Demon Seed?

At this critical moment, Jiang Feng activated the Nameless Ring, and his whole body instantly turned invisible.

Having not used it for quite some time, he had almost forgotten about its existence.

Facts proved that this ring was immensely useful. The human and the demon right in front of him passed by practically brushing against the tip of his nose, yet they remained completely unaware of his presence.

Jiang Feng let out a sigh of relief, not daring to move a muscle.

The human and the demon on the opposite side noticed nothing and muttered a few words. The demon's thoughts quickly shifted to the news regarding Chong Jiangtian. "Don't you know what that divine artifact is like?"

Chong Jiangtian said with a trace of impatience, "That fellow surnamed Wen is utterly loyal to Chong Fan and guards against me strictly, refusing to let me interfere in affairs over there at all. It's already quite something that I managed to gather even a little bit of information; how could I possibly know such detailed contents?"

The demon pondered for a moment and said, "No, I must report this news back to Lord Demon Commander immediately!"

He turned and walked toward the pond, preparing to leap right in. Chong Jiangtian shouted, "Wait!"

The demon stopped and turned around. Chong Jiangtian asked with a frown, "I recently heard another piece of news..."

Pacing back and forth in agitation, he said, "I heard that Chong Fan's body has already fully recovered, and he is scheming to officially take over the position of the head of the family!"

Staring intently at the demon before him, he demanded sharply, "Didn't you people guarantee to me back then that Chong Fan could never possibly live past the age of sixteen? What is the meaning of this?"

The demon asked in surprise, "Is this matter true?"

Chong Jiangtian shook his head, his expression grave. "It is only a vague rumor, but the credibility is very high!"

The demon said, "Impossible! The root of his illness was planted personally by Lord Blood Demon Monarch back then. Do you not believe in the power of Lord Demon Monarch?"

Hearing the words "Demon Monarch," Chong Jiangtian visibly relaxed. He muttered, "That's right, the power of the Demon Monarch—none in this world can undo it. Could this news merely be a smokescreen, and there is actually some hidden truth behind it?"

After he whispered a few more words, the demon opposite him grew impatient and said in a deep voice, "I'm leaving!"

Chong Jiangtian stopped him once again. "Wait, when the demonic rift opens and the demonic seeds erupt, what will I do then?"

Only then did the demon remember. With a wave of his hand, a black shadow flew out and landed in Chong Jiangtian's hand. He said, "Wear this on your body when the time comes. As long as you never take it off, nothing will happen to you!"

Without paying any more attention to Chong Jiangtian, he turned and jumped into the pond. A circle of black ripples slowly spread out and vanished without a trace.

Chong Jiangtian looked at the object in his hand from all angles. His thin lips curved upward, and he smiled.

Jiang Feng silently retreated. After reaching a safe place, his face was filled with shock!

He thought for quite a while before turning around and dashing away at full speed!

...

...

When Jiang Feng rushed to Thousand Lions Bridge, Hua Su frowned the moment he saw him and said, "Why are you here? Such a major event happened just last night; you should have rested a bit longer!"

Jiang Feng shook his head. "There's no time. I just overheard something..."

Pulling Hua Su and Wen Liangji aside, he lowered his voice and recounted everything from start to finish.

Upon hearing this, both of their expressions changed drastically at the same time!

Wen Liangji was the first to ask, "Chong Jiangtian knows about the Young Master's situation?"

Hua Su spoke at the exact same moment, though his question concerned another matter entirely: "Chong Jiangtian sold the information about the divine artifact to the demons?"

Jiang Feng said slowly, "Didn't you two pay attention to his last sentence?"

Reminded of this, both of them remembered simultaneously: "Demonic seeds! What are those?!"

Jiang Feng shook his head and said, "Mentioning this reminds me of another matter."

During the tallying at the Yushui Prefecture examination, Jiang Feng was on the stage and discovered Moqi Yu's corpse at the same time as Wang Xuanzhi. His heart, along with the Clear Heart Seed, had vanished entirely. Most crucially, even with Hua Su, a martial emperor of the manifest mind realm, and Wang Xuanzhi, a martial master of the heart realm, present nearby, neither of them had discovered how Moqi Yu died.

Hua Su was also aware of this incident. He asked, "Do you think Moqi Yu's death is related to these so-called demonic seeds?"

Jiang Feng replied, "I cannot be certain, but I do have my suspicions."

Wen Liangji said thoughtfully, "When the demonic rifts open, the demonic seeds erupt. But aren't all twelve demonic rifts already fully opened now?"

Jiang Feng explained, "These twelve demonic rifts were interconnected from the very beginning, constantly resonating with one another, which is why they are rapidly growing and upgrading. According to my deduction, once they grow to a certain stage, all twelve demonic rifts will merge completely into a single, complete demonic rift. When that time comes, Taicang City will thoroughly become a passageway to the Great Desolation Mountains. Just think about it: even before it was fully opened, it required twelve martial masters of the heart realm just to seal it. What kind of situation will it be by then?"

By that time, the difficulty of sealing this passageway would rise to an unimaginable degree. Furthermore, it would allow demons to pass through freely, and high-level demons would directly enter the Nine Heavens Continent!

Wen Liangji said grimly, "In other words, when the demonic rifts completely merge into one, these so-called demonic seeds will erupt entirely. Put this way, what exactly are the demonic seeds? And where are they?"

Hua Su straightened his back and said decisively, "There is no time to talk more; we must take action immediately! Liangji, go handle Chong Jiangtian's affair! I will go reset the defenses to prevent the divine artifact from falling under demonic attack. As for the matter of the demonic seeds..."

His gaze shifted to Jiang Feng, and gritting his teeth, he said, "Jiang Feng, this can only be entrusted to you to investigate! You saw Moqi Yu together with Scholar Wang; you can seek his help if necessary."

Jiang Feng nodded in agreement, and Hua Su and Wen Liangji hurried away. After pondering for a moment, Jiang Feng walked into the pavilion on Thousand Lions Bridge. Gan Fuxing was inside pondering over a divine artifact, and upon seeing Jiang Feng, he immediately beamed and said, "You've come at just the right time. I have a problem here; help me deliberate on it."

This was a question concerning the practical setup of the divine artifact. Gan Fuxing already had an idea and merely wanted Jiang Feng's help for reference. After finishing their discussion in a few sentences, Jiang Feng suddenly asked, "Master Gan, your disciple Bai Guo... where is she right now?"

Gan Fuxing raised his head abruptly, looking at him with a peculiar expression. Dropping his brush, he asked directly, "What on earth happened to you all last night? Why did my disciple return looking disheveled?"

Instead of answering, Jiang Feng asked, "Master Gan, how much do you know about this disciple of yours? You certainly know her gender, but aside from that?"

Gan Fuxing's smile slowly faded. Gazing sternly at Jiang Feng, he asked once again, "What exactly happened last night?"

Jiang Feng breathed a sigh of relief and said, "So you really do know."

He briefly recounted some of the events of the previous night to Gan Fuxing, including Bai Guo's transformation, her singing, her dancing, and the reactions of the two powerful demons, Kuzhan and Zhaofeng.

The more Gan Fuxing listened, the more solemn he became. A trace of shock lingered in his expression as he muttered, "This—how could this be?!"

Jiang Feng was startled and asked, "Is something wrong?"

Gan Fuxing took a deep breath and said, "What they said is correct—Bai is indeed a descendant of the Sky Dancers! And she truly can unleash some of the power of the Sky Dancers!"

Looking at Jiang Feng, he asked, "Do you know why she used a divine artifact to disguise herself in men's clothing?"

Jiang Feng hesitated for a moment before replying, "I thought it was simply her own preference..."

Gan Fuxing shook his head. "My family and hers are generations-old acquaintances. That divine artifact was made by me, and she has worn it since she was five years old. She is eighteen this year, meaning she has lived as a male for these past thirteen years. Changing one's gender sounds trivial, but the self-perception and habits it entails are far more troublesome than you can imagine."

Jiang Feng asked, "Is this related to her bloodline?"

Gan Fuxing nodded heavily. "Precisely."

Sky Dancers are naturally alluring. This ability manifested before Bai Guo was even five years old. At that time, she was still a young child with no ability to protect herself. Her family sought out Gan Fuxing, who racked his brains to design this divine artifact for her.

That pendant looked unremarkable, but it was actually a county-grade