Several figures flew close to the ground through the lush forest, slowing down to search carefully.
"Your Majesty, did the voice you heard come from this direction?"
Along the way, several women with furry fox ears asked curiously.
They were all half-demons with Fox Clan bloodlines, born in various kingdoms across the North Sea. Since the Demon Race had a matrilineal society, most of the women had gathered here, following the Heavenly Fox Race as subjects of the Fox Demon Race. Demon cultivators whose bloodlines were less pronounced, or who were male, rarely came here.
Yan Ji nodded, her expression grave, and said nothing more.
"This direction leads to Black Valley..."
Hu Gou spoke with a trace of inexplicably complicated emotion.
"It really does seem likely that the Demon Queen is calling."
"Sister, didn't the Demon Queen die long ago?"
"Though a mighty cultivator dies, their will endures. Truly mighty cultivators possess methods of achieving immortality. Even after being dead for years, they might still lodge their will in the void and find an opportunity to return to life!
"But I don't know just how far one must advance to count as a 'truly mighty cultivator.' Perhaps only those in late Spirit Transformation, the undying and imperishable stage, qualify to cross that threshold."
"No, I mean that those heavenly demons brutally killed her back then, and even seized part of her origin power..."
"That wouldn't stop Her Majesty from leaving a contingency! If that really is the case, then hearing her voice as soon as we return must mean her spirit in heaven has sensed us and wishes to bless our Fox Clan with prosperity!"
Hu Gou spoke with absolute conviction.
Her deep attachment to her race and its mighty cultivators allowed her to believe this without needing any justification.