Chapter 1408: Imperial Nether Clan's Misery

The dominion was separated into nine regions of differing sizes. Collectively, the nine regions formed a certain balance, becoming a sacred land of cultivation. In a certain remote location at the extreme south of the dominion was a place called the South Divine Devil.

During ancient times, this place was sparsely populated. Most of the people living here were of non-human races. The place was desolate and had one of the worst living conditions in the dominion.

After a certain ancient war, an additional race appeared here. This race was known as the Imperial Nether Clan, and they were the ones who had started that ancient war. During the war, the imperial nether devils had eventually broken through the humans' defensive line and settled down on the surface world.

The humans had tried exterminating these imperial nether devils many times, but their attempts had been fruitless. Eventually, the humans were forced to acknowledge the Imperial Nether Clan's right to live in the South Divine Devil.

However, the South Divine Devil was also the only place the Imperial Nether Clan could live. They only occupied land the size of a province. They hadn't expanded and had not committed any mass murders against the humans either. Because of that, the humans eventually got used to their presence on the surface world.

The South Divine Devil was covered in thick devilish aura, but the devilish aura wasn't as thick as the aura in the Devil Domain. Even so, it was thick enough for the Imperial Nether Clan's inhabitation.

There, numerous castles with architecture similar to the Imperial Nether Clan's buildings in the Devil Domain's seventh layer could be seen. This was an architectural style unique to the Imperial Nether Clan.

In a certain main hall, several figures were present and currently discussing a certain issue. Seated atop the highest seat was an incredibly old imperial nether devil. He was obviously in his late days and would reach the end of his life soon.

Each of the imperial nether devils present was incredibly old. All of them practically looked like they were halfway to the grave already and gave off a thick feeling of death. However, the look in their eyes was still as penetrative as ever. Even a Saint would be plagued with discomfort upon meeting their gazes.

If news spread that all these people were Devil Gods, the world would be shocked. After all, those at the God Realm were known to have endless lifespans. Why did all these people radiate such a thick death aura?

"Did all of you hear about that news?" asked the old imperial nether atop the highest seat.

The others nodded. One of them said, "A human youth has obtained our clan's bloodline."

"Send someone to bring him back. I have a feeling that he might be the hope for our continued survival," said the oldest imperial nether devil. He sighed and said, "It has been hundreds of thousands of years since I last returned home. I wonder how they're doing."

As he lamented, the others also sank into lamentation. They were all homesick. Back then, they had mustered all their strength to enter the dominion, hoping to conquer a piece of land for themselves on the surface world. They succeeded, but they learned that the dominion was simply unsuitable for the imperial nether devils.

This was also a bad place for them to raise the next generation. Unless they could fully join the surface world with the Devil Domain and fill it with devilish energy, the surface world would never be a suitable habitat for the imperial nether devils.

It was unfortunate that they learned of that fact too late. They could no longer return. The only thing they could do was work as hard as they could to either adapt to their new living condition or join the surface world with the Devil Domain. Unfortunately, all their hard work had been for nothing.

Although the humans had allowed them to reside on the surface, they were constantly watched. The moment they tried anything, the humans would do their best to kill all the imperial nether devils.

The death aura on their bodies was due to repeatedly battling human guardians, and the battles had left them with incurable injuries. Additionally, they were also in charge of supplying the younger generations with devilish energy and were already extremely exhausted.

To make things worse, their younger generations only grew weaker and weaker. The latest generation couldn't even reach the Devil Saint Realm, let alone the Devil God Realm. If this continued, this branch of the Imperial Nether Clan would eventually cease to exist.

Therefore, they urgently wanted to return to the Devil Domain. They missed their home and did not want to die in a foreign land. The sole new Devil God in the past 10,000 years was sent out of the South Divine Devil to look for Xiang Shaoyun. They believed that this young man would be their hope to return to the Devil Domain.

...

Xiang Shaoyun naturally wasn't aware of all that. He had just reached the Fox Range and was heading toward the Righteous Buddhist Sect. He had obtained the Limit Stimulation Technique from Zang Yuan in a certain secret space. There, he had promised Zong Yuan to deliver Zang Yuan's sarira back to the Righteous Buddhist Sect. Over the years, he had been too busy to do so. Now was the perfect time to complete that task.

Xiang Shaoyun was in no hurry. He first went to the nearest city to figure out if news of his identity had spread far enough. From Hu Detian, Xiang Shaoyun learned that he would arrive at the Dusk Dynasty's territory after leaving the Fox Range.

The Dusk Dynasty was one of the seven biggest dynasties of the Central Region. It occupied dozens of large cities and was ranked fifth among the seven greatest dynasties. Every organization capable of developing into a dynasty was incredibly powerful, and no organization would rashly offend a dynasty. These dynasties had a terrifying accumulation of power and wealth, and only the superpowers could compare with them in terms of overall strength.

The nearest city to the Fox Range was Wind City. Like Icecross City, it was a border city flourishing with numerous travelers. When Xiang Shaoyun arrived at Wind City, he did not bother hiding his whereabouts. He went to the busiest restaurant and feasted, indulging in the pleasure of life. He listened on as the surrounding people talked about the latest news of the world. Among the numerous topics talked about was the topic of Beiming Tianpeng's pursuit of him.

"Xiang Shaoyun killed over 40 Saints consecutively, showcasing an impressive combat strength far above his peers. He is worthy of being known as a king among Saints. Fortunately, it was ultimately proven that he is a human. If he's really a devil, that will be a calamity for us humans."

"That's right. I had not expected that Xiang Shaoyun was actually the direct disciple of a legendary lord guardian. It is normal for such a person to learn some devil abilities. After all, he is someone who has merged even nine different powers."

"I heard Xiang Shaoyun was crippled at the Heavenly Snow Mountain? Can he recover his astral cultivation? If he can't, that would be a loss for humanity."

"That's a baseless worry. Since he's a disciple of a lord guardian, how can he not recover?"

"True. I heard he's heading toward the Central Region. I wonder if I'll be lucky enough to see this genius king among Saints up close."