High-level martial arts: Long spear with black flames to suppress demons.

Old Wang stood there for a moment, and when he could not sense anything unusual, he slowly relaxed.

"Finally, I can let it go."

Without the box to hold him back, his return journey was much easier.

As he left the village, he glanced at the repaired wooden house one last time, noted its location, and left no other marks.

The soul light rose, quickly crossed the forest, and disappeared into the sea.

Dark clouds still shrouded the island, the sound of the tide came in waves, and the village fell silent again.

......

The headquarters of the Night Division in Shanghai.

When Wang Lao returned, it was already late at night two days later. The search in the capital was still ongoing, but it seemed that they had not found him. Moreover, he was clean enough and did not use spiritual power at all, so he was difficult to track. As long as Lao Bai did not expose him, they would not be able to find him for a while.

The medical department corridor was dimly lit, and the staff on duty were quietly handing over duties. In the ward, the wisp of his soul remained in a shallow dream state, his physical breathing was steady, and the light on the monitoring artifact remained unchanged.

A nearly invisible beam of light pierced through the wall and stopped above the hospital bed.

Looking down at his body, Old Wang finally relaxed a little after being tense for many days.

He didn't rush to dispel the dream, but first stabilized his soul, gradually gathering the power that was escaping outwards, and then slowly sank it into the space between his eyebrows.

The two souls reunited.

A tearing pain suddenly came from the depths of his consciousness. Old Wang suppressed his injuries, using the lingering dream to conceal the fluctuations, while simultaneously circulating the Great Dream Spring and Autumn Technique to gather the soul light that was on the verge of collapse back together.

The old man on the bed kept his eyes closed, and there was no noticeable change in his breathing.

Footsteps approached from outside the door.

The staff on duty looked through the glass for a moment and, seeing that the instruments were working normally, continued to the next ward.

Only when the footsteps faded into the distance did Old Wang gradually return to reality.

The spiritual energy within the nurturing array slowly flowed into his body, and the fluctuations in his soul gradually stabilized under his control. The light on the monitoring artifact flowed gently, without issuing any warnings.

The ward fell silent again.

No one knew that he had left Shanghai and then quietly returned.

In his sea of ​​consciousness, Old Wang looked down at his soul body. The new wounds on his chest and shoulders had not yet healed, and the places that had been repaired before had cracked open in several places. Even the outline of his body was much more blurred than before he set off.

The little bit of health I had painstakingly built up was almost completely depleted by this trip.

He remained silent for a moment, then finally sighed helplessly.

"This time I really have to lie down."

......

The theft of the stone slab has caused quite a stir in the capital these past couple of days, but none of the major families have taken the initiative to investigate, seemingly busy with their own affairs.

Even the higher-ups of the Zhenye Division only symbolically arranged for some people to investigate, without using any reconnaissance-type magical artifacts. The attitude of the higher-ups surprised those below, which caused many people who were unaware of the matter to keep quiet about it.

Family-oriented.

Footsteps sounded outside the study. Gu Tianyang put down the documents and looked at the middle-aged man who walked in.

"Any news from Zhang Hai?"

"Not yet, it's a new development from the demon realm."

The man walked to the table and handed over the organized documents.

"In the past few days, we have confirmed that more people have entered the territory than we knew before. In addition to the Zhou family and the Baili family, there are several other groups of people who have not publicly identified themselves as their families. Their identities have been verified one after another."

Gu Tianyang opened the list.

He was unfamiliar with some of the names, while others were senior cultivators who rarely left the capital. Such people would not have gone to the demon realm on a mere errand with a merchant caravan.

"Where did they all go?"

"It's not clear yet, but what is confirmed is that some of the teams separated from their original companions after crossing the border and did not follow the itinerary stated in their applications."

Gu Tianyang's gaze lingered on the paper.

Before their father left, they suspected that the anonymous information had been sent to more than just the Gu family. Now it seems that there are more people watching Shen Chang'an than they had imagined.

"Where are the people from the Xuan Shu Academy?"

"The four people holding the seal have already crossed the line. Their mission is still to capture Xu Mingjing, and they are not traveling with the other families."

Gu Tianyang put down the list and pondered for a moment.

The Xuan Shu Academy and the family's team are not the same thing, but if Xu Mingjing is really looking for Shen Chang'an, the different paths will eventually converge.

By then, it will be difficult to predict who will make contact with the person first and what information they will bring out.

"Continue to investigate where they went after they separated."

Gu Tianyang pushed the documents back.

"I also gave this list to my father and told him that each family brought more people than they were openly present, and to pay attention to the surrounding movements before meeting Shen Chang'an."

The other party agreed, put away the documents, and left.

Gu Tianyang sat alone at the table for a while, looking at the anonymous message he had received earlier.

To this day, they still haven't obtained anything to confirm their bloodline, yet these people from the capital have already gone to the demon realm one after another. Things started too fast and too simultaneously. The more he looked at it, the more he felt that the person who sent this information was probably waiting for this scene to happen, but they couldn't find out who gave them the information at all.

......

The Demon Realm, north of the ancient Demon King's Court.

A group of people in gray robes hurried north along the edge of the mountain range.

They did not enter the royal territory and rarely stopped in towns along the way. In the distance, the golden-red canopies of the Zuwu trees gradually disappeared into the clouds, the vegetation underfoot became increasingly sparse, and a chill crept into the air.

Gu Chengyue was walking at the very front.

The old man changed into a gray robe that was easy to travel in, with the cuffs tied tight, and wore no ornaments that indicated his status as a member of the Gu family. The middle-aged man beside him was tall and composed, with features somewhat similar to Gu Tianyang, and he rarely spoke along the way.

Gu Tianyu is Gu Chengyue's eldest son and Gu Tianyang's elder brother.

Besides the father and son, they were accompanied by two clan elders at the eighth realm, Gu Weishan and Gu Weichuan, and the rest of the entourage had all reached the seventh realm. Such a group would be hard to miss, no matter where they went in the mortal realm.

However, after entering the area, they always concealed their presence and tried to avoid crowded places.

Ahead, a scout from the tribe crossed the hillside and came to stand before Gu Chengyue.

"We've found out. The Demon Emperor went to the Northern Sea, and Shen Chang'an was in the same group. Several supply convoys along the way mentioned that the Northern Sea experienced a quake a few days ago, and the Demon Emperor suppressed it there. The news has already reached nearby towns."

He paused briefly, then continued, "Some people also say that some ancient pillars that have been submerged for a long time have risen up, but they can't say for sure what they are."

Gu Chengyue looked up and gazed northward.

They had originally thought that once they reached the vicinity of the royal court, they would have to find out where Shen Chang'an lived, but now they had saved themselves some trouble. However, Beiming was far away, and there was a legion guarding the seal there, so it would probably be difficult to make contact with him.

"Who is currently by the Demon Emperor's side?"

"Those who can be confirmed include Cang Gu, Peng Lie, and the patriarchs of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox and the Heaven-Shaking Demon Ape clans."