Demon Court

She had no idea how much time had passed before she slowly woke. The first thing she saw was half of the Rosewood Pendant, ringed in a faint purple glow as it protected her. Looking again, she saw tier upon tier of towers and pavilions, doors stretching one after another, as though she had arrived at an imperial palace.

"Where is this?" Hu Xiyan's heart trembled. Looking up, she saw a pale golden sky, rippling like waves, with faint light spilling down and making the jade grasses and spirit ganoderma planted in the courtyard flourish luxuriantly.

Looking further, the corridors had white jade walls carved with dragons, coral scattered in graceful profusion, and lingering spiritual light slowly circulating. The entire deep palace was permeated with a faint, pure breath like fresh rain in an empty mountain. Hu Xiyan took only one breath, yet felt her entire body relax. A flash of inspiration struck her mind, and she could not help muttering, "...Is this the Dragon Palace?"

"How could there still be a Dragon Palace, and so much spiritual energy?" Hu Xiyan took a step back, doubts rising like tangled weeds. According to her Lineage's records, such spiritual energy would have been nothing unusual three hundred years ago. But afterward, it had thinned day by day. Even blessed grotto-heavens held only a little, and aside from enlightening young beasts, no one was casually permitted to absorb it. They could only painstakingly worship the moon and refine a little.

As she was thinking, a young girl approached from ahead. Dressed in a palace gown, with a two-inch-wide silk sash bound around her waist, she walked with trailing steps. She happened to spot Hu Xiyan and could not help looking her up and down several times. After confirming it, she said, "Eh? You're a demon from the Hu Family, aren't you? Why are you standing here in a daze? Hurry up to the hall and serve."

"His Majesty and all the high ministers are there. Good demons are in short supply."

"Ah, yes, understood." Hu Xiyan saw the shell on the girl's head and immediately knew she was a Shell Maiden. Her expression remained calm, but inwardly she was even more shocked.

The Shell Maiden had transformed so completely that not even a trace of her original form remained. This... was impossible!

Though her heart was screaming, she followed as the girl led the way. Turning out of the corridor, she saw a great deer lying directly ahead. The deer looked Jian-like, almost as though it were an immortal deer. Hearing human voices, it opened its eyes and yawned. "Who knows why His Majesty suddenly took an interest in holding a chess tournament? He even brought in the Human Race."

"Why aren't you hurrying along? Good demons are sorely needed to serve."

The Shell Maiden answered repeatedly and led Hu Xiyan onward. Hu Xiyan was stunned. "Though this deer spirit is showing its true form, its Demonic Power is condensed and does not disperse. It is already a Great Demon. There are still Great Demons among the deer tribe now?"

"Miss Bei Qi."

Before she had time to think, she followed them past more than a dozen doorways. There were countless demons along the way—not merely the Water Tribe, but small land demons of other kinds could also be seen from time to time, moving openly back and forth. They carried, bore on their backs, or balanced atop their heads all kinds of objects. Whenever they saw the Shell Maiden, they bowed in salute. It seemed her status was not low.

Hu Xiyan was numb from shock. Some of the Monsters along the way looked vaguely familiar to her, while later, unfamiliar races appeared one after another. They were all demons!

Great Demons even appeared among them from time to time!

"What... what is going on?" Hu Xiyan's shock gradually turned into panic and bewilderment. "Could I have blinked and ended up in the overseas Dragon Palace?"

It was simply too unbelievable. Even for a fox demon like her, it was almost impossible to encounter such a thing. By the time she was born, the Demon Race on the continent had long since lost the glory it possessed centuries ago, pressed so hard by alchemists and the imperial court that they could barely breathe.

Even the Fox Tribe could only withdraw into Green Hill. When she traveled the human world with her Third Aunt, she still had to conceal herself among ordinary humans of the Human Race surnamed Hu. Even Hu Xiaojiu, so favored as she was, could only remain on a painted pleasure boat and could not wander into crowded cities, lest she be discovered.

The flourishing splendor of centuries past, when the Demon Emperor still reigned and Great Demons roamed freely, had become nothing more than bedtime stories for the younger generation of the Demon Race.

"We're here!"

As she pondered, they had already arrived before a palace hall. It was not the main entrance, but a side entrance. Pearl curtains hung to the floor, studded with fine, dense crystals. When the wind blew, they chimed and tinkled.

Boom! As the pearl curtains opened, she saw inside. The great hall had white jade floors and bright pearls set into its walls. Another curtain hung above the hall, obscuring whoever sat on the high seat. To either side were tables, where all kinds of Monsters sat. Most of them were Great Demons. At a single glance, demon qi soared toward the heavens, making her legs go weak as she nearly fell to her knees.

"This is impossible... Even the overseas Dragon Palace could not have so many Great Demons."

"Let alone such a system."

The Great Demons wore broad robes and wide sleeves of exquisite fabric, magnificent beyond compare. That alone would have been one thing, but the crucial point was that they clearly wore standardized attire, seemingly modeled after the human imperial court and divided by rank. Gathered here together, they made the place dazzling with splendid robes and ceremonial caps, Jian-like, as though even a humble dwelling had been made radiant.

"It is Jian, practically the Demon Court of old reborn..." Hu Xiyan was about to look more closely when the Shell Maiden said, "What are you still standing around for? Hurry and follow me to serve wine and fruit!"

As she spoke, a Great Demon ahead lifted a cup of jade nectar and drained it in one swallow. The Shell Maiden stepped forward with a wine pot to refill it. Hu Xiyan said nothing and followed her up, taking a jade tray held by a maidservant and pouring wine for the Great Demons.

"This is... the Dragon-whiskered Tiger!"

One of the Great Demons she served wine to was a burly man with coiled whiskers. Strangely, he had one long, flowing whisker. Wind swirled around Zhou, while wisps of cloud curled about him—the Dragon-whiskered Tiger.

Clouds followed dragons, wind followed tigers, and the Dragon-whiskered Tiger possessed both. Naturally, it was extraordinary.

Hu Xiyan's heart shuddered. "The Dragon-whiskered Tiger is extremely rare. They say only the Demon Court from centuries ago possessed one, and it was a high minister of one region. Why am I encountering it now? Could it be that it has not yet fallen?"

Then drums and music rose in a grand swell. The lower hall seemed to have gained many more people. A demon official dressed in red and holding white jade stood on the steps, announcing in a ringing voice, "Those arriving at the lower hall must not make noise. Wait for the chess tournament to begin."

Hu Xiyan was startled when she heard this. In the blink of an eye, she spotted many familiar faces in the lower hall—human chess players she had just seen on the painted pleasure boat!

Among them was the young scholar she had met several times.

Could this Demon Court truly not fear the imperial court's wrath, abducting human chess players to hold a competition for amusement?

Just as Hu Xiyan frowned, Su Ziji felt his head buzz, as though instruments were playing and pounding beside his ears. His mind was thrown into chaos. Only after a long while did he realize that though he was still seated, everything around Zhou had completely changed.

He had originally been in the cabin of the painted pleasure boat, surrounded by dozens of people. Now he was in a palace hall. Though there were more than a hundred people here, only a dozen or so were relatively familiar—they had been in the boat cabin with Zhou.

A banquet was being held in the grand hall above. The lamps blazed brilliantly, and everyone appeared noble and important. Young girls moved among them pouring wine, their lovely faces faintly visible and dazzlingly radiant.

Whose royal palace was this?

The more than one hundred people, Su Ziji included, were all dumbstruck.

Su Ziji swayed slightly, unable to tell whether the world he was in was a dream, or whether he had just awakened from a great dream.

"What place is this? Could this be a dream? If it is a dream, why is it so clear?"

"Ah, Monster! There are Monsters!" Just as Su Ziji discovered that Ye Buhui was at his side, tightly clutching his hand, and felt somewhat reassured, a shriek rang out from behind him.

Along with that scream, all the Great Demons in the upper hall turned to look.