Western Regions Demon Court.
Inside the Demon Emperor's Palace.
The sounds of silk and bamboo instruments cluttered the ears, and decadent music lingered endlessly around the beams.
Dozens of fox women, draped in light veils and possessing enchanting beauty, were dancing gracefully in the hall.
A man was currently reclining, his expression lazy.
He did not look hideous; instead, he appeared somewhat elegant and refined.
If not for the occasional flash of ghostly green light in his eyes, he would truly look like a scholar who had read widely.
"Good!"
A beautiful Fox Woman beside him hurriedly peeled a crystal-clear grape and fed it into his mouth.
The Demon Emperor chewed slowly, the juice bursting in his mouth, and a satisfied sigh escaped his throat.
Ever since the day he diverted the trouble toward the east.
Although he hadn't personally set foot in the Central Plains to witness the tragic state there with his own eyes.
But thinking about it... it should be extremely exciting.
That crazy woman is a Demon Saint of Spirit Mountain, possesses an orthodox Legacy, and went there with such a heaven-shaking grudge over her son's death.
Add to that that old beast Li Qianyuan.
Working together from the inside and outside.
Tsk tsk.
The Demon Emperor smacked his lips... Great Tang by now must be engulfed in the flames of war, with blood flowing like rivers, right?
As for that Grand Princess... it's true her talent is that of a Prodigy, but she is still too green after all.
Having to face the wrath of Spirit Mountain while also guarding against her own father's backstabbing.
Unless a True Immortal descends to the world, how could she break this situation?
"It's for the best."
"When those two sides fight until both are wounded, and that crazy woman has killed her fill, vented her anger, and returned to Spirit Mountain..."
"It's not impossible for me to take the opportunity to lead my army eastward."
But... at this thought, the comfort on the Demon Emperor's face suddenly faded a bit.
His brows gradually furrowed, and his thoughts drifted outside the palace.
If not for his wariness of the Immortal Master at Immortal Burial Pass.
With his half-baked cultivation that had only just stepped over the threshold of the Lamp Lighting Realm, he would have long ago been swallowed whole by the four rebellious Demon Saints under him.
But now... the Immortal Master's condition seems to be getting worse and worse.
If it truly reaches that point... where should he go?!
Actually... it's not entirely a dead end.
If the Immortal Master, before his death, could show great mercy and pass on the Fuluan lineage Legacy to him!
Then he would be a legitimate Disciple of an immortal family. Not to mention the mere four Demon Saints under him, even the side of Spirit Mountain... they might have to politely invite him over and arrange a position for him as a Demon Emperor of a cave.
But why... why is he just unwilling to relent?!
Saying things like 'demonic nature is hard to tame' and 'the time hasn't come'... Spirit Mountain is full of damn demons too, isn't it?!
Why don't their Legacies have such excuses?!
It's all bullshit.
Thinking of this, he felt increasingly irritable.
While he was lost in thought.
"Hmm?"
He looked up in astonishment.
Rumble—
Only to hear a sudden burst of thunder in the sky.
"This... such an unscrupulous Aura! They truly don't respect my Demon Court!"
...A golden rainbow.
Above the sky of the Western Regions, it pulled out a tail of flame a hundred miles long.
Gu Wanlan was being carried by the back of her neck, in a rather undignified posture.
Her eyes, usually cold and self-contained, were now wide and round, staring fixedly at the rapidly receding desert land below.
According to the rules of the Demon Suppression Division.
Or rather, according to the logic of a normal person.
Deep behind enemy lines, one should be as if walking on thin ice, restraining their Aura and moving in stealth.
Unless it was absolutely necessary, who would dare to make such a grand display in such a place?
But the one beside her... Gu Wanlan turned her head with difficulty.
Three Dragon Pearls.
Crimson as fire, pitch black as ink, and forest white as snow.
They were revolving and pulsing wildly around the young girl.
They happened to pass by an oasis.
Several massive Sand Lizard demons were lazily lying by the lake, basking in the sun.
Sensing the terrifying pressure coming from above, the several demons suddenly looked up.
Just as they were about to open their mouths to hiss an alarm.
The crimson Dragon Pearl beside the girl suddenly lit up with a red glow.
Boom—!!!
A pillar of crimson fire as thick as a barrel shot straight down from the Nine Heavens.
The several Sand Lizards with hundreds of years of Dao Cultivation didn't even have time to let out a scream.
They were instantly vaporized.
[Killed a Minggu Realm creature, gained 320 years of Dao Cultivation]
[Killed a Minggu Realm creature, gained 270 years of Dao Cultivation]
[Killed...]
In her Sea of Consciousness, the text jumped.
Jiang Yuechu didn't even lift her eyes.
Mosquito legs are still meat.
Since she was passing by, there was no reason to return empty-handed.
The golden rainbow continued forward.
Gu Wanlan's throat bobbed as she spoke dryly, "Your Highness..."
"Hmm?"
"This place... is already the heart of the Western Regions."
"And?"
"A few dozen miles further is where the Demon Emperor is located... if there's such a commotion..."
Gu Wanlan took a deep breath and gave a forced smile. "Isn't it a bit too high-profile?"
It was more than just high-profile.
It was practically shitting on someone's neck.
All along the way.
Wherever her eyes reached, wherever there was a fluctuation of Demonic Qi.
Whether it was flying in the sky, running on the ground, or buried in the dirt.
Struck by lightning.
Burned by fire.
Drowned by water.
The girl was like a tireless harvesting machine.
Wherever she passed, truly not a single demon hair was left.
Jiang Yuechu's gaze lowered slightly as she glanced at the woman she was carrying.
Then she raised her other hand and gave a light wave.
Sizzle—
A bolt of purple lightning lashed out like a whip.
Hundreds of feet away.
A Black Eagle demon hiding in the clouds, attempting to spy, was whipped into a burst of blood mist in mid-air.
After finishing all this.
She then spoke indifferently, "I'm in a hurry."
"..."
Gu Wanlan opened her mouth.
Is this a damn matter of being in a hurry?
"Moreover."
Jiang Yuechu looked ahead, her voice cold. "Since I've come to take something, if I were to be sneaky about it, that would be acting like a thief."
"I am the Grand Princess of Great Tang; how can I be like those thieves? Since I've come, I must let the owner here know..."
As her voice fell.
Rumble—!!!
The three Dragon Pearls trembled in unison.
The girl's Aura was no longer concealed in the slightest.
The terrifying pressure of the Lamp Lighting Realm swept unscrupulously in all directions.
With a single body, she suppressed these ten thousand miles of yellow sand!
Gu Wanlan only felt her scalp go numb.
Crazy.
Truly crazy.
How is Her Highness here for that medicine?
She clearly wants to flatten the Demon Court by herself!
...At the peak of Five Immortals Mountain, the sea of clouds was vast.
On a precipice, there was a solitary pavilion, and beside the pavilion grew an ancient pine of unknown age.
Under the pine, people were playing chess.
An old man placed a piece and said softly, "Has the person left?"
A child grinned and said, "He's gone. He barked a few times and wagged his tail, but seeing he couldn't beg for a bone, he went down the mountain dejectedly."
The old man nodded slightly, seemingly indifferent to this.
"Great Tang's Luck has run out. The demons devouring the two circuits is but the beginning of the Heavenly Dao's Reincarnation. Mortals have little strength; attempting to change fate against heaven is ultimately a moon in the water, a flower in the mirror."
The child grabbed a handful of white pieces and toyed with them in his hand. "Master is right. It's just that the old dog was noisy and disturbed the peace of the mountain gate. If not for Master's order not to casually involve ourselves in Mortal World Karma, I would have slapped him to death long ago..."
As his voice fell.
A streak of light came through the air from below the sea of clouds.
The old man reached out, caught it, and unfolded it to check carefully.
A moment later.
A slight change of expression appeared on his face.
"Master?"
Sensing something was wrong, the child stopped smiling and called out cautiously, "Has something... happened down the mountain?"
The old man shook his head, a trace of inexplicable meaning flashing in his eyes. "News just came. Jiang Yuechu, the Grand Princess of Great Tang, entered the Jiannan Circuit alone. In a single day, she broke through fifty-four cities and killed a Spirit Mountain Demon Saint in Yizhou Prefecture."
Hearing this, the child sneered. "It's just killing a feathered beast. If she used her hidden resources, it's not impossible..."
The old man turned his head to look at the child, speaking word for word.
"She is only eighteen this year."
"And... she has already entered the Lamp Lighting Realm."
Clatter.
The white piece in the child's hand slipped onto the chessboard.
"Eigh... eighteen? Lamp Lighting Realm?!"
"How is that possible?!"
The child stood up abruptly, his voice shrill. "In that mundane land where Legacies are severed, how could such a Prodigy be raised?"
An eighteen-year-old in the Lamp Lighting Realm.
Not to mention Great Tang, even looking across the tens of thousands of years of this Five Immortals Mountain and searching through ancient records, such a record has never been seen.
The old man didn't pay attention to the child's loss of composure, but just quietly watched the churning sea of clouds, murmuring softly, "I thought Great Tang was about to perish, but I didn't expect... it would actually have a terminal lucidity and produce such an anomaly."
"This girl possesses great Luck."
The old man withdrew his gaze, his tone returning to its previous indifference.
"Such a piece of unpolished jade, falling into the mundane quagmire, is simply a waste of a heavenly gift."
"Since there is fate, she should enter our Five Immortals Mountain's sect and cultivate the Great Dao of Longevity, so as not to fail this skeletal frame."
Having said that.
The old man turned his head slightly and called out to the open space outside the pavilion.
"Wang Xuance."
As his voice fell.
The shadows of the pine trees outside the pavilion shifted, and an old man dressed in a gray robe appeared.
This person looked even older than the old man playing chess, yet in front of him, he was extremely respectful.
"Your Disciple is here."
"I remember, before you entered the mountain, you were of the Wang Clan of Chang'an?"
Wang Xuance's body shook slightly, and he lowered his head. "Reporting to the Immortal Master, your Disciple was indeed from the Wang Clan of Chang'an, but that was a matter from several hundred years ago. Since entering the immortal mountain, my worldly ties have been severed, and I am no longer a member of the Wang family."
The old man waved his hand. "Since you are an old acquaintance from Chang'an, it will be easier to talk."
"Go with Qingfeng. Descend the mountain, find that girl, and bring her back."
A flash of surprise appeared in Wang Xuance's eyes.
Five Immortals Mountain has been secluded for many years; when have they ever actively descended to recruit a Disciple?
What kind of person... would actually require an active invitation?
Facing his puzzled expression, the two did not explain.
The child just stood up and bowed. "Your Disciple obeys..."
Afterward.
He clicked his tongue in his heart.
An eighteen-year-old in the Lamp Lighting Realm... she truly is a Prodigy.
But no matter how much of a Prodigy she is.
If she knew that Five Immortals Mountain was personally inviting her.
She would probably be moved to tears of gratitude, immediately bathe and change clothes, and follow them up the mountain to give thanks.