The Demon City was not surrounded by walls on all sides but was built along the edge of the Dark Abyss.
The reason the Nine Provinces Continent referred to the land of the demons as the Dark Abyss stemmed from this.
To the demons, the Dark Abyss was akin to the ocean to humans.
However, unlike the ocean, the Dark Abyss contained no water, only an ever-rising mist of demonic energy.
Even the demons themselves did not know what lay beneath the Dark Abyss or how deep it was. Some demons had ventured down to investigate, but none had ever returned.
The depths of the Dark Abyss were perilous even for the demons, yet the demonic energy emanating from it greatly enhanced their demonic cultivation.
Thus, the Demon Palace was situated at the city's deepest point, backed against the Dark Abyss and occupying a vast expanse of land.
From a distance, it resembled a colossal black beast lying on its side.
Tonight's demonic banquet was being held in the main hall of the palace.
At a side entrance, the demons attending the banquet were separated into two groups—male and female.
Jian Huan, Shen Jizhi, and Yin Yusheng were thus split apart.
Though it was somewhat unexpected, it was not entirely surprising.
Jiang Wei knew that Jian Huan and Shen Jizhi would infiltrate the banquet once news of Gu Shan and Yu Qing being publicly cooked was released.
Separating the two from the start was, naturally, the best arrangement for the demons.
Jian Huan, mingling among the female demons, had no time to concern herself with Shen Jizhi and Yin Yusheng's whereabouts. Instead, she calmly surveyed her surroundings, keeping her eyes and ears open.
The female demons varied in status.
Some gathered in small groups, while others, like Jian Huan, stood alone.
Among them were two demons—an elderly woman and a young one. The younger demon supported the frail, elderly woman as they stood to the side.
The elderly woman clasped her hands together, bowing toward the blood moon. Her withered, blackened face bore an eerie, sinister smile as she muttered to herself, "Soup made from the flesh of a Nascent Soul cultivator... so nourishing, so nourishing..."
The young demon, hearing this, tilted her chin up disdainfully. "What's so special about soup made from a Nascent Soul cultivator? A thousand demon crystals, and you can't even get a piece of meat—just a sip of soup. I don't know why you insisted on coming, Grandma. A thousand demon crystals could buy a fine demonic sword..."
The elderly woman glared and immediately struck her granddaughter hard.
The young demon yelped in pain. "Grandma, what was that for?"
The old woman's fingers trembled as she scolded, "Ungrateful child! You know nothing! That's the flesh of a Nascent Soul cultivator!"
The young demon, still angry from being hit, retorted, "So what if it's a Nascent Soul cultivator?"
"One sip of that soup, and your demonic cultivation will advance by leaps and bounds! This old woman might even live a few more years!" At this, the elderly woman chuckled eerily. "To think I'd live to see such fortune! The Demon Lord blesses us! Your grandfather served the Demon Envoy faithfully in his day—this is our reward!"
"Here we go again," the young demon muttered, rolling her eyes. "That was so long ago, Grandma. Stop bringing it up..."
A palace maid, riding a swirling black mist, floated over and coldly scanned the noisy crowd. "Silence! This is the Demon Palace! How dare you make such a racket!"
Her words instantly silenced the crowd. The elderly woman, who had been about to scold her granddaughter, immediately hunched her back and bowed toward the maid.
Jian Huan subtly shifted her gaze away and lowered her head. After a moment's thought, she approached the elderly woman and her granddaughter.
Since she was already alone, following this seemingly knowledgeable old woman might yield some useful information.
The palace maid stood at the front and continued her instructions. "The banquet is about to begin. Line up properly—female demons to the right corridor, male demons to the left. Anyone who mixes the two will be executed!"
The last three words carried a chilling threat.
The demons quickly obeyed, filing into the palace entrance one after another.
There were fewer female demons than male, so their line was shorter.
While Shen Jizhi and Yin Yusheng were still waiting for their turn, Jian Huan, following the elderly woman and her granddaughter, was about to step through the palace gates.
The buildings and walls ahead were constructed of black bricks, their upturned eaves glinting coldly under the blood moon.
The night wind blew, carrying a bone-chilling cold.
As Jian Huan stepped over the threshold, she instinctively glanced back, past the demon guards, toward the male demons on the other side.
Shen Jizhi stood quietly behind Yin Yusheng, his gaze lowered, his peripheral vision fixed on Jian Huan.
Noticing her movement, he slowly raised his head, his eyes meeting hers through the bustling crowd.
Jian Huan was momentarily startled, then her lips curved into a smile, revealing her teeth.
She flicked her right hand, lifting the wide black sleeve slightly to reveal her slender fingers.
Her thumb and forefinger pinched together, then she made a small, quick motion.
He knew this gesture.
She had explained it to him on their way to the Demon Palace.
It meant... "I like you."
Shen Jizhi's eyes, darkened by the effects of the Demon Transformation Pill, shimmered with faint, scattered laughter.
The banquet hall seemed to have been repurposed for the occasion.
This was Jian Huan's first thought as she stepped inside and took in the scene.
The hall, which was likely the Demon Palace's grand audience chamber where the Demon Lord received his subjects, was now filled with round tables, each seating ten.
At the center of the hall was a stone staircase leading to a raised platform.
On the platform stood a black jade throne.
Behind the throne, the wall was adorned with a massive black stone dragon carving, identical to the one Jian Huan had seen at the entrance to the Dark Abyss prison a few days ago.
The throne was currently empty.
However, suspended above the platform by dark demonic chains were two figures.
...It was Elder Gu and Elder Yu.
Jian Huan's steps faltered for a moment. She pursed her lips tightly, forcing herself to carefully examine the two.
They had fed Elder Gu a Ground Fruit Pill, which could purge the demonic energy implanted in him by the demons.
However, fearing that the effects would be too noticeable and alert the demons, Yin Yusheng had mixed the Ground Fruit Pill with a Demon Transformation Pill. As a result, Elder Gu now resembled a demon in appearance.
Elder Gu's eyes were closed, and he hung in the air like a wind chime, swaying slightly when the wind blew and remaining still when it didn't.
It seemed that after being brought to the Demon Palace, he had been given something that left him unconscious.
Elder Yu's condition was even worse.
Beneath the two was a large black cauldron.
Underneath the cauldron, a crimson flame burned coldly, causing the fresh blood inside to bubble and boil.
The entire hall was filled with a nauseating stench.
But to the demons, it was akin to ambrosia.
"It smells amazing—" The granddaughter, helping her grandmother to a seat, sniffed the air and swallowed hard. "Grandma, the blood smells so good!"
"Indeed, it's the finest, freshest human blood," the elderly woman said, craning her neck to look at the cauldron and the two figures suspended above it. She nudged her granddaughter. "Fetch the Demon Eyes for me!"
"Right away," the granddaughter said, wiping her drool. She rummaged through her robes and pulled out a pair of eye-shaped artifacts, handing them to her grandmother.
The elderly woman put them on and stared at the unconscious figures for a moment. Then, with a loud smack, she slammed the Demon Eyes onto the table.
The sudden noise startled everyone at the table, and all eyes turned to the old woman.
One demon opened her mouth to curse.
The granddaughter quickly stood up. "I'm so sorry! My grandmother is nearly two hundred years old and isn't quite right in the head. Please don't take offense!"
"Old hag!" a middle-aged demon spat. "If she's senile, why bring her to the banquet?"
"Enough," her companion said, glancing nervously at the palace maids. "We're in the Demon Palace. Let's not cause trouble..."
Jian Huan sat quietly on the other side of the elderly woman, her gaze sweeping over the table. She smiled at the granddaughter. "Is this your grandmother?"
The granddaughter, still upset by the insults directed at her grandmother, nodded glumly.
"My grandmother passed away two years ago," Jian Huan said with a sigh. "When she was alive, she was also a bit senile. She would mutter to herself like a child and was so hard to care for. She even scolded me all the time..."
The granddaughter turned to Jian Huan, her expression one of deep empathy. "Yes, exactly like that!"
Jian Huan chatted with the granddaughter for a few more moments before finally asking, "Can I talk to your grandmother? Ever since my grandmother passed away, I've missed her dearly. Seeing your grandmother feels like seeing mine."
The granddaughter, who had grown weary from taking care of her grandmother, was delighted and eagerly agreed, "Of course!"
Hearing this, Jian Huan leaned closer to the elderly woman and spoke softly, "Grandma, why were you so angry earlier? Was something wrong?"
"What a pity, what a pity…" The old woman, who had been repeating these words, looked up at Jian Huan and pointed at Gu Shan and Yu Qing, shaking her head with a serious expression. "They… they can't be eaten anymore!"
Jian Huan was startled. "Why? I even spent a thousand demon crystals on them!"
"They can't be eaten, they can't be eaten…" the old woman mumbled. "Such fine Nascent Soul and Core Formation cultivators, yet they were given the King Insect Demon Powder…"
"King Insect Demon Powder?" Jian Huan's eyes flickered with curiosity. She pulled her chair closer, reaching out to massage the old woman's shoulders while cooing sweetly, "Grandma, what is that? I've never heard of it. Please tell me more, won't you?"
"The King Insect Demon Powder…" The old woman seemed pleased by the attention and chuckled. "Your grandfather told me about it long ago. The King Insect Demon Powder can turn people from the Nine Provinces Continent into demons, whether they want it or not. Once they take it, they become demons! And once they're demons, they can't be eaten anymore, no, no…"
Humans are humans, and demons are demons—the two are fundamentally different.
Under normal circumstances, humans would not easily turn into demons.
In the current understanding of the Nine Provinces Continent, humans only become demons if they lose their Dao Heart and fall into demonic cultivation.
Otherwise, as long as one's Dao Heart remains steadfast, even if they enter the Dark Abyss and interact with demons, they would remain unharmed.
Of course, if a human and a demon were to have a child, the child would inevitably become a demon.
The bloodline of demons has always been exceptionally dominant.
This is precisely why Elder Yu, who once crafted the Bodhi Pagoda, the families of Ran Mu'er and Yin Yusheng, and countless other cultivators from various sects were framed by Jiang Wei.
And Jiang Wei, on the other hand, rose to power as the head of the Jiang family by claiming the title of 'Demon Slayer,' taking charge of all demon-slaying affairs across the Nine Provinces Continent.
Jian Huan sighed softly and was about to ask more when, suddenly, a series of loud bangs echoed through the hall. All the doors of the Demon Palace slammed shut.
The once noisy hall fell into complete silence, as if every human and demon inside had their tongues cut off.
