But even Black Dragon's most capable subordinate has shown up—doesn't that mean Black Dragon is taking this matter extremely seriously?

"My lord, the Profound Turtle Demon Monarch is here."

Another Transformed Demon came over and spoke to this Demon Monarch with a single horn on his head.

"What's that old turtle bastard doing here?"

The Single-Horned Demon Monarch's brows furrowed; his mouth still didn't forget to curse the Profound Turtle Demon Monarch, then he waved his hand and said, "Let him in."

The Profound Turtle Demon Monarch looked dried-up and skinny, like a bamboo pole, old and decrepit, as if he'd drop dead of old age in the very next second. Facing the Single-Horned Demon Monarch's somewhat sour expression, he smiled and said, "Single-Horned Immortal, you're still as petty as ever."

The Single-Horned Demon Monarch's face turned ugly. He gave a cold snort and said, "If you've got business, spit it out."

The Profound Turtle Demon Monarch sat cross-legged in the air, holding a crooked wooden cane. With a casual wave, an extremely dense aura surged forth, like mountains, like peaks.

"I believe Black Dragon is about to make a move on us."

As soon as he arrived, he tossed out a heavy bomb.

The Single-Horned Demon Monarch was the youngest among the four local Demon Monarchs of the Chaotic Demon Sea and was expected to step into the Demon Monarch Middle Stage, so he was extremely ambitious.

When he heard that the Sen Hu Demon Monarch had died, he was the first to head for the Northern Domain, but he hadn't expected to misplay his hand and end up being preempted by the Black Dragon Demon Lord, which made him extremely dissatisfied with Black Dragon.

The matter of the Black Dragon Demon Lord signing a life-and-death pact before the Demon Venerable was also leaked by him.

"He dares!"

"Of the two-year deadline from before, there's less than a year left."

"He doesn't even have enough time to search for Jiang Taixuan—how could he possibly have the spare time to make a move on us!"

When the Single-Horned Demon Monarch spoke of this, his words were harsh, but a smile still surfaced on his face.

Once Black Dragon died, the Northern Domain would be vacant again, and when the time came he would definitely take a big bite out of it.

"Exactly. It's precisely because his death date is drawing near that he's already started treating a dead horse as if it were alive, even trying to lean on that intelligence network cobbled together from those lowly half-demons to search for Jiang Taixuan's trail."

"He doesn't even stop to think—if even people like us can't find him, how could those lowly half-demons possibly manage it?"

The Profound Turtle Demon Monarch spoke lightly.

The Single-Horned Demon Monarch was a bit impatient.

As the war between the Two Realms escalated further, even Demon Monarchs had to personally take the field. If they went by the order, his turn to don armor and charge into battle would be coming very soon; when that happened, he didn't even know which True Inheritor or Elder of the Human Clan he'd be facing. This made him somewhat nervous.

He was deathly afraid of running into a Genius on Jiang Shu's level.

"What you mean is that Black Dragon is just borrowing the hands of half-demons to stir up our dissatisfaction, and then using that as an excuse to mercilessly slaughter us?"

"Impossible. Though we and Black Dragon do have some conflicts, it's not to the point of irreconcilable blood feud. And if he killed any one of us, he'd have no way to survive afterward, so why would he do something so pointless?"

The Single-Horned Demon Monarch didn't quite believe what the Profound Turtle Demon Monarch was saying. He shook his head.

The Profound Turtle Demon Monarch seemed to have expected this response long ago; he kept a smile on his face.

"Do you really think Black Dragon can find Jiang Taixuan?"

"Leaving aside how someone like Jiang Taixuan could possibly stay in one spot waiting for Black Dragon to come to him—this Jiang Taixuan is a prodigy among the Human Clan, who knows how many trump cards he has. Maybe he only made a feint at us in the Chaotic Demon Sea and has already returned to the Cang Mang Domain."

"Taking ten thousand steps back, even if Jiang Taixuan really is still in the Chaotic Demon Sea, and Black Dragon even manages to find him—given Black Dragon's current state, is he still a match for Jiang Taixuan?"

Back then, when he'd still been at his Peak, the Black Dragon Demon Lord had his palm severed by Jiang Shu, and to this day it still hadn't recovered.

And though Jiang Shu's injuries had been just as severe, who knew whether he had any Daoist Rank resources on hand.

"He can't kill Jiang Taixuan, so he's turned his gaze on us instead?"

Single-Horned frowned, thinking it over, as if confirming something:

"That Black Dragon loves his face most of all. After I spread the news of his two-year deadline, who knows how many people secretly laughed at him. He surely hates me to the bone, maybe even more than he hates that Jiang Taixuan."

The Black Dragon Demon Lord can't beat Jiang Shu—what, he can't beat you, Single-Horned?

But given the current situation, he couldn't just directly make a move on Single-Horned.

Seeing the Single-Horned Demon Monarch pondering, the Profound Turtle Demon Monarch added, "You're not Black Dragon's match. His desire to unify the intelligence network isn't just about finding a pretext to crusade against us—he's also afraid that he can't find Jiang Taixuan's tracks and has no choice but to take another path and let the half-demons work for him." 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"As for the half-demons, let's not bother with them. Let him do as he pleases—there's only about a year left anyway."

"You and I may have rubbed each other the wrong way for a long time, but when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold. I don't want to see you die at Black Dragon's hands."

The Single-Horned Demon Monarch gave the Profound Turtle a look and nodded.

"I understand."

On the half-demon side, of course, the Black Dragon Demon Lord had long since caught wind of things. He summoned Jiao Ming over. Aura of agitation surged off him; his pair of blood-red eyes looked about ready to eat someone as they locked onto Jiao Ming in front of him. Behind his back, a Black Dragon phantom coiled, enveloping this entire stretch of space.

"Without my orders, how dare you act on your own initiative?"

"The local Demon Monarchs of the Chaotic Demon Sea are already extremely displeased with me—what was your intention in doing this?!"

As time ticked away bit by bit, the Black Dragon Demon Lord still hadn't found any information related to Jiang Shu. Jiang Shu's figure hadn't even appeared at the Realm Barrier. The immense pressure made him more and more irritable, and he would beat or kill his subordinates at the slightest misstep, putting everyone on edge.

Jiao Ming's Divine Sense and memories were still his own, so naturally he could play his role very convincingly.

He knelt on the ground, somewhat trembling.

"Reporting to my lord, this subordinate has found traces of Jiang Taixuan!"

Found him?!

The Black Dragon Demon Lord froze for a moment, then abruptly stood up, his face full of delight.

"Where is he?!"

Black Dragon questioned repeatedly, any composure befitting a Demon Monarch long gone. His aura was almost uncontrollably surging out in waves, the black dragon phantom behind him overlooking everything, its pressure sweeping down like a collapsing mountain range.

Jiao Ming said in fear, "Reporting to my lord, for now I've only tracked down some faint clues related to Jiang Taixuan, but I have not yet found his location. This subordinate was worried it might be one of his Blinding Techniques, so I didn't report to my lord right away."

"Right now I'm ordering the Fox People Clan who obtained the information to continue investigating. But the trail doesn't point to the Northern Domain, so that is why this subordinate took it upon myself to dispatch the Fox People to expand outward."

So that's how it is.

The joy on Black Dragon's face gradually faded, and the corners of his mouth curled into a smile as he said, "I hadn't expected those lowly half-demons to actually have some real ability—to be able to find traces of Jiang Taixuan."

"Since that's the case, then follow this lead and keep digging. Once there's a new discovery, don't startle the snake in the grass. Report to me first, then we'll decide how to handle it!"

"I'll go into seclusion. When I come out, I expect to hear good news!"

The Black Dragon Demon Lord's expression was full of pleased anticipation.

His earlier worries were finally set down.

In his view, he'd already planted spies all throughout the Realm Barrier leading to the Human Clan, as well as Panhai City which connected to the Demon Clan Continent. Jiang Shu definitely had to still be within the Chaotic Demon Sea right now, just hiding somewhere.

He had no idea that Jiang Shu possessed the ability of the Two Realms Shuttle. He simply assumed Jiang Shu had inadvertently revealed some flaw.

"Jiang Taixuan, oh Jiang Taixuan, I really want to see how long you can keep hiding."

It seems half-demons really do have their uses.

Among their Demon Race, anyone who'd Cultivated to the Transformation Realm Demon had an aura so dense that no matter how they hid, they couldn't fool Jiang Shu.

Once they went searching, as long as Jiang Shu used a Blinding Technique, he could escape.

Inner Core Realm Demon Beasts were even more out of the question, and as for the remaining Condensing Seed Realm Demon Beasts, they had only just gained intelligence.

None of them were suited to searching.

Only half-demons, half-human and half-demon, living in the Chaotic Demon Sea, with a status so low they fell short even of ordinary Human Clan mortals in the Cang Mang Domain—

Under those circumstances, perhaps Jiang Shu had relaxed his guard and been noticed by some of these half-demons.

With these thoughts turning in his mind, the Black Dragon Demon Lord didn't speak again. Before Jiang Shu's whereabouts were fully ferreted out, he needed to restore his injuries a bit more.

The next time they met, he would have Jiang Shu repay with his life and atone with his blood!