The Hehuan Sect cultivates alchemy; my senior sister helps me refine alchemy throughout the world.

There are few living people in Chiyang City, but quite a few living ghosts.

Shen Yifei and his two companions walked along the main street. Most of the shops on both sides were closed, with only one or two open occasionally, but they didn't have much merchandise inside.

The few pedestrians on the street all had sallow complexions, sunken eyes, and walked unsteadily, looking like ghosts.

"This isn't some great city of demons, it's practically a ghost town," Shen Yifei muttered under his breath.

Ye Ling walked ahead, her expression somewhat solemn.

Liu Mengli leaned close to Shen Yifei's ear and said, "Master, look at that tofu seller over there. His tofu is all moldy, but he's still selling it."

Shen Yifei analyzed: "This shows that the demon territory is short of resources and cannot even supply basic food."

The three walked for a short distance before finally finding an inn that was still open.

It was called an inn, but it was actually just a dilapidated mud house with a crooked wooden sign hanging at the door that read "Chiyang Inn".

Shen Yifei pushed open the door and went inside. The room was dimly lit, with only an oil lamp weakly burning on the counter.

Behind the counter sat a thin, gray-haired old man, dozing off while leaning on the counter.

Hearing the door open, the old man slowly raised his head, glanced at the three of them, and asked, "Looking for a room?"

"Checking in, one room."

The old man pointed to the wooden sign hanging on the wall, "One room, three magic stones per night."

Shen Yifei took out five mid-grade magic stones and placed them on the counter. "I want the best one, is that enough?"

The old man quickly put away the magic stones. "That's enough, that's enough. Gentlemen, are you sure you want one room?"

"Hmm... one room," Shen Yifei replied.

Seeing that Ye Ling and Liu Mengli didn't object, the old man chuckled, revealing a set of yellow teeth. "The city has been rather unsettled lately, with quite a few people coming and going. But rest assured, gentlemen, although our inn is dilapidated, the beds are clean, and the bedding has all been changed."

The old man gave Shen Yifei a key and pointed to the second floor, "The second room on the left."

Shen Yifei took the keys and was about to go upstairs when he stopped and turned to look at the old man. "Uncle, I have a question for you."

The old man leaned over the counter. "Sir, what are you saying?"

"I heard that the demonic veins in the demon realm have dried up. Is that true?"

Upon hearing the words "depleted demonic veins," the old man's expression changed slightly. He chuckled dryly, "Sir, you must be from out of town. You can't just spout off about things like this. If the people from the Demon Palace hear you, you'll lose your head."

Shen Yifei understood the implied meaning: "You mean to say that the people of the Demon Palace forbid us to talk about it?"

The old man didn't say anything more, but just lowered his head and shrank behind the counter.

Shen Yifei didn't press the matter further, and turned to lead Ye Ling and Liu Mengli upstairs.

Upon entering the room, Ye Ling didn't say a word and immediately crawled back into the cauldron.

Liu Mengli winked at Shen Yifei, "Master, will I sleep with you tonight?"

Shen Yifei felt a tickle in his heart from her alluring eyes. He coughed lightly, "You should go back too..."

Liu Mengli pouted, looking unwilling. "My mind has just stabilized. If something happens to me again in the night, you'll have to take care of me."

Shen Yifei knew she was trying to pester him again, and was about to agree when he heard Ye Ling's icy voice from inside the cauldron, "Let her in."

Although Liu Mengli has now recovered half of her demon god form, for some reason, she is naturally afraid of Ye Ling.

She gave Shen Yifei a resentful look, and reluctantly floated into the cauldron.

Shen Yifei lay alone in bed, turning over twice, but he couldn't fall asleep no matter what.

The eerie sights in the demon territory weighed heavily on his mind, giving him a bad feeling.

He tossed and turned, the bed creaking and groaning until the wee hours of the morning.

The old man downstairs was itching to join in, and kept sighing to himself, "It's so good to be young."

Just as Shen Yifei was drifting off to sleep, a soft, cuddly body snuggled up beside him.

Shen Yifei didn't need to look to know it was Liu Mengli.

"Master, were you having trouble sleeping?"

"I'm about to fall asleep..."

Are you worried about the demon territory?

Shen Yifei nodded. "I have a feeling this isn't as simple as it seems. The demonic veins are depleted, and the Demon King's personality has changed drastically. Putting these two things together, it's definitely Huoxin who's behind this."

Liu Mengli thought for a moment, "But why would Huoxin drain the demonic veins from the demonic territory? Demonic veins are the lifeblood of demons; for a demon god like him, they shouldn't be considered a great tonic, right?"

"If you don't even know that you are the reincarnation of the Demon God of Reincarnation, then I certainly don't know either."

Liu Mengli frowned and thought for a long time, then suddenly exclaimed, "Wait! I remember now!"

"What did you remember?"

"In the memories of the Reincarnation Demon God, there's a passage where Huoxin was indeed severely injured and seemed to need a special kind of energy to repair his remnant soul. What was that energy called again...?"

Liu Mengli closed her eyes, trying hard to search for something deep in her memory.

After a long while, she suddenly opened her eyes, "The Blood Essence of Ten Thousand Spirits!"

"The Blood Essence of Ten Thousand Spirits? What's that?"

"A supreme treasure that existed since the beginning of time, it requires the life essence of countless beings to gather and condense. If Huo Xin's remnant soul is severely damaged, he does indeed need the Blood Essence of Myriad Spirits to recover. And the demonic veins of the demon realm are the best breeding ground for the Blood Essence of Myriad Spirits."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yifei felt a chill run down his spine. "You mean, Huoxin is using the entire demon realm as a breeding ground, extracting all the life essence from the demons to condense her own Myriad Spirit Blood Essence?"

"That's probably the case."

Shen Yifei clenched his fist.

His demon king grandfather, whom he had never met, might already be a puppet controlled by his mind.

Meanwhile, the billions of living beings in the entire demon realm are being slowly drained of their vitality by the Bewitching Heart.

"That bastard Huoxin is even worse than the man-eating Soul Eater," Shen Yifei gritted his teeth. "He's using the entire demon race as nourishment! How far is he from achieving his goal?"

Liu Mengli shook her head, "Lunji's memories are not very detailed, he only knows that the condensation of the Myriad Spirit Blood Essence is extremely slow."

"That's alright, there's still time."

Ye Ling appeared at some point and added, "Is he alright? Since Huo Xin has been so eager to drain the demons' demonic veins and life force, it means he's reached the final stage and might succeed soon."

"Then we don't have time to dawdle." Shen Yifei sat up and said while putting on his clothes, "You know where Crimson Flame Valley is, right, Mengli?"

Liu Mengli nodded. She searched through the memories of the Reincarnation Demon God. "Crimson Flame Valley is located in the western part of the Demon Realm. It's about three cities away, and then you have to cross a Black Stone Mountain Range. It used to be a volcanic ley line, and Wan Shuo lived under that volcano for a while. If my memory serves me right, there should be a fire vein passage down there, leading directly to the depths of the earth."

"Three cities, the Blackrock Mountains... how long will it take to get there?"

"At our speed, it should take about three days," Ye Ling said coldly from the side. "But if the restrictions on the Demon Realm change, it could take longer."

"Three days is enough. My third sister told me to keep a low profile and not cause trouble. So let's head straight to Crimson Flame Valley to get the Golden Essence, then go to the Demon Palace to draw two drops of blood, and then leave."