I am Guhuoniao, not an umbrella demon, please do not disturb me.

The next day, the Imperial Advisor Xu Yuanqing brought back a young girl, who was said to be the Ninth Princess.

They bypassed everyone else and went directly to worship the Human Emperor.

If it were just a princess who had been separated from her family returning, it wouldn't be a big deal, but the problem is that the timing of her return is wrong.

Why now of all times?

Was it brought back by the Imperial Advisor Xu Yuanqing?

Those with inside information learned that although the Ninth Princess had been living in exile and was chased by a group of villains, her final fate was not bad at all. She was adopted by the Divine Phoenix in Tongzhou. It was thought that she would not return, but unexpectedly, the worst fears still came true.

Some people say that the Ninth Princess is not scary, which shows they don't understand at all. Others are slandering Xiaoya. These people are the smartest; they don't want Xiaoya to come back so easily.

The Divine Phoenix and the Imperial Advisor have a very good relationship. When the Ninth Princess has the Imperial Advisor's support, tsk tsk tsk.

Volume Two: Journey Through the Demon Scroll: Chapter Sixty-Five - The Great Calamity Begins

Xiaoya's return to the capital may not seem to have caused much of a stir, but in reality, undercurrents are surging, especially within the palace. The princes and princesses have already felt threatened, by an unprecedented and enormous threat. They have tried every possible means, even resorting to "evil paths" that they would never have dared to consider before, because they know that if they don't take a gamble now, they will truly have no chance later.

The fact that Xu Yuanqing, the powerful imperial advisor, was on her side was enough.

Not to mention the Ninth Princess's adoptive mother, the Divine Phoenix.

Everyone knows that the Divine Phoenix is ​​a demon, but the problem is that it is a demon capable of controlling the fate of the nation.

To deal with Xiaoya, the princes and princesses even "put aside their past grievances" and briefly joined forces, with only one goal—to eliminate Xiaoya from the game.

There's only one year left, which is a very tight timeframe. If we don't seize the opportunity now, there'll be no hope of turning things around.

Xiaoya returned to the palace, and in less than three days, she survived eight assassination attempts, both large and small. During these days, ministers, princes and princesses also went to the emperor to slander Xiaoya, saying that although Xiaoya had blood in her body, she was ultimately raised by a demon.

On the fifth day, a Nascent Soul cultivator sneaked into the palace, avoiding everyone's sight, and seized the opportunity to kill Xiaoya. However, this Nascent Soul cultivator tragically discovered that he was no match for the Ninth Princess, who was not yet of age.

When Xiaoya killed this Nascent Soul cultivator on the spot, all the princes and princesses fell silent, because they realized a problem.

Their younger sister is a cultivator. Despite her young age, her cultivation level is quite high, making her a powerful figure they can't normally reach.

This discovery is both despairing and exhilarating.

As everyone knows, cultivators are not allowed to participate in the affairs of the Great Spirit Kingdom; this is a rule set by the Heavenly Sun Palace.

A cultivator at the Void Refinement stage, regardless of whether she is the Ninth Princess or what her cultivation level is, who wants to seize the throne, is violating the rules.

Xu Yuanqing once even invoked the fate of the nation for this rule, so he can't be biased towards Xiaoya now. As the national advisor, how can he do such a double standard?

However, Xu Yuanqing showed the princes and princesses with his actions that he was shameless and biased towards Xiaoya.

On the same day, princes and princesses went directly to Tianyang Palace to ask for help.

Tianyang Palace must take care of this matter.

However, before Mahayana even arrived, the princes and princesses were greeted by the person they least wanted to see.

Bai Qingyu stood in the sky above the capital. Facing the cultivators of Tianyang Palace, her attitude was clear: do not interfere in Xiaoya's affairs, or you will ruin the nation's destiny and no one will be able to please you.

The cultivators of Tianyang Palace naturally wouldn't listen to Bai Qingyu. After inviting the sect leader, the sect leader personally communicated with Bai Qingyu.

Facing this sect leader for the first time, Bai Qingyu felt no fear.

It doesn't matter who comes, and besides, others may not know, but how could the head of Tianyang Palace not know?

The rule that cultivators should not participate in politics was not set by Tianyang Palace, but by the heavens. Tianyang Palace is merely a supervisor.

So Bai Qingyu's reasoning was simple: you should leave this to yourselves. Xiaoya became the Human Emperor as a cultivator, and if Heaven disagreed, it would send down heavenly lightning to kill her.

Considering Xiaoya's status as the chosen one of destiny, and thinking that it was not appropriate to start a war with Bai Qingyu in the face of the great calamity, the sect leader weighed the options and left with the words "take care of yourself." The Tianyang Palace cultivators were puzzled as to why they could let a demon like Bai Qingyu run wild in the capital without doing anything, but they had no choice but to leave since their sect leader had given the order.

Seeing that even the head of Tianyang Palace was ineffective, the princes and princesses were in utter despair.

Even if the Human Emperor hadn't contracted the strange disease, they would have already begun plotting for his throne. After years of preparation, they were just about to reach the final moment when a dark horse emerged—a dark horse they could never defeat.

They were desperate, but it was useless. Their methods were ineffective against a Nascent Soul cultivator. Let alone petty tricks, even if Xiaoya stood in front of them and let them kill her, they still couldn't kill her.

Having come this far, no one wanted to give up. Some even wanted to target Xu Yuanqing, joining forces with their sects to assassinate him, but they were caught by Xu Yuanqing.

It was as if they had rehearsed it in advance; they joined forces on one side, and Xu Yuanqing obtained the evidence on the other.

Now that the Emperor is seriously ill, to put it bluntly, Xu Yuanqing is acting as the Emperor's successor, and he is the person with the highest status in the capital.

Before being captured, one of the princes cursed Xu Yuanqing for being shameless, saying that he had colluded with the demon race but turned around and killed them under the pretext of colluding with sects. Just a few years ago, he said that he was dedicated to the common people and would not help anyone, but now he turned around and stood behind the Ninth Princess.

Xu Yuanqing's reputation was neither good nor bad, but after these incidents, it was obvious that criticism of Xu Yuanqing within the court increased.

Just as he had predicted, if he stood up to help Xiaoya now, his former "allies," those still hot-blooded old guys, would inevitably act impulsively and stand against him. Xu Yuanqing couldn't care less about that now.

He doesn't care about fame or what others think.

Moreover, he was indeed working for the benefit of the people.

Among this group of princes and princesses, who is more suitable for the position of emperor than Xiaoya, and who is more suitable for leading the people to a happy life?

Admittedly, not all of these princes and princesses are bad people, and some are wholeheartedly devoted to the country. But the biggest problem is that they are too mediocre.

What's the use of having good intentions and passionate enthusiasm if you can't change the situation?

It seemed that the Emperor had already seen through Xu Yuanqing's thoughts; he neither refused nor agreed.

This is how modern emperors are: indecisive in many matters, hesitant and unsure of what to do. They listen to both treacherous and loyal ministers, and have lived most of their lives in a daze. Just like his decisions, the Great Ling Kingdom has also stagnated. If it weren't for Xu Yuanqing helping him stabilize the nation's fortunes, it would have been a major setback.

Xu Yuanqing knew all too well the biggest problem with the Great Spirit in front of him, which was why he didn't want someone without brains to take over.

He could tell from a brief interaction that Xiaoya was different from all the other princes and princesses.

The Human Emperor still died, in the eleventh month after Bai Qingyu sent Xiaoya back.

He didn't even last a year. Before he died, he helped Xu Yuanqing by directly appointing Xiaoya as the new emperor.

What does it matter now that he's gone? He just felt like a complete failure when he looked back on his life. In his final moments, he asked Xu Yuanqing to help him out so he could see the country that belonged to him.

In his reflection, he chatted with Xu Yuanqing for a long time.

The princes and princesses were all his children. Unlike Xiaoya, he had watched them grow up, and he knew all too well how capable they were.

He knew Xu Yuanqing well and believed that Xu Yuanqing would never support a puppet.

It's less about trusting Xiaoya and more about trusting Xu Yuanqing.

Many sects sent representatives to the Emperor's funeral, and Bai Qingyu also went in person.

There was no conflict, but both sides sensed something was amiss.

The death of the Human Emperor seems to have officially unveiled a corner of the great calamity.

On the day Xiaoya ascended the throne, Bai Qingyu found Dongqing and chatted with him about many things, but they were all just everyday matters. One of the things mentioned was that Lin Yimiao had returned.

Bai Qingyu remembered Lin Yimiao; she was a spoiled little girl.

Because she made a mistake, her master forced her to restart her training, hoping that this would help her return to normal.

The Human Emperor died, and a new Human Emperor ascended the throne. He was the first Human Emperor in history with such powerful cultivation. Everyone wanted to see if Xiaoya would be struck dead by heavenly lightning, but unfortunately she wasn't. This unusual situation made them realize something.

This calamity is definitely not simple.

No one dared to lay a hand on Xiaoya at this time. The Murderer King, and the Murderer King on the very day of his coronation, might very well strike them instead of Xiaoya.

After it was over, Bai Qingyu didn't rush to the Heavenly Sect to seek an alliance, but waited for the right time.

Xiaoya did not disappoint her after taking over. At such a young age, she was able to completely seize power in just three months, which Bai Qingyu could hardly believe.

As Xiaoya became more and more skilled, and the changes in the capital city grew larger and larger and then slowly spread outward, she used the knowledge she had learned to change people's lives.

After Xiaoya had completely settled down, Bai Qingyu moved all the children to the capital.

In the second year, she began to intentionally or unintentionally come into contact with the ruins, and incidentally contacted the two great demons of the Ten Thousand Mountains. After finalizing the plan, she found the Heavenly Cult.

The plan was as discussed before: they would join forces to deal with the humans and the merfolk.

The Heavenly Sect agreed to the plan without much hesitation. With the help of two powerful demons, their success rate was extremely high.

As long as the battle starts here, the cultivators in the ruins over there will be lured away, and then they will be able to enter.

Xiaoya can go out at any time, so Bai Qingyu isn't in a hurry.

The plan is set for six months from now, and the main focus during these six months will be fishing for the Merfolk.

By using the ruins to attract the attention of the merfolk, we can persuade them to join forces with the demonic cult again, thus creating an opportunity.

The merfolk were surprisingly bold, actually agreeing to cooperate, completely unaware that it was a complete trap.

They even generously stated that after the deal was done, they would get 60% and the Demonic Sect would get 40%.

Even Bai Qingyu didn't expect things to be so simple. She thought it was a trap set by the Merfolk and even warned Ji Canghai and the others to be careful.

To her surprise, the merfolk actually came six months later.

The merfolk seemed to know something about this ruin and were determined to obtain it.

Before even reaching the ruins, a fierce battle broke out. The righteous sects never expected the Demonic Church to turn against them.

The two-pronged attack directly crushed the Merfolk, and the appearance of two powerful demons from the Demon Clan completely extinguished their hopes.

Volume Two: Journey Through the Demon Scroll: Chapter Sixty-Six - The Great Calamity Begins

Bai Qingyu never expected that the Merfolk would be so easily fooled and tricked by the Demonic Sect. They only realized what was happening when the Demonic Sect turned against them, but by then it was too late.

This time, the Merfolk paid a heavy price to seize the treasure. Eighty percent of their strongest members came, and only one Mahayana cultivator was left behind. The rest of them all went out, but unfortunately, their strength was still not enough. A total of four Mahayana cultivators came. These four guys could not be resisted by the Demonic Sect, let alone the two great demons of the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

In a two-on-four situation, the two powerful demons couldn't kill each other, but they were dominating the fight the entire time. If they were to pay a price, they would have a chance to kill their opponent.

Of course, Tianjiao and Kongque wouldn't be that stupid. Their joint efforts were only to help the Demonic Sect hold off the Merfolk and the righteous sects. It was impossible for them to risk their lives. Even if they were to risk their lives, it would have to be when they joined forces with Bai Qingyu.

However, this is more than enough. On land, they are responsible for preventing the powerful merfolk from giving the demonic sect an opportunity. After defeating the merfolk, they deliberately let them into the sea, and then intervene to stop the righteous sects when the demonic sect comes after them.

This is to buy time for the Demonic Sect, and also to buy time for Bai Qingyu.

While everyone's attention was focused on the Merfolk, Bai Qingyu had already brought Xiaoya, who had become the new Human Emperor, to the front of the ruins.

After killing the few human cultivators in front of the ruins, giving them no chance to report, Bai Qingyu looked up at the ruins.

Xiaoya personally went to the site, and before she even donated her essence blood, the ruins seemed to "come alive," and Bai Qingyu could clearly feel the changes on them.

“Mother, I can feel it, this ruin is calling to me.”

Xiaoya was dressed in a phoenix robe, and if you looked closely, you would find that the divine bird pattern embroidered on her body was about 80% similar to Bai Qingyu's original form.