Chapter 597 - 604: Meeting Baili Shang Again

Half a month later, Song Wanning finally arrived in the territory of the Demon Clan.

These past few days, she hadn’t dared to waste a single moment, traveling at full speed.

The moment she arrived in the Demon Clan’s territory, Baili Shang rushed over to greet her.

The two hadn’t seen each other in years, and when they met again, both had already advanced.

When Baili Shang saw the person he’d been longing for, a new light sparked in his eyes.

He gave Song Wanning a slight nod, appearing calm on the surface, but inwardly, he was already ecstatic.

Song Wanning, however, simply nodded with a grave expression in response before immediately getting down to business.

"Have you caught the monster?"

She completely missed the disappointment in Baili Shang’s eyes, her mind focused solely on news of the monster.

Although Baili Shang was long used to it, Song Wanning’s attitude still stung him.

’Father was right. This is just unrequited love.’

He reined in his emotions and began leading Song Wanning toward the location where the monster was spotted. "It’s a long story," he explained along the way. "Ever since we got the news, we’ve had people staking out the place. Just a few days ago, I saw it poke its head out for a moment."

"When it saw all the people outside, the monster ducked back in. But when we went to search, we couldn’t find a single opening. We have no idea where it came from or where it’s hiding now."

The more Baili Shang spoke of it, the more uneasy he became.

He was highly skilled in the art of arrays, and with the inheritance from Senior Feng, he would have surely detected one if it were present.

But strangely, he hadn’t sensed even the slightest trace of an array.

’But there’s no way the monster could have vanished into thin air. There must be something I’ve missed...’

’It’s good that Song Wanning is here now. Perhaps with her abilities, she can find the source.’

"What did the monster look like?"

Song Wanning’s expression was grave, and her sense of unease intensified.

At her question, Baili Shang waved his hand, and an image of the monster materialized in midair.

Looking at the small, black mass and its signature blood-red eyes, Song Wanning’s heart sank.

"It really is..."

The monster that had once brought the entire Immortal Realm to the brink of collapse had actually appeared in the Spirit Realm.

"You’ve seen it before?"

Baili Shang looked at Song Wanning, his eyes wide with astonishment.

Song Wanning nodded. "I’ve dealt with it before, back in the Lower World. It was this same kind of monster that nearly abducted my young disciple."

"Later, I tracked it all the way back to its lair and saw countless hearts!!"

Hearing this, one of Baili Shang’s trusted subordinates couldn’t help but chime in, "Yes, hearts! Our Demon Clan disciples had their hearts dug out by it!"

Everyone looked furious. The monster was so cunning that it would flee the moment it saw them, making it impossible to catch.

"So, it really is the same type of monster."

Baili Shang’s brows knitted together. Even during that perilous situation in the Central Domain, Song Wanning hadn’t looked this grave.

This showed that the monster was far from simple.

"This monster is incredibly fast, and the most terrifying part is... they’re endless."

’She dared not imagine what would happen. If these monsters appeared in both the Spirit Realm and the Lower World, would their fate be as tragic as that of the Golden Dragon Clan?’

’Her family and friends were all here; she couldn’t bear to face such a scenario.’

’She had to speed up the process of merging the two realms. Otherwise, if chaos erupted in the Lower World, she wouldn’t be able to help at all.’

"What?"

Baili Shang was stunned for a moment. Seeing Song Wanning’s expression, he knew there were things she couldn’t discuss openly, so he dismissed his subordinates.

"Wan Ning, what did you mean just now? Endless?"

That concept was no laughing matter. If it was as Song Wanning said, they were in for major trouble.

Song Wanning pursed her lips but didn’t hide anything from Baili Shang, recounting the entire story of the Golden Dragon Clan.

After hearing her story, Baili Shang’s expression turned grim.

The Golden Dragon Clan was a legendary clan of ancient beasts. Thinking of them, along with the other divine beast clans that had been exterminated, made his heart sink to the depths.

Seeing his grim expression, Song Wanning offered a small smile. "Don’t worry. Maybe this is the only monster."

"I’m probably just worrying for nothing. For now, let’s assess the situation and see if we can track down the monster’s lair."

She patted Baili Shang’s shoulder, but the smile on her face didn’t reach her eyes.

Baili Shang snapped out of it and sighed.

In front of Song Wanning, there was no need for him to hide his true feelings.

"I’ll take you there first. I’ll have to tell my father about this later."

"If this is really true, then the entire Spirit Realm will have to face it together. We alone won’t be able to accomplish much."

He increased the speed of the Flying Artifact, whisking Song Wanning swiftly toward the cave.

About half an hour later, the Flying Artifact stopped at the edge of a cliff.

The area below the cliff was filled with dense Demonic Qi. Purple flowers bloomed within it, their shadowy forms creating a dreamlike, fantastical scene.

Below the cliff, a cave stood out conspicuously, the weeds at its entrance already cleared away.

Song Wanning and Baili Shang arrived at the mouth of the cave and stepped inside together.

The cave was filled with the stench of blood, which was deeply unsettling. Mixed with it was the faint scent of medicine.

Song Wanning wrinkled her nose and carefully tried to identify the smell, realizing it was the scent of a medicinal herb.

She spread out her Divine Sense but found no trace of this herb nearby. She made a mental note of this.

As they went deeper into the cave, the space grew more and more cramped, making both of them feel uneasy.

There were even fragments of the victims’ hearts scattered on the ground.

Even though he had seen it many times, Baili Shang’s expression was still grim. These were his Demon Clan disciples, and they had died such baffling deaths.

If a disciple hadn’t witnessed the monster’s attack and reported it to the Demon Palace in time, they would all still be in the dark.

The two of them searched the cave several more times but still found nothing suspicious.

It was as if the monster had appeared out of thin air and then vanished the same way, disappearing without a trace.

"Let’s go back outside for now."

Having found no clues, Song Wanning followed Baili Shang out of the oppressive cave.

Then, she took an herb from her Storage Ring and asked, "Do you know where in the Demon Clan’s lands this herb can be found?"

The herb in her hand was mainly used for refining Spirit Pills and should be a rare sight in the Demon Clan’s territory.

"I’ve never seen this before. I’ll have to go back to the Demon Palace and ask."

Baili Shang took a close look at the herb. He was also skilled in Alchemy, so he naturally recognized it.

It was just that he had never come across any place in the Demon Clan’s territory where this herb was grown.

"Is it related to the monster?"

he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You don’t often refine Spirit Pills, so you probably didn’t recognize the scent."

Song Wanning nodded and continued to explain, "Inside the cave just now, there was the scent of this herb."

"But there’s no trace of the herb anywhere in the vicinity, so I suspect the smell is coming from the monster itself."