In the Qiongqi tomb, a large and a small figure stood silently in front of the black coffin, uttering not a word.

In pitch darkness, their pupils revealed an eerie, oily green that added a touch of terror.

If an elder of the Qiongqi Clan had been present, they would have recognized that the larger figure was the living fossil of the Qiongqi Clan, the oldest of its kind, a nine-thousand-year-old Qiongqi that had reached the Transcendance Tribulation Stage.

Oddly, among these two figures, the Transcendance Tribulation Stage living fossil respectfully stood behind the smaller figure, not daring to overstep in the slightest.

The smaller figure gently caressed the sealed funerary objects, which buzzed like bees, as if ready to break their seals and join their master in battle.

"It’s not time yet," murmured the small figure in a low voice, and upon hearing their master’s command, the funerary objects quieted down.

The Gold Clan Leader crawled on all fours hurriedly into the tomb chamber, slowing his pace as he approached the main burial site, gradually transforming into a human silhouette.

Seeing the two figures, he steadied himself and bowed deeply.

"Young Ancestor, I have sent away the people from the Meng Family and the Seek Dao Sect. The Princely Heir of the Meng Family promised to speak to his father about lending us Spirit Stones," he reported.

Turned to face him, the figure addressed as Young Ancestor was a diminutive girl around thirteen or fourteen years old.

The girl nodded in approval of the Gold Clan Leader’s actions.

"That’s indeed good news."

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"The Great Era is nearing, and that old codger from the Di Jiang Clan can hardly contain himself, wanting to unite the Demon Territory and seize the initiative," he said.

"His Dao Fruit Outline is indeed suitable for this. Our Qiongqi Clan need not follow the others. There is still some time before the true coming of the Great Era. What you need to do during this period is to improve your own realms," instructed the girl.

"Yes," the Gold Clan Leader and the living fossil said in unison, their eyes betraying a flicker of excitement.

The scale of the Great Era’s struggle could be compared to ancient times, and if anyone knew best about the state of affairs in ancient times, it was none other than the Young Ancestor.

Suddenly, as if contemplating something, the Gold Clan Leader hesitated.

"Speak your mind, there’s no harm in it," encouraged the girl.

"Young Ancestor, with the Qiongqi Clan’s current strength, can we truly develop to the extent that we qualify to compete with behemoths like Great Xia and Buddha Country during the struggles of the Great Era for the opportunity?" he asked.

The girl rolled her eyes, somewhat exasperated, "I didn’t say we have to vie for first place. Is it too much to aim for the top ten?"

"Oh," he responded.

...

The black market, a place teeming with mixed characters, where rumors spread like wildfire. As long as you’re willing to pay, there’s no information you can’t find out.

In a tavern, two figures clad in black robes, their faces obscured, conversed.

That was the most common garb in the black market.

"Have you heard about the Demoness of Bewitching Music?"

"Who hasn’t heard of the Demoness of Bewitching Music? With the strum of her ancient zither, thousands of Dao Sound threads slice demons into pieces, leaving not a single intact piece of flesh. That major demon is listed on the wanted lists of all races. Whoever catches her would make even those at the Body Integration Realm green with envy. If only I were strong enough, I’d want to catch her too!"

"Hey, who told you that stale piece of news? I’m asking about something that happened four months ago, when two attendants appeared beside the Demoness of Bewitching Music."

"Two attendants? To be honest, brother, I’ve been in seclusion for the past six months and haven’t paid attention to such news."

"Buy me a drink, and I’ll fill you in."

"Waiter, two jugs of your finest Monkey Wine!"

The man’s nose twitched as he smelled the alcohol and let out two chuckles before he said,

"I won’t say much about the Demon Sound Heavenly Girl, as everyone knows, it was just four months ago when suddenly two attendants appeared beside her, who were also of the Human race, and their realm was in the Nascent Soul late stage."

"Ever since she gained two more attendants, sightings of the Heavenly Girl became even more frequent. She would often visit the ancestral tombs of various clans. By the time these people were discovered, it was too late, as they had already made their escape without a trace."

"Even if they were caught in the act, the Heavenly Girl had plenty of tactics to escape with her two attendants, leaving those clans frustrated and stomping their feet."

"I’ve heard that some tomb guardians of the clans actually welcome the Heavenly Girl because they embezzle treasures themselves. If the Heavenly Girl comes, they can pin the loss of the burial objects on her."

"Unfortunately for her, the Heavenly Girl isn’t interested in those clans. The ones she sets her sights on are clans with an inheritance of over three hundred thousand years and an ancient background."

"I heard that the next target for the Heavenly Girl is the Zhuyan Clan, she even sent out a notice in advance."

"That brazen?! The Zhuyan Clan has a Transcendance Tribulation Stage ancestor sitting in residence, so what exactly is the background of this Demon Sound Heavenly Girl?"

"As far as I can guess, she might be a direct disciple of the tomb raider ancestor from Great Xia, coming to our Demon Territory for a trial."

At this time, the people in the tavern had encircled the two, listening intently to the matters concerning the Demon Sound Heavenly Girl. One of them frowned and said, "How come I heard that the Heavenly Girl’s two attendants once claimed in the Insect Race that they were from the Five Elements Sect?"

"Don’t talk nonsense, the Five Elements Sect, being one of the Five Great Immortal Sects, conducts its affairs openly and honorably. How could they do such an unsavory thing as grave robbing!"

"What of the Five Great Immortal Sects, isn’t Seek Dao Sect also one of them?"

While the crowd was arguing over the origins of the Demon Sound Heavenly Girl, the shadow who initially shared the intelligence quietly left and went outside the black market.

"Senior Sister, we’re back."

The shadow lifted his hat, revealing Meng Jingzhou.

"How did the intelligence gathering go?"

"I pretended to be a knowledgeable person and rambled on for half a day. The people in the tavern were all ears. It seems they still don’t know our identities and location."

Lu Yang quickly left through another exit of the black market and met up with Third Senior Sister to report on their findings.

"I approached the Bai Ze Clan to buy information about our identities and location. The Bai Ze Clan only had speculations, no concrete intelligence, so seeing that they knew nothing, I came back."

Third Senior Sister: "..."

I gave you two spirit stones to spy for intelligence in the black market, and you two didn’t even spend a single one.

Over these four months, the three of them had been tomb raiding to explore ancient history while cultivating, and both Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou made rapid progress.

Golden Core Jiuchong Realm, climbing to heaven at every step, they had climbed from the Golden Core eighth heaven to the Golden Core Jiuchong, only a half step away from the legendary and seemingly unreachable Nascent Soul Stage!

Just as the three of them were inquiring about their own intelligence to ensure their safety, a shockingly outrageous news spread throughout the Demon Territory and permeated the entire Cultivation World.

- Ancient Di Jiang made a sudden appearance, with hundreds of large clans submitting to him, venerating Ancient Di Jiang as the Demon Emperor and establishing the Demon Nation. Ancient Di Jiang reluctantly agreed to the requests of the thousands of demons after demurring three times.

The Di Jiang Clan is in full swing constructing the imperial palace and is busily preparing for the grand ceremony of enthronement. Ancient Di Jiang has sent out invitations far and wide, to the Qiongqi Clan, Long Clan, Phoenix Tribe, Great Xia, Five Great Immortal Sects, Buddha Country, East Sea...

All the major forces have received invitations from Ancient Di Jiang to attend the enthronement ceremony.

"So many Demon Races have submitted?" Fairy Eternity was slightly surprised. That was quick. Are they getting carried away because there seems to be no immortals in the current world?

One of the characteristics of the Survival Of The Fittest Dao Fruit is that the more powerful beings under one’s control, the stronger one becomes.

"These large clans must have Body Integration Realm or Transcendance Tribulation Stage members. Controlling so many Demon Kings and Emperors, Ancient Di Jiang’s strength is probably even stronger than in ancient times by a notch, comparable to Old Qiongqi and ranking among the strongest of Semi-Immortals. No wonder he dared to declare himself emperor."