CHAPTER 848: CHAPTER 660: TAOYAN (PART 2)

"Master of the Kunlun Pure Ruins, Canglan Yi!"

Baili An was stunned for a long time before realizing who she was talking about, and couldn’t help but slowly open his eyes wider, with a shade of disbelief: "You mean... the Empress?"

"Correct."

The land untamed by the Six Realms, that means even Immortal Venerable Zhu Zhan has no jurisdiction over this territory beyond the borders.

And the Guardian of this land, this old sea of Demon Beasts, is actually the Empress!

Yin Baishuang observed Baili An’s shocked expression and continued: "Precisely because the Guardian is the Empress, such corrupt entities like Taoyan have only become tales in the "Demon Chronicles", never seen in person.

Every five thousand years, the ebb and flow of Xiangdan Island leaves the last surviving Taoyan to be slain by the Empress, without exception, so... how did it manifest in the Demon World?"

Baili An said: "Are you suggesting that the demon clan Inner Official who died over half a month ago was killed by a Taoyan?"

Yin Baishuang said: "It’s not only the demon clan Inner Official from half a month ago; during your time cultivating away from the palace, the Imperial City in Mo City has seen successive victims, even the Scripture Master of the Taixuan Eight Classics lost an arm to that creature."

Baili An’s gaze grew intense: "Are you saying Master Jiachen was also harmed?"

Yin Baishuang’s face was deeply grave: "Exactly, and even with our combined efforts, we couldn’t save the Scripture Master’s arm; the Taoyan brazenly consumed his arm right under our noses."

"Something is amiss!" Baili An’s tone suddenly became urgent!

Yin Baishuang looked sideways at him: "What’s not right?"

Baili An said: "Taoyan repeatedly commits crimes within the Imperial City, though its targets seem ambiguous, all residents of the Imperial City belong to the Demon Clan.

With so many demons to choose from, why did it specifically target Master Jiachen? You just said that even with all of you working together, you couldn’t protect his arm, which means the Taoyan’s power is extremely terrifying.

But you, Miss Yin, are unharmed, indicating that the Taoyan does not have a great appetite for humans, so... why did it decide to consume Master Jiachen?"

At this point, great waves stirred in Yin Baishuang’s cold, serious almond eyes: "Are you suggesting... the Scripture Master is a demon?"

Baili An shook his head, analyzing calmly: "Master Jiachen was raised by Miss Ye Lian since childhood, if he were a demon, he couldn’t hide it from Miss Ye Lian, nor certainly from the Sect Master of Taixuan Sect!"

"Thus, only one possibility remains, during this period... the real Master Jiachen has long been swapped and replaced!"

The wind beneath the Heavenly Que suddenly intensified, chillingly blowing against one’s body, sending shivers down Yin Baishuang’s spine, thinking this matter was simply too absurd.

But upon deeper thought...

At the Monarch’s Return Banquet, Wuhe Su Xi, who hated Ye Lian profoundly and struck ruthlessly, merely feigned death, since then, she hasn’t seen Lord Wuhe again.

And the chaos on Tian Gan Mountain erupted, targeting the people covered by caves with remarkable precision.

Adding tonight’s Taoyan incident, pieced together, she found Baili An’s hypothesis was not entirely without merit.

"This... is impossible, Ye Lian watched Jiachen grow up, the two have always been closely connected, if he were impersonated and replaced, how could Ye Lian not know?"

Yin Baishuang’s words also enlightened Baili An.

Indeed, the two Scripture Masters have always been inseparable, returning and departing together; if that person were not Jiachen, how could Miss Ye Lian not perceive it?

Or could it be... Miss Ye Lian might have long noticed something amiss but pretended not to know?

The human heart is too complex, even Baili An found it challenging to peer through the worldly heart beneath people’s facades at that moment.

Seeing Baili An silent, Yin Baishuang withdrew her gaze, looking at the distant flickering lights in the snowstorm of Mo City’s Royal City.

She whispered: "Currently, there’s no evidence to prove the Scripture Master is an impostor, what you said is merely your speculation; I advise you, upon returning, to avoid mentioning this matter in front of Ye Lian, it won’t benefit you."

How could Baili An not know this point, he nodded and said, "What is the situation in Mo City now, has anyone else been injured?"

Yin Baishuang came to find him in a hurry, the bloodstains on her sleeves hadn’t been cleaned up properly, indicating that as soon as something happened to Jiachen, she rushed over.

Baili An did not think Yin Baishuang would make him the center of everything.

As the future heir of Cangwu Palace, even if she is troubled by emotions and spends a lifetime in madness, she would never lose her sense of propriety.

Jiachen’s severed arm is a big matter, but it’s not enough for Yin Baishuang to make a deliberate trip to find him.

"No one else has been injured, you should worry about yourself first, shouldn’t you?"

"Me?"

Yin Baishuang’s lips curled into a cold smile: "’Taoyan’ cannot appear in the Demon World by itself, ’Demon Chronicles’ has records, for ’Taoyan’ to enter the world, it can only be summoned through the Spiritual Offering method as a sacrifice."

Spiritual Offering, as the name implies, is the sacrifice of a soul.

Baili An said, "Miss Yin means that someone deliberately summoned Taoyan to this realm, secretly controlling it, causing chaos."

Yin Baishuang shook her head and said, "According to common sense, no one would do such a foolish thing, Taoyan is not a demon beast within the scope of common summoning."

It is summoned into the world by the sacrificer, and the first thing it does is devour the person who summoned it. Its self-awareness is extremely strong, leaving no time or opportunity for anyone to control it."

"The underground palace event just passed, now this Taoyan chaos emerges, Jiachen was injured and lost an arm tonight. I originally didn’t want to come looking for you, but since Jiachen’s incident, the Taoyan has become increasingly frenzied, going so far as to dig open the royal mausoleum of Mo City."

The royal mausoleum of Mo City has traditionally been the resting place for Demon Lords and various Demon Consorts.

Such tomb digging by Taoyan, especially of such a significant tomb, amounts to a major upheaval for the Demon World.

"Taoyan entered the mausoleum during the Yin Moon night, dug open the tombs of over a dozen Demon Consorts of former Demon Lords and ravaged their bodies until Taoyan excavated to the tomb of the past Demon Queen, causing an astounding change!"

"The Demon Queen, honored as a mother of a realm, shouldn’t have been buried with the Emperor. Yet, after the old Demon Lord passed, the previous Demon Queen also went along, unprepared for the chaos that led to her resurrection!"

"Resurrected!" The four words made Baili An tremble with uncontrollable fear in his heart.

Yin Baishuang cast him a glance and said, "Exactly as you imagined, the previous Demon Queen... she has become a corpse demon!"

Since Jiang Chen fell into demonhood, the corrosive spectral energy permeated between heaven and earth.

Apart from those directly related by blood to him becoming corpse demons, most of the corporeal demons birthed in the world originate from the bodies of the deceased, whose restless souls gather yin energy and transform into corpse demons.

And the previous Demon Queen was part of the Demon Clan, so it’s much easier for her to transform if her soul couldn’t find peace than for mortals.

"At the moment when the yin soil of the royal mausoleum was excavated, it happened to be the Yin Moon night, and the moon’s corrosive light flooded into the Demon Queen’s Holy Coffin due to Taoyan’s mindless actions, perfectly completing her transformation into a corpse demon.

The Demon Queen severely injured Taoyan, causing it to flee, and now the entire city is searching for the whereabouts of this evil creature, with Demon Ministers petitioning the Netherworld Palace to have the Demon Lord take charge of the situation."

The Demon Queen that Yin Baishuang mentioned is someone Baili An knows, she’s the biological mother of the current Young Master Mi Lu.

The current Demon Lord is of lowly demon origins, and now with the Demon Queen awakening, after a thousand years, she discovers the throne is held not by her son but by a demon of humble birth. It seems a deadly storm is on the horizon.

If this matter isn’t dealt with seriously by the Demon Lord, the throne beneath them might not remain secure.

Baili An asked, "Has the Demon Lord taken any actions?"

Upon hearing this, Yin Baishuang couldn’t help rolling her eyes, looking at Baili An as if he were the source of calamity:

The problem lies in her having made no moves at all, the Demon Lord is entirely consumed with the bet she has with you, she even went to great lengths to invite the reclusive Array Master out of seclusion.

The Inner Palace of Mo City, destroyed by you in the past, has now mostly been repaired by that Master, and in about six or seven days, if you haven’t found the trace of the Gate, get yourself ready to attend the Demon Lord’s coronation ceremony!"