"Yeah, yeah, I get it. But even the Medicine Immortal can't work miracles every time! If you actually manage to heal Nolan Nangong and the others, I'll owe you big—I'd have to peel my own skin for you!" Evan Chu laughed, half-joking, half-serious.
"Boss, you don't have to roast me like that! It's not like I can just conjure up a cure. Still, I have faith—I'll be waiting for you to bring back that Soul Mushroom. Let's see if you've really got what it takes to get it out of the Demonic Realm!" Gavin Wei rolled his eyes at Evan Chu, refusing to let him have the last word.
"Alright, you two, that's enough. The Immortal–Demon War is finally over, but there's still a ton of aftermath to handle. Evan, as supreme commander, you need to take charge of the big picture. So many have fallen—it's up to you to make sure their families are properly cared for." Lynn Ling cut in, her voice firm and direct.
"Lynn's right. I don't have time to just stand around here. Gavin, you stay and look after Nolan Nangong and the others. Everyone else, come with me—let's go survey the losses from this war." Evan Chu gave his orders with no-nonsense authority.
With that, everyone left the command tent. Evan Chu soared into the sky, looking down to see corpses of soldiers scattered everywhere. The sight made his heart tremble—this war had truly treated life as worthless. "Go tally up the casualties. Anyone severely wounded gets help returning to the Immortal Realm, the lightly wounded can make their own way back," he commanded.
After half a day, the statistics came in. In this Immortal–Demon War, over two million soldiers had died—about 1.7 million Immortal soldiers and over 900,000 immortal beasts. More than a million were severely wounded. Every single number was enough to chill the heart.
Evan Chu glanced at his special squad—though only thirty strong, they'd slaughtered nearly 200,000 Demonic Realm troops. The number was staggering. But even so, thirteen of his own had died, and five were gravely wounded in this war.
"Even though our Immortal Realm won this war, the cost was brutal. The fallen soldiers are to be buried right here, and their names recorded. If they have family, make sure they're cared for. If not, so be it. Once the burials are done, the army will officially return home." Evan Chu's voice rang out, resolute and commanding.
It took another full day to bury all the dead on the battlefield. Every surviving soldier was weighed down with grief; though they'd won, many of the fallen were their close friends, sworn brothers, or family. Seeing their bones buried here, one could only imagine the pain in their hearts.
The next day, the army marched back to their respective cities. The rest of the postwar affairs were handed over to each city lord. Evan Chu sent Goldwing to carry Yvonne Xuan, Gavin Wei, Selena, and the others back to Frostbane Imperial Palace, while he, Lynn Ling, and the Emerald Immortal Empress stayed behind.
Evan Chu knew the war-gate into the Demonic Realm would stay open for only about half a month—half that time was already gone. That meant he, Lynn Ling, and Jade had just seven days left to operate inside before the entrance closed, or else they'd have to force their way back through the barrier—a nearly impossible feat.
Within this narrow time window, they had to both locate Selena’s sealed soul in the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons and track down Soul Mushroom to save their crippled comrades.
The next morning, Evan, Lynn, and Jade stepped through the entrance into the Demonic Realm. Instantly, Lynn and Jade felt severe discomfort: there was no Immortal Essence here, only demonic qi that instinctively repelled their bodies.
Evan asked if they could adapt. If not, he suggested they might need to stay near the entrance. He was confident Jade could manage, since she had experience condensing Nether qi on her body, but he worried about Lynn.
Lynn, however, insisted they could adapt quickly—just as the demonic army needed time to adjust to Immortal Essence when invading the Immortal Realm. She and Jade were both top experts and believed they could acclimate in short order.
Evan accepted this and continued deeper with them, remarking that the Demonic Realm was utterly unfamiliar territory and that they had no idea where the Abyss of Ten Thousand Demons lay. Their best chance to gather information on both the Abyss and Soul Mushroom was to infiltrate a demonic city.
They flew forward at high speed without using full teleportation, giving the two women time to acclimate to the new environment. Evan secretly activated the Star-Siphon Method to draw a layer of demonic qi over his body, making his aura even denser than most local demons.
To outsiders, he appeared as a powerful native of the Demonic Realm, greatly easing their infiltration. Lynn and Jade were openly envious of his ability to disguise himself so seamlessly.
Evan did this even though, strictly speaking, he didn’t need to—by activating Darkshift, he could convert his body to darkness element and simulate a demonic aura without directly absorbing demonic qi, since demonic qi is essentially one type of dark element. He simply didn’t think of this application in the moment.
After half a day of flight, they finally saw a massive city in the distance. By now, both women had largely adapted to the demonic environment; Jade had even managed to condense visible demonic qi on her body, making her look like a native and eliminating obvious flaws.
After half a day of flying, the three finally saw a massive city looming ahead. By this point, Lynn Ling and Jade had almost fully adapted to the Demonic Realm’s environment. Jade had even managed to gather enough demonic qi around herself that she looked just like a native—no one could spot any flaws.
But Lynn Ling still couldn’t condense demonic qi; every time she tried, the Immortal Essence in her body would instinctively scatter it. After so many failed attempts, she was left completely frustrated.
“Lynn, demonic qi is just another form of powerful energy. You need to understand it, communicate with its nature. Once you grasp its properties, you’ll be able to absorb and use it like any other force. But right now, without a demonic aura, you can’t enter the city. Better stay outside and practice my method. I’ll leave a strand of divine sense on you—once you succeed, I’ll know, and you can come find us.” Evan Chu instructed.
“Got it. You two go ahead. Just be careful—this is the Demonic Realm, not the Immortal Realm. Don’t go stirring up trouble or attracting the wrong kind of attention!” Lynn Ling warned.
Soon, Evan Chu and Jade arrived at the city gates. Entry required Magic Stones, but neither of them had any. “Jade, wait here for me. I’ll go get some Magic Stones,” Evan said.
With that, Evan Chu activated Lightshift, dissolving into pure light and vanishing from sight. He slipped into the city, found a remote alley, ambushed and killed two Demonic Realm cultivators, looted their Magic Stones, and burned their corpses to ash with Heavenfire to erase all traces.
In the Demonic Realm, Magic Stones are used for cultivation and as currency, just like Immortal Stones in the Immortal Realm and Netherstones in the Netherworld.
Evan quickly reappeared at Jade’s side, handed over the Magic Stones, and together they finally stepped into this unfamiliar demonic city to begin their search for Selena and the Soul Mushroom…