NOVPUBXuan Yun escorted everyone to the foot of the mountain, then smiled and said, "I cannot leave the sect gate, let’s part ways here."
"Goodbye," Cai Yue nodded in farewell.
Xu Zimei always felt that something was off, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it for the moment.
He took a deep look in the direction of White Sacred Mountain then turned and left.
"This Black Demon Temple really is eerie," Cai Yue remarked on the side.
"How could it become like that at night?"
"I don’t know either, let’s head to Black Demon City first," Xu Zimei looked at Cai Yue and asked.
"What are your plans afterward?"
"Although my Cai Family has been wiped out, I still have an aunt in the Nine States Domain. I plan to seek refuge with her," Cai Yue said truthfully.
"If that is the case, let’s part ways after we get to Black Demon City," Xu Zimei nodded and said.
Cai Yue fell silent for a moment, gently pinching the hem of her clothing and nodding slightly.
The legend of Black Demon Temple saving this region must be true; this story is widely circulated throughout Black Demon City.
Of course, everyone knows about Black Demon Temple, but because White Sacred Mountain had been closed off, it had been many years since anyone had gone to the Black Demon Temple.
The path to reach the Nine States Domain from the Wandering Dragon Mountain Range doesn’t require crossing over White Sacred Mountain, but rather there is a mountain path beside it.
This mountain path was fairly steep, and it took them a morning to cross over the peak.
Not far ahead, the silhouette of Black Demon City’s walls was already faintly discernible.
It appeared like a colossal beast of a demon, its entire body the color of a black iron torrent, standing upon the earth.
As Xu Zimei entered the city gates, he could already vaguely make out the scenery inside the city.
Above these city walls were placed, more or less, many statues of imps.
Each one with a different expression, and varying shapes.
Xu Zimei looked at these imps and remembered the things venerated in the Black Demon Temple.
The heavy city gates were wide open, and in the middle of the two gates, there was also a statue of an imp, serving as a kind of doorknob.
Stepping into the city, the bustling and noisy atmosphere inside was somewhat reassuring.
The streets were crowded with people coming and going, vendors of all sorts and their calls for attention.
"Young master, where would you like to go?" Cai Yue looked at Xu Zimei and asked.
"I’d like to visit the Void Valley," Xu Zimei said.
"But I’m not very familiar with that place and plan to rest and gather information in Black Demon City before setting out."
"That works out, I also need to send someone to notify my aunt," Cai Yue said.
"My aunt’s place is a bit far, and I dare not proceed there alone.
I can only wait for her to send someone to pick me up. Let’s find an inn to rest for a bit first."
Xu Zimei nodded without objection.
The two found an inn within the city, booked separate rooms. Cai Yue, distrusting her accompanying servants, dismissed them all.
In the inn, just as Xu Zimei entered the room, the figure of Bai Meng slowly emerged.
"Tell me, what’s going on?" Xu Zimei asked.
"The Black Demon Temple worships statues, and there are also imp statues on the walls of Black Demon City. I do not know if the master still remembers.
They are all carved according to the original forms of our Demon Race," Bai Meng explained.
"Although I did not sense any Demonic Qi, I still recognize these statues."
"Statues of the Demon Race," Xu Zimei was stunned for a moment.
"Yes, they are only little demons who have just started their cultivation, still far from our level," Bai Meng replied.
"Can you make out what’s happening with those people inside the Black Demon Temple?" Xu Zimei asked.
"Not quite clear, there’s a kind of spiritual energy inside them, similar to the Demonic Qi we initially encountered, but it’s not the same," Bai Meng reflected for a moment, then replied.
"It really is because of that aura that they have turned into what they are."
"Things seem to be getting more interesting," Xu Zimei declared.
"The Black Demon Temple must be hiding something. If my lord wishes to know, I can go and investigate," Chaos suggested.
"Let’s not rush it; we can slowly look into it after we come back from the Void Valley," Xu Zimei shook his head and said.
...…
Black Demon City didn’t have anything out of the ordinary, and Xu Zimei gathered some information about Void Valley in the afternoon.
Three hundred miles east from Black Demon City was where Void Valley was located.
The Void Wood there and the Void Leaves are highly sought after in the Nine States Domain, almost to the point of shortage, and could fetch a hefty price.
Hence, many Loose Cultivators would try their luck there, with many literally putting their lives on the line for the sake of cultivation and willing to take the risk.
However, in the last two years, several Great Imperial Rule Immortal Sects had joined forces to regulate the Void Valley.
Although they didn’t forbid Loose Cultivators from entering the Void Valley, everyone who went in had to first obtain a token before they could do so.
The places to obtain tokens were all in the big cities; there was nowhere in Black Demon City to get one.
Although in these past few years, people have explored the Void Valley at the cost of their lives, there had still been no word about creatures like the Void Spirit Monkey.
Xu Zimei felt that Jiang Yun wouldn’t deceive him; it was more likely that such creatures were just extremely rare.
After gathering maps and intelligence on Void Valley, Xu Zimei started to cultivate in the inn seriously.
Not until the evening did he go downstairs for dinner at Cai Yue’s invitation.
"Did you know? I’ve inquired about the Black Demon Temple here in the city," Cai Yue said while eating, speaking to Xu Zimei.
"What?" Xu Zimei asked, puzzled.
"This Black Demon Temple, including the Black Demon City where we are, doesn’t belong to any power,"
"The Black Demon did indeed exist before, but only for a very short time.
Before the other Great Imperial Rule Immortal Sects could react, they disappeared."
Cai Yue gossiped, "And, you know, the Black Demon Temple wasn’t called the Black Demon Temple before; it was called the White Sacred Temple, same as the name of that mountain."
"What is the Black Demon? Did you find out clearly?" Xu Zimei pressed.
"That I didn’t get. There were very few who saw the Black Demon in those days, and now it’s almost forgotten," Cai Yue shook her head.
"Alright, you’d better not dig too much into this matter. This is not something good anyway," Xu Zimei advised.
"Got it," Cai Yue nodded and said, "I just think Xuan Yu is quite pitiful."
"Leave it to me," Xu Zimei assured.
The sky outside gradually darkened, yet the inn was still quite crowded.
Most of the people were sitting inside, talking to each other.
A pale moon peeked through the clouds, casting a dim light over the skyline of Black Demon City.
At that moment, a terrifying scream came from outside.
This sound was very frightening, almost drowning out the noise from the inn, and suddenly there was silence.
"What’s going on?" Someone, setting down their cup, frowned and said.
"Don’t know, let’s go have a look."
The people had just stood up and were about to leave the inn when they saw a blood-stained, blurry figure stumble in.
As soon as this figure entered the inn, it fell to the ground, merely looking at the people and shouting "Save me."
Then it collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
