### Chapter 508: Demon Domain Side Quest
Yun Zhonghe was jolted awake by a relentless wave of pain. He slowly opened his eyes, only to be greeted by a cold, smooth marble floor.
And a lovely, pale yellow skirt.
Where on earth am I?
His mind was a bit fuzzy, but he recollected being kidnapped by the Black Shadow and heard the creature chatting with someone during the process.
That was pretty much all he knew; it was only thanks to his powerful Spiritual Energy that he managed to scrape together a shred of information. The rest? A complete blank.
“That guy… wanted to k*ll me…”
Yun Zhonghe mumbled weakly, his expression flickering with uncertainty. Feeling the state of his body, he noted that apart from being severely drained of energy, there were no life-threatening injuries.
But where exactly had that shadow tossed him?
He slowly pushed himself up to sit on the floor, bewildered as he scanned his surroundings.
A damp, chilly stone cell, and beside him lay a figure on her side.
“Xiaoxiao?”
Yun Zhonghe instantly recognized the familiar silhouette—of course, it was Su Xiaoxiao.
She lay there, completely still, and Yun Zhonghe scrambled over, calling out tentatively. Fortunately, she seemed to respond a little.
Her long, ink-black hair cascaded like a waterfall, her slender eyebrows and delicate nose, even with her eyes closed, made for a charming sight.
Hearing his voice, Su Xiaoxiao slowly opened her eyes, their depths shimmering softly like water.
“Brother Yun…”
Her voice was weak and airy, sounding drained, as if all her strength had been sucked right out.
“Are you okay? How do you feel?”
Without thinking, Yun Zhonghe grasped her hand and gradually infused her with the little remaining Spiritual Energy he had.
As she felt his warmth flowing into her, Su Xiaoxiao began to feel a bit better.
She then realized how close they were, her cheeks flushed slightly, but she didn’t pull away.
“I’m alright, just feeling a bit weak, nothing too serious.”
Su Xiaoxiao smiled gently, trying to reassure Yun Zhonghe.
But in truth, she wasn’t feeling great, like her very essence had been drained.
Fortunately, she sensed that this lost energy could eventually be replenished, and curiously, without that energy weighing her down, she found her usual streak of bad luck vanished.
A rare moment of tranquility in the world.
Whether that was good or bad, who could say?
Su Xiaoxiao quickly shook off her muddled thoughts. Compared to that, it was far more important to know their current predicament.
“By the way, where are we exactly?”
She too began to examine their surroundings with curiosity.
“Not sure…”
Yun Zhonghe frowned. Logically speaking, the Black Shadow abducted them for a reason. Especially since Su Xiaoxiao was on its list of targets. It wouldn’t just discard them carelessly.
Either the shadow temporarily imprisoned them for later handling or had accomplished its goal and decided to ‘deal with them properly.’
Both scenarios didn’t bode well.
Yun Zhonghe took a closer look at the stone cell and suddenly felt a sense of déjà vu.
He tuned into the local Spiritual Energy… Could this be the Demon Domain?!
Among five continents and four realms, the continents had been mentioned plenty, but not so much about the realms.
The so-called four realms were the Human Realm, Demon Realm, Ghost Realm, and Monster Realm.
Human Realm is where the Human Clan resides, with all the land under the five continents falling within its scope. The Demon Realm is home to the Demon Clan. Ghost Realm is akin to the underworld, while the Monster Realm harbors countless ancient beasts, with beast cultivators mainly existing in the Northern Continent of the Human Realm.
Earlier, Yun Zhonghe sensed the local Spiritual Energy, which was wild and chaotic—there was no mistaking it; they were in the Demon Realm!
The Black Shadow had actually crossed the boundary into the Demon Realm!
Let’s not kid ourselves; the barriers between the continents are rife with natural restrictions and time-space storms, making it a challenge for cultivators to hop between them. Only the top-notch Spirit Boats, protected with strong guardians, could manage it, and even then it was a chore.
The barriers between the realms are even tougher, almost impenetrable!
It had been countless years since the Human Clan and Demon Clan last communicated.
Just to clarify, the Demon Clan is a distinct race, unlike demon cultivators, who are human cultivators practicing demonic arts.
In the original game, the content involving the Demon Realm was scant, with only one side story touching upon it.
However, Yun Zhonghe hadn’t played that storyline out—he merely stumbled across its brief description while browsing online guides. The images attached to those guides also featured a stone cell just like this!
Heck yes! It looked eerily similar to that side quest! He recalled… only Huang Aotian, Mu Jixue, and the female lead with the highest affinity would get captured by the Demon Sovereign in the Spirit Palace.
Once there, players would encounter the Demon Sovereign, a rarely seen character.
Rumor had it that the Demon Sovereign’s character design was drop-dead gorgeous, stunning enough to make anyone weak at the knees. Unfortunately, Yun Zhonghe had only heard whispers of her, never laid eyes on her in the guide.
Still, he wasn’t exactly getting giddy.
The guide also said this segment was ridiculously hard—one slip and you’d be toast! It was a plot k*ll, and even cheating wouldn’t help, as there were no fight sequences—Huang Aotian and the female lead would just perish outright.
The person who posted the guide grinded through over a hundred attempts just to scrape by, truly a champion of perseverance.
Worse, every restart altered the plot k*ll, so there was no way to anticipate anything.
Put simply, it wasn’t just nine lives on the line—it was ninety-nine!
Yun Zhonghe inhaled deeply.
No way, could he possibly be replacing Mu Jixue and marching into this side quest with Su Xiaoxiao?!
No, hang on, that can’t be! After all, the plot was going totally haywire—it could just be coincidence.
He recalled that in this side quest, as soon as they woke up in the stone cell, Demon Clan guards would pop in soon…
“Jijijiji, so you two have finally awakened, Human cultivators.”
Before Yun Zhonghe could finish contemplating, a sinister chuckle echoed, pulling him straight down the rabbit hole of despair.
A figure draped in tattered black robes, barely concealing itself, slowly approached, crimson eyes fixated on both Yun Zhonghe and Su Xiaoxiao.
Demon Clan!
Su Xiaoxiao instinctively held her breath. This was her first encounter with a member of the Demon Clan. They almost resembled humans, but with those bl**d-red eyes and paler skin.
Of course, aside from a few physical differences, the main dissimilarity was in their aura.
Let’s just say, every human could sense something off about the Demon Clan, even without any cultivation of their own.
Su Xiaoxiao vividly remembered her parents scaring her with tales of the Demon Clan when she was a kid, warning her that if she didn’t behave, the demons would come to gobble her up.
Hence, upon sighting a Demon, she instinctively felt a tinge of fear.
