Starting as the heir of a marquis's mansion, I gained access to a summoning system.

"Pass on the order."

Dongfang Weiwo's voice was low and flat, revealing no emotion.

"First, send a message to Pang Ban in the Underworld—inquire about the whereabouts of the Underworld Emperor. Thirty-six years ago, the Underworld Emperor was backfired by his mother's Heavenly Vein Reversal Technique, and there must be remnants of the Demon-Sealing Bloodline remaining in his body. Pang Ban is a supreme master of the Demonic Path and has a sense of the power to devour demons."

Instruct him to search for traces of the Underworld Emperor around the East Sea Passage, as this person is highly likely to be secretly colluding with the Demon Clan.

"Second, send a message to Shi Zhixuan in the capital—stop the investigation of the imperial tombs for now. Instead, investigate the complete records of the imperial secret medicine 'Heavenly Vein Reversal Technique' from thirty-six years ago."

This technique originated from the royal forbidden area; my mother used it once, so perhaps it can be used in reverse. I need to know—can this technique, while simultaneously harming the Underworld Emperor, also remove the Demon-Devouring Poison from my younger sister's body?

"Third, send a message to Bai Yujing in Jiangnan—have him, in the name of the Marquis of Weeping Blood in the Northern Border, deliver a message to Zen Master Liaochen of Wanfo Temple:"

"The Dongfang family is willing to use the Demon-Sealing Bloodline as a bargaining chip to negotiate a deal with Wanfo Temple." Liao Chen never wanted a separatist regime in Jiangnan; he possessed the bronze bell of the Demon God Lü, and he feared Lü's return.

What lies beyond the stone gate in the North might offer him an answer. Whether he speaks or not is his business, but I want to use this question to gauge his attitude towards the Underworld Emperor.

Three orders were issued simultaneously, and the figures of the guards disappeared into the night.

Dongfang Weiwo returned to his desk but did not sit down. He looked down at the newly sealed animal skin scroll, a sense of urgency surging within him like never before. The battles on all four fronts could be fought slowly, the power struggles could be fought gradually, but his little sister only had five years left.

He must find an antidote within five years.

The most direct way is to find the Underworld Emperor, kill him, and destroy the source of the Demon-Devouring Bloodline.

The Underworld Emperor is currently severely injured and has only recovered 70% of his cultivation, at most possessing combat strength at the lower end of the Celestial Realm. If he truly colludes with the Demon Clan, then the Demon Clan Passage will become his hiding place.

"The Underworld Emperor is with the Demon Clan."

Dongfang Weiwo uttered this judgment in a low voice, a cold light flashing in his eyes, "Thirty-six years ago, he was attacked by his mother and only recovered seventy percent after a hundred years of seclusion."

But he dared not confront his father directly, for his father was now also at the initial stage of the Celestial Realm, and he might not have the upper hand in a direct confrontation. Therefore, he took a roundabout approach—assassinating Qin Muzhi, stirring up chaos in the world, and inducing the demonic invasion—all to force his father out of the Northern Border. Once his father left the Bloodstained Marquis's residence near the frozen lands, the Underworld Emperor would have an opportunity to act.

He suddenly looked up, his gaze sharp as lightning.

"Order the Seventh Gate of the Northern Border—use the Misty Sky Alliance's spies to monitor the area within a hundred miles of the Blood-Weeping Marquis's residence. If any ghostly green aura of netherfire appears, intercept them on the spot without verifying their identity."

At the mid-stage of the Seventh Heaven, Guan couldn't stop the Underworld Emperor at the initial stage of the Celestial Realm, but he could hold him off for a quarter of an hour. A quarter of an hour was enough for Father to react.

"A message was sent to Father: 'The Underworld Emperor's target is you; the Stone Gate is bait. Father, please declare martial law in the name of the Great General Who Guards the North, designating a 300-mile radius around the frozen tundra as a restricted zone. Anyone who trespasses will be killed without exception.'"

The bodyguard left for the third time.

The moon shines brightly in the sky outside the window, and the third watch has begun. The night in Pingyang County is so quiet that only the wind can be heard.

Dongfang Weiwo sat back down at his desk, his gaze falling on the letter his mother had sent him on the corner of the desk.

His mother's handwriting was delicate and gentle. She asked him if he had been eating well and dressed warmly lately. She said that a few days ago, his younger sister found a frostbitten white sparrow under the plum tree in the backyard. She kept it in a cage and fed it millet every day. The sparrow was so happy that it ran all over the yard.

He picked up the letter and gently traced the words "little sister" with his fingertips.

Five years. He only had five years.

He took a deep breath, suppressing his emotions to the deepest recesses of his heart, then picked up his brush, dipped it in ink, and began to devise a new chess game on the paper. Beyond the original four-line formation, he wanted to add a fifth direction to the chessboard—an assassination plan directly targeting the Underworld Emperor. And the core of this plan was to first find out where the Underworld Emperor was now.

He wrote down a name: Pang Ban.

He wrote down another name: Shi Zhixuan.

Finally, he drew a circle next to the name of the Underworld Emperor, and wrote three words outside the circle: Southern Frontier Continent.

If the Underworld Emperor is indeed hiding on the Demon Clan's side, then the East Sea Passage is not only the Demon Clan's entry point—it is also the only entrance for Dongfang Weiwo to find the Underworld Emperor.

"Pang Ban," he whispered, "the Southern Frontier Continent across the passage is not only General Blackstone's lair, but also the Underworld Emperor's."

He put down his pen and looked out the window at the moon.

In the cold wind under the moon, a faint chime of a bell could be heard from afar—it came from the direction of Wanfo Temple.

Liao Chen is ringing the bell. Bai Yujing's sword formation is complete. The outcome in Jiangnan will likely be decided tonight.

But Dongfang Weiwo wasn't thinking about Jiangnan at that moment. He was thinking about the East Sea—whether Pang Ban could hold out for three days against General Black Stone.

He calculated the time. A round trip to the northern frozen tundra would take at least three days, while Pang Ban could only hold out for a maximum of two and a half days. He had to make a choice before dawn:

Should we first go to the frozen tundra of the North to personally confirm the truth of that stone door and search for possible clues to the solution within it?

Or should we abandon the Northern Territory and head straight to the East Sea, arriving at Ten Thousand Snake Island before the decisive battle between Pang Ban and General Black Stone, and participate in a battle between heaven and man with the cultivation of a Grandmaster at the second level?

Both options carry risks. The former might lead to the key to saving Xiaomei, but if the East China Sea falls and the demons launch a full-scale invasion, the northern frozen tundra will also be lost. The latter could stabilize the East China Sea defenses, but Xiaomei only has five years left, and missing each opportunity could mean never finding a solution again.

He closed his eyes, then opened them a moment later.

"Someone come here."

The secret guards made their fourth appearance.

"Prepare the horses. Depart before dawn. Destination—East Sea."

He made his choice. First, protect the East Sea and stabilize the point of entry for the demons' invasion.

Because if the demons were to advance unimpeded from the East Sea and the entire Eastern Continent fell, even if he cured his daughter's poison, he wouldn't survive. If the East Sea could be defended, he would still have room to maneuver at every step: returning to the Northern Territory, investigating the Underworld Emperor, and searching for an antidote.

But before leaving, he turned back to the desk and read the last line of vermilion annotations on the rolled-up animal skin scroll one last time—

"The young girl still carries the poison of the Underworld Emperor's Demon-Devouring Technique. I have suppressed it with a secret royal medicine, which will extend her life by at most eighteen years."

Eighteen years minus thirteen years. Five years left. From now on, he must be meticulous in his calculations every single day.

He donned a shadow cloak, strapped on his Frostbite sword and jet-black short sword, and strode towards the door. His steps were as steady as iron.

Just as he turned around, the candle on the table finally burned out its last wick and went out with a soft "poof." The back room was plunged into complete darkness.

In the darkness, Dongfang Weiwo's voice rang out softly:

"Turn on the lights."

The moment the firelight rekindled, he had already stepped out the door.

On the island of Ten Thousand Snakes in the East Sea, as Dongfang Weiwo set off, the crimson array on the island was trembling violently.

The second wave of the Black Tide army had already charged into the formation. The first wave had been completely wiped out, but the second wave had five times the number of warships as the first wave. Pang Ban stood at the heart of the formation, his face slightly pale, but a smile played on his lips.

"One and a half days left," he said softly, the scorch marks on his right palm spreading to the back of his hand. "Blackstone, your patience is much better than I expected."

Deep within the passage, General Blackstone finally stepped across the threshold for the first time.

He stepped onto the surface of the East China Sea. The sea ice beneath his feet instantly spread for ten miles.

"Pang Ban," General Blackstone's voice was deep and rumbling like thunder, "your formation is about to crumble. I'll give you a chance—open the passage and let my men through, and I won't kill you."

Pang Ban threw his head back and laughed loudly.

"You're standing on my sea, and you're telling me you won't kill me?"

He finished laughing, wiped his eyes, and said, "Interesting. Well, I'll give you a chance—go back to the passage now, I'll thaw the seawater, and you can still swim back."

General Blackstone raised his right hand expressionlessly. In that instant, the entire sea froze into ice, even the three-foot-deep waves around Ten Thousand Snake Island were frozen into sculptures.

Pang Ban's smile faded.

"Mid-stage Celestial Realm," he whispered. "When you exchanged blows with me from a distance earlier, you concealed a level."

General Blackstone strode in, each step causing the ice beneath his feet to crack in spiderweb-like patterns. What seeped from those patterns was not seawater, but pitch-black demonic energy.

"I don't want to kill you."

General Blackstone stopped a hundred feet from Ten Thousand Serpent Island, his voice revealing a hint of genuine emotion for the first time. "You are the strongest opponent I have encountered outside the Southern Frontier Continent. Come back with me; the Demon Race needs someone like you."

Pang Ban glanced down at the scorch mark on his right palm and suddenly smiled.

"What a pity." He looked up. "My master gave me an order—no one is to cross this line."

He stepped forward, his right palm clenching in the void. The third layer of the Myriad Demons Converging Formation suddenly erupted, and nine blood-red pillars of light surged from the ground of the entire Myriad Serpent Island. The nine pillars of light converged in the sky to form a huge dark red palm, which slammed down on General Black Stone.

General Blackstone's expression changed slightly, and he crossed his arms above his head. Demonic energy condensed into a large black shield in front of him, colliding head-on with the blood-red hand. The entire surface of the East China Sea caved in dozens of feet upon impact, and all the ice within a radius of a hundred miles shattered.

The aftershocks of the collision between the two forces created a water wall hundreds of feet high, which surged in all directions.

Behind the water wall, Pang Ban stood at the core of the array, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. The light of the blood-red hand was rapidly dimming.

But the smile on his face didn't disappear.

For in the splashing waves, he saw a small boat. At the bow stood a young man in a dark cloak, a frost-covered sword in his hand gleaming coldly in the moonlight.

General Blackstone clearly sensed the approaching aura, but he didn't even turn his head to look. A Grandmaster at the second level was not even as powerful as a centurion in the Black Tide army behind him; such a cultivation level was utterly insignificant in his eyes.

"Your reinforcements?" General Blackstone looked at Pang Ban, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "What can you expect from a junior at the second level of the Heavenly Realm?"

Pang Ban didn't speak. He simply took three steps back, giving up the position of the core of the array.

General Blackstone finally frowned.

A hundred feet away, on a small boat pushed ashore by the waves, Dongfang Weiwo stood at the bow, his dark cloak billowing in the sea breeze. He didn't draw his sword, nor did he even look in the direction of General Black Stone. His gaze was fixed on the nine pillars of light array beneath Ten Thousand Serpent Island—those pillars were rapidly dimming, the third layer of the array was about to be exhausted.

Then he took something out of his pocket.

It was a jade pendant.

However, Dongfang Weiwo did not use this jade pendant for attack. He pressed it into the central groove of the Ten Thousand Serpent Island array core, the size and shape of which fit the jade pendant perfectly—as if this array was designed from the beginning to contain the aura of the Dongfang family.

Pang Ban's expression changed slightly. He had never noticed this groove in the core of the Ten Thousand Demons Paying Homage to the Ancestor Formation when he set it up.

The moment the jade pendant was embedded, a muffled rumble came from the depths of Ten Thousand Snake Island.

The nine dimmed pillars of light suddenly rekindled, their color changing from crimson to dark gold, the same dark gold as the pattern on Dongfang Wudi's palm. The aura of the entire formation shifted instantly—from the malevolent suppression of the demonic sect to a kind of ancient, profound, and sealing pressure.

The Demon-Sealing Bloodline. The fourth level of the Myriad Demons Paying Homage Formation.

Pang Ban was stunned. He had no idea that the key to the formation contained a fuse with the bloodline of the Demon Sealing Sect—a fuse left behind by the people who set up the formation in ancient times, which could only be activated by the aura of a descendant of the Dongfang family.

For the first time, General Blackstone's expression truly changed. The dark golden light reminded him of something extremely unpleasant—a shared aura lingered in some ruins on the Southern Frontier Continent that had been sealed for hundreds of thousands of years.

Dongfang Weiwo stood at the center of the array, the dark golden light shining on his face, reflecting his calm to the point of being cold.

"This formation is not the Ten Thousand Demons Paying Homage to the Ancestor Formation."

He spoke, his voice not loud, yet it carried with it a dark golden light that reverberated throughout the entire East Sea, "It is the remnant of the array that sealed the Penglai Passage, transformed by Pang Ban into a demonic array. But its essence remains unchanged—it belongs to the East."

He looked at General Blackstone with a calm gaze.

"If you want to go over there, you'll have to get past this formation first. I'm not here to fight you; I'm just here to tell you something—is there someone called the Underworld Emperor hiding in the passage behind you?"

General Blackstone's pupils contracted sharply.

On the surface of the East China Sea, dark golden light clashed with pitch-black demonic energy. A hundred feet behind General Black Stone, deep within a passage, a ball of eerie green ghostly fire flickered briefly before disappearing back into the darkness.