Qi Yu immediately had a new idea upon hearing this: "Sha Ji's brother and father, their combined cultivation is at least 3,000 years. This spiritual energy is not small. If the Nightmare Demon wants to devour them both, it would take at least seven to eight days."
The seven to eight days Qi Yu mentioned were based on the speed at which demons consumed spiritual energy.
Yan Hua thought for a moment and instantly understood Qi Yu's meaning: "You mean, the Nightmare Demon might have hidden Sha Ji's brother somewhere near or within the South Sea."
Qi Yu nodded, "That's the initial guess."
Yan Hua hummed, "Then let Si Qing be discreet when searching for the Nightmare Demon's trace within the South Sea. We'll go back and search too. As for Sha Ji, you will temporarily stay in the Nine Heavens. Do not return to the South Sea or the North Sea."
Sha Ji nodded and accepted the order.
Just as Qi Yu and Yan Hua were bidding farewell to Chen Xi and Yue Zhiyin, preparing to return to the South Sea.
Within the South Sea.
A black-blue figure, following the strong currents of the seabed, instantly darted into a crevice in a coral.
It was covered in the aura of a cursed law, far more potent than the few cursed dry wells in the mortal realm.
Seeing that the patrol guards around the South Sea had moved away, the black-blue figure cautiously emerged from the coral crevice, its form gradually elongating and transforming until it perfectly resembled Chen Xi.
After transforming, it even reached out to gently touch its face, confirming that its transformation technique was flawless before continuing forward with peace of mind.
However, after only a few steps, it suddenly stopped as if remembering something. It reached into its sleeve and pulled out a palm-sized, colorful glazed bottle.
This colorful glazed bottle had a lid, and inside were two small figures, representing Sha Ji's father and brother.
The fake Chen Xi gently shook the colorful glazed bottle, and after carefully securing the lid, he once again placed the bottle back into his sleeve.
Then, with his hands behind his back, he swaggered into the South Sea Dragon Palace.
He mimicked Chen Xi's demeanor, a smiling expression on his face, looking at everyone he passed. Upon entering the Dragon Palace and reaching a deeper corridor, he instantly reverted to a mass of dark mist, carefully slipping into a corner of the corridor through a gap, avoiding the passing maids.
After the maids had passed, he once again assumed the appearance of Chen Xi and slipped into Qi Yu's room in the South Sea.
Qi Yu and Si Qing's rooms were adjacent to each other at the innermost part.
After sneaking into Qi Yu's room, the fake Chen Xi reverted to mist form and, like a soft-bodied insect, crawled up the corner of the desk, greedily absorbing the ink, paper, and the small trinkets placed beside them.
It deliberately crawled onto the outer robe, slowly collecting Qi Yu's essence.
Once a sufficient amount was collected, it began to stretch and expand, finally transforming into an exact replica of Qi Yu.
At this moment, no one knew what was happening inside the room.
Several maids passed by Qi Yu's room, carrying basins. As they walked towards the Dragon Palace entrance, preparing to retrieve the washed gauze curtains from outside, they saw Qi Yu, Yan Hua, and Chen Xi walking in from outside the Dragon Palace, and they all froze in surprise.
One of the maids, while bowing, asked the person beside her in a strange tone:
"Hey, that's odd. When I went out earlier, I thought I saw Lord Chen Xi already enter the Dragon Palace. Why is he entering again?"