Xue Dili saw the enemy this time, the one they called the barbarian.

Beside him was a beast that looked like a giant deer, with a raptor circling above his head. At this moment, he merely exchanged a distant glance with Xue Dili, yet the aura and pressure emanating from him were strong and powerful.

Quasi-5th Tier, even the giant deer and eagle had Quasi-5th Tier strength.

Very strong, but everything was within expectations.

At this point, Xue Dili even had the mood to say: "Do you know what the pollution from the Heroic Spirit Contract actually is?"

The Golden Emperor had a puzzled expression, while the Mad Viscount, after thinking briefly, said: "Is it a kind of soul?"

"More or less, but your research on the soul is still a bit lacking. It seems to be a humanoid-like race, integrated into the entire Summoning of Heroic Spirits system through specific means before the summoning."

"Not only could it appear in Heroic Spirit contracts, but I even suspect that for the Human Race, they enter the contract to slow us down, while in the Demon Race's Heroic Spirits, they help strengthen them or directly replace the summoned Heroic Spirit to enhance the Demon side's power," Xue Dili explained his research.

At this moment, both the Golden Emperor and Mad Viscount were stunned; they suddenly understood what Xue Dili was trying to express, and said, "Do you mean the reason that barbarian and her pet suddenly became stronger is because they were invaded by that kind of pollution?"

"But for the Demon Race, such a pollution invasion means the replacement of the original Heroic Spirit, or actually, all of his so-called summons are essentially controlled by those pollution-source-like foreign souls?" the Mad Viscount questioned further.

"Yes, Yellow Skin, during your first Grand Expedition, did you have summons or avatar-type Heroic Spirits?" Xue Dili looked at the Golden Emperor.

"You talking to me?" This weathered middle-aged man didn't know since when he earned the nickname "Yellow Skin," but he confirmed Xue Dili was referring to him, so he replied, "Yes, the Shadow Lady I once summoned was an avatar-type Heroic Spirit. She could instantly split into 9 phantoms... and each phantom possessed a certain strength of the original body..."

"Even after my Grand Expedition victory, the Shadow Lady continued to help govern the country, gather intelligence, compile all continental tribal information, and even taught how to enable people to live in peace and prosperity, how to ensure reproductive success, and maximize population growth..."

At this point, the Golden Emperor froze, a look of horror appearing in his pupils.

Indeed, the biggest contributor to successfully unifying all continental tribes and establishing the Empire was this Heroic Spirit, the Shadow Lady, who was like a mentor, teaching him countless things and unifying the whole Empire.

Especially with the help of the avatars, she successfully completed the Empire's foundational framework and planning, allowing population growth.

By the time he died, the entire continent's population had recovered from tens of thousands to nearly a million, and now even reaching a billion.

Like the Mad Viscount said, he was completely unqualified as a politician and even more so as an Emperor. As an Emperor, he needed to be far superior to ordinary people, with grand visions and insight to see what others couldn't see.

And this man, who as a child had to eat roots and found a nest of insects to be a feast, surviving in the lower-than-average Demon Realm environment by merely getting enough food, did he really have such vision and political acumen?

Not at all. The initial structure of the entire Empire was entirely managed by the Shadow Lady; she handled all the top rulers' work alone, and by the time he was old, the Shadow Lady had successfully cultivated a large number of real talents.

Not only that, but besides being his mentor, the Shadow Lady was also his...

Lover!

Could it be...

"Are you suggesting that the Shadow Lady's avatars, like the barbarian's summoned pets, were controlled by some kind of monster in the shadows, or even that the Shadow Lady herself is one of those monsters?" the Golden Emperor immediately asked.

He even felt that his success, the establishment of his Empire, and his entire life seemed to be orchestrated by something behind the scenes, resulting from their deliberate guidance.

And that he was like a puppet on strings, seemingly becoming their tool.

Xue Dili did not respond. He silently took out the Pseudo-World Heart in his hand and handed it to the Golden Emperor.

"See if your Heroic Spirit is among them," Xue Dili casually asked.

The Golden Emperor was completely stunned; he blankly examined this inferior Treasure that resembled a small world and saw nearly ten twisted and terrifying shadowy souls inside, the pollution sources hidden within the Heroic Spirit Contract.

The Crazy Viscount had smuggled these pollution sources into a small snake and sealed the snake, while Xue Dili was even more ruthless, imprisoning them all like a concentration camp in this inferior Treasure.

In the first scan, he found nothing unusual, but during the second scan, he astonishingly found one familiar entity, one that resembled the many avatars of his former Heroic Spirit, the Shadow Lady!