# Chapter 586: Golden Crow Soul Spirit
The person who arrived before Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley was none other than Xiao Yaohou.
Standing in front of the Golden Crow Mystic Array, she gently brushed her gray sleeve, raised her arm, and slowly lifted the Demon Emperor Seal. Instantly, the light released by the Demon Emperor Seal became deeper and more scorching, flickering slowly. The frequency of the flickering was exactly the same as the Golden Crow image at the center of the mystic array, as if some resonance had been created.
Xiao Yaohou extended her left hand, and her slender fingers lightly traced a line. Immediately, a drop of crimson blood flew from her fingertip and landed on the Demon Emperor Seal. In an instant, the Demon Emperor Seal flashed with firelight, and a streak of red-gold flame shot up, swirling around the Demon Emperor Seal in blazing combustion that refused to extinguish.
Xiao Yaohou's fingers spread out and danced lightly. Another drop of blood flew from between her fingers, drawing a scarlet trajectory straight toward the Golden Crow Mystic Array, landing on the Golden Crow image at the array's center. A similar clump of red-gold flame ignited at the center of the array.
Holding the Demon Emperor Seal in her hand, Xiao Yaohou leaped up and touched the seal to the center of the mystic array. In that moment, the two flames ignited by her Demon Emperor blood merged together. The Demon Emperor Seal let out a shrill cry, and the Golden Crow Mystic Array also howled repeatedly. Then, the two flames in fusion extinguished simultaneously in an instant...
And the mystic array that had sealed Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley rapidly faded at this moment until it completely dissipated.
The only entrance to Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley was now laid bare before Xiao Yaohou, without any concealment.
Xiao Yaohou's gaze was as calm as still water. She put away the Demon Emperor Seal, and her petite form streaked a gray shadow imperceptible to ordinary human eyes, silently vanishing into Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley...
In another half month, it would be the opening period of Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley. Five years had passed, and a large number of Fire Spirits and Thunder Spirits had already been reborn within. Here, the earth was crimson, yet the sky was purple. Within her line of sight, countless flames danced and countless thunderbolts howled. Occasionally, the ground would suddenly erupt with tens of meters high waves of fire, or roaring thunderbolts would fall from above... Although it was separated from the outside world by only a single Golden Crow Mystic Array, it felt like a completely different world in terms of laws and composition.
Xiao Yaohou moved at full speed, heading straight north. Flames and thunderbolts struck and entwined her body, but no matter how wildly these flames and lightning raged, they could not harm her in the slightest. Some Fire Spirits with moderate intelligence, upon sensing the aura on her body, would quickly flee, not daring to approach.
Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley was vast beyond measure. Xiao Yaohou concentrated all her power into speed without any reservation, moving so fast she seemed like a sudden flash of lightning. Yet even so, after more than an hour, the world around her was still a realm of thunder and fire, with no end in sight.
After two full hours, a mountain wall completely wrapped in red-gold flames appeared ahead. Xiao Yaohou twisted her figure and landed before the mountain wall. In front of her was a Golden Crow Mystic Array very similar to the one sealing Jinwu Thunder Flame Valley, only this array was about a third smaller, and the Golden Crow image was even deeper.
Xiao Yaohou's always cold and still gaze finally rippled for a moment. This was not her first time here, but this time, her state of mind was completely different from before. In the past, she had only helplessness and longing, but this time... she held in her hand the Demon Emperor Seal, which had finally returned.
Holding the Demon Emperor Seal, Xiao Yaohou no longer hesitated. She walked slowly forward. As her body touched the mystic array, the Demon Emperor Seal flashed with firelight, and a burst of explosive flame spread out, enveloping Xiao Yaohou and slowly carrying her body into the array...
Xiao Yaohou's world instantly shifted. From a world of thunder and fire, she stepped directly into a boundless world entirely filled with golden light.
Holding the Demon Emperor Seal, Xiao Yaohou knelt on one knee and said respectfully: "The twelfth-generation Emperor of the Illusion Demon Royal Clan, the eleventh-generation inheritor of the Golden Crow Bloodline, Huan Caiyi, pays respects to the Golden Crow Sacred God."
"Ha ha ha ha ha..."
As soon as Xiao Yaohou's voice fell, a woman's unrestrained laughter echoed through this golden world. The voice seemed to come from the heavens, yet also from right beside her ear. Even Xiao Yaohou's powerful profound force, as high as the fifth level of the Lord Xuan Realm, trembled and surged under this voice.
"Your Illusion Demon Royal Clan has been a hundred years late in arriving, and today you finally come, but you are a woman. It seems the fate between me and your clan has already ended. What do you still come for?!"
The woman's voice was like raging fire. Her words filled Xiao Yaohou with confusion. She raised her head and said: "My father and younger brother met with misfortune a hundred years ago, one after another, and the Demon Emperor Seal was lost for a hundred years, only recently recovered, hence the hundred-year delay. Although I am a woman, I am the only direct descendant of the Demon Emperor Clan today, inheriting pure Demon Emperor Blood. I beg the Golden Crow Sacred God to bestow upon me the *Golden Crow World-Incinerating Record* and the Ancestral Blood, so that I may revive the Demon Emperor Clan."
"Bestow upon you the *Golden Crow World-Incinerating Record* and the Ancestral Blood? Ha ha ha ha! You are truly pitiful and naive. Did you not clearly hear what I just said? From the moment you entered, I knew that the fate between me and your clan was already over!"
"What does the Golden Crow Sacred God mean by this?" Xiao Yaohou frowned in confusion.
"What do I mean? You are certainly naive enough! In the last ten thousand years, your Demon Emperor Clan has produced ten successive Demon Emperors. All ten of these Demon Emperors were male! Never has there been a female. Did you think it was merely coincidence and the worldly male dominance?! Hmph, it seems you have never known that, with your mortal bodies, only males can bear the Golden Crow Ancestral Blood!"
Xiao Yaohou felt as if struck by lightning, her whole body trembling slightly: "Why! Though I am a woman, I am still a direct inheritor of the Demon Emperor Clan..."
"It has nothing to do with whether you are an inheritor of the Demon Emperor Clan! It is simply because you are a woman!" The flame-like woman's voice said mercilessly: "The male body is Yang, the female body is Yin. With a mortal woman's body, controlling ordinary profound fire is still possible, even the flames of the Phoenix or Vermilion Bird. But my Golden Crow Flame is the most intense and Yang flame in the world! It tolerates not a trace of Yin Qi! You now only inherit a thin Golden Crow Bloodline, and already you suffer day and night from your body and heart burning, in unbearable pain, and your lifespan is greatly reduced. If you were to bear the Ancestral Blood, your inner Qi would fall into complete chaos, and you would suffer endless agony!"
"Moreover, you are still a virgin, your body's Primordial Yin still intact. If you were to receive the Ancestral Blood, within three days, the flame force of your bloodline would erupt violently, and you would die from your five viscera burning to ashes!"
Xiao Yaohou: "!!!!"
In the Huan Yao Realm, the ten generations of Demon Emperors had indeed all been male. But no one had ever found this strange, because a male being emperor was simply natural and right, while a female being emperor would be abnormal. The fact that the Golden Crow Bloodline harmed women's bodies was well known to the Illusion Demon Royal Clan, especially the direct descendants. The Demon Emperor's consorts always departed before the Demon Emperor, none living beyond a thousand years... without exception.
Xiao Yaohou knew this in her heart... but she had never imagined that a woman's body, even that of the Demon Emperor's own daughter, simply could not bear the Ancestral Blood... and thus could not cultivate the *Golden Crow World-Incinerating Record*.
All her hopes were like ice-cold spring water ruthlessly poured over her heart and soul. She stared blankly for a long time, thinking of the current predicament of the Demon Emperor Clan, and murmured unwillingly: "Is there truly no possibility at all... Golden Crow Sacred God, you yourself are also a woman's body..."
"Ha ha ha ha!" The flame-like voice laughed wildly: "The body of a god—how can it be compared to your mortal frame! If there is a possibility... hmph, it is not that there is none. That would be to obtain the nourishment of a man's Primordial Yang who possesses the blood of the Vermilion Bird or Phoenix! But in this Huan Yao Realm, there has never been any residual power of the Phoenix or Vermilion Bird, and there is absolutely no such man to be found. Give up your hopes and leave!"
When the Golden Crow's voice mentioned "Phoenix" and "Vermilion Bird," it clearly expressed deep disdain.
Xiao Yaohou lowered her head and closed her eyes, remaining silent for a long time, unwilling to leave. The flame-like woman's voice sounded again: "Do not continue to harbor illusions. Do not hope for me to help you! I am the separated form of the Golden Crow's blood and soul. Under the Golden Crow's lingering will, I am forbidden to leave this place for all eternity! Since the beginning of the ten-thousand-year era, I have bestowed upon your Ni Hong Cai Que clan ten thousand years of glory, allowing you to become the ten-thousand-year Demon Emperor Clan! That the fate between me and your clan has come to an end is also the will of heaven! Go now!"
"As for this Demon Emperor Seal, on the day you die, when the Demon Emperor Bloodline is severed, it too will naturally dissipate along with you!"
As the voice of the Golden Crow Soul Spirit fell, the golden world also collapsed. Around her, it became a world of thunder and fire once more. Xiao Yaohou remained kneeling there, motionless and silent for a long time, as if she had lost her soul...
The Mu Clan had welcomed its most bustling day in over a hundred years.
The moment Yun Che agreed to return to the Mu Clan with them, Mu Feiyan immediately sent a sound transmission home. The entire Mu family, from top to bottom, became a flurry of activity, far more chaotic than even when Xiao Yaohou had visited.
The Mu Clan's territory was half again as large as the Yun Family's. Combined with the Yun Family's decline, the Mu Clan far surpassed the Yun Family in presence and power.
Old Man Mu grabbed Yun Che and led the way into the house, laughing heartily all the way, his spirits soaring. The Mu clan disciples stared wide-eyed, even suspecting that their normally stern and imposing clan head had been possessed by some ghost or monster.
Mu Feiyan personally took Yun Che on a tour of the Mu estate, talking nonstop all the way, laughing loudly, his spittle flying everywhere. The Mu disciples looked as if they had seen a ghost in broad daylight. After touring the estate, it was nearly dusk. Mu Feiyan brought the group to his own courtyard and, without hesitation, took out all the jade ginseng tea he had treasured for centuries without bearing to drink... When Mu Yubai and his two brothers held their teacups, their hands were trembling. This jade ginseng tea cost ten thousand gold per tael; normally, even sneaking a sniff would earn them a scolding from the old man and being chased out. Today, thanks to their nephew... they got to drink it!
"Come! Che'er, this is your grandfather's gift for meeting you. See if you like it." Mu Feiyan laughed heartily as he placed an ice jade box emanating cold air into Yun Che's hands.
"Thank you, Grandfather." Yun Che took it, then directly opened the ice jade box. Inside the palm-sized box lay a narrow crystal the size of a little finger. At first glance, it seemed no different from an ordinary icicle, but the cold air it emitted carried an indescribable sense of mystery.
When they saw this "icicle," the three Mu brothers all widened their eyes simultaneously, spitting out the jade ginseng tea from their mouths with a sound like a slaughterhouse scream...
"TIANJUE COLD CRYSTAL AHHHHH!"