You don't want your secret to be revealed by others, right?

...

Imperial Palace, Di Hong Palace.

The atmosphere in the great hall was eerily silent and oppressive, almost solidifying. The ministers and royal relatives all stood quietly within the hall, not even those in the front rows uttered a word.

Lin Yue stood alongside the princes and princesses in the very front row, while on the imperial platform before them stood the Crown Prince, clad in his mysterious robe and crown.

Beneath the swaying crown tassels, the Crown Prince's indifferent and merciless eyes slowly swept over the ministers inside the hall before he finally spoke, "Since everyone who could come has arrived, let us begin."

Arrived?

Although Lin Yue did not look around, he could see that, including the Crown Prince, there were only twenty princes and princesses in the hall.

All seven princesses were present, but only thirteen princes.

Apart from the fallen Ninth Prince, Twelfth Prince, and Sixteenth Prince, even Prince Eight had not yet arrived. How could it be that everyone was already here?

Could it be...

Lin Yue thought of the unusual celestial phenomena observed earlier that day and suddenly guessed a possibility.

"Everyone must have seen the celestial phenomena."

The Crown Prince said emotionlessly, "Today... Prince Eight, Prince Xian, and Prince Twelve, Prince Cheng, almost simultaneously fell, triggering the celestial phenomena together."

Initially, the hall fell into a deep silence, afterwards, it suddenly erupted into an uncontrollable uproar.

Prince Eight, Prince Xian, and Prince Twelve, Prince Cheng had all fallen?

They had thought that it was one of the princes who had fallen, but to think... it was actually two?

No wonder the celestial phenomena this time were much more significant than the previous occasions. This chapter is from the collection at M-VL-EM-PYR.

"Fourteenth brother, did you also kill Prince Xian?"

The Fourteenth Prince couldn't help but communicate via a secret transmission.

Amidst his shock, Lin Yue also found it odd and immediately responded, "Prince Eight was not killed by me."

At that moment, he had struck Prince Eight three times with the Divine Artifact Infinite Starry Sky. Although Prince Eight had escaped swiftly with his true body and Lin Yue had not managed to kill him, the third strike followed a mysterious connection and at most killed the Heart Demon seed left by Prince Eight.

But then, how did Prince Eight die?

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince."

At that moment, the head of the Heavenly Punishment Department stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, the Crown Prince, you possess the Heavenly Calculation, do you know how Prince Eight and Prince Twelve fell? My Punishment Department was investigating immediately when the celestial phenomena erupted, but we found no trace of sin."

The Crown Prince slowly said, "Prince Eight died at the hands of a demon from the Demon Clan, according to my calculations."

"A demon god?"

The head of the Punishment Department was stunned, as were the other high officials and princes.

The Great Yong Divine Formation envelops the heavens and earth, even the outer perimeter has an invisible repellent force, preventing demon gods from getting close. How could it be possible for a demon god to kill a prince within the boundaries of the Yong Realm?

Moreover, the Demon Saint could not have possibly become a demon god within Great Yong.

Just like mutant beasts require Eternal Night to transform, the transformation breakthrough of the Demon Clan must also occur within Eternal Night.

"A demon god?" the head of the Punishment Department couldn't help but repeat, "Your Highness, the Crown Prince, are you saying that a demon god is lurking within Great Yong?"

"Based on the death of Prince Eight, that is indeed the case," the Crown Prince answered. "Although I don't know where this demon god is, what is certain is… this demon god must have transcended his spirit and hidden all traces of himself left in the world."

An existence that has transcended spiritually can indeed hide all traces left in the world.

Lin Yue narrowed his eyes slightly.

So it was.

Indeed, a demon god was hidden within Great Yong, and he even brazenly struck down Prince Eight.

What was his purpose?

Moreover, what puzzled him even more was... how did this demon god get inside?

"May I ask, Your Highness, the Crown Prince."

The Head of the Heavenly Punishment Department indeed raised this question, "A Demon God simply cannot approach Great Yong, so how could it possibly enter the Yong Realm?"

"There are two possibilities," the Crown Prince said indifferently, "First, this Demon God was already hiding within the Yong Realm over a thousand years ago, before Great Yong had established the National Guardian Array."

He paused and continued, "The second possibility is that eighty years ago, during the Emperor's Inspection, the Demon Clan took advantage of the damage to the outer perimeter of the Divine Array. The Demon God, along with Mutant Beasts, attacked Great Yong from all directions; it was then that a Demon God took the opportunity to infiltrate Great Yong."

"Infiltrate?" the Fourteenth Prince spoke up, "Father was touring the Human World at that time; if the Demon Clan was lurking, even if it involved a Demon God, shouldn't it have been doomed to die?"

Lin Yue silently agreed.

He now knew that the Divine Emperor was an ancient god reincarnated as a human.

As an Ancient God, even a Demon God should have been unable to hide.

"The reason is unknown."

The Crown Prince spoke, "Perhaps the Demon God wasn't hiding in the past but entered Great Yong for some reason. However, the Demon God concealed all traces left in the world; without finding it, we cannot know the truth."

The ministers remained silent.

After all, it was a Demon God.

Whether it was the Crown Prince or the Second Prince, or even the ancestral founders of the Demon Clan, they all existed in a state of Proving and Transcending.

Perhaps there were differences in personal strength due to Ancient Divine Power or other factors, but in terms of the actual realm, they were quite comparable.

"Why is Your Highness the Crown Prince convinced that it's a Demon God who has transcended through the mental realm?" the Head of the Heavenly Punishment Department asked.

"Because of the death of the Eighth Prince."

The Crown Prince replied indifferently, "He was adept at survival skills that thrived in the presence of Heart Demons, most restrained by a similar entity of a higher realm."

His gaze swept over the ministers below and he said, "Hence, the Demon God who killed the Eighth Prince is very likely one of the Demon Gods who attacked Great Yong eighty years ago, and... adept in the mental realm, like the Dream Demon Clan."

Lin Yue felt a stir in his heart.

If he remembered correctly, during the time when the Demon Clan attacked Great Yong from all sides, those who attacked the Northern Border included the Dream Demon Clan and the Divine Beast Dream Snake.

And the one responsible for defending the Northwest Border was the Fourth Prince.

However, he also remembered that among the Demon Clan attacking the Northern Border, there seemed to be no Demon Gods, only the Divine Beast Dream Snake.

This was normal since each of the eight borders was attacked by a Divine Beast, and some borders also faced attacks from Demon Gods.

For example, the Northwest Border was attacked by the Nirvana Demon God and the Divine Beast Fire Phoenix. The Divine Beast Fire Phoenix, severely weakened after continuous Nirvanas and slain by the Second Princess, was besieged and killed by powerful figures from the Human Clan, and the Nirvana Demon God was also severely injured and fled.

But there were a few borders not attacked by Demon Gods, which made things uncertain.

Maybe it was a Demon God from the Dream Demon Clan that had concealed its tracks, gone into hiding, thus remaining undiscovered, leading people to believe that there was no Demon God among those that attacked the Northern Border at that time.

Or maybe at that time the Dream Demon Clan truly did not have a Demon God attacking the Northern Border.

Perhaps the infiltrating Demon God was someone else?

"Since the Eighth Prince was killed by a Demon God skilled in the mental realm, and the perpetrator has concealed all traces they left in the world, this complicates matters."

The Head of the Heavenly Punishment Department bowed and said, "But since they took the initiative to murder a prince, they must surely bear great sins. Even if it's a Demon God who has transcended heaven and earth, they can only temporarily obscure the Heavenly Punishment Department's perception of their sins. If we investigate closely, we should be able to uncover the truth. Please, Your Highness, order a thorough investigation."

"We naturally have to investigate,"

the Crown Prince said indifferently, "However, the perpetrator will also surely be extremely cautious and vigilant, never easily revealing themselves."

The ministers all understood.

With the Crown Prince's ability to kill proven adepts from afar, once the Demon God was exposed to his senses, a mere thought from across the distance could likely lead to the Demon God's downfall.

But the Demon God certainly understood this as well.

"Fourth brother,"

the Crown Prince turned to the Fourth Prince and said, "The Dream Demon Clan attacked the Northern Border that you were responsible for defending. Regarding this Demon God, do you have any clues?"

The Fourth Prince bowed and said, "Brother Emperor, I do not recall any Demon God attacking back then; only the Dream Snake was wounded by me and fled."

The Crown Prince didn't say much more, simply stating in a calm voice, "Since that is the case, then we can only proceed with our investigation slowly."

"Your Highness, if the Eighth Prince was killed by a hidden Demon God, then what about the Twelfth Prince?" the Head of the Heavenly Punishment Department asked, "From Your Highness's explanation, it doesn't seem to be the same perpetrator?"

The Crown Prince swept his gaze across and said indifferently, "The Twelfth Prince, Prince Cheng, was killed by my seventeenth brother."