In fact, the ten sorcerers in the imperial palace were divided into many factions, after all, they came from different sorcerer families. But there were really two factions. One faction was the aristocratic faction, which was mostly recruited by Liu Yu, the Duke of Song, for the Xiao Household. They were a relatively conservative faction and were very cautious in dealing with demons, especially ancient ones.
These families possessed extensive records and books, demonstrating that they were not entirely ignorant of ancient times and were well aware of the dangers posed by certain things.
The other faction is the Wild School. In the previous chaotic first year, some wild sorcerers obtained their inheritance through various opportunities and grew up by sheer luck. Because the process of obtaining the inheritance was quite dangerous, and they were able to grow to the level of great sorcerers, they usually relied on seeking wealth and power in danger. Therefore, their pursuit of power and their caution towards ancient things were far less conservative than those of the aristocratic families, and they were often quite radical.
Previously, these two factions were evenly matched in terms of representation among His Majesty's ten great sorcerers.
Hei Yun remembered that back then, His Majesty was a marginal member of the Xiao Household whose bloodline was not pure. Like them, he obtained power through the temptation of the ancient times, so he surrounded himself with a group of desperate sorcerers, including himself!
After the fall of the King of Qin, the Lu Household backed down, and with Liu Yu's loyalty, a large number of sorcerer families gathered under the Xiao Household emperor's command. In order to secure the throne, the Xiao Household made an agreement with the Lu Household and the Duke of Song not to explore the ancient past anymore. In this way, their power was fixed.
In the following twenty years of the dynasty's founding, as the ancient families gradually entered the court, these unorthodox sorcerers began to be marginalized. Several of them left, and ultimately, only three of the ten sorcerers were from their original faction.
Hei Yun originally wanted to leave and try his luck in Cloud Capital, but the secret contact from the Duke of Qin made him choose to stay. Not long ago, the emperor also had a way to get him there.
The Thousand-Faced Fox incident occurred when the emperor entered the Yin-Yang Road, was seduced by the fox spirit, and rekindled his ancient desires. This was certainly a good thing for these unorthodox sorcerers, who almost fully supported it at the time.
Hei Yun also wholeheartedly supported the plan. Although the Duke of Qin was plotting to build the Dragon Palace in ancient times, as someone who could be reborn infinitely, he naturally didn't care about taking greater risks and having more opportunities. He was just being reasonable to hedge his bets.
However, compared to what Duke of Qin Lu Ming of Qin had been in contact with, the things that the Xiao Household had been in contact with were clearly somewhat strange.
Hei Yun vaguely remembered that the reason was that the emperor had come into contact with some kind of evil spirit from the Yin-Yang Road in ancient times, and since he had come into contact with the world of the dead, the emperor would naturally have designs on the recently deceased empress.
But the Empress's mortal body was incredibly fragile; once she entered the Yin-Yang Road, she was instantly torn apart by evil spirits. How could she possibly have any way to bring her back to life?
At the suggestion of the Thousand-Faced Fox, in order to stabilize the emperor, who was mentally unstable at the time, he used a very strange thing from the Yin-Yang Road, namely, Yin Devourer!
When he was a slave under a powerful sorcerer family, the family suffered a calamity. After raping and murdering all the direct descendants of that family, he obtained a lot of information about the Yin-Yang Road.
I also understand the concept of Yin Devourer!
But once the taboo is opened, it's hard to stop. He remembered that he only let one Yin Devourer in at the time, but slowly, for some reason, more and more Yin Devourer appeared in the mortal world, and tragic incidents would be reported from time to time. At that time, he knew that what the Thousand-Faced Fox had asked him to bring to the mortal world was probably not just a simple Yin Devourer.
Rather, it is the Yin Devourer Demon recorded in the ancient collection of that aristocratic family!
This thing is said to have appeared once before.
It is said to be an Kingdom of Guhuang. At that time, the most valiant young prince, representing the hope of the entire nation, died in battle, causing grief throughout the country. Later, rumors spread that the young prince had come back to life and even inherited the throne.
Less than ten years later, that country disappeared.
It vanished completely, and even the place where that country was located seemed to disappear inexplicably. The records clearly state that the small country was a battleground and its location was extremely important, but after the country disappeared, no one knew where the battleground went. In fact, later on, many historians did not recognize that period of history, believing it to be a fabricated myth or legend.
This record made Hei Yun uneasy, especially since he had a sinister feeling every time he saw the empress's eyes.
The emperor was clearly so infatuated with her.
It was for this reason that Hei Yun later took the initiative to accept the task and brought Ziyue to Jiangnan to monitor Chen Qing.
Besides wanting to help the Duke of Qin find out about the Dragon Palace, there was also a reason for this: to escape the increasingly uncontrollable situation in the capital.
Looking at the location of Great Azure Mountain, Hei Yun felt extremely complicated.
What was that terrifying thing that killed him instantly in the imperial palace of the capital during his last rebirth, forcing him to flee to Liuzhou?
Could it be that Yin Devourer Demon?
But he'd observed that thing many times and hadn't detected any particularly powerful force.
Before I left, although the number of Yin Devourer in the capital was increasing and the Empress was becoming more and more eerie, could things have developed to such a terrifying state in just half a year?
This was actually what Hei Yun most wanted to find out from the Thousand-Faced Fox of Great Azure Mountain.
Because it was she who recommended the Yin Devourer back then.
"Sir, I apologize for being late."
It was about half an hour later than the usual agreed time, but the waiting figure still rushed over, his face flushed and exuding an incredibly refreshing aura.
What caught Hei Yun's attention most was the flask of fruit wine at the other person's waist.
To be honest, this was a pleasant surprise. Hei Yun had lived for hundreds of years and had tasted almost every delicacy in the world. He had once traveled across the entire Central Plains and across most of the East Sea to find that country after hearing that a wine made from the heads of beautiful women was popular in the East Sea Kingdom of Guhuang the East Sea.
Because the taste was truly awful, he replaced the commoner beauties with the royal children of that small country and turned them all into human head wine.
He has tasted almost all the fine wines of the Central Plains, including strong liquors from the north, yellow yeast liquors from the south, and pure soy sauce-flavored liquors from both the central and western regions. He has collected them all, including some wines that are over 500 years old.
However, in terms of aroma and other aspects of taste, it is not as good as the fruit wine that Wei Gongzhan brought from Great Azure Mountain.
The delicate fragrance of the fruit and the sweet, mellow taste of the wine are truly the finest in the world!
This kind of wine was being enjoyed by some people in the mountains every day, which he felt was a great waste!
"Tell me, what's going on?" Hei Yun impatiently snatched the wine jug from the other person, took a bite of the dried meat worm that the other person had brought, and asked in a low voice.
"Should I tell you a little bit of everything, just like before?" Wei Gongzhan asked cautiously.
"Hmm," Hei Yun nodded as he drank and ate meat.
"Yes, my fruit orchard has started to bear fruit. The neighbors all say that my fruit orchard is growing very well. The main reason is probably because I'm quite good at controlling the energy of that Mountain God. It feels like I'm using it more and more smoothly now. It seems that I only need to use a little bit to make a certain crop full of Heavenly Origin."
Hei Yun glanced at the other party and asked curiously, "Has the power bestowed upon you by the Mountain God never diminished?"
"No." Wei Gongzhan shook his head. "It's still increasing, and as the plants I grow get better and better, I feel that the spiritual energy replenished to me by the surrounding creatures is also increasing. Over time, it's even more than the blessings from the Mountain God. I feel like I can cultivate dozens more acres of land."
Did you go and ask?
"I made the request; that's why I'm here today," Wei Gongzhan said excitedly. " The Mountain God asked if I'd like to become a celestial farmer. If I am, he can let me try cultivating those newly developed celestial fields on the mountaintop!"
"Immortal Field?" Hei Yun squinted and asked, "What's that?"
"It's said to be a high-grade soil," Wei Gongzhan whispered. "It was cultivated by the evolved Earth Spirit among the believers of Great Azure Mountain, and it can be used to grow better crops."
"Even better than the fruit you use to make wine?" Hei Yun's eyes lit up.
"Probably." Wei Gongzhan scratched his head. "I'm not entirely sure either. I'll report the specific details to Lord Hei Yun as soon as possible."
"Reporting." Hei Yun lowered his head, unsure of what to say.
He didn't even know if it was still worthwhile to investigate everything about Great Azure Mountain, since he didn't know who to tell the information he had gathered.
We certainly wouldn't dare go to the Emperor's side easily; Lu Ming's fate is unknown. Now that I think about it, it's actually safer here?
"Sir, there's one more thing."
"Oh?" Hei Yun snapped out of his daze and said, "Speak."
"I've found out about the little fox fairy. Didn't you say that a man would occasionally appear at her mother's place?"
"Any progress?" Hei Yun asked hurriedly.
"Hmm, I've been getting along quite well with that Xiaoli lately; she said some things..."
" Xiaoli?"
"It's... cough, that Lord Fox Immortal."
"Yeah, it's about helping you become that... that."
"Sir, can we not bring this up?"
"Oh, okay, what did she say?"
She said that a very annoying man would occasionally appear at her mother's place; the man was very good at pleasing her.
"Want to please me?" Hei Yun's eyes widened.
"Yes, but Mother often beats him, the kind of beating with a whip."
"That's so exciting?"
"Grown ups!"
"Oh, cough. Please continue."
" Xiaoli said that usually, when that man talks about how he compares to Cui Yan, he gets beaten up!"
"Huh?" Hei Yun was stunned. Wasn't Yin Devourer just imitating others?
"Then recently, it's said that the man has been sneaking out more often and interacting with the surrounding villagers, but strangely, it seems that no one remembers him afterward. Recently, he's been appearing more and more frequently."
"Oh?" Hei Yun's expression immediately turned serious. "Explain in detail!"