The towering palace stood imposing and grand. Inside, Luan Feng, wearing a phoenix crown and resplendent ceremonial robes, sat in the seat of honor, perfectly still. Below her, a figure paced back and forth, his face etched with anxious unease, occasionally turning his head to peer outside as though awaiting something. This man appeared lean and sharp-featured, dressed in a dark robe, his black hair gathered loosely behind his head into a simple bun secured by a jade hairpin. He was none other than Cang Gou, the Western Sage Sovereign — one of the Three Great Sage Sovereigns of the Primordial Desolate Lands.
The Western Sage Sovereign, who had always remained impassive even before a crumbling mountain, was now, for reasons unknown, deeply troubled, his face a mask of conflicted distress.
After pacing about like a headless fly for a while, Luan Feng finally could take no more. She pressed a hand to her forehead and said, "Sit down. You're making my eyes spin."
Cang Gou halted and looked at her with a mix of grief and indignation. "How has he come again?! Tell me — how has he come running back here again?"
Luan Feng replied listlessly, "You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?"
"Wasn't it heard that he went to the Northern Territory and established some kind of palace…?"
"Lingxiao Palace!"
"Right, Lingxiao Palace!" Cang Gou slapped his palms together. "Word is he's doing quite well in the North. If he's out there throwing his weight around, why on earth has he come back to our Eastern Territory?" He had never seen anyone like this man — crossing between territories as casually as eating or drinking, and even treating the fearsome Primordial Desolate Lands like a backyard garden he could come and go from at will.
Luan Feng said calmly, "He claims he's here to settle accounts with me."
"Settle accounts? What accounts?" Cang Gou stared at her wide-eyed.
Luan Feng lowered her gaze. "Who knows? He's probably just spouting nonsense."
Cang Gou regarded her suspiciously. "Is there something you're hiding from us?"
Luan Feng replied, "What could I possibly be hiding from you? But then again — you haven't let any information slip, have you?"
Cang Gou snorted. "I'm not an idiot. How would I let anything slip?"
"That's good. If those Demon Kings found out he'd come…" She trailed off mid-sentence, unable to continue. Just picturing that scene sent a chill down her spine.
Cang Gou had clearly realized the same thing, and his face took on a look of piteous dismay. Here they were, the great Sage Sovereigns of the Primordial Desolate Lands, and yet they now had to guard against a single Emperor Realm human as though he were a thief — on edge, hearts in their throats. If anyone were told, they'd never believe it.
Since when had the Primordial Desolate Lands fallen so low that a single human could run roughshod through them?
Yet that was precisely the reality. Ever since that man had visited over a decade ago and stirred the Desolate Lands into a whirlwind of chaos, his name had spread throughout the entire territory.
If the Three Great Sage Sovereigns had not joined forces to suppress the matter, the Demon Kings under their command would have long since set off to seek him out.
Not for revenge, of course. Rather, that man was the only existence capable of making contact with a descendant of the Heavenly Executioner. Every last one of them wanted to pledge their loyalty to him, all for the sake of that one day when the Blood Gate opened once more — to earn the favor of the Heavenly Executioner's descendant and thus gain the chance to inherit the glory of their ancestors and transform into Sacred Spirits.
Over these years, despite the Three Great Sage Sovereigns' suppression, the remaining twenty-nine Demon Kings had continued to press their case, vying to replace Ying Fei, Xi Lei, and Xie Wuwei at Yang Kai's side. Some had even put forward the absurd proposal of a rotation system.
It was utterly disgraceful — exalted Demon Kings, groveling and currying favor with a human over some faint, far-fetched opportunity, casting aside their dignity and the pride of their station. Even the Three Great Sage Sovereigns found it deeply embarrassing.
But when they thought about it, it was perfectly logical. The Demon Kings had reached the absolute limit of their cultivation. If they wished to advance even one step further, they could only turn to their ancestral bloodlines. Most of the beast clans in the Primordial Desolate Lands carried the blood of ancient Sacred Spirits, more or less, and if they truly received the aid of the Heavenly Executioner's descendant, the chance of becoming a Sacred Spirit was far from negligible.
So even as the Three Great Sage Sovereigns seethed at their subordinates' lack of resolve, they could not punish them for it. Fortunately, over the past decade or so, the Demon Kings had gradually calmed down, and at least no major trouble had erupted.
Luan Feng was now immensely grateful for the decision she had made back then — smashing that cross-territory spatial formation had been a stroke of true foresight. If she hadn't, and Yang Kai had been able to dash back to the Desolate Lands every couple of days, the Three Great Sage Sovereigns would soon have become Sage Sovereigns commanding no one. With no subordinates left to call upon, every Demon King having defected to the Northern Territory's Lingxiao Palace — now that would truly be humiliating.
"What about the Demon Commander who brought the news?" Cang Gou seemed to recall something and started in alarm. The news of Yang Kai's reappearance in the Desolate Lands absolutely could not spread, or their quiet peace would shatter once more.
"He's been locked up," Luan Feng answered. It was something she had thought of the moment Cang Gou did — after the Twin-Horned Demon Commander had arrived to report, she had placed him under house arrest immediately, fearing the information might leak.
"Good." Cang Gou exhaled in relief.
"Have you prepared the items I asked for?" Luan Feng looked up at him.
Cang Gou flipped his hand, and three spatial rings appeared in his palm. "They're all here. Are we really going to pay him off just like that?"
"What else would you have us do?" Luan Feng understood perfectly well that she had smashed the spatial formation Yang Kai had painstakingly set up all those years ago, and there was no way he would let that go without compensation. The simplest and most effective solution was naturally to pay him off — but the cost could not fall on her alone. This concerned the entire Desolate Lands, and the other two Sage Sovereigns could not escape their share either.
Cang Gou said with a pained expression, "Our Desolate Lands may be wealthy, but we can't sustain him plundering us like this every couple of days. Last time he walked off with quite a haul."
"Nothing more than some stones and herbs — of little use to the beast clans of our Desolate Lands anyway. Let him have them. Or perhaps…" Luan Feng's beautiful eyes glinted, a cold light flashing in their depths. "We find an opportunity to do away with him."
Cang Gou jumped in alarm. "Absolutely not!"