Alex contacted the clone Alex and Emily, asking them how they were doing. The husband and wife had nothing else to do, so they simply relaxed in the demon realm.
"Alex!" the other Alex spoke. "How have you been? Where are you guys now?"
"In the White Tigerās Palace in the Land of the Blessed Sun. We just met Bai Jingshen and the rest. Iāll bring you guys out when Iām done resting."
"Oh! Weāre there?" the clone asked in surprise. "I never imagined we would be going there so soon."
"I didnāt either," Alex said. He talked with the clone for some time before the conversation steered toward their cultivation. As it did, something struck Alex.
"Wait, did either of you eat the fruit?" he asked. There were only 6 fruits missing, and he had consumed two. Adding half for his Master, half for Whisker, 1 for the old man, and 2 for Pearl, that was all the fruits consumed. "You two didnāt eat any, did you?"
"No," the clone Alex said.
"None at all," Emily said as well.
Alex frowned. "Did I just forget about you guys? Where were you two?" he asked.
"Right here," the older Alex said. "And I donāt understand why youāre asking us this, when you were the one that said we shouldnāt be eating the fruit."
Alex paused for a long few seconds. "I did?"
"Yes," Emily answered. "You said it would be bad if we eat the fruits now."
"Why would I say that?" Alex asked. "Did I say anything? Iām sorry, but Iām missing my memories from the past many years. Most of what has happened is lost to me."
The two seemed surprised. "Well, then maybe it makes sense to you, but you said we would have to wait until we can cultivate even further," Emily said.
"Right, something about us needing meridians and spirit roots to make full use of the fruit."
Alexās eyes slowly widened. "Right! I am a genius," he said. "If you eat the fruits now, you canāt eat to improve the roots. But if you wait... oh, that is good. Itās good you did not eat the fruits right away."
The older Alex chuckled. "Iām not sure what is happening, but Iām happy itās worked out."
"Yeah," Alex said. "Iāll talk to you guys later. I have some more things to deal with. Iāll call you out in a few days."
He left the two and finally switched his focus to what he had come here for.
The Playground.
Or more importantly, the people now living inside the Playground.
Alex frowned as his senses approached the Playground and sensed not just the people he had sensed living inside peacefully but also the beasts.
Back when the yellow fog in his Soul Space had destroyed part of the 5th mountain, the World Tree had taken the chance to grow beyond the 6th mountain and had made the place inhospitable to the beasts.
As a result, the excess beasts had been taken to the Playground. And now, the hundreds of people that were taken away from the Void were in the Playground as well.
"Playground, how is everything?" Alex asked as he approached.
"Master, everything is fine," the Playground said.
"Are the beasts and people being a burden?" he asked.
"Umm..." the Playground paused for a moment. "Yes, they are, Master. I was not made to house people inside me. I am a place to test the ones from the younger generation. Could you do something about it?"
Alex frowned. "It might take some time," he said. "I canāt take the people out right now, but since Iām in a Beast realm now, I can probably find some place for these beasts to live at. Itāll take a while longer, though. So youāll have to hold on."
"Thatās fine, Master. Itās only an inconvenience. I can keep going if you need me to."
"Donāt worry, I wonāt make you keep going forever," Alex said. "Can you contact the leader of this tribe and tell them to come out? I need to talk with them."
"Okay, Master."
A minute later, an old man with grayed hair and a wrinkled face walked out. "Senior?" the man called out. "I heard you wished to talk with us."
Alex sensed the old manās cultivation base, which was just barely in the Immortal realm. The man had become an Immortal a long time ago, but had failed to move on beyond that.
"What is your name?" Alex asked.
"Senior?" the man asked. "It is me, Dai Zhufen. Did you forget this old manās face, senior?"
Alex frowned. "Weāve talked before?" he asked.
"Yes," the old man said. "Or... are you not the one I talked to before?"
Alex sighed. "I am, but youāll have to consider me someone new. Some things have happened and Iāve lost some of my memories, so Iāll need you to tell me everything you told me the last time we talked."
"Everything, senior?" the old man asked.
"Everything," Alex said. "To start with, why donāt you tell me about the book? How did it come to be with your tribe? And why you were in the Void?"
"I did not know about the book at all, senior," the man said. "My father told me I needed to keep whatever it was inside of the hut safe, but he never told me what it was. And I believe he didnāt know either."
"What we knew was that long ago, a healer had come by our tribe when we were plagued with the worst diseases ever seen. The healer had then left something for us to guard for as long as we could."
Alex frowned. "And that was this book?" he asked.
"That appears to be the case," the old man said.
"Then how come you were in the Void?" Alex asked. "What happened to you all?"
"Someone came, demanding the treasure, senior," the old man said. "We refused at first, and when it became impossible, we lured him to the Voidgate. But things turned out not as we expected. The attacker survived, while we were all thrown into the Void instead."