Backed by an unknown power, the sudden attack by the shadow army previously had caught not only Wang Ling but practically everyone off guard. The strangest thing for Wang Ling was that he hadn’t felt any sense of foreboding before it happened – even his eyelid hadn’t twitched.

　　Wang Ling vaguely felt that there was something unusual about it.

　　In any case, he had already planned to get to the bottom of the matter and couldn’t afford to put it off any longer.

　　Borrowing Mother Juan’s map, Wang Ming and Guo Ping divided the work between them and touched up their own map of the Palace of Mirrors before projecting it in the air as a holographic image. The Five Great Altars were located in five different positions on the map: connecting them together created a perfect circle.

　　Wang Ming examined the map carefully and began to mark it. It had to be said that Wang Ming was quite sharp. Looking at the marks, everyone’s eyes instantly lit up.

　　“This is…”

　　“These are the locations of all the dream houses in the Palace of Mirrors. Connecting them as points, and combining them with the Five Great Altars on the outside… Don’t you think this looks like an ancient magic array?” As he explained, Wang Ming started trying to connect the points together in different configurations.

　　“Mm… I got it.” Guo Ping looked shaken. Connecting some of the dream houses together, he said decisively, “If the points here, here and here are connected, don’t you think it looks very similar to the characters above the entrance to the Palace of Mirrors? While it doesn’t completely explain everything, this indeed proves that Teacher Wang’s guess is correct.”

　　“What a crazy bunch…” Wang Ming tsked.

　　Such an outrageous and crazy idea of locking up the entire world in an array was ample proof of how powerful the person behind the scenes was.

　　The most direct thing they could do now was to take back the altars in the Palace of Mirrors that had been seized by the shadow army.

　　The world of the Palace of Mirrors was a complete opposite of the real world outside, but the Five Great Altars were unique to the Palace of Mirrors. In Wang Ling’s world, the five elemental laws were abstract – they were like cell molecules that had broken down and dissolved into spiritual qi that could be drawn upon.

　　In the Palace of Mirrors, however, the five elemental laws were just the opposite: the existence of the Five Great Altars here had led to the condensation of the five elements into substantial matter.

　　Guided by Mother Juan, Wang Ling and the others set out on Dog Two, whose body had grown to a massive size, and it ran very fast.

　　Sitting on Dog Two, they started to learn more about this world from Mother Juan on the way.

　　Dog Two didn’t dislike being used as a mount. On the contrary, it enjoyed the feeling of Little Master Ling sitting on it…

　　In the Wang family’s small villa, just being stroked by its little master was usually already an extravagance. For Dog Two, to be used as a mount was a sign of its master’s trust and an exceptional honor.

　　Dog Two carried Wang Ling and the others all the way south. Their current destination was the Altar of Water in the south.

　　During the journey, Dog Two did its best not to shake so that Wang Ling had a comfortable ride. The only fly in the ointment was that Wang Ling had yet to give it a matching saddle and reins, which would have made it look even cooler.

　　“I’ll go back to the demon world later and have my friend Little Chick give me two chicken feathers. A seat made from Little Chick’s feathers is soft and cosy, and free of static,” Dog Two abruptly said as it ran.

　　Guo Ping hadn’t known much about Dog Two at first.

　　But since he was now one of them, Wang Ming gave Guo Ping a rundown of events on their journey. Guo Ping was deeply shaken when he learned of Dog Two’s real identity.

　　Who would have thought that the world-shaking Sky-Swallowing Toad demon king, who had caused all of Huaxiu’s immortal mobile troops to be collectively dispatched six years ago, would actually decline to this extent…

　　“A grand demon king, actually reduced to a mount.” Guo Ping sighed.

　　“That’s wrong, Professor Guo, what ‘reduced to a mount’? I’m perfectly happy to be a mount! There’s a big difference between ‘being reduced to’ and ‘being willing,’ okay?! ‘Being reduced to’ is to degrade yourself, but ‘being willing’ isn’t the same! ‘Being willing’ is an honor! Professor Guo should also feel honored to sit on my back. If it wasn’t for Little Master Ling’s sake, do you think you would be able to?”

　　“…” Guo Ping pursed his lips, and in the end realized he was unable to respond.

　　“So you’re saying that Little Chick is also a demon king? Why haven’t I heard you mention this before, after the last time you went back to the demon world?” Wang Ming asked.

　　“When I returned to the demon world back then, Little Chick actually helped me a lot in secret. But Little Chick has always been very timid and doesn’t dare reveal itself so easily. Recently in particular, ‘chicken, you’re too beautiful’ guichu videos ¹ have started appearing in the real world, which Little Chick finds very humiliating. I heard that Little Chick’s Chicken King clan almost went into hiding a while ago.”

　　“Is Little Chick male or female…”

　　“Male, but he doesn’t have a crest.”

　　“Why’s that?”

　　“Early on, Little Chick was playing mahjong with some people… It was playing against First Generation Demon Saint, but Little Chick this fellow wasn’t smart. First Generation Demon Saint just needed the chicken tile to win, but Little Chick stubbornly refused to throw it out. Later, First Generation Demon Saint grabbed its crest and cut it off, and because of this incident, also cracked down on gambling in the demon world. Forget ‘a small wager pleases the soul, a large wager hurts the body’– a bet is still a bet: those who win want to continue winning, those who lose want to change their luck. There’s no end to it.”

　　“What a profound lesson…”

　　“That’s not it!” Dog Two said. “After Little Chick was punished back then, a saying caught on in the demon world: don’t bet on cards, or your crown will fall ¹ .”

　　Everyone: “…”

　　The truth was that Guo Ping had to admit that Wang Ling had a kind of magic that couldn’t be clearly explained with words.

　　He had realized it after his first encounter with Wang Ling.

　　Wang Ling was very aloof and taciturn.

　　But there was something mystical about him which people wanted to get close to and understand.

　　Thinking this, Guo Ping darted a look at Wang Ling, who didn’t seem the least bit nervous. Throughout the journey, while they were engaged in heated discussion on this side, Wang Ling acted as if it was nothing.

　　Was he really not nervous about what was happening, or did he have some trick up his sleeve?

　　Guo Ping didn’t know.

　　But he was now even more curious about Wang Ling.