Are There Only Demonesses Left in the Cultivation Realm?

It was just too easy.

The Second Prince found it simply unbelievable.

The remaining Forbidden Army was caught off guard by the suddenly opened gates. Within a mere two hours, his men had completely taken over the Imperial Palace. It all went so smoothly that not a single thing went wrong.

"Is this... the Power of an Immortal?"

The Second Prince was in a daze. The sky had not yet brightened, but he already controlled all the roads leading to the Imperial Palace. Even the Houyu Garden was now filled with his men.

"Your Highness, you were right. The Emperor is dead. According to a Palace Maid, he has been dead for several days."

It all felt too unreal, like a dream.

Many of the things he had worried about never happened. Most notably, the Third Princess hadn’t shown up at all.

Not only that, but the greatest threat, the National Preceptor who possessed the Primordial Mirror, was also nowhere to be seen.

Most of his advance preparations had been for naught.

"Heh! Ha!"

The Second Prince burst out laughing. Standing inside the majestic Imperial Palace, he laughed until he was breathless.

’It was actually this simple.’

But he quickly came to his senses. "Where is my fourth brother?"

He needed to eliminate all uncontrollable factors early on, especially this fourth brother who usually appeared lazy but was, in fact, incredibly shrewd.

"Your Highness, we couldn’t find him. There’s no one at his residence."

"Find him! Go find him!" The Second Prince raised his hand. "Wait. The National Treasury, the armory, Taihe Hall—have them all heavily guarded. Right, right! Tell General Long to lock down all of Upper Jade Capital! Quickly!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Tell Yuan An to draft an Imperial Decree for me immediately... Say that I, this Prince, was compelled by crisis to take the throne, to resist the chaos caused by the Immortals! I... no, We... We must expel the Immortals for the sake of the people of Upper Jade Capital! The Immortals have disrupted the peace and prosperity of our citizens!"

"Yes, sir!"

After dispatching all his men, the Second Prince finally felt the fervent heat in his heart begin to cool. He walked step by step toward the Dragon Throne and sat down.

He hadn’t slept all night and was indeed exhausted, but the throne was so hard it made his back ache.

’So this is what it feels like.’

This Dragon Throne, carved with rivers, mountains, the sun, and the moon, was so unyieldingly hard to sit on.

The Town Elder walked into the hall and bowed formally. "Your Highness... no, Your Majesty. The Young Palace Master said he will pay you a visit later."

The Second Prince’s eyes shot open. "Of course. The Young Palace Master is welcome anytime."

The Town Elder nodded. "Then I will go guard the gate for Your Majesty, in case those treasonous court officials try to fight their way back."

"We... thank you, Town Elder."

~~~~~~~~~~

The sun rose reluctantly from the east, revealing a faint glimmer of light. It brutishly kicked the moon away, but as if exhausted from the effort, its morning light was weak and gray.

"You’re awake? Come have something to eat."

Lu Changyuan was sitting in a rocking chair in the courtyard, nibbling on a pastry.

It was a chestnut cake from the north side of the city, delivered by someone who knocked on the door this morning.

He had no idea who sent them.

In any case, it was a free breakfast. It would be a waste not to eat it.

Xia Lianxue walked slowly to the base of the Arhat Pine. Having just woken up, her face still held a trace of drowsiness, making her look as tender and soft as a newly opened flower bud.

Back at Miao Yu Palace, she usually rested by meditating at night; it was rare for her to lie down completely and fall asleep.

That’s why she had accidentally overslept.

Lu Changyuan pushed the plate of pastries toward Xia Lianxue. "How did you sleep last night?"

Xia Lianxue didn’t answer. Instead, she went back into her room, brought out a small stool, and also placed a small tea table in front of Lu Changyuan.

Then, she began to brew tea.

The tea leaves were already in the room—it was high-quality Ruyu Tea.

As Xia Lianxue watched the kettle bubble and steam, the fragrant aroma of tea slowly filled the air, soothing the soul. Strangely, she felt an uncanny sense of peace and tranquility.

’But how is that possible?’

Many people had died last night. Blood filled the long streets, and the citizens of Upper Jade Capital didn’t dare open their doors. Their lives were in danger at any moment. And yet, this strange little house had been left completely undisturbed.

Seeing Xia Lianxue staring blankly at the teapot, Lu Changyuan asked again, "How did you sleep last night?"

"Young Master... Ah, um, I slept alright."

In truth, Xia Lianxue didn’t know if she had slept well or not. She seemed to have had a dream last night, a dream of heavy, swirling snow, where someone was kowtowing to her.

But she couldn’t remember what the dream was about.

Xia Lianxue strained the tea and served it to Lu Changyuan. "Young Master, last night... did a lot of people die?"

Lu Changyuan took a sip of tea. The warmth traveled down his throat into his stomach and quickly spread to his limbs. "Many Cultivators died, and many mortals died as well."

It seemed to have quieted down outside; not a sound could be heard.

Lu Changyuan continued, "The ones who snatched the Pill haven’t left Upper Jade Capital yet."

So.

It wasn’t over yet.

"The Glazed Dynasty got a new Emperor last night. The Second Prince staged a coup while the Crown Prince was away from the capital and the Emperor had passed."

Xia Lianxue’s fair hand gently caressed her teacup, her jade-white fingers trembling slightly. "The Second Prince certainly chose the perfect moment."

"Indeed."

Lu Changyuan chuckled softly. "The Dragon Vein is trembling. Because the Dynasty has a new Monarch, and it wasn’t a legitimate succession, the Dragon Vein is at its weakest right now."

"Young Master, the Dragon Vein is weak?"

Xia Lianxue had no idea what Lu Changyuan was talking about, and he had no intention of explaining. As the Fairy opened her mouth to speak, Lu Changyuan picked up a piece of pastry and stuffed it into her mouth.

"Mmph!"

"Is it good?"

Xia Lianxue covered her mouth, chewed carefully, and swallowed before speaking. "It’s alright, Young Master."

"Then come with me. Let’s go see this Glazed Dynasty under its new sky."

Xia Lianxue found a silk handkerchief, wiped her mouth, nodded, and followed Lu Changyuan out the door.

The streets were deserted, but the lingering atmosphere of last night’s lantern festival remained. Red lanterns still hung from the trees beside Liuqing Lake.

Someone seemed to be posting a notice.

The soldier posting the notice turned his head, saw them, and jumped in fright. "You two?"

Lu Changyuan pointed to the posted notice. "What’s written on that? Give me the short version."

"For you two to dare come out at a time like this, you must be Immortals, right? It’s better if you don’t read what’s on this notice."

"Tell me."

The soldier’s face was a mask of misery. "An order came from the Imperial Palace last night. It says they’re going to expel the Immortals."

Lu Changyuan nodded. "They should have been expelled long ago. Causing such a ruckus in Upper Jade Capital is outrageous. Last night they even went so far as to blow up the lake. Hmm, so? What are you going to do?"

The soldier whispered, "Nothing. Immortal Master, please don’t be angry. The decree from the Imperial Palace is just for show."

Lu Changyuan wasn’t the least bit surprised.

Xia Lianxue asked in confusion, "Young Master, why aren’t they obeying the Emperor’s decree? I thought that in the Mortal World, the imperial authority of a Dynasty was absolute."

"That’s because the Emperor has no intention of doing anything," Lu Changyuan scoffed. "The Second Prince relied on the Blood Demon Palace to seize the throne last night. How could he kick away the very ladder that helped him climb up?"

"Then why post this notice?"

Lu Changyuan said flatly, "The purpose of the notice isn’t to expel the Immortals. It’s to make the people of Upper Jade Capital believe their new Emperor is working hard to protect them, even if he’s only paying lip service and doing nothing."

A sudden patter of footsteps rang out. The two looked up and saw someone dashing over the tiled rooftops, heading for the city’s edge.

Lu Changyuan withdrew his gaze. "Let’s go. We’ll check out another place."

"Young Master?"

"Don’t worry about it. Follow me."

The Glazed Dynasty’s Imperial Palace sat on the central axis of Upper Jade Capital. Not far from it was the Observatory Attic, where the National Preceptor usually resided.

And in front of the Observatory Attic stood two stone lions.

It was unclear what happened last night, but both stone lions had been smashed. One had lost its head, and the other’s stone body was half-destroyed.

Lu Changyuan crouched down and stared at the stone lions for a moment. "With this spot as the center, the Imperial Palace and Liuqing Lake form a straight line. The Dragon Vein is directly below, and this is also the Array Hub for the National Defense Array."

Xia Lianxue’s beautiful eyes blinked repeatedly, unsure of what to say.

’Why does the Young Master know so much about the Glazed Dynasty’s affairs?’

Lu Changyuan slowly stood up, but instead of answering Xia Lianxue, he sighed. "Someone has blocked the Dragon Vein."

"Then what should we do, Young Master?"

Xia Lianxue was growing anxious. She’d been feeling this way since she woke up. The most troublesome thing in the world was a situation spiraling out of one’s control.

"Wait."

The Fairy glanced sideways, speechless.

Lu Changyuan repeated, "Wait."

The atmosphere in Upper Jade Capital became extremely quiet and strange. Aside from the soldier they had seen posting the notice, Lu Changyuan and Xia Lianxue didn’t see a single other person on their way back.

A chill ran down Xia Lianxue’s spine.

She didn’t know where the feeling came from, but it was definitely there.

Lu Changyuan sat back down in the rocking chair and looked at the sky. Ominous clouds had gathered as if a storm was brewing, yet Bai Hen was not obscured.

"Young Master?"

"It’s nothing. Things haven’t reached a boiling point yet. Go brew another pot of tea. We’re not going anywhere today; we’ll stay right here."

She had been with Lu Changyuan for a few days now, or perhaps longer. In any case, she had more or less figured out his ways.

’Lu Changyuan is just putting me off.’

’And when Lu Changyuan puts me off like this, it usually means he wants me to see for myself.’

’That means something is about to happen.’

GRRUMBLE.

GRRUMBLE.

Sure enough, before Xia Lianxue could even turn to get the tea from inside, she faintly heard a churning sound. It seemed to be the sound of water, coming from the nearby Liuqing Lake.

The Fairy instinctively felt a wave of nausea and dizziness.

It was just like when the Desire Demon had corrupted her. The Fairy’s delicate body tensed up, as if turning to stone.

"Relax, I’m right here beside you." Lu Changyuan patted the Fairy’s fragrant shoulder. "It looks like it’s about to rain."

The words had barely left his mouth when a sudden, tremendous roar echoed from the horizon, and a torrential downpour began to fall violently.

And then.

A tentacle shot up from the bottom of Liuqing Lake, so massive it blotted out the sky. Drenched in the falling rain, it looked as if it would destroy all of Upper Jade Capital.

REEE!

Resentment becomes ghost, desire becomes sin.

The desires of the Red Dust surged forth in a crushing wave!