Inside a hut located above the clouds.
Jiu Shen slowly opened his eyes. He turned to the side and saw Theia sleeping beside him. He gently smiled and kissed her forehead before he sat up.
“When are we going back?” He heard a tired voice from behind him.
Jiu Shen sighed and shook his head. “We won’t be going there yet. The Heavenly Sword Tower isn’t ready for now. Maybe we should start teaching them about the Primordial God Realm and the realms after the Void God Realm. This way, they won’t be too shocked if we ascend to that place.” He said after a moment of thinking. Since the creation of the Heavenly Sword Tower, the disciples were given the best cultivation techniques and sufficient resources. However, they were yet to learn about the Primordial God Realm!
Theia nodded her head seriously. It looks like there was only a little bit of time left until they go back to that place. “I think Sister Hestia would be the perfect person to teach them about this. She knows a lot about the Primordial God Realm, so she should be fine.”
Jiu Shen agreed with her. He was too lazy to teach the disciples about the Primordial God Realm, so he might as well pass this job to Hestia. “Alright. You can tell her about this. I’ll go to the wine store to check things.”
Jiu Shen left the hut and flew towards the lotus building.
There were many people outside the lotus building. Jiu Shen even saw some humans conversing with demons.
Seeing this, Jiu Shen smiled as he descended in front of the gates.
“Look! Isn’t that Sect Master Jiu Shen?!”
“Yes, that’s him!”
When they spotted Jiu Shen, everyone scrambled just to get a clearer look at him. However, no one dared to move close to him in fear of offending this individual.
“Welcome back, Sect Master!” A demon girl with long red hair greeted him respectfully. She was holding a watering can in her left hand and a hoe in her right hand. This was Demon Empress Ganda, the third official gardener of the lotus building. She was also now an Elder of the Heavenly Sword Tower!
It seems like this little girl is doing her job well. Should I give her a raise? “I just came here to take a look. How’s everyone doing?”
Demon Empress Ganda smiled as she replied. “The store’s sales have increased by twenty percent this month. I’ll bring you inside, Sect Master.”
The Demon Empress brought Jiu Shen inside and they stumbled upon Balmond and Yue Bo who were busy watering the plants in the garden.
“Sect Master!”
Jiu Shen waved his hand at the two. “Don’t mind me. Continue what you’re doing.”
“Yes, Sect Master!” The two saluted and returned to their task.
Ganda brought Jiu Shen inside the store. The first floor was packed with people. Everyone was chattering with smiles on their faces.
Jiu Shen could identify most of the people here since they were regulars. He was more surprised with the new faces. “Since when did we have elven customers? If I remember correctly, only Leaf was our elven customer.”
Ganda chuckled and slowly recounted the details. “Sect Master, while you were in seclusion, that guy Leaf came back with a group of elves with him. Starting then, more and more elves began visiting our store. The Elf King would even come here from time to time.”
Jiu Shen felt quite interested when he heard her words. Elves were talented creatures blessed by the heavens. It would be great if he could recruit some of them to the sword tower. However, these elves were proud beings and they would never yield to someone regardless of their strength.
“Ganda, were there any elves who joined the past assessments of the sword tower?” Jiu Shen asked. He just came out of seclusion and he was yet to check the sword tower.
Ganda thought for a moment before she started shaking her head. “From what I know, the ones who took part in our assessments are mostly demons, beastmen, and humans. I haven’t heard of any elf who joined our assessments. However, I did hear that Leaf came during the first assessment, but he didn’t sign up for it.”
“You mean he only spectated, but he didn’t join?” Jiu Shen was confused, but he soon had a guess.
That little guy Leaf must have wanted to join the Heavenly Sword Tower, but something or someone was preventing him. It looks like he needed to visit the den of the elves this time.
Thinking about this, Jiu Shen smiled. “Ganda, follow me to the Elf Kingdom. I’d like to talk with this Elf King.”
Ganda was surprised, but she still nodded her head. “Yes, Sect Master. Do you want me to prepare anything for the journey?”
“No need. I’ll just go there for a chat, so why prepare anything? Let’s go.” Jiu Shen chuckled.
‘I doubt that… Don’t tell me you also want that fellow to become your gardener?’ Ganda thought to herself. However, she was happy that Jiu Shen was bringing her since she wanted to see how that arrogant Elf King would end up under Jiu Shen’s hands. Just the thought of it made her smile wickedly.
***
Far from the Great Demon Empire, there was a huge forest inhabited by savage beasts and other forest creatures, but there was a large patch of this forest that was under the rule of the elves. This place was the Elf Kingdom!
Thousands of treehouses were built on the branches of large towering trees. Elven kids playing with magic can be seen all around this area and there were elven guards secretly protecting the place.
Inside the largest treehouse at the center of this kingdom, a handsome man with pointed ears and long green hair suddenly opened his eyes. He frowned as he peered into the distance.
“Two people are coming. One mid stage Void God Realm expert, while the other is… eh? I can’t sense his level….” He muttered in surprise.
