Xue Luo's expression did not change. "When the tragedy struck," she said with a calm face, "Yue Ning was still very young. I used a secret art to freeze her completely, concealing her entire aura. That is how she escaped the vicious hands of those from the Langya Sect. Afterward, when the Heavenly Dao's punishment descended, we were imprisoned, and our physical states were forever frozen at the moment the punishment began. Her body, too, has remained frozen in that state ever since."
"Oh?" Xuan Ying was not immediately convinced. She couldn't help but press, "Back then, the Langya Sect hunted demons all over the world. The demons who suffered numbered in the tens of millions. If you possessed such a secret art, why didn't you use it on more demons to save more of our kind? I imagine that for a senior such as yourself, casting such a secret art is no easy feat. If that is the case, why would you, Senior, waste the opportunity on a mere cub?"
If Yue Ning were an Ice Frost Dragon cub, Xuan Ying could understand.
But she was not.
After the primordial era, the dragon race had already vanished from the world.
In all these long years, Xue Luo was the only Ice Frost Dragon to have evolved from an Ice Frost Python.
Xuan Ying had observed closely; this Yue Ning was just a Moon-Patterned Fox.
Although Moon-Patterned Foxes were also a super-grade demon race, they had never been considered top-tier. In recent years, they had been especially quiet.
On what grounds could a Moon-Patterned Fox cub warrant such a painstaking effort from Xue Luo to save her?
Xue Luo smiled. "Yue Ning… she is different. You will all soon find out why I went to such lengths to freeze her."
The three Supremes exchanged a glance, a flicker of curiosity in their eyes.
They had considered that Xue Luo might offer some excuse to placate them.
But they had never expected her to say something like this.
Yue Ning… was different?
This was not something one could lie about.
Otherwise…
They would soon discover the truth.
Now they were genuinely curious. Just what was so unique about this Yue Ning!
Meanwhile.
Li Shuang and the others had arrived at the base of the Sacred Tree.
Li Shuang looked up at the sky-piercing tree. Before, she hadn't felt anything amiss.
But this time… perhaps because suspicion about the Sacred Tree had begun to take root in her mind, as she stared at it, the Azure Lotus divine soul in her sea of consciousness began to spin ceaselessly, seeming… quite agitated.
Li Shuang averted her gaze.
The Azure Lotus divine soul slowly settled down again.
This Sacred Tree… what on earth was going on with it!
Li Shuang pondered for a moment, then began to question the Heaven and Earth Furnace.
"Is there a problem with the demon race's Sacred Tree?"
For such a simple question, the Heaven and Earth Furnace demanded a whole one hundred thousand value points.
Li Shuang fell silent for a moment. Instead of offering the value points, she changed her question.
"How can the problem with the Sacred Tree be solved?"
The Heaven and Earth Furnace paused before giving a price.
The answer to this question required a full one million value points!
Li Shuang was stunned by the astonishing figure. She was wealthy now; if she converted all her assets into value points, she would have a full five million.
However, she definitely wouldn't find another place as lucrative as the Langya Palace Secret Realm anytime soon to make her fortune skyrocket again!
Every one of those five million value points spent was a point gone forever!
Li Shuang contemplated for a moment and decided against exchanging for the answer for now.
But through this probing, she could confirm one thing.
The Sacred Tree was, indeed, in trouble.
In that case…
Yu Mo's death.
The matter of the spatial realm.
It was highly likely that there was more to the story!
Seeing Li Shuang dazed before the Sacred Tree…
Rong Ta couldn't help but say, "The Sacred Tree itself manifested to reveal what happened back then. There can be no mistake. The human race… I'm afraid they truly did commit an act of betrayal."
As Rong Ta spoke, his voice was tinged with disgust.
Just as Xue Luo had said, their debt was to Li Shuang, not to the human race.
They had already suffered a catastrophe fifty thousand years ago; how could they place one hundred percent trust in the human race fifty thousand years later?
Yue Tong glanced at Li Shuang and couldn't help but send a telepathic message: "Rong Ta isn't targeting you. Don't take it to heart."
Li Shuang shook her head.
She could understand the feelings of these demon seniors.
She could also see that all the demons held the Sacred Tree in pious reverence. If she rashly claimed something was wrong with the tree, not a single demon would believe her.
All she could do now was first investigate to see if there were any other clues.
Rong Ta also realized he had misspoken and immediately changed the subject. "Let's go. The three Supremes have permitted us to roam the Demonic Beast Forest freely. I no longer have a clan, so this time I plan to find a similar race to join. I'll head east to search."
Yin Xiao said, "Then I will search to the west."
Teng Ling said, "I'll go south."
They had already planned to split up and explore the various regions of the Demonic Beast Forest.
The Abyssal Water Qilin Carp and Moon-Patterned Fox clans still had members, so there was no question about where Ling Sha and Yue Tong would go.
"Once we've settled in, we'll contact each other again."
With that, the group temporarily dispersed.
Li Shuang, naturally, followed Yue Tong.
Yue Tong looked a little nervous. She said softly, "I never expected my Moon-Patterned Fox clan to still have a lineage after fifty thousand years. My kinsmen will surely be overjoyed to see you."
After all…
It was the first time a Moon God-level talent had appeared among the Moon-Patterned Foxes.
As Yue Tong spoke, she grew a little despondent again.
Unfortunately…
Li Shuang was not, in the end, a true member of the Moon-Patterned Fox clan.
"Let's go. I can already sense the aura of my kin." Yue Tong smiled, trying to relax as she led Li Shuang toward the Moon-Patterned Fox territory.
Fifty thousand years.
She had been imprisoned for fifty thousand years.
Fifty thousand years had passed. Her former elders, clansmen, and brethren had either entered the cycle of reincarnation, perished, or ascended. They were long gone from this world.
But…
It was her race, after all. Yue Tong still felt a touch of the trepidation that comes with returning home after a long absence.
"The place I sense is quite close to here. To have territory near the Sacred Tree, they must be a fairly powerful race. My Moon-Patterned Fox clan must not be doing too badly."
"When we see them, Little Shuang, you can give them a good shock."
"Who said a Moon God can't emerge from the mortal realm? What are you, then? The looks on their faces will be priceless."
Yue Tong chattered on.
Li Shuang just responded from time to time.
Yue Tong didn't need her replies; she was simply using this constant stream of words to ease her own nervousness.
Following the sense from her bloodline, Yue Tong soon led Li Shuang to the vicinity of the Moon-Patterned Fox gathering place.
With the token from Supreme Chi Yan, Yue Tong and Li Shuang encountered no obstacles along the way.
Upon entering this territory, however, Yue Tong's expression couldn't help but change.
Li Shuang couldn't help but ask, "Senior, what's wrong?"
Yue Tong said slowly, "Demons are very territorial. I can sense that the Moon-Patterned Fox gathering place is right here. But… this place is the territory of the Green-Eyed Foxes."
The moment she entered, she felt a strong aura marking the territory.