The palace doors were pushed open, and a group of women filed in one after another, each more striking than the last. Fu Yu led them in, arranged in a neat line.
Every one of them carried a large stack of what appeared to be ancient tomes.
"My lord, everything you asked for is here." Fu Yu lowered her head as she spoke, her expression reluctant, as if she'd been forced to do something she had no desire to do.
And that was exactly the case. If the Human Emperor hadn't given the order, how could she possibly be here doing the work of a servant? She had no idea what the Human Emperor was thinking — was it really necessary to curry favor with this outsider to such an extent?
Her displeasure showed plainly on her face.
"Set them down," Yang Kai said, sweeping his gaze over the group. He found most of the women somewhat familiar — they were all princesses, without exception. Fu Yu appeared to be the eldest, while the youngest was only fourteen or fifteen. He hadn't seen her in the grand hall before, but her cultivation at the sixth leaf was unmistakable. This youngest princess was clearly brimming with curiosity. Standing at the end of the line, she kept stealing glances at Yang Kai with her large eyes.
Influenced by Fu Yu, she had initially assumed Yang Kai was some irredeemable villain, but now that she looked at him, he didn't seem quite so terrible. He didn't have three heads or six arms. She couldn't understand why Second Sister hated him so much.
Yang Kai's gaze swept over and he gave her a wink.
The little princess was startled and quickly ducked her head, setting down what she was carrying.
"Do you have any other orders? If not, we'll be leaving." Fu Yu stared at Yang Kai with an icy expression, her tone stiff, her face a portrait of defiance.
Yang Kai glanced at her. In the mood to make things difficult for her, he waved his hand. "Wait outside the hall. I'll call for you if I need anything. Don't disturb me otherwise."
"Wait… wait outside?" Fu Yu's eyes went wide, almost certain she'd misheard.
She was the Second Princess of the Imperial City — second only to the Human Emperor himself, above ten thousand others. Coming here to deliver these texts was already humiliation enough, and now he actually expected her to stand outside and wait? Did he really think she was some servant he could order about at will? This was absolutely intolerable.
Her fury nearly erupted, but the moment she recalled the Human Emperor's earlier instructions, it was as if a bucket of cold water had been dumped over her head. Her towering rage extinguished in an instant, and she could only grit her teeth. "Understood!"
The Human Emperor's orders — there was no way she would dare disobey them.
The princesses slowly filed out of the hall and took up positions outside the doors, each with her own thoughts. Apart from the youngest princess, the rest clearly wore expressions of resentment, feeling that this sort of task was beneath them.
Inside the hall, Yang Kai and Zhu Qing gazed at the stacks of tomes piled on the table. Each picked up a volume and began reading.
These texts were essentially records pertaining to the Samsara World. Roughly half documented the world's history of development, while the other half described its customs and geography. The Human Race had existed here for over a hundred thousand years. The world itself wasn't particularly large, so apart from the region within ten thousand li of Demon Rage City — which was forbidden territory for the Human Race — they had explored virtually everywhere else.
These were the Royal Family's secret archives, materials that ordinary people could never hope to see.
Over the next several days, Yang Kai and Zhu Qing remained inside the palace, not venturing out once, carefully poring through the tomes and gathering every scrap of intelligence about this world.
After several days, Yang Kai finally rubbed his temples and set down the last volume, his brow slightly furrowed as he sank into thought.
Across from him, Zhu Qing had finished at roughly the same time. A contemplative look on her face, she murmured, "So this world really does exist in the gap between two planes — in a spatial rift."
Yang Kai chuckled softly. "If it didn't, we wouldn't have the phenomenon of the world's laws shifting back and forth."
"It's remarkable they were able to survive and prosper in such a place. The Sacred Tree must have been of tremendous help."
"The Sacred Tree…" Yang Kai nodded slightly. "It did play a tremendous role. Not only did it protect all of Human Emperor City, it also preserved the legacy of the witch arts."
Yang Kai had originally assumed the Royal Family's witch arts had been passed down generation to generation by their ancestors, keeping the flame alive. But now it seemed the truth was more complicated.
Over a hundred thousand years, with the world's laws constantly shifting — in the Star Boundary, witch arts had gradually been supplanted by martial cultivation. The Samsara World occasionally resonated with the Star Boundary's laws, which naturally made it unsuitable for practicing witchcraft.
But Qing's existence had allowed the witch arts to endure across the ages.
The Royal Family could only cultivate the witch arts by meditating near Qing, communing with his power and resonating with him. Without Qing's aid, even if they possessed the knowledge of how to practice witchcraft, the world's laws would not permit them to harness the power of the witch arts.
Qing was the hero of an entire era, the vessel through which the power of the ancient world had been transmitted. Without him, the witch arts would have perished in the Samsara World long ago.
It was a pity that in the final battle between humans and demons all those years ago, his mind had been lost to darkness. What remained of him now was nothing but a mass of chaotic willpower, faithfully guarding the last wishes he had in life — to protect the Human Race and to protect the witch arts.
Yang Kai wondered whether there was any chance Qing might one day awaken again, though he suspected the odds were exceedingly slim. Over a hundred thousand years had already passed. If Qing were truly capable of awakening, he would have done so long before now, rather than waiting until the present.
Moreover, Yang Kai reckoned that even if Qing did awaken, he likely wouldn't remember anything from his past. He would be reborn anew.
And perhaps that was how it should be.
The texts also contained records regarding Yin Wind Mountain, though the information was exceedingly sparse — only a rough location was noted, with no knowledge whatsoever of what lay inside. The place had never been visited by the Human Race in over a hundred thousand years.
What the records did mention was that demons frequently lingered in the area, harnessing the pure demonic energy that seeped from Yin Wind Mountain to fuel their cultivation.
So if they truly intended to go to Yin Wind Mountain, a clash with the Demon Race would be inevitable.