That night, when they returned to the Chaos Hall, both Zanxing and Gu Baiying’s faces were red.

Facing Mendong’s sharp scrutinizing gaze, even the usually composed Zanxing felt somewhat guilty. She gave Gu Baiying a few instructions before hurrying into the Chaos Hall to calm her racing heart.

The young boy looked at Gu Baiying, who awkwardly averted his gaze and said, “What are you looking at?”

Mendong shook his head and sighed, saying only: “Master Uncle, you’ve finally become the eighth consort of the Chaos Hall… But how are we going to explain this to the Sect Leader and the others?”

The people of the Taiyan Sect naturally didn’t know what had happened on this Qixi night in Heishi City. Rain began to fall on Gufeng Mountain as well.

The rain fell steadily for several days, making the waterfall at Chuhong Terrace more turbulent than usual.

In Miaokong Hall, Xuan Lingzi was packing several large boxes, saying as he packed: “We need to bring these Changxiang Pills – I don’t know if Heishi City has such pills. The persimmon tree in the courtyard bore fruit earlier, and I saved several for Zanxing, just right to bring along. Maybe we should also bring some local specialties from Gufeng Mountain. That godforsaken place, Heishi City, probably can’t even grow a single scallion. Fangfang said Zanxing has gotten thinner – she must not be eating well. What good food could the demon race have? Let’s bring some eggs too. These chickens are wild chickens that grew up in the mountains – their eggs are much more fragrant than domestic chicken eggs.”

Outside the hall, Li Danshu and Cui Yufu walked in. Li Danshu pulled out a handful of medicine bottles from his sleeve: “Bring some pills too. These are Huiyuan Pills I’ve recently refined – they’re good for increasing cultivation.”

“I have some too.” Cui Yufu moved a large stack of books from his Qiankun Bag. “These talisman books I’ve written in the past two years – no one reads them anymore. Bring them all to her. Even if she’s become a demon race, she can’t neglect her studies!”

Xuan Lingzi looked at the several large boxes before him with some difficulty: “Senior Brother, isn’t this a bit much?”

“I say,” Zhao Mayi leaned against a pillar in the hall, watching the group, “you should at least pretend a little. That girl Yang Zanxing is now the Demon Lord’s daughter after all, and all the major sects are watching. You’re making such a big show of sending things to the demon race – do you think the Taiyan Sect’s reputation is too good? Show some restraint.”

“What’s there to restrain?” Xuan Lingzi said indifferently, “Whether we put on an act or not, they’ll still gossip behind our backs. Might as well smash the pot since it’s already broken.”

After the Demon Extermination Army returned from Yuega Mountain, they revealed everything that had happened at the Five-Wheel Pagoda. Learning that Zanxing hadn’t died and had become the next master of Heishi City, everyone in the Taiyan Sect was deeply surprised. However, after their brief surprise, Xuan Lingzi and the others quickly accepted this fact. After all, even Gu Baiying and Meng Ying had gone to Heishi City, which was enough to show the Taiyan Sect’s attitude.

“You can’t say that.” Zhao Mayi sighed, “People from the Chihua Gate and Xiangling Sect came to our sect again today demanding an explanation. I think this charge of colluding with the demon race can’t be cleared.”

“What collusion with the demon race? What face do they have coming here to bark nonsense?” The usually gentle Xuan Lingzi rarely showed anger on his face. “If it weren’t for my disciple stopping Gui Yansheng from turning the Buddha wheel in the Five-Wheel Pagoda, the Demon Extermination Army would have been annihilated. Moreover, talking so tough – in the two years when Zanxing didn’t appear, weren’t all the major sects chased around by Gui Yansheng like stray dogs? What, picking on the soft persimmon? If they’re so capable, let them kill Gui Yansheng themselves, let them attack Heishi City themselves. Hiding behind people pretending to be grandsons, then turning around to act like masters in front of others – do they have no shame?”

“It’s good that the Sect Leader didn’t get confused this time. He’s probably also tired of their daily troublemaking.” Zhao Mayi thought for a moment: “Now all the major sects are targeting Gui Yansheng. I suppose they temporarily don’t have the energy to deal with Heishi City’s affairs. But…” He hesitated, looking out the window, ultimately saying nothing.

The hall was empty and desolate. Since Zanxing left, Hong Su didn’t like to talk much each day, and Miaokong Hall seemed much more lonely.

Li Danshu rubbed his itchy nose, sneezed, and muttered to himself: “Autumn is coming soon. With all this daily rain, this mountain is getting colder and colder.”

…

In the two days after Qixi, Heishi City was calm and peaceful.

The demons sent to track down Gui Yansheng still hadn’t found his whereabouts. But the spiritual veins on the mountain had become even more sparse.

In Yaoming Hall, Zanxing walked in. Bujiang sat on the high seat, talking with Ming Jing. Seeing Zanxing enter, the two looked toward her.

“Mother.” Zanxing sat down at the long table.

“Rare that you’re obedient and didn’t bring that little martial uncle of yours.” Bujiang looked at her with a half-smile, “I thought you were so infatuated with your little lover’s beauty that you’d forgotten all about proper business.”

Zanxing: “…” There was no need to make her sound like a fatuous ruler.

“Don’t think I’m deliberately making things difficult for Gu Baiying. I’m not targeting him specifically,” Bujiang spoke methodically. “This concerns demon race secrets. He’s from a sect – those not of our race surely have different hearts. It’s inconvenient to have him listening in.”

Zanxing looked toward Ming Jing and couldn’t help but remind: “Master Ming Jing isn’t a demon race either.”

“He’s different.” Bujiang chuckled lightly, “He can betray the human race for me. Would Gu Baiying go to such lengths for you?”

Zanxing: “…”

Ming Jing’s face showed some embarrassment: “Your Highness…”

“I won’t talk about these irrelevant matters with you anymore.” Bujiang sighed, her expression becoming worried again, “Did you go look at the spiritual veins just now?”

Zanxing nodded: “The spiritual veins are much sparser than before.” The bright red vein flow was now only as thick as a pinky finger, a thin stream that looked quite pitiful. It seemed that before long, the spiritual veins would completely dry up.

Zanxing had also tried using the Demon Lord’s Yuan power to reawaken the spiritual veins, but after many attempts, it was ultimately fruitless.

“Mother, you said the Demon Lord once briefly awakened the spiritual veins, but at that time, he hadn’t refined the Xiaoyuan Pearl. How exactly did he do it?” Zanxing asked.

Bujiang looked into the distance, seeming to fall into distant memories. After a long while, she said: “In those years, Heishi City’s spiritual veins gradually grew sparse, the Demon Yuan power decreased daily, and the entire demon race was in panic. At that time, your father happened to obtain the Xiaoyuan Pearl. When he first got the Xiaoyuan Pearl, his cultivation increased very quickly, and the Demon Lord’s Yuan power reached an unprecedentedly abundant level. So the spiritual veins that were gradually withering temporarily became rich again.”

“However, this only lasted for a very short time – just a few months before returning to how it was before. It was precisely because of this that your father urgently wanted to refine the Xiaoyuan Pearl. He believed that as long as he completely refined the Xiaoyuan Pearl, he could master the most powerful Heavenly Demon power and truly awaken the spiritual veins.”

“Although he ultimately failed, the demon race has always believed that as long as the Xiaoyuan Pearl is refined, Heishi City’s spiritual veins can be revitalized. After all, we had succeeded once before.”

“Before you returned from Yuega Mountain, I thought the same way. So I kept telling you to retrieve the Xiaoyuan Pearl.”

Zanxing’s heart stirred: “You mean, now you no longer think this way?”

Bujiang didn’t speak, only looked toward Ming Jing. Ming Jing spoke softly: “Little Princess, perhaps the withering of the demon realm’s spiritual veins is not coincidental.”

“What do you mean?”

Ming Jing hesitated for a moment, seeming to consider how to begin. After a moment, he looked at Zanxing, his voice grave: “To be precise, it’s not just the demon realm. All the major sects have seen their spiritual veins gradually thinning in recent years.”

“Heishi City is not the only one.”