If you do not deem me unworthy, this humble servant wishes to pledge allegiance to you as my master

[According to the Demon Refining Pot, it didn't know much about Feng Yucheng either.]

[Originally, the Demon Refining Pot had been sealed away by the demon race at the bottom of a lake called the "Myriad Demon Lake" within the Great Wilderness.]

[This pot was an immortal artifact specially forged by an ancient mighty figure to combat the demon race. Just like your 'Alien Race's Daddy' trait, it dealt special damage to a specific group.]

[The Demon Refining Pot had ninety-nine ways to kill a demon.]

[However, if this thing wasn't used against demons, its effectiveness would be heavily discounted, perhaps not even matching up to a Heaven-tier spirit artifact.]

[Over the long river of time, the Demon Refining Pot changed hands many times and eventually ended up in the hands of the demon race in the Great Wilderness.]

[The demon race dreaded it, but since they had no way to destroy it, they could only seal it away and dispatch some demons to stand guard over it.]

[This time, as the great war between the two races broke out and both sides stood in a stalemate at the Azure Firmament Ridge, the demon race, unable to conquer the ridge after a long siege, remembered this artifact.]

[Although it was a bit risky, it was an immortal artifact after all, and having an extra source of power was always a good thing.]

[Thus, the Azure Dragon Demon Ancestor bestowed the Demon Refining Pot upon the Four-Eyed Spirit Monkey.]

[Since Feng Yucheng had defected to the demon race, acting as a guide and strategist for their vanguard army, the Four-Eyed Spirit Monkey rewarded him with the Demon Refining Pot.]

["This Pot has wandered half its life, only regretting never having met a wise master! If you do not disdain me, my lord, this Pot is willing to acknowledge you as its master!"]

[The Demon Refining Pot bounced up and down in your hands, shaking its head and swaying about, the artifact spirit's tone full of absolute flattery.]

[The Myriad Soul Banner scoffed at the Demon Refining Pot.]

["Demon Refining Pot, can you have some shame? Do we immortal artifacts have to submit to cultivators? Can't we be independent and autonomous great artifacts?!"]

[The Demon Refining Pot spoke in a mocking, sarcastic tone.]

["A mere Earth-tier spirit artifact. Since you have seen this Venerable One, why do you not bow?"]

[The Myriad Soul Banner fumed, emitting black smoke from anger.]

["Who the hell is an Earth-tier spirit artifact?! Bro, I am an immortal artifact! I just encountered a tribulation and had my body destroyed, temporarily settling for this measly Earth-tier spirit artifact!"]

["Oh my~~ How come other artifacts didn't face any tribulations and are perfectly intact, yet you, old sir, got destroyed? Could it be that you committed too many evil deeds and got hunted down? Hmm??"]

["Waaargh!! Hey! You broken pot! I swear I'm going to use you as a chamber pot!!"]

"Are these immortal artifacts... They really don't live up to the word 'immortal' at all..."

Chen Yi complained outside the simulation.

"This simulation should be ending soon."

He didn't expect to receive such explosive news at the very end of the simulation.

"Is Feng Yucheng human or not?"

Judging from his transformed appearance in the simulation, he definitely wasn't human; otherwise, the 'Alien Race's Daddy' trait wouldn't have taken effect.

But listening to what he said, he sounded very much like someone with terrible aptitude who would resort to any means necessary to become stronger.

"What a weirdo..."

At this very moment in reality, Feng Yucheng and Chen Yi were in the exact same county town.

While continuing to watch the simulation, Chen Yi also pondered how to deal with this ticking time bomb.

[You sat on the ground, listened to the two immortal artifacts bickering, and managed to force out a laugh.]

["Interesting... By the way, Myriad Soul Banner, let me ask you something."]

[The Myriad Soul Banner took a moment from its busy arguing to reply to you.]

["What is it?"]

["Before I met you, where were you? Please be as precise as the exact day, and preferably the exact hour of that day."]

["How could I remember that clearly! It was probably at..."]

[You listened to the Myriad Soul Banner's recollection and firmly memorized it all using your 'Photographic Memory'.]

[Gradually, the Dragonkin poison permeated your entire body. You felt all your strength being drained away, and your eyelids began to droop.]

["It's time to go..."]

[Just as you were about to close your eyes, in a daze, you saw a beautiful silhouette rushing towards you.]

[The person seemed to cry out, "Uncle."]

[An unknown amount of time passed before you woke up again.]

["I'm not dead?"]

[You found yourself in a military camp tent, lying on a bamboo bed.]

["Uncle! You're awake! The precious pill Her Majesty gave me seems to have worked!"]

[Hearing the cry, you turned your head and saw a young woman in a purple dress sitting by the bed.]

[Looking closely, who else could it be but your third sister's daughter, Shen Jia.]

[Her appearance had surprisingly frozen at her early twenties.]

["Shen Jia? Why are you here? Your face..."]

[When you traveled from the Eastern Wasteland to Western Liang, you had gone to Baiyun County once to see your third sister's family, though you only watched from afar without disturbing them.]

[But you remembered that Shen Jia had already looked like a middle-aged woman back then.]

[How was she getting younger as she aged?]

["My master gave me a precious medicine that restores youth. It was also my master who told me to come find you; she has a letter for you."]

["Master? Who is your master?"]

["The Empress of the Southern Borders, Li Lingyue!"]

[The Great Qian Royal Family's Princess Baihua, Li Lingyue.]

[It had been a long time since you last heard this name.]

[But you would always remember that wonderful night, that romantic cave.]

["That can't be right. Li Lingyue is the Empress? She isn't even a martial artist, how did she become the Empress? If she was that formidable, why would Great Qian have sent her to the Great Shi Kingdom for a political marriage in the first place?"]

["Master indeed couldn't cultivate at first, but she actually possesses an innate Sealed Holy Physique. She needed heavenly materials and earthly treasures to stimulate it for the Holy Physique to awaken, which in turn restored her root bone.

After arriving in the Southern Borders, Master didn't go through with the political marriage; she escaped.

Afterward, she experienced a lot—tribulations, fortuitous encounters, noble benefactors, and so on—which finally set her on the path of martial arts, culminating in her proclaiming herself Empress and aweing an entire region.

Master said that her experiences over these years are all written in the letter. You will know once you read it, Uncle."]

[Just as you were about to open the letter, you suddenly felt a piercing pain in your heart. You violently spat out a mouthful of black blood, staining the bedsheets.]

["Uncle!"]

[Shen Jia panicked and wanted to call for help, but you grabbed her.]

["Don't go. This poison has no cure. The precious medicine you gave me only gave me a brief resurgence before death."]

["Uncle..."]

[Shen Jia's eyes brimmed with tears.]

["It's fine. At least I get to see my family before I die, and there will be someone to properly handle my funeral arrangements afterward. I am content..."]

["Uncle, don't give up. You are the Grand Marshal of Demon Extermination; the people of the world still need you!"]

["Let's not talk about that. Shen Jia, how did you become Li Lingyue's disciple?"]

["After Master ascended the throne and became the Empress, she kept sending people to the Central Plains to look for you. She wanted to crown you as her Imperial Consort. Because of this, her inner palace has remained completely empty for all these years, just waiting for you."]

["Ah, this..."]

["Master could never find you, but she found my mother, me, and Dachun."]

[Listening to Shen Jia's account, you learned the following.]

[Because of her feelings for you, the Empress extended her care to your family and provided them with a lot of help.]

[Shen Jia also seized this fortuitous opportunity, acknowledged the Empress as her master, and had been cultivating ever since.]

[Your third sister lived out her final days in the Empress's luxurious imperial palace, passing away peacefully of old age.]

[Even Dachun was discovered by the Empress to have a connection with you, and was likewise invited to her capital to enjoy a life of comfort and leisure.]

[It was perfectly normal that the Empress couldn't find you.]

[You first went to the Eastern Wasteland, then to Western Liang. Even when you were in the Central Plains, your footsteps had never stopped.]

[You wander around everywhere, so it is naturally difficult for anyone to track you down.]

["I never expected her to actually harbor true feelings for me and search for me all this time. Where is she? Did she not come with you?"]

["Master has already fallen in battle at the front lines of Cangqiong Ridge..."]