Heishi City was eerie even in broad daylight.

Across the vast mountainous terrain, jagged black strange rocks protruded abruptly, layered and intertwined. At first glance, the entire mountain seemed to be cast from pitch-black molten iron. A red sun set at the edge of the mountain range, its elongated shadows dyeing the Heishis crimson, rendering a silent yet hauntingly beautiful twilight.

Bujiang stopped in her tracks: “This is the Demon Realm.”

Mimi stretched out her claws and scratched at the soil beneath her feet. She was no longer in her kitten form, and once she made this affectionate gesture, the mountainside was immediately gouged with several deep, massive scratches. The stirred-up dust startled the black crows perched on withered branches. The black crows’ scarlet eyes glanced at the people below the tree, flapped their wings, and flew toward the distant sunset-stained horizon.

Zanxing felt somewhat dazed.

She had split open the Extreme Ice Abyss with one strike of her staff, severed the iron chains that had bound Bujiang for several years, and brought Bujiang leaping out from the collapsing long abyss. Standing beneath the vast starry sky, she didn’t know where to go next.

The azure Demon Lord seal was branded on her forehead; her Demon Lord bloodline had already awakened. Whether Zanxing was willing or not, she was now the Demon Lord’s daughter, a demoness that everyone in the cultivation world would hunt down. She could no longer ascend Gufeng Mountain, nor could she return to the Yang family in Yue City. Every inch of land on the Duzhou continent – as long as anyone discovered her demon clan identity, what awaited Zanxing would be nothing more than another torment of the Ten Thousand Kill Formation.

So Bujiang brought her back to the Demon Realm.

“The last time you came to this place, you couldn’t even speak yet.” Bujiang didn’t know what she was thinking of, her gaze becoming gentle as she took the lead, walking forward. “Come, follow me.”

Since the dawn of time, the human and demon clans have each dwelt in their corners. Between the Demon Realm and the Human Realm flows the Mingming River. Legend says the Mingming River buries countless lost wandering souls – not even a goose feather can float on it. Even the most expensive spirit boats would immediately sink to the riverbed once they entered the river.

Aside from Heavenly Demons, only the Demon Realm’s spirit beast, the Black Dragon Fish, could swim through it. Ordinary demon clan members who wished to cross the river could ride the dragon fish. The human clan could neither command the dragon fish nor cross the river. It was precisely because of this that after the Demon Lord’s death, when the remaining demon clan retreated to Heishi City, they weren’t completely exterminated by the cultivation world.

Unlike the cities of Duzhou, though Heishi City was called a “city,” it had no streets. The Heishi mountain had countless caves, each cave serving as a demon clan residence. When Zanxing and Bujiang reached the city gate, two black-robed demon cultivators were sitting against the wall playing cards. Perhaps because no one had come here for years, the two were extremely focused on their game, not even hearing Zanxing and Bujiang’s footsteps. It wasn’t until Mimi curiously walked over and stuck her big furry head between the two men that one of them sensed something was wrong. When he turned around, he was facing Mimi’s gaping, bloody maw as she yawned, and he let out a miserable scream: “Mother, mother!”

Mimi let out a low growl and swiped with one claw, knocking off the man’s helmet.

Only then did the other man notice Zanxing and Bujiang. He first stared at Bujiang in disbelief for a long while, then finally reacted, falling to his knees with a “thud” and hugging Bujiang’s leg while wailing: “Your Highness, you’ve finally returned—”

The Demon Empress had returned.

The entire Heishi City erupted in excitement.

Demon Empress Bujiang had disappeared without a reason two years ago. After that, a strange youth with golden pupils had barged in, claiming to be the Demon Lord’s son and washing the entire Heishi City in blood. The Demon Lord’s former subordinates were loyal to Bujiang, so he used the Ashura Umbrella to extract their souls. Those who surrendered didn’t fare much better either. Gui Yansheng’s temperament was unstable, and his moods unpredictable – one moment he could be chatting and laughing, the next he could go on a killing spree. The demon clan had already been declining since the Demon Lord’s fall, and Gui Yansheng’s arrival made the already sparse demon population even worse.

Many demon clan members couldn’t endure it and secretly rode dragon fish to leave Heishi City. Of those who remained, some followed Gui Yansheng, planning to attack the sects and overturn the three realms, while a small portion swallowed their anger and played along hypocritically, staying in the city and waiting for Demon Empress Bujiang’s return.

This hope was slim and grew more distant with each passing day, but unexpectedly, where there’s a will, there’s a way – they had finally waited for today.

Bujiang sat in the great hall, looking at her tearful subordinates below, and asked: “Where is that madman?”

There was no trace of Gui Yansheng in Heishi City.

“Reporting to Your Highness, Gui Yansheng disappeared long ago. Some days ago, purple lightning tribulation appeared in the sky, the Demon Realm’s spiritual veins began flowing again, and the city was in chaos. The human clan girl who had been following him took advantage of the chaos to escape, and we don’t know where she went. We haven’t found any trace of her even now.” A man’s voice came through. “Heishi City has many fierce beasts – she might have been eaten.”

A man emerged from the crowd. This man wore a deep blue round-collared straight robe and a matching scholarly cap. His features were handsome and gentle, making him look like a refined scholar. Zanxing felt this person’s face was quite familiar. She stared at him intently for a while, then suddenly called out: “Xiao Shuang!”

The young man froze, turned to look at Zanxing, his gaze showing hesitation: “Miss, do you know me?”

Zanxing: “……”

She indeed knew this person. Back in the Xumi Jiezi Map on Gufeng Mountain, Zanxing had seen the two-headed Asura “Xiao Shuang” outlined in Yuanli in the examination ground. When she defeated the two-headed Asura, she had briefly glimpsed Xiao Shuang’s true appearance. At that time, she had only faced a shadow outlined in Yuanli, but unexpectedly, now she was fortunate enough to see the real person.

The real person was even more handsome than the shadow.

Xiao Shuang also seemed to sense something unusual about Zanxing. He stared at her with a somewhat strange look in his eyes.

Bujiang rose from the high seat, took Zanxing’s hand, and slowly walked up the steps. Her long red robe fell upon the pitch-black long stairs, the black flying celestial patterns embroidered on it both gorgeous and dazzling. The Demon Empress spoke in a calm voice: “Two years ago, Gui Yansheng defeated me and imprisoned me in the Extreme Ice Abyss.”

All the demon cultivators were stunned.

The Extreme Ice Abyss – that was the Demon Realm’s most cruel prison. No one could walk out of there alive.

“My name appeared on the ice wall, and for two years, I could not leave.”

“Until Zanxing entered the abyss.”

“She split open the ice abyss, shattered the stone locks, walked out of the Extreme Ice Abyss, and brought me back to the Demon Realm.”

She recounted this matter calmly, and the surroundings fell silent. The gazes of the demon cultivators in the hall fell upon Zanxing. This young girl had a captivating face, serene expression, and gentle eyes that held a vitality and clarity completely different from the demon clan.

The demon clan was always violent, agitated, or else depraved and intoxicated – rarely did they have such quiet gazes. Gui Diao Tang counted as one, and this girl counted as the second.

However, was this girl… from the demon clan?

Bujiang continued speaking: “Everyone knows that back then, the major sects pursued the Demon Realm relentlessly. When His Lordship fell and the spiritual veins withered, at that time, I was already with child.”

Except for Xiao Shuang, all the other demon clan members in the hall immediately showed expressions of shock on their faces.