I Became the Devil Queen's Heart Demon

Chapter 1276 - 489: Three Journey Together! Deep into the Passage!

Yu Youhan gently waved his hand, flicking out a strand of Primordial Qi, and the void in front of him suddenly tore open.

A powerful suction came forth; the Empress only felt her vision blur, and when her sight returned, she realized she was suspended in midair. Looking down, she could overlook the entire Linqing Palace.

Besides the guards outside Cangzhen Gate, there were also patrols of guards in the courtyard holding torches, the vigilance extremely strict.

Judging from the aura emanating from them, they were all elite Xuan Armor Guard.

If the Crown Prince were really just lying sick in bed as publicly claimed, there would be no need for such tight security. Seeing this, Chen Mo could now be completely certain that the Eastern Royal Palace was definitely hiding some unspeakable secret.

He reached out his hand, probing forward, and his fingertip touched an invisible barrier.

After carefully examining it, his brows furrowed at once as he said in a low voice, "This should be a variant of the Spiritual Pivot Xuanji Array. Once it detects a change in Primordial Qi, it will immediately trigger an alarm, and it’s extremely difficult to break... These guards are nothing worth mentioning to the Empress, but if we make too much noise and alert the people behind the scenes, we might end up returning empty-handed."

Yu Youhan cast him a sidelong glance and said flatly, "Do you think this Palace only knows how to kill?"

"Hm?"

Before Chen Mo could react, he saw the Empress snap her fingers. A cyan halo spread out, and the barrier silently dissolved without causing the slightest ripple.

Chen Mo’s Realm was no longer what it once was, so he naturally could see the brilliance of this method. The Empress hadn’t destroyed the Array, but used Returning Ruins Dao Power to conceal the presence of the three of them. The Array could only sense a patch of nothingness and thus would not trigger its alarm.

"As expected of the Empress, your cultivation is truly unfathomable." Chen Mo couldn’t help sighing. "Before reaching the Heavenly Human Realm, I was like a frog at the bottom of a well seeing the moon. Only after joining the Dao did I understand what it means for a tiny ant to behold the blue heavens!"

"..."

Yu Youhan forcibly held back a laugh and scolded, "Enough, that’s about enough. Hurry up and move."

She had no idea where this guy had picked up such lines, but they did sound rather imposing. Next time she dealt with Ji Hongxiu, she could try them out.

"Hmph, sycophant!"

The Empress’s rosy cheeks puffed up as she muttered inwardly.

She had to admit, this female demon’s strength towered above the world; even given her several lifetimes she might not catch up. But each has their strengths and weaknesses; in certain aspects, her talent was something Yu Youhan could only look up to.

For example...

The Empress slowly lowered her head, looking at that proud outline about to burst forth.

When the three of them had their "team-building" today, Yu Youhan had seemed a bit outmatched before Ink Treasure; only she could completely envelop it... Thinking of Chen Mo’s obsessed expression, the Empress felt both flustered and a faint swell of pride.

"This is what you call talent! What are you competing with me with?"

"Your Highness, Your Highness?"

At this moment, a low call pulled her back to reality.

Turning her head, she saw Chen Mo looking at her with a puzzled face. "Your Highness, what were you thinking about, so absorbed?"

"N-no, nothing." The Empress’s face was flushed, like a ripe apple.

"Stay close. There are guards everywhere around here, be careful not to get spotted." Chen Mo reminded her.

"Mm." The Empress nodded and, of her own accord, took his large hand.

"Ahem."

Seeing this scene, Yu Youhan’s face remained expressionless as he gave a light cough.

Chen Mo understood the hint at once and took the Empress’s soft jade hand with his other hand. The three of them, hand in hand, flew into the palace complex.

The entire Eastern Royal Palace covered an enormous area. Aside from the grand main hall, there were four side halls at the rear, and on the east and west sides of the inner palace sat the Spring Offices, which handled the Crown Prince’s attendants and memorials.

But now, whether in the halls or the government offices, everything was deathly silent, not a single figure in sight.

Reaching the front courtyard, Yu Youhan spread out his Divine Sense, focused and sensed for a moment, then shook his head and said, "The Crown Prince isn’t here, and the Palace Attendants have all disappeared. Other than the patrolling guards, there’s no one else."

Chen Mo’s eyes flashed.

It seemed his guess was indeed correct: the Crown Prince had long since been secretly moved away.

He circulated Dragon Qi, delving into the Earth Veins, but because the Demon-breaking Stone covered such a vast area, his Divine Sense was hindered everywhere. He could only pace back and forth through the courtyard, repeatedly testing, sketching out in his mind the blank zones beyond his perception.

"This is..."

Suddenly, something occurred to Chen Mo.

He took out the Earth Veins distribution map Lv Huaiyu had given him and compared it carefully. Before long, he found the problem—

Amid the dense network of underground veins, there was one branch vein missing entirely, and it just so happened to run straight across the entire Eastern Royal Palace!

"Found it! Come with me!"

Following the path of that branch vein, Chen Mo walked toward the depths of the inner palace.

Under the Empress’s Dao Power concealment, the three of them merged completely into the night, and those guards noticed nothing amiss.

"What are these halls used for?" Chen Mo asked as he studied the diagram.

Like reciting from a roster, the Empress answered, "This is Chongjiao Hall, used for receiving ministers; that is Lizheng Hall, for handling daily affairs; further in is Guangtian Hall..."

Tap—

Chen Mo stopped in his tracks and turned to look at a dark hall not far away.

According to the distribution map, the branch vein intersected just ahead. In other words, that hall sat precisely at the junction of two Earth Veins. That was clearly no coincidence!

"That is Cheng’en Hall, the Crown Prince’s bedchamber." The Empress asked, "Is there something wrong?"

Chen Mo shook his head. "We can’t be sure yet. Let’s go take a look first."

Arriving at the door of the bedchamber, they saw four Armored Soldiers standing guard.