Chapter 151: The Registration Office

The two women's gazes were extremely obscene.

If this were the lower realm, Hu Li would have already gouged out their eyes. However, this was the Spirit Realm. Judging by their attire, they closely resembled what the senior demon immortals referred to as Spirit Realm Envoys—low-tier cultivators who bullied the weak and flattered the strong, fleeced everyone they met, yet officially represented the Spirit Realm Alliance.

Such people existed in droves back in his Valley of Joy. He knew all too well that these individuals were driven solely by profit and were exceptionally troublesome to deal with. But this was not the Valley of Joy, nor was he the lofty Valley Master. As a newly ascended demon immortal in a completely unfamiliar place, he figured it would be difficult to escape a thorough extortion today.

Silently cursing his bad luck, Hu Li took a deep breath, lowered his head slightly, and walked forward.

Unexpectedly, the other woman in green changed her expression slightly and nudged her companion with her elbow.

The first green-robed woman caught the hint and turned her head to look at her.

The second green-robed woman motioned toward Hu Li's glabella with a slight pout.

Glancing at his glabella, the first woman's expression also shifted, and she muttered under her breath, "Bad luck."

Both women possessed only the Condensation Core stage of cultivation, and Hu Li was well-versed in telepathy. Thus, he saw clearly where the so-called "bad luck" came from: it turned out the two women were plotting more than just extortion. They were feeling quite "helpful"; seeing that he was a demon immortal, they had actually been planning what kind of master might suit him!

Outrageous! Although he had long known that demon immortals held a low status in the Spirit Realm and had mentally prepared himself, right at this moment he still desperately wanted to tear these two shameless wretches into pieces.

"Fox!" Feng Ke'er was also furious, but since they were under someone else's eaves, they absolutely must not yield to a momentary impulse.

"Master, rest assured. Such people are not worthy of me lowering myself to their level." As he spoke, Hu Li had already reached the two envoys.

Keeping his head slightly lowered, he cupped his hands in a salute: "Hu Li greets the two spirit envoys." The senior demon immortals had said that in the Spirit Realm, such people served the Alliance, and outside, they represented the Alliance. Therefore, people respectfully addressed them as Spirit Envoys.

The two "spirit envoys" exchanged a quick glance, and both instantly altered their expressions. This time, the second green-robed woman spoke up: "Your name is Hu Li?" She actually didn't bother putting on airs or speaking in official jargon!

Hu Li nodded: "This humble one."

A flash of golden light crossed the first woman's hand, revealing a bamboo slip. She unfolded it right before him and quickly scanned through it at ten lines a glance. Soon, she let out a soft exclamation: "Is this him?"

The second woman leaned over and read aloud: "Nine-tailed silver fox, water attribute..." Before she finished reading, she raised her eyelids and sized him up from head to toe, her face practically plastered with visible question marks.

"It doesn't write the name of his master on it. There are plenty of people surnamed Hu in the lower realm, maybe it's just a coincidence..." The first woman finished reading and whispered conspiratorially.

The second woman gave her another imperceptible nudge and asked with a ingratiating smile, "Hu Li, how many years has it been since you pledged your loyalty to a master?"

Oof, this question... held profound implications! Feng Ke'er chimed in with a warning first: "Fox, just tell them it's been over five hundred years!" She had figured out why these two suddenly changed their attitudes—it must be because of the surname "Hu." Perhaps, by a lucky coincidence, there was a powerful cultivation family bearing the surname Hu in the Spirit Realm. As the saying goes, love me, love my dog; beat the dog, look at the master. The two wretches suspected Hu Li was a predestined guardian beast taken in by the Hu family, and thus dared not offend him rashly.

Hu Li caught her drift and replied, "It's been over five hundred years."

The first woman let out a soft "Oh," clearly feeling quite unwilling.

"Hu Li, you are the first ascending cultivator to report this time. Congratulations, congratulations." The first woman made a gesture of invitation, "Please go to the Reception Department to register."

Damn it, after all that fuss, these two wretches were just front-desk clerks responsible for verifying identities! Feng Ke'er pounded the floor in frustration.

"Many thanks, spirit envoys." Hu Li cupped his hands in return and gracefully departed. Since he was borrowing a tiger's prestige, he had to put on the airs of carrying the banner himself.

Before he had walked even a zhang away, the first woman could no longer resist whispering complaints: "Tough luck. After so long, only one popped up, but he already belongs to someone else. Didn't get a single drop of profit..."

However, the second woman let out an "Oh?" and asked, "You say the passage has been closed for a full five hundred years, so how many people in the lower realm must have ascended together? Why did the two of us wait here for so long only to catch a single nine-tailed silver fox?"

"Now that you mention it, this matter really is quite strange..."

Inspector Yuan Fang, what is your take on this... Feng Ke'er's trace of spiritual sense poked the fox within the sea of consciousness.

As a bonded guardian beast, that shred of tacit understanding was still there. Hu Li clenched his fist and communicated via spiritual sense: "Master, thinking back now, my tribulation clouds must have inexplicably dissipated." Damn it, without tribulation clouds, how was he supposed to get rid of the phantom shadow of demon essence in his pellet sea! Who did this?

"And that legendary heavenly tribulation—didn't even see a ghost of it!" Feng Ke'er rolled her eyes. It wasn't that she wanted to suffer or hoped to be struck into a charcoal stick by fierce lightning, but this matter truly... no matter how one looked at it, there was something deeply suspicious about it.

After walking less than three hundred meters, a memorial archway built of white jade appeared ahead. The three golden characters "Southern Heavenly Gate" in the center gleamed brilliantly amidst a sea of clouds, nearly blinding someone's titanium-alloy super eyes.

Holy crap, the Southern Heavenly Gate is right here! And there were zero legendary silver-armored guards holding halberds at the entrance! Feng Ke'er massaged her forehead.

Beneath the massive archway, only a long red low table was placed. On the upper right corner of the low table stood a small white wooden placard bearing eight red seal-script characters that read: "Temporary Registration Office of the Reception Department." A black gauze hat, identical in style to those worn by the two women earlier, was carelessly slapped across his face, and a man in red robes was slumped over the table, dozing off.

No way, the people at the registration office were idle to this degree? The master and servant nearly dropped their jaws in shock.

Hu Li walked over and gently nudged the red-robed man: "Excuse me..."

"Who is it?" The red-robed man jolted awake, sending his black gauze hat flying and rolling far away.

Hu Li kindly went after it, retrieved it for him, and handed it back with both hands.

The red-robed man had already assumed a pretentious posture, sitting upright on the straw mat behind the low table. As he took back the hat and put it on, he raised his head to size him up: "Who are you?"

The red-robed man's cultivation was merely at the first stage of Nascent Soul. Hu Li's cultivation was vastly superior to his, so it was normal that he couldn't discern Hu Li's background.

Hu Li cupped his hands neither servile nor overbearing and replied, "This humble one surnamed Hu. Greetings, Spirit Envoy."

The red-robed man's gaze also lingered briefly on the green lotus imprint at his glabella: "Are you a demon immortal who just ascended?" Similarly, this fellow stopped using official jargon as well.

Hu Li nodded: "Indeed."

"Surnamed Hu?" The red-robed man pointed in surprise at his own unblemished glabella, "Of the Hu family?" What he actually meant to ask was: Are you the Hu family's bonded guardian beast?

Hu Li the corners of his mouth twitched into a smile and remained silent. He truly wasn't someone who took lying as a way of life.

His eyes brimming with envy, the red-robed man drew a palm-sized jade slip from his embrace, placed it flat on the long table, and said, "Please press your thumb onto the jade slip and channel your spiritual power into it with all your might."

Hu Li bowed and complied. Senior demon immortals had also told him about this procedure. During the ascension registration, the reception envoy would conduct a simple re-test of cultivation.

He wondered if failing to undergo the heavenly tribulation would affect the cultivation test. He always felt his cultivation lacked legitimate standing and felt quite apprehensive inside.

At this moment, Feng Ke'er prompted him through spiritual sense: "Fox, just use half of your spiritual power." She knew the power of the first layer of the Heart-Cleansing Incantation. Hu Li had practiced it for nearly half a year, and his spiritual power and divine sense far surpassed demon immortals of the same tier. She knew even better that in the cultivation world, without top-tier strength, one could only tuck in their tail and keep a low profile. Yet now, Hu Li had high-profile impostured himself as the Hu family's bonded guardian beast. If he displayed strength higher than his peers, once word got out, how could the Hu family fail to come looking for him?

Actually, Hu Li was thinking the exact same thing. A falsehood could never become truth; he had no desire to become entangled with powerful cultivation clans.

The moment he infused his spiritual power, the jade slip began to emit a dazzling white light starting from where his thumb touched it. In the blink of an eye, one-third of the jade slip turned transparent.

"That's right, it's the first stage of the seventh tier," the red-robed man nodded, "That's enough." In his heart, however, he muttered: A demon immortal is a demon immortal after all. So what if he's from a major family? His spiritual power is still just as weak! Those scions of great clans are truly strange. Why would they choose such a low-bloodline, flashy yet useless bonded guardian beast... Thinking up to this point, his brows twitched, and he suddenly raised his head to dart a sideways glance at Hu Li, an expression of sudden realization dawning on his face. The envy in his eyes vanished, replaced by ambiguous probing.

Hu Li turned a blind eye, withdrew his spiritual power, and stood waiting respectfully by the low table.

The red-robed man picked up the jade slip, formed a hand seal, and brushed some runes onto its surface: "Not bad, young masters from major families are already familiar with the ropes, no need for us to say much."

Why did those words sound a bit strange? Feng Ke'er poked the fox's sea of consciousness with her spiritual sense again.

Hu Li did not make a sound. He purposely let his mind wander: Once again, he felt grateful to that senior demon immortal. If he ever had the chance to seek out the senior, he would surely thank him properly in person.

When the red-robed man finished drawing the runes, the white light instantly faded. Handing over the jade slip, he said, "This is your identity jade slip, please keep it safe, Young Master Hu."

Hu Li accepted it with both hands and thanked him once more.

The red-robed man drew a bamboo slip from his embrace, unfolded it on the table, and carved the two characters "Hu Li" with a small knife in the blank space at the beginning of the roll. Seeing that Hu Li was still lingering in front of the low table, he raised his head in confusion: "Young Master Hu, you may leave now." Normally, after registration, only human cultivators could leave freely, while demon immortals were escorted into the Reception Department to be chosen by cultivation clans. However, since the person before him already had a master, this step was naturally skipped.

"Many thanks, Spirit Envoy, Hu takes his leave." Hu Li read his thoughts, cast a quick glance toward the Southern Heavenly Gate behind, and fell into a dilemma in his heart—since he was flying the banner of a Hu family pet, how could he possibly pretend not to know the way? Taking a wrong turn anywhere would expose the entire charade.

Yet behind the Southern Heavenly Gate lay a vast expanse of open sea of clouds, and he dared not release his spiritual sense to scout the path. With his eyesight, looking out into the distance, he couldn't even spot the corner of a roof. Feng Ke'er was holed up inside the space ball, unable to do a thing, and for a moment felt equally lost.

This scene, viewed through the eyes of the red-robed man, took on a completely different meaning. With a gossipy lean forward, he asked, "Young Master Hu, didn't your master come to pick you up?"

Hu Li seized the opportunity, lowered his gaze in silence, and played the pitiful role.

Consequently, this demeanor of his further solidified the red-robed man's inner conjecture—the nine-tailed silver fox before him was a bonded guardian beast privately adopted by a young lady of the Hu family who had slipped down to the lower realm.

The red-robed man curled his lips and pointed toward the southeast direction behind the Southern Heavenly Gate: "Young Master Hu, perhaps your master has been waiting for you by the pier over there for quite a while."

The master-and-servant pair, who had been completely in the dark, were both overjoyed.