With the fishing village matter resolved, the fate of those water yaksha on the demon island remained unsettled.

Xiaoxiao knew that the revived demon clan was intolerable to the heavenly realm. How to secretly arrange for these demons while ensuring they would no longer bring disaster to the mortal world—these problems all needed to be solved one by one.

When they followed Fu Niang back to the island, perhaps sensing the heavenly maiden’s return, those water yaksha all crowded together at the dock, waiting for their saint’s return.

The water yaksha held absolute reverence for their saint. When Xiaoxiao lifted her skirt hem and came ashore, those water yaksha knelt piously, making whimpering sounds from their mouths.

However, Fu Niang, who followed behind Xiaoxiao, let out a surprised gasp: “How did you… become like this?”

It turned out that the water yaksha, who had once been like toads, had shed their rough outer skin in the few short days Fu Niang was away from the island, gradually revealing human appearances.

Moreover, they no longer looked dull and unenlightened as before, even able to whimper out a few simple words.

As the demon clan saint, the water yaksha awakened by Xiaoxiao could evolve into human form—something only a few demon clan nobles possessed.

This was beyond even Fu Niang’s expectations.

These water yaksha, who gradually gained human appearance, seemed to have also awakened naive human nature.

Xiaoxiao even saw a female yaksha who had somehow found a piece of floral fabric and wrapped it around herself and several small yaksha, dressing them up beautifully…

It seemed Xiaoxiao’s personality as a saint had greatly influenced these yaksha she had nurtured, making them love dressing up just like Saint Cui Xiaoxiao…

Seeing this, Fu Niang was greatly delighted—with human form and the ability to think, wouldn’t the water yaksha’s combat power be greatly enhanced? When the time came to battle the heavenly court, the demon clan might not necessarily be at a disadvantage.

Xiaoxiao greatly admired Fu Niang’s mind that couldn’t escape thoughts of battle in three sentences. She asked in return: “Do these water yaksha come to this world just for slaughter? How would they differ from ants, then? I think when Phoenix Goddess originally left the demon clan’s bloodline, she didn’t hope for the demon clan to make a comeback and fight the heavenly realm to mutual destruction, did she?”

Fu Niang was silenced by these words, especially unable to let go of her hatred: “You haven’t personally experienced the fires of war in the demon city—how can you know the deception and humiliation the demon clan suffered?”

Xiaoxiao glanced at her coolly, and Fu Niang immediately fell to her knees, begging the saint’s forgiveness.

Cui Xiaoxiao’s spiritual power had an enormous influence over the demon clan. Even if Fu Niang had objections, she dared not talk back again.

Xiaoxiao sighed and didn’t punish Fu Niang. She wasn’t Fu Niang—how could a few words dissolve the hatred Fu Niang had experienced?

But Phoenix Goddess’s sacrifice back then couldn’t be in vain. Now it seemed that Emperor Gu Yan’s daily sutra recitation had been remarkably effective—the demon clan’s water yaksha had undergone major changes.

However, the demon clan’s hatred couldn’t be resolved in a day. She hoped to guide the demon clan to abandon their killing hearts and learn compassion for heaven and pity for people, thus fulfilling the goddess’s original benevolent intentions.

As long as the demon clan could let go of hatred and learn to coexist equally with all beings, Xiaoxiao believed there would always be a place in the three realms that could be a paradise for the demon clan to settle and establish themselves.

With the demon clan as a restraining concern, she believed those pampered immortals in the heavenly court would also tighten their guard and have fewer divine sons like Dong Yuan, who acted without regard for the Heavenly Way.

As for where this demon island should be moved, Wei Jie and Xiaoxiao consulted the texts in the demon clan temple and had a general direction.

Before that great battle, the demon city was located beside the western Fan Mountains, a place that was actually on the same mountain range as the distant Qilao Mountain.

According to Tang Youshu, who understood feng shui, if Qilao Mountain was the mouth of the underworld, then the western Fan Mountains should be called the belly of the underworld!

That was where ancient great gods captured primordial beasts and used them to suppress various demons and monsters.

The so-called demon clan people served the same function as the current Wei family—all responsible for guarding and suppressing the underworld’s demonic energy.

Only later did the demon clan people feel the Heavenly Emperor’s distribution was unfair and that they were treated poorly, which led to their rebellious hearts.

Though the place was abundant with yin energy, with large areas of barren saline-alkali land and even snow-capped sealed territories with no human habitation, it had always been the demon clan’s long-term dwelling place.

After understanding the origins between the demon clan and the heavenly court, Xiaoxiao suddenly had an inspiration, feeling it would be better for the demon clan to return to their original habitat.

The place was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Originally, if Dong Yuan hadn’t used trickery and used peace talks to relax the demon clan’s vigilance, those heavenly soldiers wouldn’t have easily breached the demon city and nearly exterminated the demon clan.

More importantly, ever since Wei Jie’s divine status cracked, the underworld had intermittent agitation symptoms—the earth trembled several times, and later, demons escaped, always causing unease.

If the demon capital had the function of deterring yin energy, wouldn’t its return to position be just right?

Though Fu Niang didn’t agree with Xiaoxiao’s thinking, the demon clan people trusted their saint more, so moving the demon island back to its original location was also put on the agenda.

But moving an entire island back wasn’t easy. Just relying on the power of Xiaoxiao, Wei Jie, and the demon clan people still wasn’t enough.

Xiaoxiao concentrated her spirit and relied on the temple’s power, but could only make the demon island rise like last time, unable to move locations.

It seemed that moving the demon island required more spiritual power.

While Xiaoxiao pondered methods to move the island, Tang Youshu wasn’t idle. He established a school on the island, teaching these yaksha who were just learning to speak and had just gained human appearance to read and write.

Old Teacher Tang had always had a great addiction to teaching disciples and firmly believed that reading sage books led to understanding human affairs.

As long as books were thoroughly understood, demonic nature would resolve itself, so the sound of reading was constant in the demon island’s school.

However, teaching a group of uncivilized demons was indeed quite laborious.

In his spare time, Tang Youshu would recall teaching Yu Ling’er. Compared to these water yaksha, the little fox was so clever—she could always learn something immediately…

He wondered how Yu Ling’er was getting along with those five phoenixes now. For a moment, Teacher Tang’s teaching became distracted as he gazed in Lingshan’s direction with his chin in his hands, wondering if the person he missed was well.

Those naive, uncomprehending yaksha also learned from their teacher, propping their chins and gazing at the distant waves with mournful sighs.

This feeling was endless—where could it be entrusted?

Wei Jie wasn’t on the island. When Xiaoxiao discovered she was always one step short of moving the demon island, he simply said he had business off the island and left by sea.

Xiaoxiao organized the texts left by the demon clan in the temple. The scriptures written in the demon clan’s unique script were something Xiaoxiao understood naturally—she only needed to read a few lines to comprehend their meaning.

She comfortably leaned against a cushion, drinking sweet juice from coconuts the water yaksha had salvaged from the sea for her, reading the demon clan ancestors’ texts with great interest.

These texts recorded events from the ancient great gods’ period, including how the current Heavenly Emperor cultivated from an ordinary mortal to achieve immortality.

The Heavenly Emperor’s ascension wasn’t particularly novel—even in ancient times, one still had to abandon various desires and make sacrifices beyond ordinary people before finally achieving enlightenment.

As for his union with the Heavenly Mother Saint, it was even more celebrated as a heavenly court romance.

Xiaoxiao was too lazy to read immortal romances now, so she skipped over it, closed the book, and drank another cup of sweet coconut juice.

She wondered if these water yaksha, once they moved back to the demon clan’s homeland, could adapt to the climate there…

Just then, there was another commotion at the sea island’s dock—several large ships seemed to have docked.

When Xiaoxiao and Tang Youshu led people to greet them, they discovered Wei Jie had brought all the Wei family members, young and old, plus capable elders from the three great sects.

Over a hundred people entering the island in a dark mass was quite spectacular.

They had all come to help Xiaoxiao and the others move the demon island.

The Wei family was understandable since they were family, but how had Wei Jie managed to invite the other three great sects?

Wei Jie didn’t think it was anything special and raised his eyebrows: “After all, I learned from you as a teacher, so I must learn human relationships and worldly wisdom to at least seven parts similarity. Now the four great sects are being suppressed by the mortal emperor and are quite dejected, so I had the crown prince promise that if they could help this time, he would issue orders to lift the three great sects’ prohibitions, allowing them to reopen their mountain gates and widely accept disciples. The three great sects have always been ‘no profit, no early rising’—now that there’s profit, why wouldn’t they come?”

Among the four great sects, besides Lingyun Pavilion, where both the sect leader and his son had disappeared, people from the other three great sects had all arrived.

Some of these three sects had concerns about Wei Jie asking them to move an island, feeling that this island, which appeared from nowhere, might harbor some evil demons.

However, during Xiaoxiao’s few days on the island, the influence of the saint’s wise light had made the demon clan’s appearance changes even more pronounced.

They had completely shed their toad-like exterior and looked no different from humans.

It was just that the island lacked sufficient fabric, so everyone wrapped themselves in coconut palm leaves, fashioning them into covering garments. Combined with their half-understood learning of scriptures from Teacher Tang, they would bow with clasped hands when seeing visitors, loudly calling out: “Having friends come from afar—is this not a joy!”

Looking like this, they appeared to be a group of newly civilized tribal people—simple-minded yet polite, with nothing improper about them.

Xiaoxiao’s ability to lie with eyes wide open had reached another level. In the blink of an eye, she emotionally recounted a tragic story of border migrants exiled to the sea, making even those water yaksha believe it. One by one, they prostrated on the ground, listening to their saint tell stories while whimpering and wailing.

When the demon city’s holy war with heavenly soldiers occurred, the human realm didn’t have many great powers participating. Those elders who could know this past had either ascended to heaven or died of old age.

How could they know the demon island’s secrets that even the heavenly realm was unaware of? The Wei family did see through the facade, but the old ancestor pretended ignorance and didn’t expose it, so Wei Jingfeng also kept his mouth shut.

They guarded the underworld and revered Emperor Gu Yan, so they wouldn’t doubt the words of Wei Jie, Emperor Gu Yan’s successor. If the demon city returned to its position and formed constraints on Dong Yuan, then the Wei family might be able to break free from their bonds and no longer be trapped on Qilao Mountain.

As for the three great sects, because they had the crown prince’s backing, these great powers were too lazy to investigate the wild people’s origins and agreed to move the island.

Everyone had their thoughts, but their determination to move mountains like the Foolish Old Man was unanimous.

Thus, everyone once again sat cross-legged, concentrated their power, and held their breath while arranging the formation before the temple altar.

At this time, the entire island’s perimeter was covered with heaven and earth displacement talismans. Nearly a hundred great powers channeled their spiritual energy to assist Xiaoxiao, who sat on the sacrificial platform.

During these few days on the demon island, Xiaoxiao also felt her connection with the temple growing closer.

That feeling was hard to describe, but this time she could finally convert the power of a hundred great masters into her own. Then, like last time, the demon island rose into mid-air again.

Xiaoxiao’s entire body emanated golden light, forming ten thousand golden threads that pulled the entire island slowly upward.

Then, in a blinding, dazzling golden light, the demon island on the sea vanished completely, appearing the next moment in the western wasteland.

The old scars where the former demon city had been uprooted remained like a basin, and now the sea island fit perfectly into the original gap.

The long-vanished demon city finally appeared again on the vast earth.

For a moment, those great powers who participated couldn’t quite believe it, looking at the suddenly transformed heaven and earth peaks around them.

Though they had agreed before, they felt Cui Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie, master and disciple, were overestimating themselves, somewhat like fools talking nonsense.

They had only come with the mindset of not offending the crown prince, but never expected it would succeed!

For a time, they looked at each other, but gradually understood in their hearts that with such mountain-moving power, the unknown Talisman Sect had become the undisputed number one sect in the world!

Setting aside worldly changes, such mountain-moving and earth-shifting was sensed by various immortal palaces in heaven the moment it occurred.

This time it wasn’t above the cloud-obscured ocean. News of the former demon city’s reappearance in the western Fan Mountains was quickly transmitted to the heavenly court by the western earth gods.

With the Heavenly Emperor absent, the Heavenly Mother Saint presided in his place. After hearing the earth god’s report of the demon city’s reappearance, her expression remained unchanged as she said steadily, “Back then, the demon army ravaged and dared to dream of overthrowing the heavenly court, causing all living beings under heaven to suffer. Heavenly soldiers bravely exterminated them, but unexpectedly, someone with ulterior motives hid the demon clan’s divine wood, allowing it to revive from the ashes. We must eliminate those who disturb the heavenly mechanisms to restore heaven and earth. Do you all have any objections?”

The Heavenly Mother had presided over the Heavenly Emperor’s duties for a long time, and all immortals had no words, agreeing with the Heavenly Mother Saint’s proposal.

But an aged voice suddenly spoke: “When heaven and earth first divided, the demon clan received western territory and city sealing for their merit in pacifying underworld demons. Though the demon clan practiced killing and had little compassion, they were also an important clan for maintaining heaven and earth. Since the demon clan’s extinction, western demon suppression has been absent, and yin and yang cannot achieve balance. The underworld’s yin energy has grown daily, with demons and monsters occasionally escaping to wreak havoc in the mortal world. Originally, with Emperor Gu Yan standing guard, this situation was better. But after Emperor Gu Yan met his tribulation, the underworld had no master, relying only on mortals to guard it. In the long run, this will cause great chaos. In my view, the demon clan’s return to their proper position, allowing yin and yang to achieve balance, is a good thing. Why change it?”

Hearing this voice, the Heavenly Mother looked toward the speaker—it was the ancient great god, Wise Ancestor.

He was an old veteran in the heavenly court with a lifespan equal to the Heavenly Emperor’s. Even Heavenly Mother Rong Yao had to respect him somewhat.

However, today this ancestor was truly unwise, actually speaking up to obstruct at such an occasion.

Rong Yao smiled steadily: “Ancestor is well-versed in ancient stories and naturally knows the demon clan’s origins. Though initially heaven and earth’s balance required the demon clan, they had no gratitude or reverent heart, actually making the heavenly court raise a tiger as a threat. If we don’t eliminate the demon clan, I fear they’ll cause overwhelming disaster for all people under heaven.”

Wise Ancestor stroked his beard with endless melancholy: “Once upon a time, the demon clan’s chief was also a fellow disciple who fought alongside the Heavenly Emperor. Unfortunately, humans and demons take different paths—one heaven, one earth, never to meet again. However, I remember the Heavenly Emperor originally had a compassionate heart and wanted to negotiate peace with the demon clan. It’s just said that Phoenix Goddess violated the Heavenly Emperor’s agreement and rashly led troops to massacre the city. Afterward, she also received heavenly punishment, showing the massacre wasn’t the Heavenly Emperor’s intention. Since this is so, why not correct the chaos and give the demon clan a chance at life, thus fulfilling the Heavenly Emperor’s good intentions toward the demon clan?”

Rong Yao smiled slightly: “Ancestor’s compassion for heaven and pity for people, showing kind thoughts even toward the murderous demon clan, is truly a model for our generation. It’s just that when the demon clan was slaughtered by heavenly soldiers, they must harbor hatred in their hearts. I fear our good intentions won’t be appreciated by them.”

Wise Ancestor looked up meaningfully: “Preserving good intentions—heaven naturally knows. Why must humans appreciate them?”

Rong Yao’s smile faded slightly. After pausing briefly, she continued: “Since Wise Ancestor has spoken, we might as well follow the ancestor’s words. I will send an envoy to make a pact with the demon clan as the Heavenly Emperor did back then. Whether it’s war or peace, then will depend on heaven’s will.”

Wise Ancestor said no more, just humming ancient mountain melodies from the mortal world while slowly swaying away step by step.

Rong Yao watched the slowly departing ancestor with cold eyes.

Though this ancestor usually didn’t manage affairs, he had many disciples in the heavenly court. The great powers he had descended to enlighten were all outstanding members of the heavenly court, so his words couldn’t be ignored.

But listening didn’t necessarily mean acting. How many considerations did those wandering gods and scattered immortals have compared to her?

How many of them had faced the demon clan in battle? Where did they understand that showing mercy to demons meant harming people?

This Phoenix was also enlightened by the Wise Ancestor back then, and her words were all the same. If Phoenix had honestly behaved back then instead of pulling these tricks, how would so many troubles would have arisen today?

Especially making Dong Yuan develop heart demons—one wrong step led to wrong steps everywhere, which Rong Yao found most intolerable.

The Heavenly Mother Saint stopped thinking and returned to the fish pond beside her immortal residence. Those few fish swam over again, eagerly anticipating the handful of golden pills in the Heavenly Mother Saint’s hands…

As for the demon city’s relocation, it was completed in one day.

Xiaoxiao naturally had to arrange a banquet to thank everyone for their assistance.

Unfortunately, the Wei family dared not stay away from Qilao Mountain too long, and recently, the underworld’s demons had been particularly agitated. The Book of Life and Death had somehow been stolen from the underworld again.

When it was just a torn page, it had already exhausted the Wei family running around. Now that the entire book was missing, the old grandmother was much calmer.

Because this time’s thief wasn’t a Wei family insider, the grandmother guessed that such clean, efficient methods should be from immortals above.

She could lead her clan’s descendants to fight traitors and ghosts, but how could humans fight gods?

The Wei family had exhausted their efforts for generations without shame or guilt. If heaven decreed punishment, they would naturally accept it. Being able to help Cui Xiaoxiao complete the demon city’s relocation before receiving punishment was enough to face these two children.

So she led people to give Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie some instructions, mentioned the increasingly agitated underworld phenomena, and then hurriedly departed.

The other three great sects returned to await His Majesty’s imperial edict lifting the seal on various sects.

Though this place was a desert, it was ultimately where the demon clan had lived and reproduced for a thousand years. Those demon clan people adapted remarkably quickly, soon learning to use the surrounding clay to build walls and construct houses. The former demon city’s walls were once again being built in the endless yellow sand.

Strangely, when the demon city took rough shape, news came from nearby Qilao Mountain that the underworld’s agitation had calmed considerably after the demon city’s return.

This proved Xiaoxiao’s original guess was correct—the demon city’s construction served to suppress underworld evil energy and maintain the human realm’s yin-yang balance.

So when the demon city was originally moved away, it invisibly encouraged the underworld demons’ proliferation.

The great chaos two hundred years later, besides the demon clan’s revival, was also greatly related to the underworld demons’ escape.

Now Xiaoxiao only wanted to verify whether her and Wei Jie’s actions had any impact on that unavoidable upheaval two hundred years later.

But when she used the feng shui mirror the old monk had given her several times, it couldn’t display any images.

Tang Youshu fiddled with the mirror and suddenly belatedly pointed to the golden beans embedded on it: “Could these golden beans refer to celestial constellations? Only on days matching heavenly constellations can this mirror communicate spiritually under moonlight, reflecting two hundred years later?”

Xiaoxiao felt her master’s words made sense. After carefully studying the patterns of golden bean inlays on the mirror, she, Wei Jie, and Tang Youshu came to the newly built walls of the demon city and raised the mirror under the high-hanging moonlight.

Just like Tang Youshu had guessed, this time when moonlight projected onto the mirror, the mirror surface flashed, and once again reflected the scene of Lingshan’s great hall.

This time, standing before the mirror were still the eldest senior brother Ji Wuqi and the second senior sister…

But this time, Ji Wuqi looked puzzledly at Cui Xiaoxiao in the mirror and quickly exchanged glances with junior sister Jiang Nanmu beside him.

Cui Xiaoxiao wanted to know the situation there and impatiently asked: “Eldest senior brother, it’s me. Tell me quickly—are there still refugees at Lingshan now?”

She saw Ji Wuqi, whose beard was neatly trimmed, politely cupping his hands and bowing to Cui Xiaoxiao: “May I ask this young lady’s honorable surname?”

Xiaoxiao was also startled by such a polite eldest senior brother. In her opinion, the eldest senior brother Ji Wuqi was a rough man who wouldn’t speak unless shouted at.

When had he ever spoken to her so politely? Xiaoxiao suspected the eldest senior brother was playing tricks and impatiently said to the second senior sister beside him: “It’s me! I’m your junior sister Cui Xiaoxiao! How can you not recognize me?”

After the two Talisman Sect fellow disciples in the mirror looked at each other, they said in unison: “We don’t have a junior sister!”

For some reason, Xiaoxiao suddenly felt her heart clench tightly, very uncomfortable. She desperately took deep breaths: “Eldest senior brother, second senior sister, stop fooling around. I’m Cui Xiaoxiao, Master Tang Youshu’s final disciple. How could you possibly not recognize me?”

This time, when they heard the name “Cui Xiaoxiao,” they quickly exchanged surprised glances, then Ji Wuqi tentatively repeated: “You said… your name is Cui Xiaoxiao?”