You don't want your secret to be revealed by others, right?

The sun dipped below the western mountains, and night descended.

Beneath the vast lands of Xiliang, there lay a blurred and hazy space.

At the center of this stable Inner Heaven and Earth Domain, a silver-haired elder in a gray robe sat quietly, his eyes closed, as though he awaited something.

Suddenly—

The gray-robed elder felt something and opened his eyes.

"Duanmu Yan."

With a voice resonating like an echo in a dream, a figure as hazy as that seen in a nightmare appeared within the Inner Heaven and Earth Domain.

The gray-robed elder looked toward this nightmarish figure and immediately stood up, greeting with a cupped fist, "I've seen the Demon God, Duanmu Yan carries the command of the Demon Ancestor."

"Ah, the unfathomable one, not bad."

The nightmarish figure nodded slightly and chuckled low, "Had you not sent someone to inform me of the location in advance, I truly would not have found you."

Duanmu Yan said calmly, "Otherwise, the Demon Ancestors would not entrust Duanmu with such an important task."

"I too observed you from the shadows when you took action in Great Yong."

While speaking, the nightmarish figure sized up Duanmu Yan and said, "I remember you were in a Black Robe? Why the change of attire?"

"It's my original self," Duanmu Yan explained, "Before I last departed, I cultivated the Second Primordial Spirit Cultivation Method. My original self accompanied Lord Yan Yue to Great Yong to confront King Xia, leaving this second Primordial Spirit in the Demon Country. However, my original self has yet to return, and the Primordial Spirit Token can no longer sense its existence, which likely means it's been killed."

"Oh? The original self undertakes perilous acts, but the Second Primordial Spirit remains alive?"

The nightmarish figure seemed surprised, then chuckled low, "It seems your heart to exterminate the Human Clan is unordinary in its resolve."

Being an entity who had proven the mental path, he naturally understood the significance of Duanmu Yan's actions instantly.

In the division of the Second Primordial Spirit, one can choose what memories to pass on to the Second Primordial Spirit.

The human heart is complex, bound by various emotions, but the original Duanmu Yan specifically retained his hatred for the Human Clan within the Second Primordial Spirit, representing pure enmity.

This would inevitably result in the Second Primordial Spirit harboring even deeper animosity towards the Human Clan than the original.

Even if the original self perishes, the Second Primordial Spirit will spare no effort to seek revenge on the Human Clan, driven by even more formidable determination.

Not for mere survival, but solely for vengeance.

"Since you've been sent, it seems the clan has found a suitable method?"

The nightmarish figure spoke, "Tell me, how does the clan plan to eradicate King Xia?"

Duanmu Yan shook his head slightly, "After discussions among the Demon Ancestors and Demon Gods, they don't plan to confront King Xia directly, as there truly is no opportunity or vulnerability to exploit."

"Oh?" The nightmarish figure inquired, "Indeed, both the Second Prince and the Crown Prince are watching him, and I can't think of any way to kill King Xia myself. However, he must be eliminated; what does the clan plan to do?"

"Breaking Array."

Duanmu Yan said, "Knowing that the Demon God is in Great Yong, the Demon Ancestors decided to try to break the Great Yong Divine Formation, or at least disrupt its outer bounds as they did eighty years ago."

"That does present a line of thought." The nightmarish figure nodded slightly, asking, "How can this be achieved?"

Duanmu Yan explained, "After lengthy deliberation and scrutiny, the Demon Ancestors decided to bait the tiger and the wolf, creating an opportunity for the Star Lord to break the array. As long as there is a chance, the Star Lord will certainly act; hence, the key is to start with the national fate of Great Yong and the fortune of the Human Clan, thereby weakening the Heavenly Dao's power wielded by the Crown Prince."

"The Star Lord indeed spares no effort to destroy the Great Yong Divine Formation."

The nightmarish figure nodded slowly, "But weakening the fortune of the Human Clan and the national destiny of Great Yong, how easy can that be? To my knowledge, the Crown Prince can invoke the power of the Heavenly Dao because he has drawn upon half of the Human Clan's fortune, and he will undoubtedly always monitor changes in the Human Clan's fortunes."

Duanmu Yan spoke gravely, "True, seven or eight-tenths of the Human Clan's fortune resides in Great Yong, but the Demon God surely knows that the remaining two or three-tenths of the Human Clan's fortune lies with the people of Liangwang City, which our Demon Clan holds captive."

The nightmarish figure silently nodded in agreement.

More than a thousand years ago, when the Demon Clan, bolstered by Xiahou Shou's burgeoning power, launched a massive assault on the Human Clan, nearly resulting in the annihilation of the Human Clan, the Divine Emperor emerged, effortlessly halting the Demon Clan's advances.

Realizing their defeat was inevitable, the Demon Clan had no choice but to retreat, taking a large number of Human Clan members back to the Demon Country with them.

Originally, these members of the Human Clan were intended to serve as food, but after discovering the secret of the Crown Prince's command over the power of the Heavenly Dao, the Demon Ancestors decided to keep all of these people captive, waiting for an opportunity to snatch the Human Clan's fortune from Great Yong.

This gave rise to the existence of Liangwang City.

In order to ensure that the people of Liangwang City diligently engaged in Cultivation, provoking the emergence of numerous strong individuals and vying for the Human Clan's fortune, the Demon Clan concocted a series of stories.

Such as the Human Ancestor and the State Preceptor of Great Yu jointly protecting Liangwang City, or that Liangwang City was the true lineage of the Human Ancestor...

These were all to encourage the Cultivation of Liangwang City's inhabitants and to strive for a share of the Human Clan's fortune.

Fortune, though elusive, does follow certain patterns.

For an individual, it is luck; for a nation, it is national destiny; for an entire clan, it is the clan's fortune.

What kind of person is blessed with great fortune?

The powerful whose words can decide the fates of thousands, the rulers, the favored by heaven who move with the momentum, and those who have performed great merit are all sheltered by fortune...

Where the intent of all beings converges, there too does fortune flow.

For over a thousand years, the Demon Clan, through subterfuge, cultivated a multitude of strong individuals from those kept in Liangwang City, allowing it to command two to three-tenths of the Human Clan's fortunes.

However, this was almost the limit.

The resources the Demon Clan could offer to Liangwang City were finite, and nurturing so many powerful individuals was already an effort to the fullest extent.