I Became the Devil Queen's Heart Demon

Chapter 1285 - 493: The Empress’s Cultivation! The Princess’s Night Raid! (Part 2)

Gazing at the breathtaking scene, Chen Mo felt a spellbinding dizziness. Steadying himself, he said, "Next, I will guide the Purple Extreme Qian Yuan into your meridians. You must carefully sense the cultivation route and then try to activate the Heavenly Shining Seal, merging the Taiyin Geng Metal with it... The process may be somewhat uncomfortable, are you ready, Your Majesty?"

"Re-ready!" The Empress nodded nervously.

The next moment, her body suddenly stiffened, gasping in a cold breath, her complexion turning slightly pale.

She only felt an overwhelmingly powerful force surge into her body, rushing incessantly through her meridians. The intense pain made her tremble uncontrollably.

"Now, activate the Heavenly Shining Seal!" Chen Mo instructed.

The Empress barely managed to focus her mind as the Seal Platform appeared out of thin air. Golden spiritual energy gushed out, following the operational route, gradually blending with the Purple Dragon Qi.

The pain gradually dissipated, replaced by a feeling beyond words... Under the influence of the two forces, her body seemed to undergo some unknown change, her consciousness becoming blurred, as if floating lightly among the clouds.

"It’s alright..."

Seeing that she had no rejection reaction, Chen Mo finally relaxed his tense nerves.

Although the Empress had no cultivation, her resilience was astonishing, and her compatibility with Dragon Qi was not much weaker than that of the Princess. With some time to adapt, she should be able to attempt to merge with Dragon Blood.

"Speaking of which, Her Majesty’s root bone is not weak either. With her background, she naturally lacks neither cultivation techniques nor resources. I wonder why she has not stepped onto the path of cultivation?"

Chen Mo couldn’t help but feel a bit puzzled, but he didn’t think much about it and immersed himself in cultivation.

...

...

At this moment, chaos reigned in the Eastern Royal Palace.

The palace walls had collapsed, the ground had cracked, and a long, narrow fissure ran through Cangzhen Gate, extending far into the distance.

Under Eunuch Jin’s arrangement, the assistant officers of the Internal Affairs Office, holding torches, ran around recording the extent of damage to each palace, to hand over to the Ministry of Construction the next day for repair plans.

If only the structure was damaged but the core remained, repairs could be made based on the existing foundation.

If the damage was too severe, requiring complete reconstruction of a palace, many issues would arise.

This included Ministry of Revenue funding allocation, setting up a construction office, procuring materials, and graded repairs... Due to the sheer number of craftsmen entering the palace, the Guard Camp would also need to be deployed for temporary control.

Imagining these troublesome matters made Eunuch Jin’s head ache.

Seeing Sun Senior Palace Lady not far away, busy tallying the financial losses, he walked over and whispered, "Senior Palace Lady, do you know what happened here? This earthquake reeks of mystery..."

During the day, when he and Chen Mo passed by Cangzhen Gate, there was quite a disturbance. Chen Mo even discovered a large number of what seemed to be Demon-breaking Stones buried beneath the Eastern Royal Palace, and now this happens the very same evening...

No matter how you look at it, it doesn’t seem like a coincidence.

Sun Senior Palace Lady was also full of doubt, hesitantly saying, "The Crown Prince didn’t say, and I don’t know either, but I always feel this isn’t a good omen, and bigger troubles might follow."

Lately, the Empress’ state had clearly been off, she must be hiding something.

But since the master didn’t say anything, she, as a servant, shouldn’t ask too much.

"Senior Palace Lady Sun, Eunuch Jin."

At this time, a clear voice came from behind.

The two turned their heads to see Chu Yanli standing with her hands behind her back, her crimson skirt swaying in the wind, like flames burning in the night.

"Princess!"

"Greetings, Your Highness!"

Sun Senior Palace Lady and Eunuch Jin hurriedly knelt and saluted.

"Rise." Chu Yanli gestured with a handwave, her eyes scanning the surroundings as she said, "I’ve been in closed-door cultivation all day. What happened here after I left?"

Sun Senior Palace Lady replied, "It was reportedly a sudden earthquake..."

"Earthquake?" Chu Yanli raised an eyebrow, "Why would it occur just at the Eastern Royal Palace and nowhere else?"

Sun Senior Palace Lady shook her head, saying, "The exact reason is unknown, my lady. We’ll have to wait for the Clearing Official Department to investigate and determine responsibility tomorrow."

Chu Yanli didn’t trouble her further, turning to ask, "What are the casualty statistics?"

"The tremor only lasted for half a stick of incense before stopping, and it caused no human casualties."

"However..."

Sun Senior Palace Lady paused slightly, continuing, "Cheng’en Palace sustained considerable damage, with almost half collapsing. Yet, despite this, the Xuan Armor Guards remain on strict watch, preventing others from inspecting the damage, calling it an imperial decree..."

Cheng’en Palace is the Crown Prince’s residence. In such a scenario, the first priority should be ensuring the Crown Prince’s safety. This response is distinctly unusual.

Chu Yanli didn’t look surprised by this.

Having learned Wu Lie was not in the palace, she had surmised the Crown Prince must have been taken away too.

The guards left behind were merely to keep up appearances.

"By the way, what about the Empress? Was she affected?" Chu Yanli asked.

Sun Senior Palace Lady said, "Her Highness is fine, she’s bathing in the Xuanqing Pool right now."

"Good, I’ll go check on her." With that, Chu Yanli turned and left.

"Safe journeys, Your Highness."

They bowed again.

When lifting their heads, Chu Yanli had already vanished.

Eunuch Jin rubbed his chin, looking thoughtful.

Did he have an illusion? The Princess seemed somewhat different...

The Princess used to emit a powerful aura, like a volcano on the brink of eruption, with an oppressive presence, yet now there was a newfound gentleness and restraint, as if transformed.

"Her Highness..."

"Seems to have grown even stronger."

...

...

Chu Yanli’s figure flickered, and in the blink of an eye, she arrived beside the Xuanqing Pool.

Only yesterday did she return to the palace and fully awaken, but unease lingered in her heart.

Throughout, she had always admired Chen Mo, even proposing him to be the Prince Consort more than once, yet it had been merely a tactic against Wu Lie with no intent of genuine involvement.

After all, that man was claimed by Chan’er, and doing so would mean undermining her sister.

Moreover, Chan’er was fiercely protective, guarding Lin Jingzhu closely. If she found out, she might never speak to her again.

But now things had reached this point; avoidance was futile. After a day of reflection, Chu Yanli decided it was time to speak face to face.

"No matter if she hits or scolds me, I’ll accept it. But after absorbing the Dragon Blood, the bond between Chen Mo and me is unbreakable, an undeniable truth beyond anyone’s change."

Chu Yanli took a deep breath, pushing the door and stepping into the bath.

The air was thick with mist and a hint of a familiar scent.

Vaguely, she could see the Empress leaning against the pool’s edge, eyes vacant, trembling slightly, surrounded by purple and gold light.

"That’s... Dragon Qi?"

"How is it Chan’er has such a formidable aura?!"

Chu Yanli was momentarily stunned, stepping closer.

Upon clearer sight of the pool’s scene, she froze like a statue.

"Chen... Chen Mo?! What is this..."

"..."

Chen Mo frowned slightly.

Before Chu Yanli entered the bath, he had sensed her presence. However, with the Empress’s cultivation at a crucial stage, disconnecting was not an option, and he didn’t expect she’d walk in unannounced.

"I’m cultivating, can’t you see?" Chen Mo said irritably. "Who told you to come in? Get out immediately!"

"Who cultivates like this? You’ve gone astray!"

"Furthermore, Chan’er doesn’t even have cultivation, how could she..."

Halfway through speaking, realization dawned on Chu Yanli, exclaiming, "You plan to transform her body with Dragon Blood like mine to have your way?"

Chen Mo’s mouth twitched.

Please, who’s controlling whom here?

Yesterday, using Dragon Blood as an excuse, this woman did whatever she pleased, nearly exhausting him...

Realizing what Chen Mo was doing, Chu Yanli’s eyes lit up, her heart pounding.

She had been fretting over how to explain to the Empress, but now everything was crystal clear!

"As long as Chan’er becomes like me, serving Chen Mo, wouldn’t everything fall into place?"

With a splash—

Chu Yanli stepped directly into the bath.

Chen Mo asked, perplexed, "What are you doing?"

Chu Yanli blushed like a peach, a rare allure in her eyes, softly saying, "Have you forgotten what I said to you at the Chen Mansion? Chan’er is the first wife and I’m the concubine. Since my elder sister is cultivating, it’s natural for me, as the younger sister, to cheer you on from the back~"

Chen Mo: ???