"Rare indeed, that you would visit personally." The Patriarch of the Bo Family prepared tea for his old friend.

"Hahaha! As one grows old, one must move around more often. But I came this time with matters to discuss with you."

The Patriarch of the Bo Family felt a stirring in his heart.

"Is it about... the news from the Capital?"

"Oh? You know as well?"

The Patriarch of the Bo Family smiled.

"The commotion is considerable, and it is moving southward; soon it will be near us. Even if my eyes are getting dim, I should have heard by now."

"Hahaha! No need to worry; it seems to be heading toward Demon Capital."

"That’s what I think too, but..."

The Patriarch of the Bo Family stopped speaking at this point, only giving Song Family Master a meaningful look.

"I understand your concern, but the possibility is quite low. The emperor is far away, and what happens in this little corner couldn’t possibly reach the distant Capital." Song Family Master said quietly.

"Hopefully so, but we must nonetheless take precautions; you and I should make some preparations, just in case."

"Naturally."

After a pause, Song Family Master looked at his old friend and lowered his voice: "Do you think... this army from the Capital can annihilate the demons in Demon Capital?"

Hearing this, the face of the Patriarch of the Bo Family grew increasingly grim.

"Hard to say. This is the first military expedition in years from the Capital, representing the might of the Da Xia Dynasty! It will be well-prepared and go all out. If it still can’t destroy Demon Capital, then the Dynasty’s authority and prestige might greatly diminish. That’s surely not the result that the Emperor desires."

Song Family Master frowned: "I thought the same, but don’t forget, that is... Lan Yuhe!"

The mention of this name made even the Patriarch of the Bo Family shiver involuntarily, showing traces of fear on his face.

"This person is becoming more and more formidable... We ten were no match back then, and now... it’s even harder to say."

The Bo Family Ancestor shook his head slightly: "Don’t mention Lan Yuhe; even the few disciples he took in at Tianyuan Town—none of us stand a chance against them."

Were it not for the five elders who never meddled, perhaps Tianyuan Town would have already become a super city surpassing Thunder City...

"Don’t inflate outsiders’ spirit! We are gradually mastering the Ten Pillars; if we join forces fully, with Thunder City’s advantage, we can still contend with those five."

Nonetheless, the Song Family Ancestor’s words lacked firmness, carrying a hint of doubt.

Lan Yuhe’s lineage is too extraordinary.

To achieve this with the human body is unprecedented and, likely... never to be repeated!

"Don’t worry, as long as we master the Ten Pillars, utilizing the legacy left by our forefathers, is there anywhere in this world we cannot go?"

Bo Family Ancestor encouraged.

Yet Song Family Ancestor could not help but continue shaking his head.

"You might not know, the night Tianyuan Town transformed into Demon Capital, Lan Yuhe must have accomplished something, which is why Demon Capital was just established! Before that night, by mastering the Ten Pillars and leveraging Thunder City, we perhaps had the qualification to confront Lan Yuhe. But after that night... I think, in this world, perhaps only someone like the Emperor of the Great Xia, a figure of divine caliber, could stand alongside him..."

"Are you suggesting... Da Xia’s campaign is destined to fail?"

"... I am eighty percent confident that the entire Capital’s army will be annihilated!"

Silence.

Continued silence.

And then frequent sighs.

Heaven’s favored, merely a threshold some have touched.

Even with prolonged resistance, they’ve barely managed to graze the fringes of heaven’s favor.

This world, ultimately... is too cruel!

But even so, they must climb upwards!

The potential of the Ten Pillars has yet to be fully realized.

Even if they utterly drained the power of the Ten Pillars, they would be merely standing on the shoulders of giants, and the future is still filled with boundless possibilities!

"The plan should accelerate. No one knows what Lan Yuhe intends next. Perhaps his goal is to overthrow the Da Xia Dynasty and establish a demon dynasty. Can our Thunder City remain unaffected then?"

"... I’ll inform the others, telling them to prepare early. The monk from Zhongfu Temple has been here for several days, and the other materials are arriving, piecemeal; we should be able to initiate the ritual to restore the Ten Pillars within the next few days."

"Great! Seems like our era is not far off!"

When Song Family Master exited the room, he was solemn, neglecting even a greeting to Song Qianlong, and left directly.

Song Qianlong was momentarily stunned upon learning his father had left, then turned his gaze to Bo Shan, who was happily chatting with the nanny.

"Dear, I’ll patrol the nearby shops and check this month’s ledger."

Bo Shan, suspecting nothing, simply waved her hand indicating she understood.

Her attention was entirely absorbed in the conversation with the nanny.

Song Qianlong left, but his real destination wasn’t the shop; it was the hidden place where Che Xintai kept his mistress.

Song Qianlong walked quickly, feeling inexplicably agitated.

When he arrived at that hidden place, he pushed open the door...

Faintly, from the room upstairs, came the sound... of a baby crying!

...

"Humans and demons cannot unite."

What?

Fang Yu snapped back from his wandering mind.

"What did you just say?"

Ding Hui rolled her eyes at him.

"I said humans and demons cannot unite, just like humans cannot have babies with cows or sheep, understand? Different species."

"Oh... oh..."

Fang Yu scratched his head.

How did this topic come up?

He looked at Song Zhenrong sitting in front of him.

Captain of the Foolish Underworld, Song Zhenrong...

Lucky for him that he doesn’t know it was me who killed Prison Chief Shen Chenshui, otherwise, we wouldn’t be sitting here talking peacefully.

"But mating should be possible, right?"

Song Zhenrong had a serious face, like a diligent student, raising a question that seemed to be thinking outside the box, but was quite explosive.

Instantly, Fang Yu and Ding Hui were both left in deafening silence by him.

Song Zhenrong immediately realized something, waving his hands in a flustered manner: "I just asked casually! No other meaning!"

Fang Yu was speechless, but then Ding Hui, after a moment of silence, threw out an even more explosive reply.

"Of course, it’s possible. Humans and demons can mate, but they can’t procreate. As long as the sizes match, you could carve a hole in wood and still satisfy human desires."

She paused, then looked at Song Zhenrong.

"The Foolish Underworld of Thunder City has probably imprisoned quite a few living demons, right? I imagine someone there has done such things."

"Cough cough cough cough cough!!"

Song Zhenrong started coughing immediately, standing up without even drinking tea.

Fang Yu was at a loss for words; Ding Hui really dares to say anything...

"Ding Hui..."

Fang Yu pulled her aside, intending to whisper some persuasion, but Ding Hui spoke first in a low voice.

"It’s the same for everyone; the Foolish Underworld of Tianyuan Town has done similar things. It’s purely an academic discussion."

Swipe—

Fang Yu’s huge eyes stared at Ding Hui intensely. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"Don’t look at me! I haven’t done such things! But I paid others to do it with those demons, and they were quite happy..."

"Enough!"

Fang Yu was fed up; these researchers, could they stop being so perverted...

Ding Hui wasn’t pleased seeing this.

Researching which parts of demons are reproductive systems is an academic subject, after all, each demon is different, unlike humans who are more uniform.

Fang Yu couldn’t help but start pulling his hair.

How did the conversation veer into this topic?

Right!

Fang Yu remembered, he glared at Song Zhenrong, his voice raising a bit.

"In any case, you don’t need to worry about your sister merging with the demon inside her! Nor about any demons laying eggs inside your sister!"

Song Zhenrong looked embarrassed.

This question was difficult for him to voice, but he had no choice but to consider it.

Because Ding Hui hadn’t visited them for days, then he discovered...

"Actually, some strange eggs have already appeared inside my sister’s body, which is why I’ve been inquiring everywhere and came to visit myself... Divine Doctor Ding, could you accompany me on a visit?"