After confirming Xie An was safe, Xie Shuci lifted his head from his embrace and looked around.

The fog, mixed with flying sand and stones, obscured the light from the sky, and Xie Shuci could only see vague figures.

“Xie Shuci… the gate is opening… cover yourself and Young Master Xie An with your spiritual power…”

Chu Wenfeng’s voice, fragmented by the wind, reached Xie Shuci, who immediately activated his spiritual power, enveloping both himself and Xie An.

Xie Shuci’s spiritual power, unlike his outward appearance of bluster, was exceptionally gentle. As it closely adhered to both their bodies, it felt as though their closeness was innate.

“Are you guys okay?” Xie Shuci called out loudly.

“We’re fine…” Chu Wenfeng responded from a distance.

Xie Shuci finally relaxed, closing his eyes and burying his head into Xie An’s chest.

However, he didn’t notice that at this very moment, Xie An, unlike a bystander, looked down at him from his elevated position. The usual emptiness in his eyes had vanished, replaced by a tranquil darkness, as serene as a lake under moonlight.

Perhaps touched by Xie Shuci’s trusting nestle in his arms, his spiritual power intimately embracing him, Xie An’s lips slightly curved upwards in a rewarding gesture, softly pressing a kiss on top of Xie Shuci’s head.

In the night sky, the Milky Way was split in two by a huge chasm, like a door appearing out of nowhere, forcefully pushed open by the strong earthly wind. The gate of the sky gradually opened inch by inch, and the pure and powerful spiritual energy spilling out from within it invigorated everyone on the ground.

Xie Shuci felt a powerful force pulling him, and his body began to rise into the air. The cold, biting wind blew against his back, prompting him to cling tightly to Xie An. The tumultuous wind disrupted his breathing and pressed against his body. All these sensations happened almost instantaneously.

The next moment, as if an invisible hand was separating them, Xie Shuci and Xie An were pulled apart. The intertwined bells emitted a reluctant sound, wanting to cling to each other but unable to resist the force of nature.

“Xie An!” Xie Shuci shouted, trying to grasp Xie An, but his body didn’t obey him at all. In a blink, Xie An’s figure vanished from his sight.

Xie Shuci’s senses became numb in the wind, and soon, even his consciousness fell into chaos.

In a daze, he smelled the scent of fresh grass and felt the abundant spiritual energy surrounding him, comforting like soaking in warm water.

Suddenly, something seemed to be dragging across his face, accompanied by snuffling sounds and warm breaths blowing onto his face.

Annoyed, Xie Shuci reached out to push it away, only to touch something furry.

“Aoo—”

The pungent saliva dripped onto Xie Shuci’s face, jolting his brain awake.

Xie Shuci scrunched up his face and opened his eyes to see a huge gaping mouth in front of him, with a long pink tongue sweeping across his face.

“Whoa—Pfft!”

Xie Shuci jolted to his feet, pushing the creature away and stumbling back several steps before steadying himself.

“Yuck! What is that…ugh!” Xie Shuci wiped off the drool on his face, almost gagging from the smell.

“Aoo! Aoo!”

The creature he had pushed away wagged its tail and moved closer to Xie Shuci again. It looked at him with bright, sparkling eyes, unable to hide its excitement and fondness.

“B-Back off, back off!” Xie Shuci used his leg to keep it at bay. He applied a minor spell he had learned to clean the sticky saliva off his face, finally calming down a bit.

He looked around and realized he was in a dense forest. The vegetation, nourished by spiritual energy, was lush and vigorous, with large trees obscuring the sky. Only a few thin beams of light penetrated through the gaps in the branches.

Xie Shuci’s first thought was that this place was not the cultivation world.

The spiritual energy here was light and abundant, in stark contrast to the cultivation world, like the difference between heaven and earth.

“Xie An?”

“Guiyi?”

“Wenfeng?” Xie Shuci tried calling out a few times, but aside from a few birds fluttering out of the bushes, there was only the creature enthusiastically nuzzling against his leg.

Xie Shuci sighed. It seemed that they had been separated when they were pulled into the Dragon Tooth Secret Realm. He hoped nothing bad happened to the others.

However, compared to Xie An and the others, Xie Shuci felt he was more likely to run into trouble. If he encountered someone with ill intentions while alone, his life would be in great danger.

He lowered his head and looked down at the creature circling him, “Sit.”

“Aoo!” 

The creature responded with a bark and immediately sat down obediently, sticking its tongue out at Xie Shuci.

Taking a closer look, Xie Shuci couldn’t help but laugh, “Is this place known for producing Huskies?”

He finally realized why this creature’s barking sounded so familiar—it belonged to the same family as that silly dog.

The dog tilted its head in confusion, not understanding his words.

Xie Shuci reached out and gave it a pat. The dog seemed to enjoy his scent, nuzzling his palm and sniffing around eagerly, rubbing against him as it sniffed.

The dog was smaller than the canine demon, about half its size. Unable to resist, Xie Shuci reached out and petted its neck, saying, “A Husky is a type of dog. In my world, your kind is called Huskies.”

At this, the dog seemed displeased and bared its teeth at Xie Shuci.

Just then, a cool voice came from above, “If it could talk, it would tell you ‘I’m not a dog, I’m a wolf’.”

Hearing the voice, Xie Shuci paused in his petting.

The dog gave him an innocent smile.

Impossible. How can such a cute pet possibly be a wolf?

“Red Snow Wolf, known for its powerful bite. Its original form is completely white, except for a tuft of red hair on its left ear,” the voice continued.

Xie Shuci recalled the silly dog’s original form and looked at the clueless, innocent-looking “dog” in front of him, who was naively sticking out its tongue.

Xie Shuci’s face stiffened. He stood up, unwilling to believe it. He picked up a stone from the ground and threw it into the distance, “Go, fetch it.”

The “dog” tilted its head, looking rather puzzled by his action.

Xie Shuci’s expression froze as he looked at the “dog” with its wide-open fangs, sticky drool hanging in strings down to the ground, and those deep blue eyes. 

Damn! How could this thing be cute? It was clearly treating him as food!

He began to retreat slowly, but as he took a step back, the “dog” took a step forward. Xie Shuci swallowed nervously. Forget it! Better to run first and figure things out later.

Just as he was about to turn and run, the “dog” leaped at him, knocking him to the ground. It happily wagged its tail, bouncing around on top of him.

“Damn it—Chu Wenfeng, stop watching and help me!” Xie Shuci felt like a rock was pressing on his chest, making it hard to breathe.

Amidst the trees, a boisterous laugh rang out, followed by a figure leaping down from the bushes.

Chu Wenfeng leaned against a tree with one hand, pointing at Xie Shuci with the other, his laughter ringing in the air.

“Chu, Wen, Feng!” Xie Shuci shouted angrily.

Chu Wenfeng wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes and approached, squatting beside them. “What are you afraid of? It really likes you, a lot. When I found you, it was practically licking you all over. It wouldn’t dream of eating you.”

Xie Shuci, finally managing to lift his head from under the “dog,” gasped for breath and complained, “What are you standing there for? Get it off me!”

Reluctantly, Chu Wenfeng grabbed the “dog” by the scruff of its neck and lifted it off Xie Shuci.

The “dog” struggled vigorously in his grasp, still trying to pounce on Xie Shuci.

Xie Shuci disgustedly wiped the drool off his body. “Is it really some sort of wolf? Why does it act like a dog?”

His comment seemed to have hurt the “dog’s” pride. It sadly hung its head, allowing Chu Wenfeng to hold it without resistance.

Chu Wenfeng explained, “It’s a Red Snow Wolf, the strongest among all wolf breeds. But they really like humans. Because of their intimidating original form, humans usually run away upon seeing them, so they transform into the size of a regular domestic dog.”

Xie Shuci nodded in understanding, but seeing the dejected creature, he felt a bit sorry for it. “Ah, are you upset? You drenched me in drool, and I’m not even mad. Okay, you’re not a dog. You’re majestic, you’re the king, okay?”

The little creature seemed to really like this title and immediately grinned happily.

Xie Shuci tried calling it, “Great King?”

“Aoo!”

“Great King.”

“Aoo Aoo!”

Xie Shuci thought the Great King didn’t seem too different from an ordinary dog, so he motioned for Chu Wenfeng to put him down.

Chu Wenfeng rolled his eyes and muttered, “You’re getting too used to ordering me around.”

Despite his grumbling, he set the “Great King” down.

Finally free, Great King was about to joyfully pounce on Xie Shuci, but suddenly remembered Xie Shuci’s dislike for such behavior. Hesitating for a moment, Great King then spun around on the spot, a swirl of spiritual energy enveloping him, forming a mini tornado. With a “poof,” Great King transformed into a chubby little toddler.

“Aoo!” The little toddler, with a head full of red hair, pounced on Xie Shuci, hugging his leg tightly with its tiny hands and feet, rubbing its face against his clothes.

“What the heck—what is this?!” Xie Shuci was startled and jumped back, but the toddler clung to his leg like glue.

“What is this?!” Xie Shuci looked at Chu Wenfeng in horror.

Chu Wenfeng’s expression was strange, looking half amused. “Xie Shuci, you’ve got some crazy luck.”

“Stop making jokes and get this thing off me!”

Xie Shuci was thoroughly spooked by the sight of a dog transforming into a toddler right before his eyes.

Chu Wenfeng, meanwhile, found a clean rock to sit on, looking relaxed, he replied,  “What’s there to panic about? It’s just a little wolf demon capable of transforming.”

“Ah?” Xie Shuci was taken aback. He turned his confused gaze to the chubby toddler clinging to his leg. The toddler, with rosy chubby cheeks and short limbs, kept rubbing and snuggling against Xie Shuci. Its big, round, black eyes squinted happily when they saw Xie Shuci, and it giggled adorably.

Chu Wenfeng, sounding slightly jealous, said, “In this secret realm, spiritual energy is abundant. Some rare creatures are born with inner cores and can transform into human forms. This little guy is probably less than three months old, hasn’t seen its parents, and thinks you’re its dad.”

“It thinks I’m its dad?” Xie Shuci looked at Chu Wenfeng skeptically, then playfully pinched the toddler’s squishy cheek. The child laughed even more, drooling all over Xie Shuci.

In a babyish voice, it said, “Daddy… I like… your smell… nice…”

“Who’s your daddy?”

“You.”

The transformed Great King was so adorable that anyone would want to gobble him up. As the squishy toddler continued to cling to him, Xie Shuci didn’t dare to shake him off too hard. He just stared at him, while the innocent “Great King” continued to smile sweetly, oblivious to Xie Shuci’s frustration.

Seeing Great King, Xie Shuci suddenly remembered the silly dog back in the cultivation world. 

It had cultivated for two hundred years and still couldn’t take human form, yet this little wolf demon had everything from birth.

The wolf’s innate sensitivity to emotions seemed to pick up on Xie Shuci’s complex feelings. Its small brows furrowed, and it looked at him with sadness, “Da.. dy… don’t be sad…”

“Daddy’s not sad.”

Xie Shuci ruffled the little wolf’s head and looked up helplessly at Chu Wenfeng. “What do we do?”

Chu Wenfeng raised an eyebrow at him. “What can we do? Keep it with us. At least it’s a small spirit beast. Plus, its nose is sharp. It might help us find my senior brother and Xie An more easily.”

Left with no choice, Xie Shuci nodded, patting the child’s head, “Great King, change back. From now on, don’t transform into a human without my permission.”

“Aoo!” 

Great King responded, shrinking back to its original size, turning into an ordinary little husky, and started circling around Xie Shuci.

“Do you have anything of Xie An’s? Let it sniff,” Chu Wenfeng suggested.

“Okay.”