The Demon Palace
The Demon Palace had always been chaotic or at least, it had been a noisy, lawless mess for the past few centuries. Order had completely dissolved among the demon race, leaving behind nothing but an insatiable thirst for slaughter and a instinct for destruction.
Recently, however, a brief wave of calm had washed over the Demon Realm. Both demons and demonic beasts found themselves temporarily regaining their sanity. Even the rogue demon cultivators lingering around the realm’s outer borders felt the murderous intent within them subside considerably.
All of this was because the ruler of the Demon Palace had returned.
Demon Venerable Mingye was currently the sole surviving member of the Heavenly Demon Clan on the Tianyan Continent. Rumors whispered that her cultivation had already reached the Tribulation Transcending Stage; others claimed she had already begun attempting to manifest her Dao. But because she was a demon, manifesting a righteous Dao was near impossible, leading many to believe she had perished during the attempt, her soul and cultivation reduced to ash.
Driven by these rumors, the demon race had fallen into chaos, while the Spiritual Realm quietly began preparing for the Third Great Immortal Demon War.
Yet all these rumors…half-truths and outright lies…were personally shattered when the main subject herself reappeared.
Demon Venerable Mingye emerged from her secluded meditation to restore order to the Demon Realm. She cut down batch after batch of cultivators who tried to breach her domain, her longsword striking absolute terror into the hearts of the Spiritual Realm’s forces.
Now, only rogue demon cultivators roamed the outer perimeter. As for the righteous cultivators who used to camp there, they were either dead or had fled for their lives. The few who survived…beaten half to death…were hung along the Demon Realm’s city battlements by the Demon Venerable herself, left to bake in the sun like strips of dried meat.
The Demon Realm spanned a vast territory. Its outer perimeter bordered the Spiritual Cultivation Realm, meaning the environment there was still relatively pleasant.
Further inward lay the Demonic Forest, home to the realm’s fierce demonic beasts. This served as the demon race’s first natural line of defense.
Beyond the forest lay the realm’s chaotic field, a treacherous, ever-shifting landscape shrouded in a year-round blood mist. Filled with mindless, venomous corpses and berserk demons, this formed the second line of defense.
Past the field was where the rogue demon cultivators built their homes. Should enemies breach the outer defenses, every demon cultivator here…whether they wanted to or not…would receive a command from the Demon Venerable to defend the realm to the death. This was the third line of defense.
If the demon cultivators won, the invasion would end there. If they fell, the invaders would have to cross a body of water known as the Spirit-Devouring River. Beyond it waited the final line of defense: an entire army comprised of every demon in the realm.
Below the Demon Venerable, every single demon…regardless of their strength or rank…was categorized as a demon soldier. Though internal hierarchies existed, the moment an external threat reached this point, the entire race would mobilize as one, driven by a single purpose: to protect their ruler.
And if even this army were wiped out, invaders would finally reach the Grand Demon Hall. Stationed there were the Realm Protectors…beasts and warriors of terrifying, awe-inspiring strength. Yet their purpose was not to kill the enemy, but to buy time. Time for the Demon Venerable to escape.
For as long as the Demon Venerable lived, it mattered not how many demons died—they would all, eventually, be reborn.
This was precisely why, from ancient times to the present day, the demon race could suffer defeat after defeat at the hands of the Spiritual Realm, yet never truly be wiped out. They were simply impossible to eradicate…unless someone could kill the Demon Venerable and purge every ounce of demonic energy from the world simultaneously.
Otherwise, even if the Demon Venerable were slain, her soul would eventually possess the body of a demonic beast, a demon, or a rogue cultivator to rise once more. And once reborn, she would gather the ambient demonic energy of heaven and earth to resurrect her army, which would in turn spawn new demonic beasts and nurture new demon cultivators.
In this endless cycle, the demons could only ever be suppressed or contained…never truly destroyed.
Of course, there were always those who refused to accept this. Legends said that by gathering the eight ancient divine artifacts, one could slay the Demon Venerable permanently and sever her path to rebirth. People had been trying to accomplish this for generations, though none had ever succeeded.
Inside the main hall of the Demon Palace, the two Great Guardians and the four Regional Lords of the Demon Realm had gathered, awaiting the Demon Venerable’s arrival.
The four Regional Lords…Nanyu, Xichen, Beifeng, and Dongling…consisted of three men and one woman. Their cultivation bases and status within the realm were fairly equal, which made them close allies. They sat side by side along the right side of a long stone table.
Opposite them were the Left and Right Guardians, Gu Xuan and Guan Yin. Though their duties forced them to work closely together, their personal relationship was abysmal. Even now, sitting across from each other, they exchanged looks of undisguised contempt.
The six of them sat in quiet anticipation, waiting for their sovereign.
“Could the news be wrong? Has the Demon Venerable actually come out of seclusion?”
It was Nanyu, the Lord of the South, who broke the silence. A practitioner with a pure Fire Spiritual Root, his temperament was as fiery and volatile as his power. While the others waited patiently, he was already losing his composure.
When no one bothered to answer him, he stood up in frustration. “I’m going outside to check.”
Just as he turned to leave, a surge of demonic aura zipped into the grand hall.
All six figures froze instantly. Within a heartbeat, they abandoned their seats and dropped to their knees, pressing their foreheads against the ground.
“We respectfully welcome Your Highness!”
Yet no physical figure entered. Instead, an ethereal voice echoed throughout the hall:
“This Seat has other matters to attend to. Regional Lords, return to your posts and guard the Demon Realm together. Left Guardian, stay and watch over the Demon Hall. Right Guardian, wait for me at the Solitary City in three days. I have a task for you.”
The voice was genderless and light, yet laced with an overwhelming demonic pressure that rattled the very souls of everyone present.
“We obey Your Highness’s command!”
The demonic aura dispersed, and the crushing pressure weighing down the hall lifted.
The crowd let out a collective sigh of relief. Having received their orders, the four Regional Lords offered brief farewells and departed together.
Only the two Guardians remained in the cavernous hall. Gu Xuan, the Left Guardian, turned to Guan Yin with a sneer of pure disdain.
“I didn’t expect Her Highness to spare you, let alone trust you with an assignment,” he mocked. “What kind of tricks did you pull to stay in her good graces?”
Gu Xuan was furious. He was clearly the stronger of the two, so why was he being left behind to guard the palace while she got the field assignment?
“Her Highness has her own reasons, and it isn’t your place to question them,” Guan Yin replied smoothly. She stepped up to him, using her short bone flute to lightly poke his chest. “Some people spend all their time vying for power and fighting over treasures, acting even more petty than the concubines in a mortal emperor’s harem. You’ve tried to sabotage me time and time again…do you really think Her Highness doesn’t know? Is there anything in this realm that escapes her eyes?”
Her gaze hardened slightly. “I overlooked your little games before, but this time, your interference cost me a divine artifact. Rather than stewing over why I’m being favored, you’d better spend your time thinking about how Her Highness will punish you when she returns.”
Gu Xuan scoffed. “You messed up on your own. It has nothing to do with me. Besides, Her Highness won’t fall for your slander.”
Guan Yin let out a soft laugh. “Feel free to test that theory. But if you take my advice, you’ll behave yourself. We both serve the same master, but if you cross me again, don’t expect any mercy. I only let you slide in the past out of courtesy…don’t mistake my patience for weakness.”
“Spoken like a true snake! If you’re so confident, let’s settle this with our fists!”
Gu Xuan lashed out with an attack, but before his first strike could land, Guan Yin vanished into thin air.
“Coward! Run while you can!” Gu Xuan yelled into the empty hall. “Next time I see you, I’ll rip out that lying tongue of yours and make you a mute for the rest of your life!”
Having left the palace, Guan Yin made her way toward Solitary City to await the Demon Venerable’s arrival as commanded.
At that exact same moment, miles away… the Ye Clan of Solitary City was being slaughtered to the very last soul.