The one who spoke to the young woman in the palace gown was a young man in silver armor. A cold light shot from his bright eyes from beneath his silver helmet.
As he spoke, the other two men and two women remained silent, but their eyes showed their agreement.
Their trip was to find out the truth of the matter, but the other party had been perfunctory in everything. They had returned almost empty-handed.
This was a negotiation where a Mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivator had personally come, yet the other party still appeared lukewarm.
The young woman in the palace gown, addressed as "Martial Uncle Shanggong" by the young man in silver armor, did not turn back, but a very pleasant and melodious voice came from the front.
"They are not being perfunctory; they are in deep trouble. If something hadn't happened to their 'God's Road' that they can't explain, they would have definitely come up with a perfect reason to satisfy me. A heaven and earth anomaly? Hmph, of course it's a heaven and earth anomaly. Even if all their 'Demon Marshals' attacked together, they couldn't cause such a huge commotion. Unless a 'Demon Emperor' came in person, but..."
The young woman in the pale, ink-colored palace gown, with her elegant demeanor, spoke in a softer and softer voice, until at the end, it was as if she were muttering to herself.
But the people behind her were all Golden Core cultivators, and since she didn't deliberately block them out, they all heard her clearly.
"Martial Uncle, then... are we just going to let it go like this?"
The young man in silver armor said hesitantly, and the people behind him also exchanged glances.
Martial Uncle Shanggong had mentioned the other party's so-called "Demon Emperor." They were also core elite disciples of their clan and knew some of the secrets of the Black Demon Clan.
Could it be that a "Black Demon Emperor" still existed in this world?
The laws of heaven and earth would not allow such a terrifying existence to appear; they would directly repel him from this continent.
The "Demon Emperor" was just a legend. After all, it seemed that no one had ever seen a "Demon Emperor," including the young woman in the palace gown in front of them, whose cultivation was already at the Mid-stage Nascent Soul.
'It seems that Martial Uncle Shanggong is just making a helpless guess about this anomaly.'
The few of them thought to themselves at the same time. The young woman in the palace gown seemed to still be lost in thought. After hearing the young man in silver armor's follow-up question, she said softly.
"These are not matters for you to concern yourselves with. What you need to do now is to immediately request more cultivators from the clan to be sent to assist in the defense. Disperse the Demonic Qi at the border with the 'Black Demon Clan,' and be careful to prevent Black Demonic Beasts from taking the opportunity to cross over and slaughter the mortal population due to the spread of Demonic Qi. Also, notify all the large and small sects at the border and have them all contribute manpower and resources to assist in setting up defenses and killing any infiltrating Black Demonic Beasts..."
Although the young woman in the palace gown had a gentle expression, her tone revealed the majesty of a superior. She issued a series of commands.
After hearing this, the five behind her did not dare to say any more and quickly replied in unison. For a time, the Jade Ruyi fell into silence again.
The young woman in the palace gown continued to think to herself.
'What do you all know? Even if their cultivation reaches the 'Demon Emperor' level, they have many great divine abilities that you cannot understand, which allow them to stay in the mortal realm. For example, External Incarnations. As long as the cultivation of this incarnation is below the Void Refining Realm, it can be done. Or cultivating great divine abilities like Divine Will Manifestation, and other incredible things...'
The hierarchy in the cultivation world was strict. Even if you were a core disciple of a great sect, before your realm reached a certain level, at most you would only know the superficial details of some secrets.
It wasn't that they didn't want you to know, but that if you knew, you would either become overly ambitious, which would be extremely detrimental to your own cultivation, or you would be so discouraged that you would lose all confidence. If a cultivator lost their confidence, what awaited them was either an easy death, or an early ascension to repeat the cycle of reincarnation.
Some secrets could even bring about a fatal disaster.
The current situation was the same as when Li Yan and the others heard about Gu Jiuqi's identity; ninety-nine percent of the cultivators couldn't believe it, because it had exceeded their understanding.
'Could it be that a 'Black Demon Emperor' really did make a move on the 'God's Road'? They have always wanted to open the two-realm passage to the Desolate Moon Continent. This is an idea they have wanted to completely realize for a long time. The 'God's Road' is the most important core secret of the Black Demon Clan, and there is more than one two-realm passage inside. It is of the utmost importance to the Black Demon Clan. The intelligence that the clan obtained at a great cost seems to have confirmed the location of one or two barriers. Therefore, it cannot be confirmed that this anomaly is related to the Desolate Moon Continent. The 'God's Road' is heavily fortified, and even the two Grand Elders of the clan cannot investigate the news inside. However, from the speed and scope of the Demonic Qi leakage this time, if there is a problem with the 'God's Road,' then the Black Demon Clan may have mobilized the entire clan to do something. From the current situation, the result is that the Black Demon Clan has suffered heavy losses. This might be the best time to renegotiate with the Black Demon Clan. I must personally return to the sect to report this matter to the several ancestors and request that the clan mobilize all its power to inquire about the situation on the Desolate Moon Continent...'
The young woman in the palace gown's mind raced. As the commander-in-chief guarding the border, the moment she received news yesterday that a large amount of Demonic Qi had appeared at the border between the two races, she had immediately rushed to the Black Demon Clan.
From the various attitudes the Black Demon Clan showed her, and the various signs she observed on their side, it all indicated that this matter had a great impact on them.
The other party seemed to be caught off guard. Now, even these vice-commanders under her felt that there was a problem with the "God's Road," it was just that their considerations were not as deep as her own.
'Also, if I take this opportunity, it is highly possible that I can return to the sect ahead of schedule. The Spirit Qi here is too chaotic. Although there is a Spirit-Gathering Formation in my main camp to gather the Spirit Qi of heaven and earth, and even my own commander's residence has a separate 'Spirit-Gathering Formation' that is always running, it is far from being comparable to the sect's.'
The holy, snow-white Jade Ruyi sped away like a gust of wind or a flash of lightning...
Under the setting sun, Zhao Min looked at the lake in front of her, lost in thought. The sun here was two circles larger than on the Desolate Moon Continent, but at night, there were only stars and no moon, at least she hadn't seen one in the past few nights.
Here, even on a clear day, the sky was gray all day long, and the sun seemed weak, like an old man in his twilight years, lifeless.
In the lake, the setting sun was reflected on its surface, and the reflection appeared even paler and more blurry.
Zhao Min's eyes were fixed on the shimmering ripples in the lake, somewhat entranced.
It was now her third day here. Not only had Li Yan not woken up, but the aura on his body was gradually weakening.
But his physical body, under the nourishment of medicinal pills and Zhao Min's continuous Spirit Power, had already healed by more than sixty percent. This was an extremely abnormal matter.
For two days, Zhao Min had used every pill she could, and she had even used some Gu-insects.
She had taken an unorthodox path to devour the necrotic flesh in Li Yan's body, and even the blocked Spirit Power, but none of this could wake him up.
"It should be that his Divine Soul was really injured..."
After a long time, Zhao Min muttered to herself. She looked at the gray sky for a while, then slowly walked to Li Yan's side and just looked at the sleeping him.
After about the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Zhao Min suddenly made a strange move.
She turned around, her back to Li Yan, and first took out an extremely small Storage Pouch from her bosom.
This Storage Pouch was much smaller than the sachets used by young women. It was kept close to her body, probably for convenience to distinguish it from the other Storage Pouches at her waist, or perhaps because it was more important.
Zhao Min looked at the small Storage Pouch in her hand, her pair of dark, beautiful eyebrows raised slightly, a rare look of hesitation in her eyes.
After biting her lower lip with her snow-white teeth, a look of determination finally appeared in her clear, water-like eyes.
With a flash of Spirit Power on her slender, jade-like finger, a semi-transparent, light red silk thread flashed out from the small Storage Pouch and, in the next moment, was grasped in her hand.
If one didn't look closely, one would think that Zhao Min was holding a piece of nothingness. If not for the faint red layer on it, it would be very difficult to see with the naked eye, even up close.
The light red silk thread was about the thickness of two or three strands of hair twisted together, and about an inch long. It seemed to be a dead object.
Then, Zhao Min's other hand quickly formed a cultivation manual in the air, and a light red rune quickly formed in that hand.
The rune emitted a rich Spirit Qi, giving people a very ethereal feeling. With a flick of Zhao Min's finger, she shot this rune onto the light red silk thread.
The moment the light red rune touched the silk thread, the thread, which had been like a dead object, trembled slightly, and then returned to silence.
At the same time, Zhao Min began to chant in a low voice. The sound she made had a strong rhythm, like a low, soft song, very pleasant to the ear.
Two breaths later, the silk thread, which had not moved again, suddenly began to writhe in Zhao Min's slowly opening palm, following the sound of her chanting.
Then, one end of the silk thread stood up like a snake's head. If one had extremely good eyesight, one could now see that there was an eye on the part that was standing up.
That eye was filled with a dazed and intoxicated look. Zhao Min's chanting became more urgent, and the frequency of the silk thread's dancing also increased rapidly, getting faster and faster, more and more urgent.
Finally, the light red silk thread had turned into a blurry, shaking shadow.
At this moment, Zhao Min's chanting suddenly turned into a sharp whistle. The moment the whistle started, it came to an abrupt halt, like a suddenly snapped bowstring.
The dancing silk thread, following the sudden interruption of Zhao Min's whistle, also stopped abruptly. In an instant, it had separated into two even thinner, light red silk threads.
Like two slender little snakes, they coiled their tails in Zhao Min's palm, their upper bodies held high and erect, only their heads were still rubbing against each other.
The single eye on their heads was fixed on the other's eye for a moment, as if they didn't care about anything else in the outside world.
Not long after Zhao Min's chanting ended, after the two light red silk threads had rubbed their heads together a few times, they actually began to show signs of merging into each other again, starting from their heads.
Zhao Min's movements were extremely swift. A layer of blue airflow immediately surged from her fair palm. The moment this airflow appeared, it instantly formed an ancient, hard-to-recognize seal script character.
The moment the ancient seal script character appeared, Zhao Min quickly raised her other hand. Spirit Power surged on her slender index finger, and a trace of pain appeared on Zhao Min's face.
Then, a drop of Essence Blood that she had condensed appeared at the tip of her finger, emitting an astonishingly pure Spirit Qi that made the surrounding space fresh and ethereal.
Essence Blood was the most important foundation for a cultivator's cultivation besides their soul. A Foundation Establishment cultivator could only condense about ten drops from their entire body's blood.
This one drop of Essence Blood had consumed ten percent of Zhao Min's entire body's blood qi, which was already at the point of injuring her bones and muscles.
The pain on Zhao Min's jade-like face, with its soft, carved lines, flashed and disappeared, but a paleness still appeared.
The Spirit Power in her body quickly circulated through her meridians, and she immediately returned to normal, as if this drop of Essence Blood had not been separated and condensed from her body at all.
Then, she immediately flicked this drop of Essence Blood towards the ancient seal script character. The moment the Essence Blood touched the ancient seal script character, the blue character was coated with a layer of misty red, like a dream, and the entire character seemed a bit demonic.
Following the fusion of the Essence Blood, in the next moment, the blue character immediately began to rotate. With just one spin, it had completely separated the two light red silk threads that had already begun to reintegrate.