye occasionally called him, he didn’t respond—perhaps in a mood or maybe embarrassed.

"I woke up because I sensed a familiar scent," Jiang Yu replied.

"What sort of scent? I don’t smell anything," Xiaohuo said as she sniffed diligently but did not detect any distinctive scent.

Looking at Jiang Yu with a puzzled gaze, Dugu Qianye inquired, "What’s wrong? Did something happen?"

"It’s..." Jiang Yu started to say, then suddenly fell silent and said, "I can’t talk about that place while I’m outside in the world, it’s against the rules, and I can’t say."

Jiang Yu often traveled between different realms, and who knew which realm had something familiar that he encountered. Since he couldn’t talk about it, she didn’t press any further. But with even him reacting this way, what exactly was going on in the Spirit Void Secret Realm?

"Its Divine Fire is the hope that lights up the darkness. Be extra careful," Jiang Yu left these words behind and then retreated back into the Skeleton Earring.

"What does he mean by that?" Xiaohuo asked, puzzled.

Dugu Qianye shook her head; she didn’t understand either. Thinking of the Divine Fire he mentioned, Dugu Qianye brought out the Phoenix Golden Flame in her hand, playing with it and guessing at the meaning of Jiang Yu’s words. After pondering for a while and coming up empty, she noticed that the feeling of being watched had disappeared since she brought out the Golden Fire.

With this discovery, she retracted the Phoenix Golden Flame back into her body, and after a while, that feeling of being observed returned. After repeating this a few times, she became even more certain that something was watching from the shadows, and that it was very afraid of the Phoenix Golden Flame.

Disliking that sensation, Dugu Qianye decided to keep the Phoenix Golden Flame nearby and then went to bed to sleep, cradling Xiaohuo in her arms.

Meanwhile, in a certain realm, a woman dressed in a long black veil gown was wiping her knife, which had just decapitated hundreds of heads, when a shadow silently appeared behind her.

"Princess, the king summons you. Something big has happened!"

The woman in the black gown did not turn around but continued to wipe her knife and asked, "Do you know what it is?"

"To respond to the Princess, the king said he would tell you personally when you arrive." said the shadow.

"I understand." The woman put away the knife and turned to leave.

The dark palace was pitch-black to the eye, everything inside it.

As the woman made her way along, those she encountered bowed to her. With a cold glance, she nodded her head in acknowledgment and continued on her way, leaving behind a flurry of surprised gazes.

The woman in the black gown ignored their reactions and went straight to her brother’s palace. Upon entering, she saw the man seated on the throne above.

"Brother, what did you want to see me about?"

"Ruyan, you’ve arrived." The king, seeing the woman in the black gown, said, "Recently, some things have occurred here that others are unreliable to handle. Since you wanted some training, I thought you might help me deal with them."

"What things?"

"Several old ghosts have somehow burrowed out and escaped to other realms. I checked, and the exit leads to the Spirit Void Secret Realm on the Spirit Void Continent. All you have to do is take care of them, that’s all." The king fiddled with his lavish black robe, which was already wrinkling.

"The Spirit Void Secret Realm?"

"Yes. The Spirit Void Secret Realm is now open again, and in a month, it will clear out all non-native residents. By then, who knows where they will end up. It would be troublesome to bring them back after that."

"Understood." The woman in the black gown stood up, ready to leave.

"By the way, Ruyan, I have news about that woman named Dugu Qianye you asked me to look for."

With just one sentence, Mang Qianjun caught the woman’s attention and stopped her in her tracks. Seeing her stop to look at him, he couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. His sister was really too demoralizing, caring more about a stranger than about him.

"She’s not a stranger," Baili Ruyan cut through Mang Qianjun’s thoughts with a cold face.

"Alright, alright, she’s not a stranger, I’m the stranger, happy now?" Mang Qianjun said jealously.

Ever since she was injured last time, she had changed considerably. Although he liked this new version of her, he still thought the previous one was cuter. Sigh, both were his sisters after all; he had to accept it. But this sister took after their mother even in personality, it was just a pity their mother couldn’t see her now.

"Brother, you’re not a stranger either," Baili Ruyan said.

"Hehe." Mang Qianjun laughed at Dugu Qianye’s words and said, "Alright, since you’re being so obedient, I’ll tell you where Dugu Qianye is."

Baili Ruyan looked at Mang Qianjun, her intense, concentrated expression clearly not pleasing him. He took out a white jade stone and tossed it to her, saying, "She’s in the Spirit Void Secret Realm right now. Once you’re in there, the little black dot on the white jade stone is her. Humph, don’t forget our rules here, you can’t talk about this place once you’re outside. And those scumbags, just chop them up, no need to bring them back."