Chapter 1269: Breaking Into the Imperial Palace

Compared to the current situation in the Southern Domain, the Demon Market situated along the river seemed much more peaceful.

It remained in its own corner, ignoring the outside world and staying out of everything.

The former King of Wei managed everything here now. Under his series of reforms, the Demon Market had gradually grown prosperous, flourishing in its tranquil corner. Sometimes, Zhao Lin found himself in a daze, feeling as if he were still the King of Wei and had merely changed his subordinates. Oh, wait—he had swapped them for demons.

However, it wasn't completely without its problems. The shifting tides of the world would eventually impact the Demon Market's peace.

"Lately, many people have been confusing our Demon Market with Hongyuan Tianxia. It's caused quite a bit of chaos below, and some demons are complaining incessantly, calling it an undeserved calamity."

Hearing this gave Zhao Lin a headache. It was a situation that couldn't be explained away no matter how hard they tried.

The relationship between the Human Dao and demons had deteriorated rapidly because of Hongyuan Tianxia. Now, demons had become something to be beaten and killed on sight; there was basically no room left for explanation.

This had naturally affected the Demon Market's long-standing peace. Ignoring it wasn't a sustainable solution.

In Zhao Lin's mind, the best method was to completely separate the Demon Market from the mortal world. That was the only way to resolve the majority of these conflicts.

But where could they go? That was another difficult problem.

They couldn't just merge with Hongyuan Tianxia—that would defeat the entire purpose of the Demon Market's existence.

Lu Qishan looked toward Zhao Lin and said, "A few days ago, a demon from Hongyuan Tianxia came to speak with me. They intend to rope us in, hoping we'll head south and merge with Hongyuan Tianxia."

Zhao Lin shook his head upon hearing this. "That's impossible. In the end, this world still has to be ruled by humans. Demons cannot..."

If the Human Dao couldn't protect the world, could demons? If that day came, the strife and fighting would only multiply.

Lu Qishan said, "But we still have to think of a way. The existence of the Demon Market is gradually being discovered by the world. When the time comes and they turn their sights on us, the mortals and cultivators of this world will view us as a nail in the eye, a thorn in the flesh."

Zhao Lin fell silent. He thought deeply for a long time before finally saying, "We will likely have to ask the Ward Lord about this matter. We can't make this decision ourselves."

Lu Qishan nodded in agreement.

But when the market leaders went together to seek an answer from the Ward Lord...

The Badger Demon told them, "Perhaps everyone has been living too comfortably and forgotten how difficult things used to be. Since reasoning doesn't work, then whoever comes to cause trouble in my Demon Market will be beaten back. Whether they are injured or beaten to death doesn't matter. In short, we must tell them that our Demon Market is not to be trifled with."

Hearing this, Zhao Lin's thoughts were thrown into turmoil.

He understood that the Demon Market would probably not see peace for a very long time.

The Badger Demon snorted coldly and added, "Also, tell the Daoist cultivators of Quanshan that it is their dereliction of duty. If they can't distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong, then my Demon Market will do the exact opposite. Merging with Hongyuan Tianxia isn't entirely off the table!"

The Ward Lord's decisiveness made the market leaders secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

They truly did not want to endure and concede any longer!

With these words, they no longer worried.

...

After leaving the Southern Domain, Yu Youyu headed straight for Shangjing.

She wanted to personally ask the emperor why he had made such a choice.

As the saying goes, every wrong has its source and every debt has its debtor. Since this worldly conflict was forged by that emperor, Yu Youyu was going to demand a clear answer.

At worst, she would simply kill the emperor. Someone else would always step up to take his place.

On that day, the imperial guards at the palace gates watched as a woman strode toward them. As she approached the gate, she drew the sword from her waist.

The commander of the imperial guards furrowed his brows. "These are the heavy grounds of the Imperial Palace! Do not approach!"

Yu Youyu didn't stop for even a fraction of a second. She raised the sword in her hand and executed a sword flourish.

Sword Qi swept out horizontally and vertically, its brilliant light blurring their vision.

Dozens of imperial guards stared blankly. When they snapped back to reality, they felt a stinging pain at their necks.

Reaching up to touch it, they found a thin trickle of blood seeping out.

A profound chill washed over the group. In a single instant, all their throats had been nicked, a mere fraction of an inch from severing their fatal arteries.

That was to say, the person in front of them could kill them all in the blink of an eye!

Yu Youyu didn't say a single word. She simply walked straight past the group of imperial guards, and no one dared to stop her.

None of the guards dared to even breathe loudly.

The commotion at the palace gate quickly reached the inner palace. In an instant, all the imperial guards and protectors in the palace began converging toward the gate.

Meanwhile, deep inside the Imperial Palace, Xie Huan learned of the outside incident from his chief eunuch.

"Your Majesty, an assassin has broken into the palace!"

Xie Huan was taken aback. "Broken into the palace? An assassin?"

After the chief eunuch explained the situation, Xie Huan finally understood what was happening.

How was this an assassin? Striding into the palace so brazenly—this was clearly a frontal assault.

"She is completely alone?"

"Only one person."

Xie Huan paused, a trace of worry welling up in his heart.

From the sound of it, this intruder was absolutely no easy target, and likely no ordinary mortal.

If that was the case, he truly had no way to deal with it.

"Have the Daoist priests from Quandao Palace arrived?"

"They are already on their way."

"Mhm..."

Xie Huan wore a somber expression as he quietly waited.

A short while later, the chief eunuch reported again, "Your Majesty, the assassin's identity has been confirmed. The woman is named Yu Youyu. She was once a disciple of Wang Ping'an, master of the Nanbeilou in the jianghu, and is now the illustrious Demon-Slaying Sword Immortal of the jianghu! It is just unknown why she has fought her way into the palace."

"Your Majesty, the Daoist priests of Quandao Palace have arrived and engaged the assassin in combat!"

What Yu Youyu had learned was absolutely beyond compare to the Divine Abilities of Daoist cultivators in this mortal world. The teachings the Demon Sovereign had passed down to her carried the weight of nearly a thousand years, and her Divine Abilities and Arts and Techniques were of the absolute highest caliber.

The Divine Abilities she displayed were simply dazzling.

Even with four full Daoist cultivators from Quandao Palace, they struggled to hold their ground.

"Who in the world are you?!"

Yu Youyu raised her hand, and the Listening Rain Sword flew back into her grasp.

She said, "You four Daoist priests, I advise you to step aside. I'm not showing favor to anyone today, and I really will kill you."

The four Daoists paused at her words. Meeting Yu Youyu's gaze and sensing her surging killing intent, they finally realized she wasn't just trying to scare them.

She had already formed the intent to kill.

Yet, one of the Daoists argued, "The Human Sovereign concerns the common people of the world. You possess heaven-defying abilities, so why fixate on this matter? You are only damaging your own Dao foundation!"

Yu Youyu replied, "Throughout history, who knows how many emperors have been replaced? What does it matter if we change another one?"

"Are you going to move or not?!"

As she spoke, the Listening Rain Sword in her hand shot up, hovering upright by her side.

Its sharp edge pointed directly at the four Daoists in front of her.

The four Daoists felt an immense pressure. This was simply not an opponent they could handle. But with several of their elders and the sect master having already headed south, they were out of options.

The emperor could not die...