"At dawn, sword qi hastens the work of spring" - Deceit in the dark chamber: behold my thunderous rebuke

According to the Records of Local Wonders, "In the southeastern sea lies Xuan Isle. On the isle lies Warm Lake, where rays are born." In fact, the renowned Warm Lake of Xuan Isle lay within the Liling Isles. The open-air lake had now been enclosed within the Fire Separation Palace built by the Devil Race, becoming the inner lake of the young Devil Master Yinghuo's detached palace. The mineral-rich hot spring water bubbled with enormous bubbles throughout the year, its color a vivid crimson. Set against the crystalline white jade of the surrounding halls, it created a brilliant, dreamlike atmosphere.

And Yinghuo, the little demon girl now reported missing, had still been bathing and swimming leisurely in this palace's Warm Lake a little over an hour earlier.

A little over an hour earlier, in that steaming natural hot spring, Yinghuo had soaked her snow-white skin until it flushed rosy red. Only after lowering her head to admire her own reflection had she flown contentedly out of the hot spring and immersed herself in a white jade pool filled with clear water beside the lake.

This white jade pool, prepared especially for Yinghuo, stood above ground. A green bamboo pipe rested across its rim, drawing sweet, emerald-clear spring water from elsewhere and pouring it endlessly into the jade pool. A small hole of just the right size had been opened in the side wall near the bottom, matching the flow of fresh water brought by the bamboo pipe that day and allowing the excess to burble out. Thus, the flowing water in the white jade pool always remained just short of full.

After leaving the billowing heat of Warm Lake and sinking into the cool spring water, the violet-eyed little demon girl felt wonderfully comfortable. Around the white jade tub, fresh