Bingyang Hall.
The clear-sky azure flame gradually drew inward. Stolen Script stepped out of the fire and settled into a seat, shifting lines of script covering her pale face and making it difficult to discern.
Xu Xuan paid his respects and sat down as well. Looking over, he saw that this Demon King's two snowy fox ears were folded down too, just like Su Lan's, lending her a gentle, delicate air.
Stolen Script was quite tall, dressed entirely in white, with only a jade-green hairpin tucked into her bun.
She began drinking the wine on the table, propping her forehead on one hand. Her gaze swept around before finally settling on Yang Yuanyi.
"Where is your royal father?"
There was no puzzlement in her voice. It sounded more as though she already knew and had merely come to confirm it.
"Father is in seclusion, cultivating a divine ability, so he cannot appear in person."
Yang Yuanyi hesitated slightly as he spoke of this. His royal father's actions had seemed somewhat unusual, and Stolen Script's question only deepened his unease.
"Your father told me some time ago that something went wrong during your seclusion, leaving you no choice but to change your cultivation. Are you now cultivating [Darkening Obscurity]?" The script on Stolen Script's face shifted, gradually forming the words [Light suffers injury; brightness enters the earth].
"That is correct. Although I have mastered it, I still understand little of this divine ability's subtleties."
Yang Yuanyi gave a bitter smile. His clan's scriptures and spells all belonged to the orthodox tradition of Bing Fire, their nature akin to Greater Yang, and were quite incompatible with his Dao Deity ability.
The scripture he had obtained from Mu Wude was also incomplete and contained no spells. He was now searching for spellcraft involving