Chapter 887
Golden-Eyed Demon Kingdom, Jin Xuan Disappears
"You want to go in person? You're a thorn in the side of the demon race now." Song Xianming frowned slightly.
Since the Battle of Canglan River, where Song Changsheng defeated the powerful and killed the Golden-Winged Roc, his name has spread throughout the entire Golden-Eyed Demon Kingdom.
His own strength and talent were part of it, but the most important thing was that the Golden-Winged Roc that was killed had an unusual identity and was closely connected with the Golden-Winged Roc clan.
The Golden-Winged Roc is one of the most powerful races in the demon race, capable of competing with giants like the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin. The Golden-Eyed Crimson Tiger is under considerable pressure and wishes it could eliminate him as soon as possible.
If it weren't for the restrictions of the ancient alliance, [Golden-Eyed Crimson Tiger] would have taken action himself long ago.
After all, he was a powerful figure at the level of a demon lord. No one knew whether he had collected Song Changsheng's aura back then. If he were discovered, the consequences would be severe.
Moreover, Jin Xuan has been unreachable for a long time, and no one knows what state the Golden Eye Demon Kingdom is in now after the great flood caused by the Canglan Water Lord.
Song Changsheng said in a deep voice, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained. With the killing intent of the Third Killing Formation by my side, I should be able to protect myself without any problems. Seizing the initiative is crucial for us."
Once we understand the specific impact of the great flood caused by the Canglan Water Lord on the Golden-Eyed Demon Kingdom, we can roughly deduce the movements of the demon race.
The information that Fengyu Palace can gather is far too limited, and it's easy to be misled. I really don't know what to do without seeing it for myself.
"Also, Jin Xuan wouldn't suddenly disappear; he's probably encountered some trouble, and he might need my help."
Speaking of this matter, Song Changsheng still felt a bit guilty. The main reason he threw Jin Xuan into the Demon Realm was because the comfortable environment of the Song Clan was not suitable for its growth. To unleash its true potential as a Golden Tortoise, only the chaotic environment of the Demon Realm, where the strong prey on the weak, could do so.
Given the prestige of his bloodline, his safety is assured.
To his surprise, Jin Xuan suddenly went missing. Although he was not in any life-threatening danger, he may have encountered some unknown predicament.
Unsure of his situation and safety, I still couldn't put my mind at ease.
"Since you've made up your mind, then go. Safety is the most important thing."
"The pills I commissioned the Myriad Manifestations Palace to refine should be completed soon. Please keep an eye on any news about them while I'm away."
The Golden-Eyed Demon Kingdom is vast, far exceeding the cultivation world of the Great Qi. His journey there will not only require him to ascertain Jin Xuan's situation and re-establish contact, but also to understand the movements of the demon race. It will take at least several months before he can return.
If you take the opportunity to cause some minor damage, it will take even more time.
"You don't need to worry about the family. There are many powerful people in the Golden-Eyed Demon Kingdom, so you must be careful," Song Xianming said with some concern.
"I will." Song Changsheng nodded, his body twisted for a moment, and finally turned into an inconspicuous wisp of green smoke and merged into the surrounding space.
In a state of spatial etherealization, he can completely conceal his aura, making him virtually undetectable to anyone below the Nascent Soul stage.
The Canglan River was calm and still, as always.
But it wasn't always like that; every now and then, some big fish would stir up waves in the river.
The watchtowers and surveillance arrays along the riverbank have been reactivated, faithfully fulfilling their duties.
Their original purpose was to monitor the aquatic creatures in the Canglan River, but after the battle on the Canglan River, the cultivation world of the Great Qi and the Tuolong Clan reached a peace, and the previous conflicts were put behind them. The two sides then kept to themselves, so there was no need to continue maintaining these high-energy-consuming watchtowers and arrow formations.
Of course, the main reason is that the major Golden Core forces in the Great Qi cultivation world joined forces and successfully curbed those audacious rogue cultivators, preventing the conflict between the two races from escalating further. Otherwise, this peace would have been shattered long ago.
Nowadays, those independent cultivators have been sent to the Twin Islands, providing the East Sea Alliance with a large labor force and establishing a trade market, which has accelerated the process of land reclamation.
During this process, apart from the East Sea Alliance, the Golden Crow Sect and the Heavenly Vein Sect, which also spent a lot of time and energy, did not gain any benefits. Feeling resentful, they were naturally even less willing to continue maintaining these watchtowers and formations, and thus neglected them for a period of time.
The reason for its renovation and reopening is also to monitor the movements of the demon race on the other side.
It seems that everyone believes that once the hundred-year period is over, the demon race will make a comeback.
Song Changsheng had his doubts about this, which is why he decided to see for himself.
During his flight across the Canglan River, he keenly noticed a phenomenon: the number of demonic birds had decreased significantly compared to the past.
That alone is somewhat unusual.
Based on past experience fighting against the demon race, they would also send out advance troops to gather intelligence and check the arrangements of the Great Qi cultivation world before the start of the great battle.
Crossing the Canglan River is a major challenge, requiring at least a powerful demon to accomplish. However, a powerful demon crossing the river would create a huge disturbance and be easily exposed, making it impossible for them to penetrate deep into the heart of the Great Qi cultivation world. Therefore, fast-moving demonic birds with the ability to fly are the best choice.
Even if it weren't for gathering intelligence, the fish and water spirits in the Canglan River would be excellent food for the demon birds.
Song Changsheng had crossed the Canglan River several times, and each time he would encounter a large number of demonic birds hunting on the river, but this time there were only a handful.
There are only two possibilities for this situation: one is that the great flood caused heavy losses to the Golden-Eyed Demon Kingdom, leading to a large-scale migration of demon birds.
Either the demon race has already completed its pre-war intelligence gathering and is beginning to assemble in preparation for an attack.
If it's the former, it would undoubtedly be great news for the cultivation world of the Great Qi, meaning that the demon race wouldn't launch a beast tide attack in the short term. But if it's the latter, the situation would be somewhat dire.
Therefore, he must determine the cause as soon as possible, and venturing deep into the heart of the demon kingdom is essential.
This is the chain reaction caused by Jin Xuan's disappearance.
If Jin Xuan hadn't gone missing, he could have directly obtained relevant information without taking this risk.
After all, given his bloodline and cultivation level, he must be within the scope of the conscription, and it would be easy to obtain relevant information.
Song Changsheng crossed the Canglan River at top speed, and the scene that came into view immediately surprised him.
At a glance, the once lush jungle had completely disappeared, leaving only muddy swamps that exuded a chilling aura and a putrid smell. There was virtually no trace of monster activity, and even many mountain peaks had collapsed.
It bore almost no resemblance to the scene in his memory.
He knew that the flood unleashed by the Canglan Water Lord would have a great impact on the Golden-Eyed Demon Kingdom, but he never imagined it would be this big. Decades have passed, and the land that was once submerged by the flood has no greenery at all, only desolation and death.
The flood was triggered in an instant, leaving no time to react. It's easy to imagine how many monsters perished as a result.
The demon race suffered heavy losses, which was naturally a great thing for the cultivation world of the Great Qi. However, apart from a little joy, Song Changsheng felt mostly relieved.
If the conflict had been allowed to escalate back then, would the cultivation world of the Great Qi have ended up the same way?
His answer was "yes," and it would be far more devastating than that.
After all, the Great Qi Dynasty did not have a Nascent Soul True Monarch in charge, nor did it have a territory as vast as the Golden-Eyed Demon Kingdom.
As Song Changsheng continued forward, he encountered very few demonic beasts of the third rank or higher.
Low-level monsters are almost nowhere to be seen, which indicates that this land is no longer suitable for life.
If mortals are the foundation of the human race, then low-level demonic beasts are also the foundation of the demonic race.
Based on the affected area, it is clear that the low-level demon beasts in the Golden-Eyed Demon Kingdom suffered extremely heavy casualties. This alone makes it difficult for the Golden-Eyed Demon Kingdom to form a large-scale beast tide like before.
This is certainly good news, but we cannot let our guard down yet.
Because only low-level demonic beasts are most affected by the flood, while high-level demonic beasts of the third rank and above are almost unaffected.
The overall strength of the Golden-Eyed Demon Kingdom remains formidable.
For Lord Red Tiger Mountain, the loss of these low-level demonic beasts was not as great as the loss of the three demon kings he had killed.
If he wanted to, he could easily gather elite forces to carry out the operation; it would just take longer and cost more, since he couldn't muster that many cannon fodder.
However, they are relatively more secretive when they take action.
Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages; it remains to be seen how Lord Chihu will choose.
"It seems we still need to find Jin Xuan first," Song Changsheng thought to himself.
Once a large-scale beast tide gathers, the demonic aura is so overwhelming that it can easily be detected, thus confirming the movements of the demon race.
However, the number of low-level demonic beasts is no longer sufficient to support a large-scale beast tide, so the previous judgment methods are no longer applicable, indirectly increasing the difficulty and risk for Song Changsheng to obtain intelligence.
The safest approach is to first find Jin Xuan, the undercover agent.
"It's probably in this direction."
Song Changsheng used the blood pact with Jin Xuan to pinpoint a general direction, but the connection between them was too weak, so even with a direction, finding it was not easy.
Moreover, his biggest worry was that Jin Xuan might no longer be in the Golden-Eyed Demon Kingdom, otherwise their connection wouldn't be so weak.
The task he assigned to Jin Xuan was to infiltrate the Golden Eye Demon Kingdom and gather intelligence. Unless there was a special reason, Jin Xuan would definitely not leave the Golden Eye Demon Kingdom to go elsewhere, and even if he did leave, he would definitely send a message to notify him in advance.
Not only did it not give any prior notice, but it also cut off contact abruptly, so it must have encountered some unexpected event.
His mood became somewhat anxious.
Following the directions, they traveled for more than ten days, almost traversing the entire Golden-Eyed Demon Kingdom, but the connection between them through the blood pact remained weak.
Looking at the endless, desolate mountains ahead, Song Changsheng's heart suddenly sank to the bottom...
……
P.S.: This chapter is only 3,000 words long. There will be another chapter tomorrow morning, so please read it when you get up. (End of Chapter)