The night was deep, but the Iron-Cast Palace at the top of Sounkyo was still brightly lit.
High in the sky, a giant Blood Eagle glided silently through the clouds.
On the Blood Eagle's back, Fang Cheng and Fox sat shoulder to shoulder.
Three days had passed since Fang Cheng's identity was exposed.
They had originally planned to sneak back into the Iron-Cast Palace that very night and investigate the Ghost Lord's situation. But they hadn't expected the palace's defenses to be strengthened several times over, leaving no opening to slip inside.
On top of that, Fox's injuries seemed to be flaring up again, so Fang Cheng had no choice but to find a place to hide outside Sounkyo and treat her wounds.
After three days, Fox's injuries had healed completely, but her body had grown a full size larger. Including her tail, she was nearly four meters long.
Sitting beside Fang Cheng, her ears rose a good head higher than his, and even her voice had changed from that of a young woman to a seductive, mature woman's.
Only then did Fang Cheng learn that Fox was older than he was.
A mature fox. He just wondered whether she liked to eat chicken.
Over those three days, the monsters of the Iron-Cast Palace had searched everywhere for Fang Cheng and Fox without finding a trace of them. They assumed the pair had really left.
The Iron-Cast Palace's security level soon returned to normal.
Fang Cheng and Fox set out under cover of night and arrived above the Iron-Cast Palace.
Judging by its area alone, the Iron-Cast Palace was far larger than the so-called Imperial Palace in Area 11.
But only the front section, including the city gate, stayed lit through the night. Apart from a few palaces, the vast