The Palace of the Demon Gods

The Palace of the Demon Gods.

Magnificent, grand, and towering, it resembled a castle built for giants. Gray mist permeated the surroundings, swirling without the aid of wind, adding a layer of mystery to the scene.

In the center sat an irregular black long table. It was jet-black and translucent, with demon essence floating within it. Upon closer inspection, one would realize that the entire tabletop was crafted from a single, complete piece of shadow soul stone.

To the left and right of the long table were five high-backed chairs, each inlaid with demon stones of different colors.

Red, yellow, purple, blue, green... a vibrant array of colors.

Seated in each chair was a person. Though their attire varied, their hair matched the color of their respective chairs. They all possessed the same emerald-green pupils and a pair of demon horns.

Some had a playful smirk at the corners of their mouths...

Some wore solemn expressions in their eyes...

Some were dozing off at the table...

Some were twirling their long hair between their fingers...

Directly facing the hall's entrance at the head of the table was another chair. However, its color was dull and gray, covered in a layer of dust as if it had been added as a temporary afterthought.

A person sat there as well—blonde hair, blue eyes, red lips, and pale skin. Her phoenix-like eyes wandered with a blurred, radiating luster.

She was sexy.

She was noble.

She was beautiful.

She looked like an elf queen from a fairy tale.

Leaning back against the chair, she rested her chin on her interlaced fingers and smiled at the burly, red-haired man in the first seat on the left.

"Uncle Ming, you're being quite unpleasant. If Big Sister finds out, she won't be happy."

The others cast glances toward him, some casual, some playful, some expectant, and others with schadenfreude.

The burly, red-haired man's eyes were filled with disdain. He let out a cold snort, his words lacking any trace of reverence or compromise, filled only with dissatisfaction and irony.

"Heh... Not happy? So what? I, Chi Ming, am no pushover. If she really has the guts, she can come at me directly. Plotting behind people's backs and acting like a petty scoundrel... doesn't she find it embarrassing?"

As he spoke, he didn't forget to sweep his gaze across the long table.

He was speaking to the blonde woman, but also to everyone present.

Before the blonde woman could respond, a blue-haired youth sitting opposite him spoke up first, mocking, "Uncle Chi, don't be so sarcastic. You were bitten by a dog you raised yourself; who else can you blame?"

Chi Ming glared and barked, "Since when was it your turn to speak?"

The blue-haired youth's eyes turned feminine and cold, but he said nothing more.

"Haha... Brother Chi, don't be so hot-tempered. You don't have any evidence for this matter, and we can't just take your word for it, can we?" someone stepped in to play the peacemaker.

The others quickly chimed in groups of two and three.

"Exactly, exactly."

"It's not a certain thing."

"The Immortal Demon Caves did it; maybe they were just after the money..."

The kidnapping of the goddess, the sole heir of the Crimson Demon Palace, was naturally a major incident.

The Crimson Demon's fury was understandable, and everyone present knew exactly who was behind it and why.

However...

Sometimes, one truly had to play the fool despite knowing the truth.

The Crimson Demon's temper was much like his appearance—brash and unrefined.

He said coldly, "Everyone, stop playing dumb. Do you really not know who did it? Immortal Demon Caves? Those pieces of trash? Even if you gave them ten times the courage, would they dare? Don't think I don't know what you want. I've said it before: you want me to hand over the Heavenly Demon Command? In your dreams. As long as I have a breath left in me, don't even think about opening the Nether Gate. If you think you can threaten me using my daughter, I advise you to give up on that idea as soon as possible..."

In an instant, killing intent flashed in the eyes of at least five or six people along the table.

As the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, turning deathly silent and heavy...

The blonde woman in the lead spoke again, her demeanor still calm and breezy, her smile gentle. "Uncle Ming, you're off-topic. What we are discussing today is not the matter of the Nether Gate, and besides, that matter shouldn't be discussed here in the Demon God Hall."

The Crimson Demon glared at the group and snorted indignantly.

The blonde woman continued, "I know you're angry, but what everyone said is also true. The people are dead, and you have no evidence. You can't just expect us to believe it because you say so, right? If you really feel there's been an injustice, then you shouldn't be hiding your daughter. Bring her here, let her speak. If there really is some unspeakable secret involved, I will follow the Demon Lord's will and uphold justice for you. What do you think?"

The Crimson Demon took a deep breath and closed his eyes in silence.

Regarding the incident in Ze Capital.

The death and destruction of a small town and a few thousand people was, to them, naturally not worth mentioning, let alone something that would require ten demon gods to appear simultaneously to deliberate.

The reason they were gathered was solely because of that single sword strike in the wilderness outside Ze Capital.

A sword that split a thousand miles.

A strike of that magnitude—could it be anything other than the work of someone in the demon god stage?

Yet according to the scouts' reports, that strike was definitely not performed by anyone present.

Nor was it the High Priest, who was absent.

If it wasn't one of the twelve of them?

They couldn't think of anyone else in the Demon Abyss capable of such a feat.

Especially since Chi Yan had died under that strike.

Others might not be certain, but Chi Ming knew better than anyone. Chi Yan was one of the few in the Demon Abyss capable of utilizing the 【atavism】 divine ability.

Since it wasn't done by any of the twelve of them, the perpetrator most likely came from outside the Demon Abyss.

In other words...

Someone had quietly bypassed the Blazing Fortress and entered the Demon Abyss.

Furthermore, this person was extremely powerful and specialized in the sword.

The sword?

Foreign swords had always been a sensitive subject in the Demon Abyss. Forget the commoners; even for those standing at the peak of power like them, they were a lingering nightmare.

The Sword Demon used a sword.

The Thunder Demon used a sword.

Most of the Wendao Sword Sect were sword cultivators...

Extraterrestrial sword cultivators were far too rampant.

But...

He had asked his daughter more than once. Chi Ji had been evasive, saying it might have been unleashed by a third-class demon in the sixth-rank demon master stage.

'Might'?

How could that be possible? He assumed his daughter was either confused, scared out of her wits, or perhaps had her memory wiped by the opponent.

The matter was of great importance, involving the safety of the entire Demon Abyss. No matter how emotional he was, he had naturally relayed his daughter's original words to those present.

The result was as expected.

Not a single person believed him.

Therefore...

They wanted to perform a soul search on Chi Ji.

A forbidden art.

It caused immense damage to the subject.

His daughter had just suffered such a traumatic ordeal because of him. To ask him to hand her over now for them to search her soul was absolutely impossible.

Seeing Chi Ming's silence...

The Small Priest spoke again, "Uncle Ming, you are a veteran of the Demon Abyss, a senior to everyone here, and a founding elder of the Nether Hall. You know very well the gravity of this situation. If an extraterrestrial sword immortal has truly slipped into the Demon Abyss, it's no laughing matter. Have you forgotten the catastrophe from four thousand years ago? This is no longer a matter of one family's gain or loss."

This time, the other nine people nodded without exception.

They expressed their agreement.

Matters were categorized by scale, divided between public and private, and distinguished between internal and external.

The matter of the Nether Gate was major, public, and internal.

The matter of Ze Capital was major, public, and external.

There was no room for negligence.

The Crimson Demon also knew the weight of it. After a moment of hesitation, he said, "My daughter can go to the Nether Hall to accept questioning. However, a soul search? I will not allow it!"

The Small Priest's gaze swept across the crowd. "What do everyone else think?"

The group whispered among themselves for a while, but no one spoke up.

Performing a soul search on the goddess was indeed inappropriate.

If something went wrong and damaged her origin, making it difficult to recover or turning her into an idiot, the trouble would be immense.

After all.

Chi Ming, the Crimson Demon, had only one daughter.

They didn't want to be too unreasonable either. Besides, no one understood Chi Ming's foul temper better than they did.

Seeing no opposition, the Small Priest offered a compromise. "Since no one is speaking, I will make the decision on behalf of my sister. It is settled then. As you wish, bring her to the Nether Hall. No soul search..."