At the Heavenly Demon Imperial Residence, no one had made any breakthroughs for now. Wu Yu took a casual glance and did not think he had the means either. This golden eye was made of some unknown material, and carved with ancient writings that vaguely formed spirit designs. It seemed unlikely that brute strength alone could open the golden eye.

Wu Yu reckoned that a key of some sorts would be needed.

Therefore, many of the demons were looking for a suitable answer as well.

Anyone not of the demon king level would alert the other demon kings if they approached the golden eye. Therefore, only the demon kings had a good shot at cracking the eye.

The Black Hornet Demon King and the Seven Ape Kings were all there. In order to avoid conflict and trouble, Wu Yu left the golden eye's area first.

Like the other demons, he wanted to see the other facets of the Heavenly Demon Imperial Residence, to find out if there was a way in. Although it was said that the Heavenly Demon Imperial Residence was completely sealed, Wu Yu wished to determine that for himself.

And waiting around for Nangong Wei, who might show up, was also his intention. But after he arrived, Wu Yu felt that it would not be a bad thing if he found the way to enter himself.

As he came to the side of Heavenly Demon Imperial Residence, and followed the wall towards the riverbank mud pools, he noticed that many of the exploring demons did not dare to near the black walls of the Heavenly Demon Imperial Residence, but only looked from afar.

Wu Yu felt that this was odd. He used his Eyes of Fire and Gold, but he saw nothing out of place. Therefore, he sent out one Unshackled Doppelganger to approach the wall. When it was about 10 zhang from the wall, beams of golden light burst out and tore the clone to bits before vanishing!

"So there is a spirit design!" Wu Yu exclaimed.

"No wonder the demon kings are only looking to enter through the golden eye. There is a spirit design that attacks any who come near."

In that moment, Wu Yu had seen the shape of the golden lights. They looked like golden snakes, but they each had a horn on their head of about seven cun[1] and golden arms and claws to match. Although he had only caught a glimpse of them, the golden snakes appeared savage.

Of course, they were not life forms, but the manifestation of the spirit design's power. On closer look, the black wall was covered in ancient runes and spirit designs that were incomprehensible. These spirit designs covered the walls of the Heavenly Demon Imperial Residence and stopped the demons from approaching.

"Just look from afar, but don't go near. Last time, I saw the Eight Pupils Bull Demon King's Dao Querying demon subordinate called Old Lone Horn approach in curiosity. He was torn to bits. And Old Lone Horn was a second tier Dao Querying demon!"

After Wu Yu tested with the Unshackled Doppelganger, he heard a demon some distance away warning another unknown demon.

Most of the demons were heartless, and the newcomers who received no warning perished. Many of the demons who had witnessed this did not spread the news. This caused even more deaths by the Heavenly Demon Imperial Residence's spirit design.

The golden eye's door was not yet broken and the perimeter walls could not be approached. That was why no one had been able to break in for over two months.

However, Wu Yu did not give up. He used his Spirit Penetration Art to examine the ancient and complicated spirit designs. His Primordial Spirit was oddly stopped outside, where it could only contact the spirit design. It was not very effective, but this raised the respect in Wu Yu's heart. Because he saw that the true spirit design was hidden within the black walls. There was a sheet of gold as wide as an ocean of gold, and in this sea of gold, there were billions of the horned and clawed golden snakes!

If they all rushed out, perhaps all the demons here, including the demon kings, would be unable to escape. Even if the Full Moon of Nanshan used his camouflage, he might not be able to escape. Wu Yu, however, stood a chance.

Perhaps no one else knew the true power of the Heavenly Demon Imperial Residence's Defensive Spirit Designs.

Wu Yu continued to descend deeper, entering the mud. He continued to keep his 10 zhang distance from the Heavenly Demon Imperial Residence and kept up his inspection of the ancient and complicated spirit design.

He knew that it was impossible for him to see through this spirit design, but at least he was looking for a flaw. Therefore, he planned to circle the entire Heavenly Demon Imperial Residence once before doing anything else.

But this was taking a lot of time.

As Wu Yu sank into the mud, he could feel a very firm lake bed. Much of the Heavenly Demon Imperial Residence was below this sturdy lake bed.

He was already very deep, and there were not many demons here. But the Heavenly Demon Imperial Residence's Defensive Spirit Designs were still present, and completely impermeable. Once life neared, they flared to murderous life mercilessly.

Wu Yu was lost in the magnitude of this spirit design, while the Full Moon of Nanshan and Ye Xixi found it boring.

Many of the demons were of the same mind. They had come in bursting with heroic enthusiasm, but as time dragged on and the Heavenly Demon Imperial Residence showed no signs of being able to be searched, their boredom began to grow. The only reason why they still lingered was in hopes of a miracle. If the Heavenly Demon Imperial Residence magically opened, they might be able to get something.

"Defensive Spirit Designs of this level are already very valuable. I feel like the creator basically made it as if it were a dao treasure. If it were a dao treasure, it would probably be at the seraphic dao treasure level," Ming Long said after some time.

"If it's that valuable, why don't the demon lords come?" Wu Yu wondered.

"Don't be naive. They might be nearby, just hiding themselves from you. They would definitely have come to see such relics. They might be the ones who find the way to dispel this. There might even be those from the Yan Huang Ancient Region who come over after hearing the news."

It seemed like Wu Yu himself had underestimated the Heavenly Demon Imperial Residence.

"A relic of this level suddenly emerging after thousands of years is a major affair for the entire Jambu Realm. The impact of it is absolutely greater than you can imagine. I suspect that the demon lords not appearing publicly is because they are consciously trying to downplay its significance so that other demons and those outside of the Nanyin Demon Continent do not come," Ming Long asserted with conviction.

"Why do you say that?"

"The demon kings are all shocked and holed up at the Ancient Demon Lake. They haven't found a way in after a month. If you change the word ‘king’ with ‘lord,’ the shock value increases greatly. It would attract many elite martial cultivators from the outside world."

That made sense.

Wu Yu had also been attracted here because he had heard of the demon kings being stumped, testament that the Heavenly Demon Imperial Residence was something special. If news that even the demon lords themselves were stumped, then interest in the Heavenly Demon Imperial Residence would definitely rise drastically.

"Look more carefully and you might reap great gains. For example, your Floating Dreams Pagoda. It seems like it must be a seraphic dao treasure, and a very elite one at that. Perhaps one of the best in the mortal world, I think."

"Indeed."

The Dignified Trident Elemental's appearance in the Floating Dreams Pagoda meant that it was not just an advanced dao treasure.

Although it could only speed time twofold, that had saved Wu Yu much time already. It would definitely increase in the future! After all, Wu Yu had once experienced the time warping ability of the Floating Dreams Pagoda.

"Watch out!"

While they were talking, Wu Yu suddenly sensed imminent danger! The Full Moon of Nanshan was in his concealed state, and turned fortuitously to Wu Yu's back. Therefore, he detected danger approaching. Someone was attacking them!

This was in the depths of the mud banks, and it was difficult to see far through the mud. Therefore, their field of vision was hampered. However, Wu Yu's Eyes of Fire and Gold swept backwards, and he immediately saw the demons responsible!

They were a bunch of huge bat demons! There were eight of them! The bats' bodies were mostly black, but covered in blue lines that glowed threateningly. Bats were already scary life forms. After turning into demons, they would become even more demented and have a strong stench of blood about them.

Besides the blue lines, they were different from ordinary bats because of the horns on their heads, which looked like deer, or even dragon horns. They also had a few blue dragon scales on their bodies, and they emitted deep growls that were like a dragon's. These might be mystical dragons with bat bodies!

And all of these demons were very powerful - they might even be rulers in the Nanyin Demon Continent! And they were definitely the strongest of their tribe.

Ming Long recognized the demons and warned Wu Yu, "These are blue-blooded dragon bats. Be careful of their venom."

It was not that they had blue markings on their bodies, but that those parts of their torsos were transparent, allowing one to see the blue blood within. Blue-blooded demons were rare.

Because Wu Yu had discovered them, their ambush had been rendered useless. Therefore, they stopped the sneak attack, but instead surrounded Wu Yu from all directions.

Wu Yu turned to the largest blue-blooded dragon bat, who was assumedly the leader. He looked at Wu Yu with a cold, bloodthirsty gleam in his eyes.

"Blue-blooded dragon bats? Seems like you wish to do me harm?" Wu Yu opened with an equally chilly gaze.

The leader of the blue-blooded dragon bats said, "Aye, we recognized you. The one who the Seven Ape Kings placed the bounty on. I also heard that you and Nangong Wei are not together, and you're not affiliated with the one behind her either. After the Six Arms Demon Ape died, people saw you two part ways. Therefore, from the intelligence I have gathered, you're a ripe target. The Seven Ape Kings' bounty is bountiful indeed."

1. 1 cun = 3.333 cm or 1.312 inches