The room is vast yet restrained, built to impress without overwhelming.
A grand chandelier hangs from the high ceiling, its branches forged from pale gold metal, each arm holding a polished light stone that glows softly instead of burning. The light is steady, warm, and shadowless, illuminating every corner evenly.
The walls are made of flawless white marble, smooth as water-worn stone, veined faintly like frozen mist. Thin golden borders run along the edges of the walls, tracing the geometry of the room with precise elegance. Between those borders hang large paintings—murals rather than simple art—depicting various demon beasts.
Ancient dragons coil through storm clouds.
Nine-tailed foxes stand beneath crimson moons.
Great apes wade through seas of blood.
Light Peacocks spread radiant wings that seem almost alive under the chandelier's glow.
Each painting carries a faint aura, not aggressive, but dignified, as if the beasts depicted are observing rather than threatening.
A long table of white crystal marble divides the room.
Veena sits on one side, posture straight, hands resting calmly on the armrests of her chair.
Across from her sits Soraya.
Soraya leans back slightly, one leg crossed over the other, her golden hair cascading down her shoulder like liquid light. Her eyes, sharp and observant, rest on Veena with open curiosity rather than hostility.
Soraya speaks first.
"How is Kaelan?"
The question lands cleanly.
Another one.
Another being in the world who knows Kaelan's true identity.
Veena answers without hesitation.
"He is as he should be," she says.
"Teaching the Wizard Way."
Soraya nods slowly.
She has heard of it.
From a distance, she listened to Kaelan's first and second preachings, observing how mortal minds reacted to unfamiliar truths, how mana behaved differently from Qi, how the foundations of cultivation were being questioned.
But she did not follow that path.
Wizard cultivation, as it stands, has not reached the Divine Mind stage.
And for someone like her, that matters.
Soraya is from the Light Peacock Clan, one of the noble demon beast races. Her blood purity exceeds eighty per cent—high enough that advancement is not a matter of chance, but of time.
Her life origin was once damaged.
Now it is repaired.
With her bloodline, her talent, and her restored foundation, no one can stop her from stepping into the Divine Mind Realm in the coming years.
Why abandon a proven path for one that has not yet reached its destination?
She looks at Veena again.
"What does the Wizard Academy want from me?" Soraya asks.
Veena meets her gaze directly.
"A Blood Asura Monkey has entered your Demon Market."
For the first time since Veena entered the room, Soraya pauses.
It is brief.
But it is real.
"A Blood Asura Monkey," Soraya repeats softly.
"One of them is willing to come out of the Blood Lake…"
The Blood Lake lies at the western edge of the continent, a place soaked in ancient slaughter and cursed evolution, where only the most violent and resilient bloodline demons survive.
Veena does not look away.
Soraya continues, tone neutral once more.
"The Demon Market does not bar entry to anyone," she says.
"So it is possible that it entered."
Veena speaks again, voice steady.
"That Blood Asura Monkey was following Kaelan's student," she says.
"And it injured one of Kaelan's dependent crows."
Soraya's eyebrows lift slightly.
"Oh?" she says.
"Really."
Her expression is one of mild surprise—but Veena cannot tell whether it is genuine or performed.
Veena does not push.
She states her purpose plainly.
"We request that you inform us," Veena says,
"If the Demon Palace intends to take action against us."
The room is quiet.
The chandelier glows.
The painted demon beasts watch.
Soraya studies Veena for several long seconds.
Then she nods once.
"I will," she says.
No promises beyond that.
No explanations.
But the acknowledgement itself is enough.
Veena rises from her seat.
Soraya does not stop her.
Veena turns and walks toward the exit, her footsteps echoing softly against the marble floor.
Behind her, Soraya watches in silence.
The Wizard Way has reached the ears of the Demon Palace.
And now—
It is no longer ignored.
After Veena walks out of the mansion, the door on the opposite side of the room opens soundlessly.
A beautiful woman enters.
Her steps are unhurried, her presence quiet yet absolute, as if the space itself yields to her without resistance. She wears simple robes, unadorned, but every line of her body carries a subtle authority that no ornament could enhance.
She walks to the seat Veena occupied moments ago and sits down casually.
Without asking, she lifts the teacup Veena left behind.
She takes a sip.
"Nice tea," she says.
Soraya does not turn immediately.
Her gaze remains on the far wall for a heartbeat longer than necessary.
"The Wizard Academy knows the Demon Palace has entered their territory," Soraya says.
The woman waves a hand dismissively.
"They won't pay much attention," she replies.
"They believe they've only discovered Dan."
Soraya finally turns to look at her.
"Are you sure," Soraya asks carefully, "that they only discovered Dan?"
The woman smiles faintly.
"They would never be able to discover me," she says.
"I entered the market through the underground water channels."
Soraya nods slowly.
That explains the confidence.
Kaelan's crow monitors the world from the sky, and the waterviens are underground.
Soraya's expression tightens.
"Then tell me," she says, voice lower now, "why the Palace Master of the Demon Palace came here in hiding."
The woman leans back in her chair, resting one arm along the marble armrest.
"The Demon Temple has begun acting strangely," she says.
"And some noble clans within the Night Council have started moving closer to them."
Soraya freezes.
Her pupils contract slightly.
The room feels colder.
"The Demon Temple…" Soraya says slowly.
The Demon Temple and the Demon Palace have never been allies.
At best, they tolerate each other.
At worst—
She inhales sharply.
"You shouldn't be telling me this," Soraya says.
"You should go to the clan leader."
The woman turns her head and looks at Soraya directly for the first time.
"I am," she says calmly,
"telling the future leader of the Light Peacock Clan."
Soraya's breath catches.
Her eyes widen.
She stares at the woman—at Ariel, the Palace Master of the Demon Palace.
"Do you know what you're saying?" Soraya asks.
Ariel tilts her head slightly, studying her.
"Do you not want revenge?" Ariel asks softly.
Soraya's fingers tighten against the armrest.
"With your current power," Ariel continues, "you may never obtain it."
She pauses.
"And if Serina becomes clan leader," Ariel adds, "she will never let you go."
The name hangs heavy in the air.
Soraya remains silent.
Memories surface unbidden.
A broken life origin.
A stolen position.
A verdict was passed without trial.
A clan that chose purity and politics over justice.
She says nothing.
Several seconds pass.
She wants to agree.
The offer is tempting—too tempting.
But Soraya has survived long enough to know that eagerness is weakness.
She lifts her chin slightly.
"Don't you know where I am?" she says.
"With Master Kong here, would they dare to attack me?"
Ariel's lips curve, the smile light but cutting.
"Friendship dwarfs in front of interest," she replies.
"And I don't believe you are as close to Master Kong as rumour claims."
Soraya remains still, but inwardly she acknowledges the accuracy of the statement.
Kaelan helped her only because of an old favour.
There is no friendship.
No loyalty.
No binding tie.
Outsiders imagine closeness—because that illusion benefits them.
But Soraya knows better.
She meets Ariel's gaze.
"If I agree to take your help," she says quietly, "what would you require of me?"
Ariel leans forward ever so slightly.
Her presence shifts—subtle and intoxicating, like a scent one notices only after it has already taken hold. A wave of allure moves through the air, brushing against Soraya's defences.
Soraya suppresses it, but her pulse beats a fraction faster.
Ariel gives a small, knowing smile.
"I want to meet Master Kong," she says.
"Alone."
Soraya's eyes widen.
In an instant, she understands.
Ariel seeks to seduce him.
And with her nature, she might succeed.
Ariel is the lone Heavenly Rose species—an innate demon lineage akin to the Four Gods.
Though her priesthood is incomplete, she carries the fragment of Desire.
She does not merely inspire longing.
She embodies it.
Soraya asks, voice steady only through effort:
"You intend to seduce him?"
Ariel's smile does not change.
"That is not your concern," she says softly.
"Only whether you accept the proposal."
Soraya exhales slowly.
She is not naïve.
If Ariel seeks Kaelan, she seeks influence.
Power.
Perhaps protection.
Perhaps a foothold.
Or perhaps something far more strategic.
"I agree," Soraya says at last, "but it must wait. Master Kong is not present in the Tang Kingdom."
Ariel's eyes gleam.
"I can wait," she says.
"Can you?"
Before Soraya can respond, Ariel's form dissolves.
She bursts—not violently, but gracefully—into a cascade of floating rose petals. They swirl through the chamber, carrying a faint fragrance that presses against one's inner desires, tempting, whispering.
Then the petals fade.
Silence returns.
Soraya stands alone in the marble hall, the golden chandelier reflecting in her widened eyes.
The fragrance lingers.
And so does the question.
Can she wait?