Chapter 546 - 553: Hundred Demons Palace, Gong Ye

After packing lightly, Song Wanning set off for the Demon Clan Territory.

The Demon Race had just signed an agreement with the Central Domain, gaining the right to enter their lands.

This was a major transformation. After all, among the Four Domains, the Demon Race and the Demon Clan had always been despised by the Human Clan, and every encounter was fraught with tension.

But the Central Domain was different. They didn’t care about race and wouldn’t call for the slaughter of the Demon Race on sight.

’Under this influence, perhaps the Human Clan of the Eastern Domain and Southern Domain will also change...’

However, the Demon Race also had to give up many of its resources. But faced with the immense power of the Central Domain, they had no choice.

「The Hundred Demons Palace of the Demon Race」

The Demon King, Gong Ye, was bathing. The medicinal pool was filled to the brim with all sorts of precious herbs, any one of which would cause a mad scramble in the outside world.

Yet here, they were merely ingredients for strengthening his body—an act of pure extravagance.

At his side, several demon officials massaged his legs and back. One of them casually popped a grape into his mouth, and with a cold, distant expression, he closed his eyes in enjoyment.

A moment later, a Demon Cultivator entered, looking quite incensed.

She stormed in, bent at the waist with her head bowed low.

"Demon King, that person still refuses to confess..."

"And she even dared to curse you, Demon King. It’s an unforgivable crime."

"In my opinion, why don’t we just kill her?"

As the Demon Cultivator spoke, she secretly peeked at the Demon King, who was resting with his eyes closed. A flutter of infatuation rose in her heart, and a blush spread to the tips of her ears.

’How dare that woman insult the Demon King I admire most! She deserves to be sliced into a thousand pieces and left to die without a grave.’

Upon hearing her words, Gong Ye slowly opened his eyes. He didn’t spare the Demon Cultivator a glance, instead simply eating the grape offered to his lips as a flash of contempt and disdain crossed his gaze.

"Oh?"

His voice carried a hint of a question. Then, the corner of his mouth curved into a cold sneer as he finally looked at the Demon Cultivator.

"In my Hundred Demons Palace, when did it become your place to make decisions?"

THUD—

Hearing his words, the Demon Cultivator was so terrified she immediately dropped to her knees and began to kowtow repeatedly.

"Forgive me, Demon King! I... I was only speaking out against the injustice done to you! I wouldn’t dare overstep my bounds..."

She kowtowed desperately, and after just a few impacts, her forehead was swollen and bleeding.

Without a hint of pity in his eyes, Gong Ye abruptly raised his hand and struck the Demon Cultivator with his palm.

The Demon Cultivator, who had been begging for mercy just a second before, was reduced to a pile of gore in the next, falling utterly silent.

"Useless. Can’t even handle such a small matter. What a waste of my Hundred Demons Palace’s resources!"

With that, he snatched the corpse, which had reverted to its true form, and simultaneously transformed into his flood dragon shape, stuffing the body into his mouth in a single bite.

He chewed with a loud CRUNCHING, as if savoring some unparalleled delicacy.

Seeing this, the surrounding demon officials trembled in fear. They didn’t dare lift their heads, wishing they could find a hole to crawl into and disappear.

Only the sound of chewing filled the vast bathing pool, each crunch striking terror into their hearts.

Only after he had swallowed did Gong Ye return to his human form and resume his leisurely bath.

However, he hadn’t forgotten the business at hand. He selected another official to go and interrogate the human!

Before long, someone else entered.

His mood soured, Gong Ye waved his hand, dismissing all the demon officials.

"What is it now?"

Gong Ye dressed and stepped onto the bank, his lean, powerful physique on full display. His exposed upper body was incredibly muscular and well-built.

The newcomer shot him a quick glance before lowering his head. "Demon King, the Demon Race Alliance has sent another message. They say the Central Domain wants to negotiate terms with the Hundred Demons Palace."

The sudden lifting of the Central Domain’s restrictions had caught the Demon Race completely off guard. They had assembled long ago to discuss their strategy.

Only, the Hundred Demons Palace had refused to participate, and the Demon Race Alliance had already sent several messages regarding the matter.

Hearing this, a cold glint flashed in Gong Ye’s eyes.

"The Central Domain? So what? This king couldn’t care less!"

"Tell them that the Hundred Demons Palace will not participate. If the Central Domain has a problem with us, they can come straight to my Hundred Demons Palace."

"I’d like to see just how tyrannical the Central Domain dares to be."

As Gong Ye spoke, his aura surged—the unmistakable presence of a Mahayana Peak cultivator.

In fact, his true strength had long surpassed the Mahayana Peak; he had already touched upon the path of a Loose Immortal.

Loose Immortals were primarily cultivators who had passed their Heavenly Tribulation but were unlucky enough not to be accepted into the ascension passage to the Immortal Realm.

Unable to ascend to the Immortal Realm, they could only wander endlessly in the Lower World.

Such Loose Immortals were exceptionally rare—one might not appear for hundreds of thousands of years—but their power was undoubtedly at the very apex of the Spirit Realm.

Therefore, Gong Ye remained utterly disdainful of the Central Domain.

’In this entire Spirit Realm, there’s no one left who can put up a fight!’

"Yes! I will go at once!"

The Demon Cultivator departed swiftly. No one dared to defy the Demon King’s power.

It was a strange story. When the Demon King was born, he was a mere larva abandoned by the Snake Clan because his aptitude was so poor he was deemed useless.

But who could have known that he would later awaken his flood dragon bloodline by a stroke of luck? After that, as if divinely assisted, his cultivation advanced at a meteoric pace.

The Hundred Demons Palace itself was built from the ground up by the Demon King. Now, the Snake Clan eyed him with predatory ambition, but they were powerless against him.

Following a Demon King of such strength, all they had to do was obey his commands.

With everyone dismissed, Gong Ye lifted his gaze, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

Thinking of the woman in the prison, he decided to pay her another visit and see just how long her defiance would last.

And so, Gong Ye soon arrived at the Water Prison.

Over a hundred people were held captive in the Hundred Demons Palace’s Water Prison.

The innermost cell held a woman who had been imprisoned for several years. Demon Cultivators went to interrogate her daily, but every attempt ended in failure.

Despite all manner of threats, temptations, and cruel tortures, she remained unyielding, leaving a deep impression on everyone else in the Water Prison.

Gong Ye strode toward the innermost cell, the air growing thick with the foul stench of stagnant water mixed with the metallic scent of blood.

Inside the cell, a woman in a cyan robe was pierced through with bone spikes, pinning her firmly to the wall.

Her disheveled hair obscured most of her face, but the delicate line of her jaw still hinted that she must be a great beauty.

"I heard you cursed my name today?"

Gong Ye opened the cell door and sauntered inside.

The water, which reached halfway up the woman’s body, seemed to recoil as if from something terrifying, parting on its own and refusing to come anywhere near Gong Ye.

Hearing that familiar yet distant voice, the woman finally reacted. She slowly lifted her head, and a cold light flashed in her eyes.

Her blood-soaked face and cyan-tinged eyes stared fixedly at Gong Ye.

However, if Song Wanning had been present, she would have immediately recognized this blood-soaked woman as the martial aunt she had been searching for all this time.

Liu Lan Yi.