Ming Cigeng was a God Realm powerhouse. With his incredible speed, he was able to instantly appear in the deserted palace with Xiang Shaoyun. The figure in the palace noiselessly vanished, leaving only a dying woman lying on the ground.

With his sharp senses, Ming Cigeng was able to sense the figure. He roared, "Survivor of the Dark Devourer Clan, show yourself!"

Ming Cigeng was incomparably valiant, instantly sealing off the entire area before grabbing at a certain spot. Before the figure could escape, Ming Cigeng captured it. Just as Ming Cigeng was about to drag the figure back, it suddenly self-detonated again.

"You think you can hide from me with this trick? Naive!" Ming Cigeng sneered and waved both his hands, sending the explosion away. Every bit of force generated from the explosion heavily crashed against each other.

A wail rang out in the air as blood bloomed, and then every single drop of blood evaporated.

Ming Cigeng heaved a breath of relief and said, "There is actually a Dark Devourer Clan survivor in our clan. Have they returned? If they have, this will be a much bigger matter."

While Ming Cigeng was deep in thought, Xiang Shaoyun arrived before the woman on the ground. When he sensed that the woman's life force was practically nonexistent, tears dripped out of his eyes uncontrollably. A voice rushed out from the depths of his heart, Mother!

He was able to sense that the woman was his mother. However, he couldn't sense any life in her. An overwhelming sadness rose within him, so much that he couldn't even speak.

Ming Cigeng came before the woman and said regretfully, "The little princess was ambushed by the Dark Devourer Clan!"

"Can she be saved?" asked Xiang Shaoyun as he clenched his teeth.

Ming Cigeng shook his head. "The Dark Devourer Clan can devour all powers of darkness. Everything in the little princess has been devoured, including her heart blood. Not even the Nether Monarch can save her now. My condolences, nineteenth prince."

The confirmation slammed into Xiang Shaoyun's heart like thunder, almost causing him to faint from grief. He could sense that his mother no longer had any life force, but he still harbored some hope. The hope was shattered when a Devil God confirmed that she couldn't be saved.

"No, this can't happen. She hasn't even seen me yet! How can she die? She doesn't have her heart blood anymore, but I have an additional devil heart. I can definitely save her!" said Xiang Shaoyun. He couldn't accept reality and took out the devilblood heart before feeding it to his mother.

"Devilblood heart!" Even Ming Cigeng exclaimed in alarm upon seeing the object in Xiang Shaoyun's hand.

He could sense that this heart was formed of imperial nether blood. He had no idea where Xiang Shaoyun had obtained it. Was it a gift from the Nether Monarch? He did not ask. He believed that even with the devilblood heart, there was still no hope for the little princess.

She was already dead. How could the dead absorb the energy within the devilblood heart? A miracle then unfolded before his eyes. As Xiang Shaoyun's rune pulsed, a certain power rippled out and connected with his mother's rune. Her rune activated, granting her a sliver of life. And with that sliver of life, she started absorbing the devilblood heart's energy.

That sliver of life was only able to take form because the woman was Xiang Shaoyun's kin. Perhaps fate did not intend for his mother's life to end here, which was why he had arrived at such a coincidental timing. If he had come any later, there wouldn't have been any hope for his mother.

"Everything is fine now, prince. Allow the little princess to absorb the heart herself. She will be able to recover with time," said Ming Cigeng.

Xiang Shaoyun could sense his mother's recovery. Thus, he let go of her. However, she was still holding onto him tightly, not willing to let him leave. Xiang Shaoyun did not dare to move for fear of affecting her absorption of the heart. He could also sense an odd sensation coming from the hand holding him.

It was a warm sensation, the same sensation he would feel when his father gently stroked his face during childhood. This was the sensation only one's kin could give. Nobody could replicate the same sensation.

When Ming Cigeng saw that, he had no choice but to stand guard for them. He did not say anything else. His clone had been sent to report to the clan about the Dark Devourer Clan's intrusion. The Dark Devourer Clan's appearance was a major affair, as their return could be disastrous. The Imperial Nether Clan had to handle this with caution.

As one of the four paramount devil clans, the Dark Devourer Clan should also be ruling the Devil Domain alongside the other three clans. Why was the Imperial Nether Clan so hostile to them? In truth, the Dark Devourer Clan was too ambitious. One of their abilities was incredibly powerful, allowing them to devour all powers of darkness and enslave all races.

In the past, the Dark Devourer Clan had only enslaved some lesser devils. However, they were not satisfied with that and had started enslaving the other three paramount devil clans, aiming to become the Devil Domain's sole ruler.

Ultimately, the other three paramount clans joined hands and eliminated the Dark Devourer Clan. From then on, the Dark Devourer Clan vanished from the seven layers of the Devil Domain. However, the three paramount clans had also suffered disastrous losses during the purge.

That was why the surface world had enjoyed peace for so long up until the recent movements of the Diabolic Dragon Clan. The Dark Devourer Clan was feared by even the three other paramount clans. Was the appearance of this one Dark Devourer Clan member a sign that the entire clan was going to reappear as well? Ming Cigeng had a headache just entertaining that possibility.

As for Xiang Shaoyun, he was completely focused on his mother. Beneath the messy hair was a wan and sallow face. From her distinct facial features, he could see that she used to be an incredibly beautiful woman. The rune on her forehead made her look even more enchanting.

If it wasn't for the rune on her forehead, one would think that she really was a human. Xiang Shaoyun rejoiced that his mother looked like this instead of the other ugly devils. Sure, a son shouldn't really care about his mother's appearance, but he couldn't help but worry that they would look too different from each other since his mother was of a completely different species.