Late at night.
The hard labor quarters were completely silent.
After a full day of work, all the laborers collapsed onto their beds and fell asleep immediately.
Ye Danxia was no exception, not only did she sleep deeply, she even snored from being too exhausted.
Yang Yun opened his eyes and glanced at Ye Danxia beside him, a trace of disgust flashed through his gaze!
They had been forced to toil for several days. Ye Danxia's cultivation was never high to begin with, and all of her spiritual power had been used for land reclamation. After some time, her once fair complexion was tanned pitch black.
The skin on her hands had begun peeling from the sun.
Her formerly soft palms were now covered densely with calluses.
If it'd been in the past, he wouldn't have even bothered to spare a glance at a woman like this.
Yet now he had no choice but to share a room with her!
Fortunately, she still had one redeeming thing about her, her Celestial Spirit Root!
Celestial Spirit Root truly deserved its reputation as the strongest spiritual root, the root itself contained immense energy.
Under normal circumstances, one would need to cultivate, gradually drawing out and absorbing that energy bit by bit.
That's why cultivators with a Celestial Spirit Root typically cultivated much faster than ordinary cultivators.
But, Yang Yun possessed a secret technique.
He could directly plunder the power within a spiritual root and take it for himself!
This could help him rapidly recover his cultivation.
However, the one whose spiritual root was plundered would gradually become mediocre, they become completely devoid of aptitude in the end!
Previously, Yang Yun hadn't used this method on Ye Danxia. Aside from that inexplicable trace of goodwill, it's also because Ye Danxia could procure spiritual plants for him to restore his strength.
Since he could recover by other means, there'd been no need to destroy a future helper.
After all, if a Celestial Spirit Root matured, it would still bring him many benefits.
But that's in the past!
Now, things were different.
He's a dignified Demon Lord, yet was now reduced to a mere hard laborer, working day and night alongside other trash.
He painstakingly cultivated a bit of power, only for it to be quickly exhausted. He couldn't store it at all, much less restore his former strength.
Thus, he set his sights on Ye Danxia!
It'd originally been this woman's mistake that led him to fall into such a state!
If so, it would be her duty to compensate him!
Wasn't it only natural to use the power of her spiritual root to help him recover his strength?
During this period of time, Yang Yun had been absorbing the power of Ye Danxia's spiritual root every night.
Ye Danxia herself didn't know that her Celestial Spirit Root had already been hollowed out.
When she began cultivating again, she would discover that the once astonishing speed of progress would never return.
Her current aptitude was likely no better than that of an ordinary mortal's.
Yang Yun sat cross-legged, absorbing for a while, then looked at Ye Danxia with disgust.
"Useless trash!"
This time, he could barely absorb anything at all!
Ye Danxia's Celestial Spirit Root had only just restored his strength to Soul Transformation Stage!
Soul Transformation Stage was worlds apart from his former peak, but under current circumstances, it was still acceptable.
Yang Yun pondered.
This woman Ye Danxia was now useless, he could also prepare to leave.
After silently reaching Soul Transformation Stage, this hard labor area had long been a place he could freely enter and exit. If not for absorbing Ye Danxia's aptitude and avoiding alerting others, he would've fled already.
Now, he could really leave.
A few days earlier, Yang Yun had already contacted a group of loyal subordinates.
With their protection, he could smoothly return to his respectable position.
As for Ye Danxia, she's now nothing but a cripple. The Demon Lord wouldn't carry a useless trash by his side.
Just let her fend for herself.
Yang Yun cast one last look of disdain at Ye Danxia and directly left.
He silently exited the labor quarters and secretly arrived at He Mountain.
His loyal subordinates were already waiting there.
Upon seeing Yang Yun, a man in black stepped forward respectfully, "Your Excellency."
Yang Yun nodded calmly.
He never believed in true loyalty. Thus, these subordinates all bore the same restriction he had placed upon Ye Danxia.
Even though his strength had greatly diminished, if he died, they would die as well.
With a single thought, he could make them suffer worse than death.
Only such subordinates could earn Yang Yun's trust.
Compared to vague loyalty, life-and-death control was the best form of restraint.
"Let's go," Yang Yun said indifferently.
Just as he was about to leave.
The man in black hesitated, as if he had something to say.
Yang Yun frowned, "What is it?"
"Your Excellency, there has been some movement these past two days, related to Tianxing Sect's Sect Master, Zhao Wuji. I wonder whether it should be reported."
The man in black spoke respectfully.
Movement?
Related to Zhao Wuji?
Yang Yun narrowed his eyes, "Speak."
Since he could leave at any moment, he didn't mind wasting a little more time.
The man in black lowered his voice, "Years ago, Your Excellency dispatched Blood Daoist to develop this region. Does Your Excellency still recall?"
Yang Yun nodded.
He vaguely remembered this matter.
To expand the strength of the Demon Clan, he had long dispatched members to operate secretly within human territory.
They tempted humans with power, luring them onto the demonic path.
Over the years, their plans had progressed reasonably well. Many demonic organizations were already lurking across human lands, only waiting for him to raise his banner for them to unite.
But this Blood Daoist hadn't been particularly strong under him, so Yang Yun sent him to the remote Canglan Kingdom.
Such a remote place attracted less attention, but also had fewer resources. So after sending Blood Daoist here, Yang Yun hadn't paid much further attention.
Had Blood Daoist really built something now?
The man in black spoke softly, "Canglan Kingdom is remote. After arriving, Blood Daoist established the Blood Dao Sect. Using blood path secret techniques, he attracted a group of humans to join him. Over these past few years, the Blood Dao Sect has grown rapidly and has already unified the demonic factions within Canglan Kingdom. The sect's influence has secretly spread throughout the kingdom. Next, he plans to act covertly against the capital and completely seize control of the nation."
Yang Yun narrowed his eyes, remaining noncommittal.
The plan sounded good.
But the difficulty was considerable.
No matter how remote Canglan Kingdom was, it was still a large nation. Within its borders stood a super sect, Yuehua Sect.
If such a large-scale move were made, even if successful, it would quickly draw the encirclement of the entire Demon-Destroying Alliance.
At the end of the day, the Demon Clan was still suppressed by the human race. Secret development was one thing, but openly occupying an entire kingdom? How could that be done without leaving traces? The slightest flaw would mean death.
"Your Excellency," the man in black continued, lowering his voice further, "Blood Daoist reported to me. The reason he dares to attempt something so bold is because he obtained a treasure."
"What treasure?" Yang Yun asked casually.
He didn't believe that someone like Blood Daoist could obtain anything truly remarkable.