In the Demon Realm’s royal capital, within the Eastern Emperor Palace’s Treasury.
The air was dense with spiritual qi and multicolored lights. Encompassing barriers surrounded the perimeter, and heavily armed guards patrolled back and forth, yet a figure made of soul matter materialized inside the barrier out of thin air.
Though her form was not concealed, the guards acted as if they could not see her at all. This soul figure was Ming Yuan, who had just left Jiang Xu’s courtyard.
The border city was a vast distance away from the royal capital, separated by thousands of miles, yet Ming Yuan traveled back and forth freely within a single breath.
Glancing casually at the guards, Ming Yuan sauntered into the treasury and floated straight toward the location she had sensed beforehand.
Heaven-Mystic Grass, Bodhi Flower, Heart-of-Earth Spiritual Milk, Nine-True Emperor Jade, Blood-Dragon Bone…
Without even sparing them a glance, Ming Yuan flicked her sleeves, and the heavenly treasures abruptly vanished from their spots.
Having collected the medicinal ingredients, Ming Yuan prepared to leave with unfeeling haste. As she turned, her peripheral vision caught sight of a teleportation array tucked away in the corner.
Her steps paused, her gaze flickering slightly. After a brief thought, she strode directly into the teleportation array. A flash of white light later, her figure disappeared from the spot.
Another flash of white light, and Ming Yuan’s form reappeared in midair.
Scanning her surroundings, a trace of surprise passed through her heart. Before her eyes lay an ancient and profound altar, surrounded by paved mystical stones. A high platform stood at the center, encompassed by circulating currents of light that radiated an indescribable, heaven-born Dao resonance.
At the center of the altar stood a stone monument. Unfathomable and mysterious, the monument emitted a strange, profound radiance. Ripples of energy spread outward through the air, causing the atmosphere itself to quiver slightly in rhythm with the waves.
The mere sight of it seemed to cleanse one’s Dao heart of dust and inspire sudden spiritual clarity.
Ming Yuan, however, felt nothing of the sort. Giving the monument a faint glance, she felt a trace of curiosity as to why the mere act of looking at it had instantly made its name and status within the Demon Realm clear to her.
Blinking, Ming Yuan failed to find an answer, so she simply stopped thinking about it.
The Heavenly Star Monument! That was the name of this stone tablet!
Right at that moment, a woman in palatial court dress walked up the stone steps, slowly approaching the monument, and thus, the spot where Ming Yuan was floating.
Ming Yuan cast a glance at the woman. Palatial robes, an ancient aura, and immense power; these were the impressions the woman gave off, regal and unoffending.
Tilting her head slightly, Ming Yuan prepared to turn and leave. Yet, recalling the monument’s purpose and the identity of Mu Qing that the system had mentioned earlier, the Phoenix Clan’s young master and future Demon Realm Young Venerable, she paused.
Her gaze flashed, and a thought crossed Ming Yuan’s mind. Curving her lips slightly, she tested the waters by transmitting a strand of soul thought toward the stone monument.
Unexpected yet entirely reasonable, the monument trembled slightly, absorbed the soul thought, and sent back a blurred message to Ming Yuan.
Ming Yuan smiled with satisfaction, her figure flashing out of existence in midair.
Mission accomplished, time to head home!
On the other side, feeling the stone monument tremble, the palatial-dressed woman sensed something amiss. Ascending the altar in a few swift strides, the exact moment Ming Yuan vanished, her gaze swept over and landed precisely on the spot where Ming Yuan had been floating, her eyes narrowing with intense scrutiny.
Slightly startled in midair, Ming Yuan wondered: Did she notice me? I didn’t reveal my presence at all from start to finish! Could that court-dressed woman be the Lord of the Demon Realm?
Strange? There’s nothing here. Did I sense wrongly? The woman in palatial robes grew suspicious and looked back at the monument.
The stone monument stood tall and majestic in its place, spinning with its profound radiance completely undisturbed, as if the trembling just moments before had been nothing more than an illusion.
The woman’s brows furrowed slightly. Possessing profound and mighty cultivation, she rarely misjudged anything at her level; her perception just now could not possibly have been a coincidence. Something major was likely about to happen!
With storm clouds gathering on the horizon, could the little boat of the Demon Realm safely weather the giant waves of the six realms?
Letting out a soft, long sigh, the woman turned and stepped into the teleportation array, heading back toward the treasury.
In midair, the system’s jade pendant avatar wobbled to flash its presence and asked Ming Yuan, “Host, what did you do to the Heavenly Star Monument?”
The system was genuinely curious. Although it had only been born recently and was executing tasks with a host for the very first time, its internal programming clearly indicated that most system hosts survived by navigating risks based on world plots and exploiting loopholes to complete missions.
Weren’t they all trembling with caution? Even if some hosts possessed unusual methods and unorthodox operations, everything usually had a cause-and-effect and logical self-consistency.
Unlike its own host, who overturned the settings right out of the gate, flipped the rules upside down, and ignored plot development entirely just to stir up trouble.
Defeating Mu Qing, triggering the millennial spirit spring water, and freely waltzing in and out of the Demon Realm’s treasury to take whatever she wanted, wasn’t every single one of these actions a direct defiance of the Heavenly Dao?
Moreover, her host did it all with righteous self-assurance and natural ease, completely unburdened psychologically.
Her host seemed to hold zero regard even for the Heavenly Dao itself!
Therefore, the system was truly burning with curiosity. As far as it knew, the Heavenly Star Monument’s status to the Demon Realm was immeasurable, calling it the faith of the demons was no exaggeration.
For her host to be able to tamper with such an entity, the system could only offer a capital-letter salute of absolute admiration.
So, Host, what did you actually do to the Heavenly Star Monument?
The system lacked a physical heart, but it inexplicably felt an itching sensation deep inside, as though something was frantically scratching away at it.
Ming Yuan paid no mind to her little system’s endless muttering, letting its questions slide right past her. Tapping the jade pendant, a rare trace of a smile surfaced in her voice.
“You’ll find out in a moment.”
Whhemer, how is it possible to wait a moment after learning about something so interesting! The jade pendant was full of resentment, swaying back and forth around Ming Yuan’s waist in a fit of pique.
Back in the small courtyard, Ming Yuan reappeared beside the wooden tub. Jiang Xu sat motionless with closed eyes, enveloped by the medicinal liquid.
Because of Ming Yuan’s previously infused soul power and her natal soul fire, that butterfly was still fluttering its wings lightly, circling around Jiang Xu at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye, though its phantom form was slightly fainter than before.
Without wasting any more time, Ming Yuan flicked her sleeves. The heavenly treasures she had taken from the Demon Realm treasury were tossed directly into the tub, instantly submerging beneath the medicinal liquid.
Sensing the addition of these herbs, the butterfly began flapping its wings to continuously absorb their medicinal potency, its phantom form gradually solidifying.
Ming Yuan acted once more, pressing her fingertips against Jiang Xu’s glabella and channeling all the soul power she could muster.
A moment later, Ming Yuan withdrew her fingertips, her complexion turning slightly pale and her soul form dimming.
A wave of weakness washed over her. Ming Yuan felt a faint sense of novelty, ah, the long-forgotten feeling of depleted soul power.
Though she could barely maintain her soul form, a slight smile curved her lips. That desolate butterfly danced happily in a circle around Jiang Xu before vanishing into the air once again, though this time its trail was not entirely untraceable.
On Jiang Xu’s back, a blood-red butterfly hovered across her skin, vivid and lifelike enough to send a chill through anyone who looked at it.
At the same time, high above the royal capital’s altar in the Demon Realm, a small butterfly circled the Eastern Emperor Palace once before its phantom form plunged into the Heavenly Star Monument, vanishing in a flash.
Above the Eastern Emperor Palace, a sea of crimson light flooded the skies, dyeing ten thousand miles of layered clouds. A chorus of ten thousand beasts echoed in submission, their cries shaking the heavens and lingering endlessly.
Inside the treasury, the court-robed woman was still reeling from the shock of the countless heavenly treasures mysteriously vanishing. Sensing the anomaly above the Eastern Emperor Palace, she stepped forward and materialized directly at the center of the altar.
Just as she steadied her footing, her gaze caught the blood-red butterfly diving into the Heavenly Star Monument. Although it was only a phantom, the aura it exuded was terrifying, ancient, ferocious, carrying the heavy scent of an apocalyptic bloodbath carried down from primordial times.
In that single instant, the woman’s soul trembled, her entire body suppressed by the terrifying pressure of that tiny butterfly as cold sweat drenched her back.
After the butterfly phantom merged into the monument, the Heavenly Star Monument burst into a blinding crimson radiance. Once the glaring red light faded, words materialized across its surface.
Composing her mind, the woman stepped forward and looked up, her expression turning quite peculiar after reading them.
Young Venerable? Selection? Three Trials?
Connecting the anomaly over the Eastern Emperor Palace with the abnormality of the Heavenly Star Monument, reading the text on the tablet, and recalling her inexplicable premonition alongside the treasures vanished from the treasury, a certain suspicion blossomed in the woman’s heart.
A gleam flashed through her eyes. The woman smiled faintly and vanished from the spot.