Chapter 158 | The Mahayana Cultivator Who Can’t Learn Magic

While Li Yuan was still wondering if there was some sort of hidden agenda behind this that he didn't know about, Setis finally realized that they weren't the only two people in the teahouse.

She turned her head and happened to see Hogg and Napa sitting at the bar counter.

Their eyes met.

Hogg looked relatively composed, though shock was clearly visible in his eyes.

Napa, on the other hand, was frowning deeply, staring in a daze at Setis, who had suddenly appeared in such a manner.

Setis was taken aback, and her expression shifted slightly.

She felt rather self-conscious. Aside from her embarrassing behavior earlier, it was also because this method of entry was incredibly difficult to explain to outsiders. After a brief second of hesitation, she decided to simply ignore it.

She quickly adjusted her posture and nodded to the two of them.

“Good evening, Lord Preceptor, Dean Napa.”

Hogg nodded slowly.

“Miss Setis.”

Napa also snapped out of his daze, his tone still carrying a hint of hesitation.

“Miss Setis... weren't you supposed to be recuperating?”

Setis replied without batting an eye.

“Yes, I'm mostly recovered now.”

She didn't offer any further explanation, turning her gaze back to Li Yuan.

“I'm going to head home first, and I'll be back tomorrow evening.”

Before her voice could even fade, she was already walking toward the door.

Having not been home for three months, she felt an overwhelming urge to return.

Cultivation, crossing the threshold, breathing exercises—all of that could be put on hold for now.

She only wanted to return to the Duke's estate immediately to see her father, mother, and her brother, who, despite being a bit of a chatterbox, was still a decent guy.

Li Yuan watched her jog out of the teahouse. Just as he was about to ask her about the details, she had already pushed open the door and left.

The wooden door swung open and shut, letting out a brief creaking sound before silence returned once more.

Li Yuan withdrew his gaze, and the moment he turned around, he felt two pairs of eyes staring straight at him.

Their expressions were identical, their movements synchronized.

There was confusion mixed with their shock, and within that confusion was a clear implication of: Don't you think you owe us an explanation?

Li Yuan sighed softly. Although he knew he couldn't keep this a secret... explaining it would be somewhat complicated. If possible, it would have been best if they just pretended they hadn't seen anything.

But looking at them now, it was obvious that he had to say something.

Besides, both Hogg and Napa were trustworthy people. If he didn't explain at all, it would only seem even stranger.

Returning behind the bar counter, Li Yuan thought for a moment before speaking.

“Miss Setis's situation is a bit special.”

Hogg and Napa's expressions instantly turned serious, looking like two good students paying close attention in class.

Li Yuan weighed his words and explained in a gentle voice,

“She was severely injured before, and her soul almost detached from her body. I took her to a place where the spiritual qi was more suitable for recuperation, and asked a friend to help stabilize her soul.”

He paused slightly here.

Naturally, he couldn't tell them the whole story about reconstructing her body, the Demon Emperor Body, or Hui's tail.

It wasn't that he was keeping secrets from them, but rather that explaining it would be too much of a hassle, and revealing too much wasn't necessarily a good thing.

So, he continued in a steady tone,

“After her physical condition stabilized, due to some special circumstances, she began to practice the cultivation methods of Kyushu. She has been undergoing basic adaptation for the past three months.”

Hearing this, Hogg's brow twitched slightly, and he opened his mouth as if to speak, but hesitated.

He had already witnessed many of Li Yuan's abilities, so he wasn't completely unfamiliar with Kyushu's cultivation.

Yet even so, hearing that Setis had actually begun to walk that path of cultivation still made a trace of envy rise in his heart.

Needless to say, the same went for Napa.

As a genius who practiced both magic and martial arts, he had always possessed an intense curiosity about new power systems. Had he not known better than to pry, he would have likely started asking for more details.

Hogg fell silent for a moment, then sighed softly.

“Miss Setis is indeed blessed with great fortune.”

Li Yuan nodded.

“Indeed.”

There was no need to be modest about this. To be able to obtain one of Hui's tails would be considered an astronomical stroke of luck even back in Kyushu.

Napa looked toward the door thoughtfully.

“No wonder the Duke's estate has been claiming she was resting quietly.”

Li Yuan didn't deny it.

“Some things are not suitable to be disclosed for the time being. I must ask you two to keep this a secret for me.”

Hogg immediately responded,

“Rest assured, Sir.”

Napa nodded as well.

“I understand.”

Both of them were sensible enough not to press further.

No matter how curious they were, they knew that whatever lay behind that door was not something they could pry into.

Just as the atmosphere in the teahouse began to ease and Li Yuan was about to close the spatial gate, a white figure suddenly emerged.

The white shadow moved incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, it leaped directly onto the bar counter, landing as light as a feather.

Emerging from the gate was a white fox. Hui had currently shrunk her body to the size of an ordinary white fox, perhaps even a bit smaller.

She looked more like a white fox pup that hadn't fully grown yet.

As soon as she landed on the bar counter, she let out a yawn and slowly lay down.

Seeing her, Li Yuan raised an eyebrow slightly.

“Why did you come out too?”

Hui glanced at him, barely bothering to open her eyes. Crossing her front paws and resting her head on them, she replied casually,

“This isn't Kyushu. Why look so surprised?”

Hearing this, Li Yuan understood immediately.

This wasn't Kyushu, and there weren't so many troublesome matters here. Hui naturally didn't need to avoid people like she used to.

He nodded and asked no further questions.

However, Hogg and Napa had fallen into silence once more.

Hogg stared at the white fox on the bar counter, feeling as though his understanding of the world was facing a whole new challenge.

Napa, in particular, was staring at the eight tails behind Hui, his eyes moving in sync with their gentle swaying.

A talking fox, and one with eight tails.

Furthermore, she had clearly just emerged from Li Yuan's mysterious space.

Hogg had originally thought he had built up enough resistance to all the strange things around Li Yuan.

Now, it seemed, he was still far from prepared.

Napa remained silent for a good while before finally asking in a low voice,

“Sir, this is...”

Hui lazily opened her eyelids slightly, showing no intention of paying attention to them.

Li Yuan rubbed his temples, feeling a bit of a headache. It seemed there were too many things he had to explain tonight.

After a brief thought, he introduced her simply:

“Her name is Hui. She's a friend of mine from Kyushu.”

Upon hearing the word 'friend,' Hui's tails flicked slightly, as if she wasn't entirely satisfied with the description, though she was too lazy to speak up.

Li Yuan continued,

“She is also the King of the Demon Race of Kyushu.”

Although Hogg didn't know what that meant, anything associated with the word 'King' was bound to be extraordinary.

Napa didn't have Hogg's habit of rationalizing everything, and simply voiced his inner confusion out of instinct.

“The King of the Demon Race? A ruler who leads the demon race?”

Li Yuan nodded.

“You could say that.”

Only then did Hui raise her head, her golden-yellow slit pupils sweeping over the two of them as she spoke in a flat tone,

“Don't look so uncultured. You're making a fuss over nothing.”

“...”

Hogg let out a soft cough to cover his embarrassment, quickly regaining his composure.

Having gone through so much, his mental fortitude was indeed much stronger than that of ordinary people.

Although a speaking, eight-tailed white fox was shocking, once he factored in that she was Li Yuan's friend, it somehow seemed naturally normal.

Napa, however, took a bit longer to process it.

But as a Legendary Archmage and Hogg's disciple, he quickly adjusted his expression and bowed slightly to Hui.

“Lady Hui.”

Hui glanced at him with satisfaction.

“At least you have some manners.”

Li Yuan's eyelid twitched slightly. Hearing those words come out of Hui's mouth felt incredibly odd.

Afterward, the group chatted briefly for a bit.

Hogg and Napa could probably tell that tonight wasn't a good time to linger. Especially after Hui's appearance, the atmosphere in the teahouse had clearly become much harder to read.