The Hehuan Sect cultivates alchemy; my senior sister helps me refine alchemy throughout the world.

Upon hearing Hongxiu say that the Demon King loved his people like his own children back then, Shen Yifei felt that his grandfather, whom he had never met, was not sick, but rather had been tampered with.

Ye Ling had obviously thought of this as well.

She squatted on the barren black soil, rubbing the cracked clods between her fingertips, and whispered, "The depletion of the demonic veins didn't happen overnight. It must have taken at least several hundred years to ruin such a good piece of land like this. And this depletion seems more like something has been drained away from it."

"Drain it? What could possibly drain the demonic veins of an entire piece of land?" Shen Yifei frowned. "This guy's strength is terrifying!"

Ye Ling didn't speak. She squatted down and closed her eyes to sense for a long time.

After a long while, she opened her eyes. "The demonic energy in the earth's veins has been uprooted, cutting off any possibility of regeneration. To do this, one would need at least the power of a demon god."

"A demon god? Another demon god has appeared?"

Shen Yifei felt that he had awakened the nine great demon gods, starting with the Five Elements Demon God, and recently the demon gods have been awakening one after another!

Shen Yifei had a bad feeling. He remembered his father saying that the remnant souls of the nine demon gods were still scattered in other realms.

Moreover, the Celestial Punishment is searching everywhere for these remnant souls, seemingly with some nefarious purpose!

His father wouldn't lie to him.

Now, another demon god has appeared in the demon territory. Who could it be?

Moreover, it seems that the methods used are cruel and show no regard for the lives of ordinary people!

This is a demon god without any bottom line, even more shameless than that Soul-Eating Demon God who devours the souls of sacrificial deities!

Hongxiu understood as well. "Young Master, if I'm not mistaken... the Demon King is probably not himself anymore."

Shen Yifei thought to himself, "Could it be that Soul Devourer is up to its tricks again?"

However, Soul Devouring relies on absorbing the soul for nourishment and does not extract the life force of the demonic vein, which is clearly not his method.

Shen Yifei suddenly remembered a demon god, the one who instigated the infighting among the nine demon gods and bewitched their minds!

Bewitching Demon God, the most insidious of the nine demon gods, is skilled at silently manipulating people's minds, turning them into his puppets without their knowledge.

"Mengli, is the Bewitching Demon God still alive?"

Liu Mengli's voice drifted out from the cauldron, "In the memories of the Reincarnation Demon God, there has never been any certainty about whether Huoxin is dead or alive. Back then, he instigated the infighting between Shiyan and Kongyuan, and then incited Mietian to join the chaos. In that final battle, no one can say for sure where Huoxin's remnant soul went. If he really did draw away the demonic veins from the demonic territory, then he was nurturing his own remnant soul."

Shen Yifei took a deep breath: "Can you confirm that he drained the demonic veins here?"

"It's highly likely. That 'Bewitching Heart' guy never harms people himself. His favorite way is to manipulate others and make scapegoats take the blame for him. The Demon King's drastic change in personality can almost certainly be attributed to him."

Ye Ling stood aside, listening to their conversation without interrupting.

Shen Yifei looked up at the distance and said, "Then we need to be careful in this demon territory. Huo Xin can drain a demonic vein, so his cultivation level must be high. If we encounter him head-on, even if we join forces, we might not be able to defeat him."

Liu Mengli said with a smile, "Master, you must cultivate with Ye Ling properly to improve your strength. At crucial moments, the combined power of your two yin and yang will be invincible!"

When Liu Mengli mentioned the unity of Yin and Yang, Ye Ling happened to be there as well, and Shen Yifei brought up the question that had been on his mind.

"Mengli, search the memories of the Reincarnation Demon God. Is Wan Shuo male or female? Or...?"

"Master, I've searched her memory, and there's no record of that. This means that Lun Ji and Wan Shuo never slept together."

"Mengli, can we stop changing the subject?"

"Master, what topic are you changing? Wan Shuo didn't even notice such a beautiful woman. Doesn't that mean Wan Shuo is a little different from normal people?"

Shen Yifei coughed twice. Liu Mengli's analysis of problems tended to go off-topic, so he quickly changed the subject. "Alright, alright, business is important. That old bastard Huoxin might be plotting something in the Demon Clan's territory. We need to get going."

"There's no rush to set off." Liu Mengli blinked. "Master, you haven't answered me yet. In Lunji's memories, Wan Shuo doesn't seem to have slept with anyone."

Shen Yifei retorted, "Just because they haven't slept together doesn't prove anything. He still likes Third Sister!"

Liu Mengli laughed heartily, "Master, it turns out I was also deceived by your third sister. She's the one who likes Wan Shuo, but Wan Shuo ignores her!"

Shen Yifei was still thinking about how to refute her, but after carefully considering Liu Mengli's words, he felt they made more and more sense.

When the third sister mentioned Wan Shuo, her tone was indeed a bit off.

She said, "That guy has been chasing me for three thousand years," but her expression didn't show disgust at all; it clearly carried a hint of joy and pride.

After learning of Wan Shuo's death, he hid alone in the bitterly cold land of Beiming for tens of thousands of years.

Upon learning that he was a descendant of Wan Shuo, he was able to come and stay at Cangwu Mountain.

The more Shen Yifei thought about it, the more convinced he became that what Liu Mengli said was the truth.

Liu Mengli

The more he talked, the more excited he became. He floated out of the cauldron with a gossipy expression and whispered in Shen Yifei's ear, "In the memories of the Reincarnation Demon God, Wan Shuo has never been interested in any woman. Back then, that girl Ling Yun followed Wan Shuo around every day for tens of thousands of years, but Wan Shuo never even touched her hand. Ling Yun was so angry that she cried and said that Wan Shuo wasn't a man."

"Life Demon God, spiritual essence?" Shen Yifei asked.

"Yes, it's her! Lingyun called Wan Shuo not a man! If Wan Shuo does that, then he's not a man, or something's wrong with him!"

Liu Mengli nudged him with her elbow, "Master, you inherited Wan Shuo's legacy. What if you also inherited Wan Shuo's flaws? What am I supposed to do then?"

"Get lost! I'm perfectly healthy!" Shen Yifei shoved her irritably.

Ye Ling stood aside, listening to the two bickering for a long time, but she couldn't stand it anymore.

She cleared her throat. "That's enough. This is demon territory. If you two keep spouting nonsense here, it'll be dark by the time it gets better."

Shen Yifei then calmed down and said seriously, "Alright, let's take care of business first. Honey, what's our next step?"

Ye Ling pointed to a small path deep in Black Wind Gorge: "Follow this path north, it'll take about a day to reach the second city of the Demon Clan. Let's gather some information first and find out the locations of the Demon Palace and Crimson Flame Valley before we proceed."

Shen Yifei nodded, and the three of them set off north.

Throughout the journey, Liu Mengli kept talking, discussing Wan Shuo's issues with Shen Yifei.

Ye Ling didn't like listening and simply flew ahead to lead the way.

A day later, the three arrived in a town.

There were three demonic characters carved on the city gate, which Shen Yifei couldn't quite understand, but Ye Ling recognized.

"Red Sun City," Ye Ling read softly.

"The name is alright, but why does the city look so lifeless?"

Shen Yifei was right; Chiyang City was quite large, with at least tens of thousands of households.

But there were few pedestrians on the street, and everyone looked pale and thin, as if their energy had been drained away.

When the demon people saw Shen Yifei and his two unfamiliar faces, they all kept their distance.

This place looks much better than that small mountain village, but the fact that there are hardly any people in such a large town is strange in itself!