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With the collapse of Duke Huai Palace, the reign of terror in Demon Imperial City finally came to an end. The city walls were covered with letters written in blood, and each signature on those blood letters was a name that had once been renowned and highly respected in the Illusory Demon Realm. The Guardian Families and Duke Palaces that had been punished by the Little Demon Empress all became honest and conservative. Especially the Patriarchs and Dukes upon whom the Little Demon Empress had implanted slave marks. Pledging loyalty to the Little Demon Empress and the Demon Emperor Clan became everything to them for the rest of their lives.
Demon Imperial City, after days of turmoil, finally returned to normal. At dawn the following day, after his conversation with his father about using his medical skills to gain reputation and favors as a future new ruler, Ren Zu resumed his activities, now officially as a physician. He personally attended to the names he had selected...
The result was overwhelming.
In just a few hours, his skill surpassed all expectations. He healed injuries that the best physicians in the Illusory Demon Realm had declared impossible, restored the vital energy of cultivators on the brink of death, and even rebuilt long-destroyed profound cultivation foundations. He treated meridian deviations that had turned promising geniuses into cripples, allowing them to channel energy once more as if they had never been injured.
The news spread like wildfire in dry grass.
The title of "Medicine Immortal," which had initially emerged from rumors after he healed his father and mother's severe injuries, took on continental proportions. In less than a day, his name echoed through every sect, clan, and noble family in the Illusory Demon Realm. He was hailed as "The Number One Physician of the Illusory Demon Realm," a living legend, practically a near-divine figure.
Influential families sent chests filled with treasures, rare herbs, spiritual jade, and ancient artifacts, all in exchange for a single consultation. Messengers from major sects knelt before the Yun Family residence, begging for an audience, for just one touch of his hands. Rumors circulated that he possessed the ability to open even the "Profound Entrances with a single finger," capable of transforming even the most mediocre cultivator into a genius. After all, the more Profound Entrances opened, the faster a person's cultivation speed became...
These rumors began circulating after he did exactly that for Number Seven Under Heaven, who sought him out once all the commotion had settled. The two had been long-time friends, and in the past, she had even harbored feelings for his predecessor—something that never came to fruition since he had been reborn into this world. Still, out of consideration for their shared friendship and gratitude for the support she had given him when no one else did, he decided to reward her by opening several of her "Profound Entrances."
The problem arose when her father discovered what had happened, which ended up causing a huge uproar.
Especially within the Yun Clan itself, where the matter spread like fire. His father even asked him to open the "Profound Entrances" of the entire younger generation of the clan. He naturally agreed but charged a fair price—after all, sooner or later he would need resources for his own goals. After collecting more than half the herbs from the medicinal pavilion as payment, he continued to assist the Yun Clan, further elevating his reputation and prestige within the family. Over time, practically no one opposed the idea of him becoming the "new patriarch," even though he was an outsider and did not carry the Yun bloodline...
After an exhausting day, when night finally fell, Ren Zu devoted himself entirely to the Little Demon Empress. That time, for both of them, felt like it had been snatched from the hands of fate, when they lived simply in their cabin, exactly as they had done before when they first met. Later, they fell asleep embraced, their bodies entwined and their breathing still marked by the heat of yet another night of passion.
The next day, the sun was already illuminating the horizon when Ren Zu left his humble residence and headed to the Medicinal Pavilion. He intended to collect some herbs to refine pills that would be useful later, since he planned to continue practicing as a doctor. However, while walking, an unexpected sensation made him stop: an extremely high-level spiritual aura, dense and pulsating, emanated from somewhere ahead.
As soon as he came into contact with that aura, a surprising phenomenon occurred. The slight fatigue he felt vanished instantly, his five senses sharpened extraordinarily, and even the dormant energy in his deep veins awakened, vibrating with renewed intensity.
He recognized it almost immediately. Purple Veined Divine Crystals... right?
Ren Zu frowned. He had visited the Medicinal Pavilion countless times but had never detected traces of Purple Veined Divine Crystals there. In the last hundred years, the Yun Family had been frugal with expenses on high-quality profound crystals. And yet, here it was, right before his eyes—an thick, imposing aura that could not be ignored.
Could it be... what he and his father had planned months ago?
Ren Zu followed the aura and arrived at the Great Assembly Hall of his family. Yun Qinghong and all the Elders were there, and more than ten boxes of Profound Black Jade were neatly placed in the center of the hall. Even with the highest quality Profound Black Jade, it was unable to fully contain this incredibly thick aura of power.
"Zu'er, you've come at just the right time," Yun Qinghong said with a smile. "These are the Purple Veined Divine Crystals from the seven families. Two and a half kilograms from each family. There are exactly seventeen and a half kilograms here, no more, no less. In addition, there are twelve and a half kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals seized from Duke Huai Palace's secret chamber. The Little Demon Empress granted all of them to our Yun Family. In total, there are thirty kilograms."
"Thirty kilograms... that's a huge amount of Purple Veined Divine Crystals! Even if our Yun Family only gained and never spent... it would take hundreds of years to accumulate, or even close to a thousand years!" exclaimed one of the Yun Family Elders.
"This is like a dream." The hands of one Elder standing slightly closer continued to tremble.
In the great hall, everyone's faces were flushed, and they could not calm their emotions for a long time. They belonged to the top families in the Illusory Demon Realm and were the greatest existences in the Illusory Demon Realm, yet even so, they had never seen so many Purple Veined Divine Crystals in their lives.
Thirty kilograms. This was not a large number in terms of weight, but when it referred to "Purple Veined Divine Crystals," it was extremely exaggerated—an astronomical figure that could stun a profound path expert! In the entire Illusory Demon Realm, for more than ninety-nine percent of profound practitioners, Purple Veined Divine Crystals were divine items that existed only in legends, and even seeing them in one's lifetime would be an extravagant hope.
It was also the first time Ren Zu had personally seen the legendary Purple Veined Divine Crystals. Until then, he had only known them from descriptions of their spiritual aura, which matched perfectly with the information from the [Miracle of Life] that he had fully mastered. Some treatments required precisely such crystals, but nothing had prepared him for the real experience.
What surprised him most was that Profound Black Jade possessed an extremely powerful isolation ability; when transporting Purple Veined Heavenly Crystals, their aura remained completely hidden. However, upon holding the Purple Veined Divine Crystals, Ren Zu could feel an incredibly thick spiritual energy radiating from them. There was no need to mention the magnitude and density of the power they contained.
Especially at that moment, so close to the crystals, the energy was so intense that it seemed to envelop him completely, as if he were immersed in a true sea of spiritual force. He had no doubt: this powerful aura had already spread and enveloped the entire Yun Family.
And this was while the Purple Veined Divine Crystals were still sealed in the Profound Black Jade!
"The Purple Veined Divine Crystals... why weren't they stored in the Medicinal Pavilion immediately? Leaving them here with spiritual energy leaking is a kind of waste," Ren Zu said casually.
"Hohoho." Yun Duanshui let out a low, weak laugh. "Young Patriarch, our Yun Family was only able to receive these Purple Veined Divine Crystals suddenly because of you. The Patriarch told us about the plan you two made—the bet with the families that provided the crystals months ago, right after the news that the Patriarch had been cured. As you can imagine, all those families lost badly; they tried to cause trouble but ended up hitting an iron wall when confronting the fully cured Patriarch, hahaha... And they came out losing, but with everything that happened afterward, we had forgotten about it..."
Ren Zu did not seem surprised by Yun Duanshui's words.
As he had suspected...
They were the ones used in the bet he had asked his father to make during the "revelation" of his and his mother's cure. Obviously, everything had been meticulously planned as a trap: to catch the allies within the Yun Family from the other families and force them to suffer losses through the bet. At the time, he had prepared every detail, even leaking information that his father intended to retire from the Patriarch position, just to attract their attention and greed.
But soon after came the news that the Little Demon Empress had been "killed," which caused part of his plans to superficially collapse—since he still planned the other part: winning over the Little Demon Empress. However, due to that news and all the commotion of the past months, his father had nearly forgotten completely about the "bet" he had made with the other patriarchs.
With the Little Demon Empress regaining power, she naturally ensured that the patriarchs honored the bet in favor of the Yun Family. She probably wanted to surprise him, since in the past few days, while handling everything, she had forgotten to mention it. As for the other fifteen kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals, he could consider them... part of the "dowry"?
Mistaking Ren Zu's silence for surprise, Yun Duanshui continued speaking:
"It was all thanks to the Young Patriarch's planning. Forget the Divine Crystals—we wouldn't even know if our family would still exist in Demon Imperial City. Thus, including the Patriarch, all of us believe that only the Young Patriarch has the qualification to handle these Purple Veined Divine Crystals. If the Young Patriarch says nothing, none of us has the right to move them ourselves."
"That's right." The other Elders all nodded in agreement, their expressions showing deep contemplation.
It was no coincidence that Ren Zu had proposed using Purple Veined Divine Crystals as the wager for his father. He needed a large quantity of these crystals and knew he could obtain them from some families if he planned carefully, based on his knowledge of the original history. Fortunately, he had succeeded.
As for the reason he desired these crystals, it was because of Jasmine... He obviously already had plans for her. With that in mind, he stepped forward and said:
"Then I won't be polite. For a reason that is extremely important to me, I really do need a large quantity of Purple Veined Divine Crystals. So... of these thirty kilograms, I would like to take twenty, and the remaining ten kilograms will stay with the family. I'm not sure if everyone... will agree to this."
"Hahahaha," Yun Waitian laughed loudly. "Young Patriarch, what are you saying? Even if you took all thirty kilograms, it would be right and proper. From top to bottom in our entire clan, none of us would disagree. Besides being the strongest expert in the Yun Clan, the Young Patriarch is the future ruler of the Illusory Demon Realm and also opened all the profound entrances of our Yun Clan's younger generation... Such great kindness must be repaid! Moreover, the Young Patriarch is only taking twenty kilograms and leaving nearly half for the family... This is already a generous gift to our entire clan—how could we have any reason to disagree?"
"What the Great Elder said is exactly what we were thinking in our minds," the other Elders all laughed... To them, what Yun Waitian had said was absolutely correct. Even if Ren Zu took everything, it would be natural and right. And by leaving ten kilograms, it was already a generosity that left everyone impressed.
"Then I will accept it respectfully." Ren Zu stepped forward directly and took exactly twenty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals... storing them in his spatial ring.
"In addition, I have a suggestion for these ten kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals." He faced everyone and said: "Take five kilograms and deliver them to the Mu Family..."
"Ah? This..." Ren Zu's suggestion startled all the Elders. They all showed discomfort on their faces, and the Fourth Elder said in a subtle tone: "Young Patriarch, we have no right to interfere with how the Purple Veined Divine Crystals are handled, but giving a total of five kilograms to others for nothing is a bit..."
"I agree with Zu'er's suggestion." Contrary to the Elders' shock, Yun Qinghong smiled after a brief moment of thought: "The Mu Family is essentially our greatest ally and is my wife's family, but I don't agree just for that reason. After this period of ups and downs, in the eyes of the people, our Yun Family's status has already surpassed the other Guardian Families, and no one can compare to us. Especially now that we have received thirty kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals—I believe the entire Demon Imperial City is discussing this. With these Divine Crystals and the fact that Zu'er is the future husband of the Little Demon Empress, anyone can predict that in not much time, our Yun Family will stand above all other Guardian Families in prestige, strength, and position. However, being too prominent would instead create invisible flaws and gaps between the families with whom we once shared the same air."
All the Elders seemed to suddenly understand: "Do the Patriarch and Young Patriarch mean..."
"That's right. Purple Veined Divine Crystals are the greatest divine items in the world. Anyone who receives them would treat them as their own life. If we share with the Mu Family, our oldest ally, it will be enough to show them that even though our Yun Family has returned to our glorious state, we will not be proud and arrogant, and we will still value our relationship with our allies."
Ren Zu nodded slightly. Father and son looked at each other and smiled.
Yun Qinghong's words enlightened all the Elders. Yun Waitian was convinced and said: "The Patriarch and Young Patriarch are more thoughtful. This is indeed necessary. Let's go personally, right now."
Since this concerned Purple Veined Divine Crystals, of course they could not feel at ease if someone else delivered them.
The four Elders immediately began to move. Three of them took the five kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals to the Yun Family's Medicinal Pavilion, and the entire Yun Family rejoiced in jubilation for a long time. As for the hundred Overlord Pellets that Ren Zu had given him two days ago, Yun Qinghong had not yet disclosed them because they were an 'explosive' even more terrifying than five kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals. Even he had not overcome the shock and reverence brought by the revelation of those hundred Overlord Pellets...
Meanwhile, another of the Elders took the remaining five kilograms to the Mu Family...
"Hahahaha! Since my son-in-law and my grandson are filial, of course I cannot refuse." Mu Feiyan was beaming with joy, laughing loudly and waving his hand. "Old Three, accept the gift and deliver five kilograms of Purple Veined Divine Crystals to my courtyard. This is the greatest gift this old man has ever received. Wait until this old man warms it with my hands and then store it in the Medicinal Pavilion... It was not in vain that this old man married his daughter to the Yun Family—I gained a good grandson from it, hahahaha!"
Mu Feiyan accepted it cleanly and efficiently.
The Second Elder of the Yun Family, Yun Duanshui, who had gone to deliver the "gift," was stunned in place—what a shameless old man!