Chapter 2332: Goodbye, Fate Jade Disk

Pei Mianman approached Zu An. "Ah Zu, I've found some weapons and armor, and they're quite high-grade. Should we take them?" She waited for a long time without a response, then urgently tugged his sleeve. "Ah Zu?"

"Huh?" Zu An finally snapped back to reality, realizing the back of his clothes was soaked with cold sweat.

"What's wrong?" Pei Mianman touched his forehead with the back of her hand and exclaimed, "Why are you so cold?"

The other women, hearing the commotion, rushed over, each looking at him with concern.

"It's nothing," Zu An replied, choosing not to disclose his recent discovery. Time was short, and he couldn't explain it clearly in a few words, nor did he want to worry them. Seeing him slowly recover, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and began to report their own findings.

Ji Xiaoxi said, "With the help of Auntie and Princess Sister, I found many useful texts and medicinal herbs."

"Sister Yun also helped me find some valuable formation spellbooks," Xie Daoyun added, holding a few jade slips with a faint smile on her face. Having already mastered the "Mysteries of Space Transformation," many of the spatial-related texts in the treasury were no longer useful to her. After careful selection, only a few rune texts from other fields proved helpful.

Zu An nodded. "It's good that you've all found something. Let's leave here quickly; the Demon Lord is about to return."

"Shouldn't we search a bit more?" Pei Mianman found it strange. They hadn't been inside for long, so there should still be some time. Why was Ah Zu in such a hurry to leave?

"We'll talk about it later," Zu An replied. He placed the "Resurrection Secret Art" jade slip back, intending to reactivate the previous defensive formation. He couldn't let the Demon Lord realize he had discovered the secret.

"Huh?" Just as he put the "Resurrection Secret Art" back, he suddenly noticed something unusual within the wall. He reached out, extending his vital energy to investigate, and immediately sensed a hidden compartment behind the wall. The wall's stones were made of a special material that blocked divine sense, which explained why he hadn't discovered the space behind it earlier. He fumbled around and quickly opened the hidden compartment, taking out a palm-sized, oddly shaped stone.

It was neither jade nor stone, and despite the extensive knowledge of those present, no one could immediately identify its material. The stone's shape resembled some kind of animal's face, but it was too blurry for anyone to discern what animal it was.

"Oh, I think I've seen this before," Xie Daoyun murmured, involuntarily taking the strange stone from Zu An's hand.

"You have?" Zu An was surprised. "As expected, Sister Ling'er is truly learned."

"I don't know for sure, but looking at it gives me a strange sense of familiarity," Xie Daoyun said, gently caressing the stone with her delicate hand, her expression one of utter bewilderment.

"I remember now! I've seen this pattern during my clan's ancestor worship rituals!" Sorenshi suddenly exclaimed, slapping her forehead in surprise.

"Ancestor worship of the Demon Race?" Zu An's heart stirred. It seemed there truly was an unusual connection between the Demon Race and this demon world. Just then, the strange stone suddenly emitted a faint glow and trembled slightly.

Jiang Luofu let out a soft "Oh?" "This seems to be sensing someone or a bloodline nearby."

Xie Daoyun, as if suddenly understanding something, quickly looked at Sorenshi. "Princess, could you let a drop of your blood fall onto it?"

"Of course," Sorenshi replied casually. She pricked her finger with a fingernail and squeezed out a few drops of fresh blood onto the stone.

The drops of blood were instantly absorbed by the stone. Immediately afterward, faint bloodlines spread across its surface, and the previously blurry animal face gradually became clear.

"A fox?" Zu An's heart skipped a beat. This fox face was unique, exuding a sense of enchanting seductiveness. He couldn't help but think of the alluring Tu Shan Yu, the Fox Lord of Qingqiu. Since this stone was connected to the Demon Race, he wondered if it also had ties to the Qingqiu Fox Clan.

While he was momentarily lost in thought, the stone's surface suddenly began to crack inch by inch, then quickly peeled away in pieces, revealing a greenish jade embryo within. Just then, Zu An suddenly felt a chaotic spatial fluctuation erupt around them. His expression changed instantly, and he urgently cried out, "Throw that stone away!"

But it was too late. Xie Daoyun was turning to look at him with a puzzled expression when the stone in her hand suddenly transformed into a black hole.

Almost instantly, the black hole grew to human size. Before Xie Daoyun could react, she was completely sucked into it, and the black hole vanished at the same time. With a tearing sound, Zu An looked at the corner of a sleeve in his hand, his face ashen. Everything had happened too suddenly; even with his cultivation level, he hadn't had time to react, only managing to grab a corner of her sleeve at the last moment. Unfortunately, the mysterious black hole's suction was too powerful, and the sleeve couldn't withstand the pull.

Zu An, who now had some understanding of spatial formations, quickly attempted to reopen a spatial tunnel using a formation. Another black-hole-like space opened, but his expression was grim. He could sense that there was nothing behind this space, and it was not the same black hole as before. With spatial teleportation, even a tiny error could lead to a difference of a thousand miles.

The other women standing nearby were also stunned by the scene, never having imagined such a sudden turn of events.

"Ah Zu, where did Sister Xie go?" Pei Mianman asked urgently.

"That black hole just now seemed to be some kind of special spatial tunnel?" Jiang Luofu, who spent much of her time in the academy, was quite knowledgeable.

"It's all my fault. I shouldn't have put my blood on it," Sorenshi said, her face pale and her eyes filled with self-reproach.

"It's not your fault. She asked you to put the blood on it; no one could have predicted this would happen," Zu An said, patting her shoulder to comfort her, his brows furrowed in thought.

"Brother Zu, don't you know spatial transformation formations? We can help you set up a formation and quickly bring Sister Xie back!" Ji Xiaoxi was almost in tears. Xie Daoyun had always taken good care of her since she came to the academy, and they had a very close relationship. Seeing her mysteriously disappear, how could she not be anxious?

Zu An shook his head slightly. "It's no use." As he spoke, he took a stone from his Glazed Orb, molded it in his hand for a moment, and soon it resembled the previous stone by seventy or eighty percent. With his cultivation and artistic skill, imitating it was not difficult. He then placed it back into the hidden compartment, reactivated the previous defensive formation, and the yellow light barrier once again sealed the wall.

"Ah Zu, do you already know what happened?" Jiang Luofu couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, the stone she had in her hand was likely a fragment of the Creation Jade Disc, and she has most likely gone to another time-space," Zu An said with a grim expression. He had previously asked Chu Chuyan about her disappearance during her cultivation retreat in the sect, gaining a general understanding of the Creation Jade Disc.

In that instant, Zu An had felt that familiar power, so he knew that no matter how hard he tried now, he couldn't bring Xie Daoyun back. He had originally hoped to find a fragment of the Creation Jade Disc to save Chu Chuyan, and now that he had finally found one, it had instead caused trouble for Xie Daoyun. Fortunately, such Creation Jade Discs only transported people to another time-space, posing no immediate threat to life. There would always be a chance to reunite in the future.

Of course, he also knew that such a chance was slim. After all, across countless time-spaces and worlds, a person was like a drop in the ocean; how could such a coincidence occur...? Suddenly, his expression tensed. A terrifying figure appeared in his mind – the warning formation he had specially set up outside the palace indicated that the Demon Lord was about to return. He quickly composed himself. "We'll talk more later. We need to leave immediately. The Demon Lord is back."