Qin Sang stepped onto the bridge of light.
The woman walked briskly ahead, leading the way with a sweet smile on her face.
Her features were delicate and charming, her eyes lively and captivating enough to stir the soul.
An ordinary person would never imagine that such a beauty was actually a puppet.
"Senior Sister mentioned that refining puppets this lifelike is no easy feat. Who knows how many the Myriad Demons Assembly prepared? What grand extravagance," Qin Sang mused inwardly as he listened to the puppet maid describe details of the Myriad Demons Assembly in a soft, gentle voice.
The island was brightly lit.
Stepping onto Lake Center Island, he was greeted by the sight of delicate, compact bamboo pavilions arranged in concentric rings.
Qin Sang noticed that although the bamboo pavilions appeared close together, each seemed to exist in its own independent space without interfering with the others, completely isolating spiritual sense probes—evidently due to some kind of spiritual array.
For the moment, neither Qin Sang nor the Heavenly Eye Butterfly could fathom the array's inner workings.
Once again, he marveled at the sheer scale of the Myriad Demons Assembly.
Following the puppet maid, Qin Sang entered an unoccupied bamboo pavilion and ascended to the second floor.
The second floor consisted of a single room. The front was completely open, yet outside lay pitch darkness, revealing nothing.
The furnishings, by contrast, were quite sparse, consisting merely of a few bamboo tables and chairs.
The puppet maid inquired if Qin Sang had any further needs, stating that the Myriad Demons Assembly could satisfy any reasonable request.
Qin Sang shook his head and instructed the maid to stand guard outside the door.
He tested things discreetly; while the Heavenly Eye Butterfly could likely see through parts of the restrictions, doing so risked alerting the master of the spiritual array, and there was no need to invite unnecessary trouble.
Qin Sang sat on a bamboo chair, closing his eyes to rest his spirit.
...
In an unknown room.
At that moment, Elder Lan and Elder Mei of Xuantian Palace were still waiting there, their expressions exceptionally grave as they listened to a report from a man in white standing before them.
After a moment, Elder Lan nodded slightly. "You may withdraw. Proceed according to the original plan, and remember to remain discreet. If there are any changes, I will notify you."
"Yes!"
The man in white retreated from the room.
Elder Mei rubbed her temples and muttered gloomily, "To think Great Sage Tianpeng would attend the Myriad Demons Assembly in person. The situation on Hunmo Island is growing increasingly complicated!"
Elder Lan felt a headache coming on as well.
Upon receiving the news just now, his first thought had been that trouble was brewing.
The Hidden Sun Realm bordered the Demon Realm, and friction between the two had always been constant.
Xuantian Palace and the demon race had clashed countless times over matters big and small; Great Sage Tianpeng had always been a major thorn in their side, yet they were utterly helpless against him.
"It comes as no surprise. Didn't the Palace Master attend the Myriad Demons Assembly in the past as well? Alas, there is still no word from the Grand Elder. It seems he will not be returning in time; we must be extra cautious," Elder Lan sighed softly.
"The Palace Master..."
Elder Mei's expression darkened, and she was just about to speak.
Just then, a piece of eight-sided mystic ice hanging at Elder Lan's waist—pure as crystal and tapered at both ends—glowed with a faint light, emitting a peculiar ripple.
Though the ripple was exceedingly faint, to the two elders it struck like a clap of thunder. They shot to their feet, staring fixedly at the trembling piece of eight-sided mystic ice.
The eight-sided mystic ice was precisely the ice key Elder Lan had condensed earlier.
It could only last a few days, requiring him to recondense it each time.
The eight-sided mystic ice could sense the sacred relic.
In the past few days, the eight-sided mystic ice had shown no reaction whatsoever, and they had originally all but given up hope.
"The sacred relic!" Elder Mei gasped in disbelief. She had never expected it to be found so easily.
"Did that wretched beast truly die? Did the sacred relic fall into someone else's hands? The resonance is very faint, which means that person used some restriction to seal it away. But they certainly wouldn't expect our seal to be so unique that no external power can completely isolate it."
Elder Lan also felt a sense of absurdity, as though this were unreal.
They had laid so many preparations to lure the traitor into showing himself, never imagining the sacred relic would appear before them like this.
Elder Lan sat cross-legged, holding the eight-sided mystic ice in both hands as he channeled an incantation.
The eight-sided mystic ice flared with brilliant radiance.
The entire room and the two figures within were cloaked in a faint blue glow. As the light on the surface of the mystic ice undulated, it accurately pointed out the sacred relic's direction.
"That person moves very fast; they have already entered Lake Center Island."
Elder Lan frowned.
They had an agreement with Old Man Hunmo not to take action on Hunmo Island or its surrounding waters, lest they tarnish the reputation of the Myriad Demons Assembly.
With the trade fair about to begin, it was even more impossible to strike right now and reclaim the sacred relic.
Furthermore, due to the Myriad Demons Assembly's special arrangements, there was currently no way to determine which individual was carrying the treasure.
Holding the eight-sided mystic ice, Elder Lan pondered for a moment and was about to send word to notify the others to change their plans.
Just then, Elder Mei suddenly frowned. "Wait, could this be a plot by that traitor?"
Great Sage Tianpeng had appeared.
Coupled with the earlier rumors that had lured the Grand Elder away, they couldn't help but suspect foul play.
Hearing this, Elder Lan put away his joy. "You mean Great Sage Tianpeng? Impossible! The sacred relic can help the demon race purify their bloodline; that wretched beast would never dare breathe a single word of it to Great Sage Tianpeng. Even if Great Sage Tianpeng couldn't break the seal himself, that old demon Great Sage Nine Heads would certainly have a way. If there truly were a scheme, why would Great Sage Tianpeng show himself out in the open? Wouldn't laying an ambush outside be far better?"
Elder Mei's expression shifted as she pondered aloud, "Perhaps that wretched beast learned long ago that Great Sage Tianpeng would attend the Myriad Demons Assembly and deliberately spread rumors to draw the Grand Elder away, dividing our strength. Then he could collude with some fiendish devils to draw us out and plot something."
"This..."
Elder Lan didn't know what to say.
For that wretched beast, on the run and hunted to the ends of the earth, to calculate to such an extent seemed too far-fetched.
In truth, he leaned toward believing the sacred relic had fallen into someone else's hands—someone ignorant of its origins who dared bring it to the Myriad Demons Assembly.
Yet Elder Mei's suspicion was not entirely impossible.
When it concerned the sacred relic, one could never be too careful.
"Unfortunately, this is Old Man Hunmo's stronghold; we cannot make a move on the island. The situation is complicated, so we cannot afford to get entangled in a chase, lest we draw the attention of Old Man Hunmo and Great Sage Tianpeng. You and I will strike personally and withdraw in a single blow! I will inform Elder Lu immediately that there is no need to put the Yinli Bead up for sale at the trade fair. Let the juniors continue according to plan, while our Nascent Soul cultivators quietly withdraw from Hunmo Island to seal off all directions. Yes, with the ice key's tracking, there is no need for us to remain on the island either."
Elder Lan looked up, speaking rapidly as he formulated their contingency plan.
Elder Mei gave an affirmative grunt and sneered coldly, "That wretched beast had better be dead, or I will certainly make him taste the agonizing torment of the Bone-Penetrating Needles! For an operation of this scale, we may be short-handed. Send someone to notify those two girls, Shixue and Liuli—it is time they contributed their share to the sect."
Elder Lan hesitated briefly. "Very well. With the sacred relic about to be recovered, there is no harm in letting them know."
With that, the two elders exchanged a glance. Their figures blurred, turning into two translucent phantoms that passed silently through the wall.
Yet two figures still remained in the room, seated by the table. Their auras were indistinguishable from living people, save for their slightly translucent skin.
They appeared to be quietly awaiting news from their subordinates.
Chapter 1441