# Chapter 678: Demonic Qi in Liuyun City
"Senior Uncle Chu Yueli, in these three years, have you had any... news of Chu Yuechan?" Yun Che hesitated, then still asked. He knew in his heart that the hope of receiving a definite answer was minimal.
Unsurprisingly, Chu Yueli shook her head with a gloomy expression.
"It's okay..." Yun Che took a deep breath. "Three years ago, I entrusted the headquarters of the Black Moon Merchant Guild to investigate news of Chu Yuechan. With the capabilities of the Black Moon Merchant Guild, after three whole years, they must have found something... Perhaps they've already located her."
"Mm!" Chu Yueli nodded slightly, a glimmer of hopeful light shining in her beautiful eyes. "Palace Master, when you go to the Black Moon Merchant Guild, remember to inquire about news of Xia Qingyue as well. Now that the crisis here has been resolved, it's actually more dangerous for her to be outside."
"I will." Yun Che nodded. "I should be staying in the Shenhuang Kingdom for the next period of time. The duration might be very long, or it might be very short. If anything unexpected happens, remember to send me a sound transmission immediately. I have my own ways to rush back at the first moment!"
Yun Che briefly bid farewell to the Ice Cloud women, retrieved the Primordial Mystic Ark, tore through space, and returned to Cangfeng Imperial City.
Compared to yesterday, today's Cangfeng Imperial City was much calmer. At the very least, the heavy, dark, and despairing atmosphere had dissipated by more than half. The news that Yun Che, the Imperial Consort, had returned and annihilated hundreds of thousands of troops from the Shenhuang Empire in an instant had long since spread throughout Shenhuang City and its surroundings, reigniting the hope that had long since been extinguished in their hearts.
"Husband, how did things go at the Sun Moon Divine Palace?"
As Yun Che returned, Cang Yue hurried out to greet him, her beautiful face beneath the phoenix crown carrying deep joy and an undeniable exhaustion. Clearly, she had spent another sleepless night amidst worry.
"Empress Sister-in-law, Big Brother is really too... too... too amazing!" Before Yun Che could answer, Xiao Yun couldn't help but shout excitedly, "The people who came from the Sun Moon Divine Palace were all extremely powerful—not only did the Young Master come personally, but there were also several Emperor Lords. But Big Brother burned one of them to death, and all the others were scared away... Scared so badly that they will never dare to come again! Ah... Seventh Sister, you don't need to check anymore. I really don't have a single injury. I just stood there for a little while and didn't even fight anyone. Ow ow ow..."
Xiao Yun's pale words naturally couldn't fully describe the scene at that time. He was even more unaware that beneath everything going so smoothly, every single moment for Yun Che was like walking on a tightrope over an abyss ten thousand zhang deep.
Cang Yue didn't ask further, because seeing Yun Che's confident gaze, she knew that the Bing Yun Fairy Palace had already resolved its crisis... even if the opponent was the Sun Moon Divine Palace. She smiled and said, "It's good that everything is fine. This time, you should finally go to Grandfather's place."
"Mm, I'll take Xiao Yun there right now." Thinking of the faces of Xiao Lie and Xiao Lingxi, a warm current naturally surged in Yun Che's heart, then grew stronger and stronger, almost to the point of uncontrollable impatience.
"Xiao Yun, let's go to Liuyun City now... That's the place where you were born. When you get there, you'll meet your true blood relatives." Yun Che picked up the Primordial Mystic Ark again and said with a smile.
Xiao Yun opened his mouth, paused for a long moment, then nodded firmly: "Good!"
Finding his blood relatives, meeting and acknowledging them—that was the greatest purpose for coming to the Tian Xuan Continent with Yun Che!
"I'm going too." Tianxia Diqi hopped over and grabbed Xiao Yun's arm.
"Now you and Xiao Yun are family. How could you be missing from a family reunion? Refusing to go is not an option!" Yun Che said with a laugh. "Yue'er, I'll soon bring Grandfather and Little Aunt back here. Brother Tianxia, Yuanba, I leave the Imperial City in your hands."
"Brother-in-law, rest assured. No matter how many they send, they won't get within a step of this place!" Xia Yuanba raised his thick arm and casually clenched his fist, producing a crackling sound like popping beans.
"Xiao Yun, Seventh Sister, let's go."
"Ah? Just... just go like this? Shouldn't we prepare something more, like... like..." Xiao Yun was momentarily at a loss. In the twenty-plus years he'd spent in Huan Yao Realm, he had always been branded with the label "Tian Xuan Bastard." At twenty-two years old, he had never seen a single blood relative.
"Nothing is needed. Let's go!" Yun Che grabbed Xiao Yun. Compared to Xiao Yun's emotional hesitation, he was already unbearably impatient.
Entering the Primordial Mystic Ark and setting the distance and direction for teleportation, they arrived above Liuyun City in an instant.
Leaving the Primordial Mystic Ark, Yun Che took a deep breath of the air here... Finally back. This is where I grew up...
The air still had the familiar scent, without any trace of gunpowder.
From a height of a thousand zhang, Yun Che silently gazed down at the hometown he knew all too well. The Cang Feng Kingdom was the smallest of the seven kingdoms of Tian Xuan, and Liuyun City was the smallest city in the Cang Feng Kingdom. This place was never as bustling as the big cities, and at this moment, Liuyun City was even quieter than Yun Che remembered. Though there were streams of people on the long, narrow streets, they were much sparser than before.
As Cang Yue had said, although the Shenhuang Kingdom had unexpectedly sent a full two hundred thousand troops to Liuyun City, they had not made any attempt to attack the city. As Yun Che swept his gaze over the area, the entire Liuyun City showed no signs of battle... not even small-scale ones, let alone large-scale ones. The streets were smooth, buildings showed no signs of extensive damage, and the city wasn't shrouded in an atmosphere of panic. Furthermore, when Yun Che probed, only the area around the City Lord's Mansion housed what should be a Shenhuang army unit, numbering only about a hundred.
This result made Yun Che heave a huge sigh of relief, but also filled his heart with doubt.
Liuyun City's people were weak and the city was small. The land was barren, and there were no places rich in resources nearby. Even the profound beasts that existed were the lowest level—there was simply no value in attacking it. Moreover, it was located in the easternmost part of the Cang Feng Kingdom, isolated and requiring a long march; capturing it could even be called a losing proposition. Even if they absolutely had to take it, given the combat power of the Shenhuang army, a few thousand troops would have been sufficient... Yet the Shenhuang side had dispatched a full two hundred thousand!
And this was before they advanced on Cangfeng Imperial City!
Furthermore, according to Cang Yue, after the two hundred thousand Shenhuang troops arrived here, they had never left.
But to look at Liuyun City now, it was such a scene.
Everything revealed an eeriness that couldn't be explained by common sense.
What was going on?
What did the Shenhuang Empire intend to do to Liuyun City?
Boom~~
Boom~~~
Boom!!
One after another, muffled rumbling sounds came from the due east, northeast, and southeast directions. Some of these sounds were distant, others relatively close, and they were especially dense. Yun Che quickly turned his head to look eastward. Where his gaze fell, on the rugged, perpetually barren mountainous land east of Liuyun City, he saw patches of red shadows, some clustered together, others scattered. Frowning slightly, he condensed his eyesight to the limit and gradually discovered that those red shadows were actually groups of Shenhuang soldiers wearing crimson light armor!
"What's that sound? Is someone fighting over there?" Xiao Yun and Tianxia Diqi looked eastward and asked in surprise.
"It's the Shenhuang army!"
"The Shenhuang army? Is someone fighting with the Shenhuang army?" Xiao Yun quickly asked. His eyesight and that of Tianxia Diqi were far inferior to Yun Che's, who possessed the Desolate God's Power.
"No," Yun Che shook his head, his brow deeply furrowed with confusion. "It looks like they're pounding the ground in a coordinated rhythm."
"Pounding... the ground?" Xiao Yun's eyes widened. "What are they doing? Are they training?"
Yun Che pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't know. Forget them for now. Let's go down." He pointed a finger at the most familiar place in his life. "Over there is the Xiao Clan Compound. It's where I grew up for sixteen years. Grandfather and Little Aunt are there now."
Just as Yun Che's body began to descend, a low shout from Mo Li suddenly came through his mind: "Wait!"
Yun Che's body halted abruptly. Whenever Mo Li suddenly used such a tone, she had definitely discovered something extraordinary. He quickly focused his mind and asked, "Mo Li, what's wrong?"
"What place is this?" Mo Li had already recognized it herself after she just finished speaking: "Liuyun City?"
Apparently, Mo Li had just woken from sleep. Yun Che replied, "I just returned here. What did you find? Is something wrong here?"
"..." Mo Li was silent for a long while before speaking in an extremely low voice: "Why... is there Demonic Qi here!"
"Demonic Qi?" Yun Che was startled. "What do you mean by Demonic Qi?"
"..." Mo Li continued to be silent for another long moment, and her tone grew even heavier: "It's not an illusion after all. That is indeed Demonic Qi without a doubt! Demonic Qi... simply put, it is a distortion of laws when one or more negative emotions reach a certain threshold, resulting in mutated profound energy! The demonic profound force it generates is stronger than profound force of the same level, and also harder to control. Since Demonic Qi can only arise under extreme negative emotions, those who possess Demonic Qi are twisted in spirit and belief—evil beings that should not exist in this world! Or they could be directly called demon people or demons!"
Yun Che: "..."
"This plane is becoming more and more interesting. To think that something like Demonic Qi would appear!" Mo Li muttered lowly. Toward "demons," she felt deep disgust and even resentment, because the poison she had been struck with was the most terrible demon poison!
"This person... is in Liuyun City?" Yun Che asked in a deep voice.
"That's right, and... within the Xiao Clan compound you were about to return to!"
"What?!" Yun Che was shocked.
"Let's go down and take a look immediately. I'm very curious to know what kind of person could actually generate Demonic Qi in such a low-level plane!" Mo Li's tone was especially strange.