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The Demon Palace. As the most powerful faction in the Demon Realm, their location seemed to represent their power. The entire palace, all one-million square miles of it, hung in the skies above the Demon Realm.
There’s no need to even say just how lofty the position of those qualified to live there was.
It is, however, worth mentioning that unlike the God Emperor’s Estate, the Demon Palace wasn’t wholly under the Demon Emperor’s jurisdiction. The palace had three rulers: the Demon Emperor, Kui Lin; the top Divine Demon General Tak, and the second-ranked Divine Demon General, Sumeru.
Tak occupied the north, Sumeru occupied the south, and Kui Lin occupied the center.
They each reigned over their respective powers and didn’t intervene in each other’s affairs.
Yet today, the two top Divine Demon Generals, Tak and Sumeru, made an exception. They’d chosen to meet in a tiny, unknown village.
“You know already, right?”
“Don’t you know too?”
They were both elders, and each looked as if they already had one foot in the grave. They weren’t looking at anyone in particular, and they were over a hundred meters apart, each standing beneath an ancient tree. Just like that, their conversation began.
“It seems you’ve got informants in the Demon Emperor’s Palace too.”
“I could say the same of you. And don’t you have people in my faction too?”
“Silence.
Quite some time passed until...
“We should get this conversation over with as soon as possible. We both inserted people into that Kui Lin kid’s ranks, so he naturally has informants among our ranks too. He might already know that we’ve met.”
“Are you afraid of him?”
“Damn geezer, can you quit acting so arrogant all the time? It irritates the snot out of me.”
“If you’re annoyed, scram!” It was clear that the second Divine Demon General to speak was a bit hot-tempered.
They both fell silent again.
“Fine, I’m in no mood to argue with you. We’ve fought all of our lives, but our era is coming to an end. What’s there to fight about? You already know what Kui Lin’s been up to. We haven’t met in hundreds of thousands of years, but now that we’re here… How about we…. Cooperate?”
“Alright!”
“It’s settled, then.”
They fell silent again.
After a lengthy silence, they didn’t resume their conversation, but looking at the trees, there was no longer any trace of the two old men.
As for when exactly they left, or how they’d done it…
No one knew.
“Those blasted geezers.” Kui Lin sat upon his throne. Just now, his subordinates had reported that Tak and Sumeru had both left at the same time.
Given his intelligence, he naturally realized something was up. Nevertheless, he merely smiled calmly. He showed no visible reaction.
What surprised him was that the two generals, who’d been rivals for hundreds of thousands of years, would join forces on his account.
But given that, despite being a late arrival to the Demon Realm, he’d still trampled the two Divine Demon Generals and sized the throne of Demon Emperor, he wasn’t afraid of them. They couldn’t pull any tricks in front of him. Besides, he had an important guest to welcome.
He retracted his gaze, then looked toward the palace floors. The hall was decked out in purple carpets, a symbol of respect. There was a chair beside him.
Gu Li sat upon it, his eyes closed.
They’d agreed to meet in three days, but that was three days ago. He’d come to the palace for his appointment.
“We’ve sat here for six hours. Who knows when they’ll be back? How about we discuss….”
“I want to see An Li,” said Gu Li, cutting him off.
In response to this rude interruption, Kui Lin’s eyes flashed with anger, but out of consideration for Gu Li’s status, he repressed his fury and forced himself to smile. In the end, he continued sitting there, waiting.
After a while, a beautiful woman appeared in the main hall. The Demon Emperor recognized her immediately and asked, “Did you bring Young Miss An Lu back?”
This was the same horned woman Ye Zichen and the others had just run into. Her eyes flashed with nondistinct light. She started to speak, but hesitated when she saw Gu Li.
“This isn’t an outsider. Speak directly,” said the Demon Emperor.
“Someone took Young Miss An Lu away,” said the horned woman.
Gu Li’s gaze darkened. His hands dug into his armrests, tearing them in half. He rose to his feet, his aura billowing out. He turned to Kui Lin and roared, “It seems you’ve made your choice!”
He’d come here to take An Lu back with him, only for Kui Lin to say she wasn’t currently in the palace, but that he’d sent people out looking for her.
But now this woman said An Lu had been taken….
Gu Li could see that the woman was a ruler, and a strong one at that: she was easily in the top ten in the entire Demon Realm.
She’d gone out looking for An Lu, only for someone else to take An Lu away. Who would have done such a thing? The top two Divine Demon Generals, Tak and Sumeru? But they had no motive to do such a thing. What good would kidnapping An Lu do them?
Or was the culprit a god? Or maybe a yao?
Was that even possible?
“Since you don’t want to let her go, there’s nothing left for us to discuss.” He coldly looked away and got up to leave.
The Demon Emperor knit his brows and addressed the woman. “Who took her?”
“Outsiders,” said the horned woman. Gu Li slowed down, then heard the woman continue, “We chased Young Miss An Lu into chaotic space, but found that the area was already under the control of a group of Outsiders. They said they wanted to take An Lu with them. Their leader called himself Ye Zichen, and he said that if the Demon Emperor wanted An Lu back, he should in person.”
Whoosh!
A blur shot towards the woman. Gu Li dug his fingers into her arm, sending pain shooting through her.
She wanted to object, but when she considered how brazenly this mysterious youth talked to the Demon Emperor, she realized the emperor must value him highly. She had no choice but to endure.
“Who did you just say took An Lu?”
“Ye Zichen.”
Boom!
Blinding light burst from Gu Li. If you looked closely, you could see countless stars within the radiant glow, revolving around him. He was only a diviner, and yet, his aura alone forced the horned woman, a ruler, to her knees.
Kui Lin’s pupils constricted, then filled with undisguised longing….. “So this is the Emperor Star’s celestial fate.”
In response to Gu Li’s oppressive aura, never mind the lady ruler, even Kui Lin felt the urge to submit.
This was the power of the Emperor Star.
“Ye Zichen! It’s you again, Ye Zichen….!” Gu Li shoved the female ruler away, his veins bulging and his gaze sinister. He clenched his fists and gnashed his teeth.
If they’d said anyone else took An Lu, Gu Li wouldn’t have believed them.
But they said it was Ye Zichen. That, he could believe!
His fists clenched and his shoulders quivered uncontrollably. He whipped his head around to look at the Demon Emperor. It was then that, for the first time, the Demon Emperor saw the galaxy reflected in Gu Li’s eyes. “Summon all your troops. Also, that plan of yours? Start now!”
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