Heavenly Illusions

What was the size of the Demonic Realm’s Low-level Dimensional Fold?

Don’t let the “low-level” in its name fool you! In fact, among the Dimensional Folds, it was the largest one, and it housed tens of billions if not hundreds of billions of Demonic Beast and Spirit Beast alike.

Given this fact, what was the concept of placing a restriction seal over the entire Dimensional Fold?

Absurd.

This was Xai Lin’s thought as she dazedly stared at An Mo. She could not imagine what kind of existence could weave such a massive restriction, or rather, she dared not imagine it. If asked why, she was too terrified.

However, it was at this moment she began to realize that An Mo’s identity was far from simple. Thinking back to how the beasts were actively avoiding him, she could not help but fall into deep thought.

‘That’s right... Why did I not question this earlier? How is it possible that a Spirit Beast could have multiple bloodlines of Divine Beasts, and ones so pure? Wait... could it be...!’

Xai Lin became startle at the thought that popped into her head, and her gaze towards An Mo turned to one of shock and incredulity.

“W-What is it?”

An Mo stuttered out when he saw how Xai Lin was staring at him. Even though he didn’t fully understand his situation and why he was being trapped in the Low-level Dimensional Fold, he knew without being told that leaving would be difficult.

‘Could it be that she regrets our deal after finding out about my situation?’

An Mo speculated maliciously in his heart.

‘How dare she! Even if I have to forcefully bind myself to her as her Spirit Beast, I’ll never let her go!’

An Mo raged impotently in his mind, but soon after, he paused. He was a bit startled at his own thought.

Him becoming Xai Lin’s Spirit Beast pet?

It seems... that wouldn’t be so bad?

As An Mo was struggling with whether to abandon his dignity and become Xai Lin’s Spirit Beast pet if she refused to become his partner, Xai Lin finally snapped out of her thoughts.

“Wait a moment...”

After saying that, Xai Lin hurriedly stripped off her clothes.

They’ve been discussing matters for so long that the clothes had become half dry. She had long wanted to change, so she didn’t even bother turning around or moving further away to avoid An Mo.

As a result, while An Mo was struggling with a decision internally, he heard Xai Lin speak then saw her start stripping off her clothes. His breath hitched in his throat and any previous thoughts in his brain were forcefully replaced by the image in front of him.

After quickly removing her half-soaked gray outer robes, Xai Lin loosened her inner belt and similarly took off her completely soaked white inner robes. As she bent down to pick up a new set of inner robes, she suddenly felt an intense gaze from a few meters away.

Xai Lin’s motion of picking up her clothes paused, but it was only for an instant before she continued her actions. The silk-like white fabric slid over her pale forearms and then covered up her shoulders.

As she was tying the inner robes’ belt, Xai Lin suddenly looked up.

An Mo, who had been intently staring at Xai Lin, met her gaze. Startled, he hurriedly turned his head away, but it was too late, he had already been caught red-handed. Shifting his crow body uncomfortably, he fully turned his body away from Xai Lin while stuttering out an apology.

“S-Sorry, I didn’t mean to look.”

While taking off her half-soaked pants and undergarments, Xai Lin chuckled and said.

“It’s fine, it’s not like I have anything to look at.”

Upon hearing this, An Mo thought back to the scene he just witnessed, and indeed he barely saw anything stimulating as he had imagined. Rather, he only saw a wash-board-like chest and even faint outlines of what looked like abs and bicep muscles.

It was then that he remembered he and Xai Lin were still just kids, more so of the fact that Xai Lin was a year younger than him.

Especially if one compared the natural long lifespan of Spirit Beasts, and cultivators’ potential lifespan in higher realms, with their current ages, they were indeed still young.

It was because of this thought that An Mo’s initial embarrassment had faded, and he didn’t think of looking away. Besides that aspect, he had only ever seen a human in his Legacy Memories. So, he was just too curious. However, he had forgotten that Xai Lin was still a girl, and regardless of the fact that he was unable to see anything stimulating, staring at a girl changing was too bold. Even if he was curious.

However, it seemed Xai Lin was completely unfazed by his actions. As for why that was the case, An Mo could not understand.

His Legacy Memories had mentioned the customs of humans and even detailed the etiquette between human men and women. So, he knew that Xai Lin’s informality during their interactions was contrary to what was normal.

Even though he was a Spirit Beast, it was not uncommon for Spirit Beasts and Humans to marry and have offsprings. In fact, the Yao Race residing in the Human Realm were descendants of Spirit Beasts and Humans having offsprings.

An Mo glanced back and saw that Xai Lin was already dressed and was finishing up by tying her belt.

After hesitating for a brief moment, An Mo suddenly flapped his wings and flew up to land on Xai Lin’s small shoulder.

Xai Lin paused tying her belt to glance up at An Mo, but he hurriedly turned his head to the side.

In response, Xai Lin only showed a small smile before going back to tying her belt.

Upon seeing this, the last shred of worry in An Mo’s heart was completely swept away.

Xai Lin had accepted him.

This thought twisted and turned in An Mo’s mind continuously, making it hard for him to settle down for a long time.

While Xai Lin finished tying her belt, An Mo was carefully shifting his three legs so as to not scratch Xai Lin with his claws.

A temporary silence fell between the two, but there was a tacit understanding forming between them.

“Before I help you, I need to ask you a few questions first.”

Xai Lin broke the silence as she finished tying her belt and lifted her arm.

Seeing this, An Mo happily hopped onto Xai Lin’s forearm and turn to face her.

Tilting his head, his golden eyes held confusion as he asked.

“What questions?”

“Questions about your origins!”

After saying this, Xai Lin turned and began walking into the forest with An Mo, without any direction in mind.

She was too curious about this brat now. Before, she had thought that the reason why such a unique existence wasn’t mentioned in the book was simply because of the differences between this being a real world, while the book was merely a book.

Although she did not know why a book could become a real world, she held her suspicions that the author had in fact been simply writing stories based on this cultivation world. After all, that author had been mysterious, making sure to keep their identity a secret even when the book had exploded in popularity.

Wasn’t that feeling guilty plagiarizing the life stories of people from another world and fearing they would be found out?

However, this was just one of her outlandish speculations. Whether it was true or not, she would never know.

But An Mo’s existence somewhat corroborates this theory of hers, as the reason why the author never wrote about him could be because he was always trapped inside this Low-level Dimensional Fold. Afterall, such an existence certainly deserved his own story arc.

Upon hearing Xai Lin’s question, An Mo immediately shook his head.

“My Legacy Memories regarding my parents are blank. Ever since I was born in that lake, I have been all alone.”

An Mo inadvertently glanced over Xai Lin’s shoulder at the gradually distancing lake when he said this, a somewhat lost look appearing in his eyes for a moment.

Xai Lin glanced at him and lowered her forearm a bit to block his view with her body.

“Okay. If you don’t know your origins, then let’s not think about it for now. When the time comes in the future, we’ll find clues together.”

Xai Lin lifted her right hand and used her index finger to ruffle the newly grown black feathers on An Mo’s chest.

Upon hearing that, An Mo quickly looked up at Xai Lin. Meeting those sparkling blue pupils that were filled with smiles, his little heart almost couldn’t handle the emotions welling up inside his chest.

It felt like his heart was being soaked in a barrel full of honey... it was too sweet.