Although Palace Head Chen had prepared himself, when he heard ‘I discovered the Demonic Faction Headquarters’ being said, he was still shocked and felt as if his mind had exploded.
It truly was a great surprise!
He was in a state of disbelief. He hesitated for a few second before saying, "Xue Ying, you’re saying you discovered the Demonic Faction Headquarters. How did you find it? Are you certain?"
"I was originally conducting a large-scale scan of the entire mortal world when I happened upon a subterranean fort covering an area of 250 kilometers, concealed deep underground," Xue Ying explained. "After carefully investigating, I concluded that the fort was the Demonic Faction Headquarters!"
"How sure are you?" asked Palace Head Chen.
"I found their High Priest! The fort contained Deity warriors and weapons, and its magic arrays were even more profound than the ones at Black Wind Deity Palace." Xue Ying continued, "Large amounts of resources were stored within, and it also contained the Great Demonic God’s Devil’s Well! On top of that, there were also numerous Demonic Faction simplified secret technique books there, including Deity ranked ones."
The more he heard, the brighter Palace Head Chen’s eyes became.
Deity weapons? Deity rank secret techniques? The Devil’s Well of the Great Demonic God? Deity warriors? A 250 kilometers large subterranean fort?
"Ha ha ha, good, very good!" Palace Head Chen’s voice trembled excitedly. He walked back and forth inside the courtyard. He was so excited, he didn’t know what to do. "So many years… Throughout the long history of our Xia Clan, the demons have always lurked in the dark! In all those years, we had not managed to find their headquarters!"
"Xue Ying, you really are the number one genius Xia Clan Transcendent of all time!" Palace Head Chen said while looking at Xue Ying. "With you having found the Demonic Faction Headquarters, if we manage to eradicate it, that would end up greatly reducing the internal friction in our Xia Clan. Haha, this matter is indeed more important than killing those five Demon Generals!"
Xue Ying nodded.
Every generation would see more than one Demigod belonging to the Demonic Faction.
They would reduce the power of the Xia Clan and even cause them to suffer from internal friction. As they were covert traitors, if they were to launch surprise attacks, they would end up causing havoc in the Xia Clan. This, in turn, would end up causing damage even more detrimental than the attacks of the Demon Generals. Moreover, the harm caused would last over multiple eras, not just the current one.
"The most important matter is that of the Devil Well of the Great Demonic God!" Palace Head Chen’s eyes sparkled. "Destroying the Great Demonic God’s Devil’s Well, plundering the Headquarters, and destroying their intelligence would be equivalent to bringing them to the brink of extermination. Without the Deity energy produced by the Devil’s Well, the Great Demonic God cannot manifest his miracles to cultivate Transcendents!"
"Mn." Xue Ying nodded.
"Right, the traitors! Those who defected to the Demonic Faction must be uprooted!" Palace Head Chen continued, "Even if we destroy the Demonic Faction Headquarters, as long as those traitors remain alive…they will surely attempt to rebuild it! Without the Devil’s Well or their accumulated intelligence, they might not be a threat to us. But we cannot be too sure. Maybe after several generations, they would once again become a threat to us!"
Xue Ying agreed,"I think so as well. I am currently in the process of covertly investigating their headquarters, waiting for a moment of opportunity! At the moment, I have knowledge of the identity of their High Priest, as well as one of their Transcendents."
"Who? Who is their High Priest?" Palace Head Chen inquired.
He really curious.
What exactly was the identity of the highest echelon of the Demonic Faction?
"Xi Yun!" Xue Ying solemnly said.
"Brother Xi Yun?"
"This is a scene of him cultivating." Xue Ying lightly waved his hand, using World Energy to project an image he has previously seen in the air. The scene depicted Xi Yun with his crimson eyebrows, wearing crimson robes which Xue Ying had witnessed before. Xi Yung began cultivating, and layers of scales begun appearing on his skin, a pair of horns sproutingatop of his head. The person depicted seemed to become more sinister.
"This, this…" Palace Head Chen took a deep breath. He couldn’t fully trust the information from this single scene. Having not seen it with his own eyes, he did not dare believe it. He did partially trust it, however, since the information came from Xue Ying. Had it been any other Transcendent to present it, forget trusting it, he might even have held some suspicion towards the other party.
"Everything will become clear when we attack the Demonic Faction Headquarter!" said Xue Ying.
"Mn. Who else?" asked Palace Head Chen.
"There is also Situ Hong!" Xue Ying said. "He is also a traitor. Other than that, my best friend, Disciple Brother Pu Yang has fallen to their schemes and is being held captive inside their Headquarters. He is still alive, suffering from their torture."
"That kid, Pu Yang, is still alive?" Palace Head Chen was surprised.
"He is still alive! He is locked inside the Demonic Faction Headquarters. I did not plan to save him for the time being, as I was afraid that it would have alerted the enemy," reported Xue Ying.
"That was the right choice, temporarily wrong him though it might be. Continue your observation, but do not act rashly!" Palace Head Chen said. "We will keep slowly investigate. The more traitors we uncover, the better. We must wait until the last possible moment before we pull in the net!"
Xue Ying nodded. "I understand!"
"Xue Ying, your current actions will end up helping generations of our Xia Clan." Palace Head Chen continued. "So, for now, we must trouble you. You need to be careful!"
...
After their meeting concluded, Palace Head Chen also began preparing for the upcoming tasks of killing the Demon Generals and the even more important event of eradicating the Demonic Faction Headquarters! They had to prepare first, and some of the treasures of the Xia Clan had to be taken out. Once their preparations were complete and the time was right, they could summon the Demigods and strike them down in one go.
Xue Ying continued to work hard.
His Qi avatar arrived at the Demonic Faction Headquarter location to keep watch. Because it only performed simple surveillance, the Qi consumption was minimal, so Xue Ying was able to maintain it for around half a year.
At the same time, his real body would fly all over the place to investigate.
...
On the fifth month of investigation.
"Mn?" Concealed in the Mirage, Xue Ying looked towards the subterranean depths ahead of him where a warship carrying several demons was located. It was not those demons that had attracted Xue Ying’s attentions. Instead, his eyes were fixed on the figure of an enchanting female demon dressed in red armor. She was a succubus with a powerful aura.
One of the five Demon Generals, the Scarlet-Armored Succubus! Xue Ying’s pupils shrank, and his mouth curved upwards slightly. Good. This is the first Demon General!
According to the Xia Clan intelligence reports on the five Demon Generals, the Scarlet-Armored Succubus was mentioned to be the slightly weaker one. Her strength was assumed to be around that of a middle-ranked Demigod. Of course, that was under the assumption that the Demigod wielded a Deity weapon.
Demons rely more on their bloodlines, and they tend not to have high comprehensions of the realms. Judging by the fact that her aura and expression have not changed at all, it seems that this Scarlet-Armored Succubus has not detected me, Xue Ying evaluated. This outcome was in accordance with his estimates. He believed that this Scarlet-Armored Succubus would not have a higher comprehension of the realms than Si Kong Yang, the High Priest.
Xiu!
Xue Ying moved out with high speed and without making a stop. He continued his investigations.
...
On the eleventh month of investigation.
It’s him!
Inside the Mirage, Xue Ying looked in the distance towards a warship hidden in the depths of a volcano. The warship contained a group of demons, the most eye-catching of them being a small demon with purple armor. In the past, this demon had personally sent his Avatar to kill Xue Ying. At that time, Xue Ying had not been willing to make a move, as he wanted to conceal his true strength. Instead, the green-armored protector had been the one to make a move.
His combat power is very high. Based on the intelligence report of the Xia Clan, his power is comparable to Mountain Lord He’s! Xue Ying pondered. He is equivalent to a first-rank Demigod, but just going by his appearance…
The purple-armored demon sat cross-legged, dark demonic energy surging up on his whole body. His small face was cold and detached; he seemed to be in the middle of practice. No change in his aura. He should also be unaware of me. Xue Ying was relieved.
There were five Demon Generals.
According to the intelligence, the most powerful one was this purple-armored demon, while the most overbearing one was the large, ice-blue demon.
Xiu! Xue Ying continued to investigate while flying. His speed was so great that in the blink of an eye, he could cover a distance of 50 kilometers. Although the Xia Clan World was so enormous, he could still fly several times around it in a single day.
...
After one year and three months of investigation.
My god! Inside the Mirage, Xue Ying stared at the huge figure of the Demon General sleeping inside the warship. So big! His height might actually reach a thousand meters!
A thousand meters tall, that was as high as a mountain.
He deserves his nickname of ‘Mountain Demon’. Xue Ying shook his head. This Demon General possessed extraordinary strength, but based on the intelligence of the Xia Clan, it was only comparable with a third-rank Demigod. Although he had a tyrannical body, his comprehension of the realms was very weak.
With his weak comprehension of the realms, he is the easiest to deal with. Xue Ying smiled. This Mountain Demon was still sleeping, unaware of the spy inside the Mirage.
...
In the blink of an eye, two years and one month had passed since Xue Ying started his investigation. In an area facing the sea, in the south and on a desolate uninhabited beach, a black-clothed Xue Ying lay down on the snow-white sand while relaxedly drinking fruit wine.
"Jing Qiu," Xue Ying used his communication wristband to converse with Jing Qiu. He would contact Jing Qiu and Palace Head Chen to talk and deliver reports every day. After all, there was no way to make any contact with the outside while he was in the Mirage.
"Haha, I’m in a good mood."
"It’s still early. I’m afraid it will take a few more years. How are things are home?" Xue Ying transmitted. On that day, he had finished checking all of the areas with land in the Xia Clan World. He had discovered three of the Demon Generals, while he estimated that the two he had not yet found were hiding deep within the sea.
After talking with Jing Qiu for a while, Xue Ying delivered a simple report to Palace Head Chen, "I have finished checking all the areas with land and found three Demon Generals! I have checked again, and the three of them retained their original positions, unaware of my investigation. That is all. I will now begin investigating the ocean." Xue Ying got up and put away his fruit wine.
With a move, Xue Ying’s figure distorted and vanished. Inside the Mirage, his body became a light streak as it entered the depths of the vast ocean.
Although Palace Head Chen had prepared himself, when he heard ‘I discovered the Demonic Faction Headquarters’ being said, he was still shocked and felt as if his mind had exploded.
It truly was a great surprise!
He was in a state of disbelief. He hesitated for a few second before saying, "Xue Ying, you’re saying you discovered the Demonic Faction Headquarters. How did you find it? Are you certain?"
"I was originally conducting a large-scale scan of the entire mortal world when I happened upon a subterranean fort covering an area of 250 kilometers, concealed deep underground," Xue Ying explained. "After carefully investigating, I concluded that the fort was the Demonic Faction Headquarters!"
"How sure are you?" asked Palace Head Chen.
"I found their High Priest! The fort contained Deity warriors and weapons, and its magic arrays were even more profound than the ones at Black Wind Deity Palace." Xue Ying continued, "Large amounts of resources were stored within, and it also contained the Great Demonic God’s Devil’s Well! On top of that, there were also numerous Demonic Faction simplified secret technique books there, including Deity ranked ones."
The more he heard, the brighter Palace Head Chen’s eyes became.
Deity weapons? Deity rank secret techniques? The Devil’s Well of the Great Demonic God? Deity warriors? A 250 kilometers large subterranean fort?
"Ha ha ha, good, very good!" Palace Head Chen’s voice trembled excitedly. He walked back and forth inside the courtyard. He was so excited, he didn’t know what to do. "So many years… Throughout the long history of our Xia Clan, the demons have always lurked in the dark! In all those years, we had not managed to find their headquarters!"
"Xue Ying, you really are the number one genius Xia Clan Transcendent of all time!" Palace Head Chen said while looking at Xue Ying. "With you having found the Demonic Faction Headquarters, if we manage to eradicate it, that would end up greatly reducing the internal friction in our Xia Clan. Haha, this matter is indeed more important than killing those five Demon Generals!"
Xue Ying nodded.
Every generation would see more than one Demigod belonging to the Demonic Faction.
They would reduce the power of the Xia Clan and even cause them to suffer from internal friction. As they were covert traitors, if they were to launch surprise attacks, they would end up causing havoc in the Xia Clan. This, in turn, would end up causing damage even more detrimental than the attacks of the Demon Generals. Moreover, the harm caused would last over multiple eras, not just the current one.
"The most important matter is that of the Devil Well of the Great Demonic God!" Palace Head Chen’s eyes sparkled. "Destroying the Great Demonic God’s Devil’s Well, plundering the Headquarters, and destroying their intelligence would be equivalent to bringing them to the brink of extermination. Without the Deity energy produced by the Devil’s Well, the Great Demonic God cannot manifest his miracles to cultivate Transcendents!"
"Mn." Xue Ying nodded.
"Right, the traitors! Those who defected to the Demonic Faction must be uprooted!" Palace Head Chen continued, "Even if we destroy the Demonic Faction Headquarters, as long as those traitors remain alive…they will surely attempt to rebuild it! Without the Devil’s Well or their accumulated intelligence, they might not be a threat to us. But we cannot be too sure. Maybe after several generations, they would once again become a threat to us!"
Xue Ying agreed,"I think so as well. I am currently in the process of covertly investigating their headquarters, waiting for a moment of opportunity! At the moment, I have knowledge of the identity of their High Priest, as well as one of their Transcendents."
"Who? Who is their High Priest?" Palace Head Chen inquired.
He really curious.
What exactly was the identity of the highest echelon of the Demonic Faction?
"Xi Yun!" Xue Ying solemnly said.
"Brother Xi Yun?"
"This is a scene of him cultivating." Xue Ying lightly waved his hand, using World Energy to project an image he has previously seen in the air. The scene depicted Xi Yun with his crimson eyebrows, wearing crimson robes which Xue Ying had witnessed before. Xi Yung began cultivating, and layers of scales begun appearing on his skin, a pair of horns sproutingatop of his head. The person depicted seemed to become more sinister.
"This, this…" Palace Head Chen took a deep breath. He couldn’t fully trust the information from this single scene. Having not seen it with his own eyes, he did not dare believe it. He did partially trust it, however, since the information came from Xue Ying. Had it been any other Transcendent to present it, forget trusting it, he might even have held some suspicion towards the other party.
"Everything will become clear when we attack the Demonic Faction Headquarter!" said Xue Ying.
"Mn. Who else?" asked Palace Head Chen.
"There is also Situ Hong!" Xue Ying said. "He is also a traitor. Other than that, my best friend, Disciple Brother Pu Yang has fallen to their schemes and is being held captive inside their Headquarters. He is still alive, suffering from their torture."
"That kid, Pu Yang, is still alive?" Palace Head Chen was surprised.
"He is still alive! He is locked inside the Demonic Faction Headquarters. I did not plan to save him for the time being, as I was afraid that it would have alerted the enemy," reported Xue Ying.
"That was the right choice, temporarily wrong him though it might be. Continue your observation, but do not act rashly!" Palace Head Chen said. "We will keep slowly investigate. The more traitors we uncover, the better. We must wait until the last possible moment before we pull in the net!"
Xue Ying nodded. "I understand!"
"Xue Ying, your current actions will end up helping generations of our Xia Clan." Palace Head Chen continued. "So, for now, we must trouble you. You need to be careful!"
...
After their meeting concluded, Palace Head Chen also began preparing for the upcoming tasks of killing the Demon Generals and the even more important event of eradicating the Demonic Faction Headquarters! They had to prepare first, and some of the treasures of the Xia Clan had to be taken out. Once their preparations were complete and the time was right, they could summon the Demigods and strike them down in one go.
Xue Ying continued to work hard.
His Qi avatar arrived at the Demonic Faction Headquarter location to keep watch. Because it only performed simple surveillance, the Qi consumption was minimal, so Xue Ying was able to maintain it for around half a year.
At the same time, his real body would fly all over the place to investigate.
...
On the fifth month of investigation.
"Mn?" Concealed in the Mirage, Xue Ying looked towards the subterranean depths ahead of him where a warship carrying several demons was located. It was not those demons that had attracted Xue Ying’s attentions. Instead, his eyes were fixed on the figure of an enchanting female demon dressed in red armor. She was a succubus with a powerful aura.
One of the five Demon Generals, the Scarlet-Armored Succubus! Xue Ying’s pupils shrank, and his mouth curved upwards slightly. Good. This is the first Demon General!
According to the Xia Clan intelligence reports on the five Demon Generals, the Scarlet-Armored Succubus was mentioned to be the slightly weaker one. Her strength was assumed to be around that of a middle-ranked Demigod. Of course, that was under the assumption that the Demigod wielded a Deity weapon.
Demons rely more on their bloodlines, and they tend not to have high comprehensions of the realms. Judging by the fact that her aura and expression have not changed at all, it seems that this Scarlet-Armored Succubus has not detected me, Xue Ying evaluated. This outcome was in accordance with his estimates. He believed that this Scarlet-Armored Succubus would not have a higher comprehension of the realms than Si Kong Yang, the High Priest.
Xiu!
Xue Ying moved out with high speed and without making a stop. He continued his investigations.
...
On the eleventh month of investigation.
It’s him!
Inside the Mirage, Xue Ying looked in the distance towards a warship hidden in the depths of a volcano. The warship contained a group of demons, the most eye-catching of them being a small demon with purple armor. In the past, this demon had personally sent his Avatar to kill Xue Ying. At that time, Xue Ying had not been willing to make a move, as he wanted to conceal his true strength. Instead, the green-armored protector had been the one to make a move.
His combat power is very high. Based on the intelligence report of the Xia Clan, his power is comparable to Mountain Lord He’s! Xue Ying pondered. He is equivalent to a first-rank Demigod, but just going by his appearance…
The purple-armored demon sat cross-legged, dark demonic energy surging up on his whole body. His small face was cold and detached; he seemed to be in the middle of practice. No change in his aura. He should also be unaware of me. Xue Ying was relieved.
There were five Demon Generals.
According to the intelligence, the most powerful one was this purple-armored demon, while the most overbearing one was the large, ice-blue demon.
Xiu! Xue Ying continued to investigate while flying. His speed was so great that in the blink of an eye, he could cover a distance of 50 kilometers. Although the Xia Clan World was so enormous, he could still fly several times around it in a single day.
...
After one year and three months of investigation.
My god! Inside the Mirage, Xue Ying stared at the huge figure of the Demon General sleeping inside the warship. So big! His height might actually reach a thousand meters!
A thousand meters tall, that was as high as a mountain.
He deserves his nickname of ‘Mountain Demon’. Xue Ying shook his head. This Demon General possessed extraordinary strength, but based on the intelligence of the Xia Clan, it was only comparable with a third-rank Demigod. Although he had a tyrannical body, his comprehension of the realms was very weak.
With his weak comprehension of the realms, he is the easiest to deal with. Xue Ying smiled. This Mountain Demon was still sleeping, unaware of the spy inside the Mirage.
...
In the blink of an eye, two years and one month had passed since Xue Ying started his investigation. In an area facing the sea, in the south and on a desolate uninhabited beach, a black-clothed Xue Ying lay down on the snow-white sand while relaxedly drinking fruit wine.
"Jing Qiu," Xue Ying used his communication wristband to converse with Jing Qiu. He would contact Jing Qiu and Palace Head Chen to talk and deliver reports every day. After all, there was no way to make any contact with the outside while he was in the Mirage.
"Haha, I’m in a good mood."
"It’s still early. I’m afraid it will take a few more years. How are things are home?" Xue Ying transmitted. On that day, he had finished checking all of the areas with land in the Xia Clan World. He had discovered three of the Demon Generals, while he estimated that the two he had not yet found were hiding deep within the sea.
After talking with Jing Qiu for a while, Xue Ying delivered a simple report to Palace Head Chen, "I have finished checking all the areas with land and found three Demon Generals! I have checked again, and the three of them retained their original positions, unaware of my investigation. That is all. I will now begin investigating the ocean." Xue Ying got up and put away his fruit wine.
With a move, Xue Ying’s figure distorted and vanished. Inside the Mirage, his body became a light streak as it entered the depths of the vast ocean.
