In the dense forest of the "Sacred Demon Palace," the white-haired youth and the beautiful woman were still sitting cross-legged under the large tree. A few days ago, they had gone out to investigate the Sect-Protecting Grand Formation but had still found nothing unusual.
Although this made them somewhat suspicious, after observing for a few more days without any further anomalies, they could only let it go.
This afternoon, the meditating white-haired youth once again opened his eyes. Although his face showed impatience, there was also a hint of doubt.
"Hmm, why have there been so many things happening lately? And what's wrong with Dao Yu?"
After more than ten breaths, Dao Yu's somewhat weary voice came from outside the dense forest.
"Dao Yu has an urgent matter to report to the Grand Elder. This matter is extremely important. I hope the Grand Elder will grant me an audience!"
'Who could have injured him to this extent...'
The white-haired youth was very surprised. But at his level of cultivation, very few things could move him. Although the other party had disturbed his quiet cultivation, he still spoke faintly.
"You may enter!"
The beautiful woman under another large tree in the distance did not move at all, as if she were a timeless stone statue.
Soon, amidst the churning, rich, milky-white Spiritual Energy, Dao Yu's figure flew over.
At this moment, he had changed into a set of white robes, still looking handsome and free-spirited.
But in the eyes of the white-haired youth, this was not what he saw. Dao Yu's right eye appeared very empty and lifeless, and his aura was weak.
Everything Dao Yu was displaying now might seem normal to a Nascent Soul cultivator.
But it was useless in front of the white-haired youth. He could see at a glance that Dao Yu's physical body was damaged; that right eye had been re-condensed with magical power.
Dao Yu had come in a hurry and had only had time to change his robes. Although he had used a divine ability to re-condense his lost right eye, it had not truly merged with his original body.
The white-haired youth remained seated cross-legged under the large tree, just quietly looking at Dao Yu without asking any further questions.
"Dao Yu pays his respects to the two elders. This disciple has an important matter to report. Zhao Min has disappeared!"
When Dao Yu reached the white-haired youth, he immediately knelt down, kowtowed respectfully three times, and then, without getting up, stated his purpose directly.
This one sentence caused the usually calm Supreme Grand Elder of the "Sacred Demon Palace" to be somewhat moved. His body trembled slightly, and the large tree behind him rustled without any wind.
At the same time, the beautiful woman who had been meditating with her eyes closed in the distance suddenly opened her beautiful eyes, shooting two sharp beams of light in his direction.
This made Dao Yu feel as if he had needles on his back, and the pressure on him multiplied, but he dared not move an inch.
Then, two incomparably powerful Divine Senses instantly covered the entire "Sacred Demon City." These two Divine Senses, completely undisguised, immediately alarmed many of the White Demon Clan's old monsters. They were all somewhat astonished.
"What's gotten into Mo Yu and Lan Bing? Why are they suddenly probing the entire 'Sacred Demon City' with their Divine Senses without any concealment!!"
"Did something major happen? Why haven't I sensed any enemy auras? What are Mo Yu and Lan Bing doing, suddenly erupting with their auras..."
"..."
These two Divine Senses came quickly and retreated just as quickly. In an instant, they vanished like a tidal wave.
"She's really not in the palace. Her aura has completely disappeared!"
"Not in 'Sacred Demon City' either! Dao Yu, speak. What happened?"
The beautiful woman also shook her head. The white-haired youth stared coldly at Dao Yu. Zhao Min's cultivation was not strong, but her identity was extremely special.
Dao Yu swallowed his dry throat, and his voice trembled slightly as he began to narrate.
Being stared at by two super experts, even though he knew he was the Grand Elder's most valued direct disciple and that nothing untoward would happen, the invisible pressure from their gazes made Dao Yu feel as if he were a child, naked in a world of ice and snow, lonely and helpless.
Soon, he had recounted the entire incident, not daring to omit or conceal anything.
"You're saying Zhao Min left the palace a few days ago and then disappeared without a trace in the city?"
The white-haired youth's cold voice came over, devoid of any emotion, leaving Dao Yu unsure if this Grand Elder of the clan was enraged.
"Yes, it has been four days!"
"A spatial magical treasure. His judgment should be correct!"
A crisp and pleasant voice suddenly rang out, like an oriole flying out of the dense forest. The beautiful woman suddenly interjected.
"Let's go. We'll go have a look!"
The white-haired youth suddenly stood up. They had spent a great deal of effort and resources to cultivate Zhao Min. She was the most core disciple of the "Sacred Demon Palace," an important disciple with a chance to advance to the Spirit Transformation stage.
How could they sit by and do nothing about this matter? The next moment, Dao Yu felt a hand press down on his shoulder.
Then, in an instant, he appeared outside the "Sacred Demon Palace." The beautiful woman's figure was also beside the white-haired youth.
"Where is that place?"
The white-haired youth glanced at Dao Yu.
In the courtyard where Li Yan had previously lived, Dao Yu had laid down layers of protective restrictions. But at a certain moment, three figures suddenly appeared in the courtyard without any warning.
Dao Yu's restrictions gave no warning or reaction at all, as if they didn't exist.
The white-haired youth had already released Dao Yu. He and the beautiful woman took a step and arrived in front of the deep pit. His pair of clear, black-and-white eyes suddenly and bizarrely transformed into endless black holes.
Within the black holes, two white yin-yang fish, one positive and one negative, began to rotate rapidly.
The beautiful woman at the side just stared at the deep pit. With her Senior Brother making a move, she didn't need to interfere. She just had to wait.
Dao Yu, behind them, didn't even dare to breathe loudly. He stood with his hands hanging down, secretly looking ahead, his heart already burning with expectation.
'Boy, when the time comes, I will beg the Grand Elder to hand you over to me for punishment. You just wait!'
None of the three spoke. For a moment, the courtyard was unusually quiet. Dao Yu could even hear his own heartbeat.
Time flew by. After a quarter of an hour, the pair of white yin-yang fish in the white-haired youth's eyes suddenly paused.
He suddenly raised a hand and beckoned lightly. A speck of dust, smaller than a grain of sand, broke through layers of soil and flew straight up from the bottom of the deep pit.
In almost the blink of an eye, it was in the white-haired youth's hand. He pinched the speck of dust between two fingers and brought it before his eyes to examine it carefully.
The beautiful woman at his side, without any hesitation, also swept her Divine Sense towards the speck of dust.
"This is it? It does indeed feel like real soil and dust, no different at all."
The beautiful woman did not use any other divine abilities, but her Divine Sense was incomparably powerful, and she could easily detect any abnormality.
But the speck of dust pinched between the white-haired youth's fingers felt like a very ordinary speck of dust to her senses, emitting a pure earth-attribute aura, with no discernible connection to the rules of space.
"We'll know once we take a look!"
The white-haired youth's cold voice came out. He was very confident in his "Chaos Demon Pupils" and didn't believe he would make a mistake.
However, he had also developed a strong interest in this spatial magical treasure. Just now, it seemed like he had found it without much effort, but in reality, he had already used the power of rules that many cultivators had only heard of in legends.
As he spoke, a white light erupted from the tips of his two long fingers. However, he was also controlling his power, afraid of crushing the speck of dust in one go.
If that happened, Zhao Min inside might be instantly shattered into nothingness by the chaotic spatial currents. He was now just trying to confirm if this speck of dust was a spatial magical treasure.
The next moment, a scene that shocked both him and the beautiful woman occurred.
As the white-haired youth circulated his magical power, the white light that erupted from him collapsed on its own the moment it appeared.
At the same time, a sharp pain came from his fingertips. Just now, it was as if a mortal had tried to crush a hard stone with all his might.
"Hmm?"
The white-haired youth was taken aback. A trace of surprise appeared on his expression, which had remained unchanged for millennia.
Although he had expectedly identified this speck of dust as the object of his search, the result was far beyond his expectations.
His seemingly casual pinch would have turned even an initial-stage Nascent Soul cultivator into a rain of blood in an instant.
He then gathered his magical power again. This time, the white light at his fingertips appeared even gentler.
But it was this gentle white light that made Dao Yu behind him feel the surrounding space suddenly tighten. He could no longer move at all.
This time, the white light flashed but did not collapse as before. But after a few breaths, the white-haired youth's expression became increasingly solemn.
Because the speck of dust between his fingers was not only undamaged, but it also showed no signs of any abnormality.
It was like a dead object, completely unresponsive. At this time, his power was still constantly increasing. Thirty percent, forty percent, fifty percent...
If it weren't for his excellent control over his own power, concentrating it on a single point, this force alone could have razed the "Sacred Demon City" and its surroundings for ten thousand li to the ground in an instant.
It was estimated that besides activating the "Sacred Demon Palace's" protective grand formation, all the other first-rate sects in the city, even if they stacked all their sect-protecting grand formations together, would be turned to ash in an instant.
Not only did the white-haired youth's expression become extremely solemn, but the heart of the beautiful woman at his side, which was like a block of ancient ice, also began to stir. Sensing the white-haired youth's power growing stronger, she finally spoke.
"Senior Brother, this is a supreme treasure. It can only be opened by other means."
As she spoke, the white light in the white-haired youth's hand quickly disappeared.
Dao Yu didn't understand the meaning behind the Second Elder's words, but the white-haired youth knew he couldn't continue to increase his magical power.
Once his power exceeded sixty percent, it would trigger the rules of heaven and earth. At that time, he would be directly squeezed out of the Forsaken Continent, and a Great Heavenly Tribulation would descend upon him.
Moreover, even if he could shatter this speck of dust later, he might not be able to perfectly control his power to keep Zhao Min inside alive, and that was not the result he wanted.
At the same time, he also agreed with the beautiful woman's words. This was a supreme treasure, a rare supreme treasure in the world.
Even he had never seen a magical treasure of this level. Not to mention the "Sacred Demon Palace," even with the Black Demon Clan included, it was unlikely that anyone on the entire Forsaken Continent could forge such a magical treasure.
When he had used sixty percent of his magical power, this magical treasure had not produced any defensive power at all. It had remained plain and unremarkable.
The more it was like this, the more solemn the white-haired youth became. This meant that his power was not enough to activate this magical treasure's defensive restriction.
The white-haired youth and the beautiful woman looked at each other. They both saw in each other's eyes a shock and joy they hadn't felt in ten thousand years...
In the dense forest of the "Sacred Demon Palace," the white-haired youth and the beautiful woman were staring intently at the sky, where a speck of dust, almost invisible to the naked eye, was floating.
Dao Yu had already been sent back to his cave residence. The pitiful man was now completely unaware of what had happened before. His memories of these few days had been instantly erased, and much of the content had been altered.
In his memory, he had been recuperating ever since he came out of the secret realm.
One of his eyes had been injured by a Black Demon Clan Nascent Soul cultivator in the final battle before leaving the secret realm, and he had also been seriously injured as a result.
As for Zhao Min, he remembered that the Grand Elder had ordered her to enter seclusion a few days ago and had told him not to disturb her quiet cultivation for a while.