Chong Zhao, seeing her reluctance and assuming she’d been frightened, chose not to press further. “Then please, take care and rest well.”
Still anxious about Bai Shuo, he left the room with a heavy heart.
Once the room was empty, Fu Ling sat cross-legged, concentrating on healing her wounds. She surrounded herself with a crimson aura of demon energy, and after some time, the red light faded, and color returned to her cheeks. She slowly opened her eyes.
“Come out,” Fu Ling commanded coldly. A figure clad in purple, with a masked face, appeared by the bed, kneeling. “Greetings, Second Palace Master.”
“Have you found any trace of the Lord of the Moonlight Hall?” she asked.
The masked man trembled slightly. “We have searched around Mount Mu Xiao but have yet to locate him.”
Fu Ling’s brow furrowed, and her gaze turned colder.
In the Demon Realm, only Cold Spring Palace and the fox clan of Serene Mountain had held equal power. Seven years ago, a monstrous demon, the Tao Tie, broke free from its seal in the northern frozen lands and wrought havoc. A mysterious Demon Lord emerged, battling the Tao Tie for three days and nights until the creature and its kin were annihilated, shaking all three realms. That figure was Fan Yue. No one knew his origins, and few had ever seen his true face. It was said he was cold as ice and possessed exceptional demon power. Within seven short years, he built the Moonlight Hall in the frigid northern lands, recruiting powerful demons. Recently, Moonlight Hall had even surpassed Cold Spring Palace and Serene Mountain in strength.
In three years, the battle for the Demon Emperor's throne, as decreed by the former Emperor Hong Yi, would take place. The decree stated that any demon at or above demi-god level could compete. If Fan Yue reached the demi-god rank in time, he would become the greatest rival of Tian Yu and Chang Mei. The fox clan, long withdrawn and content in Serene Mountain, posed no threat, and Tian Yu viewed Fan Yue as a thorn in his side. But for years, Fan Yue remained secluded in the northern ice, a place where outside demons found their powers suppressed. As a result, Cold Spring Palace had never managed to act against Moonlight Hall.
After joining Cold Spring Palace, Fu Ling had tempered her demon bones with Tian Yu’s help, earning many achievements and eventually becoming the palace’s Second Master, highly regarded by Tian Yu. Three months ago, Tian Yu entered seclusion to cultivate, leaving Cold Spring Palace under Fu Ling’s leadership. Three days ago, Fu Ling received news that Fan Yue had left the frozen north and entered the mortal realm. She led Cold Spring’s top warriors in a covert pursuit, but she hadn’t expected that even surrounded by elite forces, Fan Yue would manage to escape unscathed.
If Fan Yue remained alive, he would become Cold Spring Palace’s greatest threat!
“What about inside Mount Mu Xiao? He was gravely injured; he couldn’t have escaped far.” Fu Ling remembered that her final strike before she lost consciousness should have inflicted serious wounds on Fan Yue. He couldn’t have vanished without a trace.
“That’s precisely what’s troubling, Second Palace Master. There’s something strange about that mountain,” the masked figure said solemnly.
“Strange? What do you mean, strange?”
“There’s a spiritual force within that mountain, forming a barrier that cloaks the entire area. No matter what we try, we end up circling the outskirts, unable to reach the true heart of Mount Mu Xiao.”
“You’re saying that mountain has its own innate spiritual energy?” Fu Ling’s face showed surprise. “No, if the mountain itself had spiritual energy, I would’ve sensed it last night… unless…”
“Unless what?”
“Unless the source of the energy is a natural treasure formed by Heaven and Earth within the mountain, rather than the mountain itself,” Fu Ling’s eyes gleamed with realization. “The Lord of Moonlight Hall must have come to the mortal realm with a purpose. For him to come in person, this treasure must be extraordinary. He may already be hiding within Mount Mu Xiao, and we can’t let him obtain it.”
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