“Understood!” The gray-robed elder nodded.
“Have our people focus on Hallowed Court and Heaven Alliance for the time being,” Conor Stark instructed.
“Got it!” the gray-robed elder responded.
“Any news about Vance of Yama King’s Palace?” Conor Stark continued to ask.
“No,” the elder shook his head. “Thousands are searching for him, but there’s been no news so far. It’s likely he’s met a grim fate.”
After a brief pause, he added, “Elder, could the Nine Dragons Cauldron still be with Mr. Billy?”
“It’s possible,” Conor Stark nodded. “Don’t spend too much effort on Vance. The Nine Dragons Cauldron is not something we can covet.”
“Understood!” the elder nodded again.
In the small courtyard of the inn, Billy and his group continued chatting.
“Boss, have you made any progress with that Heaven Book recently?” Azure Dragon asked Billy.
“No,” Billy shook his head. “It’s likely going to take a long time to make any real progress.”
The Heaven Book had indeed left him at a loss. Despite studying it for so long, he hadn’t made any headway.
“I have no idea who created that thing. It’s like it’s designed to be impossible!” Stout grumbled.
“Boss, why don’t we sell the Heaven Book? It’s useless to us and we could trade it for something valuable!”
“Boss, since we have some free time, should we check out the Demonic Clan headquarters?” White Tiger suggested.
“Yes! Boss, let’s go take a look!” Stout added. “There might be other valuable things besides that technique.”
Everyone gave Stout an exasperated look.
“Alright, let’s go take a look,” Billy decided after a moment of thought.
“Great!” Stout paused and then asked, “Boss, should we have White Feather take us there?”
“No need,” Billy shook his head. “Jennifer said it’s not far from Decadent City. Let White Feather rest; we’ll go on our own.”
“Okay,” everyone nodded.
A few minutes later, they were flying towards the Demonic Clan headquarters.
“Billy Boy, I think we’re being followed by more than one group,” Opal said shortly after they left Decadent City.
“Yes,” Billy nodded. He had noticed as well.
“Who dares to follow us?” Judge looked at Billy. “Boss, should we deal with them first?”
“If they don’t make a move, we can ignore them for now,” Billy replied.
The Demonic Clan headquarters wasn’t far from Decadent City. At their flying speed, they reached it in seven or eight hours.
Along the way, they clearly sensed several groups following them. More joined in midway, but no one attacked, so Billy didn’t bother with them.
In an unknown star domain, they hovered in mid-air near a floating city of moderate size.
Strictly speaking, it was an abandoned city. The gates and most of the walls had collapsed.
Most buildings inside were ruins, with weeds growing everywhere and various-sized pits dotting the landscape-a desolate scene.
“This is the Demonic Clan’s old headquarters?” Bob exclaimed after they landed.
“It seems the battle here was quite fierce,” Azure Fang remarked as he scanned the surroundings.
“Boss, should we deal with those following us before exploring the area Jennifer mentioned?” Azure Fang asked.
“Yes,” Billy nodded. “Let’s wait for them here.”
“Alright!” everyone responded simultaneously.
Soon after Azure Fang spoke, figures began appearing from the surrounding void-about five or six hundred people in total.
Judging by their groups, they seemed to come from four or five different factions. Each faction had several leaders with decent cultivation levels, at least second-rank Supreme Source Realm.
The strongest was a red-haired elder at sixth-rank Supreme Source Realm.
“You’ve got guts to come to this godforsaken place knowing we’re following you!” one man sneered at Billy’s group.
“We didn’t attack in Decadent City out of respect for Heaven’s Tea House. Here, let’s see who can save you now!”
“Are you from Bloodstone Palace?” Billy ignored the man and looked at the red-haired elder.
The group’s strong bloodthirsty aura was similar to Aldo Nunez from Bloodstone Palace, so he guessed as much.
“Not bad, you guessed right,” Gilbert Nunez, the red-haired elder, said coldly. “You have guts to kill someone from Bloodstone Palace!”
“If they’re from Bloodstone Palace, what about you? Who are you?” Billy scanned the others and asked loudly.
“Are you after the Nine Dragons Cauldron? But Vance from Yama King’s Palace took it long ago. You should know that.”
“You can’t fool us,” Gilbert Nunez said coldly. “The Nine Dragons Cauldron recognizes its master. Vance couldn’t possibly keep it!”
“Hand over the Nine Dragons Cauldron and Heaven Book, or die!” another faction leader shouted.
“Hand over the Nine Dragons Cauldron and Heaven Book!” many others echoed.
“A bunch of idiots!” Judge and the others looked at them disdainfully.
“I’m curious why you waited until now to attack,” Billy asked Gilbert Nunez.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Gilbert Nunez replied. “We wanted to see if Heaven’s Tea House was protecting you and where you were headed.”
“If I’m not mistaken, you came here for something else. Is there something hidden here?”
“You’ve got quite an imagination,” Soul Chaser retorted.
“I’ll give you one chance to tell the truth. What’s hidden here?” Gilbert Nunez ignored Soul Chaser and looked at Billy.
“You really want to know?” A raspy female voice suddenly spoke, sending chills down everyone’s spine.
“Who’s there?” Gilbert Nunez’s pupils contracted as he looked around but saw nothing unusual.
“I’ll tell you what’s hidden here!” The raspy voice spoke again.
The next moment, a figure emerged from Billy’s body-it was Jennifer…