Soul Land 5: The Rebirth of Tang San

Chapter 251: Lin Ximo, the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor

The Peacock Great Demon King started moving toward the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor.

"Brother Ximo, you still look as splendid as ever, while I, on the other hand, have already aged," said the Peacock Great Demon King with a light smile.

The Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor smiled in turn. "There's no helping it. Becoming a Demon Emperor involves a transformation, shedding the original form completely. It gives me a somewhat human appearance.”

The Peacock Great Demon King seemed not to care about the other's boast. He made a welcoming gesture. "Please!"

"Hmm." The Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor did not return the gesture but directly strode towards the city lord’s mansion.

The clansmen standing behind the Peacock Great Demon King all showed anger on their faces.

From a status perspective, although the Crystal Phoenix in front of them was a Demon Emperor, he was just an elder in the Ancestral Court. Meanwhile, every city lord of the Empyrean Dominion held a very high status, equivalent to the elders. However, judging by the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor's attitude, he clearly regarded the Peacock Great Demon King as a subordinate.

Both parties entered the city lord’s mansion together. By now, the heads of the major clans within Kali City had already received the news. They were equally shocked; the arrival of the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor was too swift. The meeting had only been convened in the morning, and he had arrived by the afternoon.

Two main seats were prepared in the hall of the mayor's mansion. The Peacock Great Demon King invited the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor to sit together.

Next to the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor stood that a young man with a head full of white hair, followed by other powerful figures.

The Peacock Great Demon King's gaze fell on the young man with white hair, and he said indifferently, "If I'm not mistaken, this gentleman seems to be from the Celestial Fox clan?"

The Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor turned his head to glance at the young man with white hair and smiled, "Indeed, Yu Yiran, you have yet to meet the Peacock Demon King." He seemed to deliberately omit the word "Great."

The white-haired young man stood up, bowed slightly to the Peacock Great Demon King, and said, "I am honored to meet you, Peacock Great Demon King. I come from the Celestial Fox clan. I am Yu Yiran."

Upon hearing this, the nobles of Kali City immediately became somewhat agitated. Their faces darkened, especially those of the clan leaders who had witnessed the Blood Oath of the Peacock Great Demon King.

The Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor naturally felt their change in emotion, "Oh? Is there a problem?"

The Peacock Great Demon King nodded to Yu Yiran in acknowledgment, then said, "Recently, there have been a number of murder cases within Kali City. Just this morning, the Flash Leopard King was assassinated, leading to chaos in the city. I found traces of space, time, and fate manipulation at the scene."

"This can't be!" Yu Yiran blurted out. "There are no members of my clan within Kali City..." As he spoke, he clearly realized something, and his voice trailed off.

The Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor glanced at him, then turned to the mayor, the Peacock Great Demon King, and said, "This indeed requires a thorough investigation."

The Peacock Great Demon King said indifferently, "Our clan is adept with the power of space. The assassin who targeted the Flash Leopard King seems to have employed a technique resembling a joint effort of our clan, the Chrono Crocs, and the Celestial Foxes. It's quite peculiar. It only happened this morning, and we are still investigating."

At this moment, the leaders of the clans not originally aligned with the Peacock Demon clan—the Titan Bears, Flash Leopards, Wind Wolves, Crimson Foxes, and even Blaze Lions—had somewhat dark expressions.

They were also not aligned with the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor, as no one wished to invite trouble upon themselves.

In the Empyrean Dominion, the most powerful bloodlines belonged to the dragon and phoenix races. There were always Demon Emperors among them, but due to complex branching, any given clan could produce a Demon Emperor. Moreover, the true dragon and phoenix clans had very few descendants, and there were truly few races that they held in any kind of regard. Thus, these Demon Emperors typically did not have many vassals.

This Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor had only risen in the past decade and had only recently achieved the status of a Demon Emperor. The nobles of Kali City were only vaguely aware of him from the conflicts between the previous generation of the Crystal Phoenix clan's Great Demon King and the Peacock Great Demon King. They did not know much about this Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor.

The number of individuals in the Celestial Fox clan was even scarcer. In addition, they were able to control fate and therefore held an exalted status, second only to the dragon and phoenix clans. Naturally, in a remote place like Kali City, members of the Celestial Fox clan had never appeared before.

This was simply too much of a coincidence. The FlashLeopard King had just died, possibly at the hands of an assassin from the Celestial Fox clan, and now a member of the Celestial Fox clan had arrived with the Ancestral Court's convoy. What did this imply?

Given the Celestial Fox clan's prideful nature, would they become mere assassins? How could this be possible without an order from someone on an even higher level than themselves?

The Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor said, "I have come here on the orders of the Ancestral Court, in order to thoroughly investigate the disappearance of the Great Rainbow Deer Demon Emperor's essence blood and the disappearance of the Ice Dragon Great Demon King. The deadline given by the Ancestral Court is tight, so I hope Brother Wang will cooperate fully to solve the case as soon as possible."

The Peacock Great Demon King sighed. "Brother Ximo, this matter has also given me a headache. I wasn't aware of the Ice Dragon Great Demon King's last visit. I only knew that the essence blood of the Rainbow Deer Demon Emperor had come here. However, after the auction ended, the bidder didn't even pay the handling fee; they just took away the essence blood of the Rainbow Deer Demon Emperor and disappeared. We are also investigating. After all, those transaction fees are not something to scoff at, even for the city’s coffers. Only later did I hear from the Ancestral Court that the essence blood of the Great Rainbow Deer Demon Emperor was brought to the auction by the Ice Dragon Great Demon King, who then bought it back himself. This made me feel that something was amiss. I really don't understand the reason for its actions. We have tried our best to search for the Ice Dragon Great Demon King and demand an explanation. Yet, we have never found any trace of him."

The smile on the soft-featured face of the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor deepened. "No matter. I have brought a drop of the Dragon Emperor's essence blood. With the drive of my divine consciousness, finding the whereabouts of the Ice Dragon Great Demon King should not be difficult. Everything will naturally become clear then."

Upon hearing this, the Peacock Great Demon King's pupils slightly contracted.

The Dragon Emperor mentioned by the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor was the current ruler of the Ancestral Court, the Great Elder. He was the most powerful being of the Ancestral Court, standing at the pinnacle even among Demon Emperors. His combat power was unmatched.

As the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor spoke, he stood up, and an invisible aura of authority burst forth.

"Hold on," the Peacock Great Demon King suddenly said in a deep voice.

"Oh? Brother Wang, do you have any objections?" the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor asked knowingly.

The Peacock Great Demon King said, "This place is the city lord’s mansion, the dwelling of my clan for generations. The aura of the Dragon Emperor's essence blood is too powerful and may harm those present. How about I accompany you to ascend and investigate?"

The light in the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor's eyes shifted, and he said softly, "That would be fine, of course. In this way, the scope of our investigation can be broader."

The Peacock Great Demon King extended his hand, saying, "Please!"

Two flashes of light twinkled almost simultaneously, and in the next instant, both figures had vanished into thin air.

Inside the hall, the high-ranking officials of Kali City looked at each other, their expressions grave.

Kali City was the weakest in overall strength among the main cities. The main reason was that the Peacock Great Demon King had not reached the level of emperor, so there weren’t many powerful clans willing to come under his wing.

Apart from the Peacock Great Demon King himself, the leaders of the other clans were, at best, at the level of Demon Kings. Only within the Peacock Demon clan were two more Great Demon Kings, thanks to the foundation built up by the clan over many years.

In the case of the other main cities, the Demon Emperor ruling over them could have a full dozen Great Demon Kings under their command, and the ruling clans of various races had a stronghold there. This was important because even among demons of the same major race, different clans could have vastly different power and status.

The sudden arrival of the Crystal Phoenix Demon Emperor, coupled with the assassination of the Flash Leopard King, made the high-ranking officials of Kali City feel a distinct sense of danger, danger that spared none of them.