1565 Invitation from the Demon Subduers
“Starting today, Xia Fan will remain in Subduing Demon City. Please pass on my well-wishes to Queen Meryl. Per the agreement, the city’s barrier will have its time extended, and the resources sent to you will be delivered soon,” Turan informed Armstrong.
Xia Fan said goodbye to Armstrong, during which he whispered, “When you go back, tell Xia Geng to not do anything reckless and wait for news from me.”
Armstrong was startled, but then nodded. After watching Xia Fan leave with Turan and enter Subduing Demon City, he turned and also left. He was going to travel through the night to return to the White City, so that the news that Xia Fan had entered the city would be delivered to Xia Geng and the others quickly!
——
Once Xia Fan walked out the door, he turned and found that he was past the wall of light. A chilly wind blew across a boundless land, and the legendary Subduing Demon City was still far off in the distance. They would have to travel a long distance to get there.
There had been three youths entering the city, but when Xia Fan looked around, he couldn’t see the other two. Turan smiled and said, “There will be others sending them to the city. You just need to follow me.”
Turan extended his right hand and snapped his fingers. It was a small sound, but it seemed to be a special signal. A black dot quickly appeared in the blue sky and approached rapidly.
As it flew closer and closer, it finally became visible as a rare macaw with yellow and green plumage. It had a wingspan of twenty-five meters, and a pavilion-like building had been tied with ropes to its back. People could sit in the room to relax during a long journey.
“Her name is Little Cherry, and she’s my personal mount. Now that I’m old, I can’t handle the rough experiences of long journeys, so I prefer to travel in comfort,” Turan explained.
The macaw lowered her head, allowing Turan to stroke her neck. She seemed extremely affectionate.
A subordinate brought over a set of stairs, and the two of them climbed into the small hut on the parrot’s back. The seats were well-padded, and the view was very open. The wooden room was built in an ancient style, making it seem like one was riding in an old carriage.
Little Cherry cried out with a loud squawk, and then flew up into the sky. Once she was above the cloud layer, she began to fly toward Subduing Demon City.
Little Cherry wasn’t as fast as a Cathead Eagle, but the flight was much more comfortable. By relaxing one’s body entirely while facing the wind, one could reduce the fatigue from the journey. In addition, the seats in the carriage could recline. While comfortably lying down and covered with a down blanket, one could even eat from the small table there.
Turan opened a bottle of red wine and took out two crystal cups.
“Drink a little. It can relax your nerves, and I’ve always had a problem with mine. There’s ham and grapes in the refrigerator under the table. Could you get them for me?”
Xia Fan lowered his head and reached under the table. There was a button under the table, and when pressed, a drawer refrigerator popped open. In addition to the food, there were also utensils and metal plates inside. The refrigerator didn’t use a compressor to keep things cold, but Chill Crystals, transparent pieces of rock that constantly radiated a cold white energy.
Two plates were put down, one holding ham and the other holding slightly sour black grapes. Xia Fan and Turan toasted each other. The red wine wasn’t bad, and it was rather high in alcohol. It had probably been aged for some time. It was rather viscous, sticking to the sides of the cups.
After drinking two cups of wine, Turan was completely relaxed. He took out a pillow and placed it under him before leaning back onto the reclining sofa.
“You must be curious as to how you got the chance to enter Subduing Demon City, despite your bad interview?”
“I truly am puzzled, but this isn’t a bad thing for me.”
Turan chuckled. “This place is absolutely safe, and you don’t need to fear eavesdroppers. Now, I will tell you the real reason frankly: because you’re a Skywing!”
Xia Fan felt his head buzzing and his muscles. Turan knew he was a Skywing. Didn’t that mean that he was already exposed?
“Don’t be nervous.” Turan waved his hand. “I’m the only one who would take such enormous risks to sneak a Skywing into the Lower Realm, so I’m your friend. And it’s not what you think. We didn’t invite the Skywings to the Lower Realm because we had some scheme against them, but because we needed their help!”
Turan looked out the window, where a gorgeous view of white clouds, the great earth, and the graceful birds could be seen.
“Look. Isn’t the Lower Realm beautiful?”
Xia Fan nodded. “It truly is better than I imagined. I thought that the Lower Realm would be a fiery hell or a lava furnace.”
Turan chuckled. “The Lower Realm truly does have such places. Perhaps it won’t be long before you get to see them for yourself.
“Returning to the main topic, we didn’t kidnap the Skywings, we invited them, and we did it through a secret channel! No one except a few of us know. Right now, your family is very safe, but I can’t tell you where they are or what they are doing, for this involves the highest secrets of the Demon Subduers.”
After some thought, Xia Fan asked, “I’m very curious. How did you know that I was a Skywing?”
Turan raised his head and stared at Xia Fan. “Because of the blood analysis. Just like them, you have 49.99% demon blood, only 0.01% away from being a real demon. Only the Skywings have such a high purity bloodline.
“To put it simply, the Lower Realm is where the true battles with the demons are fought. The Realm Barrier is there to protect the Middle Realm. We take the souls of the strong from the Middle Realm to be reborn in the Lower Realm, and then put them through a callous selection process, taking the best to become Demon Subduers. All of this is for the sake of winning this war!
“The situation is grim, and the war is getting tougher and tougher. But through a series of coincidences, we found out about the Skywings. Your clan’s ancestor probably managed to get to the Middle Realm long ago, when the Realm Barriers fell and the Three Realms were in chaos. I’m guessing that, with your high purity demon bloodline, your people should be very special in the Middle Realm, no? The people you love, you love to death, and the people you hate, you hate to death! Your personalities, abilities, and talents all make you stick out like sore thumbs in the Middle Realm.”
Xia Fan could only agree. The Skywings truly were unique. From the very start they were different from others, not just in terms of combat personality, but also personality, for all the Skywings had an Inner Demon!
Turan said, “The Skywings with their near-demon blood are invincible in the Middle Realm.
“In any case, we noticed your activities in the Great Chiliocosm, and we managed to find a way to get the Skywings’ genetic information. When we found that your bloodline was so close to being a demon, those old guys almost went crazy. It is the purest bloodline we’ve found in countless epochs!
“There were two plans. The first was to open the Realm Barrier and grandly welcome you into the Lower Realm, announcing to all the world that the demon bloodline that had been lost in the Middle Realm had returned. But if we did that, the demons would find out, and we would lose the element of surprise.
“The second plan was to secretly bring the Skywings into the Lower Realm, hiding it from everyone, including the demons. Later on, we chose the second plan. Your family currently serves as the special force of the Demon Subduers. They’ve been sent to a most secretive location to carry out a most secretive mission.
“Alas, even the best plan has unexpected situations. The Skywings had a small scouting team out on a mission, and there was no means of notifying them and no way to keep waiting, for there was a limit to how long the Realm Barrier could be kept open. There was also the risk of it being discovered by the demons! Thus, in the end, you were left in the Middle Realm. But we also didn’t expect that you would find a way to pass through the Realm Barrier yourselves and come here!
“Very regrettable, I have no means of letting you meet your family, for they are no longer on this continent.”
Xia Fan sniffed the air. When a person was lying, the amount of adrenaline they secreted would change. Through the pheromones in the air, Xia Fan believed that Turan was telling the truth.
Xia Fan shrugged. The father he had never met was truly a swift and decisive person, not even leaving behind a slip of paper for Xia Geng before leading the army off to the Lower Realm, and leaving Xia Geng on fire with anxiety!
“I understand the situation now, but what are these demons you speak of?”
In his short life, he had seen many guys that called themselves demons. In this chaotic world where even an ant could call itself a demon, it was truly difficult to determine what was a real demon.
Turan laughed. “Look out the window at the ground. You’ll soon be able to see a demon corpse!”