Zhi Lan Arrives, a Secret Pawn Is Planted

Time flies. A year has passed since Yu Yuanchen of five descended upon the Saint Demon Continent and fought their first battle against Demon God Emperor Feng Xiu in the Meteor Mountain Range.

This year was a precious year for the Temple Alliance to catch its breath and regroup.

With Yu Yuanchen, the "Foreign God," presiding over the Temple Alliance, the Demon Race's large-scale offensive slowed down significantly, and the pressure on the front lines was greatly reduced.

The alliance seized this rare opportunity, making every effort to reorganize its forces, repair passes, and cultivate new talents. The inheritance of the Six Great Temples also showed signs of being New Life through "exchanges" with Yu Yuanchen and his group of five.

However, beneath the calm surface, the undercurrents were still turbulent. Everyone knew that the Demon Race ' dormancy was only temporary, and that vengeful Demon God Emperor would never let it go. The storm was still brewing.

Deep within the Alliance headquarters, in Yu Yuanchen's private meditation chamber.

The space rippled slightly, and the phantom of a gate with an ancient shape, constructed entirely of dark silver metal, and engraved with countless mysterious Space Rune runes, slowly emerged in the center of the secret chamber.

The Hell Gate, now enhanced by the divine artifact, has finally cooled down after a year and can reopen the Planar Passage.

Yu Yuanchen stood with his hands behind his back in front of the gate, his expression focused. He formed a hand seal, and a vast and boundless Thunder Divine Essence surged into the Hell Gate like a tidal wave.

The runes on the door lit up one by one, emitting stable spatial fluctuations. The scene inside the door gradually became clearer from chaos, and a familiar scene could be vaguely seen on the other side— the Douluo Federation, a secret research institute underground in Dragon City.

"The passage is stable, we can begin," Yu Yuanchen said in a deep voice, his voice clearly transmitted to the other end through the Space Channel.

A moment later, a slender figure stepped out from inside the door.

She wore a light blue long dress with silver trim, her figure was graceful, her face was stunning, and her temperament was elegant and noble with a touch of ethereal beauty. She exuded a pure and powerful Life Aura. It was Ye Zhilan!

"Brother Yuanchen!" Ye Zhilan's beautiful eyes sparkled as she saw Yu Yuanchen waiting at the door. A bright and charming smile immediately bloomed on her face as she quickly stepped forward.

"Zhilan, it's been a year." Yu Yuanchen opened his arms and gently embraced his wife. Feeling that familiar warmth and scent, the longing he had felt for her vanished instantly.

He carefully sensed Ye Zhilan's aura and asked with concern, "Was your breakthrough going smoothly?" A year ago, Ye Zhilan was unable to come with him because she sensed the opportunity to break through to the Level 99 Titled Douluo.

Ye Zhilan smiled gently, releasing a slight aura around her. A vast and Life Force Soul Power wave rippled outwards, reaching the peak of the mortal realm and only one step away from the God Level. Moreover, her foundation was extremely solid, carrying the purity and grandeur unique to the God Position of the Plant God.

"It all fell into place naturally. Moreover, my understanding of the Plant God Position has deepened, and I've made some progress on the Eighth Trial, ' Repair Divine Position '." Her tone was confident. "It's just a little regrettable that I missed the chance to come to this world with you."

Her tone carried a hint of regret, but more so, it expressed the joy of overcoming the obstacle and the satisfaction of being reunited.

"It's alright, a safe breakthrough is the most important thing. The situation here is complicated, arriving a few days later may not be a bad thing," Yu Yuanchen said gently, patting his wife's back lightly. "Now that you've reached your limit and have the protection of God Position, you have enough power to protect yourself in this realm."

The reason why Yu Yuanchen only brought Ye Zhilan over was precisely this: it wasn't that he lacked the ability to bring others over, but rather that the Saint Demon Continent was not the Douluo Plane after all.

The five of them, including Ye Zhilan, were all powerful and God Level protective abilities (Di Tian was the son of the two great God King, the Bright Dragon King and the Dark Dragon King, and also possessed the Dragon God Dragon God's Claw, Divine Skill personally passed down by the Dragon God; Gu Yuena was the human form of the Silver Dragon King; Yu Yuanchen, the other two, and Ye Zhilan were all Godhood Inheritance). They had the confidence to protect themselves even when they were deep in enemy territory, but the others did not have this ability.

He briefly recounted the events of the past year to Ye Zhilan, as well as their speculations about the Planar Spirit. Ye Zhilan's delicate brows furrowed slightly as she listened, but she quickly regained her composure, her eyes gleaming with wisdom.

"The Planar Spirit... is so strange. It seems we need to be more cautious," she murmured, then smiled. "However, since we're here, we might as well make the best of it. Using this world's cultivation system to solidify our foundation and explore the unknown is also an opportunity."

"That makes perfect sense." Yu Yuanchen smiled and said, "Zhilan, it just so happens that you can help with the matter concerning Di Tian. For the past year, he has been entrusted by Gu Yue to study the differences between the Summoner System and the Way of Beast Taming in the Soul Temple, which has been quite a headache for him. Now that you have arrived, you have the deepest understanding of the laws of Life and Contract Law, so it is most appropriate to entrust this matter to you."

Moreover, the Priest System in this world has a unique approach to healing, Purification, buffing, and Medical Skill, which shares similarities with your Sacred Heart Immortal Begonia Martial Soul. This might help you solidify your foundation and gain insights from similar cases."

Upon hearing this, Ye Zhilan's beautiful eyes lit up. "A summoner and Priest System? That sounds interesting. Perfect, I'm quite interested in this, so leave it to me."

Just then, Yu Yuanchen seemed to sense something, his eyebrows slightly raised, and his Divine Sense quietly spread out, communicating with another hidden spiritual imprint in a distant part of the Demon Race Clan's territory.

A moment later, he withdrew his Divine Sense, a strange smile appearing on his face.

"What's wrong?" Ye Zhilan noticed the change in her husband's expression and asked.

"It's that Evil Emperor." Yu Yuanchen shook his head, his tone tinged with amusement and helplessness. "If it weren't for the fact that we had to bring you here today and use the special fluctuations of the Hell Gate, I would have almost forgotten that there were six of us when we came."

He immediately informed Ye Zhilan of the contents of his mental communication with the Evil Emperor.

A moment later, Ye Zhilan covered her mouth and chuckled, her eyes sparkling. "The Evil Emperor... he almost became a 'guest of honor' of the Demon Race? This Moon Demon God certainly has good taste."

It turned out that just a few days ago, when the Hell Gate had cooled down and Yu Yuanchen was preparing to receive Ye Zhilan, he suddenly remembered that there seemed to be another person who came with him— the Evil Eye Tyrant Lord, the Evil Emperor.

This guy disappeared without a trace a year ago after we parted ways in the Meteor Mountain Range. Yu Yuanchen was so busy with cultivation and dealing with alliance affairs that he almost forgot about him!

So, Yu Yuanchen tried to make contact using the communication Soul Tool he had left for the Evil Emperor. Only then did he learn that the Evil Emperor had caused a minor misunderstanding.

Rewinding to a year ago, after the Evil Emperor parted ways with Yu Yuanchen and the others, he successfully found his kin— the Evil Eye Clan of the Saint Demon Continent —in a dangerous place called the "Evil Demon Swamp" on the edge of the Demon Race Realm.

The Evil Eye Clan in this world is far weaker than the Evil Eye Tyrant Clan in the Douluo Continent. The strongest among them is only the Evil Eye Tyrant, who is equivalent to the peak level of Soul Douluo.

The return of the Evil Emperor, especially his incredibly profound Cultivation Level and bloodline that surpassed all limits, immediately caused the entire Evil Eye Clan to erupt in excitement, and they revered him as the supreme emperor!

The Evil Emperor enjoyed the feeling of being the center of attention, began to integrate his clan, and mentored some promising juniors, living a carefree life.

What surprised him even more was that, upon returning to his hometown and letting go of his obsessions, his mental state became clear, and his Spiritual Power, which had been stuck at a bottleneck for countless years, broke through naturally. Although he failed to condense his Divine Sense, the total amount and qualitative change of his Spiritual Power had already entered the realm of the Spirit Origin Realm.

However, this period of good fortune was short-lived. The massive mental fluctuations caused by the Evil Emperor's breakthrough attracted the attention of a powerful Moon Demon Race who happened to be passing by.

This powerful Moon Demon Race possessed ninth-tier strength and was shocked that the Evil Eye Clan had produced such a terrifying being. He immediately reported the information to the Moon Demon God Agares.

The Moon Demon God Agares, ranked second among the Seventy-Two Pillar Demon Gods of the Demon Race, possesses unfathomable strength and is also adept at mental illusions. He is the most trusted right-hand man of Demon God Emperor Feng Xiu. Upon hearing the news, he personally descended upon the Evil Demon Swamp.

After a period of covert observation and probing mental exchanges, Agares was deeply shocked. This self-proclaimed "Evil Emperor," the Evil Eye Tyrant Lord, possessed Spiritual Power so strong that it had already faintly touched the threshold of God Level.

Even if he used the Moon Demon God Pillar, he wasn't confident he could defeat it. After all, at this level, everyone has some special skills, and no one knows what trump cards the opponent has up their sleeve.

At this time, it was a turbulent time. A year ago, the Demon God Emperor fought against the Foreign God Yu Yuanchen. Although the battle ended in a draw, it was an undeniable fact that the Demon God Emperor was injured and had to retreat.

Subsequently, news spread that the Temple Alliance had Spirit-level Expert in charge. Although the alliance still appeared strong on the outside but weak on the inside, it was clear that it had reached some kind of agreement with Yu Yuanchen. This meant that it had become extremely difficult for the Demon Race to quickly crush the alliance.

Agares, with his meticulous mind, immediately conceived the idea of befriending and winning over this newly crowned "Evil Eye Emperor." If he could bring this newcomer into the Demon Race's camp, it would undoubtedly greatly enhance the Demon Race's high-level combat power, giving them more confidence when facing the mysterious Yu Yuanchen and his companions.

Moreover, the Evil Eye Clan was originally a native species of the Saint Demon Continent. It was only natural that they would be brought under the command of the Demon Race Clan after being corrupted by Demonic Energy. Agares never expected that the Evil Emperor would be in cahoots with Yu Yuanchen.

As for the Evil Emperor, he was new to the continent and knew nothing about the situation. He was in seclusion at the time, breaking through to a higher level, and completely missed the great battle between Yu Yuanchen and the Demon God Emperor. He had learned from his Evil Eye Clan subordinates that the Demon Race Clan was powerful and that the Demon God Emperor was suspected of possessing God Level strength, so he was naturally very wary.

Faced with the overtures of Agares, a powerful figure of equal caliber and the second-in-command of the Demon Race race, the cunning and shrewd Evil Emperor, adhering to the principle of avoiding trouble and gathering information along the way, also engaged in feigned compliance.

Thus, the two cunning old foxes, each with their own ulterior motives, hit it off immediately. On the surface, they chatted happily, addressing each other as "Brother Agares" and "Brother Evil Monarch," and their relationship quickly "warmed up."

Agares promised the Evil Eye Clan some resources and territory, while the Evil Emperor expressed his willingness to maintain "friendly" relations with the Demon Race. Of course, this so-called "friendship" was only verbal; both sides knew perfectly well that it was merely a stopgap measure for mutual exploitation.

Just as the Evil Emperor was gradually becoming immersed in the feeling of being a "regional overlord" and his "friendship" with Agares was growing "deeper," Yu Yuanchen contacted him.

When the Evil Emperor sensed Yu Yuanchen's vast, star-like, and unfathomable Divine Sense fluctuations—far more profound than a year ago—and heard him casually mention breaking through to the God Level, having "sparred" with the Demon God Emperor and gaining a slight advantage, as well as his chilling speculation about the Planar Spirit, this Evil Eye Tyrant Lord almost popped his enormous vertical pupils out of his eyes!

"Misunderstanding! A huge misunderstanding!" The Evil Emperor Evil Emperor was so frightened that his Divine Body became unstable. After receiving Yu Yuanchen's notification, he realized that his friendship with Agares seemed like a sign of defection. He thought Yu Yuanchen had come to reprimand him.

After all, judging from Yu Yuanchen's words, he had not only broken through to the God Level, but he had also easily repelled the Demon God Emperor of the Demon Race Clan right after the breakthrough. His strength was terrifying. We couldn't let him misunderstand.

The Evil Emperor hurriedly explained the whole story, fearing that Yu Yuanchen might be displeased and deliver a "divine punishment" to him across the endless void.

After learning the details, Yu Yuanchen was both amused and exasperated. After a moment's thought, instead of blaming the Evil Emperor, a glint of light flashed in his eyes as he devised a plan.

"In that case, you should continue to deal with the Moon Demon God," Yu Yuanchen transmitted his voice. "There's no need to deliberately investigate; just maintain a superficial relationship and let things take their course. At a crucial moment, this 'hidden move' of yours might play an unexpected role."

Upon hearing this, the Evil Emperor inwardly groaned. Be a spy? This job was no small matter! But faced with Yu Yuanchen's unquestionable tone and the other party's unfathomable strength, how could he dare to say no? He could only bite the bullet and agree.

Yu Yuanchen knew he should offer some incentives, otherwise it wouldn't be good if he really pushed the Evil Emperor to the side of the Demon Race, although the possibility of that was very small.

Yu Yuanchen immediately promised not to let the Evil Emperor do anything dangerous, only to have him pass on some inside information. He also promised to share his own experience of becoming a god with him, which finally calmed the Evil Emperor down. (Actually Yu Yuanchen had already told Gu Yuena and the other three after his breakthrough, but the Evil Emperor left after arriving at the Saint Demon Continent, so he didn't get any freebies.)

After telling Ye Zhilan about this incident involving the Evil Emperor, the couple exchanged a smile, both finding the matter quite amusing.

"So, it seems we've unintentionally planted a spy within the Demon Race," Ye Zhilan said with a smile. "While its effect may not be significant, it might provide some information at crucial moments."

"Yes, it's a pleasant surprise," Yu Yuanchen nodded. "However, in the real contest, strength will ultimately prevail."

After dealing with the minor incident involving the Evil Emperor, Yu Yuanchen turned his gaze to Ye Zhilan and smiled, "Alright, the inside man has been planted. Now, it's time to welcome you back."

A few days later, after a low-key welcome banquet for Ye Zhilan held at the Alliance headquarters, Yu Yuanchen invited Di Tian to his quiet room.

"Di Tian, there's something I need to discuss with you," Yu Yuanchen said, getting straight to the point.

Di Tian's enormous dragon eyes looked at Yu Yuanchen, awaiting what would happen next.

"I hope you can go to the Demon Emperor Palace and meet that Demon God Emperor Feng Xiu," Yu Yuanchen said, making a startling statement.

A hint of surprise flashed in Di Tian's eyes, but he did not interrupt.

Yu Yuanchen continued, "The apparent purpose is to show our attitude."

Yu Yuanchen's gaze was profound. "We are, after all, people from another world. We came to this world only for cultivation and do not wish to interfere too much in the affairs of this world. We do not want to escalate the conflict with the Demon Race race. Your going as a member of our own race will better demonstrate your sincerity."

As for helping the Temple Alliance, it was purely because the Demon God Emperor struck first and then retaliated after receiving some benefits from the Human Race. That's what he said on the surface; whether they believe it or not is irrelevant."

"What about the underlying purpose?"

"The underlying purpose is naturally to warn him. To subtly hint at our intentions regarding the possible existence of Planar Spirit. We don't need to be too explicit; just enough to arouse his suspicion."

Di Tian immediately understood Yu Yuanchen's intention. "You want to incite the Demon Race and the Planar Spirit to distrust each other, like dogs fighting each other?"

"That's right, the Demon God Emperor isn't stupid, he just hadn't thought of this before." Yu Yuanchen nodded. "If the Demon Race shifts some of their attention to the Planar Spirit, the pressure on us will naturally decrease. We still need time."

Di Tian pondered for a moment, then nodded. "But... when shall we depart?"

"There's no rush. Make your preparations, and you can set off whenever you wish. However, this journey may be risky, so please be careful. If things don't go well, prioritize your own safety," Yu Yuanchen advised.

"Don't worry." A hint of arrogance flashed in Di Tian's dragon eyes. "As fellow Dragon Clan, he can't stop me."

The plan was finalized, Di Tian departed to make preparations.

Three days later, a subtle yet powerful Dragon Might quietly left the Alliance headquarters, tearing through space and heading towards the core territory of the Demon Race.

Ye Zhilan officially took over the research work of the Soul Temple and the Priest Temple. Her powerful Life perception and profound understanding of the Contract Law quickly demonstrated her amazing talent in these two fields, astonishing the Elder of the Soul Temple and the Priest Temple, who became increasingly respectful.

Yu Yuanchen continued his cultivation, drawing on the strengths of many, while simultaneously diverting a wisp of his Divine Sense to silently monitor the progress of the two paths: the Evil Emperor and Di Tian.

Inside the Alliance headquarters, undercurrents were swirling. Yu Yuanchen had made another crucial move on his chessboard. Meanwhile, the Demon God Emperor, deep within the Demon Capital of the Demon Race Demon Capital Heart City, was unaware that an invisible storm, aimed at him and the fate of the entire Demon Race Clan, was quietly approaching.

The storm is still brewing.