Black Mountain bared his teeth, but said nothing more.
Zhu Yao sat on a stone stool, swinging her legs. Her gaze swept over everyone in turn before finally settling on Jiang Ling.
"You're Jiang Ling?"
Jiang Ling nodded.
She had been in contact with Zhu Yao through that Jade Token, but this was their first meeting.
The Imperial Lord of the Demon Realm... seemed several sizes smaller than she had imagined.
Zhu Yao put on no airs. She knew Jiang Ling had helped Si Chen and the others a great deal. At that thought, her tone turned earnest. "Thank you for what you did at the Gathering of Immortals."
Jiang Ling fell silent for a moment, then shook her head. "We each got what we needed."
Zhu Yao glanced at her without saying anything more, then turned to Si Chen. "How did you get in? The seal on the Demon Realm hasn't weakened. I can feel it."
"Ha!"
Black Mountain sprang into action again, cleared his throat, and began in a scholarly manner, "That is a long tale. We journeyed from the lower realm..."
Before he could finish, Zhu Yao frowned slightly. "The Ascension Passage?"
Black Mountain, who had wanted to keep showing off, froze. "How did you know?!"
At the sight of his expression, Zhu Yao smiled, something she had not done in a long time.
Of all the Demon Sovereigns in the Demon Realm, she was the most proficient in Space Law. From the few scraps Black Mountain had let slip, coupled with her earlier inexplicable ascension, she had already pieced together most of the story.
Only Si Chen could have done such a thing.
Zhu Yao did not know whether to laugh or cry.
The Ascension Passage only went one way. That was common knowledge across the