Chapter 525: Demonic Emperor's Daughter Pregnant

The demon race members around the altar exchanged glances. While this battle truly couldn't be entirely blamed on Yaoyue, as the commander, she was still largely culpable. Even if not executed, she would face severe punishment; there was no way she would escape unscathed.

Haimei looked worried, pondering secretly, "I'm afraid Yaoyue might still have to die. The Priest lineage has always been a threat to the Demon Emperor's lineage. Previous Demon Emperors have all tried to eliminate the Priest lineage. The current Demon Emperor even attempted to marry into the Priest lineage to absorb it, but ultimately failed. Now, they've finally encountered an opportunity to eliminate Yaoyue and sever the Priest lineage's succession. Given the Demon Emperor's ruthlessness, how could he let such an opportunity slip?"

The only hope was for the Elder Priest Lingyin to intervene and withstand the Demon Emperor. What puzzled Haimei was Lingyin's composure. She simply stood silently beside Yaoyue, saying nothing, leaving the decision of Yaoyue's life or death entirely to the Demon Emperor. The altar was silent, everyone awaiting Yaoyue's punishment. Yaoyue herself bit her red lip, her hands nervously twisting the hem of her skirt, awaiting the judgment of fate.

The gigantic demon cloud face moved, and the Demon Emperor's majestic voice resounded. "The defeat in this battle is not your fault. I declare you innocent. The judgment is complete. Disperse. Demon Kings, Generals, and Battle Kings, come to my tent!" The gigantic demon cloud face immediately dissipated, and the terrifying demonic energy that had intimidated the entire audience receded like a tide.

The demon race members present looked bewildered. "Yaoyue... innocent? No punishment at all? Are they mistaken? Yaoyue was just let off like that!" Haimei also looked confused. Even if Yaoyue wasn't executed, how could there be absolutely no punishment? This wasn't like the Demon Emperor's usual style! Her intuition told her that something she wasn't aware of must have happened.

However, this was an unexpectedly good outcome. Yaoyue escaping calamity also meant that Jiang Fan would be safe. Since she and Yaoyue held compromising information on each other, neither would expose the other. Letting out a long breath, she gave a profound glance at the inscrutable Lingyin, then quietly withdrew and headed towards the Demon Emperor's tent. The demon race had suffered a colossal defeat; it was impossible for there to be no repercussions. Having successively lost ten thousand undead troops, a thousand demon beast troops, and a general, she feared the demon race was about to launch a decisive battle.

As the demon race members departed, only Yaoyue and Lingyin remained at the altar. Yaoyue looked skeptical. "I'm actually fine? That shouldn't be! Mother, hasn't the Demon Emperor always seen us as a thorn in his side? Why didn't he seize this opportunity to make trouble? And why did he show such mercy and let me go?"

Lingyin's voice was ethereal and clear. With an undisturbed tone, she said, "Because the Demon Emperor's daughter committed an even greater scandal than yours. If he had executed you today, when his daughter's matter came to light, she would be even more unlikely to escape death."

Yaoyue looked astonished. "Mother, are you talking about Miss Liuli? I did hear that she lost the demon race's treasures, the Heaven-Quaking Bow, the Blood Bodhi, and a defensive magical artifact. But with her status, at most she'd receive some punishment. It wouldn't be a death sentence, would it?" This was no longer a secret among the demon race. After all, Devouring Heaven Tiger had returned in such a miserable state; their encounter couldn't be hidden even if they wanted to.

Lingyin clasped her hands behind her back, stepped onto the rainbow, and slowly strolled deeper into the demon territory. Without turning her head, she said, "She was defiled by a human man."

"What?" Yaoyue was so shocked she couldn't close her mouth, covering her red lips with wide eyes. The Demon Emperor's daughter, her first time... taken by a human? This... what kind of scandal was this?

However, Lingyin wasn't finished. She then nonchalantly uttered a sentence that was enough to shake the entire demon race. "And... she's pregnant."

*Rumble*— Yaoyue felt as if thunder was rolling through her mind! Liuli, a noble of the Demon Emperor's lineage, the daughter of a Demon Emperor... pregnant with a human's child? This was far more serious than the complete annihilation of the undead army!

No wonder! No wonder the Demon Emperor not only didn't use this as an excuse to execute Yaoyue, but didn't even impose any punishment. It turned out her daughter had committed something even more disgraceful to the demon race. The Demon Emperor's leniency towards Yaoyue wasn't it also to save face for the Priest lineage? When his daughter's secret inevitably came to light, he would hope the Priest lineage wouldn't seize the opportunity to make trouble.

Yaoyue looked relieved. "In that case, I should thank this human man. Without him, I wouldn't have escaped today's calamity."

The person she was grateful to slowly opened his eyes at that moment. After seven days of intense cultivation, Jiang Fan naturally broke through to the third level of Core Formation. Feeling the abundant spiritual energy, Jiang Fan showed a pleased expression. "Breaking through a level without consuming the clam meat—this is the benefit of actual combat!" Clam meat was a rare spiritual item effective even for later stages of Core Formation. The drawback was that its effect was greatest upon the first consumption. Subsequent uses would see its efficacy greatly diminished, until it became completely useless. Using it during the early stages of Core Formation would be a tremendous waste. It would not be too late to use it when encountering a bottleneck in cultivation or when an urgent breakthrough was needed.

"Xiao Fan, Xiao Fan, are you in there?" Suddenly, a long-unheard urgent call echoed from outside. Jiang Fan's spirit lifted. He looked up and out, seeing a graceful woman, clad in a long emerald green dress, with black hair cascading like a waterfall and a waist so slender it seemed one could not grasp it. She was crouching at the entrance to the spatial rift, her small hands cupped like a megaphone around her mouth. She called out urgently, repeatedly, her bloodshot, sparkling eyes filled with anxiety.

"Senior Sister?" Jiang Fan's body tensed. Who else could it be but Liu Qingxian? He quickly rushed out of the cave. His sudden appearance startled her, but upon realizing it was Jiang Fan, her eyes immediately welled up with glistening moisture, which quickly gathered into tears and streamed down her face. The tears traced a path down her cheeks, once fair with a hint of blush, but now red from the cold. As they fell to the ground, they instantly froze into icicles.

Looking at the emaciated beauty, Jiang Fan felt a pang in his heart. He walked straight up to her and pulled her tightly into his embrace. Having experienced the battle at Boundary Mountain, and witnessed too many partings and deaths, too many hopes brutally crushed into scattered regrets on the ground, he no longer wanted to keep unspoken words, unexpressed feelings, or kindness owed to people hidden in his heart. Because life was far more fragile than imagined. They could be together today and eternally separated tomorrow. Therefore, he expressed himself openly. An embrace was worth a thousand words.

"Waaah," Liu Qingxian sobbed, burying her head in Jiang Fan's chest. "Jiang Fan! Why are you so mean?" She raised her small fist and pounded Jiang Fan's chest forcefully. Her beautiful face was already drenched in tears. "Why do you make me so anxious, make me sad, make me happy one moment and heartbroken the next, soaring to the heavens only to fall into hell? Why? Why do you torment me like this!"

Jiang Fan paused. They had just reunited after so much difficulty; why would she say such things? Until a sighing voice reached his ears. "Liu Qingxian... she truly cares about you an extraordinary amount." Nangong Xiaoyun had arrived at some unknown point. "When news of the attack on Boundary Mountain reached Sunset City, the whole city was thrown into chaos. Upon hearing, Liu Qingxian immediately left the city. Amidst the chaos and lack of resources, she couldn't even obtain a spirit beast, so she trudged through man-high snow towards Boundary Mountain. If I hadn't happened to pass by and accidentally found her frozen like an ice sculpture in the snow, you two would have become a pair of tragic lovers."

"What?" Jiang Fan's pupils contracted. No wonder Liu Qingxian's face was so frozen. He felt both heartache and anger. "Are you foolish? Traveling through snow without a spirit beast is no different from seeking death!" In such deep snow and ice, once her spiritual energy was depleted, she would be engulfed by the snow and ice. Sooner or later, she would freeze to death!

Nangong Xiaoyun said softly, "She just wanted to see you sooner. Even while unconscious, she kept calling your name."