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Venerate Spirit Treasure left the phone with Red Demon and the former Demon Emperor’s contact information with Ye Zichen. 

In his own words, he had no use for it. If Ye Zichen was worried about being unable to contact him, he could just give him a new phone.

After leaving the phone behind, Venerate Spirit Treasure left.

Ye Zichen looked at the phone and two demons’ chat logs, then wondered if he ought to send them a message or not.

But then, they were almost certainly busy at the moment!

Meanwhile, in the Demon Realm….

After using Blood Explosion to escape the imperial lords’ encirclement, Kui Lin’s half-soul body crouched in an ancient tree. His eyes were tightly shut, and his soul form was enshrouded in demonic energy. A new fleshly body was forming nonstop around his soul.

Logically speaking, after using Blood Explosion, it was impossible to create a new fleshly body so quickly.

Kui Lin hadn’t learned any secret arts pertaining to reforging bodies either. He was relying entirely upon his cultivation to nourish his new body, even expending his origin in the process.

“I would never have guessed that the Emperor Star had such an expert by his side,” said Kui Lin in his half formed state. After using up almost half of his origin, his face was as white as paper, and his cultivation had dropped significantly. However, there was nothing for it; the demons were in no way united, and although it had been tens of thousands of years since he’d climbed his way onto the throne, many old fossils of the demon race still took his predecessor as their leader. There were many who refused to believe that the former Demon Emperor had fallen.

During Kui Lin’s time in power, those old fogies refused to obey his rules, and in private, they fought him and his allies with some regularity.

If he returned as nothing but a soul, those old farts might very well kill him openly. Kui Lin had no choice but to recreate his physical body before his return. Then, even if the disobedient elders sensed his weakness, they’d still fear him at least a little.

Expending his origin cost him his cultivation, but his life mattered more!

As for the “debt” he now owed Ye Zichen? So long as he was alive, he’d have a chance to get even sooner or later!

Demon Emperor Kui Lin took several medicines, and his aura started to stabilize.

“Your Excellency.” Suddenly, two mighty experts with surging auras emerged beyond the tree. Kui Lin stretched out his divine sense to investigate, and it was only after confirming that these were his trusted confidantes that he emerged.

When the two experts saw his pallid complexion, they rushed over in panic. “Your Excellency, you…”

“Minor injuries, that’s all, nothing to worry about!” Kui Lin waved away their concern. “Has anything changed within the Demon Realm? While I was away, those fogies didn’t cross any lines, did they?”

These two confidantes were imperial lords, and Kui Lin had deliberately left them here as his informants to keep an eye on those old farts.

To his surprise, when they heard Kui Lin’s questions, both retainers fell silent, but the bitterness in their expression surpassed what words could convey.

“What happened?” Kui Lin was instantly serious. Those old fogies were crafty as could be, but even though he’d been out of the Demon Realm lately, he’d dispatched numerous elites. There was no way those old guys could stir up civil unrest in his absence.

Could it be that the Gu Family had come looking for trouble?

There was no way they’d come so quickly, right?

“Tell me! What exactly has happened?” Kui Lin asked frantically.

His two imperial lord subordinates gnashed their teeth, then said quietly, “The former Demon Emperor has returned.”

“What!?” Kui Lin’s pupils instantly constricted.

His subordinates' expressions darkened as they said, “Three days ago, he returned to the Demon Realm without warning. Those who remained loyal to him have pushed him back onto the throne. As for you… Although our people fought back with all their might, the former Demon Emperor’s prestige is just too much.”

“Get to the point!”

“You’ve been dethroned!”

……

……

……

Early morning.

Ye Zichen had the Imperial Crown of the Five Elements on his head, and he sat in his courtyard contemplating the five elements of heaven and earth. He was now entirely enshrouded in elemental power. After a full seventy-two major revolutions, he opened his eyes and let out a turbid breath. Then, he gently shook his head. Even with the crown’s support, the concentration of elemental essences was a far cry from what it would be with the essence spirits at his side. The power was just too sparse. 

“You’re done?” Xiao Yumei chuckled and walked over with a damp cloth. Ye Zichen accepted it, wiped his face, then draped the cloth over the pagoda’s railing.

He reached out and took XIao Yumei’s hand. “Why didn’t you call out to me?”

“I only just got here,” she said with a broad smile. She took out her phone and passed it to Ye Zichen. “I just got a message. Take a look….”

Because of their relationship with Ye Zichen, the great emperors had joined forces to promote cell phone use, and the effects were readily apparent.

It had been less than half a year, but cell phones were practically ubiquitous already. At least ninety percent of the God Realm’s cultivators had grown accustomed to cell phones, while roughly seventy percent of yao and demons had taken to them as well.

The ubiquity of cell phones made it far easier for Ye Zichen and his allies to gather information. Ye Zichen accepted the phone from Xiao Yumei, glanced at the screen, and was immediately greeted with an update on the Demon Realm.

 【The Former Demon Emperor has left seclusion and reclaimed his throne. Demon Emperor Kui Lin is no longer in power.】

When Ye Zichen saw this, he couldn’t help but laugh to himself. 

Since last night, when he heard from Venerate Spirit Treasure that the former Demon Emperor had emerged, Ye Zichen had anticipated something big was about to happen. He just hadn’t realized that the former Demon Emperor’s prestige was still so strong. He hadn’t shown his face in tens of thousands of years, but the second he showed his face, the Demon Realm put him back on the throne.

Demon Emperor Kui Lin was really rather pitiful. He’d left the mausoleum without obtaining its fortune, and he’d been pushed to the point of using Blood Explosion.

Then, he made it back home, only to find that he was no longer the ruler of the Demon Realm, that the throne of Demon Emperor had been stolen.

“News sure got here awfully quick.” Ye Zichen looked at the headline on screen and laughed. “This looks a little bit like a media announcement from the official accounts of the Modern Realm.”

“Yes, that’s exactly right. This is our official corporate account’s daily headline. Anyone in any of the Upper Three Realms who uses a cell phone can receive these messages,” laughed Xiao Yumei.

“Daily Headlines? That was your idea, right?”

Both official accounts and daily news feeds were characteristic of the news media of the Modern Realm. Zuo Mo was a citizen of the Immortal Region, and she had no concept of any of this stuff. 

As expected, Xiao Yumei nodded. “This was indeed my idea. As you know, in the Modern Realm, I was a businesswoman. We’re the only cell phone provider, our reach is enormous, and our products have been widely adopted. The profit we make selling the phones themselves is too small, so we need to find other ways to turn a profit.

“Everyone who uses our phones is automatically subscribed to our official account’s newsfeed. The account also has a page for user input; anyone can use it to send us information. Zou Mo is arranging a department to verify user reports’ accuracy, and once we confirm a report’s veracity, we’ll compensate the user who provided the information accordingly. 

“Not bad. We’ll be able to collect a lot more information like this.” Ye Zichen nodded.

“That’s what I thought too, and that’s not all. Since users follow our account automatically, every last cell phone user will receive our messages. This will be useful, both for confounding other races, but also for building the Upheaval Alliance’s momentum.”

Then, she laughed. “The people you brought back from the Heavenly Court and Underworld are all geniuses. All I had to do was briefly explain my concept, and in less than six hours, our official account was up and running, and it was a mandatory update, too.”

“I’ve thought they were geniuses ever since they established a human network.” Ye Zichen smiled his agreement, then arched his brow. “Right, is there any other news from the Demon Realm?”

“There is!” Xiao Yumei tapped her screen and went behind the scenes of the app

On this screen were countless headlines which had already been verified. Some of them had colors added, and above them were stars.

“Our verification department divides approved intelligence by importance. Black is for unimportant, minor news. Green is for news worth paying attention to. Red is for important news, and purple… Well, no purple news has appeared yet, but it's reserved for intelligence of the utmost urgency. Each color is further divided by the number of stars. Five is the most important.”

When he heard that, Ye Zichen took out his phone, but as soon as Xiao Yumei saw it, she laughed. “Don’t bother looking at yours. That’s a first generation phone, and it has neither the official account nor behind the screens access. When you have a little spare time, pay Zuo Mo a visit and have her tech team get you set up.” 

“Alright, go on.” 

As soon as Ye Zichen said that, Xiao Yumei typed “demon” into the search box, and the app chose several recommended articles for her.

“Look at this one, the one with the three red stars.”

“Just yesterday, Kui Lin and his predecessor fought, but Kui Lin was no match, so he and his people fled. The demons are currently divided. Some are loyal to the former - or rather, current - Demon Emperor, but many others are watching and waiting. Kui Lin will likely try to win them over, rally his forces, and try again.”

“Internal division?” Ye Zichen licked his lips and laughed. Then, by perfect coincidence, his phone buzzed. “It’s a message from Zuo Mo. If Demon Emperor Kui Lin wants to rally his forces, I’m afraid he’ll be in for a challenge.”

Ye Zichen waved his phone at Xiao Yumei, opened his and Zuo Mo’s chat box, and sent her a few files. 

“You actually remembered to contact me?” she wrote back.

Even through the screen, Ye Zichen could sense her complaint. He grimaced and shook his head. There were two new messages on screen.

“What did you send me these videos for?”

“You haven’t looked at them yet, have you?”

“I haven’t.”

“Open them and take a look.”

Zuo Mo didn’t respond. It seemed she was watching the videos.

A long time passed before the chat window showed that she was typing. Not long after, a message arrived.

“Is that Demon Emperor Kui Lin, Jiao Hai of the Southern Kingdom, and Tai Tan of the West?”

“Heh, you recognize them all? You’ve done your research.” Ye Zichen grinned. “That’s right. Are these videos sufficiently thrilling?”

“They’re downright electrifying! Three top experts bowing and scraping and fleeing in panic. If this gets out….” 

Zuo Mo suddenly sent a whole line of ellipses, followed by a voice message.

“You’re not saying we should…”

“That’s right! I prepared a ‘generous gift’ for our dear Demon Emperor Kui Lin. Have your people cut the clips and make them shine, then have our official account share them with the world!”