Chapter 447: I Was Once the Daughter of the Ghost King, Once a Disciple of the Jade Cauldron Sect, and Now I Am—

“Where am I?”

Zhao Yaolu struggled to sit up, shaking her head.

She felt as if her skull were about to split open.

It was like being trampled by countless giant elephants.

She looked around.

All she could see was a dark, gloomy scene.

It felt as though she were deep within an abyss.

Only then did her memories slowly begin to surface.

Zhao Yaolu finally remembered what she had done before.

“I think I… found the inheritance of the Heavenly Ghost Clan?”

She tried to recall carefully.

Over the past few years, ever since leaving the Jade Cauldron Sect, she had ventured deep into the Ten Thousand Monsters Nation, searching for the nearly extinct inheritance of the Heavenly Ghost Clan.

During that time, she had heard news that Shen Mo had personally slain the Monster Emperor Gu Ming, which had delighted her for quite a while.

At first, she had almost given up hope and planned to return to the Jade Cauldron Sect.

On her way back, she had accidentally encountered a group of monster clan remnants pursuing two severely injured human cultivators.

She had saved the two human cultivators in passing, intending to escort them back to the Jade Cauldron Sect.

The two men were extremely grateful, claiming they had once been generals of the Jing Kingdom.

Now, they no longer wished to return to Jing Kingdom and instead wanted to remain in the Ten Thousand Monsters Nation to continue fighting the monster clan remnants.

After all, Shen Mo had only killed Gu Ming; although most of the monster clan in the Ten Thousand Monsters Nation had been wiped out, some still hid in deep corners.

They remained fixated on the Ten Thousand Monsters Nation, often sending small groups to harass villages and towns protected by the various sects.

Zhao Yaolu had left them some pills before preparing to leave.

The two were very grateful and revealed to her information about a great treasure they had discovered by chance.

Upon hearing the news, Zhao Yaolu had instantly felt a surge of excitement.

The situation the two described matched her memories of the Heavenly Ghost Clan’s inherited treasure perfectly.

After bidding them farewell, she had gone straight to the location of the treasure.

“I remember their names were… Ji Shilong and Wu Renyin?”

“Truly grateful to them. Without them, I would never have found the inheritance of the Heavenly Ghost Clan in this life.”

Zhao Yaolu murmured a few words and took out a jet-black broken horn from her chest.

The broken horn was about as long as an adult’s arm.

Its surface was covered in scales.

In the deepest part of a canyon, Zhao Yaolu had found the altar of the Heavenly Ghost Clan.

Placed atop the altar was this broken horn.

Next to it was a teleportation array.

Beside the teleportation array were two words carved into the stone: “Ancestral Land.”

Without hesitation, she had used the last of her top-grade spirit stones to activate the teleportation array and arrived here.

“The aura here…”

Zhao Yaolu took a deep breath, suddenly feeling a jolt of energy.

This aura was neither the spiritual energy of heaven and earth nor any other type of force she was familiar with.

Rather, it resembled the power her father had unleashed in his dying moments.

Her father, the Ghost King, had relied on this very power to fight to the death against four powerful monsters of the same realm.

At this moment, Zhao Yaolu suddenly noticed figures moving ahead.

And they were getting closer.

She frowned, quickly hiding the broken horn in her chest.

She wanted to get up and hide, but her whole body was wracked with pain, making it impossible to move.

Meanwhile, those figures had already reached her.

Zhao Yaolu focused her gaze and saw that the newcomers were neither humans, nor monsters, nor flood dragons.

Instead, they were three strange, ferocious-looking creatures.

The moment they spotted Zhao Yaolu, they immediately began chattering wildly, their faces fierce and violent, as if they were about to pounce on her.

Zhao Yaolu had never seen monsters like these before.

Instinctively, she shifted into a defensive form.

Roar!

Her skin turned black, horns sprouted from her head, and sharp fangs grew in her mouth.

In an instant, she transformed from her human form into the form of the Heavenly Ghost Clan.

Just as she was about to strike, the three monsters froze.

Then, with expressions of terror, they fell to their knees in worship.

They slammed their heads against the ground with such force that dark purple blood spurted out.

“Dark purple skin, dark purple blood…”

Zhao Yaolu’s mind flashed with sudden clarity.

She suddenly recalled something Wan Muchun had once told her.

Demons!

These three monsters were clearly a type of demon!

Zhao Yaolu looked down and realized that her own appearance was not much different from theirs.

“So, this must be the Demon Suppression Sea?”

“So… the Heavenly Ghost Clan’s ancestral land is actually the Demon Suppression Sea, and the ancestors of the Heavenly Ghost Clan were… demons.”

Zhao Yaolu furrowed her brows deeply.

No wonder the monster clans had always rejected the Heavenly Ghost Clan.

They even said that the Heavenly Ghost Clan was a cursed star, destined to bring disaster upon the monster race.

Everything was starting to connect.

The reason the Heavenly Ghost Clan suppressed their demonic aura was likely because their ancestors had used some kind of secret technique to strip away the traits of demons, thus weakening themselves into a new race—the Heavenly Ghost Clan.

But there was one thing she still could not understand.

Her ancestors had clearly not wanted to remain entangled with the demons, and had decisively broken away.

Why?

She wanted to find the answer.

Zhao Yaolu looked at the three demons still kowtowing at her feet and said, “From now on, you are my followers. Come with me.”

She walked forward.

The three lesser demons exchanged glances and hurried after her.

“Long ago, I was the daughter of the Ghost King. I was once a disciple of the Jade Cauldron Sect. Now, I am… a demon.”

Zhao Yaolu left behind a calm voice as she stepped resolutely into the darkness.

…

Xuanwu Fortress.

The Heavenly Dao Treasury descended as scheduled.

However, this time, everyone who entered the Heavenly Dao Treasury heard a voice.

An ancient, desolate, cold, and merciless voice.

“Within thirty years, ten Demon Suppression Fortresses must establish at least five outposts on the fourth layer of the Demon Suppression Sea.”

“During this period, all item exchange prices in the Heavenly Dao Treasury will be reduced by thirty percent.”

“All Demon Suppression Guards who exchange items from the Heavenly Dao Treasury during this period must go to the Demon Suppression Sea and remain stationed there for at least five years.”

“Those who disobey will be eradicated.”

The announcement shocked all the Demon Suppression Guards.

Especially the newly recruited ones.

They had never expected the Heavenly Dao Will to issue such a mission.

As for the older, more experienced Demon Suppression Guards, they were not overly surprised.

The Heavenly Dao Will issuing missions had happened before.

The current outposts on the first three layers of the Demon Suppression Sea had been established under similar conditions.

Shen Mo, upon hearing the message inside the Heavenly Dao Treasury, was also somewhat astonished.

This mission from the Heavenly Dao Will basically meant that every Demon Suppression Guard would have to make a trip to the Demon Suppression Sea.

After all, with a full thirty years where the treasury’s prices would be reduced by thirty percent, who could go thirty years without exchanging treasures?

The mission from the Heavenly Dao Will was practically semi-mandatory.

Not just the Demon Suppression Guards—even the Demon Suppression Generals would have to personally go and spend five years in the Demon Suppression Sea.

Shen Mo himself could not avoid this task.

However, he did not particularly mind.

A full thirty years of discounted prices—there was no reason not to take advantage of it.

Moreover, compared to other Demon Suppression Guards, his strength was noticeably greater.

As long as he didn’t run into a Greater Demon, he could crush everything else.

Even if he did encounter a Greater Demon, with the cards he had up his sleeve, at the very least, he could escape safely.

“I heard the ten Greater Demons all possess authority powers, but they can’t always activate them at will.”

“As long as I’m careful, staying at an outpost for five years won’t be too dangerous.”

“Besides, since all ten Demon Suppression Fortresses are mobilizing, I should also meet Demon Suppression Guards from other fortresses.”

Shen Mo mused to himself, “Ao Yan should have gone to the Flood Dragon Fortress, right?”

“I wonder how he’s doing now…”

“And Li Zhendao, Mo Lingxiao, Wan Muchun… I’d really like to meet them again…”

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