The man in the dungeon

After expelling himself from Zhu Zhiying's body, Jian Mingyu returned to his lair confined in between the spaces of the realms in the depths of the Frost Forest in Xue Ling Ridge.

Content with his victorious attempts in testing whether Jing Ling was still connected to their mate bond, he was in an awfully pleasant mood.

A mood pleasant enough that he was compelled to visit a certain old companion in the Shadow Realm. Within the main chambers of his lair, he amalgamated Devil's Ash along with other demonic ingredients to create a temporary pathway space to the Shadow Realm.

Due to the seals that were cast onto the Shadow Realm using Jing Ling's beast tails, there was a limit of travel to and from the land of demons. Hence, it had been a good few months since Jian Mingyu returned.