The entrance to the Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley was established where the two towering peaks intersected. Within a fifty-kilometer radius, there were no signs of humans, and only a few profound beasts were seen. The seal at the entrance of the Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley was personally set by the soul of the Golden Crow. The profound formation stood thirty meters tall, constantly emitting a deep golden glow and a scorching aura.
In the darkness of the night, even from several kilometers away, the golden radiance of the profound formation would be exceptionally striking. Though it was currently morning, it was still clearly visible from a great distance. As one approached the site, they could distinctly feel the surrounding air growing hotter and hotter, and at half a kilometer away, the searing heat became unbearable for any ordinary human.
Within the Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley, a world of scarlet fire and purple lightning reigned in utter chaos.
The outside world was completely shrouded in the inky black curtain of night, but here, there wasn't a trace of darkness. Wherever one looked, furious volcanoes and boiling lava dominated the landscape. These volcanoes were tightly clustered, and though their heights varied greatly, each burned with vibrant red flames. Some stood as tall as three thousand meters, resembling great fire demons setting the sky ablaze.
The ground was so hot it glowed red, and every grain of sand radiated astonishing heat. If an ordinary person came here, they would be reduced to ashes in mere breaths. Yet, the sky was a deep purple, with storm clouds howling like enraged malevolent gods, and from time to time, the ground was struck by lightning that shook both heaven and earth.
Boom!!
A lightning bolt several dozen meters thick exploded, splitting a volcano in two in an instant. Countless volcanic rocks and magma flew through the air… This scene, which would terrify anyone who witnessed it, was, instead, entirely common here.
A large number of fire and lightning spirits roamed and danced through this world. Though most were only as large as a palm, they radiated the aura of the Profound Heaven Realm, and some even carried the aura of the Profound Emperor Realm.
Occasionally, a high-grade spirit would appear, truly emanating the aura of the Profound Tyrant Realm.
If someone could subdue and refine these fire and lightning spirits, they could directly convert them into their own profound energy. Refining a single low-grade emperor fire spirit was equivalent to the results of many years of arduous cultivation for an ordinary Profound Emperor Realm practitioner!
For these spirits to be born, extremely stringent conditions had to be met. They could only emerge in environments where an element was extraordinarily active and pure, such as the heart of a glacier or the depths of a lava lake—and even then, the chance of a spirit appearing was extremely low. Thus, even a low-grade elemental spirit could fetch an astronomical fortune.
But in the Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley, they appeared in groups, in droves.
No wonder the power levels of those living in the Demon Imperial City were so astonishing. It was no surprise that, after the Yun Family had been barred from entering the Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley for a hundred years, their strength had weakened to a shocking degree.
Deep within the Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley, on a small hill, stood a Golden Crow Profound Formation strikingly similar to the one sealing the valley, except this one was a third smaller, and the silhouette of the Golden Crow was more vivid.
This was the end of the Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley, the place where the Golden Crow's Ancestral Land lay!
There was only a mountain wall behind this Sealing Profound Formation; it was evident that the Golden Crow's Ancestral Land was another independent world… perhaps even the small world of the Golden Crow's soul itself. This blazing Profound Formation was merely a teleportation entrance.
Within the Golden Crow's Ancestral Land, the only word to describe it was *golden*; the horizon didn't exist, only an endless golden expanse shimmering with the intensity of a thousand fused suns. Every detail was bathed in liquid gold, the ground appearing to be made of fine sand but sparkling as if each grain were a fragment of pure light. There was no sky, no clouds; only absolute gold permeating everything, as if time itself had been transformed into solid light.
In the golden silence of this independent world, two silhouettes suddenly appeared out of nowhere, tearing through the expanse as if space itself had ripped open to reveal them.
They were Ren Zu and the Little Demon Empress, who had fled from Duke Ming.
But their moment of relief was brief.
Ren Zu immediately paled, his expression marked by the extreme effort he had exerted to escape Duke Ming's attack. His body faltered, his knees touched the golden ground, and before he could catch his breath, he collapsed unconscious. A trickle of blood ran from his lips…
Caiyi stepped back slightly, pressed by him as she had been carried in his arms like a princess earlier, her face flushed with both concern and a mix of shame for feeling unable to help him. Her heart raced, a flame of hatred and despair burning within. Without a word, she quickly knelt beside him, her delicate hands running over his arms and chest, checking if he was still breathing, if there was any sign of life.
"Ren Zu… stay with me, please…" she murmured, her voice trembling, her solitary black eyes gleaming with cold determination. "You… you can't just pass out like this!"
She quickly realized there were no serious external injuries, only a slight bleeding from his lips. Everything indicated he had completely exhausted his profound energy, drained by the effort of facing Duke Ming's golden palm and protecting her. The weight of the situation made her shudder, but her hatred for the men who had attacked them burned even stronger.
The Little Demon Empress carefully wrapped her arms around Ren Zu's shoulders, gently pressing him against her to stabilize him. Though it was only extreme exhaustion, she couldn't simply ignore it. Her anger mingled with a protective desperation, and for a moment, the entire golden world around them seemed to vanish, leaving only her and him at the center of her attention.
"I… won't let anything happen to you, Ren Zu…" she said, her voice laced with resolve and emotion, tears threatening to spill but held back by determination. "Not even Duke Ming… not even the entire world… no one will touch you while I'm here…"
The golden silence of the Golden Crow's Ancestral Land enveloped them, but to Caiyi, it felt as suffocating as any battlefield. She took a deep breath, trying to steady her racing heartbeat, as anger and concern intertwined, forming a silent force ready to protect Ren Zu at any cost.
The Little Demon Empress took another deep breath. In the next instant, she felt an intense, vibrant, undeniable surge within her body—her profound energy, which had been suppressed and weakened by Ren Zu's attack a week ago, now returned like a raging river.
Her power at its peak.
But relief didn't come.
Her fingers trembled slightly as they gripped Ren Zu's shoulder. Even with her strength restored, even with her body brimming with power again, the sight of him lying fragile and unconscious made her chest ache painfully. The return of her energy didn't erase the image of the young man who had protected her at the cost of his own life…
But it was enough to awaken the one who dwelled in the depths of the Golden Crow's Ancestral Land.
"Hahahahahaha…"
Suddenly, a woman's laughter echoed through the golden world. It was a paradoxical sound: loud as if it came from the heavens themselves, yet so close it seemed to whisper in her ear. Though the Little Demon Empress's profound strength had reached the fifth level of the Sovereign Profound Realm, her vital energy and even her blood quivered under the weight of that laughter.
"Interesting! Truly interesting! This noble one never thought she'd see a descendant in this state! Curious boy… did he tear through space with some treasure to get here? No, no… a World Piercer? Hm, impossible… It must have been something else. But more importantly… the Illusory Demon Royal Family has been delayed for a hundred years. And today, someone finally arrives. But it's just… a woman. It seems this noble one's fate with your clan has come to an end."
The Little Demon Empress's eyes widened upon hearing that voice and its words. In an instant, she understood where she was, and the revelation made her heart tremble even more. That place… in the past, all she had felt toward it was powerlessness and an impossible desire to reach it, due to the absence of the Demon Emperor's Seal. But thanks to *him*, she had reached this place…
Though she had restrained herself with all her strength, the most intense agitation in the last hundred years flickered in her eyes… Because, to her, being in this place meant her Golden Crow bloodline could truly awaken, granting an immense leap in her strength… from her current Monarch level to the peak of Monarch. In the Illusory Demon Realm, no one would be her match anymore.
With Duke Ming returning as a peak-level Monarch, this was, without a doubt, a heavenly surprise! It would completely change her fate, allowing her to become the true ruler of the Illusory Demon Realm and exact her revenge!
Setting Ren Zu on the ground somewhat roughly due to her excitement, she quickly knelt on one knee and said with great respect, "Twelfth Emperor of the Illusory Demon Royal Family, eleventh inheritor of the Golden Crow bloodline, Huan Caiyi, greets the Divine Golden Crow."
"Why have you come here!?"
In that instant, a pair of golden-scarlet eyes suddenly opened in the deep golden sky, casting a fiery glow.
"Divine Golden Crow. I am a descendant of the Golden Crow Demon Emperor Clan, but traitors have schemed against me, and now I am the last one left. This vengeance and hatred are absolutely irreconcilable! Though I am a woman, I am the only direct descendant of the Demon Emperor's bloodline, and I have inherited the pure Demon Emperor's blood. I beseech the Divine Golden Crow to grant me the Golden Crow's Record of the Burning World and the ancestral bloodline to revive the Demon Emperor Clan."
"Grant you the Golden Crow's Record of the Burning World and the ancestral bloodline? Hahahaha! You are truly pitiful and naive. Did you not hear what I just said? The moment you entered here, I knew my fate with your clan was over!"
"What do you mean by that, Divine Golden Crow?" The Little Demon Empress furrowed her brows, speaking in confusion.
"What does it mean? You are utterly naive! The Demon Emperor Clan has had ten generations of Demon Emperors over the past ten thousand years, and all ten were men! There has never been a woman. Did you really think it was just a simple coincidence of men being superior to women!? Hmph, it seems you don't know that, with a mortal body like yours, only men can withstand carrying the Golden Crow's ancestral blood!"
The Little Demon Empress felt as though she had been struck by lightning; her entire body trembled slightly as she said, "Why?! Even though I am a woman, my heritage is directly from the Demon Emperor Clan…"
"It doesn't matter if you're a descendant of the Demon Emperor Clan! It's simply because you are a woman!" The fiery voice said mercilessly. "Men's bodies are Yang, and women's bodies are Yin. With a mortal woman's body, you can tolerate controlling ordinary profound flames, even the Phoenix flames or Vermilion Bird flames would be fine, but my Golden Crow flame is the fiercest Yang fire in the world! It cannot tolerate any trace of Yin! You currently possess only a faint trace of the Golden Crow bloodline, and you're already suffering from its burning day and night. You're in pain, and your lifespan has been greatly reduced. If you were to carry the ancestral bloodline, your internal blood flow would be completely disrupted, and you would suffer in agony for your entire life!"
"Moreover, you are still a virgin, so your vital Yin remains in your body. If you accept the ancestral blood, within three days, the flame energy of your bloodline would erupt, and you would die in flames within five days!"
Little Demon Empress: "!!!!"
It was true that the ten generations of Emperors in the Illusory Demon Realm were all men, but no one thought this was strange, as having a male emperor was always considered normal. In contrast, a female emperor was abnormal. Everyone in the Illusory Demon Royal Family knew that the Golden Crow bloodline harmed women's bodies, especially the Demon Emperor's Empress, who carried the direct bloodline. The Empress always died before the Demon Emperor, and none lived beyond a thousand years… without exception.
The Little Demon Empress naturally knew all this… But she absolutely hadn't considered that, as a woman, even as a woman of the Demon Emperor's bloodline, she couldn't withstand the ancestral blood… nor could she cultivate the Golden Crow's Record of the Burning World.
All her renewed hopes were torn away, as if icy water from a frozen spring had been mercilessly poured over her heart and soul. She stood stunned for a long time, thinking about the current state of the Demon Emperor Clan, and murmured without giving up, "Could it be… there's truly no possibility… Divine Golden Crow, you too have a female body…"
"Hahahaha!" The fiery voice laughed insolently. "How can a divine body be compared to your mortal one! A possibility… hmph, it's not as if there isn't one, but it would mean receiving the nourishment of vital Yang from a man who possesses the Phoenix or Vermilion Bird bloodline!"
When the Golden Crow mentioned "Phoenix" and "Vermilion Bird," there was an unmistakable tone of deep disdain.
The Little Demon Empress remained kneeling, unable to move or speak for a long time, as if her soul had been lost upon hearing the Divine Golden Crow's words. Just as she was about to say something, she was interrupted:
"But not all is lost… Fortunately, you are lucky!"
Little Demon Empress: "!!!"
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