Chapter 534: Outside the Demon Emperor City

The Cloud Family, which had been bustling all day, finally settled into a quiet calm. Yet, every member of the family was still gripped by an uncontrollable excitement. Night quietly fell, and the Demon Imperial City was as tranquil as usual, seemingly unaffected by the significant events that had transpired within the Cloud Family.

The news of Yun Qinghong and his wife's full recovery, both physically and in their profound strength, had spread throughout the Demon Imperial City before evening, causing a massive stir among the various powerful families and factions.

From the following day, the Cloud Family's main gate became a bustling place. An endless stream of visitors, each of remarkable standing, arrived, seeking an audience with Yun Qinghong. Yet, all were politely turned away, informed that the family head would not receive any guests for three days.

The full clan meeting, originally scheduled for the following day, was also postponed by Yun Qinghong until three days later.

This was because Yun Qinghong was observing a vigil for Yun Canghai's remains for three days. For the entirety of those three days, he neither ate nor drank, slept nor moved. Mu Yurou stayed by his side, kneeling with him, not leaving for a single moment.

Had there not been important matters pressing, Yun Qinghong would have continued his vigil for a month or even longer.

However, Yun Canghai's return was not announced; only the four of them knew about it. Three days later, Yun Che retrieved the Eternal Pivot, which contained Yun Canghai's remains, into the Sky Poison Pearl. Yun Qinghong did not object. Although he didn't know Yun Che's intentions, he trusted his son.

As for the Samsara Mirror, when Yun Che expressed his reluctance to return it to the Demon Imperial Clan, Yun Qinghong hesitated only briefly before giving it back to him. With his son having just returned home, Yun Qinghong felt a mix of surprise, comfort, and deep contentment, compounded by the guilt of owing him for over twenty years. As such, he and Mu Yurou simply could not bring themselves to refuse any of Yun Che's requests, no matter how excessive or even if they slightly went against their principles.

The fact that Yun Che was a true son of the Cloud Family was also kept secret among the four of them. If this information were to spread, it could easily lead others to associate him with the "Profound Sky Continent," potentially bringing unpredictable trouble, or even danger, to Yun Che during this sensitive time.

Allowing those who were monitoring Yun Che to investigate his background freely would ensure they found nothing. This would only fill them with doubts and concerns, making them hesitant to take any drastic action.

As the great benefactor who eliminated the Cloud Family's scourge, and with his identity as the adopted son of the Family Head, Yun Che's standing within the Cloud Family rose sharply. Even the elders smiled and looked at him with approval, some not hesitating to offer a few direct words of praise.

Deep into the quiet night.

For the past few days, Yun Che had rarely ventured out, spending most of his time diligently cultivating the Illusory Light Thunderclap and adapting to the weight of the Heaven Punishing Devil Slayer Sword in the training room.

"It's time to test the results of my cultivation," Yun Che muttered to himself.

The Ice Yi Illusion Mirror was shattered by him. Yun Che took a light breath, and his profound energy aura swiftly contracted throughout his body. In the blink of an eye, all outward-flowing aura completely vanished. Not only was there no profound energy field, but even the sounds of his breathing and heartbeat became completely inaudible. If one stood with their back to him, they would be utterly unable to detect his presence.

When "Flowing Light Thunder Concealment" was activated, it essentially locked his aura within his body using profound energy. Maintaining this state required a certain amount of profound energy, but the consumption was so minimal that it couldn't even keep up with the speed at which Yun Che's profound energy recovered under the Great Way of the Buddha. Maintaining the Flowing Light Thunder Concealment state, he changed into black clothes, left the training room, leaped onto the rooftop, and shot off in a random direction.

His status within the Cloud Family had, after all, significantly risen, so even if he were discovered, it wouldn't be a problem. Yet, to his pleasant surprise, he streaked across more than half of the Cloud Family's grounds without being detected by a single person!

This was no insignificant place; it was the Cloud Clan, home to countless supreme experts, any one of whom could shake the Illusory Demon Realm. Under normal circumstances, the aura of a Sky Profound practitioner could barely escape the notice of a Monarch Profound practitioner, let alone a Tyrant Emperor. Tyrant Emperors were exceptionally rare elsewhere, but in the Demon Imperial City, they were ubiquitous, and within the Cloud Family, they were especially numerous. Yet, Yun Che made a full circuit of the Cloud Family grounds without being detected by anyone.

Yun Che had endured countless pursuits, and his innate ability to conceal his aura was already formidable. With the addition of Flowing Light Thunder Concealment, the effect surpassed Yun Che's own expectations. He estimated that even Yun Qinghong would find it almost impossible to circle the Cloud Family grounds without making a sound or being detected by anyone.

"If only I had learned this Flowing Light Thunder Concealment back on the Azure Cloud Continent, my daily escapes wouldn't have been so miserable!" Yun Che thought, a hint of resentment in his mind. He then left the Cloud Family grounds and entered the Demon Imperial City under the night sky.

Although Yun Che had been in the Demon Imperial City for over two months, he had spent most of that time fully dedicated to healing Yun Qinghong and Mu Yurou, and had not yet formally explored the city.

The dark night sky, naturally, could not obscure the vision of a powerful profound practitioner. Yun Che headed north, maintaining a moderate speed to maximize his aura concealment. Along the way, he sensed numerous powerful auras, yet none of these strong practitioners detected him. After observing the Demon Imperial City by night for a while, Yun Che finally couldn't resist testing the power of Illusory Light Thunderclap. He took a sharp breath, no longer caring that he might very well be detected by others. His body instantly transformed into a streak of lightning, shooting forward and completely vanishing into the night in the blink of an eye.

In terms of instantaneous speed, Illusory Light Thunderclap was naturally inferior to Star God's Broken Shadow, and no other movement profound skill could compare to the latter. However, for sustained high-speed movement, Illusory Light Thunderclap was definitely superior. As he soared, he was truly like a flash of lightning; before he could even fully react, his body was already a hundred zhang away.

This speed surpassed even the escape velocity Hua Minghai had demonstrated in front of him previously.

After all, Yun Che's profound energy at this moment was far more abundant than Hua Minghai's.

Yun Che couldn't help but recall that Hua Minghai, with his Illusory Light Thunderclap and Flowing Light Thunder Concealment, was known as the Number One Thief of the Profound Sky. "Doesn't that make me the new, even greater, Number One Thief, then?! Uh! No, I'm no thief!" he thought.

Although Yun Che had been cultivating Illusory Light Thunderclap for over a month, he had previously refrained from acting recklessly within the Cloud Family to avoid drawing attention. Even when he practiced, it was only inside the training room. Now, as he unleashed it freely, the sheer speed was so astonishing that it took him half a day to even adapt to it himself. Yet, at such extreme speed, the feeling of transforming into a gale, leaving the entire world behind, was undoubtedly exhilarating. Yun Che subconsciously propelled his profound energy, making his speed faster and faster.

Whoosh!!!

Under the night sky, an old man walking on the streets of the Demon Imperial City suddenly felt a burst of violent wind rushing overhead. He looked up, but the sound of the wind was already far away, and not even half a shadow was visible.

"So fast, so incredibly fast! Could it be an Emperor from one of the great families?" the old man exclaimed excitedly.

Not only was the speed of Illusory Light Thunderclap astonishingly fast when used, but its energy consumption was also far less than anticipated. Unconsciously, Yun Che had already shot over three hundred li. He was at full speed the entire time, yet he felt no fatigue, not even slightly out of breath.

Yun Che finally stopped. Just as he was about to turn back, he suddenly found the tall city gates of the Demon Imperial City directly in front of him.

"According to the direction I was flying, I've already reached the northern gate of the Demon Imperial City?"

Roughly calculating the time, Yun Che was quite dumbfounded. How long had it been, and he had already shot straight to the edge of the Demon Imperial City? The speed achieved with Illusory Light Thunderclap was truly like a surging thunderbolt, almost unbelievably fast. His profound energy level, after all, was only at the peak of the Sky Profound Realm. To sprint from the Cloud Family to the northern gate of the Demon Imperial City in such a short time was something only a peak Tyrant Profound Realm practitioner could achieve!

When he first arrived at the Demon Imperial City, he had entered through the south gate. This was another edge of the city. Yun Che pondered for a moment, then decided against returning and continued flying forward. He soon soared over the city gates and left the Demon Imperial City.

"Where are you going?" Jasmine, who was with him, was awakened when Yun Che sped along using Illusory Light Thunderclap.

"Whoa, what is this place? It's so dark!" Hong'er was also awakened. However, Hong'er was clearly a much heavier sleeper than Jasmine. Jasmine slept for about five hours a day to suppress the devil poison in her body, while Hong'er slept for at least ten hours. If she didn't get hungry and need to eat, she could probably sleep for twelve hours.

"Xiao Yun said that the Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley is directly north of the Demon Imperial City. If I head north from here, I might be able to see it," Yun Che replied.

"You want to go to the Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley? Since it's called the most important place in the entire Illusory Demon Realm, and even the Twelve Guardian Families are normally forbidden from entering, it must have extremely powerful guards or restrictions. Even if you find it, what good would that do?"

"I'm just curious what kind of place it is, described by Xiao Yun as so miraculous. The Cloud Family hasn't been able to enter for a hundred years, and the younger generation's strength has fallen so far behind the other Guardian Families. Oh, I'm just idly speculating; I don't really intend to find that place, and even if I did, I wouldn't try to go in..."

"If I'm going to enter, I'll do it openly, together with Father, Mother, and Xiao Yun!"

As he spoke, Yun Che unknowingly covered a distance of over a hundred li. The dark clouds in the night sky had dispersed at some unknown point, and a slender crescent moon appeared, casting bright moonlight that dispelled much of the darkness. Below lay a quiet plain of green grass. He could barely sense the presence of humans, demons, or beasts, and looking ahead, the area was vast and empty.

"Strange, this place isn't too far from the Demon Imperial City, and the land isn't barren at all, so why can't I see any humans or demons?" Yun Che muttered in confusion. He then realized: "Could it be because the Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley is in this direction, and thus approach is forbidden?"

After thinking it over, this seemed to be the most reasonable explanation.

"Master, look, there's something sparkling! Isn't it tasty?"

Hong'er's excited cry rang out. Yun Che looked down and indeed saw something sparkling faintly below. He said with a helpless expression, "That's a profound formation, not some shiny thing, and certainly not tasty!"

The lake reflected the moonlight, appearing exceptionally bright under the night sky. Hong'er had two types of food: one was swords, and the other was precious crystals that shimmered with various lights. After realizing what she liked to eat, in Hong'er's definition, anything that glittered was delicious food!

"A profound formation? Hmm..." Hong'er's voice trailed off, and her recently sparked excitement instantly withered.

"Yun Che, let's go down and take a look," Jasmine suddenly said.