Isn't This a Game? Why Are You All Cultivating for Real!

Chapter 127: Chapter 127: The Bead

Dahuang finally acted differently.

It lowered its head and sniffed Song Jiulai’s scent.

After confirming her scent hadn’t changed, it wagged its tail at Song Jiulai.

"Good boy."

This was still the Demon Cave Valley’s trading post, with quite a few Cultivators coming and going.

Walking Dahuang was too conspicuous. Plus, the dog looked so ordinary, and this place was too dangerous for it.

Song Jiulai decided to take the dog back to the Sect and let the players look after it.

She had entered at the Qi Refining Middle Stage, but now she was at the Late Peak of Qi Refining.

Song Jiulai’s power had soared. Once she reached the Foundation Establishment Stage, she could do as she pleased in Wang’an County.

’At that point, who could possibly stop me from conquering Wang’an County!’

Then she noticed the key in her hand had shattered.

Song Jiulai was shocked. "How did the key break? Was it a single-use item?"

The system went "Huh?" and said, "If the key broke, it means the Secret Realm has truly collapsed and will never appear again. Could someone have taken its core treasure?"

It grew suspicious. "Could it really be this big yellow dog?"

But another explanation was possible: a disciple from another Sect could have taken the core treasure from a different area.

But that wouldn’t explain why the entire energy source had converged at this one spot at the end.

The system wasn’t convinced, so it decided to scan Dahuang again.

The scan didn’t take long, but this time, the system discovered a faint energy source converging on the bead on Dahuang’s neck.

"Impressive," the system said, as if suddenly remembering something. "No wonder. The Secret Realm was accessible to those in the Qi Refinement Realm, but its master was far beyond that. My sensors must have been scrambled inside."

Song Jiulai asked, "What do you mean?"

System: "The creator’s Realm was too high. The energy signature was shielded by a dense barrier, filled with the master’s own power, so I couldn’t detect it back then. You definitely need to get back to the Sect. That bead on its neck is no ordinary item."

Hearing the system’s words, Song Jiulai immediately looked at Dahuang’s—neck.

As if demonstrating its intelligence, Dahuang had become much more expressive since leaving the Secret Realm. Seeing Song Jiulai look at it, the dog lifted its neck high.

This made the bead even more conspicuous.

Dahuang had never made such an obvious gesture back in the Secret Realm.

Song Jiulai’s eyes lit up. "Good doggy."

She wasn’t about to examine the bead out in the open. With Dahuang in tow, she prepared to leave.

With her current power, as long as she didn’t run into a Mid-stage Foundation Establishment expert, she was confident she could even escape from an Early-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

And so, Song Jiulai left the Demon Cave Valley trading post.

As she left, walking such a large and ordinary-looking yellow dog, she certainly attracted the attention of many Cultivators.

Fortunately, Cultivators these days didn’t like to meddle in other people’s business, and eccentric Cultivators were everywhere.

Song Jiulai was incredibly grateful for this aspect of cultivator culture.

Song Jiulai decided that once she was back, it was time to start putting her plans into motion.

She wanted to get into Artifact Refining.

She really didn’t have time to research pill refinement, and besides, with a talented disciple like Chen Miaomiao in the Sect, she had no intention of competing with her.

’But Artifact Refining is a must.’

Cultivators who specialized in Artifact Refining were the most common kind on the Yunzhou Continent.

Basically every Cultivator wanted to have their own Magic Treasure.

Unless they truly had no talent for it.

Of course, not many were actually good at it.

’I have to get a Flying Magical Treasure on the agenda.’

’If I had a Flying Magical Treasure, I wouldn’t always be chased around during fights.’

’How embarrassing!’

On the way back with Dahuang, she realized she needed to make good time. So, she simply hoisted the big dog onto her shoulder and flew the rest of the way.

She thought to herself, ’When on earth will I get a Qiankun Bag?’

’A Qiankun Bag can hold living creatures. Then I could even bring a pet along when I go out to fight.’

Unfortunately, Qiankun Bags were priced in top-grade spirit stones. Even though she’d just come into a small fortune, she wasn’t wealthy enough to be that extravagant.

She carried Dahuang all the way home.

As they neared the Sect, Song Jiulai put Dahuang down. There was something odd about this dog. Even if it were just an ordinary mutt, it showed no signs of discomfort despite the high-speed, Spiritual Energy-fueled travel.

Along the way, Song Jiulai had fed it some meat made by the players in the Sect. Dahuang seemed to enjoy it immensely, clearly loving every bite.

There were fewer players at the Longevity Sect’s main grounds these days; after all, even the life-skill players were now running all over Wang’an County at the foot of the mountain.

But she did run into one player.

Su Daqiang, still sporting his blue skin, couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Song Jiulai return. "Sect Master?"

"Ah? Oh, yes. Daqiang."

Song Jiulai smiled at Su Daqiang, doing her best to project the image of a gentle and wise Sect Master. "Hasn’t your skin recovered yet?"

Su Daqiang was in tears. "No, but the good news is that it has faded a bit recently!"

Dammit, not even Chen Miaomiao had been able to figure out what had contaminated him.

His skin had only just now, finally, begun to fade.

He couldn’t even go down the mountain.

And heaven knew how much he longed to be elsewhere.

But seeing the Sect Master was an incredibly lucky event. After all, Song Jiulai was usually as elusive as a phantom, rarely ever setting foot in the Sect.

All announcements were relayed through the system, and the players had almost never had a private conversation with her.

Su Daqiang felt like his luck had finally turned. Seeing the big yellow dog beside Song Jiulai, he asked in surprise, "Sect Master, why did you bring a dog back?"

"It was my dear old friend’s dog." Song Jiulai’s smile was tinged with a faint melancholy. "That’s why I brought it back. When I’m away, I’ll need to ask you all to look after it."

"No trouble, no trouble at all!"

Su Daqiang immediately understood. This must be an inheritance from one of the Sect Master’s departed friends. He didn’t doubt it for a second. Feeling incredibly honored, he immediately puffed out his chest and promised, "Don’t you worry, Sect Master! I promise I’ll take great care of it for you! We’ve got people in the Sect raising Little Flower Beasts and pigs now—we even managed to raise a Stealing Spirit Mouse! I guarantee we’ll take good care of this dog!"

Since Su Daqiang was stuck on the mountain with little to do, he had already gained experience in tending to Spirit Grass and feeding spiritual beasts.

He would occasionally help take care of Fan Guzhou’s Little Flower Beast.

Song Jiulai nodded. "I’m heading back for a bit. I’ll let you know when I have to leave again."

Su Daqiang nodded so vigorously he looked like a bobblehead. "Yes, of course!"

Watching Song Jiulai fly off, he sighed emotionally. "Our Sect Mom is a True Immortal."

’She gets more radiant every time I see her!’

The system clicked its tongue. "You’ve done a pretty good job crafting your image."

Song Jiulai retorted, "It’s called personal branding. What would you know about it?"

Returning to her bedroom, Song Jiulai finally relaxed.

She crouched down to look at the bead on Dahuang’s neck. "Is there really something special about this bead? I can’t sense a trace of Spiritual Energy from it."

System: "Of course you can’t. You’re only in Late-stage Qi Refining. We don’t even know what Realm the master of this Secret Realm was, but even I couldn’t detect it back then. When she created this place, her cultivation must have been at the Nascent Soul Realm at the very least."

Hearing this, Song Jiulai became even more excited.

She studied it for a long time, even trying to infuse it with Spiritual Energy, but nothing happened.

Unable to figure it out, Song Jiulai fell back on the principle of trying anything and everything. She immediately pricked her finger and let a drop of blood fall onto the bead.

In an instant, the bead erupted with a brilliant light. It felt as if she was being sucked into an Otherworld, and once again, the world spun around her.