I Can See Health Bars in Real Life

It was probably like how, over the past few years, some things had happened on Penglai Island that she’d heard about. Even though the man in front of her had once displayed overwhelming, unquestionable Power, there were always people who refused to believe it and tried to use some less-than-decent methods to get the outcome they wanted.

"Yeah, after this we should think of a way to pull the weeds up by the roots, if you want to be rid of future trouble once and for all..." Gu Mo blinked and said something that sounded pretty cold-blooded.

— Huh?

Yakumo Zi, who had been quietly listening at the side, looked over at him in surprise when she heard that, as if she were getting to know him all over again.

And the Demon Hunter Girl sitting across from him actually started thinking it over seriously as well, then nodded hard and let out a long breath. "Let’s do it that way!"

Hiri really did think it through very carefully, and in the end could only helplessly conclude that this was probably what it would take to completely settle the problem.

After all, those Elves weren’t exactly the kind of temperament you could reform through compassion, and even when they still possessed the ability to cross between worlds, they had already been warlike conquerors—ruling every new world they reached, slaughtering the natives... In a lot of fairy tales, Unicorns and Elves were always good partners, but in reality—

Even Unicorns loathed those Elves to the extreme, since they too had once been one of the native races that suffered mass slaughter in some world.

And even after losing their full world-crossing ability, those lunatics still doggedly roamed other worlds in ghostly form, kidnapping people, massacring locals, frantically searching for every possible clue and lead... Eventually they became known for portents of misfortune, death, and war—what people called the Wild Hunt.

The reason they hunted Hiri so relentlessly was because she was the last full heir of the Ancient Blood, and they wanted to take that Power back.

So instead of hoping to reform this bunch of war-mad lunatics with virtue and great love, it was better to be a bit more thorough—

Use their own methods on them, and just carry out a genocide against their race...

"Emmmmm..."

Watching the two of them reach an agreement so quickly, the Demon Sage raised a fan to cover half her face, feeling that she’d just learned something new about a certain someone. This man kept saying he had the heart of a Bodhisattva and couldn’t stand the sight of blood, and his usual behavior wasn’t all that ruthless either, so she’d actually believed him.

"Alright, close the gate now..."

Gu Mo split off a strand of Spiritual Power and projected it into the world beyond the Teleportation Gate, quickly creating a Clone of himself, then said calmly to the Demon Hunter Girl.

Closing her eyes very carefully to sense things, Hiri confirmed that this time the world on the other side had a clear lock-on, and that he could enter and exit it precisely. Only then did she let out a long breath and shut down the Teleportation Gate she’d been maintaining this whole time, feeling a difficult-to-describe sense of relief.

"Now... let’s head back to Penglai Island first."

Gu Mo stood up, pondered for a moment, and made his decision.

"Penglai Island... sure, I’ve been wanting to see it myself." The Monster Maiden spoke up with keen interest. She was plenty curious about this legendary Immortal Island. "In our world, the Penglai legends are the oldest of the old."

"This one’s probably not that amazing, but when I have time I’m planning to give it a bit of a makeover..."

Gu Mo shook his head. Penglai Island was indeed an Immortal Sacred Land, but compared to the level of those places in the Fantasy Land world’s legends, where gods and Immortals trace their origins, it was still a long way off...

Come to think of it, back then even Kaguya had suspected that he might be connected to that primordial legendary origin-land of gods and Immortals or something like that.

He stood up and gently put away that Protective Talisman which didn’t seem all that powerful into his inventory. The Time Gemstone he had just taken out now lay between his fingers, faintly emitting a soft emerald glow, brimming with boundless, immense Energy.

...

...

Penglai Island.

A secluded paradise, just like always, seemingly without many changes.

After some adjustments, the Time Barrier no longer had such an outrageous Effect as before, and it was precisely for this reason that the secular governments finally had a bit of room to maneuver. Otherwise, a fifty-times Time Flow Speed was enough to drive anyone mad and leave them utterly helpless.

People sent here for a year would find that fifty years had passed in the outside world...

Right now the situation was that the Immortals on the island had absolutely zero interest in signing any sort of agreement with the various governments, but they also didn’t oppose some normal actions on their part, allowing them to gain some benefits within the rules. As long as everyone played by the book, there’d be no problem.

"It’s a nice place..."

After entering Penglai Island and taking a quick tour of the scenery, the Monster Maiden nodded, then hesitated a little and said, "It’s just that... it seems a bit too quiet?"

She noticed that only by the shore of that perfectly smooth, mirror-like lake in the island’s interior was there a human village, with some signs of life in the vicinity, while the rest of the island was nothing but pristine natural beauty. At first glance it looked a bit like the Fantasy Land, yet it completely lacked that noisy, boisterous atmosphere.

"Have a little confidence—it’s not ’seems like’... It’s always been this quiet."

Gu Mo nodded, confirming that this really was how things were here.

He took the two of them again and instantly moved to the island’s inland heartland, which had once been a dormant volcanic crater and the site of the Clanging Cauldron.

In the past, the mountain had housed a massive ruin and the foundations of a stone great hall; the carvings on the enormous rock walls and the ancient engraved pillars had all stood as proof that a Divine Domain Immortal Palace had once loomed over this island. But because of the sheer passage of time, only some broken walls and scattered remains were left of the ruins, along with one gigantic Pill Furnace.

Now all of that had been cleared away, and a cluster of pleasant, tranquil buildings had been erected on the mountain.

"You usually live here?"

Yakumo Zi studied the area before her with some thoughtfulness, sensing a trace of serene, beautiful atmosphere and a few other things as well. Her brows slowly arched upward.

"If I’m staying on Penglai Island, I usually rest here..." Gu Mo laughed readily. This really was his residence on the island and, in the eyes of many here, the dwelling of an Immortal. "They usually like to come back here too."

They...

The golden-haired Monster Maiden suddenly felt a bit sulky. He said it that calmly.

She had just sensed a few distinct auras. They were very faint, but had already become part of the ambient atmosphere of this area. Some faint Yuuka-like floral fragrance, some faint medicinal scent—these didn’t come from the same person, but from several different people...

Wait, just going by the count, that’s more than three already...

As she distinguished those auras, the Demon Sage suddenly realized something rather noteworthy.

"Master? You’re finally back. I knew you’d be all recovered around this time... Hehe, so I came back to the real world early to wait for you, just to give you a special surprise!"

—And at that moment, a voice rang out, sounding extremely delighted.