Chapter 58: The Demon Realm – I | West 1

Sang Chu sat down where she was, closed her eyes to rest, and finally realized that the wood energy in her body had been sucked away—yet she hadn’t noticed a thing!

She gave a helpless, bitter laugh. “Turning that place into a transit point, were you planning for anyone to leave alive?”

Fortunately, she’d collected plenty of wood cores to replenish her energy, and she wasn’t some ordinary wood-type ability user. Otherwise, with just one drain, she might not recover even after three to five years.

Tu You: [What happened?]

Sang Chu replied, still panting: [My wood energy was drained, but I didn’t feel a thing. It wasn’t until I left Butterfly Valley that the illusion slowly faded. No wonder Tao Yao told me to rest well in the demon realm, saying demons are all tricky—she was right.]

Tu You: [I told you you’re too naive, but you wouldn’t listen. So what now?]

Sang Chu: [West 1, you seem more mobile. Why don’t you use the jade stones to find out what counts as currency in the demon realm and see if you can get your hands on some demon pearls? I’ll find somewhere with fewer people to absorb wood cores and recover my energy.]

Tu You replied with a nod: [Alright, but be careful.]

[Got it.]

She had to be careful. The demons in Butterfly Valley had already taught her a lesson. Some demons were so skilled at illusions and energy draining that even humans would have a hard time defending against them.

She’d originally been wary of the Ice Butterfly, since it looked so cold and dangerous, but she never imagined that the seemingly weak and gentle Withered Butterfly was the real threat—the one who could drain her wood energy without her noticing, and trap her in an illusion.

If she hadn’t had enough wood energy on her, the demons of Butterfly Valley would have drained her dry, and she’d be dead—just another pile of bones.

In the end, she just wasn’t strong enough.

If the Withered Butterfly had been truly malicious, she wouldn’t have survived even once, let alone a hundred times.

Sang Chu let out a small sigh, found a relatively secluded spot in the demon market, took out a wood core, and began absorbing it.

Meanwhile, Tu You had found a shop selling demon pearls.

The shop assistant was also a rabbit, but in half-demon form. She noticed Tu You’s big ears twitching non-stop and looked at him with curiosity.

“This rabbit demon is so strange. Why are your ears moving like that?”

The red-eyed snow rabbit stared at Tu You with big, round eyes, as if trying to figure out what kind of breed he was.

Tu You snorted arrogantly. “What do you know? I’m from the Jade Rabbit clan. Do you sell demon pearls here?”

Jade Rabbit?

The red-eyed snow rabbit’s ears perked up in confusion. She’d never heard of a Jade Rabbit clan in the demon realm, but looking at him, he did seem to fit the part.

“Of course we sell demon pearls here, but anything can be traded for demon pearls. Demon pearls are the currency of our demon realm. What do you want to exchange?”

“This!”

Tu You took out three fingernail-sized jade stones. The red-eyed snow rabbit’s eyes widened. “This, this… this is jade stone, right?!”

“At least you have a good eye. Hurry up, I want to shop in the demon market!”

Tu You said impatiently. The red-eyed snow rabbit quickly replied, “Yes, yes, please wait a moment, I’ll go get the manager.”

“Hurry up!”

Tu You hopped onto a stool and sat down. After the red-eyed snow rabbit put away the jade stones, she went to the back to find the manager.

A big black bear, holding a feather fan, was dozing off, but his eyes lit up when he saw the jade stones. “How much should we give the rabbit for these demon pearls?”

The black bear hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath and said, “Just give him a fair amount. The demon lord has ordered that merchants not cheat customers lately. Just bear with it and give him what he deserves!”

The red-eyed snow rabbit asked, “Boss, have they caught the Sky Wolf demon yet?”

“How could it be that fast? If the demon realm could deal with the Sky Wolf demon, why would the demon lord go to the human realm to seek help from the exorcists? No one knows where that Sky Wolf demon is hiding—even the demon lord can’t do anything about him. Enough talk, just give the rabbit his demon pearls. The more I look at those jade stones, the more it pains me.”

Seeing how much the black bear was pained by the transaction, the red-eyed snow rabbit found it amusing, but didn’t dare say more, afraid of being scolded.

She quickly brought out the goods and handed Tu You a demon pearl. “Here you go, this is your demon pearl. Please keep it safe.”

“Only one?!”

That’s way too little!

It seemed that demon pearls were extremely valuable in the demon realm.

The red-eyed snow rabbit said, “This is the standard rate.”

Of course, she knew that if the big snow rabbit really wanted to, he could just steal the pearls after leaving.

But Tu You hadn’t expected to get only one demon pearl. The difference compared to trading in the space mall was huge.

He took the demon pearl, feeling a bit reluctant.

When Sang Chu saw him return, she guessed what had happened—the demon pearl haul was just too small.

“These demon pearls are the essence of a demon’s life. One demon pearl is one demon’s life. How many do you expect to get?”

“At least… at least three or five!”

Tu You grumbled, holding up his furry paw. Sang Chu couldn’t help but laugh and put his paw down. “Alright, this is fine. By the way, what’s this about the Sky Wolf demon?”

“I don’t know, I just overheard it. The big black bear didn’t say much, so I’m not sure about the details. But you have the Sky Order, so I can check it out later. If the Sky Wolf demon has anything good, it’ll be mine.”

Sang Chu chuckled. “If we’re not careful, I’ll end up as his dinner instead. Come on, let’s check out the demon market first. We can talk about the rest later.”

They had a year—might as well buy some supplies.

She had a lot of jade stones, but didn’t dare take them all out at once, afraid of attracting attention.

For now, she could only hope these scattered jade stones wouldn’t draw unwanted eyes.

The Demon Market

The entire street was packed with all kinds of demons.

There were those selling human pearls,

Those selling rare pearls and shells,

Those selling fire,

Those selling wood plants and herbs, and so on…

Everywhere she looked, there were all sorts of strange creatures hawking all kinds of oddities.

“Elemental earth! Rare seven-colored elemental earth! Don’t miss out as you pass by!”

“Crystal beads! The favorite of the princess of the Water Tribe! Crystal beads for sale, come take a look!”

Amidst the hubbub, a particular voice caught Sang Chu’s attention.

She followed the sound and saw a huge tiger wreathed in flames. Unlike the other demons, he hadn’t taken on a human form. Instead, he squatted on the ground, licking his front paw, looking both majestic and a little comical."

"Here is a fluent, natural English translation of your text:

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**Chapter 59: The Demon Realm – I | West 2**

Sang Chu walked over, looking at the path ahead and called out, “Big Brother Tiger, how do you sell your earth?”

The big tiger glanced at the demonized Sang Chu, then at her young face, and frowned slightly. “Go, go, go! You little brat, what do you want earth for? If you want it, get your elders to come. What can a little kid like you afford?”

Beside him, a fire fox’s eyes glimmered slyly. He quickly said, “What are you saying, you big oaf? Little sister, don’t mind him. I have earth too. Come, take a look at mine.”

He enthusiastically pulled Sang Chu over to his stall, where everything on display looked quite good at first glance.

Each item was polished and gleaming, clearly well cared for.

Unlike the tiger, who just piled his earth up for everyone to see, the fox kept his earth in little beads.

“Little sister, these are earth beads. Each one contains a portion of earth inside. When you need it, just take it out and use it. Here, have a look.”

Sang Chu took a bead in her hand. As the vines on her fingers reached inside, she immediately sensed the earth within. However, compared to the tiger’s earth, this one didn’t seem quite as good.

But, she wasn’t really interested in the earth anyway...

“Big Brother Fox, so how do you sell your earth?”

“One demon core per bead. Look, everything here is just one demon core each—very cheap!”

The big tiger on the side raised his eyebrows and, after a long pause, finally muttered, “Cheap isn’t always good!”

The fire fox glared at him. “Yours isn’t good either! What’s wrong with the little sister buying from me? My stuff might not be the best, but it’s definitely the best value for the price!”

Sang Chu asked, “Big Brother Fox, I’ll take three earth beads. What are these other things?”

She pointed at a bottle, and the fox, seeing she wasn’t affected by his demonic aura, instantly became more interested.

“Little sister, let me tell you, this is a pill I got from the cultivation world called the Shape-Shifting Pill. Since you’re in a half-demon form now, just take one and you’ll be able to fully transform into a human and hide your demonic features. And look at this—this is a Skin-Tone Pill, which can change your skin color. This one is a Beauty Pill, all top-quality stuff!”

Sang Chu’s eyes widened in amazement. “That amazing? And all of these are just one demon core each?”

“Of course! Everything here is just one demon core! Take your time, pick whatever you like. I won’t overcharge you!”

“Mm! Mm!”

Sang Chu squatted on the ground like a big fool, picking through the items. She wanted everything that looked shiny and pretty, even the lifeless dried herbs the fox managed to talk her into buying. She ended up with a big pile of odds and ends.

Finally, she turned her attention to a jade token that Rabbit had insisted she buy.

Rabbit said he sensed a strange aura from this token, similar to the feeling of the Space-Time Mall. It was probably something a traveler had dropped after dying in the demon realm, and the demons had picked it up. But items from the Space-Time Mall were bound to their owners in special ways, so others couldn’t use them anyway.

The fox followed Sang Chu’s gaze and saw it was a decent-looking jade token, but to him, it was just an ordinary token.

He picked it up and said, “Little sister, you want this token?”

Sang Chu nodded. “It looks so nice—fresh and elegant. Big Brother Fox, is there anything special about this token?”

Seeing the brightness in Sang Chu’s eyes, the fox’s usual smooth talk suddenly stalled. The big tiger, unable to watch anymore, cut in, “You shameless fox! Have a bit of conscience!”

The fox glared at him, then smiled at Sang Chu. “It’s just an ordinary jade token. I got it from Butterfly Valley. If you like it, I’ll give it to you as a gift!”

Butterfly Valley? Then it’s nothing special—just something from a space-time traveler.

But Sang Chu didn’t show any emotion on her face. She looked a little embarrassed and said, “That’s not right, Big Brother. You’re running a business, I can’t just take it for free. I really like this jade token—it’s beautiful. I’ll give you a demon core for it.”

As she spoke, she was about to pay, but suddenly, someone reached out to snatch the token. “I want this token! How much is it?”

The woman was dressed in a black robe, with a Heaven Order token at her waist, though hers only had a single plum blossom engraved on it. Sang Chu’s token had three, though she didn’t know if that meant anything.

Before the woman could grab it, the fox quickly pulled the token back and looked at her with a half-smile. “Customer, if you want this jade token, it’s one demon core.”

“I don’t have demon cores. I’ll give you money. Name your price!”

The fox replied, “Sorry, I only accept demon cores. If you don’t have any, I’ll have to sell it to this little sister.”

The woman glared at the fox. “Didn’t you just say it was an ordinary token and wanted to give it to that pauper? Why can’t I buy it with money?”

The fox smiled and explained, “I’m giving it to the little sister because she’s bought a lot of good stuff from me. You haven’t bought anything, and now you want to take an ordinary item for free? That’s not right.”

A lackey behind the woman shouted, “Do you know who my young lady is? How dare you talk to her like that!”

“My young lady is the daughter of the City Lord of Tianxia City—a top demon slayer! I’m here on the demon lord’s invitation. Hurry up and pack up the goods and hand them over!”

The fox didn’t care at all. He simply stepped behind Sang Chu, took her hand, and put the jade token on her wrist.

“Little sister, this jade token is one demon core. Don’t forget to pay your big brother.”

Sang Chu hadn’t wanted to cause trouble. She figured it didn’t matter if the woman bought it—she couldn’t use it anyway, and Sang Chu could just steal it back later if she needed to. She hadn’t expected the fox to help her out like this.

She smiled and handed the demon core to the fox. “Big Brother Fox, here’s the demon core. Please take it.”

“Alright! Big brother has plenty more good stuff for you.”

The woman was furious. As the daughter of a city lord, she was used to being treated with respect wherever she went. “How dare you! Give me the item!”

“Yes, miss!”

Her lackey summoned his magic weapon and attacked Sang Chu.

Unexpectedly, the fox immediately shielded Sang Chu behind him, let out a furious roar, and in an instant, his power shook the lackey back.

He flicked his tail, which split into nine fiery tails, and said slowly, “If you want to buy things in the demon market, you’d better show some strength.”

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