NOVPUB"You, a member of the Demon Clan, are to my Human Clan what a seal and a python are; are you truly content with just this?" Prince sneered coldly.
"Does Your Highness no longer plan to cooperate with this old man in the future?" Duanmu Yan asked with a smile.
"The Heavenly Reversal Path you are capable of controlling has traces of my Heart Demon Path."
Prince spoke slowly, "It seems that the reason you asked me for that half of the Heart Demon Path was to integrate it into your own Heavenly Reversal Path, right?"
"Thanks to Your Highness," Duanmu Yan chuckled.
"If I had known that you would transform into a member of the Demon Clan, I would have never imparted to you that half of the Heart Demon Path," Prince said coldly.
He fell silent for a moment, then added, "I'm somewhat curious, in today's Divine Pivot Institute palace, the Seventeenth Prince was also present. You didn't make a move against him, even though you were aware he possessed the Divine Artifact and the Phoenix Crown, weren't you?"
"The time is not yet ripe," Duanmu Yan said calmly.
"Is that so?"
Prince scoffed and remarked, "The twelfth brother told me, he suspects the Seventeenth Prince is the reincarnation of Xiahou Shou, the traitor of the Human Clan from ages past. It seems you know this too? Could it be that your Demon Clan believes that once Xiahou Shou's memories awaken after reincarnation, he will betray the Human Clan again?"
Duanmu Yan said nothing, merely offered a smile.
"Naive, aren't you?"
Prince said indifferently, "The Crown Prince and the Second Prince probably both know that he is the reincarnation of Xiahou Shou, yet neither of them has taken action to eliminate him. Does your Demon Clan truly believe he will betray us again?"
"It's the will of the Demon Ancestors," Duanmu Yan said with a touch of mockery, "If it hadn't been for the Divine Emperor and the Crown Prince making a surprising appearance more than a thousand years ago, your Human Clan would have already perished. Since Prince Xian, in your past life as the Ancestor of the Heart Demon, surely understands this point, why not join the Demon Clan? The opportunities for you to prove your path there would be greater, wouldn't they?"
"Join the Demon Clan?"
Prince also laughed mockingly, "Sorry, the members of the Demon Clan are no longer human; their hearts have become simpler than those of the Human Clan, so much so that even the Heart Demons are extremely dull. I have no interest."
"If Prince Xian is unwilling, then let it be," Duanmu Yan said no more, "Farewell."
... n𝚘vp𝚞𝚋.com
Great Yong's westernmost border gate.
This is the location of Great Yong's National Guardian Array in the extreme west, and it is one of the eight passages leading out of Eternal Night from Great Yong.
A figure cloaked in black robes appeared inside the western border gate, their presence suppressed and nearly imperceptible.
Despite the soldiers patrolling the gate, none were aware of this figure's existence.
After all, most of the soldiers guarding the border were mere mortals, and even the highest Military Commander of the western border was nothing more than a Martial Artist of the Four Symbols Heaven Barrier.
The cloaked figure glanced at the nearby unopened gate and slightly opened his cloak, revealing an aged face.
It was indeed Duanmu Yan.
"I must report back to the Demon Ancestor as quickly as possible..."
This thought crossed Duanmu Yan's mind as he glanced at the patrolling soldiers and then walked forward.
With a single thought, invisible power spread out.
The Military Commander of the border gate came forward promptly, took out a talisman, and opened the great gate, revealing the pitch-black, profound void at the portal.
"After a brief period, close the gate as if nothing happened. Then, after three months, on the fifth day of the second month, open it once again and keep it open for at least an hour."
Duanmu Yan swept his gaze over the surrounding soldiers and the Military Commander, his voice dreamlike as he whispered his instructions.
The Commander and the soldiers nodded blankly, like puppets on strings.
Duanmu Yan no longer paid them any mind, having eaten his fill before his arrival, which allowed him to resist the innate impulses of the Demon Clan.
With his power, he could have slaughtered all the soldiers at the border gate in a single thought, but not wanting to alert Great Yong to any abnormalities, he had to leave quietly.
Besides, the existence of these border guards was meant merely to prevent mortals and ordinary Cultivators from entering and leaving Great Yong.
What truly hindered the Demon Clan was the National Guardian Array.
"I'll have to waste another one..."
Duanmu Yan then looked toward the pitch-black and deep void of the barrier gate and sighed softly.
This was the barrier formed by the National Guardian Array, enveloping all of Great Yong like a protective shield. Even though the barrier allowed entry and exit at the border gate, normally, members of the Demon Clan would not be able to pass through.
Moreover, outside the barrier of the National Guardian Array, an invisible force spread out for thousands of miles, always repelling the Demon Clan and Mutant Beasts.
The deeper into Eternal Night, the more powerful the members of the Demon Clan and Mutant Beasts became, the harder it was for them to approach Great Yong. The Demon Saints and Holy Beasts could at most reach a thousand miles from the edge of Great Yong, which was their limit.
Only the weakest Mutant Beasts of the Five Elements Level were able to reach the edge of the Divine Array.
However, the Heavenly Demon Ancestor had refined a peculiar treasure capable of completely concealing demonic power and disguising a member of the Demon Clan as a member of the Human Clan, allowing them to pass through the barrier membrane of the border gate.
This treasure was so precious that only a very few undercover secret agents cultivated by the Demon Clan could obtain it, and it was only capable of passing through the barrier membrane once, after which it retained only the ability to conceal.
"Though it's a bit wasteful, there's no other choice."
With a flick of his hand, Duanmu Yan produced a black heart entangled with numerous blood vessels. As he pressed this heart against his chest, the veins punctured his torso, and the black heart gradually fused into his body.
Gradually, his aura changed, completely transforming into that of the Human Clan in a short while.
Once the black heart fully integrated, Duanmu Yan stepped toward the pitch-black and profound barrier membrane, disappearing within.
