After leaving the cave, Xiang Shaoyun saw the piles of devil bones all around him. The place gave him an incredibly bleak impression.
“Is this where the Imperial Nether Clan buries the dead?” muttered Xiang Shaoyun.
When he looked around, he saw countless imposing and spectacular mountains. They were definitely the tallest mountains he had ever seen in his life. Countless high-grade devilish plants dotted the landscape. Just a quick glance was enough to let him see several saint-grade plants. He even saw some god-grade plants!
Before he could recover from his shock, a certain power descended from the sky and dragged him away. The world spun around him. After a short while, he appeared at the Imperial Nether Palace.
He knew that the Nether Monarch was about to reach a verdict about him. Sure enough, the Nether Monarch appeared. His oppressive gaze landed on Xiang Shaoyun, seeing through him completely.
After a while, the Nether Monarch said, “You no longer have human blood. You have also awakened our clan’s abilities. You may now become the nineteenth prince.”
Xiang Shaoyun sank into silence before he said, “I don’t mind. But I hope you can promise to let me meet my mother.”
Xiang Shaoyun wasn’t cold-blooded. He greatly longed to see the mother he had never met before. He wanted to know what she looked like. Never seeing his mother was one of his regrets in this life.
“Both you and your mother have our clan’s rare primordial bloodline. Unfortunately, your mother is being imprisoned in the deserted palace because of a mistake she had committed. So long as you swear an oath to serve as a prince of our clan, you will be able to release her,” said the Nether Monarch.
Xiang Shaoyun vowed without hesitation, “I am willing to be the Imperial Nether Clan’s prince. If I dare go against the clan, may I die by heavenly retribution.”
Right after he made the vow, thunder rumbled in the sky, causing him to jump. He exclaimed inwardly, That was just a casual vow. Please don’t take it so seriously!
“Excellent. A vow made in this palace will bound the fortune of our clan to you. If you go against your vow and harm your own, you will suffer the retribution you mentioned in your vow,” said the Nether Monarch.
He then tossed an object to Xiang Shaoyun. When Xiang Shaoyun saw that the object was the Nether Soul Dragon Headband, he accepted it without a second thought.
“This is a treasure from our clan. Since it has acknowledged you as its master, it’s yours. Use it well. May you spread our clan’s might far and wide,” said the Nether Monarch before waving his hand, sending Xiang Shaoyun off.
After leaving the palace, Xiang Shaoyun called out, “You haven’t told me how to meet my mother!”
“Everything has been arranged for you. Someone will tell you soon,” the Nether Monarch’s voice rang out.
Sure enough, Ming Cigeng appeared beside Xiang Shaoyun and respectfully said, “I greet the nineteenth prince!”
Xiang Shaoyun still remembered Ming Cigeng. He asked, “Are you going to bring me to my mother?”
“Yes, please come with me, nineteenth prince,” said Ming Cigeng.
Each prince required the royal family’s recognition to be formally appointed a prince. However, none had ever been formally appointed by the Nether Monarch like Xiang Shaoyun. He was even allowed to skip the ceremonial rites.
The Nether Monarch wielded absolute power in the clan. Nobody dared to go against his words. Thus, even without performing the required rites, Xiang Shaoyun was already formally considered a prince of the clan.
As someone in the God Realm, Ming Cigeng naturally had a high status. But even someone like him was delighted to serve as the nineteenth prince’s subordinate. After all, this nineteenth prince was someone with the primordial bloodline. As a mere Devil Sovereign, he had awakened three abilities. His future was immeasurable.
One ought to know that even the legendary little princess from the past had only awakened her third ability after becoming a Devil Saint. The difference in the timing in which one awakened one’s ability should never be underestimated. Often, it was an indication of how high one would reach in the future.
Traveling with Ming Cigeng, Xiang Shaoyun became nervous. From his blood, he could sense that he was approaching his kin. That was the reason he started to feel anxious.
Will she recognize me? thought Xiang Shaoyun to himself.
In a certain deserted palace, a mad woman seemed to have sensed something. She crawled up to her feet and started shouting, “My child! My child is coming! Yes, he is definitely coming! Release me! Release me!”
She cried repeatedly and charged the palace door again and again. Unfortunately, she had no way of breaking out. At this time, a figure appeared from the corner of the room. Nobody could detect its arrival. The figure behaved oddly. It was constantly wriggling as it slowly approached the woman. As the woman wasn’t in the right state of mind, she was completely unaware of the figure.
Whoosh!
When the figure neared the woman, it abrupted sent a clump of darkness over and engulfed the woman. The woman finally reacted, but it was too late. She was trapped in the darkness, and all her strength left her as the darkness started devouring her energy. If this was in the past, she wouldn’t even struggle and would even gladly welcome death. But now that her child had returned, she did not want to die. She still wanted to see her child.
“I don’t want to die! I want to see my child!” she roared and erupted with her bloodline power. Her rune shone brightly, breaking the seal on her body. Her Imperial Nether Domain burst out and enveloped the figure in it.
However, the figure was decisive. It immediately decided to kill both itself and the woman. The woman had just recovered her strength and was thus completely unprepared. The figure’s self-detonation destroyed her domain, injuring her with it. Surprisingly, the dark power converged together before engulfing the woman yet again.
With her final bit of strength, the woman summoned the Nether Yin Gate in her attempt to shift the dark power away. Unfortunately, she was far too weak compared to the past. She couldn’t even keep the gate active. The dark power successfully trapped her. Just as the woman was about to be completely devoured, Ming Cigeng and Xiang Shaoyun reached the deserted palace.
“My mother is in danger!” A bad premonition abruptly rose within Xiang Shaoyun. Ming Cigeng also sensed something. He hurriedly rushed to the palace with Xiang Shaoyun in tow.
