Tang Dynasty Demon Suppression Division

"Then I'll show you around."

Long Xiang led the crowd onto the street.

The island where the holy site is located is vast, with the holy city at the center of the island being the central area, surrounded by scattered villages and towns.

The island's winding roads connect different building complexes, each with its own unique style. There are demon caves carved into the mountainside, as well as simple and elegant gardens with green tiles, flying eaves, and stone lions guarding the gates.

On the west side of the island, there is an abandoned area where most of the houses have collapsed and there are charred marks on the broken walls, which look like they have been burned by a fire. The engravings on the ground are very regular, and the outline of some kind of ancient formation can be vaguely discerned.

"Where is this place?"

Li Yuan asked curiously.

"This is an ancient battlefield. A rebellion once occurred in the Holy Land, which took a great deal of effort to suppress and resulted in the loss of many lives."

Long Xiang explained to them, "That's why the holy site has kept these relics to remind future generations not to make the same mistakes."

The group exchanged glances, realizing that the sacred land of the demon race was not as peaceful as they had imagined.

Li Yuan casually inquired about it, but Long Xiang didn't want to say more, so he had to give up.

Leng Ningshuang squatted in front of a broken wall, reaching out to touch a scorch mark. She felt a little strange; these marks didn't all seem to be caused by demonic power, but there were also traces of spiritual power among them.

Ji Fanghua walked around the ruins, then suddenly stopped and looked at a crumbling wall: "Look at the patterns here, they're very similar to the patterns on the barrier."

Li Yuan walked over and examined it carefully. The remaining patterns on the wall did indeed resemble those on the barrier.

He reached out and touched it lightly, feeling a slight coolness on his fingertips, and a strange flutter stirred in his heart.

Li Yuan withdrew his hand, glanced at it thoughtfully, said nothing, and continued walking forward.

Long Xiang led the three around a lake, where a tall tower stood in front of them, enclosed within a stone wall. The tower was slender, entirely gray-black, and without any decoration on its surface.

The tower was shrouded in a thick, impenetrable fog, which even divine sense could not penetrate.

Outside the stone wall, guards stood watch. Judging from their auras, their cultivation levels were not low; they were at least at the level of demon kings.

"This is the sacrificial tower, and also a forbidden area on the island. Visiting is prohibited."

Long Xiang pointed to the black tower and introduced it.

"A sacrificial tower?" Ji Fanghua frowned. "Which god is worshipped in the tower?"

At this moment, the head guard also noticed them and came forward to greet them: "Please wait, everyone. This place is closed to visitors."

"Sorry, we'll be leaving now."

Li Yuan smiled, gave Ji Fanghua and the other girl a wink, and obediently turned around.

Next, Long Xiang took them to stroll around the bustling market. Apart from the streets looking more ancient, they were not much different from the usual markets of the demon race.

The three of them also encountered Langhuan and her group in the city, who were obviously taking the opportunity to inquire about information, just like the others.

I spent the day strolling around the streets, bought some food, and returned to my accommodation in the evening.

"Brother Longxiang, thank you so much for guiding us today. You've worked hard."

Li Yuan smiled and cupped his hands in greeting.

"You are all guests from afar, so this is only proper. If you wish to go out again tomorrow, just come and find me."

Long Xiang nodded politely.

As soon as they entered the room, Li Yuan waved his hand and set up a star field. Ji Fanghua understood: "There was a problem with that sacrificial tower before."

"Yes, and Long Xiang deliberately lured us there."

Li Yuan nodded, and upon hearing this, Leng Ning Shuang also said, "Indeed, since this sacrificial tower is so important, he couldn't possibly not know about it, and given its remote location, he deliberately led us there."

"Then tell me, what is his purpose?"

Ji Fanghua seemed to be deep in thought.

"It's obvious, it's just to pique our curiosity."

Li Yuan raised an eyebrow. This method was clumsy, but also effective. He believed that the other groups of people also knew about the existence of the sacrificial tower.

"Then...should we go and investigate?"

Leng Ning Shuang's heart skipped a beat. Her purpose in coming here was to solve the problem of half-demon cultivation. Now that hope was right in front of her, how could she let it go so easily?

"No, we need to hold on."

Li Yuan raised an eyebrow. "We'll stay in our room and cultivate for the next few days. Don't go anywhere until the trial in three days."

Ji Fanghua and Leng Ningshuang exchanged a glance and nodded silently.

"Okay, I'll do whatever you say, senior brother."

Of the three, Li Yuan held absolute authority, especially Ji Fanghua, who trusted him almost unconditionally.

As soon as Ji Fanghua stepped out of Li Yuan's room, she encountered Lang Huan at the courtyard gate, who seemed to be waiting for them.

Upon seeing her, Langhuan stepped forward and asked, "Miss Ji, you went to explore the island so early this morning? Did you discover anything?"

"I discovered a lot of fun things, and the scenery was also quite nice."

Ji Fanghua answered frankly and casually, "If Miss Langhuan is interested, she can go and take a walk herself."

Langhuan glanced at her and smiled, "I wonder what your plans are for the trial three days from now?"

"It's hard to say."

Hearing their conversation, Li Yuan came out of the room, his expression calm. "Let's do our best."

"Yeah?"

Langhuan smiled to hide her embarrassment, took her leave, and went back to her room.

For the next few days, Li Yuan and the other two truly did not step out of the courtyard.

During the day, the group would sit under the white flowering trees in the courtyard, drinking tea and occasionally flipping through a few volumes of local history books borrowed from the island.

Those books were sent by Chen Su, and they mostly recorded the geography of the sacred land, as well as the names of plants and trees, etc., without any secrets or important information.

Li Yuan, however, looked at the illustrations intently. Occasionally, he would discuss them with Leng Ningshuang, pointing to the illustrations and asking her if she had seen them before, or chatting with Ji Fanghua about old cases of the Demon Suppression Division. The topics were relaxed and leisurely, without any particular focus.

Although Leng Ningshuang and the other woman were anxious, they remained calm and cooperated with his actions, appearing quite relaxed and at ease.

In contrast, the commotion caused by the three demons was much more lively.

Early the next morning, Mo Ming mingled into the island's market, a place teeming with people, including demons, cultivators, and even many ordinary people.

In the span of half a day, he started chatting with several vendors. At first, they talked about food and miscellaneous items, but later they began to subtly inquire about any rumors about forbidden areas or secrets on the island.

Qingcang was more direct than him. He approached several elders and, under the guise of sparring, tried to extract information from them while fighting. However, those elders were all old foxes and did not reveal much of the substance.

But one thing he was certain of was that the priest's tower was indeed very mysterious. It was only opened once every three years for a sacrificial ceremony, and everyone kept quiet about what was being worshipped inside.

One of the elders even mentioned, intentionally or unintentionally, that something had been suppressed in this tower a thousand years ago.

He looked like he'd let something slip, but when Qingcang pressed him for details, he denied it, which only fueled Qingcang's suspicions.

Langhuan didn't go out much, nor did she restrain the two of them, letting them run wild on the island.

That evening, Li Yuan was meditating when he sensed a figure slipping out of the courtyard gate and heading straight for the northeast corner.

A cold smile crept onto his lips. It seemed the bait hadn't been wasted; someone had finally taken the bait.

After another half hour, the second figure also climbed over the wall, landed, transformed into beast form, and disappeared into the grass, lying there quietly without moving.

Li Yuan raised an eyebrow in surprise. This one was smart enough to check the situation first.