“No, no, no…” The short figure panicked, waving his hands repeatedly, looking a bit embarrassed. “That’s not what I meant…”
The ghost cultivator, furious, turned around and drifted away. The short figure had no choice but to hurry after him. Their commotion was soon swallowed up by the indignant voices around them.
From the heated discussions among the demons, the three little demons gathered a lot of intelligence.
It turned out that these self-proclaimed “demon hunters”—heretical cultivators—used to be very numerous. However, under the joint crackdown by the two realms and YCG, they had become extremely rare in recent years. That was why the young demons had never heard of them.
But any demon hunter still active was bound to be a ruthless, heinous terrorist who wouldn’t blink an eye at killing either humans or demons.
The demons in the realm were utterly disgusted by these hunters, which was why they were all so agitated.
“But this young friend here is really impressive—not only did he escape unscathed himself, but he also saved a group of little ones. The demon realm has worthy successors!”
“Absolutely, absolutely. A true hero in the making.”
“Right, right. Young friend, how did you defeat those heretical cultivators? Which school of magic did you use, or perhaps a formation? Can you tell us?”
Ye Yang prided himself on having a clear conscience about everything he did, but on this matter, he couldn’t help feeling a bit guilty. How was he supposed to explain?
How could he say that he, a rural little demon who had never learned a single spell—not even a cleaning charm—had relied solely on his freshly healed, fair, tender, pinkish fists to defeat so many heretical cultivators, each skilled in their own arts but never getting the chance to use them?
And it was only after hearing these demons’ discussions that he even realized those heretical cultivators had all been formidable and dangerous.
Saying that out loud would sound too much like bragging.
Just as he was feeling troubled, the giant who had spoken first came to his rescue: “Enough! A bunch of old fogies, how many years old are you? Have you no shame? Do you really think a kid’s unique skills are something they’d tell you? Quit asking—if you’ve got the guts, come ask me!”
The most vocal demons immediately fell silent. The heated crowd calmed down, and their voices dropped considerably.
Ye Yang, a bit slow on the uptake, finally realized what had just happened—he’d almost been tricked into revealing too much! What if some demon here had ill intentions?
Who said demons weren’t good at scheming?
Just then, the competition was nearing its end, and everyone finally turned their attention back to the arena.
Little Thirteen glanced at the scoreboard and immediately wailed, “Aw! How did we actually get overtaken?” In just a moment of not looking, Lan Bao, who had been in the lead, had fallen to second place, and now the first-place contestant had more than double his score!
Everyone couldn’t help but look at the first-place winner.
To achieve better results, most contestants had chosen to fight in their original forms. For demons like Lan Bao, their original forms were many times larger and stronger than their humanoid forms. Though their appetite didn’t change, having a larger mouth meant they could eat faster.
Of course, Lan Bao didn’t have a choice—he still hadn’t learned to shapeshift at all.
But the first-place contestant was very different: she was competing in human form!
And her human form was petite, looking just over 1.4 meters tall—definitely under 1.5 meters—with a slender build, tiny arms, and tiny legs. She didn’t look like much of an eater at all.
Yet she could eat like crazy, shoving mooncake after mooncake into her mouth continuously, as if she didn’t need to chew.
Little Thirteen had already investigated all the contestants earlier and found that no one knew this participant named Yuan Qian’er. But since her appearance wasn’t intimidating and she had started at the bottom, he hadn’t paid much attention.
It turned out she had just been unskilled at the beginning, and as if tasting such delicious mooncakes for the first time, she couldn’t help savoring them a bit longer. But once the second phase began, she truly started showing her power.
Now the entire audience was guessing what kind of creature this unfamiliar, unknown contestant really was.
Three minutes later, the competition ended.
Lan Bao took second place without any suspense. Huan Huan tried to comfort him: “You’ve improved compared to last year. Next year will be even better than this one!”
Hearing that, Lan Bao only grew more dejected. “Did you forget? I’ll be too old next year!”
This mooncake-eating contest was only for demons under two hundred years old—an entertainment event just for cubs…
Huan Huan: “…” Now even he could only stretch out his arms helplessly, and the other two little companions had nothing to say.
…
After the competition ended, the audience dispersed. Some of the avian race, too impatient to wait in line, transformed back into their original forms and flew out. For a moment, the arena was filled with the rustling sound of flapping wings and feathers flying everywhere.
Other races had their own methods—some burrowed into the ground, others shrank their bodies and darted swiftly through the gaps in the crowd. Soon, only a few scattered spectators remained in the once-crowded arena.
Ye Yang looked around and noticed a massive, towering figure not far away, impossible to miss. Taking a closer look, wasn’t this the big-eyed giant who had spoken up for him earlier? He nodded as a greeting.
To his surprise, the giant spotted Ye Yang and walked straight over.
When the giant stood up, he was twice as tall as when he had been sitting. With every step, the ground trembled slightly. The surrounding demons scrambled out of his way, parting like the Red Sea before Moses—a spectacular sight.
The giant stopped in front of Ye Yang, suddenly grinning, and extended his deep-black giant palm. “Hello, my name is Ji Qing. Let’s be friends.”
Staring into those bell-like eyes, Ye Yang didn’t dare refuse. He reached out his own hand.
Ji Qing carefully pinched Ye Yang’s palm between two fingers and gave it a gentle shake. His smile deepened, which made him look even more terrifying, but Ye Yang knew clearly that there wasn’t a trace of ill intent in him.
Under Huan Huan’s watchful gaze and the curious eyes of Little Thirteen and Ye Yang, Ji Qing openly revealed his true form—turns out he was a si!
The si was no ordinary creature. They had just learned about it in a recent lesson: in ancient human culture, the si was regarded as a symbol of magical power. With extremely strong offensive abilities, if threatened, it would not hesitate to charge at its enemy with its sharp horn.
The si closely resembled the green ox of the fields, but unlike ordinary oxen, it was massive in size, with a deep-black head and limbs and a white back and belly. Its eyes were especially large, like bronze bells, and its tail was long and powerful. The larger the horn on its head, the greater its strength.
No wonder Ji Qing’s human form was so enormous and his eyes so striking.
Si usually dwell in the wilderness. It was said they loved roaming through the mountains and forests, with an incredibly keen sense of smell that could detect scents from far away. But judging by how things had gone, Ji Qing’s hearing was just as sharp as his nose.
Ye Yang secretly glanced at Ji Qing’s head. Unfortunately, Ji Qing’s human form was fully perfected, so no horn was visible. But from the way the other demons had reacted, Ji Qing was clearly very powerful, and many were a bit afraid of him.
As they parted, Ji Qing said he wanted to exchange contact information. Ye Yang’s eyes immediately lit up. Here it comes, here it comes! He was finally going to witness the legendary method of communication… But under Ye Yang’s expectant gaze, Ji Qing reached behind his back, rummaged for a moment, and pulled out—a cell phone.
“?” Ye Yang’s bright-eyed expression froze. Wait, this was so… ordinary? What about divine feather messaging and thousand-mile projection? He would’ve even accepted a single divine beast’s hair!
But now, even divine beasts relied on the internet to stay connected??? What was the difference between them and those of them, cubs who couldn’t even use magic?
Ye Yang’s thoughts were always written all over his face. Ji Qing read him at a glance and couldn’t help but laugh. While deftly pulling up a QR code and holding it out, he shook his head and said, “Your course materials need an update.”
Little Thirteen and the other two found it both funny and exasperating.
These days, Yu Bei had been teaching ancient Chinese history, mentioning many prehistoric divine beasts and immortals, including the sophisticated, high-level communication methods that Ye Yang had come to admire so much.
Ye Yang had never been to the demon realm before and had no experience with the current demon realm. How was he supposed to know that ninety-nine percent of those high-level communication methods had long been replaced by the internet—which was far more convenient and required no magic? The demon realm’s internet was even more advanced than the human world’s, with faster speeds.
Listening to Little Thirteen’s quiet explanation, Ye Yang blushed again. Embarrassed, he lowered his head and thought, This is the first time, so I’ll let it slide. But from now on, I can’t make a fool of myself like this again!
After Ji Qing left, the four of them finally made their way out of the arena.
Given what had happened that day, even though those heretical cultivators had been caught, no one was in the mood to linger in Luoyang City. Ye Yang wouldn’t have minded staying to look around a bit more, but his companions were all very worried about him and insisted on escorting him back to his dorm to feel at ease.
When they reached the teleportation array, they spotted the short figure and his ghost cultivator friend again.
They seemed to have made up and were now saying their goodbyes in a sticky, affectionate manner. The short figure was probably a local of Luoyang City, but his ghost cultivator friend’s cultivation wasn’t deep enough for him to leave the Netherworld for long. After spending a day in Luoyang City, his form had faded considerably, and now he had no choice but to go back.
The demon and the ghost were being all lovey-dovey in the middle of the road, while the YCG cubs lined up behind them, not wanting to rush them.
This was one advantage of being a ghost cultivator—without a physical body, they could twist and contort however they pleased. The otherwise normal-looking figure coiled around the short demon’s arm like a snake, reluctant to let go. He had probably been dead for over a thousand years, with long, flowing hair and dressed in a white robe that made it impossible to tell his gender.
To be honest, Ye Yang still hadn’t figured out whether that ghost cultivator was male or female…
·
Returning to YCG through the teleportation array, the surroundings suddenly became quiet. The hustle, bustle, and splendor of Luoyang City were replaced by the tranquil courtyard scenery in front of the dormitory.
As their tense emotions suddenly relaxed, both Ye Yang and the little cubs subconsciously felt that YCG was extremely safe.
“Alright, my dorm is right there. You guys should head home quickly.”
Little Thirteen and Huan Huan flanked him, one draped over his shoulder and the other hanging off his forearm: “We’ll watch you go in.”
Lan Bao, trailing behind, was still mulling things over: “Hey, what do you think that Yuan Qian’er really is?”
…
Late at night, Ye Yang was already lying in bed. Though his eyes were closed, he couldn’t fall asleep at all, his mind replaying the day’s experiences in Luoyang City.
Little Thirteen had been right—he really was a country bumpkin. And for a true “country bumpkin” like Ye Yang, the demon realm was a magical place.
Setting foot in the demon realm himself, he discovered many things the lessons didn’t teach.
For example, the demon realm wasn’t exclusively demons; it was predominantly demonic, with a large number of non-humans living there.
For example, the territories of humans and non-humans weren’t strictly separated—occasional accidental crossings happened.
For example, the demon realm’s space was even larger than the human world, but it didn’t exist entirely in reality; rather, it coexisted with the human world, both relying on the same fundamental dimension.
And then there was the relationship between humans and non-humans.
YCG was the place where different realms coexisted most harmoniously, and the preschool class was the most harmonious place within YCG. Having left the sea and entered YCG directly, Ye Yang had developed a somewhat mistaken understanding of inter-species relations.
Only after leaving YCG did he realize that outside, the world was still full of prejudice and hostility. The spirit race looked down on the demon race, and the demon race looked down on the spirit race. The ghost race was at the bottom of the pecking chain. That very day, there had even been killing and hunting.
It turned out that all of this had never ceased, from ancient times to the present.
On the way back, Little Thirteen and Huan Huan had constantly tried to comfort Ye Yang, worried he’d have nightmares from the day’s scares.
But only Ye Yang knew that the feeling of fear had only appeared when he was restrained and powerless. Now, instead, his heart felt much calmer. Even the long-standing confusion about where he was headed no longer seemed to trouble him.
After this perilous experience, Ye Yang’s heart had actually settled down a great deal.
In the most dangerous and desperate moment, for an instant, he felt as if he had returned to the perilous depths of the sea.
Ye Yang was naturally optimistic and liked to look on the bright side, but that didn’t mean he turned a blind eye to the dangers around him.
The damselfish he saw every day suddenly disappeared one day. The bright sunlight was abruptly blocked, and the clear seawater was stained crimson. Or a sudden gloom would set in, lasting for ages, with no sign of when it might lift.
Life on the seafloor was never tranquil—it was full of predation and being preyed upon. It was just that Ye Yang had long since escaped that cycle.
After coming to land, he had never truly felt grounded. Everything around him, all the friendly elders and companions, the daily routine repeating without a single ripple—it all felt like an illusion, like a dream.
Until today.
Of course, having a sense of being grounded and a sense of crisis about one’s safety were not mutually exclusive.
Just before he drifted off to sleep, a thought lingered stubbornly in Ye Yang’s mind: “Director Tu was right—the demon realm really is dangerous after all!”
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