Chapter 680: Flowing Cloud City's Demon Aura

"Uncle-master Yueli, in the past three years, has there been any... news of Yuechan?" Yun Che asked after a moment of hesitation. He knew in his heart that the chances of receiving a positive answer were slim.

As expected, Chu Yueli shook her head, her expression dimming.

"It's alright..." Yun Che took a deep breath. "Three years ago, I entrusted the main branch of the Black Moon Merchant Guild to investigate Yuechan's whereabouts. With the Black Moon Merchant Guild's capabilities, after three whole years, they must have found something... Perhaps they've already located her."

"Mmm!" Chu Yueli nodded slightly, a glimmer of hope appearing in her beautiful eyes. "Palace Master, when you go to the Black Moon Merchant Guild, remember to also inquire about Qingyue. The crisis here has been resolved, but she might be unsafe outside."

"I will," Yun Che nodded. "I should be in the Divine Phoenix Empire for some time. My stay might be long, or it might be short. If anything unexpected happens, remember to send me a sound transmission immediately. I have my own way of getting back at once!"

Yun Che bid farewell to the Ice Cloud women, retrieved the Primordial Profound Ark, and traveled through space, returning to Cangfeng Imperial City.

Compared to the previous day, Cangfeng Imperial City was much calmer today. At the very least, the heavy, gloomy, and desperate atmosphere had largely dissipated. The news of Prince Consort Yun's return and his instantaneous annihilation of hundreds of thousands of Divine Phoenix Empire troops had already spread throughout Divine Phoenix City and its surroundings, reigniting the hope that had long been extinguished within them.

"Husband, how did things go with the Sun Moon Divine Hall?"

As Yun Che returned, Cang Yue hurried out to meet him, her delicate face beneath the phoenix coronet showing deep joy and unconcealable fatigue. Clearly, she had stayed awake all night during her ascension.

"Empress Sister-in-law, Big Brother is truly too... too... too amazing!" Before Yun Che could reply, Xiao Yun couldn't help but exclaim excitedly, "The people from the Sun Moon Divine Hall were really powerful! Not only did their Young Master come personally, but there were also several Emperor Sovereigns. However, Big Brother burned one of them to death, and all the others were scared away... They're so scared, they'll never dare to come again. Ah... Seventh Sister, no need to check, I really don't have any injuries. I just stood there for a little while, didn't even fight anyone, it doesn't hurt at all..."

Xiao Yun's pale words naturally couldn't fully describe the scene at the time. He also didn't know that even though everything seemed incredibly smooth, Yun Che had been walking on a tightrope above a bottomless abyss every single moment.

Cang Yue didn't ask further. Seeing Yun Che's confident gaze, she knew that the Ice Cloud Immortal Palace's crisis had been resolved... even if it was against the Sun Moon Divine Hall. She smiled and said, "It's good that everything is fine. This time, you should finally go see Grandpa, right?"

"Yes, I'll take Xiao Yun there now." Thinking of Xiao Lie and Xiao Lingxi's faces, a warm current naturally surged in Yun Che's heart, followed by an increasingly strong, almost uncontrollable impatience.

"Xiao Yun, we're going to Floating Cloud City now... That's where you were born. Once we're there, you'll be able to meet your true blood relatives," Yun Che said with a smile, picking up the Primordial Profound Ark again.

Xiao Yun opened his mouth, paused for a moment, then nodded forcefully, "Okay!"

Finding his blood relatives and meeting them was the primary reason he had followed Yun Che to the Profound Sky Continent!

"I want to go too," Number Seven Under Heaven hopped forward and grabbed Xiao Yun's arm.

"You and Xiao Yun are family now. How could you be absent for a family reunion? You must come!" Yun Che said with a smile. "Yue'er, I'll bring Grandpa and Little Aunt back soon. Brother Tianxia, Yuanba, I'm leaving the Imperial City to you two."

"Brother-in-law, don't worry. No matter how many of them come, they won't get a single step closer!" Xia Yuanba raised his thick arm and flexed his hand, producing cracking sounds from his knuckles.

"Xiao Yun, Seventh Sister, let's go."

"Ah? Are we... just going like this? Shouldn't we prepare something else, like... like..." Xiao Yun was flustered for a moment. For over twenty years in the Illusory Demon Realm, he had lived with the label of a "Profound Sky Bastard." At twenty-two years old, he had never met any of his blood relatives.

"We don't need anything, let's go!!" Yun Che pulled Xiao Yun up. Compared to Xiao Yun's shyness, he was already too impatient.

Entering the Primordial Profound Ark, Yun Che set the travel distance and direction. In just an instant, they were above Floating Cloud City.

Stepping out of the Primordial Profound Ark, Yun Che took a deep breath of the air... Finally, he was back in the place where he grew up...

The air still had its familiar scent, free from the smell of gunpowder.

From a thousand feet above, Yun Che silently gazed at his hometown below, a place he knew intimately. Cangfeng Nation was the smallest of the Profound Sky Seven Nations, and Floating Cloud City was the smallest city within Cangfeng Nation. It naturally lacked the bustle of larger cities, but at this moment, Floating Cloud City was much quieter than Yun Che remembered. Although there were streams of people on the long, narrow streets, they were far fewer than before.

As Cang Yue had mentioned, although the Divine Phoenix Empire had unexpectedly sent a massive army of two hundred thousand to Floating Cloud City, they had not launched an assault. Yun Che's gaze swept over the city, and it seemed there were no signs of battle anywhere in Floating Cloud City... not even small-scale ones, let alone large-scale. The streets were even, and the buildings showed no widespread destruction. The entire city was not shrouded in an aura of panic. Furthermore... Yun Che's investigation revealed that within the entire Floating Cloud City, only the City Lord's Mansion had a contingent of what appeared to be Divine Phoenix soldiers, numbering only about a hundred.

While this outcome allowed Yun Che to breathe a sigh of relief, it also filled his mind with doubts.

Floating Cloud City was small with a weak populace, barren land, and no areas rich in resources around it. Even the profound beasts found there were of the lowest grade, making it utterly devoid of value for an assault. Moreover, its location in the easternmost part of Cangfeng Nation meant it was remote and required a long march, making its conquest a net loss. Even if they had to take it, the Divine Phoenix army's combat strength meant a mere few thousand soldiers would suffice... Yet, the Divine Phoenix side had sent a full two hundred thousand troops!

And this was *before* their march on Cangfeng Imperial City!

Furthermore, according to Cang Yue, the two hundred thousand Divine Phoenix troops had never left after arriving.

However, Floating Cloud City now presented such a sight.

Everything about it revealed an inexplicable strangeness.

What exactly was going on?

What did the Divine Phoenix Empire truly intend to do with Floating Cloud City?

Boom!!

Dull rumbling sounds came from the east, northeast, and southeast. Some were distant, some relatively close, and they were exceptionally dense. Yun Che quickly turned his head towards the east. As his gaze fell upon the rugged and perpetually barren mountainous area east of Floating Cloud City, he saw patches of red shadows, either concentrated or scattered. His brow furrowed slightly as he focused his vision to the extreme, gradually realizing that those red shadows were, in fact, Divine Phoenix soldiers clad in crimson light armor!

"What's that sound? Is someone fighting there?" Xiao Yun and Number Seven Under Heaven asked, looking eastward with surprise and doubt.

"It's the Divine Phoenix army!"

"Divine Phoenix army? Is someone fighting them?" Xiao Yun quickly asked. His and Number Seven Under Heaven's eyesight were far inferior to Yun Che's, who possessed the power of the Evil God.

"No," Yun Che shook his head, a deep perplexity etched on his brow as he spoke. "They seem to be systematically pounding the ground in unison."

"Pounding... the ground?" Xiao Yun's eyes widened. "What are they doing? Are they training?"

Yun Che pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't know. Let's ignore them for now; let's go down." He extended his finger, pointing to the most familiar place in his life: "That's the Xiao Family courtyard, where I grew up for sixteen years. Grandpa and Little Aunt are there now."

Just as Yun Che was about to descend, Jasmine's low cry suddenly echoed in his mind: "Wait!"

Yun Che abruptly stopped. Whenever Jasmine suddenly used that tone, it meant she had discovered something significant. He quickly focused and asked, "Jasmine, what's wrong?"

"Where is this place?" Jasmine had barely finished speaking when she recognized it herself: "Floating Cloud City?"

Evidently, Jasmine had just woken from her sleep. Yun Che replied, "I just returned here. What did you find? Is there something wrong here?"

"..." Jasmine remained silent for a long while before speaking in an extremely low voice, "Why... why is there devil energy here!"

"Devil energy?" Yun Che was startled. "What do you mean by devil energy?"

"..." Jasmine continued her silence for a considerable time, her tone becoming even lower. "It's indeed not a mistake; that is undeniably devil energy. Devil energy... simply put, it's profound energy that mutates when one or more negative emotions reach a certain threshold, causing the laws to distort! The devil profound energy it generates is more powerful and harder to control than profound energy of the same level. And because devil energy only emerges under extreme negative emotions, those who possess devil energy... are wicked beings whose minds and beliefs have been twisted, beings who should not exist in this world! They can even be directly called devils or demons!"

Yun Che: "..."

"This plane is becoming more and more interesting, to think something like devil energy would appear here!" Jasmine murmured. She held a deep aversion, even hatred, for "devils," because the poison she had contracted was the most terrifying devil poison!

"This person, are they within Floating Cloud City?" Yun Che asked gravely.

"Yes, and... they are within the Xiao Sect, where you are about to return!"

"What!!" Yun Che's heart jolted.

"Let's go down immediately and see. I'm very curious to know what kind of individual could possibly generate devil energy in such a low-level plane!" Jasmine's tone was exceptionally peculiar.