Richard froze when he heard Evan Yang's words. "What do you mean?"
"I don't know why he's so excited, but at least I know he doesn't dislike humans," Evan Yang replied.
"I see. The more I look at you, the more unfathomable you seem," Richard sighed, seeing Evan Yang's disguise, detoxification skills, and multiple attributes.
Evan Yang smiled. "Let's go. Time is limited."
"Yeah, let's go," Richard replied. So Evan Yang and Richard quickly headed toward Sun–Moon Heaven.
Sun–Moon Heaven was a forbidden zone in the snowfield, because a demon lurked here. They disliked any other creatures approaching. As for why the demon with the red mark on its forehead was there, Evan Yang had no clue.
Around dawn, they arrived at the area. There, they saw Moonwater Lake—yet the lake wasn't frozen at all. It was surrounded by forest, strangely odd, with light shining on the water and reflecting back.
"That's odd. Why isn't the water frozen here?" Evan Yang wondered. Richard was just as curious.
So the two walked up to the water's edge, crouched down, and tried to touch the water with their hands.
Zzzzt! The moment they touched it, a surge of electricity jolted them—neither Evan Yang nor Richard was prepared for it.
They quickly withdrew their hands. "Did you feel that?" Evan Yang asked with a frown.
"Yeah, there's electricity in the water," Richard said.
"Right, but could the demon be underwater?" Evan Yang wondered aloud.
"Hard to say, but this lake is weird," Richard replied.
Evan Yang thought for a moment, then activated his own electric current. When he touched the water again, he felt nothing—instead, he could absorb the electricity from the lake. But the current was so weak it didn't do much for Evan Yang; what really piqued his curiosity was where it came from. "What are you doing? Aren't you afraid of getting shocked?" Richard frowned, seeing Evan Yang keep his hand in the water.
"It's fine. Right now we need to figure out how to find the demon with the red mark on its forehead," Evan Yang said.
As Evan Yang talked with Richard, he had already released Phantom Spirit Birds, which scouted the area and sent everything back to his mind.
On the opposite shore, inside a snowdrift in the forest, a figure was sprawled out on the snow, only its eyes visible, watching Evan Yang and Richard from across the lake.
"Strange, no demons ever come here. What are these two doing?" The one hiding in the snow—the demon with the red mark—was spying on Evan Yang and Richard, its whole body covered by snow.
At first, Evan Yang didn't notice anything unusual. The place was so strange that his focus was all on the water, and the trees blocked his divine sense. With everything covered in white, it was hard to spot the demon at all.
But it was different for the Phantom Spirit Birds. After a short while, Evan Yang noticed that his birds had found the demon's tracks—it was still lying there in the snow.
"I think I can find a demon to ask some questions," Evan Yang said with a smile.
"What do you mean?" Richard asked curiously.
Evan Yang told Richard where the demon was hiding. Richard, being faster than Evan Yang, flashed over and appeared right behind the demon.
The demon didn't expect to be discovered and quickly burrowed into the snow.
Evan Yang and Richard were startled—they hadn't expected it to have earth affinity.
"What do we do now?" Richard frowned after the demon disappeared.
"Relax. Watch this," Evan Yang said. Then he flashed and vanished as well.
"?" Richard was left behind, unsure what Evan Yang was trying to do.
Relying on the demon's aura, Evan Yang tunneled underground. The demon never expected one of them would also have earth affinity, so it wasn't moving quickly. It planned to wait below for a while, but Evan Yang suddenly surfaced right below it and went for the capture. The demon was shocked—never expecting someone else could use earth techniques—and immediately tried to escape.
Evan Yang chased after the demon. During the pursuit, he spotted the red mark on its forehead and sneered, "Stop running. You're not fast enough."
"Kid, don't get cocky. With your weak cultivation, you think you can catch me?" the demon sneered back.
Evan Yang was curious—the demon's cultivation was about the same as Harlan's, which should be at the demon emperor level, roughly equal to an emperor. Why did its aura seem so weak?
The demon suddenly burst out from underground and shot into the air. Evan Yang followed, and seeing this, Richard was startled. "What's going on?" he called out.
"He's been hiding his true strength," Evan Yang finally realized. The demon had kept its power hidden until Evan Yang almost caught up, then suddenly got stronger.
"Ha! I thought you two were tough, daring to come to Sun–Moon Heaven. Turns out you haven't even reached the demon emperor level, yet you want to catch me?" the demon snorted.
"We know you're strong, but I want to know who you are and why you're here," Evan Yang said, not revealing their true intentions and trying to confuse the demon.
The demon laughed. "Hey, who I am is none of your business. Seems like I should be asking you, right? Why did you come here for no reason? You're disturbing me."
"I'm just here for fun," Evan Yang replied.
Richard was a bit stunned, but he knew Evan Yang had his reasons, so he stayed quiet.
"Fun? Kid, do you take me for a fool? By the way, what kind of demons are you two? Why can't I see your true forms?" the demon asked slyly.
"True forms?" Evan Yang realized the demon meant their original bodies. Richard laughed, "You won't see our true forms, so don't waste your time."
"Still can't see through you? Playing mysterious," the demon snorted.
"We heard Sun–Moon Heaven was a forbidden land, so we wanted to check it out. That way, we can brag when we get back that we've been here," Evan Yang said with a smile. But he knew the demon must have a reason for staying here—it couldn't be so simple. He wanted to lure the demon into revealing more.
The demon paused, then secretly rejoiced and said, "So that's it. I've been here a few times myself. I've seen everything worth seeing. But if you say this place is forbidden, that's wrong. There are some beautiful sights here, though—really impressive ones."
"Oh? Beautiful sights? Where?" Evan Yang asked with a smile.
"In the lake. The reason the lake doesn't freeze is because there's beautiful scenery below. I've gone down a few times and only seen a bit—it's so big I haven't explored it all. Since you want to see it, I'll take you down for a tour," the demon said with a smile.
Evan Yang and Richard exchanged glances. They both knew this guy was up to no good—the water was clearly electrified, and the demon had gone from questioning them to suddenly offering a tour. At the very least, it meant he was hiding something.
But Evan Yang could use this chance to get closer and look for an opportunity to seal him. Even though the demon had emperor-level strength, as long as he wasn't on guard, Evan Yang still had a shot.
So Evan Yang smiled, "Thanks a lot. Now I can finally brag when I get back."
"Of course. The scenery below is beautiful. Come on, I'll take you down," the demon said with a smile.
Evan Yang and Richard followed. On the way to the water, the demon secretly chuckled, "Forbidden land? You think this is a tourist spot, just come and go as you please. I'll use you as bait and shields—then I can get what I want. Heaven's really helping me out. Last time, Harlan was too cunning and I failed. But these two are so dumb."
If Evan Yang had heard this, he'd finally understand why Harlan turned against him—it was because the demon had used Harlan as bait. But right now, Evan Yang and Richard both knew this demon was up to something, and asked casually about how long he'd lived here.
When they reached the lakeshore, the demon said with a smile, "There's a bit of electricity in the water, so just use your demon shield to protect yourself."
"Demon shield?" Evan Yang had no idea what that was, but Richard explained via sound transmission, "It's like the aura membrane in the human world. Just use your usual method, but add some black mist to the membrane."
Evan Yang understood, so he followed Richard's instructions and formed a demon shield. Richard did the same, and finally the demon. The three of them entered the water.
Strangely, the water was just as bright as the surface—it was almost like nothing changed except for the layer of water.
"Why is there electricity in the water?" Evan Yang asked curiously.
"You mean here? That's because some creatures below carry electricity, like jellyfish and so on," the demon replied simply.
"Jellyfish?" Evan Yang muttered to himself. He'd seen jellyfish before, but in this icy world, it seemed a bit much.
But Evan Yang didn't say anything, just smiled, "So it's jellyfish. I thought something else was affecting the water flow."
"That's why it's one of the wonders here—jellyfish in a snowy lake," the demon said with a smile.
Evan Yang and Richard followed, half-believing, as the demon kept going deeper. They came to an underwater palace—a shocking sight.
Evan Yang and Richard were stunned. The demon smiled, "See? Isn't it beautiful?"
"It's amazing. So Sun–Moon Heaven has wonders like this," Evan Yang exclaimed.
"Of course," the demon replied with a smile.
All around was beautiful scenery. The light from above shone down, making everything dazzling. Pearls embedded everywhere glowed, making the underwater palace even more stunning.
"It's really beautiful," Evan Yang said involuntarily. Richard was shocked as well.
But Evan Yang quickly realized something—such a delicate underwater palace couldn't be natural. It must have been crafted, which meant other creatures had to be here. Yet the demon claimed it was naturally formed.
Evan Yang soon figured out the issue, and asked curiously, "Are there other creatures here?"
The demon hesitated, then quickly smiled, "There are, but they're just little creatures swimming around."
"Then why haven't I seen any?" Evan Yang asked curiously. He hadn't seen any jellyfish or anything like that.
"Oh, they're scared of us, so they hide," the demon said with a smile.
"I see. I really want to see what they look like," Evan Yang said with a smile.
"Alright, come on, I'll show you what they look like," the demon said with a smile, but secretly snorted, "You're volunteering, so don't blame me."