Chapter 161 : Luo Yusi’s Fourth Aunt
Chapter 161: Luo Yusi’s Fourth Aunt
The next day, which was also the fourth day of the Sect Grand Competition, Long Tao had just finished his morning meditation and seated cultivation practice.
He was preparing to head out to the Martial Arena when he caught sight of an unfamiliar figure in the courtyard outside his house.
It was a slender, tall black-haired woman standing with her back to him, leisurely admiring the fish swimming in the pond.
An aura of authority emanated faintly from her—subtle yet soul-stirring—making it clear at a glance that she was by no means an ordinary figure.
As if sensing his gaze, the woman turned gracefully and smiled faintly at Long Tao. Upon seeing her face, his heart stirred involuntarily.
In appearance, she was no different from a human, yet in her brows and in her aura there lingered a uniquely distinct charm that instinctively made him feel a trace of something unusual.
“Yuan Aunt!”
At that moment, Luo Yusi’s voice sounded from not far away. The two of them turned their heads at the same time.
A massive golden figure was striding over with elegant yet swift steps, and she quickly noticed Long Tao standing in the courtyard.
“Long Tao! You’re up! Perfect, let me introduce you,” Luo Yusi said in an obviously cheerful tone. “This is my fourth aunt, Luo Qingyuan. I mentioned her to you before—the younger aunt who would be coming to visit my brother and me.”
So it was her! Long Tao suddenly understood. No wonder her temperament was so unique. He carefully examined the fully transformed Great Demon before him.
To have restrained her form so perfectly, without revealing even the slightest trace of demonic aura—her strength was absolutely unfathomable.
Luo Yusi moved closer to him and lowered her voice, speaking with a hint of pride and reminder.
“My fourth aunt is considered a top powerhouse within our clan. If you compare it to the realms of your human cultivators, she’s equivalent to a Nascent Soul Stage great cultivator.”
Nascent Soul Stage?!
Long Tao’s body stiffened almost imperceptibly. Good heavens… This was an existence that, in some regions, could be revered as a “Lesser Saint”! Then he thought again—Luo Yusi’s mother, the Matriarch of the Luo Clan, was friends with the Deification Empress of the Suhuang Heavenly Dynasty.
In that case, it seemed perfectly reasonable for this fourth aunt to possess Nascent Soul–level strength.
“This junior, Long Tao, greets Senior Luo!” He quickly cupped his hands in salute, his attitude respectful.
Luo Qingyuan had long jet-black hair similar to Luo Yunluo’s. Having fully transformed, she bore not the slightest trace of her spider true form.
However, judging from her clothing style—dominated by deep ink tones—her original body color was likely also in darker shades.
Compared to that, Luo Yusi’s dazzling and resplendent golden hue was probably quite the exception within the clan. Long Tao even suspected it might be a genetic mutation.
“I heard that you’re the godson Yusi has acknowledged?” Luo Qingyuan said with a smile, her voice clear and carrying a hint of casual ease. “Haha, this girl finally has some seniority now. But we of the Demon Race aren’t so particular about all those twists and turns. Yusi says you’re also her best friend, so just follow her lead—call me Yuan Aunt.”
“Ah… yes, Yuan Aunt.” Long Tao readily complied.
Once he addressed her that way, he felt that the oppressive pressure about her seemed to soften considerably, becoming far more gentle and approachable.
“Mm, not bad. A well-behaved child.” Yuan Aunt nodded in satisfaction, then said to Luo Yusi, “You young people carry on. I’ve just arrived, so I’ll stroll around this town and familiarize myself with the surroundings.”
As her words fell, she walked toward Yingxia Town to the north at an ordinary human pace, without using any techniques at all. It seemed she truly intended to take a leisurely walk.
“Wow! So that’s a legendary Great Demon. It’s my first time seeing one.”
After Luo Qingyuan had gone far enough away, Long Tao sighed sincerely.
For ordinary people, as long as they weren’t born in some remote backwater and never left it in their lifetime, they would eventually have a chance to glimpse one or two Nascent Soul True Lords from afar at grand ceremonies in major cities. But a Great Demon of the same level… most people would likely never encounter one even once in their entire lives.
“Yuan Aunt is recognized as a genius within our clan,” Luo Yusi said proudly. “Even in the Myriad Demon Mountains, she has many admirers and suitors.”
“For someone like her to come in person, it’s probably more than just a family visit. I assume she has other important matters?” Long Tao observed keenly.
“Indeed. I heard she came this time to discuss with the sect about establishing a stable long-distance Teleportation Array between our two territories.”
“A Teleportation Array?” Long Tao was surprised. “Hasn’t your Luo Clan always had good relations with the sect? Wasn’t one established before?”
“It’s not that simple. The Myriad Demon Mountains are extremely vast. Our clan’s stronghold is actually very far from the sect. To establish a two-way Teleportation Array across that kind of distance isn’t as simple as drawing a diagram on the ground. It requires precise spatial coordinate anchoring, stable spiritual energy support, and overcoming all kinds of interference caused by the immense distance. The resource consumption and technical requirements are extremely high.”
This topic immediately piqued Long Tao’s interest. For most disciples of the Nine-Xia Heavenly Sect, “Myriad Demon Mountains” was merely a somewhat vague geographical concept to the southwest—a massive mountain range where the Demon Race coexisted. But from Luo Yusi’s tone, the reality was far more complex.
“How big exactly are the Myriad Demon Mountains?”
“I can’t really say how big in precise terms.” Luo Yusi swayed her forelimbs slightly. “But I’ve heard that from the northeastern boundary to the southwestern end, the straight-line distance likely exceeds one hundred thousand li. Mother once said that nearly forty percent of the Demon Race in the entire world live within the Myriad Demon Mountains.”
One hundred thousand li!
The concept stunned Long Tao for a moment. The sheer vastness of that region completely exceeded his everyday understanding.
No wonder the outside world knew so little about it. Perhaps even the Demon Race who had lived there for generations did not fully comprehend the entirety of the Myriad Demon Mountains.
“With such an expanse, is it all endless mountain ranges inside?”
“How could that be?” Luo Yusi laughed softly. “‘Myriad Demon Mountains’ is a name given by you humans. Because most of the border areas between human factions and the Demon Race are mountainous. In reality, the interior contains all kinds of terrain. Deep within, there’s even a sea.”
“A sea? You mean a lake?”
“No, a sea.” Luo Yusi said firmly. “The water is salty. You can’t see the end of it at a glance. There are raging storms. We call it the Inland Sea. Two major dragon clans occupy it, and they’ve been fighting each other for many years. I heard they’ve started fighting again recently. Ships can’t travel on the sea right now.”
“That’s unbelievable. A war breaking out in such a vast body of water, and hardly anyone here knows about it.”
“It can’t be helped. The Myriad Demon Mountains and the human world truly lack communication. In fact… the Demon Race groups near the human borders have intentionally blocked the flow of information between both sides.”
“That makes sense. That way they can do business on both ends.”
“As expected of Long Tao—you guessed it right away. Back then, my mother didn’t want others profiting off such unfair margins, so she found ways to establish communication with human forces.”
“Is your clan located at the border?”
“Not exactly close, but not in the deepest interior either.” Luo Yusi estimated, “From our settlement to the boundary of the Nine-Xia Realm, the straight-line distance is about twelve thousand li.”
“That’s still quite far! In that case, it really is necessary to build a Teleportation Array.”
“There’s a lot of wasteland and barren land inside the Myriad Demon Mountains. It’s not like your Nine-Xia Realm, where every place is rich in spiritual energy and the earth veins are stable,” Luo Yusi added. “So it sounds huge, but most of it is uninhabited and unwanted desolate land. Believe it or not, there are even two human nations inside.”
“What?!” This shocked Long Tao even more than hearing about the sea. “Human nations… surviving in the heartland of the Demon Race?”
“Yes, though I’ve never been there. It’s said that both nations are extremely powerful, with a martial culture and fierce temperament among all their people. Mother said they secured their current living space by defeating the surrounding Demon Race through sheer combat strength. Historically, there were also other human forces, but they all disappeared.”
From Luo Yusi’s account, Long Tao could already imagine how many tragic and heroic epics of humanity must have unfolded within that closed-off Demon Race world.
Its complexity and magnificence surely far exceeded his imagination.