Lanling was stunned for a moment and said, “Please ask.”
Princess Shayan said, “Tell me honestly, where did you obtain your Flowing Years Pill and Nirvana Blood? Judging by your strength and your identity, you don’t seem like someone who should possess treasures of such rarity.”
Lanling fell into a brief silence.
Princess Shayan continued, “You can lie if you want, but I will be able to tell that every single lie is a lie.”
How could she tell? Through spiritual power?
Lanling replied, “I discovered the ruins of a Demon God and found the Flowing Years Pill and the Nirvana Blood there.”
He was telling the truth.
Princess Shayan stared at him for quite a while before saying, “That answer is true, but you deliberately hid the important details.”
Lanling was surprised. He had assumed she was using some kind of spiritual technique to determine whether he was lying, but it seemed she was simply exceptionally good at reading people.
Princess Shayan asked, “What do you intend to do with the Brilliant Star Tear?”
“To save someone,” Lanling answered.
She narrowed her eyes, clearly dissatisfied with that answer as well.
“What a crafty man,” she concluded, showing no attempt to hide the disgust in her eyes.
Then she ordered, “Bring him a cloak.”
A short while later, someone brought over a cloak bearing the emblem of a blazing flame, as though it had been inlaid with some mysterious energy.
“And bring him a griffin as well.”
Soon, a griffin was led over.
Princess Shayan whispered a few words into the griffin’s ear. After listening, the creature affectionately rubbed its face against hers.
“Once you put on this cloak, no one within a thousand miles will dare attack you. However, the energy contained in its emblem will disappear after three days. As for this griffin, after flying fifteen hundred miles, it will return on its own. You’ll have to travel the rest of the way yourself, you secretive and deceitful man.”
With that, Princess Shayan turned and left proudly, making no attempt to hide her dislike. She clearly had no wish to speak another word to him.
Lanling remained standing where he was, watching her departing figure and thinking for quite some time.
She obviously disliked him, so why had she helped him? There seemed to be no reason.
Then he realised something.
The true master behind Heaven and Earth Pavilion was Princess Shayan herself.
Lanling had brought her enormous profits today. So although she disliked him, she was still willing to ensure his safety, though only for three days.
He shook his head helplessly.
After putting on the cloak and mounting the griffin, he flew eastward into the sky.
…
The same mountain peak.
The same crumbling black palace.
A bloodthirsty bat landed on the summit, carrying the middle-aged man who had purchased the Nirvana Blood.
He jumped off the bat and entered the dark palace.
At the same time, his appearance began to change.
His body grew nearly twenty centimetres taller, reaching well over 1.9 metres.
His face also transformed into one of extraordinary perfection, as though carved from jade with blade-like precision.
It was perhaps the most handsome face in the world.
His eyes were deep and razor-sharp.
His nose was perfectly straight.
His lips were finely shaped yet firm with determination.
His entire face resembled a flawless sculpture.
His beauty possessed no warmth.
Instead, it was cold and intimidating, like an unsheathed sword capable of piercing anyone who looked directly at him.
Combined with his tall, perfectly proportioned body, which looked as though it had been forged from steel, he radiated overwhelming pressure.
Inside the dark palace sat an even taller middle-aged man with his eyes closed.
He was the Demon King who had conducted the Blood Sacrifice Ceremony.
His features strongly resembled those of the young man, though they were much gentler. Only the crimson scar across his face gave him a sinister appearance.
The young man resembled a drawn sword, brilliant and unstoppable.
The Demon King, on the other hand, resembled a massive ancient blade, powerful yet restrained, concealing its true edge.
The handsome young man stepped forward, knelt on one knee and said,
“Father, I have brought the Nirvana Blood.”
“Good.”
The Demon King slowly opened his eyes.
The dozens of powerful Shamans seated beside him also opened theirs.
“Where is Diyan?” the young man asked.
The Demon King’s eyes narrowed slightly before he gestured towards the entrance.
A fragrant breeze drifted in.
An incomparably beautiful figure floated gracefully into the palace.
It was the ancient Demoness, Diyan.
She glanced casually at the unfamiliar young man before immediately looking away.
For the first time in his life, the Demon King’s son saw Diyan.
His expressionless face trembled ever so slightly.
His icy pupils contracted sharply.
His breathing paused.
His heart seemed to tighten, as though gripped by an invisible hand.
The Demon King stretched out his hand.
“Give it to me.”
His son presented the bottle of Nirvana Blood.
After opening it and taking a sniff, the Demon King smiled.
“It really is Ancient Nirvana Blood. Heaven itself favours me. Just when I needed Nirvana Blood, it appeared.”
The prince immediately said,
“Father is destined to unite the Southern Wilderness and establish the Demon Empire.”
The Demon King looked at Diyan.
“Drink it.”
Without hesitation, Diyan took the bottle and swallowed the Nirvana Blood.
The entire palace fell silent.
Everyone held their breath.
They watched for the change.
The moment she finished drinking, her beautiful eyes suddenly widened.
“Whoosh!”
Purple flames burst from her eyes.
Then flames poured from her mouth.
Finally, crimson fire erupted from every part of her body.
Her enchanting figure became completely engulfed in blazing flames.
At the same time, her wings rapidly expanded.
Two majestic demon horns emerged from her forehead.
Then she released a series of piercing demonic screams.
A terrifying surge of energy exploded outward.
The dark palace atop the mountain instantly shattered.
Every living creature within dozens of miles exploded into pieces.
The shockwave resembled a nuclear explosion.
Wave after wave of devastating energy swept across the mountain.
“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!”
The palace first cracked apart.
Then it was pulverised.
Then reduced to dust.
Finally, it vanished completely.
Every grain of soil.
Every tree.
Every cloud in the sky.
Even the surrounding air itself.
Everything within more than ten miles was annihilated.
The mountain became a lifeless wasteland.
The Demon King’s eyes burned with excitement as he gazed upon the ancient Demoness he had personally created.
“I succeeded.
“I am destined to accomplish my great ambition.
“I am destined to unite the entire Southern Wilderness.”
The prince stared at Diyan with both excitement and uncontrollable fascination.
The Blood Sacrifice Ceremony had finally been completed.
Diyan had undergone her final Nirvana and become a truly terrifying ancient Demoness.
…
Everything gradually returned to calm.
Diyan reverted to her normal appearance.
Her horns disappeared.
Her magnificent wings vanished.
Even her cloven hooves became human feet once more.
She once again looked like an incomparably beautiful woman.
The blood-red armour still clung tightly to her body.
Her magically seductive figure was so captivating that few dared look directly at her.
She slowly swept her gaze across everyone on the mountain.
Every powerful Shaman instinctively lowered his head, avoiding her enchanting eyes, even though those eyes were utterly cold and emotionless.
The Demon King said,
“Crown Prince, from today onward, she is your younger sister, Diyan.”
Then he turned towards her.
“Diyan, this is your elder brother, the Crown Prince.”
She tilted her head and examined him with her fiery yet icy eyes before saying,
“Brother.”
Her voice was cold.
Yet merely hearing it made one’s heart race.
The Demon King declared,
“From this day onward, you and the Crown Prince shall become my left and right hands.
“The day we unite the Southern Wilderness and rebuild the Demon Empire is not far away.”
All the powerful Shamans immediately knelt.
“Congratulations, Your Majesty!”
The Demon King laughed loudly.
“You have all worked tirelessly to complete this Blood Sacrifice Ceremony and recreate the ancient Demoness. I am deeply grateful.”
The Shamans bowed once again.
Then the Demon King’s smile became cold.
“However… I believe this Blood Sacrifice is not yet complete.
“In ancient times, master craftsmen forging divine weapons would throw themselves into the furnace, allowing their own blood to complete the weapon’s final sacrifice.
“I believe that is your true destiny.”
The expressions of every Shaman changed instantly.
The Demon King turned towards Diyan.
“These Shamans are all extremely powerful.
“Consider them my gift to you.”
“Yes.”
Purple flames once again ignited within Diyan’s eyes.
Her magnificent wings spread behind her.
Then the slaughter began.
Each of the dozens of Shamans was an exceptionally powerful expert, one in ten thousand, even one in a hundred thousand.
Before dying, they desperately fought back with everything they possessed.
Yet every attack was completely useless.
Blades struck her flawless body without leaving even the slightest mark.
Energy attacks were simply absorbed and vanished.
Her methods of killing were unimaginably cruel.
With one graceful movement of her delicate fingers, she tore a powerful Shaman clean in half.
Then she opened her hand and devoured every trace of the dead Shaman’s demonic blood energy.
Her absorption ability was even more direct than Lanling’s.
Her entire body became like a bottomless vortex.
She slaughtered.
She absorbed.
One after another, every powerful Shaman was killed and consumed.
The mountain peak became a living hell.
After finishing the massacre, Diyan spread her wings and soared high into the sky.
She looked silently towards the north.
The Demon King asked,
“My daughter, what are you looking at?”
Diyan answered,
“I don’t know.
“I simply feel like flying north.”
Those words caused the Demon King’s expression to change slightly.
…
Exactly fifteen hundred miles later, the griffin landed and unceremoniously threw Lanling off before immediately turning around and flying back towards Roshar City.
By now, however, Lanling was already safe.
He tore off the cloak and casually threw it away.
He trusted no one, including Princess Shayan.
Then he swallowed another Transformation Pill, assumed a completely different appearance, and disappeared into the endless forest.
Five days later, Lanling returned to the Ghost Domain.
Everything remained unchanged.
The Mirror Demon King’s barrier was still standing.
Outside it, Constantine and Alfonso’s thirty-thousand-strong army continued its siege.
Suppressing his aura, Lanling quietly slipped through the gaps in the enemy forces and re-entered the Ghost Domain.
Seventeen days had passed since he had left.
There were only thirteen days remaining before the Mirror Demon King’s barrier disappeared.
Looking once again at Mirror Mountain, Lanling was amazed by the construction speed of the Flame Demon Tribe.
When he had left, only the framework of two buildings had existed inside the walls.
Now dozens of houses had already been completed.
Of course, these were only the auxiliary buildings.
Construction of the main castle had not yet begun.
That had been Lanling’s plan all along.
The castle was enormous and would take a long time to build, so the priority had been to provide everyone with homes first.
Lanling hurried back to the tribe.
The very first person he saw was Dina.
She was not inside the settlement.
Instead, she was standing atop a huge rock near the entrance, gazing into the distance.
The moment she saw Lanling, she rushed over joyfully and threw herself into his arms.
Lanling pinched her bottom and joked,
“Couldn’t wait any longer?”
Her body trembled slightly before she said,
“Husband… something terrible has happened.
“Ali has disappeared.”
“What?”
Lanling’s expression changed dramatically.
“Disappeared? What do you mean?”
Dina explained,
“I told you before that Ali’s daughter had become lazy and constantly spoke badly of you.
“She insulted Ali as well, calling the two of you an adulterous couple who murdered her father.
“She kept saying she would take revenge.
“I warned her not to disrupt the tribe, but she insulted me too.
“She swore that one day she would make you pay with your life.”
Lanling’s eyes twitched.
“To avoid disturbing everyone, I locked her up and asked Ali to watch over her.
“But… two days ago… both of them disappeared.”
The Flame Demon Tribe still had too few people.
They did not even have a proper prison.
More importantly, Dina’s heart was simply too soft.
Lanling asked,
“Have you searched everywhere?”
Dina nodded.
“I didn’t dare make it public.
“I only informed my adoptive father.
“He searched every corner, but neither Ali nor her daughter could be found.
“The only possibility left is…”
The only possibility was that they had left the Flame Demon Tribe.
Lanling asked,
“Could they have fallen into Constantine’s army?”
“They aren’t there.
“But if Ali has fallen into Constantine’s hands…” Dina could not finish her sentence.
Everyone knew what would happen.
Constantine would repay them in kind.
Ali would suffer a fate worse than hell.
…
Ali’s daughter was called Gou Ling.
She was thirteen years old.
Ali herself was only twenty-eight.
Gou Ling was half Rakshasa and half Fox Clan.
She was not as beautiful as her mother, but even at thirteen she had already grown into a striking young beauty.
Unlike Ali’s gentle and kind personality, however, Gou Ling had inherited her father Gou Fu’s greed and cunning.
At this moment, she stood before Madam Gou Li, Constantine’s wife, in the Chimera Tribe.
Her eyes burned with excitement as she pointed at Ali.
“Aunt, I’ve brought back the bitch who murdered my father.
“I’ve never forgotten who I am.
“I’m a noble Rakshasa.
“I’m a member of the Chimera Tribe.
“I’m your niece.”
Gou Li stared at the kneeling Ali.
Her eyes turned blood-red.
Her entire body trembled.
Gou Ling continued,
“I also have important information for Uncle Chief.
“It’s about the barrier protecting the Ghost Domain.
“I want to avenge my father.
“I want to avenge you.
“I’ll help Father cut that bastard Lanling into a thousand pieces.”