Feng Miaojun’s phoenix eyes widened. “You know where the Demon Lord’s seal is located?” She had never even seen the legendary Demon Lord, yet this fellow knew where it was sealed.

“Shh.” He placed a finger to his lips. “Such secrets are not for other ears.”

She said irritably, “Tell me about it.”

“If you asked me anything else, I would tell you everything I know.” Yun Ya cleared his throat lightly. “But this matter…”

She pursed her small lips. “I don’t want to know anything else.” He was keeping secrets from her.

Yun Ya smiled bitterly. “I want to tell you. Unfortunately, I once made a deadly oath before my master that if I revealed the secret of the Demon Lord’s seal to anyone, even the slightest hint, my heart would rupture and I would die.”

“Your master certainly overreaches.” She said angrily. “The continent has been in turmoil for over three hundred years. If he’s so capable, why hasn’t he emerged to save the world?” Yun Ya had never lied to her. Since he spoke with such certainty, she believed it was true.

Indeed, if he died, she would die too. She had no reason to sacrifice her life for a secret.

“You’re right,” Yun Ya solemnly agreed with her. “He’s always been indifferent to worldly affairs. I also find him quite affected.”

Why was he smiling so brightly while speaking ill of his master? Feng Miaojun gave him a suspicious glare. “How did you become involved with the Demon Lord?”

Yun Ya’s smile immediately froze.

As he was about to speak, Feng Miaojun crossed her arms over her chest. “You need to reveal something substantial, otherwise we’ll go our separate ways. Hmm, let’s start with your mother.”

In Yun Ya’s mindscape, she had heard him call her “mother.” That must be his birth mother. The Demon Lord dared to take on her appearance to attack him, clearly confident of her special place in Yun Ya’s heart.

She, therefore, was the thread that connected everything.

Feng Miaojun knew Yun Ya harbored many secrets, but had pretended not to notice all these years. She believed that even if they were in love, they should each maintain some privacy.

But when it concerned the Demon Lord, the continent, and their lives, she could no longer feign ignorance.

The smile on Yun Ya’s face slowly disappeared. After a while, he took her hand and said, “I grew up in this courtyard, which was originally located by White Elephant Lake, far from human habitation. From childhood, I encountered more demons than humans.”

White Elephant Lake—this was at the border between Yao territory and the Jin Kingdom. Mo Tizhun had taken her there before. More importantly, Feng Miaojun recalled what Yu Haizhen had said: many demon tribes lived in the White Elephant mountain range and water systems.

Demon territories overlapped with human kingdoms, but demons and commoners always lived separately, never interacting. Yun Ya living in the remote White Elephant Lake area and associating with demons year-round meant—

“She was a demon?”

She truly is clever. Yun Ya stroked her beautiful hair. “Yes. During the later period of the Haoli Empire, there were frequent campaigns to exterminate demons, resulting in the remaining demons banding together to form sects capable of resisting human armies. These sects were distributed in remote areas of the Haoli Empire, with the strongest being the White Elephant Lake demon sect.” At this point, he paused. “Over three hundred years ago, my mother was the leader of the water demons at White Elephant Lake.”

“Three hundred years ago?” Feng Miaojun counted on her fingers and exclaimed involuntarily, “The White Dragon?”

During that period, the most powerful demon at White Elephant Lake was the White Dragon. It was precisely because of the presence of this world’s only true dragon that the Haoli Empire repeatedly failed to conquer this demon sect.

Yun Ya smiled slightly. “The Haoli Empire concentrated its forces on one final extermination campaign. The White Elephant Lake demon sect received a warning and turned defeat into victory. This greatly impacted the old emperor. He had exhausted his military for years, struggling through this final battle, depleting both manpower and wealth. The emperor passed away, the treasury was empty, and complaints echoed throughout the court and country.”

Feng Miaojun nodded. “I heard from Yu Haizhen that the Yang family ancestor secretly sent warnings to White Elephant Lake.”

“She wasn’t the only one who sent warnings.”

“Oh?” This was fresh news. Feng Miaojun was curious. “Who else?”

Yun Ya slowly said, “There was another person, Hao Minghuan.”

This time Feng Miaojun was truly astonished. “Emperor Li the Severe?” Today’s revelations were indeed juicy. The renowned Emperor Li the Severe actually had connections with the White Elephant Lake demon sect?

Yun Ya gave a cold laugh. “At that time, he was only the old emperor’s third son. By any calculation, the throne would never have been his. The Haoli Empire was already internally decaying. The old emperor attacked White Elephant Lake not only to covet demon treasures but also to demonstrate his military might. If successful, his rule would have been stabilized.”

“So he leaked military intelligence to the White Elephant Lake demon sect, causing the old emperor and his army to be defeated?” Feng Miaojun understood. This was also a decisive character.

“Not just that.” Yun Ya poured each of them a cup of hot tea. “The crown prince had died young, and the old emperor hadn’t appointed a new heir. According to the succession rules, the only obstacle in Hao Minghuan’s path was his second brother, also a cultivator. While the old emperor personally led the campaign at White Elephant Lake, he set an ambush in Yingshui City and killed the second prince. When the old emperor returned to the capital after his military defeat, he was already disheartened, and upon receiving this terrible news, he fell ill from rage.”

He continued in a low voice, “He lingered in bed, dying less than half a year later. Later generations questioned the cause of his death. Subsequently, Hao Minghuan smoothly ascended the throne.”

“Apart from the connection with White Elephant Lake, I do know this part of history.” She had read the latter half of the story Yun Ya described in history books and was amazed by Hao Minghuan’s ruthlessness.

“So what was his relationship with the White Dragon?” A thought was already forming in her mind.

“That instance of secret intelligence created a fateful connection between Hao Minghuan and my mother.” Yun Ya took a sip of tea. “Hao Minghuan often snuck to White Elephant Lake to meet with her.”

Hearing this, Feng Miaojun stared at him for several moments. “Like father, like son indeed.” Yun Ya also liked to sneak into Wusr to meet with her privately. Was this a family trait?

Hey, with things spelled out so clearly, how could she not guess that his father was Emperor Li the Severe? She had read extensively in history books, and more than one mentioned that Emperor Li the Severe was handsome and elegant, captivating the capital as the dream lover of countless young women. Once when he went hunting and didn’t return, rumors of the emperor’s death spread in Yingshui City, and many girls were reportedly heartbroken, some even taking their own lives.

With such looks combined with his status as the ruler of the world, even if the White Dragon had high standards, it wasn’t surprising she was attracted to him.

Yun Ya’s face showed rare disgust. “He is he, and I am I. We cannot be confused.”

Feng Miaojun had always sensed his hatred for his birth father, so she tactfully changed the subject. “So you’re genuinely a dragon’s child and emperor’s descendant. How is it that you’ve never been mentioned in the Haoli Empire’s historical records?”

The Haoli Empire had a tradition of compiling historical records, and the imperial chronicles would certainly have been meticulously documented. But not only was there no mention in official histories, even in unofficial records there was no record of Emperor Li the Severe having a son like Yun Ya.