After hearing Empress Dowager’s words¹, Lin’an’s first thought was that her imperial brother intended to stabilize his power by compromising with the court’s noble families, planning to marry her off to some duke’s heir.

This wasn’t mere speculation—her mother had previously mentioned such matters, expressing intentions to marry her to the Second Son of Duke Ding.

The Empress Dowager’s voice was soft and mild as she continued:

“I am, after all, your mother in name, and it falls to me to arrange your marriage. When the late emperor was alive, he showed little concern for your marriages, and I was content to remain idle. Now that the new emperor has such intentions, I must fulfill my duty.”

He knows about my closeness with that dog servant, and even though I’ve never admitted to having feelings for him, how could Brother Emperor not see it… Lin’an felt a surge of frustration building inside her.

Her expression instantly darkened, and her tone became respectfully cold: “There’s no need to trouble yourself, Empress Dowager. I will speak with Brother Emperor personally.”

The Empress Dowager gave her a slightly surprised look: “You don’t wish to marry?”

Lin’an’s face remained stern: “I won’t marry anyone.”

The Empress Dowager nodded, seemingly indifferent, and spoke softly: “Very well. His Majesty mentioned that you and Xu Yinluo have grown quite close, with deep affection between you. It seems His Majesty had misunderstood.”

…Lin’an stared at her in stunned silence.

After several seconds of petrification, Lin’an stammered: “M-Mother Empress, what did you say?”

The Empress Dowager spoke flatly: “His Majesty wishes to bestow marriage between you and Xu Yinluo. If you’re unwilling, you can simply tell him so…”

Before she could finish, Lin’an exclaimed loudly: “Since Brother Emperor has already spoken thus, even if Lin’an has a thousand objections, she can only comply. Thank you, Mother Empress, for your efforts in arranging this.”

The Empress Dowager studied her for a moment before revealing a slight smile: “After experiencing so much, you’ve matured considerably. I’ve said what I needed to say. You may withdraw.”

“Lin’an takes her leave!”

She maintained her composure while bowing, then departed Phoenix Perch Palace with her two personal palace maids.

Just as she crossed the palace gates, Lin’an’s legs gave way, and she nearly collapsed.

“Your Highness…”

Fortunately, the two palace maids were quick to catch her.

“Your Highness, are you unwell? This servant will fetch the Imperial Physician.”

The maid on the left hurried away.

Lin’an leaned weakly against the other palace maid, staring blankly into space.

“Your Highness, what’s wrong?”

The remaining maid grew increasingly anxious.

Lin’an felt her heart pounding wildly in her chest, her vision darkening. She tried to force a smile, but tears came rushing down instead as she murmured: “I… I don’t know what’s wrong with me…”

…

Late night, Southern Frontier.

At the outskirts of the Ten Thousand Mountains, on a peak called “Clear Wind Cliff.”

Under the bright moon, countless figures bustled about in the moonlight—some appeared human, others possessed beast-like features, and some were purely in beast form.

They shared one common trait—all were laborers.

Hundreds upon hundreds of demon folk were throwing living beings into a massive pit. These creatures included both animals and Western Region humans.

Whether beast or human, they were either at death’s door or unconscious, completely unaware of their impending fate.

High in the air, Luo Yuhen stood atop her flying sword, while Xu Qi’an balanced on his Great Peace Blade with Bai Ji perched on his shoulder.

“A grand, bloody sacrifice,” Xu Qi’an observed solemnly as he gazed down.

These living beings were being gathered to help Shen Shu’s remnants initially recover their power.

Sealed for five hundred years, Shen Shu’s vital energy had depleted. This couldn’t be restored through mere meditation and cultivation. To recover power in the Transcendent realm, one must absorb power of equal magnitude.

To Xu Qi’an, this aligned with the conservation of energy.

Since Transcendent realm blood cores were too rare, they had to rely on quantitative change leading to qualitative transformation.

“What’s wrong? Is the righteous Sir Xu unable to bear watching these creatures lose their lives in vain?” Luo Yuhen teased with a smile, resembling a mischievous demon woman.

Instead of answering directly, Xu Qi’an mused: “Speak not of marquis titles yet, for one general’s glory is built upon ten thousand bones.”

Then he finally responded: “Humans understand the need for flexibility and necessary compromise. Blindly following principles is not the way of the wise.”

Luo Yuhen giggled as she raised her hand, her wide sleeve falling back to reveal a snow-white wrist and jade-like fingers, patting his head: “You were never one for rigid adherence to rules.”

As they spoke, massive movements came from the forest below as trees collapsed in swathes.

From Xu Qi’an’s vantage point, he could see a huge black-scaled serpent slowly crawling forward, crushing trees in its path.

“Hiss…”

The giant serpent raised its head, flicking its tongue at the moon in the sky.

“It’s Protector Snake, Protector Snake has arrived!”

“Protector Snake’s body is as massive as ever—no, has it grown even larger?”

The demon folk below chattered amongst themselves.

The giant serpent’s belly undulated, a spherical bulge slowly moving upward until it reached its throat, where it was spat out with a “puff.”

It was a “ball” of Western Region humans wrapped in spiritual energy, numbering around several dozen.

“Screech!”

A clear cry echoed through the night sky.

Two enormous creatures swept through the night air—one was a crimson giant bird two zhang in length, its feathers as red as flames; the other was a golden-brown eagle one zhang and three chi long.

Each giant bird clutched an iron chain in its talons, supporting a wooden cage two zhang in length, width, and height between them.

The cage contained various animals, both herbivores and carnivores.

As the two giant birds passed over the gathered demons, they suddenly released their grip, dropping the massive cage.

“Protector Snake” swung its long tail, effortlessly catching the cage and setting it down gently.

Soon after, a long howl echoed through the moonlit night as a giant hound three zhang in length came bounding through the air, its four paws treading on emptiness as if on solid ground.

From the murmurs of the demons below, Xu Qi’an learned this was the Dog Protector of the Myriad Demons Nation.

Over the next hour, demon Protectors made their appearances, eighteen in total, all Fourth-Rank demon folk.

The pile of living beings in the great pit grew ever higher.

“For the demon population, the proportion of powerful beings is quite impressive. And the Myriad Demons Nation surely has more than eighteen Fourth-Rank greater demons—Night Lady hasn’t arrived, and there must be others carrying out tasks elsewhere…”

Given that the Myriad Demons Nation had lurked for five hundred years, enduring hardships, Xu Qi’an wasn’t surprised by the scale of their forces.

“It’s a shame they only have the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox and one bear in the Transcendent realm,” he said regretfully.

The number of Transcendent powerhouses was too few.

At its peak, the Myriad Demons Nation had more Transcendent realm greater demons than even Great Dao, second only to the Buddhist sect.

After all, the Southern Demons represented demon-kind’s orthodoxy, gathering the destiny of all demon-kind.

The Northern demons were far inferior in comparison.

At this moment, he heard lesser demons below calling out: “Elder Qing!”

Xu Qi’an immediately looked in that direction. Atop Clear Wind Cliff stood a tall woman in a blue dress, her face veiled, with bewitching fox-like eyes that sparkled as she looked down at the gathered demons below.

When did she appear? Does she have a talent similar to the Dark Praying Mantis Department’s stealth abilities? Xu Qi’an heard Bai Ji call out excitedly:

“Ah, Sister Qing!”

Almost forgot, this little one is also the distinguished Elder Bai… Xu Qi’an asked: “Is she your and Night Lady’s sister?”

Bai Ji nodded vigorously: “I haven’t seen Sister Qing in so long. Sister Qing’s cooking is delicious.”

Just how many sisters do you have… Xu Qi’an probed: “Is she beautiful?”

Before Bai Ji could answer, Xu Qi’an solemnly stated: “No matter how beautiful, she can’t compare to the State Preceptor.”

Luo Yuhen nodded in satisfaction and withdrew the sword she had held to his neck.

The young woman with the gauze veil looked down at the gathered demons and called out in a clear voice: “Please welcome Her Majesty!”

Her voice was crystal clear, neither coy nor sweet, but pure as silver bells.

“Welcome Her Majesty!”

All the assembled demons called out, their voices merging like ocean waves.

“Ding ling…”

Clear bell sounds rang in the ears of every demon present, as well as in Xu Qi’an and Luo Yuhen’s ears.

At that moment, the cool moonlight seemed to dim slightly, as if something had obscured it.

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox has arrived… Xu Qi’an’s heart stirred as he turned to look at the moon.

The fox clan was renowned for their beauty, each one exceptionally gorgeous.

How devastatingly beautiful would this Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox, the only one in all Nine Provinces, prove to be?

※※※

¹Note: The Empress has been promoted to Empress Dowager, which was written incorrectly in the previous chapter.