Child Of Light Volume 9

Volume 09

Chapter 1 – Dangerous Teleportation

I told everyone, “You should start to meditate to recover your battle spirit to its peak state. We’ll be crossing that huge mountain, so we may face some strong waves.”

Zhan Hu and the rest sat in a circle and began meditating. Judging from the degree of radiance from their body’s aura, Zhan Hu’s power was the strongest, and Jian Shan was the runner up. Dong Ri and the other villagers from God’s village were about the same. However, Dong Ri had the Wind God’s bow so he was still be slightly stronger overall.

I tossed away any distracting thoughts, and started to focus on drawing the teleportation array. The teleportation array which was used to pass through the mountain was of the  highest grade. Not a single mistake could be made, and with Sukrad’s staff, I could draw the entire array in such a fine manner, to the point of being comparable to vein lines.

I had finally drawn the array, and I wiped the perspiration that had formed on my head due to the intense concentration I just used. It had taken half a day to form it. If it hadn’t been for the recent improvements in my ability, who knows how long it would taken me to draw it For our safety, I placed a small purple crystal in the middle of the magic array. Under the support of the magic crystal, the finely-veined detailed array instantly surged out with immense energy, awakening everyone in meditation around me.

Zhan Hu walked over and asked, “Is it done?”

I nodded. “I’ll have to take a rest first. You must all be vigilant.” After I said that, I closed my eyes, and sat  cross legged. My three inner gold dans momentarily revolved rapidly, absorbing the light elements near my surroundings.

After an hour of rest, I stood at the center of the teleportation magic array, ready to depart. “Big brother Zhan Hu, you, Dong Ri, and Jian shan surround me; the others will surround the perimeter. You should release your battle spirit outwards to form a perfect defense.”

A golden battle spirit surged out from within the magic array, forming a hemispherical transparent protection membrane. I nodded my head in satisfaction before raising Sukrad’s staff,

and chanting, “The mighty God of Space! Please let me borrow your powers to breakthrough the dimensional restrictions, and send us to the place we desire.”

An intense white light shone from Sukrad’s staff, activating the magic array. The entire array seemed to be frantically absorbing all kinds of elements from its surroundings. The

people within disappeared the second the light ray reached its highest intensity.

This was the first teleportation I was forced to expend a great deal of effort in. The undulations pushing us back were abnormally strong. I tapped into the power of Sukrad’s staff with great difficulty to protect everyone. My magic power was rapidly consumed, not to mention it was already way above my limits. Moreover, during the teleportation process, it was impossible for someone to recover their magic power. It was no wonder why the few elders of the demon race only sent two people at a time. Currently, I was praying that I would be able to successfully send everyone to the Heavenly Falling Mountain before my powers ran out.

I increased the speed of the teleportation with all of my might, and just when I was about to collapse, I successfully appeared on solid ground.

Exhausted, I sat on the ground, and did a head count. Luckily, there was no one was missing, however once I relaxed, I immediately fainted.

I subconsciously felt a continuous flow of tremendous power that stimulated my inner gold dans, and my whole body gradually filled with energy. I opened my eyes and saw Dong Ri. When Dong Ri saw that I had awakened, he excitedly said, “Zhang Gong, you’re awake!”

I knocked my head and asked, “What happened?”

Dong Ri replied in smiles, “You should ask yourself that! We also don’t know what happened. After we teleported, we saw that you had collapsed. Everyone immediately inserted their battle spirit into your body, and tried to help you. You only just awakened after an entire day.”

I scratched my head before I replied, “It’s the magic  spell that’s to blame. I never expected that the magic array would need so much magic to power. We almost got lost in the dimensional space; if that really happened, there wouldn’t be many of us that would survive. I won’t use the magic array this recklessly in the future. We were fortunate that our luck was high this time.”

My head suddenly hurt. Zhan Hu spoke with concern, “You still say that. You’re not to risk yourself like this again. Don’t overestimate yourself.”

I sighed and thought, ‘If I wasn’t in such a hurry to rescue Mu Zi, only a ghost would be willing to risk their life.’ I replied, “I know. Big brother, where are we now?”

Zhan Hu unhappily replied, “You created that magic array. If you don’t know where we’ve teleported to, why’d you even ask me?”

I smiled embarrassedly, “I designated the teleportation to teleport us 100 km away. If we teleported correctly, we should be behind the demon and beast races allied army.”

Jian Shan walked over. “I think it’s different from what you thought. If we only teleported a further 100 km. We should definitely be able to see the Heavenly Falling Mountain, however, do you even see the shadow of the mountain anywhere? There aren’t even trees around us Zhang Gong.”

After hearing what Jian Shan said, I hastily got up from the ground. If we had teleported to the wrong place, it would be horrible.

Unfortunately, it was just as Jian Shan said,  we  were currently in no man’s land. There was nothing around us except for some patches of grasses. We really had teleported incorrectly. “What should we do now?” Dong Ri asked.

I replied, “What else can we do? We’ll just walk in a direction. You can see that the grass has traces of it being eaten. The main army force has definitely crossed here, we’ll head in that direction. We should be able to find something that way. From my estimation, we should be at the borders of the demon race, we are just at a slightly deviated location.”

Zhan Hu replied, “That’s the only thing we can do. Let’s go.”

I replied, “Please wait for a moment. Everyone, please wear your purple contacts. If not, we’ll be in trouble if we meet with the demon race.”

It was really awkward wearing these things as my eyes were not naturally big. I had to use a lot of effort to pry my eyes open

to put the purple contacts in. Luckily, the quality of the contacts was great! The center of the contacts was colourless so it didn’t affect our sight.

Everyone looked at each other before they laughing uncontrollably. “We’re high standard demon race  from  now on.” (The lowest standard were the demon beasts. Their intelligence was much lower than the majority of the demon race.)

We picked a random direction and headed there.

After two hours, Dong Ri suddenly yelled out in fright, “Quickly look in that direction. What is it?” He was a half elf so his eyesight was much better than ours. As we looked in the

direction that he pointed; we saw a mountain that had its peak piercing through the clouds. Zhan Hu said, “It’s the Heavenly Falling Mountain. Why does it look so short?”

Jian Shan replied, “We should be at a high altitude. Let’s continue walking forward to see what we find.”

After flying for an hour, a magnificent view was displayed before us. We were on a high flat plateau. It had an altitude about the midpoint of the Heavenly Falling Mountain. When we reached the border of the plateau, we first saw the Ström Fortress that was built up as high as a mountain. It was built horizontally in the center of the Heavenly Falling Mountain range, completely sealing all pathways that lead towards the Eastern continent.

Chapter 2 – Prince Of The Demon Race

At a place not far from us, there were densely packed tents that lined up in front of Ström Fortress. I looked at Zhan Hu and said, “That should be the main camp of the Demon-Beast Alliance. It seems that the magic array didn’t send us to the wrong place. It is just that we are at a higher altitude.

I continued to say, “I suddenly thought about a question. Does anyone know the way to the capital city of the demon race?”

Everyone looked at each other. I dejectedly said, “I had forgotten about this. I was so focused on how we were going to get here. This is bad.” For many years, the human race in the Eastern continent hadn’t come to the Western continent. How were we going to find our way to the capital?

When we were brooding about this, we suddenly  heard hurried horse hooves. It was probably a cavalry unit from the Demon-Beast Alliance.

Zhan Hu asked in astonishment, ‘The demon race surprisingly rides horses. I’ve never heard about that before.”

A group of 60 to 70 cavalry charged in our direction. Since the terrain here was extremely flat, there wasn’t any place to hide. I whispered, “Everyone, be wary. If  there’s  a  need  to  make  a move, don’t hold back. Not even the chickens and dogs are to be left undisturbed.” I had no choice when I issued that command. If we were to alarm the forces of the Demon  –  Beast  alliance below us, we wouldn’t be able to  deal  with  their  thousands  of men and horses, no matter how skillful or  powerful  we  were. There wasn’t enough time so  we  had  to  use  the  conventional way.

The cavalry arrived before us in an instant. I realized that their horses were different from the human race’s horses. The horses here were much taller and their entire bodies had a shiny black glow to it. At a glance, you could tell they were good horses. One of the warriors astride a horse had purple eyes and was dressed in magnificent clothing. His appearance was as sharp as a broadsword, making him look abnormally handsome with his eyes full of life. However, I felt his power was weak. There was a large disparity between his power and the power of those behind him.

The handsome warrior shouted, “Which section  are  you from? Why are you here?”

Zhan Hu chuckled, “Which section are you from? Your hair hasn’t even fully grown, and you’ve already learned how to ride

a horse.”

The warriors behind the handsome warrior shouted simultaneously, “Outrageous!” Their voices were so resonant that we jumped in fright. I suddenly thought of the perfect plan to deal with this situation.

I raised the Sukrad’s staff and said, “Kill everyone, excluding that warrior!” Hearing my words, the handsome youth from the demon race, who had wanted to unsheath his sword, unexpectedly put his hand down.

The first one to make a move was Dong Ri. He took out the Wind God’s bow hanging from his back. He pulled  the bowstring with his right hand, ‘Sou!’ He shot a light arrow out,

accurately piercing the center of the eyebrows of one of the warriors. Once the opponent saw that we dared to fight them with just the twelve of us, they jumped off their horses and charged towards us with their blades drawn.

I coldly sneered at them with an icy gaze. Even though we were all living in the same world, if I didn’t kill you,  you wouldn’t let me go, so I’m sorry. A light blade struck  out towards the opponent.

Zhan Hu and Shan Jian led the remaining 9 villagers from the God’s village to charge over. The enemies were stronger than expected. I used a light blade that contained magic and battle spirit at them, causing around 7-8 enemies to be blown away. Even though they were seriously injured, none of them died.

Although I was astonished by the strength of those people, it didn’t decrease my killing intent. I shot a light halo at that handsome demon race man. He was momentarily shocked and asked, “What are you doing?” He was unexpectedly bound so easily. I waved Sukrad’s staff back, bringing his body towards me. I said in amazement, “It seems that he is just an embroidery pillow. He looks good but is useless.”

Seeing that their master had been caught, the other 60-70 demon race members frantically charged towards us.

Zhan Hu laughed out loud. After a flash of blue light, he donned the War God’s armour. He moved like lightning towards the group of enemies. The villagers from the God’s village that came with us also used their various techniques as they charged over. Under the support of Dong Ri’s cold and merciless arrow, all 60-70 demons in a short time were killed, and the one that had killed the most was impressively Dong Ri with his Wind God’s bow. I unintentionally saw a trace of reluctance on the face of the handsome demon race.

The complexion of the handsome demon paled as he asked, “Wha…What do you want?”

I lowered my head to look him in the eye. “Hehe! I don’t want anything. I’m just missing a tour guide. I hope that you’ll help me with that.”

The demon race was stunned and asked, “Tour guide? What’s a tour guide?”

Zhan Hu floated over. “It’s definitely a tour guide for a tour of

the demon race.”

The expression of the demon race youth became serious. “I’m the second prince of the demon race. If you hurt me, Royal father will definitely exterminate all of your family’s nine generations.”

Zhan Hu and I looked amazed at each other. The second prince of the demon race momentarily thought that we were afraid and said, “Are you frightened? You just have to let me go and I may spare your lives.”

I chuckled and replied, “You’re the second prince of  the demon race?”

The second prince puffed his chest as he replied, “That’s right!”

“That’s great! I’ll have a bargaining chip when  negotiating with the Demon Emperor.”

The second prince was startled. “What do you mean by negotiation bargaining chip?” He seemed to have the worst case of idiocy.

I said sternly, “You should be well behaved for me. To tell you

the truth, we aren’t from the demon race. The purpose  in coming here is to deal with your Royal father. Do you understand?”

The Second prince said in fright, “You….You’re…….”

Zhan Hu said, “That’s right, so it’s useless for you to use your status to scare us. If you’re well behaved, we may spare your life.”

The Second prince seemed to have deflated like a leaking balloon as he couldn’t bring up his might. He pleaded, “What do you want me to do? I beg you to spare my life.”

I sighed as I thought, ‘Mu Zi’s second brother is such a weakling. It’s no longer strange as to why the Demon Emperor has chosen Mu Zi as his successor.’ “If you want to live, we’ll have to see your performance. You’re to first talk about inside information of the situation within the demon race.”

The Second prince replied, “Our Kingdom is segregated into two groups. One of the groups is to battle against the human race and the other is to reconcile so it had reached to the point where there is no plans for large scale invasion.”

I asked, “Who is the representatives for the battle group and reconciliation group?”

It seemed that the Second prince saw his life in great importance. After hearing my question, he replied hastily, “The representatives of the group that wants to battle are my uncles, Demon King Sata and Demon King Xiu Yu. The representatives for reconciling are my sister Mu Zi, Teacher Ha Yan Zha and the Emperor’s son-in-law, Ke lun duo.”

I asked in astonishment, “Emperor’s son-in-law? What Emperor’s son-in-law?”

The Second prince replied in a daze, “Emperor’s son-in-law is definitely the husband of my sister.”

I asked anxiously, “How many sisters do you have?”

Chapter 3 – A Powerful Love Rival

The Second prince said, “Don’t you know that I only have one sister? Even though I’m a prince, the right to succeed the throne is my sister’s. My Royal Father doesn’t look at my elder brother or me. He often said that if we were only ten percent as good as my sister, oh how great that would be.”

My mind went completely blank. Mu Zi had married. I said stunned, “Mu Zi is married?”

An astonished gazed flashed in the Second prince eyes. “They still haven’t officially married. However, their marriage was arranged when they were young. They’ll probably marry after this war has ended.” After hearing what he had said, my heart felt much better as I gradually calmed down. I asked, “What does Ke Lun Duo do? Why does he have the power to control the court?”

The Second prince replied, “That Ke Lun Duo is really impressive. He’s the top ranked warrior in the demon race and he specializes in magic and martial techniques. His abilities are praised without cease by my Royal Father. Moreover, he’s the sole heir of the great General Ke Li Da.” Without me prompting him, the Second prince continued to say, “Great General Ke Li Da is the most well known high-ranking military officer in my kingdom. The vice commander-in-chief of the punitive expedition to the east is him.”

I lowered my head and thought, ‘Why didn’t Mu Zi tell  me that she has a fiance? Her motivation for wanting to mend the relationship with the human race should be because of me. In this way, this should mean that she still loves me.’ Thinking

about that, my spirits rose.

The Second prince pleaded pitifully, “I have told you what

you wanted to know. Please let me go. I definitely won’t tell anyone that I have met you. I swear.”

I coldly snorted, “You swear? A promise from a person like you isn’t any different when compared to a fart.”

After hearing what I said, the Second prince’s expression turned ashen, but he didn’t argue. For Mu Zi’s sake, I definitely wouldn’t kill him. Furthermore, he still had a lot of value to take advantage of. We were unfamiliar with the pathway to the demon race. With him to guide us, it would be perfect. Thinking about that, I took out an ordinary set of commoner’s clothes from the spatial pocket and forced the Second prince to put it on. I asked, “What’s your name?”

The Second prince replied, “I’m known as Su He Mo.”

“Alright, I’ll call you Su He from now on. Listen to me, we’re here in the demon race to settle some matters. You don’t have to worry, we won’t do anything bad to your Royal Father. I hope that you can guide us there. If you successfully accomplish this task, I’ll definitely let you go. However, don’t you even think about escaping. I’ll break one of your limbs for every escape attempt you make. Do you understand?”

Su He replied dejectedly, “You’re like knives and I’m a fish. How can I say no? But you must definitely let me go after finishing your matters.”

I snorted before I replied, “Us humans are the most faithful,

so you can stop worrying about that.” With him as  a  body shield, even if the demon race surrounded us, I wouldn’t fear them.

I smiled and said, “If I haven’t guessed wrongly, you should have the demon race’s Holy Light Empire’s map, right?”

Su He nodded. “I have it. It’s on my horse’s back.” I nodded in praise. For a captive, he really was cooperative.

Zhan Hu took out the detailed map of the Holy Light Empire’s from Su He’s horse’s back., “We don’t have to fear being lost now.” He said in excitement and shot me a gaze saying, “Since we have the map already, let’s just kill this brat.”

I pretended to contemplate it. Su He immediately yelled, “You said you wouldn’t kill me. I’m begging you, great heros, please spare my lowly life. I’ll do anything you tell me to do.”

I frowned as I looked at him and told Zhan Hu, “Let’s forget it.

We’ll let him live as our tour guide.”

Zhan Hu warned Su He with seething hatred in his  eyes, “Brat, on behalf of my brother, I’ll temporarily let you live. If you dare to play any tricks on the way, hehe! Take a look.” He waved his right hand and ‘Hong!’, smashed a gaping hole into the ground.

Su He replied with fear and trepidation, “I don’t… don’t dare. Thank you two uncles for not killing me.” After this threat, Su He as expected was really obedient and would be for the future, leading us through the route.

With everyone’s help, we had tossed all of the corpses of our enemies into the hole that Zhan Hu had blasted, erasing all traces of the battle in our surroundings.

Dong Ri asked me, “Zhang Gong, what are we going to do with the horses?”

I thought and replied, “You can pick out the best of the crop so we can advance faster and release the remaining horses. If we want to bring this useless guy along, it’ll be impossible to

traverse by flying. By our standards, taking someone along would greatly decrease the time needed to reach our destination to save time.”

I lightly patted Su He’s shoulders, restricting the magic power and battle spirit in his body. I chuckled and said, “I have already placed a restriction on your body. You will need me to undo it every three days. If not, I don’t know if you’ve seen a human body Ah! Right, for you, it should be the scene of an exploding demon race’s body.”

Su He pleaded, “I’ve done everything you’ve asked. I don’t think I need any restrictions.”

I sneered and said, “Is that something you can decide? Quickly

bring us to the demon race’s city.”

The special horses of the demon race were really comfortable. Even while galloping, it was still very stable. I said, “Su He, I heard that the current Demon Emperor, who is also your father, is the number one expert of the demon race. Why is there another top warrior, Ke Lun Duo?”

Su He replied, “Father is still the number one expert of the demon race. The meaning of warrior and experts are different. Don’t you know that previously, we and the beast race often fought? It truly stopped only after we allied together and prepared to invade the Eastern continent. The top warrior is Ke Lun Duo because he made a lot of contributions in these wars. He has been in the army since he was 16 years old all the way until now, when he’s 27 years old. Furthermore, he hasn’t lost in any of the hundreds of wars he has fought in. He also didn’t rely on his family’s support. He started out as the lowest ordinary soldier, though after accumulating contribution points in these wars, he slowly climbed step by step to the current

position of Radiant Light’s Protector commander. In a competition in the palace last year, he was unexpectedly able to receive a hundred moves from my Royal Father and didn’t lose. He has received a lot of appreciation from my Royal Father, so he was raised to his current position and simultaneously, Royal Father betrothed Third sister to him.”

Hearing what Su He explained, Ke Lun Duo was incredibly outstanding and now had suddenly become my love rival. It made me feel uncomfortable. I asked coldly, “How is the relationship between your sister and Ke Lun Duo like?”

Su He replied, “You seem to care a lot about my sister.”

I said angrily, “Stop talking nonsense and answer whatever I

ask, truthfully! Do you want to suffer?”

Su He kept waving his hand. “No! No! I’ll just tell you about that. Actually, even if I don’t tell you, you should be able to figure it out. Ke Lun Duo has always been fighting in wars and is rarely in the capital city. He only met with my sister  a  few times. After, when he returned, my sister went out  on  a mission. As for now, I’m unsure. However, sister has already returned to the capital city. Ke Lun Duo’s appearance is rather good looking and he is powerful. If he pursues my sister with conviction and increases his status, he should be able to capture my sister’s heart.”

Chapter 4 – First Encounter With Beast Men

I said, “What do you mean good looking? Is he even more handsome than I am?”

Su He replied with a smile, “He’s incomparable to you. You’re so handsome and outstandingly elegant, with the manners of a jade tree and a powerful yet exceptionally witty… ”

I interrupted him and said, “Stop flattering me. That’s right!

What is this Holy Light’s Protector that Ke Lun Duo is?”

Su He  was  caught  in  a  snag  and  awkwardly  smiled.  “The

Radiant Light’s Protector is the strongest of the demon race’s army forces and is in charge of protecting my Royal father. It is similar to your humans’ royal Protectors.”

I took out the Radiant Light Empire’s map and had a look. “We should pass through your Stranded Beast County, Night Blue County, and the Martial Virtue County before we reach the Capital City, right?”

Su He replied, “That’s right. Those three counties are also enormous. With our current speed, we’ll need approximately 20 days to reach our destination.”

20 days really was too long to me but it was impossible for us to fly to the demon race’s main base.

Dong Ri said, “Give us an introduction of your demon race’s local conditions and customs.”

Su He’s vigour increased at the thought . “You’ve found the right person. The beauty of the demon race is really famous. The demon race’s body figure alone, just thinking about that…..” Drool flowed out from his mouth. It  wasn’t  strange that this brat was so disappointing. He had always  been loitering about. How could he be any good?

Dong Ri angrily said, “You’re shameless. Who’s asking you about that?”

Su He laughed embarrassedly, “I couldn’t control my feelings.

Sorry about that.

Regarding our demon race, you should know about our hierarchy. Our Radiant Light Empire has two main species. One of them is the demon beast, which is of the lowest standard and are usually controlled by the demon race. The other species is the demon race like me, and are technically the same as you humans. The demon race has two subtypes. One of them has purple-brown eyes and is of a slightly lower rank, while those that have your kind of eyes are the highest ranked demon race. Only those that have bright purple eyes can become court officials.”

There was so much background information. I asked, “How are the demon beasts ranked?”

Su He replied, “The demon beasts are divided into five ranks. They are S, A, B, C and D ranks. The D ranked demon beast is the weakest among the demon beasts and the C ranked demon beast is the second weakest, so on. Most of the demon beasts are C and D rank. They make up at least ninety percent of the Demon beast army forces. The B ranked demon beasts are much fewer, while less than 300 A ranked demon beasts that are the trump card within the Demon beast army force. They’re generally gigantic in and are definitely no weaker than  the beasts in the Beamon Army corps. There are only 100 of them that normally participate in battle. The rest of them are used as mounts for various generals and nobles that have made great contributions in the wars. Overall, those of the demon beast race are actually just slaves for us of the higher class demon race.”

I coldly snorted. “You just know how to enslave others. All living beings in the world are equals.”

After Su He heard what I said, his eyes filled with vigour, but

it only lasted an instant before he calmed down. He sighed and said, “What you said is logical but if we didn’t  control  the demon beasts, I’m afraid that before we could even invade the human race, we would be annihilated by the demon  beasts. They do not have a conscience and live purely by instinct. What are their instincts? They are, ‘the weak are prey for the strong’. Moreover, the demon beast’s offensive attacks are extremely powerful. Even if it’s a D ranked demon beast, it isn’t something an ordinary member of the demon race can handle. Now tell us, if we don’t enslave them, what are we supposed to do? Isn’t your human race also similar to us as you kill chickens, butcher geese, ride on horses, and rear sheep?”

After he said that, Su He grew a little excited. His righteous look stunned me. It seemed that this fellow wasn’t completely useless. I thought about it and realized that what he said made sense. I couldn’t help but develop good feelings for him.

At this moment, Su He already knew that he had said the wrong words. He immediately said with a smile, “It wasn’t my

intention. I was just rambling. Please don’t be offended.”

I smiled in response, “What you just said was right. From your previous attitude, you don’t seem to be that useless.”

Su He said consecutively, “It’s just a bunch of nonsense! A bunch of nonsense.”

I shouted, “Everyone, let’s increase our advancing speed!” As I said that, I inserted some of my battle spirit into Su He and the horse’s bum. The team’s speed increased with Su He crying out in fright.

After two days, we arrived at the first town we encountered in the demon race. According to Su He, this was the borderline of the Stranded Beast County. The Stranded Beast County had received its name for successfully obstructing the beast race.

After entering the town, I realized that the place wasn’t that different from the human race’s towns. It was just that the construction of the houses were of a slightly lower standard. I asked in astonishment, “Why is this place so similar to a human’s town?”

Su He bitterly smiled, “To be honest, the human kingdom’s evolution has always been quicker than ours. We’ve  already been copying your lifestyle for a few thousand years. The effect of this was good as we developed at a much faster rate.”

I replied, “why don’t I see any demon beasts? Isn’t  the number of demon beasts more than the demon race?”

Su He replied, “The majority of the strong demon beasts that have battling powers have already gone to the front lines while the other ordinary demon beasts have been domesticated. Without their owner’s permission, they can’t simply come out.”

Dong Ri said, “Who says there aren’t any demon beasts. Take a look. Isn’t that one?”

Everyone’s gazes moved towards where Dong Ri was looking at. It was a werebear creature at least three meters tall, heading in our direction.

Su He said in surprise, “That’s not a demon beast, but a beast of the beast race. Why would there be a beast here?”

I asked, “Aren’t the demon race and beast race allied, so why is it strange for a beast to be here?”

Su He replied, “You don’t know this but since we fought had constantly warred against the Valiant Mist Empire, the hatred between us is beyond the hatred for the human race. So in the demon race’s territory, there should rarely be any sightings of beasts. Moreover, that beast seems to be of a higher standard

and should be quite intelligent.” While he explained about the beast, Su He’s eyes were filled with hatred.

We didn’t know if that werebear knew we were talking about him or if he suddenly became interested in us as he turned to look viciously in our directions with his enormous pair of fierce eyes.

Su He whispered, “This isn’t good. This werebear must be trying to find trouble with us.” Just as he said  that,  the werebear walked towards us in large strides. When he neared us, he roared, “Why are you few sons of a bitches of the demon race’s staring at me?!” His words had attracted the angry gazes from the demon race in our surroundings.

Chapter 5 – Zhan Hu Displays His Might

Zhan Hu moved in a flash to stand before him, and said angrily, “Who are you calling son of a bitch? Seeing as you’re a person yet not, and a bear yet you aren’t, you should be a son of a bitch instead, bastard.” I whispered, “Big Brother, don’t cause trouble.”

The werebear eyes reddened as he roared in fury. He directly raised his large palm towards Zhan Hu. It seemed that it would be impossible to avoid it. I said, “Big brother, spare his life and only teach him a lesson.” I also didn’t want to cause any trouble. We were in someone else’s territory after all. Moreover, we had a special mission.

Zhan Hu coldly snorted, and moved like lightning, appearing behind the werebear. He grabbed onto the back of his neck and yelled, “You get out of here.” The stupid, massive werebear was tossed away with that single move and flew about 7-8 meters before heavily landing on the ground. The surrounding demon

race momentarily cheered. It seemed that their hatred towards the beast race really wasn’t shallow.

The werebear body was really tough and strong, he roared in rage before getting up and shaking his head. He was obviously a little dizzy as he said, “You actually dared to attack me. Are you tired of living?” He heavily hit the ground with his large bear palm and yelled, “Earth Splitting Mountain!” An enormous crevice appeared before him and was rapidly extending towards Zhan Hu. I said astonishedly, “Earth magic!” This werebear knew how to use magic. Even though beasts were natural warriors, they had low intelligence so they shouldn’t be able to master advanced techniques, not to mention magic.

Su He whispered, “Earth Bear Wallace.”

Zhan Hu was shocked when saw that his opponent had such a move. He lightly lept into the air and moved behind the bear in a flash, and grabbed onto his opponent with the same method as before, and tossed the bear away again. This time though, it was much harder than before. The werebear struggled a little, but it was so stunned that it didn’t get back up.

Zhan Hu tried to run away, however the crevice didn’t stop, and kept heading in our direction. I brandished Sukrad’s staff horizontally towards the ground, forming a deep gash. Since we were at a demon race’s town, I definitely couldn’t use  light magic powers so this time I used a small dimensional slash. The power of the small dimensional slash had completely absorbed the heaven falls, and earth rends power that was cast by the werebear. The creviced had stopped at the line I had drawn. I realized that this earth magic wasn’t just pure magic. It included some battle spirit which made it similar to the previous magic, and battle spirit fusion slash I used.

Su He, who was at my side, looked amazed and said, “Wah!

You’re so powerful!”

I glared at him and said, “Shut up!”

Zhan Hu stood in front of the werebear and said, “Do you still want to fight?”

The werebear raised his huge head and roared at him, unwilling to give up. After he saw Zhan Hu’s merciless eyes, his fighting spirit weakened. He replied, “I concede defeat.”

I said, “Big Brother, we’ve got to hurry on already.”

Zhan Hu looked towards the werebear, “You should be more tactful in the future. If you randomly pick on the weak and I see it, I’ll wring your smelly head.” After listening to Zhan Hu, the werebear shuddered.

Zhan Hu moved back onto his horse. I told him, “Let’s hurry on as if other beasts are here. He definitely won’t be the only one. It’s better if we cause less of a commotion.” I had originally planned to stay in this town for a night, but after this commotion, we had to hurry on through the night.

Zhan Hu nodded and asked Su He, “Do the beasts always bully people like this?”

Su He explained, “That’s not entirely the case. It’s just that the beasts revere power. The stronger the beast, the more arrogant it is,so it developed a bad temper. Because you defeated him , he definitely won’t dare to challenge you in the future.”

Zhan Hu chuckled and said, “Let’s go.” With a kick to his horse’s abdomen, using his two legs he bent his body forward which resulted in his yellow horse charging out like an arrow.

Zhan Hu’s heroism really reached the clouds. It influenced everyone to urge their horses forward to catch up with him. Su He yelled out, “Slow down! I’m getting left behind.”

After charging out of the town, everyone gradually slowed their horses. Su He exhaled a long breath and leaned on the horse’s back while heavily panting. Jian Shan said,  “You’re really this useless and still a prince?”

Su He bitterly smiled and said, “How can I compare with you heroes?”

I pointed at the few lush big trees in front of us. “Everyone, let’s take a break under these trees and have some food.”

After securing the horses, everyone sat together. I took out some rations from my spatial pocket to pass them around to everyone. After all, for this long outing, I had passed all of the magic crystals to Xiu Si and only kept the necessities. The

remaining spaces were filled with various foods. Su He should be really happy as ever since I captured him, he had eaten a lot of food at every meal. Moreover, he ceaselessly praised about the human race’s food. He was always the most happy during our daily meal times.

Dong Ri looked and smiled at him, “You brat, you have an even larger appetite compared to Big Brother Zhang Gong. You can eat enough for three people all by yourself.”

Su He said indistinctly with his mouth filled with food, “I couldn’t eat this much before, but your human food is just too delicious that I can’t control myself.”

Seeing his eating looks, my heart developed a trace of

familiarity. I said, “Just let him eat. He’s a prince after all, so we have to at least let him be full. That’s right, Su He, I previously heard you say ‘Earth Bear Wallace’. What’s that about?”

Su He’s eyes expressed respect. It seemed to come from his heart. He swallowed his food and replied, “You have really sensitive hearing. I just muttered it a little and you caught on to it. It’s like this. The beast race, excluding the Beamon King leading the Beamon Army Corps, have a few powerful squads including the heavy armoured infantry werebears. Earth Bear Wallace is the leader of a 50,000-strong heavy armour infantry troop. Even though he is a werebear, he is actually extremely intelligent. He has a superior body and knows earth magic. The werebear we previously saw should be one of the direct descendants of Wallace’s subordinates as he only passes down the earth magic techniques to the people he was closest with.”

I replied in satisfaction, “I was right not to kill you. You’re filled with information.”

Su He said smilingly, “Even though I didn’t fight much in the wars, I always hear a couple of stories. We have a lot of knowledge regarding the beasts.”

Zhan Hu asked, “Previously, when you were describing the demon beasts, there seemed to be S ranked demon beasts, but you didn’t seem to have commented on it?”

Chapter 6 – Earth Bear

Su He said sheepishly, “It seems that I can’t keep any secrets from you. There’s only one S ranked demon beast that is tamed. It is the Dark Demon Dragon that serves as the mount of the Demon Emperor.”

“Dark Demon Dragon?”

Su He replied seriously, “Yes, my Royal Father’s Dark Demon Dragon is almost impeccable in the demon race. It is also one of the main reasons why the Mo Clan can secure its position as Emperor.”

Dong Ri asked curiously, “Is the Dark Demon Dragon that

powerful?”

Su He respectfully nodded his head. “The Dark  Demon Dragon is the highest Ranked Demon beast. It’s about hundred metres long, and definitely possesses the power to destroy the heaven and Earth. It is also absolutely loyal to my Royal Father, and has a special ability to sense danger. If anyone wants to threaten the Demon Emperor, they must pass through him. The beastmen had tried to assassinate my Royal Father a hundred times in the last 20 years, but no one has been able to successfully pass by it.”

I asked, “If the Dark Demon Dragon is compared with other real dragons, will its power be slightly stronger?”

Su He scratched his head and replied, “I’m unsure about that as I haven’t seen a dragon before. However, I estimate that even if a real dragon wants to deal with it, it’s quite impossible. I have seen it use his powers once. The entire Capital City was enclosed in total darkness that time; the scene was really terrifying.”

I asked in astonishment, “Ke Lun Duo was able to receive 100 moves from the Demon Emperor?”

Su He said, “What you’re thinking is incorrect. When I said 100 moves, it was under the condition that the Demon Dragon didn’t participate, even His Majesty, the Demon Emperor, shouldn’t be able to personally win against his mount.” Since I was too engrossed in this description of the demon dragon, I didn’t notice that he just said Demon Emperor, rather than Royal Father.

The ground suddenly gave out ‘Long! Long!’ sounded at that moment. Dong Ri said, “Quickly, look back!”

I focused, and looked behind me. The dust on the pathway we just passed, had all the dust surging from it. Even though the speed wasn’t fast, its power was really shocking. As it continued to near, it unexpectedly revealed a large group of heavy armoured werebears. One of the bears raised the heavy spears in his hand and the rest immediately formed into two groups, rapidly enclosing us from both sides. It was already too late for us to try and escape.

“It looks like this group of black bears are here to seek revenge.” Zhan Hu said in fumes as he tried to charge over.

I held him back and said, “Big Brother, don’t be in such a rush. Let’s wait and see what enfolds, so we’d know what they plan on doing.” Even though these werebears had strong offensive and defensive powers, with our strength, it wouldn’t be difficult to break through the enclosement.

Su He whispered to me, “Those are the Earth Bear Wallace’s

500 personal guards. You must protect me.” After that, he scurried off and hid at the back of the team.

Earth Bear Wallace was about four metres tall. His body was robust and was solitarily walking over. He asked, “Who was the hero that had just wounded my subordinate?”

Zhan Hu moved in a flash in front of him and said, “It’s me so what? Are you here for revenge? Come at me then!”

Wallace replied, “I’m not here for revenge. It’s just that I had heard about the fight from my subordinate  brothers.  It made me really impressed, so I want to have a spar with you.” Zhan Hu was stunned and thought, ‘Why is this black bear so polite?’ It was actually his power that had won the opponent’s respect.

Zhan Hu replied icily, “Aren’t we still going to  fight?  You think that if you bring such a large troop, we’ll be scared of you? Come on, let me be enlightened about the power of you Earth bears.”

Wallace replied in shock, “So you have heard of my name. I

brought my brothers so that after we spar, we can directly head back to the Mist Martial empire. There’s no other motives. The purpose of coming to the Radiant Light was to be an envoy.”

I walked over and said, “It was your subordinate that first provoked us. General, please don’t bother us.”

Wallace replied, “It can’t be said that I’m bothering you. I just want to have a spar with that brother. We’re all martial people so it’s too hard to find an opponent.”

Dong Ri said smilingly, “How’s there no opponent. You can find your Beamon King for a spar.”

Wallace’s expression changed and he replied embarrassedly, “That fellow is too frightening and I still want to live for a few more years. He is currently itching for me to ask for a spar with him.” His frank attitude had resulted in us gaining good impressions towards him.

Zhan Hu replied, “Since that’s the case, let’s do it!”

I transmitted to Zhan Hu, “Big Brother, that fellow specializes in Earth magic. Be careful of the ground.”

Zhan Hu slightly nodded and unsheathed the long sword on his back.

The surrounding subordinates of Wallace raised their spears and roared thrice. I didn’t know what they meant. Wallace said, “The spear weighs 99 kilograms and is called Cold Grace.” I didn’t expect him to actually name his heavy spear. Wallace swung the spear in his hand, and a powerful aura spread throughout his surroundings. Zhan Hu’s expression became serious as he obviously met his match today.

Wallace roared loudly and brandished his heavy spear. He kicked off on both legs and rapidly moved in a flash to appear at the right side of Zhan Hu before he shouted, “Watch the spear!” His astonishing speed shocked all of us. Zhan Hu panickedly dodged that spear and leaped into the air, producing sword images that filled the entire sky. ‘Si! Si!’ His battle spirit burst forth like thousands of gold lines striking towards Wallace.

Wallace swiped his heavy spear onto the ground and exclaimed, “Good move! Earth Shield!” An earth wall was erected from the ground, following his heavy spear.

‘Pu!Pu!’ sounds continuously echoed. When Wallace’s wall shattered, Big Brother Zhan Hu’s attack also ended. I felt that it was really strange as to why Zhan Hu didn’t use his speciality, to move behind his opponent to deal with him. After that, Zhan Hu explained that if he wanted his opponent to concede, the best way was to defeat his opponent’s strong points.

Wallace said. “Good skills, I almost couldn’t withstand that move.”

Zhan Hu shouted, “ Stop bullshiting and receive my attack. Amber Crystal Slash!” Zhan Hu’s blade pointed downwards and he slowly lifted his sword up. The surrounding airflow continuously gathered around him and caused his sword to turn sparkling and translucent. The sword blade increasingly became larger with the unceasing insertion of battle spirit within it.

Wallace’s gaze turned abnormally serious and chanted, “Great Earth God, please lend your powers to your loyal believer to use the mightiest power to eliminate the enemy before me—Tyrant Bear Realm!” I knew that this wasn’t magic but something that

combined magic with martial techniques. He raised the heavy spear and the fur of his body was raised. A Earthy yellow light ray shone at the tip of the spear, gradually forming a large ball of light.

By the time Zhan Hu raised the sword above his head, Wallace had finished gathering his fusion of magic and battle spirit attack.

Chapter 7 – The Demon Race’s “Gourmet Food”

The two of them glared at each other as they cast out the power gathered. A yellow light, and an enormous transparent light blade with a dazzling golden light radiance collided in mid air. All of the powers seemed to have converged at one point, making it seem as though time had stopped for a split second.

The immense power exploded with that point as its center. Zhan Hu and Wallace were blown away from the impact of the incomparably formidable power. I yelled, “Be careful!”, as I cast a defensive light barrier in front of everyone to protect them.

After a moment of intense shaking, the ground calmed down. The explosion of the immense powers caused an enormous crater to form. Zhan Hu and Wallace were individually crouching at the edges of the crater, panting heavily.

The werebear soldiers in the surrounding area were rocking unsteadily from side to side, with the collision causing dirt to cover them due to the strong destructive power..

There was a fanatical look in Su He’s eyes who was standing behind us. He was obviously deeply captivated by this competition of strength.

Wallace broke out in laughter before he said, “That was really delightful. I have never been this satisfied before.”

Zhan Hu replied smilingly, “Are we  still  continuing  the fight?”

Wallace shook his head. “I’ve had enough. I never expected that your demon race really had experts reaching through the clouds. It can’t be that I wouldn’t figure out you were holding back your strength right? If there’s a chance in the future, you should have a spar with my Beamon Boss. He will definitely be extremely excited.”

Wallace’s sanguine response had made Zhan Hu’s good feelings towards him increase. He forthrightly replied, “Alright! If I’ve the chance, I’ll definitely want to be enlightened by the power of the Beamon King.”

Wallace cupped one fist in the palm of his other hand and said, “Brother, I’m sure we’ll meet again some day. My comrades, let’s go.” After saying that, he turned around and walked away with large strides, quick like a shooting star.

I walked over to Zhan Hu and said, “He’s quite an interesting fellow.”

Zhan Hu replied in smiles, “That’s right. His straightforwardness is really adorable. With him as my opponent, it makes me feel a lot less lonesome.”

Dong Ri, Jian Shan, and the other villages that came from the God’s village expressed respectful looks. Zhan Hu replied, “Stop looking at me like that. You’re giving me goosebumps. There

aren’t any of you weaker than that bear.”

Su He said, “Wah! Boss, I really worship you. My reverence to you is like an unending torrential river.”

Zhan Hu scolded mockingly, “If you could add your flattering skills into your cultivation, you would have been an expert by now.”

Su He replied, “I….I..I.”

I said, “Stop saying I,and prepare to continue moving on.”

Su He was startled, and asked, “Doesn’t Big Brother Zhan Hu need to take a break? Why are we moving out so quickly?”

I replied smilingly, “You belittle Big brother Zhan Hu too much. He should at most have warmed up.”

Zhan Hu smiled, and said, “Zhang Gong can always understand me. Brothers, let’s go! It’s time to embark on our journey again.”

After two days, we tasted the demon race’s delicacies for the very first time, and understood why Mu Zi, and currently Su He loved to eat the human race’s food so much. The food of the demon race is generally just meat. The restaurant we  were eating at was the local’s highest grade restaurant. The food they made had a fishy urine smell and when we ate it, it was so dry and bony, making everyone spit it out. Finally, we resorted to the food we brought to fill our stomachs.

Su He said mockingly, “Brother, now you should know the pain of our demon race.”

I didn’t have to time to care about his sarcasm; I was calculating how long the food I brought would last. “Could it be that the demon race has no vegetables or fruits?”

Su He’s expression dampened. “Most of the demon race’s lands are extremely infertile. We could only grow some pastures so usually we just rear demon beasts for food. As for these vegetables and fruits you mentioned, I’ve never heard of it. The Demon Emperor’s place may have it.”

We looked at each other after we heard what he said, the demon race’s life was so tough. I sighed, “So your life here is so harsh. If the entire world could remain in harmony, we could use your demon beast to exchange for food.”

Su He’s eyes lit up and said, “Do you mean what you said? If that was the case, it would be great.” After he said  that,  he shook his head and sighed before saying, “I know that won’t be possible. Firstly, you can’t make the decision for the  human race, and I can’t make the decision for the demon race. There is also a thousand years of hatred between the demon and human race. It won’t be that easy to mend their relationship.”

I looked fixedly and said, “I don’t think you’re a  useless prince, but rather a person that can govern with deep plans and distant thoughts.

Su He seemed to realize that he said the wrong things and hastily corrected himself, “It was just a moment of being rueful. You should think about it. Who doesn’t wish to have a peaceful, and stable scenario? It’s for the best that the world is in harmony, especially for people like me. We can play with the human race, and have good food, right? Hehe!”

He had exposed his true colours. The good impression of him I previously had for him immediately dissipated. I grabbed onto Sukrad’s staff and snappily said, “Forget it. I’ll just be wasting my spittle to talk to such a person as yourself. Let’s go! It’s time to make our move.”

Su He chuckled, but he just wordlessly stood up and left the restaurant.

As I walked, I told everyone, “From now on, we’ve  to  cut down on our food. If not, we’ll have to eat that demon race’s food.”

Zhan Hu chuckled and replied, “No need for that. The food they made was awful only, because their cooking techniques are too terrible.”

I replied in amazement, “Big Brother, it can’t be that  you know how to cook, right?”

Zhan Hu puffed out his chest, and said, “What? You don’t believe me? Have you forgotten what I used to do? As bandits, which one of us lack survival skills? You just have to wait and see what I can do for the next meal. However, the task  to capture the demon beast…..”

Jian Shan shouted, without waiting for me to reply, “I..I..I! If you really know how to cook, I’ll definitely catch it for you.”

I turned my head to Su He and asked, “Are there any wild demon beasts?”

Su He nodded. “There are definitely some in the large mountain forests, but they are rather fierce. Naturally, they’re nothing when compared to you guys though.”

I looked at the map, and replied, “We’ll set this mountain forest area as our destination. This is to secure our food source. Big brother, I’ll have to rely on you.”

Zhan Hu replied, “Stop worrying! Brother, you should be careful not to bite your tongue at that time instead.”

Chapter 8 – Six Tailed Demon Fox

Since we planned to head into the mountain forest, before we entered the mountain, we already dealt with our horses beforehand. I didn’t know that they would unexpectedly cost so much. The boss also said that our horses were rare. He said that he would want all of the horse we had. If I knew about this earlier, I wouldn’t have released those few horses earlier.

As we walked up the winding mountain tracks, I told Su He, “According to the map, if we cross this mountain, we should be able to shorten quite a bit of the journey towards the capital city.”

Su He nodded. “That’s right, it shortens the journey by about three days. However, people rarely use this route as the mountain tracks are difficult to trek on, and  they  may encounter powerful demon beasts.”

I nodded, “Anyways, if you lead us down the wrong path, I’ll feed you to the demon beast. Hehe! It’s all up to you.”

Su He replied with bitter smiles, “Boss, I know already and stop scaring me. I’m going to have a heart attack at this rate.”

I coldly snorted and said, “Stop acting. Hmm…..”As I was saying that, I suddenly saw Su He’s eyes was glittering with radiance while he drooled uncontrollably.

I looked at where he was looking at and saw a beautiful girl

from the demon race heading towards us.

I slapped Su He, making him come back to reality. ‘Ai ya!’ He looked at me fumingly and said, “What are you doing?”

I raised my head and replied, “What are you looking at? When you’re with us, control yourself. If you cause trouble, you will have something fun to look forward to.”

Su He showed a defiant expression, believing himself to be wronged. “All gentlemen seek graceful, wise and virtuous women. That lady’s figure was really good. All the proportion of her body are perfect. Wow, that’s awesome. If she were to be in….. Ai yo! Why did you hit me again?”

I said, “That blow was only a light one. You’re to lower your head for me and you will be forbidden from looking at that young lady again.”

Under my pressure, Su He lowered his head, at the same time that girl from the demon race was already near us. That demoness was more graceful than any of the human race’s girls. We all followed Su He’s footsteps as when we looked, we were dazzled by her as well.

Even though that girl from the demon race wasn’t as pretty as Mu Zi, her charms were able to seduce everyone, especially with her bountiful body figure. She walked elegantly towards us. Her every gesture was extremely enticing as her hips and breasts made us have indescribable, wild and fanciful thoughts.

She had already walked past us, but our gazes were unable to move away from her. That girl looked back and giggled, momentarily making arousing our three immortal souls and seven mortal forms.

Suddenly, I felt a sudden pain at my thigh. I didn’t know what had pierced me. When my mind cleared, I was immediately startled. With my cultivation, why was I so captivated by her. Not good, I shouted, “Everyone, be wary. She’s a demoness.” My voice, coated with magic power, woke everyone up.

Zhan Hu wiped the perspiration off his head and muttered, “So powerful.”

There was an astonished expression in her eyes as she looked at me in shock. “I never thought that there was someone that could get back to their senses after seeing my impeccable and beautiful good looks.”

I silently circulated the Holy Sword’s power. The heavenly light momentarily gathered at my chest. The charm from that demoness wouldn’t be able to invade me again. I shouted, “You’re good, demoness. Why did you try to charm us?”

That girl chuckled. “I’m hungry, that’s why.” Her voice was so gentle and a strong enticing force came towards after that. I coldly snorted before I shot a halo fused with magic and the Holy Sword’s power towards her.

The girl was frightened and didn’t continue to use her charm, instead she shot out a black light to try to block my attack.

The Holy Sword’s power and light magic possessed attributes that restrained black magic so her counter attack definitely wouldn’t work. The halo successfully dispersed her magic and tightly locked around her.

As that girl was trying to withstand the light halo with all her might, she cried out in fright, “The human race’s light magic? You’re not from the demon race?”

My expression changed before I said, “Since you know our secret, do you think we’ll let you go?” I walked towards her with a cold expression.

Everyone had already awoken from their stunned state and were exceptionally shocked. Even with their high cultivation, they were almost killed by that girl.

The light halo continuously tightened. The girl cried out mournfully before her body gradually started to transform. Under everyone’s amazement, she slowly turned into a fox-like demon beast but with six tails.Su He exclaimed in fright, “An evolutionary demon fox?”

I asked, “Is she a demon beast?”

Su He nodded. “She won’t be able to take it any longer. Can you relax your attack a little?” The light halo stopped constricting around her and stayed at its original state at my will.

Su He said, “Demon beasts that can evolve are really rare. I didn’t expect to find one here.”

I asked, “Is there a difference between an evolving demonic beast and the evolving magical beasts of human mages?”

Su He shook his head. “There’s a difference. The evolving demon beast’s most terrifying component is that as it evolves, its intelligence increases, especially demon foxes that are the most crafty. She looks to have evolved to have six tails so she

should be a B ranked demon beast. But she has intelligence surpassing that of a B ranked demon beast. If she were to evolve to have nine tails, she’d be an A ranked demon  fox.  She wouldn’t be easy to deal with then.”

I nodded. “What kind of offensive attacks does this demon fox specialize in?”

Su He explained, “She doesn’t have any special offensive ability. There are thorns at the tip of her tail that  contains strong poison, but it isn’t deadly, and only has a numbing effect. Her most special characteristic is that she can turn into any life forms and imitate various voices. Previously, she should have transformed into one of the beauties of our demon race. If we were seduced by her, once we were pieced by the poisonous thorns, we’d be drained of our blood, resulting in our death.”

I frowned and said, “It’s that vicious?”

Su He replied, “I’m also curious as to why there’s such a demon beast here. Only other life forms’ blood essence  can make them evolve. They should already be extinct according to folklore. It was because they were too malicious that they had given rise to the wrath of Heaven. Moreover, there  are extremely few demon foxes that can cultivate to her standard. Currently, we only have single tailed demon foxes in our demon beasts that are used for reconnaissance.

I walked over to the demon fox and coldly snorted, “Since you’re that malicious, I definitely couldn’t let you go today. If not, I don’t know how many innocent people will die unjustly by your hands.” After I said that, I raised my hand.

Chapter 9 – Kindhearted Little Beast

Since my magic went back to its previous state, she  was unable to talk. Her beautiful large eyes were teary as she gave a pleading look.

I asked, “You have done many malicious things. Why do you feel wronged if I kill you?”

The demon beast unexpectedly shook her head with all her might. It was as though I really had wronged her. Su He said, “Hmm, she seems to have something she wants to say.”

Zhan Hu said, “What else can she say? She is just seeking forgiveness. Zhang Gong, kill her. We’ve to carry on our

journey.”

Seeing her beautiful large eyes, my heart softened. I relaxed the light halo that was restricting her. “If you want to run away, I’ll make sure you die without an intact body. I’ll give you a chance to explain yourself.”

The Demon fox called out mournfully before a magic undulation appeared in her body, transforming her to the form we initially saw her in. Her exceptionally  captivating  body figure still made my heart race. I bit the tip of my tongue and said, “If you’re trying to charm us again, I won’t be that polite anymore.”

The demon fox quickly replied, “No, no! I wouldn’t dare.”

I replied, “Just say what you want to tell us. I don’t have spare time for you to dawdle.”

The demon fox looked at me pitifully. “I’m just an ordinary Demon Fox that unintentionally gained intelligence and learned the cultivation method that you call evolution. However, even though my body needs blood, I have never killed anybody.”

I coldly snorted, “Your words are hard to believe as you were able to cultivate to this standard yet you haven’t  killed anybody.”

The demon fox replied, “What I said is the truth. Lord, even though I eat the essence of the demon race, every time I had met a demon, I just make them unconscious and take a little bit of blood from each. I’ve never killed anyone in the process of supplying my body with blood.”

I looked at Su He and asked, “Is what she said possible?”

Su He nodded. “From the looks of it, she doesn’t seem to be lying as there aren’t any black lines at her upper dantian. She shouldn’t have killed anybody before.”

I thought before I replied, “Since you haven’t killed anybody, I’ll let you go this time. You should be more careful the  next time you hunt for food. You’re free to go.”

The Demon Fox continuously kowtowed to me while thanking me profusely. I waved my hand and shot a power to lift her up. I said, “That’s enough. You just have to not kill any people in the future. That is the best way to show your  gratitude  towards me.”

The Demon Fox whispered to me, “My lord, may I ask you a favour?”

I didn’t kill her was already not bad already. Now, she wanted me to grant her a favour? I impatiently replied, “Say it!”

The Demon Fox cautiously replied, “I wish to  travel  with you.”

I was so shocked that I almost jumped up before loudly rejecting her.

The Demon Fox’s tears flowed down as she cried, “I didn’t kill any of the Demon Race, not to mention any humans. Please accept me.”

I replied, “This is different from you killing or not killing anybody. I can’t bring you along, you should just stay here and cultivate.” It would be a joke to bring her along. With her swaying in front of me, I might do something that would let Mu Zi and Hai Shui down. We were a bunch of hot blooded fellows.

Su He suddenly whispered to the demon fox, “How can he let you to follow you in your current form? Change into your other form.” The demon fox was suddenly enlightened and immediately transformed into a cute single tailed demon fox before jumping into my embrace and continuously licking my face.

I glared at Su He. “What are you thinking? Why did you make her follow me?”

Su He said smilingly, “You don’t know about this but to her kind of fox species, her inborn talent isn’t good so to be able to train to her current state, it should have been really difficult. If she wants to have another breakthrough, she’ll definitely need the protection of God’s power or have a lot of believers that pray towards her. The latter is definitely impossible but for the

former, isn’t it you? Your body must have some kind of God’s power that had resulted in her wanting to follow you so badly.”

Hearing what Su He said, the demon fox strongly nodded her head, indicating her full approval.

I tossed the demon fox to Big Brother Zhan Hu. “Big brother, you also have God’s power so she should be yours. She can even transform into a beauty.”

The furry thing landed in Zhan Hu’s embrace, making him jump in fright. After hearing what I said, he angrily replied, “Zhang Gong! You brat, you don’t speak your feelings. No, I shall leave the beauty with you.” He just tossed the demon fox back to me. Just as I wanted to toss her to Dong Ri, I suddenly

saw that she began tearing up again. I sighed and said, “Alright! You can follow me from now on. But don’t you dare play any tricks on me. If you do, I’ll abandon you. Most importantly, without my permission, you’re not allowed to change into your seductive form at your will. Do you understand?” I had no choice; who called me to be this kind hearted. I would just give her to Mu Zi as a present in the future.

An elated radiance was expressed in the demon fox’s eyes as she constantly nodded her head in happiness.

Our task hadn’t been completed and we already had two more members.

Thanks to the commotion with the demon fox, everyone felt a

little hungry. I asked Su He, “Didn’t you say that there were demon beasts in the mountain forest? Why haven’t  we  seen any, other than this demon fox?”

Su He smiled embarrassedly before he said, “Meeting a demon beast is mostly by chance. It isn’t something that will be there just by wishing for it.”

The demon fox suddenly jumped up from my shoulder and ran to the front of us before crouching. Her entire body emitted a fishy urine smell. I was stunned before I asked, “What’s she doing? Crapping?”

At that moment, there was suddenly a ‘Sha! Sha!’ sound in the thicket. Zhan Hu shouted, “Everyone, be careful. There maybe a

demon beast.”

As expected, there was a huge dog-like demon beast that pounced over at the demon fox. The demon fox nimbly jumped onto the demon beast’s back. She pierced the thorns of her tail into the back of the demon beast, making it wobble in pain before it collapsed onto the ground.

That fishy urine smell instantly disappeared afterwards. Dong Ri said in amazement, “So, the reason for the smell was so that she could catch a demon beast for us.”

The demon fox used her front claws to point at the dog-like demon beast before calling out complacently. Su He  walked over and said, “Ah! It’s a D ranked demon wolf. We can eat

this.” The demon fox jumped back onto my shoulder and used her big tail to sweep at me as she called out intimately.

I chuckled and said, “I didn’t know that you little thing was so capable. Not bad, I’ll remember your achievement. Big brother, didn’t you say that you know how to cook? We’ll test your skills later.”

Zhan Hu replied beamingly, “No problem. It seems  that there’s the sound of flowing water to the left side in front of us. Let’s head over there.”

Jian Shan dragged the demon wolf and everyone headed to where Zhan Hu pointed. A small water spring was seen in front of us, just as we expected. Zhan Hu complacently said, “How is

it? My experiences are great, right?”

Chapter 10 – Delicious Barbecue

I said, “Big brother, stop boasting and start cooking, let everyone have a taste of your cooking skills.”

Zhan Hu lifted the demon wolf and walked to the riverside. He withdrew his long sword from his back before he rid the Demon wolf of its fur and internal organs in a few smooth moves. He said to Dong Ri, “We’ll need a fire, so go and collect some twigs for kindling.”

I walked over and asked, “Wah! Big brother, you can’t be planning to directly roast it right? It won’t  be  any  different from the way the demon race cooks it then.”

Zhan Hu just chuckled mysteriously before he replied, “You just have to wait for the food to be ready for consumption.”

After we lit up a bonfire, Zhan Hu used a thick tree branch to pierce through the Demon wolf’s meat before taking out a bottle and pouring its contents onto it. He was being extremely cautious; it was as though he was afraid of wasting it. I caught a faint alcoholic smell from the bottle. After finishing his job, he took out several other bottles and jars from his bag. He specifically used some of the powder from four or five of the bottles. After he poured some viscous watery substance from one of the larger containers, he used his hands to mix it up.

I asked, “What are these?”

Zhan Hu replied, “You only know how to eat. These are seasonings. During this long distance journey, I had purposely prepared all these before we headed out. You’re all in for a treat as these seasonings were made with my secret recipe; so it’s impossible to buy it from anywhere.”

While he was saying that, he used a small brush to coat the Demon wolf’s meat with seasonings. Afterwards, he placed the meat on top of the bonfire to roast it.

After a short period of time, strong fragrance assailed our noses, arousing everyone’s appetite.

Su He couldn’t hold back from asking, “How did you remove the fishy scent from this meat? The fishy scent of a demon

wolf’s meat is usually very pungent.”

Zhan Hu complacently laughed and replied, “It’s my secret recipe, how can I tell you?”

Su He interest dampened before he resentfully sat beside him, trying to figure out how Zhan Hu had done it. I had some ideas as to why there wasn’t any fishy smell. I figured that it must have had something to do with that wine; it must not have been an ordinary wine, as the alcoholic scent wasn’t very strong.

After a short while, the Demon wolf’s meat had completely turned golden yellow. The Demon Fox in my embrace called out. I mockingly scolded her, “Why are you so anxious? How can we not give you a portion as well?”

Zhan Hu brandished his long sword to cut a piece of the meat. After looking at it, he said, “Alright! Everyone, it’s time to eat it now. Serve yourselves.” With regards to the speed of snatching food, who could be faster than me? A light shone from my hand, making a large piece of meat fly over. I had picked the thigh of the demon wolf. The demon fox excited called out. I tore a portion of the meat and placed it into her mouth. “You can eat it wherever you want.”

The demon fox ran to the side. I couldn’t wait any longer to have a taste of the meat. Wah! I ate it with relish. The  outer layer of the meat was charred and filled with grease. When I bit into it, the meat was charred on the outside, but  was  very tender on the inside. It was extremely delicious.  It  was definitely comparable to the food at Ascending Tide restaurant.

The entire demon had disappeared into the mouths of a pack of wolves.

Su He walked over to me with grief and indignation across his face as he said pitifully, “Lord Zhang Gong, they all bullied me. I was only able to get a small piece of meat which was of the rear end of the Demon wolf.”

I broke into laughter after hearing what he said before I replied, “Why were you so slow? Serves you right.”

Su He replied pouting, “You’re all experts that only know how to bully the weak.”

Zhan Hu walked over and said, “You’re the second prince of the Demon race. How are you weak?”

Su He said angrily, “Hmph! If you don’t let me have my fill, even if it means my death, I will not continue to lead the way.”

I stared at him in amazement. I never imagined that for food, he would toss his principles aside. I threw him some rations from the spatial pocket and turned to face Zhan Hu before saying, “Big brother, your skill in roasting meat is just too superior. If you don’t become a chef, it’ll be a pity.”

At that moment, the demon fox had finished her portion. It was obvious that she hadn’t had enough as she ran to Zhan Hu’s side and rubbed up against him. Zhan Hu mockingly berated her, “You stupid fox, what are you up to? You still want to eat? You just have to get something larger next time.” The demon fox adorable eyes lit up; she apparently thought that it was a good idea.

I looked up to see the time of day before saying, “Let’s go.

We’ll continue to move forward before resting.”

As the sky gradually darkened, I looked at the map and thought, ‘We still have a rather long way to go to get to Capital City. If we continue at this pace, it’ll be too slow.’

I told Zhan Hu, “Big brother, I think we should increase our speed, bringing that brat along has really slowed us down.”

Zhan Hu replied smilingly, “What should we do? Kill him?”

I whispered, “Stop fooling around. In any case, he’s still my wife’s brother, so we have to keep him alive. Moreover, killing him will increase the grudges the demon race have toward us to the point that our relationship won’t be possible to mend. How about this? We’ll rest up well today. Starting from tomorrow, we’ll start to fly at unmanned places. Someone will carry him for a while. What do you think?”

Zhan Hu nodded. “We can only do it that way then since it’ll be quicker.”

Su He walked over to me and said, “Zhang Gong, can you give me something to eat? I’m hungry again.”

I chuckled and replied, “Except for eating, what else can you do?” He pouted at the demon fox on my shoulder. ‘Swish!’ The demon fox moved and leapt out. Su He shouted, “My small treasure, please find something larger this time.” He was afraid that he wouldn’t have a portion again.

The demon fox sniffed in the forest in front of us before looking back at us. A sign of craftyness flashed in her  eyes before a fishy urine smell gradually permeated out from her body again.

In a short moment, when we were about to hunt our food, we suddenly felt an immense pressure coming from the depth of the forest. I looked at Zhan Hu in astonishment. What was this demon beast that could emit a pressure that could affect us?

Su He yelled, “Not good, this is definitely a demon beast that is at least A ranked. We really met a big boss this time.”

The demon fox rapidly ran back before she leapt on me, with her little body still shaking. I asked her, “What did you lure over?”

The demon fox chirped out twice at me. When I wanted to ask her to transform, ‘Ka! Ka!’ sounds of trees being crushed sounded out from the forest. As I shouted, “Everyone, get

ready!”, I took out the Sukrad’s staff.

The forest in front of us was suddenly blown apart. A cyclops appeared with an enormous tree trunk in his hand. He was about 15 meters tall. He looked left and right, as though he was looking for something. When his gaze landed on the Demon Fox on my shoulder, he roared before dashing towards me. The sound of his footsteps on the ground had given off loud ‘Hong! Hong!’ sounds.

Chapter 11 – Cyclops Demon Beast

Damn it, why was I so unlucky? I really wanted to just toss this little fellow over to him. I brandished Sukrad’s  staff  to shoot a golden light over at him.

The cyclops unexpectedly didn’t dodge or hide. He just waved the large branch towards me.

‘Pu! Chi!’ sounded as the light blade struck on his body. There was only a trace of blood that was left on his chest, but it wouldn’t really result to any damage to his body. I had used an advanced spell but he unexpectedly didn’t treat it as a matter. As I was astonished, his branch had arrived. The strong wind that blew towards me had caused my face to hurt. I didn’t had the time to dodge so I rapidly made my magic power surge outwards. “Hong!” The branch that he had sent towards  me blew me away like a baseball. I broke through 5 trees before stopping. Even though I used my magic power as a defence, the impact still made my entire body hurt. It seemed that I couldn’t

underestimate him.

After Zhan Hu saw that I was blown away,  he  angrily hollered, “War God’s Armour!” A blue light shone, encasing his body in the magnificent War God’s Armour. The cyclops was stunned as he expressed fear from his gazes before retreating two steps.

Zhan Hu yelled, “You actually dared to hurt my brother. You shall see how I’ll deal with you.”

When they were confronting each other, I used short teleport to teleport back and scolded, “F*ck, you bastard. You had the gall to dare to hit me. If Xiao Jin was here, I would tear you to pieces.”

Dong Ri said with smiles, “It seems that there are also times when Zhang Gong is aggrieved.”

I fumingly shouted, “You’re good! You also dare mock me. I’ll pass him to you. Big brother Zhan Hu, it has been awhile since I have seen Dong Ri’s skills. Let him do it!”

Zhan Hu chuckled as he put his War God’s Armour away and he said, “Alright! Dong Ri, he’s all yours!”

Dong Ri puffed out his chest and replied, “No problem!” He

had moved in a flash to stand in the forefront. Drawing his Wind God’s Bow, the cyclops hollered and charged again due to the lost of threat from the War God’s Armor..

Dong Ri coldly snorted and his face became slightly rosy as he yelled out, “The God King bestowed upon me the Wind God’s Bow and with it my ethereal arrows will flash rapidly and violently!” He raised his hand instantly, making the Wind God’s Bow produce a ‘Weng!’ sound. ‘Hong!’ The cyclops’ head suddenly exploded before us, without any light rays in view. His limbs wavered before he collapsed on the ground like a ruined pillar.

Dong Ri panted a few breathes before he placed the Wind God’s Bow back into his body. He then said, “Big brother Zhang Gong, what do you think? My abilities are still good, right?”

I looked at him in astonishment. It seemed that all the God’s weapon were extraordinary; no matter what type of weapon, it had strong powers. I replied, “Dong Ri, you’ve already completely grasped the power of Wind God’s Bow?”

Dong Ri shook his head. “How can it be that easy, even Big brother Zhan Hu hasn’t completely grasped his power. I can only use 30% of the Wind God’s Ethereal Arrows.”

Jian Shan walked over and said in surprise, “Dong Ri, so you’re this powerful. If what you did was only 30% of its power, then how powerful would it be if it’s at full power?”

I replied with smiles, “It’s not impossible for it to be able to ravage the mountains and fill the seas. However, our enemy is

much more powerful.” I glanced at Su He, but I didn’t talked about the Monster King.

Jian Shan said in amazement, “You’re so powerful. You’re worthy to be God’s inheritors.” Upon hearing what he said, I hastily glared at him. Jian Shan realized that he had said too much so he quickly changed the topic by saying, “That cyclops should be able to supply us with food for a couple of days.”

Su He seemed to have not heard what Jian Shan had said and walked over. “This is a Cyclops demon beast. The most impressive point of him isn’t his power nor the toughness of his limbs, but rather, it’s his ability to stun people with a light ray from his eye. Dong Ri is so powerful. The beast didn’t even have a chance to use his single eye’s ability before he was killed. Moreover, this was at least an A ranked demon beast, which is also rare among the army troops of the demon race. I’m completely mesmerized by your powers.”

Dong Ri scolded him mockingly, “Stop flattering us. Big brother Zhan Hu, I’ll take a short break. You must cook some sumptuous roasted meat for everyone to eat. Don’t waste my efforts.”

Zhan Hu smiled and said, “This fella should be able to supply us for ten days to half a month. I’ll cook two portions of it today. One is for us to eat in a bit and the other for us to bring along with us on our journey.”

I furrowed my eyebrows and asked, “How shall we cook it?

How large of a pot will we need?”

Zhan Hu replied, “Won’t that be easy? We also  won’t  be eating all of it. We just have to cut off all of its limbs so that we can have it for a couple of days. As for the pot, we can just find a place that has water and dig a large pit. After placing water in it, we’ll be able to start cooking.”

I asked, “How are we going to cook? We won’t be able to heat it up and it’s unhygienic as well.”

Zhan Hu chuckled. “Won’t we be able to separate the meat from the walls of the pit with your magic? As for heating it up, don’t tell me that you don’t know any elementary or intermediate fire spells.”

Damn it,  it  seemed  that  he  had  locked  onto  me  for  quite

sometime already. Without a choice, I became the second cook for this meal. We had almost completely used up all of Big brother Zhan Hu’s seasonings to cook the cyclops. After everyone had their fill, I called the demon fox out and told her, “Change into your other form for me.”

After a black fog flashed, the demon fox had turned into her other charming form. “Master, do you have any orders?”

I chuckled before I replied to her in cold smile, “When you previously lured that cyclops over, was it a plot  against  my life?”

The demon fox shook her hand. “No, no! It was Master Zhan Hu that told me to find something larger. I definitely have to

find something extremely large.”

I grabbed her by the neck and said, “If you’re playing some trick, you should be wary of me.”

The demon fox replied, feeling wronged. “It really wasn’t my intention. With Master’s power, you shouldn’t have trouble eliminating that single eyed ugly ghost.”

I released my hold before I said, “If I find out that you were lying to me, I’ll let Big brother roast you as well.”

There were two drops of tears that flowed out of the demon fox’s eyes. With a sway of her body, she had turned back to a one tailed demon fox. She ran to a side, ignoring me. It seemed that she was enraged. I smiled a little before I also ignored her.

……

After a night of recuperating and building up our energies, everyone’s spirit was better. After packing up, everyone carried some of the remaining portions of the Cyclops demon meat. I told the demon fox, “Little thing, we’re going to fly. If you don’t want to be left behind, quickly come over to me.” The demon fox stared at me with widen eyes before she unwillingly came over and lept onto my shoulder. I pet her furry little head as I said “You’re still angry. We shall count last night’s reprimand to be something that I had wrongly accused you.”

The demon fox angrily chirped out twice at me in dissatisfaction. Her cute looks made me chuckle. I  said, “Alright! Alright! I had wrongly accused you.” With that, she leaned on my shoulder without moving in satisfaction.

Chapter 12 – Flying Ahead

I told Zhan Hu, “Big brother, I’ll be the first one to bring this fellow along.”

Zhan Hu nodded. “Everyone just has to take turns. If we don’t bring a person along, everyone can fly for an  hour  without much problems, and if we’re to bring someone, we should be able to fly for 20 minutes. How about this? Every ten minutes, we’ll change the person that carries him. We should be able to fly continuously for 40 minutes that way. It can be counted as a day’s journey at our current pace every time we fly.”

I pulled Su He over to my side and told him, “If you don’t want to fall to your death, don’t flail about.” Upon saying that, I carried him under my arms before I surged my magic powers outwards. ‘Sou!’ I lept into the sky while carrying him. Su He was so scared that he yelled out in fright.

I said, “Stop shouting! If you’re afraid, just close your eyes.”

Zhan Hu and the rest lept into the sky, surrounding me so that I found myself in the center.

The burden of carrying a person as we flew was really great. After ten minutes, I passed Su He to Zhan Hu. Everyone took turns to carry him in that manner. We had flown five times in a day; the duration of each flight was about an hour.

Su He dazedly sat in a corner with a pale complexion when

night arrived. He wasn’t able to take in any food, even the ones that he loved. As I saw his looks, I felt a little bad for him. I walked over to his side and said, “You just have to endure it for a little while more. After two days, we should be at the border of the demon race. You can be reassured that when the time is right, we’ll definitely set you free.”

Su He nodded. “I thank you for that and I’m hungry now.”

I chuckled as I tossed him a piece of a single eyed demon beast. “That’s more like it!”

When it was time to fly again the next day, Su He was slightly more accustomed to flying and gradually came to like it. We had reached a small forest about 300km away from the border of the

demon race after travelling for two days. There wouldn’t be any mountain forest to hide our tracks if we were to head any further. Zhan Hu and I had decided to stay at our position for a while before heading on. No matter how slow we moved, we would be able to reach the border in three days time.

As I lay on my quickly made bed of withered grass, I looked up at the stars in the sky. Mu Zi’s beautiful complexion appeared before me. ‘Mu Zi, I’m coming. I don’t know how you’re faring.’

The demon fox, who was snuggling at my side, suddenly stood up and looked warily at her surroundings. I patted her head and replied, “What is it? Is there any danger around?”

There was suddenly a call of a nocturnal bird that broke the

tranquility. The demon fox’s eyes lit up and she immediately pounced. I hastily stood up and chased after her. She stopped at a place not far away from where we were. She was gritting her teeth and her fur was standing up. It was as though she had met an enemy.

I ran in front of her, only to see Su He awkwardly squatting down.

I asked, “What are you doing here?”

Su He replied, “I…I was crapping and alerted the nocturnal birds by accident. After that, this fella came over.” Upon saying that, he pointed at the demon fox, who was filled with animosity.

The demon fox seemed to be unsatisfied and continuously growled at him. Since my mind was filled with Mu Zi’s image, I didn’t think much about it before I told the demon fox, “Let him do his business. Let’s head back to sleep. Su He, quickly come over.” After I said that, I grabbed onto the demon fox and returned to my not so comfortable bed.

We simply ate something the next morning. We walked out of the forest and onto the flat plain, dashing towards the demon race’s border.

We were soon able to reach the border of the demon race. Su He seemed to have a lot on his mind. After these days of interacting with him, even though he was a useless Second Prince, we didn’t reject him as much as we did initially.

I said, “Su He, tell everyone about the customs of the natives near here.”

Su He looked at me and replied, “The nearby area is already within the perimeter of the city. The city has  about  three million ordinary demon race. Since it’s war time, most of the army had been dispatched to the front line. The city is left with Holy Light’s Protectors to protect the demon Emperor and other assisting troops. There should be approximately 1 million of them. The status they hold is extremely important. The high ranked demon race has many special privileges, especially the demon race’s royalties. They’re generally gathered in the city.”

Zhan Hu said grinningly, “Didn’t you say that the beauties of your demon race are charming? Why aren’t they any in view?”

Su He chuckled. “The beauties are in the city. The beauties in our demon race are incomparable to the human race. They’re quite open minded. I can introduce some of them to you.” I didn’t feel that they were open minded. Mu Zi gave me a feeling that she was more conservative than the human race. From how I looked at it, Hai Shui was more open minded than she was, but it might be due to her identity.

Zhan Hu mockingly scolded him, “You little fellow, once it’s about beauties, your spirit increases.”

When we were very close to our destination, I gradually became nervous. After a day, we only walked for 100km. Zhan Hu said impatiently, “Let’s fly again tomorrow. Our  current pace is too slow.”

I shook my head. “Forget it, safety is our priority.”

Su He said, “After passing the valley in front of us, we should be able to see the city already.”

I opened the map and pointed on it. “Is that the God Rended Canyon?”

Su He nodded. “In the legend, during the great War between the Gods and the monsters, it was split open by a God. Thus, getting its name, the God Splitting Valley.” Upon saying that,

his expression dampened.

I didn’t mind that as I continued to look at the map. The map had shown that the area that the demon race held was quite large; it was about the size of a small country. (The demon race’s country is about the size of the human race’s province. In the center of the map, there was a golden portion that was noted on it. It should be the Imperial City. Mu Zi should be living at that place.)

After a quiet night, we headed towards the God Splitting Valley the next day.

When the Sun was high up in the sky, I saw the God Splitting Valley. The sight was extremely terrible. Light was shining

through from both sides of the mountain and there was a 10 meter pathway in the middle. What aroused my curiosity was that we hadn’t seen a single demon race since this morning. Su He said that this was the only path leading to the city. Why was it so quiet?

Su He said, “There aren’t many people that come through here. The people in the demon race city usually head in the other direction as that direction is the interior of the demon race. The pathway through the valley will be inclined. After walking to the end of the valley and when the path gets even with the mountain plain, we’ll be able to see the city.”

I nodded. “Let’s quickly move on.”

Chapter 13 – Trapped In Dire Straits

Our team of 13 people and one beast, entered the God Rended Canyon. When we walked to the center of the valley, I suddenly felt uneasy. I stopped walking, and told Zhan Hu, “Big brother, I feel uneasy. Is there be something that’s going to happen?”

Zhan Hu replied with smiles, “Why will it? Who will know that we’re humans? You should be nervous because of meeting a certain person soon, right?”

I instantly relaxed, and replied smiling, “Perhaps.” Just as I wanted to walk, the demon fox on my shoulder suddenly shuddered, and her fur stood up; it wasn’t right. Something would definitely happen.

I shouted, “Everyone, be wary of your surroundings.”

At that moment, something really happened. The heaven and earth suddenly turned completely dark, all the light was blocked out. I raised my head, and couldn’t help but inhale a mouthful of cold breath. There was an incomparably enormous black dragon that was circling above us in the sky. I didn’t need Su He to tell me as I knew that it would most likely be the Demon Emperor’s S ranked Dark Demon Dragon. How could it be this strong? It should be 165 meters long from what I gauged. The strong aura was definitely something that Xiao Jin wouldn’t be able to compare to. It was the strongest dragon I had seen, excluding the Dragon King.

I heard a roar before I looked at that direction of the sound. I found that there was someone standing on the Dark Demon Dragon’s head. It couldn’t be the Demon Emperor, right? Why…What was he doing here?

The Demon Emperor leaped from the back of the Dark Demon Dragon, surging out a strong aura towards us. I shouted, “Everyone, move backwards!”

We were experts after all. Zhan Hu pulled on Su He as the 12 of us jumped a hundred metres back. With a black flash, the Demon Emperor stood arrogantly in front of us. His body radiated with the strong aura, which an expert possessed, and was at least two meters tall; he was also wearing black war armour, but didn’t wear a helmet. His black, long hair fell on his shoulders. He looked resolute with deep glimmers from his eyes.

I focused before I used my magic power to protect my entire body; a faint gold light was emitted from my body, which was able to forcefully withstand his aura.

I stepped two steps forward, and said. “You’re the Demon Emperor, Qi Meng Satan.”

There was a strict glimmer that flashed past the Demon Emperor’s eyes. His hair started to move without any presence of wind as he laughed out loud. A powerful sound wave charged towards us. I brandished my Sukrad’s staff with a loud holler, forming a thick barrier to block the sound wave attack.

There was astonishment in the Demon Emperor’s eyes as it icily said, “It has been a long time since someone directly called my name. You humans actually dared to come into our Holy Light Empire’s territory. Are you here to seek death?” His voice was too resounding that it seemed like the sound of colliding metals.

I narrowed my eyes as I brought my body’s power to its peak state. “The purpose of coming here this time is to discuss something with you.”

The Demon Emperor coldly sneered, “You are a few children, who are still wet behind the ears, dare to come negotiate with me. From how I look at it, you’re just sick of living. If you want to negotiate with me, you should go to hell to discuss with the Yama, King of Hell, first.” Upon saying that and waving his hand, there were countless of army troops that surged out from all sides of the mountain wall; there were about 3000 of them, encasing the entire valley so thoroughly that not even water would be able to pass through. Even if we had  tyrannical powers, under this kind of absolute disadvantaged scenario, it would be impossible to escape from here alive.

This was the end; I was deeply trapped. My previously clear mind couldn’t help but to fluster.

I shouted, “Please wait. I’ve got something that I would like inquire about.”

The Demon Emperor replied, “Since you’re going to die, you can say it.”

I inquired, “I will like to know; how did you know about us coming to the demon race, and strategically ambush us?”

After the Demon Emperor heard what I said, his face showed a meaningful smile. “You’ll find that out soon.”

I would find it out soon? I was stunned. At that moment, the scene changed. It wasn’t the demon race that attacked  but rather our inner group had changed. Su He, who was standing beside Zhan Hu, suddenly moved. His speed could only be described as a monster. He rapidly struck at Zhan Hu and Dong Ri’s neck with his hand. With their tyrannical power, they unexpectedly collapsed after that hit. Su He laughed out loud as he held them with each one in his hands. He kicked off with both feet and leapt into the sky instantly.

Jian Shan was the first to response. He quickly withdrew his sword, which emitted a gold light and chased after Su He. Su He’s body swayed peculiarly in mid air and was unexpectedly able to dodge that attack; he directly reached the top of the mountain wall.

Seeing the cowardly Su He that showed such astonishing powers, everyone was stunned by what we saw, including me.

I shouted fumingly, “Su He, you bastard, you actually lied to us.”

Su He, who was on the wall of the mountain walls, helplessly chuckled, “Sorry Zhang Gong! We each follow a different lord.”

The Demon Emperor had already raised his hand and was obviously going to make his move.

I said, “Demon Emperor, can you allow me to ask your son a few more questions? I’ll be able to die without any regrets that way.”

The Demon Emperor was stunned by my words. “Son? Him?” Upon saying that, he pointed at Su He. He suddenly broke out in laughter and replied, “Not bad! Not bad! He can be counted as my half son. Ke Lun Duo, you should just reply some of his questions.”

Ke Lun Duo?

My complexion paled as I asked. “You’re Ke Lun Duo? The one you said that as the number one warrior of the demon race, the leader of the Radiant Protectors?”

Su He replied apologetically, “Yes, I’m Ke Lun Duo, and not Su He. You want to know what is really going on? I’ll tell you this. When the twelve of you obstructed me behind the main army troop, I found that your powers were extremely strong. My subordinates strength wouldn’t be able to deal with you. I initially thought you were from the demon race, and wanted to see what you were up to, so I let you to freely kill my subordinates. However, I didn’t expect you to be humans. At that time, I decided to hide my identity to figure  out  what you’re after. When I previously told you that Ke Lun Duo was in the city, it was a lie. I was supposed to return, and report about the war situation to His Majesty.”

I coldly snorted, “Then why did you impersonate Su He?”

Ke Lun Duo replied, “Since I knew that you dared enter our territory, you must have made preparations, and have understanding about us. I definitely had to pretend to be someone beneficial to you, and not a threat to you so that you wouldn’t kill me. On the way, I saw your tyrannical powers time after time, and couldn’t help but to be frightened. I didn’t know what your motives were, so if I were to lead you to the city, you’d definitely be a huge threat towards His Majesty, so I couldn’t help but to use this method. I was almost exposed by you last night as the demon fox saw that I was giving out the signal. The night bird that you heard was an A ranked demon beast that I own. I had used it to convey the news of your infiltration to His Majesty.”

Chapter 14 – Xiao Jin Returns

I dejectedly looked at the demon fox on my shoulder.  “It seems that I won’t be able to bring you along in the future. If I’d paid more attention, perhaps everything that  happened wouldn’t have happened.”

Ke Lun Duo said, “Zhang Gong, you all should just surrender.

I’ll plead mercy for you in front of His Majesty.”

I clenched my teeth and said, “Ke Lun Duo, stop being a hypocrite! Currently, I just want to eat your meat, and peel your skin off.”

Ke Lun Duo helplessly smiled, and pointed at Zhan Hu, and

Dong Ri, who had both fainted. “It can’t be that you don’t care about their life, right? I captured them so as to avoid unnecessary injuries.”

I took in a deep breath and viciously glared at him. With my heart overflowing with hatred, I shouted, “Big  brother  Zhan Hu, Dong Ri, and the God’s village brother, I hate to cause trouble for you. Demon Emperor, I want to challenge you.”

The Demon King said astonished, “You want to challenge me in this situation?”

I coldly said, “That’s right! Do you dare accept my challenge? If you win, everyone of us will surrender unconditionally. If you lose, you’re to let us go.”

The Demon Emperor chuckled. “Human, you really are outstanding. I don’t know how long it has been since someone has challenged me. Alright! I’ll accept.”

Ke Lun Duo anxiously said, “Your Majesty, I think it’s better that I do it. You’re too invaluable to do this.”

I shouted, “You don’t have the qualification.”

The Demon Emperor replied, “Brat, I really want to see the capabilities that enable you to be this savage. Ke Lun Duo,

you’re to command your subordinates to move back. I want to be enlightened on this human’s skills.”

I said, “Alright! You’re worthy to be the demon race’s King. I, Zhang Gong Wei, will be enlightened by the skills that the demon race’s top expert possesses.”

The Demon Emperor asked in astonishment, “Zhang Gong Wei, you’re the human’s Magister, Zhang Gong Wei that killed a few hundred of the demon race’s experts in Aixia?”

I stopped caring already and arrogantly nodded  saying, “That’s right! It was me. You want to seek vengeance for your subordinate? Come at me then.”

From the aura that the Demon King emitted, I knew I was not his match. If Big brother Zhan Hu, and Dong Ri were here, with the power of three of us, we should be able to fight against him; that was still under the condition that the Dark Demon Dragon didn’t participate. No matter what, I’ve got to give it my all. At the very least, if I lose, everyone should just be detained, and wouldn’t be in any mortal danger temporarily.

The Demon King’s surrounding aura started to become violent. A black halo was emitted from his body. With a sneer on his face, he stepped forward and heavily punched out. The circular dark energy spiraled as it headed towards me.

I calmed down, and circulated the three gold dans in my body. I hollered as I struck out a light blade filled with power. When the light blade and the dark energy collided, I was rebounded by

it, and pushed 10 steps back.

The Demon Emperor’s eyes showed surprise as he  said, “Good, kid since you’re able to receive my punch, you’re qualified to be my opponent.” Just as he wanted to continue to attack, a loud dragon roar sounded in the sky.

I wiped the blood traces from the corner of my mouth. That sound was really familiar. Ah! It was Xiao Jin. Xiao Jin had come over at the most critical point.

I shouted, filled with feelings, “Xiao Jin!”

There was suddenly an enormous gold light ray that appeared in the sky; it was as bright as the sun as it charged towards us. The Demon Emperor was so shocked that he forgot to attack.

The Dark Demon Dragon in the sky let out a low  roar, emitting black fog throughout its body before it suddenly charged towards the gold light ray.

When the gold and dark light ray collided. There was the sound of tearing in the sky. The gold light had been forced back by the black light; it was obvious that it was at a large disadvantage. The violent energy from the collision had caused the troops to lean unsteadily from side to side. The Demon Emperor shouted, “Ke Lun Duo, quickly command the entire Radiant protectors to retreat 5 Km from here.”

When the gold light dimmed, it revealed Xiao Jin’s familiar appearance.

I was finally able to see some hope in this impasse. I was elated as Xiao Jin was much bigger than before. His body was more than 99 metres and the scales on his body were much larger; his entire body emitted the aura of a king.

The Dark Demon Dragon suddenly spoke in human language, “Five Clawed dragon?D Could it be that you’re this generation’s Dragon King? That old fellow died already?”

Xiao Jin also spoke in a youthful voice, “You’re the one that’s dead. My father is still living perfectly.”

The Dark Demon Dragon sighed, “Child, do you know that I’m your uncle……”

As the two dragons were conversing in the sky, the Demon Emperor and I didn’t dally. The Demon Emperor said, “You also have a dragon? Not bad, it seems that we can really have a fun match. Since we both have dragons, let’s mount  them  and fight.” His words suited my desires. I nodded before I forced my powers to surge outwards and instantly leapt up. The Demon Emperor followed behind as he also left the ground.

We individually  landed  on  Xiao  Jin  and  the  Dark  Demon

Dragon’s body.

As Xiao Jin and the Dark Demon Dragon conversed, he saw me heading towards him, he conveyed a warm state of mind towards me. As I stood on his large head and held on one of his horns, I asked, “Xiao Jin, how are you?”

Xiao Jin replied, “Master, I’m doing well. I had already recovered the true dragon’s power.”

The Dark Demon Dragon replied, “A five clawed dragon can also have a master?”

Xiao Jin replied in anger, “Why can’t I? Didn’t you also betray our dragon clan to be a mount for the Demon Emperor?”

The Dark Demon Dragon unexpectedly wasn’t enraged. He heavily sighed, “Child, do you think that I’ve betrayed  the dragon clan? It was those fellows that forced me to. Initially………”

The Demon Emperor seemed to really respect the Dark Demon Dragon and didn’t stop him from talking but rather just quietly listened.

I, wouldn’t interrupt them either as I wanted to quickly recover the injuries I got from that last exchange.

“Initially, your father and I were born at the same time. The entire clan was extremely elated, as we were the first twin dragons with five claws in the history of the dragon clan. When we were born, we looked identical.”

When I paid attention and looked, the Dark Demon Dragon also had five claws and looked very similar to Xiao Jin.

The Dark Demon Dragon continued to say, “However, 20 years after, our looks gradually became different. The main changes were the dragon scales on our body; your father’s scales become increasingly golden while mine gradually turned black.

Initially, the clan didn’t have any response. When we grew out of infancy, I came to have my current looks, but was much smaller. The clan’s men started to reject me as they all said that black dragons were bad omens that would bring misfortune to the dragon clan. They unanimously pleaded to the Dragon King at that time, who was your grandfather and my father, to kill me.”

Chapter 15 – Holy Sword And Demon Spear

He paused for a while before saying dejectedly, “Our father didn’t have a choice at that point, so he prepared to personally take my life. However, I didn’t know that your father  knew about it, so your father and grandmother helped me escape. I started a homeless life from then on until a few hundred years later, when I met with the ruler here. He rescued me at the verge of death. So I decided to become the Dark Demon Dragon, in order to repay him for saving my life.”

After hearing what the Dark Demon Dragon had  gone through, I was moved. I never would have expected that he had such tragic experiences.

Xiao Jin replied, “Uncle, I’m sorry. It was the Dragon clan that was at fault. Currently, it’s being ruled by my father. We can welcome you to return at any time.”

The Dark Demon Dragon shook his large head and replied, “It’s alright. I’ll be satisfied if you can call me your uncle. I won’t be heading back as I don’t want to give your  father trouble. Currently, we just serve different masters. Come at me, and let me have a look at abilities you have learned from your father.” The previous withdrawn aura had spreaded out from its body again.

Xiao Jin roared out, filled with feelings, as a golden light light ray intensified.

I asked the Demon Emperor, “Demon Emperor, do you really have the heart to make those two, Uncle and Nephew fight against each other?”

The Demon Emperor coldly smiled and replied, “We’re of a different race. I’ve only one belief, which is all creatures, excluding my clansmen, are to be discriminated against. The human race is nothing to me. My daughter has told me about you long ago.”

My emotions stirred as I asked, “How is Mu Zi now?”

The Demon Emperor replied, “I do not need to you to care about my daughter. She’s doing extremely well, and is staying in the city. However, don’t you even think about seeing her again. Do you really think that I’ll let her marry you?”

I replied, “Your Majesty, currently, the human race isn’t your enemy. Do you know that right now, the entire world is facing a crisis?”

The Demon Emperor was stunned, but replied, “Stop trying to frighten me with your words. Do you think I’ll believe you? You’ll have to depend on your abilities if you want to preserve your life.”

I said, “You have misunderstood me, as I’m telling you the truth. You should know about the great war between the Gods, and the Monsters. At that time, the Monster King wasn’t killed, but was just sealed. However, after so many years, the Monster King has gradually regained its power, and is preparing to invade the entire world. Moreover, your Demon race is his first target.”

After hearing my words, the Demon Emperor seemed as though he was considering what I said. His complexion became increasingly terrible. He had obviously thought about something. I thought I had moved him as I continued to say, “We can only fight against the Monster King, if the races of the entire world come together to fight against him. As a ruler of a clan, you can’t afford not to think of the people of your clan, right?”

The Demon Emperor coldly snorted, “I don’t need you  to teach me how to rule. Brat, everything you say today is meaningless. I definitely won’t let you leave the Demon race unless you defeat me.”

Damn it! It was as though I was playing the lute to a cow. Why was Mu Zi’s father so unreasonable? He just wouldn’t listen to anything I told him. I fumed, “You stubborn old man, why does Mu Zi have someone like you as her father.”

The Demon Emperor instantly raged, “You actually dared to scold me. Good, good, you’re good. I’ll let you see the formidability of this stubborn old man. Demon Dragon, attack!”

After the Demon Dragon heard the Demon Emperor, he immediately pounced, and accompanied by a black fog, his enormous body blocked out all the light in the sky,

Xiao Jin didn’t need my orders as he immediately casted out light rain to counter the dragon’s attack. At our level of capability, it was useless to just have magic power, so everyone attacked with all their might.

The black fog was rapidly being diminished by the light rain. However, it was simply just too thick. The rain of light that Xiao Jin cast out was being pushed backwards.

The Demon Emperor chuckled. “It seems that your dragon hadn’t matured to it’s peak state, so there is a gap between it’s ability and the Demon Dragon’s. You don’t have any more chances of defeating me. Just surrender! If you do that, I might spare your life.”

Surrender? I definitely couldn’t surrender. I coldly sneered, and started to circulate the Holy Sword in my body. I knew that I didn’t have any other way to injure the Demon Emperor. I would just focus on an attack. If I failed, I would die.

A scathing radiant light began emitting from my body, illuminating the fine hairs on Xiao Jin’s body. The Holy Sword’s silver radiance appeared above my head. The broadness of the sword increased as the power of the magic increased. I felt as though I was much more synchronized with the Holy Sword than when I had previously used it.

The Demon Emperor momentarily felt a massive pressure. He had never felt such fright before in his life. He yelled out in astonishment and fury, “It’s a First Grade Divine Instrument’s aura!” He quickly waved a strike at the sky and took out a long black gun from the space crack. He then closed his eyes and muttered a chant of an unknown language. The space surrounding him instantly darkened as numerous dark purple runes appeared in the Demon Emperor’s surroundings. His body seemed abnormally warped and his hair slowly turned dark purple.

My entire body gave off a divine aura, six wings of light appeared on my back, and my hair turned completely golden. I

suddenly opened my eyes and a golden light shot out from them

as I raised the Sukrad’s Staff and yelled, “The God King bestowed upon me the Radiant Holy Sword. It shall shine with the soaring radiance of the vault of the Heavens!” As I chanted, the silver Holy Sword in midair above me gave off intense light rays. The light was so intense that even the sun paled in comparison to its brilliance. The radiance, filled with the divine power, gathered in the sky like a cluster of magic clouds.

The Demon Emperor also opened his eyes, revealing a purple light that was emitting from them. He opened his hands and his black Demon Spear flew up into the sky. With an awe inspiring voice, he said, “You actually forced me to use my Demon God clan’s divine origin incanation. You’re worthy of being

arrogant. Dark Demon Dragon Spear, the origin God of my Demon race! I request of you as the the Demon clan’s ruler to scatter you divine power to eliminate the enemy before me!” The black long spear changed into the same purple colour as it raised upwards, bringing along a thick dark aura with it.

The six wings on my back continuously flapped. I brandished the Sukrad’s’s Staff in front of me, causing the Holy Sword to radiate a silver light with an incomparable divine aura, which headed towards the Demon Emperor’s divine origin spell.

Xiao Jin and the Dark Demon Dragon flapped their wings to bring me and the Demon Emperor backwards. The two different powers from the Holy Sword and the Dark Demon Dragon Spear did completely different movements as they collided against each other at lightning speed.

Chapter 16 – World Shattering Collision

When the two unparalleled powers collided in midair, they miraculously did not give off any sound of collision. The silver and purple light rays filled the entire sky as they confronted each other.

I half knelt on Xiao Jin’s back, using Sukrad’s staff to support my body as I stared at the two powers in the sky. The condition of the Demon Emperor wasn’t much better than mine, but he obviously still had leftover energy as he stood on the Dark Demon Dragon’s back.

The power of the silver and purple magic started to collide and encircle each other, almost creating a hurricane as a sphere of power ascended to the sky.

The Demon Emperor suddenly hollered at me in fright, “Quick! Brat, we’ve got to combine our strength to push it upwards. Once they completely fuse, there’ll definitely  be  a large explosion. Only a minority of us will be able to survive the blast.” I also found that the situation didn’t feel right. The two rapidly revolving light rays had formed a silver and purple large ball, and it was constantly compressing.

I said, “Xiao Jin, quickly charge over.”

The Demon Emperor and I simultaneously charged over to the light ball. Xiao Jin immediately gave me some pure power without me asking him for it. I focused to cast a light barrier to push against the light ball with all my might. At that moment, the Demon Emperor had shown that he had powers that surpassed mine. The hair on his head raised, making him seem like a lofty Demon God. With his hands, he released an enormous power ball onto my light barrier to reinforce its defensive power. The power that he used didn’t seem to have any dark elements, as that power filled ball didn’t conflict with

my light barrier.

Xiao Jin and the Dark Demon Dragon both also shot out gold and black power filled balls, and the two extraordinary forbidden spells rapidly elevated upwards.

The Demon Emperor shouted, “Quickly, use more power! It’s going to explode!” Actually, even if it exploded, he wouldn’t die, but he seemed to think a lot about his subordinates.

I used all of my power, and with blood continuously flowing out from my seven apertures, the large silvery purple ball had finally shot towards the clouds under the powers of a human, Demon race, and two dragons.

Just as we wanted to heave a sigh of relieve, that enormous cloud above us exploded, causing the entire cloud to disperse and form drizzles. There was another silvery purplish sun that appeared in the sky. The energy from it had caused the Demon Emperor and I to violently shake. I spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed on Xiao Jin’s back. The Demon Emperor’s condition was similar to mine as fresh blood flowed out from his mouth, and he collapsed to sit on the Dark Demon Dragon’s back, panting heavily.

With my remaining consciousness, I saw Xiao Jin with the Dark Demon Dragon encompassing their wings around the Demon Emperor and I, as they rapidly descended.. What were they up to? I hadn’t seen any creatures that have wings would suddenly withdraw their wings and willingly smash themselves towards the ground.

However, I quickly knew the reason why Xiao Jin had used his wings to protect me. Xiao Jin’s body suddenly shook violently. He gave out a mournful cry, and descended at a quicker pace. When he opened his wings, I saw that the numerous scales that were on the top of his wings had shattered. Xiao Jin’s originally golden body had already turned golden red in colour. I shouted from heart ache, “Xiao Jin!” But I didn’t had any more energy so how could I help him?

Xiao Jin stabilized his body as he landed with difficulty. The Dark Demon Dragon was also nearby; it seemed to have suffered severe injuries as well. The troops of the demon  army,  who were all watching on the ground weren’t hurt at all. The demon race quickly surrounded me and Xiao Jin, with the Gods Village quickly rushing to enclose us from them.

The Demon Emperor, who was in a tattered state, jumped down from the Dark Demon Dragon, and walked unsteadily over. Ke Lun Duo went forth to support him as the Demon Emperor said to me, “I was actually injured. This is the first

time since I first became the ruler. You should be arrogant of your deed. The winner and the loser should be very clear now. Let’s carry out the promise you said earlier.”

Jian Shan helped me up as I feebly replied, “Demon Emperor, I admit that there’s a gap in our powers, and I’m willing to surrender to be caught, but…….”

The Demon Emperor interrupted me and said, “Are  you asking me to let your friends go? Don’t even think about it! It’s impossible, even if it’s this dragon, he won’t be able to escape. Do you think I’ll release the tigers back to their dens? I don’t want to encounter someone like you after a few years. I still want my old bones to stay in this position for a few more years.” From his words, I could hear his respect towards me. His attitude was completely different from the start. Even though I lost, in that battle, I had sufficiently proved that I  had  the power to be his opponent, and that won some respect from the Demon Emperor.

The Dark Demon Dragon said in a serious tone,  “Your Majesty, I plead for you to let that five clawed dragon go. He’s the future hope of the Dragon race.”

The Demon Emperor looked at the Demon Dragon in astonishment and replied, “It can’t be that you had forgotten how they treated you, right?”

The Dark Demon Dragon replied, “Even though they were heartless, I can’t be heartless towards them as I’m a member of the Dragon race afterall. Can you please let that dragon go on my behalf?”

The Demon Emperor sighed and replied, “Alright! However, I won’t let anyone else go, especially Zhang Gong Wei.”

The Demon Dragon replied, “Thank you, Your Majesty. I only care about my clan. You can decide on what you want to do with the other matters.”

I was on cloud nine when the Demon Emperor let Xiao Jin off. I pleaded with Xiao Jin, “Xiao Jin, quickly go! You don’t need to care about me.” Xiao Jin stood up, his body filled with severe injuries. “Master, how can I abandon you to escape with my life. If I’m to die, I want to die with you.”

I teared from being moved, and replied, “Xiao Jin, I know that you treat me well, however, it’s as the Dark Demon Dragon had

said; you’re the future hope of the Demon race. You definitely can’t die with me here. I promised your parents that I would ensure your safety. Quickly, listen to me and hurry up to go away from here.”

Xiao Jin stubbornly shook his large head, not wanting to go away.

I anxiously conveyed to him, “Xiao Jin, quickly go! You can come back to find me after you have recuperated from your wounds. I feel the Demon Emperor won’t kill me that easily. Quickly go!” Xiao Jin used his deep large eyes to look at me, obviously agreeing with my words. After a long time, he roared out mournfully. He flew with one of his wing’s injured. He conveyed to me, “Master, I’ll definitely come to save you. If the Demon Emperor kills you, I’ll bring the entire Dragon race to annihilate this place.”

Seeing Xiao Jin’s fading figure, I smiled in gratitude.

Chapter 17 – Darkness Corruption

The Demon Emperor’s spoke out again as he said, “Alright!

Your dragon already departed. You should surrender now.”

Jian Shan withdrew his sword and said, “We definitely won’t surrender. The worst you can do is to kill me.”

I stopped him and conveyed, “Let’s not create  any unnecessary casualties. We’ll temporarily surrender, then plan again.” However, I said, “Jian Shan, we mustn’t go against what we said we would do previously. I was really defeated by him. Let’s surrender.”

A complex expression was shown in Jian Shan’s eyes as he

looked at me. He heavily sighed, before tossing the sword on the floor.

The Demon Emperor broke out into laughters and said, “Bind them up before locking them in the lowest section of Demon’s jail.”

After binding us, he walked over and patted on each of our shoulders. Jian Shan and the rest were alright as they simply felt that their battle spirit had been sealed. However, I suffered as there was dark power from the Demon Emperor’s palm, resulting to an instantaneous violent conflict  with  the remaining light elements in my body. I cried out in pain as I collapsed on the floor.

The Demon Emperor was shocked but after pondering, he made a realization as he withdrew seventy percent of the dark powers from my body. He said to Ke Lun Duo, “Inform your subordinates to cautiously watch over them. You made a large contribution this time. I’ll arrange for the  marriage  between you and Mu Zi as soon as possible. You may not know about this, but this brat is the human Mu Zi is in love with.”

After I heard the Demon Emperor wanted to complete their marriage, I got anxious and spat out a mouthful of blood before passing out. The second I passed out, the Demon fox suddenly leaped away, disappearing instantly. The Demon Emperor had his head raised, and it was also a mystery why Ke Lun Duo didn’t stop the demon fox escaping.

Le Lun Duo’s expression as he looked at me was extraordinarily complicated. He hollered at his subordinates, “Bring them to the city!”

The Demon Emperor had a sudden realization, then loudly shouted, “Pass down the order, nobody is to discuss what happened today, and don’t spread what had happened today, especially not to the princess’s ears! Whoever does will be punished by martial law!”

The 3000 Radiant Light Protectors shouted harmoniously, “Yes!” A lot of people thought that the Demon Emperor’s reputation would be damaged from barely defeating the human, and thus didn’t want them to spread the news. Only Ke Lun Duo understood that it was because the Demon Emperor feared that Mu Zi would go to him and request for Zhang Gong’s release after hearing the relationship we had from the Demon Emperor. Mu Zi, a royal and the successor of the throne,  had accomplished so many important tasks and held a position of great importance, only right behind the Demon Emperor. If Mu Zi was to get into conflict with the Demon Emperor, the Demon Emperor would be at a loss of what to do.

After thinking about that, Ke Lun Duo shook his head. After finding the Demon Emperor a horse to ride, he took the lead to take the troops back to the City of the Holy Light Empire.

……

I had woken up in a situation where my entire body was in tremendous pain. My entire body felt so cold that it shook. The dark element’s corrosive ability had corroded every portion of my skin. If it wasn’t for the slight warmth from my heart, I would probably not be in the world right  now.  My consciousness had gradually returned, making me remember that I had been restrained by the Demon Emperor. In my body, other than the Holy Sword’s power at my chest, the rest of it had been taken up by the dark elements, making me unable to move even a finger.

I had tried to eradicate the restriction spell, but it was to no avail. The meridians of my entire body had been corroded by the dark powers, deforming them. If it wasn’t for the fact that I had practiced light magic as a child and could decrease the effect of the dark elements, I would probably undergo the same outcome as the Demon race that had died under my light magic, forming a pile of ashes or a pool of blood.

The frosty dark power had caused my meridians to contract. Although I couldn’t see how I looked, I knew that there would be a vast disparity from how I looked before. It was over, completely over as it would be forever impossible for me to be with Mu Zi. Demon Emperor, you were ruthless. (Actually, the Demon Emperor didn’t know that his restriction on me would cause so much damage to my body.)

There was another wave of acute pain that came, making me to collapse once again. It wasn’t a bad thing to collapse as at least, I wouldn’t feel the pain as clearly.

Hmm? It seemed that I had returned to my conscious space, but there wasn’t any stars nor the benevolent voice of Mi Jia Lie. There was only a dark space. I found that I was heading towards the endless abyss; The numerous vengeful spirits from

hell were calling me. ‘It seems that I’m really going to die. Teacher Di, father, mother, Hai Shui, Mu Zi, I’m going already. Let’s meet up again in my next life.’

I walked towards the darkness step by step, helplessly moving forth. Just as I was about to leap into the dark abyss, a small radiant sword flew in front of me, blocking my path. The small silver sword unexpectedly voiced out.

It said, “Zhang Gong Wei, are you really going to give up like this?”

I indifferently replied, “Give up? Is it even possible not to? What can I even do in my current state. You tell me, if I hasn’t guess wrongly, my body is already finished, right?”

The small silver sword shook gently. “It hasn’t. You can’t give up now. Have you forgotten what you promised to the God King?”

I bleakly snorted. “How can I forget about that. But I’m already unable to carry on in accomplishing that task. You should be the Holy Sword, but I didn’t think that you could talk. You should return to the God King, and ask him to find another inheritor. Won’t that be the same?”

The Holy Sword replied, “It’s impossible for me to leave your body. Your body hasn’t been completely ruined under my protection. If you were to give up now, the  entire world would be in ruin as the time for the reincarnation of the Monster King is already extremely close. If the world is finished, your family, those that are close to you, and your lover would die. It can’t be that you want to see that the entire world will become a blood red world of darkness, right?”

I bellowed, “I don’t want that to happen, but what can I do? Can you just move aside and let me reincarnate? I’ve already lost all hope!”

The Holy Sword also fumed as it replied, “You’re just running away! You’re a coward. It doesn’t matter if you died, but  it would implicate the numerous thousands of lives.”

After hearing what he said, I suddenly thought about something and asked, “From what you had said, it can’t be that I still have another chance to accomplish the task?”

The Holy Sword didn’t directly respond to me as it said, “If only you continue to persevere and don’t give up, everything will still be possible. You’ve already lived enough already. It can’t be that you’re are afraid to suffer for a few more days right?”

I nodded. “Alright. I promise you to try again.”

The Holy Sword slightly point the tip of  the  sword downwards in satisfaction before it turned into a silver ray that enclosed my entire body. The darkness had also disappeared,

along with it, the entrance of hell, and my consciousness soon faded away.

……

It hurt terribly, so it seemed I wasn’t dead yet. Currently, I didn’t even have the energy to open my eyes. The portion of my body that was corroded by the dark power had even increased. That holy Sword fellow had told me to persevere, but how could I do that now?

At that moment, I heard the resounding sound of iron chains. A foreign voice sounded out, “Your Majesty, he’s being locked in here.”

Chapter 18 – After The Calamity, Renewed Life

The Demon Emperor snorted and I heard his heavy footsteps heading toward me.

The Demon Emperor suddenly gasped before he asked, “Why is he like this? How has he gotten into such a sorry state? Did you mistreat him?”

The foreign voice replied in fear and trepidation, “No…No, we didn’t do anything. When he was sent in, he was already in this state the next day. He seemed to be breathing yesterday, but now, it seems that there isn’t a single breath from him.” ‘F*ck, how dare you say that I’m breathless! I’m enraged now!’

The Demon Emperor seemed to have caught on as he inserted his power into my meridians. Currently, I felt that the tremendous pain to my meridians had decreased drastically. I probably had just become numbed to pain. The Demon Emperor said, “Oh no! This brat is finished! How could this happen? My attack on him was light. Can it be…. Ah! He practices light magic, my dark powers invaded his body, and without the support of his magic, it had corroded his body. Quick, call for the doctor to see if we can bring him back to life. I originally wanted to keep him as my subordinate. It seems it won’t work after this, as even if he recovers, he will only be a cripple.”

The doctor joined them shortly. He said in an aged voice, “Your Majesty!”

The Demon Emperor replied, “En! See if you can save this person.”

My hand was held again. However, the time of being held was really short. It seemed that the doctor’s standard wasn’t bad. He already knew my condition just by a touch. But his words nearly made me die from anger as he said, “Your Majesty, this is a corpse and it has been quite some time since his death as he’s a little rotten. How can I save a dead person?”

I wanted to faint! If I still had power, I would definitely stomp him to death. How dare he say that I was a rotten corpse? Damn him! I give my respects to his female family members for being able to put up with him.

The Demon Emperor replied, “Initially, I had a sliver of hope, but after you said that, I give up.” It seemed that he had also thought I had died. Why? It couldn’t be that my heart had stopped beating, right?

The Demon Emperor continued to say, “You’re not allowed to tell anyone that I asked you to treat this person. Do you understand? Jailer! Come forth!”

The first foreign voice I heard replied, “Your Majesty, what are your orders?”

The Demon Emperor ordered, “Bring a few people with you and toss him in the outskirt at a no man’s land. Since he has already died, I might as well let him be food to feed the Demon Beast of our Demon race.” This fellow was just too ruthless as he didn’t let me off, even if I really died.

After the Demon Emperor passed down the order, he left with the doctor.

That jailer kicked me before he said, “F*ck him, he actually troubled me, the great man. Asan and Flying Pig, come over and carry this brat! We’re leaving the city.”

It seemed that it wasn’t a bad thing that my meridians had been ruined, as at the very least, I didn’t feel pain of  being jolted. After an unknown amount of time had passed,  the foreign voice (It was slowly becoming familiar already) said, “Enough! Let’s toss him here.”

My body seemed to feel a violent shock, and I was unable to maintain my consciousness, so I fainted again.

……

‘I feel so comfortably warm. I haven’t died yet? I feel like a type of insect that had an exceptional tenacious life force. What was that insect called again? It seemed that the children of the village had called it ‘Little Strong’ when I was young. Although I’ve not died, it shouldn’t be far from it. Even though I don’t

know where I am, it’s still better to die in the outskirt than to die in the Demon jail.’

My body unexpectedly didn’t feel any discomfort, but rather it felt indescribably comfortable. It should be day time as only the sun would give me such warmth.

As I felt my body becoming warmer, I felt something on my chest. The Holy Sword’s warmth was felt again; It seemed to be circulating around my heart.

‘Holy Sword! Holy Sword! Haven’t you done enough? I’ve already suffered so much already. Can’t you please just let me die, even if I’m begging you?’

The Holy Sword seemed to be going against me as it circulated at a faster pace, making the area near my chest warm up. The sun’s power stimulated my skin. F*ck Yeah! When I was enjoying myself, the feeling of warmth gradually disappeared. What replaced it was coldness. It was night so fast? It couldn’t be, right?

The dark elements in my body seemed to be up to mischief as

my meridians started to give off waves of throbbing pain. ‘My meridians, can’t you just behave yourself? Since you’ve already died, why are you still giving me pain? Sigh~’

The warm feeling had returned after a lot of suffering. It wasn’t the same as yesterday. As the sunlight shone  on  my body, its warmth surged towards my chest, making it feel not as comfortable as yesterday. ‘Holy Sword! You’re really so

annoying. Can’t you let me be comfortable before my imminent death? Actually, I can only think as I currently can’t control anything, excluding my thoughts. The dark elements aren’t bad as at the very least, it didn’t damage my brain. It was much better than the Holy Sword.’

I wanted to die from the pain after it reached the third day. Why? Because it rained. I was unable to absorb the power of the sun. Under the care of the sinister rain, my entire body’s pain had intensified. The unlucky thing was that I couldn’t move nor voice out, and only bear with it. I wanted to pass out, but my consciousness just stubbornly stayed clear.

After lots of sufferings, the sun came out again. I had already given up blaming the Holy Sword as my consciousness had already started to muddle. It seemed that something had flowed in my mouth. The taste was still there; it was a little bitter. However, it wasn’t raining, yet something clearly flowed in my mouth. A horrifying thought came to my mind. ‘It can’t be a

Demon Beast is currently pissing on me, right? Not only will you not let me die cleanly, you have come torture me. I want to faint and die.’

The bitter taste had often entered my mouth from that moment. I didn’t feel anything initially. However after a few days, every time the bitter fluid flowed into my  mouth,  I actually felt something from my stomach; it was getting hotter.

My body had started to change after half a month, the power of Holy Sword at my chest seemed to absorb enough power. It

had started to slowly move towards other parts of my body after staying stagnant at my chest area. It had first targeted my thoracic cavity. The initial withered meridians unexpectedly seemed to have expand gradually from the power of the Holy Sword. ‘Big Brother Holy Sword, please continue.You must continue to work hard!’

However, what disappointed me was that after the power of the Holy Sword had completely repaired my thoracic cavity and the meridians’ inner organs of my thoracic cavity at a slow pace, it stopped moving and just constantly absorbed the power of the sun on a daily basis.

Chapter 19 – Gradual Recovery

My intake of bitter fluid increased as I consumed it 6-7 times a day. I checked my body, and found I felt nothing at all excluding the warmth from the Holy Sword. Moreover, the  three  gold dans of mine had also disappeared.

The only thing that made me rather gratified was the meridians within my body weren’t hurting at all. It seemed to have completely withered away, however, after the period of half a month, some changes occurred.

The scorching heat from the sun suggested to me that it was already noon, as the rays from the sun were at the most intense during that period.

The Holy Sword in my chest suddenly came to life as it rapidly absorbed the sun’s power, and simultaneously started to surge its power towards my head. I suddenly felt incredibly dizzy, and a thought passed through my head.. ‘Big Brother Holy Sword, if

you continue on, before I even recover from my wounds,  I would become an idiot from the heat of the power that  is surging into my head.’

The Holy Sword didn’t care about my feelings, as it rapidly surged its power along with the sun’s towards my brain. I really couldn’t stand it before passing out.

……

When my consciousness returned, I felt more comfortable as I

didn’t feel dizzy anymore. I also felt a sensation; it was though something smooth was rubbing against my leg. I felt a cooling sensation from my left leg soon after.

I suddenly felt that I had regained my spiritual powers. I could already use my inner sight. Even though there was only a tiny ray of light emanating from my upper dantian, it was still hope.

I still couldn’t open my eyes as I felt the smooth feeling had moved from my left leg to my right, meticulously rubbing. ‘What’s going on? I’ll forget about it as it isn’t hurting me. If it was a demon beast, it’d have eaten me already.’

I carefully started to gather the light elements. The light elements were really too weak as the amount of light elements I

called over were pitifully little. But it was still better than nothing. ‘I’ll take it slow. I’ll definitely succeed.’

I didn’t care about the Holy Sword nor the smooth feeling I kept on feeling within my body, as I started to rapidly gather the light elements that might lead to my recovery. What I didn’t know was that the Holy Sword had used all its power to surge its power towards my brain to completely eradicate the dark elements in my head. If it wasn’t the case, I wouldn’t have been able to regain control over my spiritual powers.

I mentally calculated the time. It should take about 10 days. After a sufficient amount of the light element had gathered in my head, I tried to compress them into a small gold dan.  I finally succeeded after a few tries. As the light elements were compressed, the absorption rate from the surrounding had increased. I pushed the gold dan to my chest, letting it fuse with the Holy Sword’s power. When the light element entered, the Holy Sword momentarily seemed to be like a fish that had sudden found access to water as it hungrily absorbed the sun’s

power. I felt that my head and my body quickly filled with light elements, excluding my limbs after three days. Even though it wasn’t comparable to before, I finally had some hope.

The time to move had come as I surged the light elements that had fused with the Holy Sword’s power to my four  limbs, making the dark and light elements in my  body  violently conflict against each other.

An intense wave of pain attacked my cranial nerves, and I suddenly cried out in pain. It was awesome! I could voice out now. This had solidified my confidence to recover.

I constantly circulated the light elements to eradicate the dark elements as I gritted my teeth. Just as I was at the verge of

losing consciousness, I finally regained control of my body after using up majority of my powers. I let out a comfortable sigh before I entered my dream land in satisfaction.

That smooth feeling was felt again from my body and there was a bitter taste in my mouth. I tried to open my eyes and my eyelid moved. After trying it again, I had finally opened my eyes at my will for the first time in this close to two months time. It was just haziness before me initially but it gradually cleared up, allowing me to see a figure.

That figure gradually cleared. Ah! It was a girl. No, it was the Demon fox.

When I snorted, the demon fox stopped what she was doing

before running to my mouth and sticking her ear over. I mobilized my vocal cords as I hoarsely said, “Why is it you?”

The demon fox excitedly exclaimed, “Master! You’ve finally awakened! You’ve finally awakened!”

I replied, “Water….I want water.”

The demon fox replied, “Wait a moment, water is coming.”

After a while, the demon fox used a large leaf containing some water over and poured it slowly into my mouth. The refreshing feeling was really good. My vigor was better as I said, “Thank you, demon fox. ”

The demon fox replied, “Master, you’ve just awaken. Please rest again to prevent your body from wearing out.”

I would have never thought that at my most critical moment, it was unexpectedly her that stayed by my side and took care of me. Who said that demon beast were low ranked demon race? From how I looked at it, the demon fox was a creature that focused, immensely, on relationships.

I closed my eyes before starting to gather light elements. Since

I had regained the control of my body, the gathering speed of the light elements was much faster. The Holy Sword steadfastly circulated at my chest while I prompted the light elements to gather and simultaneously repair my ruined body. My body and mind seemed to be completely immersed in an ocean of light, just like a baptism from the heavens.

I had finally repaired every part of my body. And although the functions of the body definitely wouldn’t be able to recover in such a period of short time, the meridians in my body was fully repaired and a solid gold dan appeared in my upper dantian. Even if it was only like this, I was completely satisfied as I knew that that the prospect of death was already beyond me.

When my consciousness returned to my body, there was a bitter taste in my mouth as per usual.

When I opened my eyes, I saw that the demon fox was wiping down my body. I said, “Demon fox, what did you fed me?”

The Demon fox replied, “Master, you’ve awakened. It’s the juice of a certain leaf. I had often had it before. It’s good for the body and helps to enrich the strength.”

I moved my body and found that even though I had gained some mobility, I was still void of strength. I simply told the Demon fox, “Can you please help me up?”

The Demon fox listened to me and helped me up. As I leaned on her soft body, I was stunned at what unfolded before me. I found that my hands and legs had completely changed. Not only was my complexion completely dark, it was filled with scars. I

was also already thinned to the point that I was just skin and bone.

I dazedly said, “Why am I like this? Why have I become like this?”

The demon fox whispered, “Master, please don’t be anxious. Your body will gradually recover. When I initially found you by your scent, there was already a lot of places that had started to rot. There was also some places where even your bone was exposed. I had used a power that only my demon race possesses on you to discover that you still haven’t died. Thus, I had daily rubbed Crystal Grass on your body to stop the rotting process. Your wounds had finally started to heal after few days ago.”

I suddenly contemplated about something before I nervously used my trembling hands to touch my face.

Chapter 20 – Scarred Body

After mournfully crying out, I spat out a mouthful of blood as I collapsed.

The Demon fox cried out my name in fright as my consciousness had left me once again.

……

“Master, Master……” I heard the Demon fox’s gentle callings.

I opened my eyes to see her caring appearance. I pushed her aside and hollered, “Why did you save me?! Why? You should have just let me die. How am I going to meet people with my looks?” I had discovered that my face was the same as my body that was covered with deep scars before I collapsed.

‘Even if everything can recover, will these scars recover? How am I going to be able to face my relatives, friends, even my most beloved Mu Zi and Hai Shui?’

The Demon fox felt wrong as she climbed up and clung to my arm. “Master, please recover your body first. Everything will be alright.”

I gradually calmed down as I sigh and said, “I’m finished.

Everything is finished.”

The Demon fox excitedly said, “It isn’t, Master. You’re incredibly strong so how can it be over? It won’t be over.” Whenever she thought about me standing on Xiao Jin facing the Demon race’s most powerful expert, she would be extremely excited.

When I looked at her, her appearance wasn’t pretty and flirtatious, but rather, it looked indescribably moving to me. I said, “Thank you, if it weren’t for you, I probably would have been eaten by Demon beasts already. But why did you rescue me? It was totally unnecessary.”

The Demon  fox’s  face  flushed  as  she  replied,  “Master,  the

favour that you did for me was too much. I’m willing to follow you all my life. I’m currently a first ranked Demon beast. Even though my power isn’t strong, I definitely won’t be a burden to you.”

I replied in smiles, “What favour have I done that makes you favour me so? Didn’t I just spare you life?”

The Demon fox replied, “No! Not only that, Master, please look at this.” Upon saying that, she changed back to her original form before lifting up her six large tails. Beneath those tails, there was unexpectedly three small tails. Ah! A nine-tailed Demon fox. She had evolved.

The Demon fox changed back to a girl’s form before saying,

“I’ve evolved. You have seen it. The reason my evolution occurred stems from your fight against the Demon emperor, as I absorbed the strong Godly powers that emitted from your body. How can I not pay back such a favour? If it was by my own, I wouldn’t have been able to reach to such a level.”

I said, “Then congratulations, is nine tails your final form?”

The Demon fox shook her head, “Nope, but it’s about there.

I’m already satisfied at this level.”

I asked in astonishment, “What other forms can you evolve to? It can’t be until 12 tails, right?”

The Demon fox replied, “That’s not the case. If my power had increased to a certain standard, my body would undergo changes. Under the protection and support of the Godly power once again, my magic power can be stabilized with a top grade purple crystal along with a profound yellow gemstone to stabilize my body. In addition to that, I’ve to use a top grade green chrysoprase to protect my meridians and inner organs, and lastly, to consume the Shattering Bone Grass and Dissolving Bone Grass from the Beast race. After breaking down and reforming, I can change into any form at will. Moreover, I can maintain that form forever.”

I asked astonished, “That’s impressive, won’t that be a race that can transform?”

The Demon fox nodded. “That’s right. The final form won’t

increase my powers, but it will give me the skills to completely transform myself.”

I nodded. “What form do you wish to transform into?”

The Demon fox flushed, “If it’s possible, I hope to become a human. I will be able to stay and serve by Master’s side forever that way. You don’t know about this, but the demon beasts here are always bullied and treated either like toys for the higher ranked demon race or slaves.” Upon saying that, the Demon fox’s eyes reddened.

I caressed her hair. “I don’t need you to serve me forever, but you’ve saved me so I’ll definitely repay this favour. I have all those gemstones that you had mentioned. If we get the chance

to head to the beast race, I’ll get some of the grass medication you needed to allow you to become a human.”

The Demon fox’s eye lit up and replied, “Really? I’ll really have to thank you for that, Master.” As she said that,  she kneeled down.

I hastily pulled her up and said, “Don’t do that anymore. We aren’t in a Master and Servant relationship from now on, but are friends instead. Do you understand?”

The Demon fox was stunned. “Friends? You’re willing to be my friend?”

I smiled apologetically, “You didn’t avoid me after seeing my current look and even saved me. It’s my honour to be able to call you a friend.”

The Demon fox was so elated that she teared up before pouncing into my embrace, wailing.

I momentarily couldn’t control my feelings as she rubbed her body against me. I was lucky that my body was feeble. If not, I would immediately do a shameless act.

I gently push her away and said, “I’m hungry. Let’s have something.” I took out some food from my spatial pocket and ate with the Demon fox. As I ate, I said, “That’s right. I can’t always call you Demon fox so, how about I give you a name?”

The Demon fox elatedly agreed, “Alright!”

I pondered for a while before saying, “Since you  were  so gentle and considerate when I was unwell, how about  your name will be Xiao Rou? Your full name will be Shui Rou Er? How’s that?”

The Demon fox jumped up and exclaimed, “I’ve got a name!

I’ve got a name! I’ll be known as Shui Rou Er.”

Seeing her so elated, my heart felt much more comfortable.

After having our meal, I let Xiao Rou protect me as I started to recover my magic powers.

After 10 days, my body had already fully recovered but I was still extremely thin. The dark skin with horrifying scars from before was still the same. However, my magic power had recovered to one third from my peak state. The main reason for that was due to having only one gold dan. I knew that if  I wanted to recover my original looks, it wouldn’t be easy. Time waited for no one, I needed to go and rescue Big Brother Zhan Hu and the rest as soon as possible so I couldn’t afford to continue tarrying here.

I initially wanted Xiao Ruo to stay here, but she insisted on coming along. She said that she definitely would be able to help me. I agreed, because I couldn’t just toss her aside.

Since Xiao Rou had reached the nine-tailed Demon fox level, she could shrink her body to become a Demon Fox that resembled a small squirrel as she hid inside my clothing.

I finally saw how the City looked like; it was really imposing. It was much larger than the city in Aixia. The walls were much wider and higher. There were a couple of Demon race guarding the entrance of the city.

I walked over with my head lowered. A soldier of the Demon race yelled at me, “Raise your head! Why have you lowered your head?” Since I was wearing a long sleeve and long trousers clothing, he wasn’t able to see the scars on my body.

I whispered, “My looks are horrifying so I’m afraid that I would frighten you.”

That soldier said, “Stop talking nonsense and raise  your head.”

I only had to raise my head; all the soldiers and citizens of the demon raise broke out into an uproar after looking at my appearance. I hastily lowered my head. I thought, ‘I’m finished. My handsome looks seems to have been completely ruined.

However, it’s not a bad thing as I won’t need to disguise myself since even Mu Zi will definitely be unable to recognise me.’

Chapter 21 – Job At The Imperial Palace

The demon soldier exclaimed, “Wah! You’re really ugly. You aren’t to blame for being ugly, but it’s wrong for you to come out and scare people. Quickly go in.”

I was enraged that he actually ridiculed me to that extent, but I gritted my teeth as I entered the Demon City, trying my best to suppress my anger.

I’ll just find a place to stay before we think of plans to rescue Big brother and the rest.

I crouched fuming in a corner for two hours. There were actually no inns that were willing to let me stay. They reasoned

that my appearance would scare away their customers. Was I really that ugly?

At that moment, I suddenly heard an uproar in front of me. I stood up and headed in that direction curiously, only to find many people crowded as they looked at something.

I also walked over and found a posting of a royal announcement, and a few officials sitting in front of a long table with unknown purposes.

I studied the announcement and realized that it was a recruitment to do odd jobs at the palace. I was moved at the great opportunity. I could investigate where Big brother and the rest were kept and also have sneak a peek at Mu Zi. With my

current appearance, it would be impossible to look for her, but it should be fine for me to steal a few glances of her.

I pushed through the crowd, who took one look at the scars on my face and frowned as they let me through. When I reached the table, I said, “I’m interested in doing odd jobs.”

Once the leader, who seemed to be the examiner, raised his head, he was so frightened by my looks that he almost fell from his chair. Fuming he said, “You want to enter the palace with your ghastly looks? Just quickly scram.”

I was momentarily enraged and really wanted to strike him with a light blade, but in order to rescue Big brother and the rest, I had no choice but to suppress my rage. I replied

apologetically, “Officer, I’m begging you to let me in. I just want a place to scrape a meager living. It doesn’t matter if I don’t get paid.”

That soldier stood up and narrowed his eyes at me as he replied sneering, “The very sight of your ghastly face annoys me. Quickly scram! If not, I’ll be impolite.”

“Oh! Officer, you have such a temper.” I heard a sweet and charming voice.

I turned my head. It was Xiao Rou. I didn’t know she had ran out from my clothings and took the demon race’s form.

The crowd, including some of the officials, were stunned. The leader of the officials muttered, “Top grade, definitely top grade.” He started to drool.

Xiao Rou walked over to my side and rested her arm on my shoulder before she replied coyly, “Officer, what’s wrong with my brother? Isn’t he just here to earn a living? I know  that you’re kind hearted so please accept him.”

The official still looked stunned by Xiao Rou as he replied, “But….But he’s really too ugly.”

Xiao Rou suddenly cried. As she cried, she said, “Officer, we siblings are mutually dependant for life. If you don’t accept my brother, I won’t be able to survive.”

The officer momentarily dazed as he hastily  replied,  “I’ll check to see if he has a suitable position.” Upon saying that, he flipped through the list of jobs.

The officer beside him reminded him, “There’s a job to chop firewood in the kitchen. We shall just let him do that. There won’t be any chance of him heading into the inner palace so his looks don’t matter.”

That officer nodded. “Alright, I’ll let him enter the palace to chop firewood. Little beauty, you should be satisfied with this. I

have helped you with such a favour. How are you going to thank me?” Looking at his face, I really wanted to puke. His current appearance was even more disgusting than my face.

Xiao Rou glanced at him coquettishly and said, “Let’s meet at the south entrance tonight. Handsome brother, I’ll head  off first. Please take care of my brother!” After saying that, she walked out from the crowd with her hips swaying .

The officers were still focused on Xiao Rou in a daze. I waved my hand in front of his eyes as I shouted, “Officer! Officer!”

The leader of the officers snapped back to reality. “What do you want?”

I asked, “What am I supposed to do now?”

The officer replied, “Do you still have any belongings elsewhere?”

I replied, “No, I’ve only myself.”

He replied, “En! Head over there and wait. After gathering all the new personnel, we’ll enter the palace.”

I respectfully agreed before running to a corner.  I  could faintly hear the officer saying behind me, “There’s actually such a sibling. Why do they have such huge disparity in their looks?”

Just as I walked to the corner, Xiao Rou, who had turned back to the size of a squirrel, ran and pounced over to my chest. I patted her little head and replied, “If it wasn’t for you, it would have been terrible. Thank you, Xiao Rou.”

Xiao Rou licked my hand before snuggling in my arms where she slept.

……

It was already afternoon when the soldiers had recruited the necessary staff, and gathered us to head out.

At a glance, I discovered that there were about 20 people, but I didn’t know what their jobs entailed. After walking for about an hour, we finally reached the royal palace. Due to our low status we walked in through side entrance. After entering the palace, the scenery completely changed. There were exotic flowers and rare herbs in the everywhere. Even though the architecture wasn’t as sophisticated as the human race, it was able to express the unrestrained spirit of the Demon race.

The soldier  commanded,  “Keep  your  eyes  down  and  don’t

look around. If not, and something happens, don’t blame me for not warning you beforehand.”

After hearing his words, I immediately lowered my head. Currently, I just want to settle down here peacefully before thinking through other things that I had to do.

The soldier led us to a small courtyard before saying, “Alright, you just have to wait here. The supervisors that are in charge of the stewarding the palace will be coming shortly to record your names and assign your tasks. This is the home of Our Imperial Majesty, The Demon Emperor. Even though you are unlikely to see His Majesty, you must be cautious as you work. Do you understand?”

Everyone harmoniously agreed. That soldier seemed to be satisfied with his awe-inspiring authority as he walked  away with a smile.

Since I was ugly, there wasn’t even a newcomer that was willing to strike up a conversation with me, keeping me at a distance. However, this suited me quite well as it would save me quite a lot of trouble.

After a while, a person with a medium stature and wore the palace livery walked over with two guards behind him. There was a book in his hand that seemed to be a registry of the names of job. When he walked to the front of the group, he cleared his throat before saying, “Everyone, quiet down. You’ll all be under my supervision from now on. You’re to remember to call me Vice Manager Rui Dong or Vice Manager. Alright, everyone of you are to report your name and task one at a time, starting from the far left.”

There was a lithe Demon with an ordinary appearance at the far left. He bowed towards that Vice Manager  before respectfully saying , “I am Li Cha, my role is to be a gardener here. Lord Vice Manager, please take care of me in the future.”

Chapter 22 – Imperial Firewood House

After the Vice Manager entered him in the registry, he said, “Alright, go and stand on the left side. Someone will take you to the gardening department soon. Next!”

……

It was finally my turn. I hastily moved forward and said with a bow, “Lord Vice Manager, you can call me Eighteen. My role is to split logs at the firewood house.”

When the Vice Manager raised his head and looked at my appearance, he furrowed his eyebrows as he said, “What on earth were those brats doing to recruit such an ugly person? But

I’ll let it slide and allow you to be as ugly as possible as no one will see you anyway. You’re to behave and be  diligent  in splitting logs after today.”

I hastily agreed. “Thank you, Vice Manager. I will definitely do my best.”

“En!” The Vice Manager agreed as he motioned for me to stand aside.

Finally, everyone’s names had been recorded by the Vice manager and taken to their respective workplaces. I was led away by a fatty along with two others. He led us to  a  big building before saying, “This is the kitchen. You’ll be working here in the future. Ugly, you’re to head to the rear courtyard of

the kitchen. There’ll be an old fellow there that will assign you your work.”

I immediately agreed and dashed towards the rear courtyard alone.

The courtyard was large and contained many people, some were washing vegetables while others were cooking meat, all contributing to the bustle of the kitchen. There were a pile of logs at the north-east corner of the grounds. This should be the place I am to be stationed. When I walked over, I saw an old man with snow white hair splitting logs.

I respectfully said, “Greetings to you, sir.”

The old man raised his head and looked at me before replying, “What do you want? You need something?” His tone, devoid of any humility, suggested that he was anything but a log splitter.

I replied. “I have been assigned to assist you in splitting the logs.”

The old man sized me up before saying indifferently, “Then go and find some logs to split. Remember, you’re to chop them evenly to avoid having those picky fellows from the kitchen complaining again.”

I nodded as I found a log and sat down. The old man tossed me a firewood axe before pointing to the circular logs at the side.

I placed a circular log in front of me before I gently struck down with the firewood axe. I used my strength to cleanly split the circular log in two. It was a pity that I couldn’t use my magic and battle spirit. I would have to just split it with pure strength.

When the day ended, even though I didn’t split many logs, I was so tired that my waist was sore and back ached.

When it was dinner time, unbeknownst to me, the old man had procured some food and shared half of it with me. “Eat up and rest early. Tomorrow, you’re going to continue  splitting logs. Your current pace is incomparable to this old man’s pace.

How can that be satisfactory?”

After taking my portion of food from him, I asked, “How long have you been here?”

The old man dazed a little before saying, “I’ve forgotten. It should at least be thirty years.”

“You have split logs for thirty years? Why haven’t you left?” I replied in astonishment.

The old man snorted before saying. “What’s so good about the outside? Even though it’s a little tough here, life is still stable. Splitting logs during the day until I’m worn out and sleep after eating at night. Isn’t that good? Ah! That’s right!  Wait  a moment before you eat.” Upon saying that, he turned around heading towards the firewood house. After a short moment, he was holding onto a worn out bottle gourd. He looked as though the bottle gourd was something that was dearest to him. He said, “It wasn’t easy to obtain this. Do you want some?”

I asked, “What is that?”

The old man mysteriously grinned and replied, “Premium wine.”

I instantly understood that it was alcohol. I shook my hand and replied, “I think I will pass. I’ve split too little in the day. After eating, you can go and rest. I’ll continue splitting the logs for a while longer.”

The old man looked at me, surprised. “Even though you’re ugly, you’re quite hardworking. This old man, won’t be courteous then. Do you know why they recruited people here? You should have guessed already. I’m getting old and my strength has waned. I will be unable to meet the demands of the kitchen soon. I won’t be courteous with you but don’t overwork yourself. It’s alright to just split a couple more. That’s right, what’s your name?”

His words had warmed my heart. “I’m called Eighteen. You can just call me that from now on.”

The old man nodded. “You can call me Old Firewood. I’ve long forgotten my name.”

I was startled before I replied. “How can I do that? You’re so much older than me. How about this? I’ll call you Uncle Firewood.”

Old Firewood drank a mouthful of wine before replying, “Up to you. You really don’t want to drink?”

I smiled as I shook my head.

When it was deep in the night, Old Firewood had already entered the land of dreams. I surveyed my surrounding and found them empty. I circulated my magic power and gently brandished my hand. Countless tiny light blades appeared, instantly splitting a vast amount of logs into small even pieces. When I waved my hand, the logs gathered at a corner. It was a pity that Sukrad’s staff had been confiscated after I was caught. The current me shouldn’t even be able to fight against Ke Lun Duo.

After stacking the firewood, I returned to the firewood house and looked at Old Firewood. He was already giving off resounding snores. I took out a piece of cloth and tied it around my face, concentrating my magic power on my feet. I gently leapt on the kitchen’s roof.

It was silent everywhere. Since the palace was immense, I didn’t dare to go far, and just patrolled a 100 metres radius around the kitchen. The security here was relaxed as I only met an occasional team of patrolling soldiers. I had quietly

memorised the routes I had taken. After returning to the firewood house, I took out a piece of paper from my spatial pocket, drawing places from my memory.

After 10 days time, I had already gained some information about the palace. The Demon race’s palace was divided into inner and outer parts. The outer parts where we stayed as we laboured surrounded the entire outer palace. I had already been in the inner palace once. The security there was extremely tight. Even a small movement by Xiao Rou, it had alerted the the guards. Mu Zi and the Demon Emperor should be in there.

I was filled with thoughts as I split the logs. Uncle Firewood said, “Eighteen, what are you thinking about?”

I snapped out from my thoughts and replied, “Nothing.”

Uncle Firewood smiled but didn’t continue to question me. Uncle Firewood had always been inscrutable. Even though there wasn’t any magical undulations from his body, after what had happened with Ke Lun Duo, I was extremely wary of him. Every night before I went to scout, I had always made sure that Uncle Firewood was fast asleep.

What made me feel glad was that the recovery speed of my magic was extremely fast. Even though the gold dan didn’t split into another gold dan, the magic spell composed of light magic was mellow and rich. The only gold dan in my brain was faintly discernible and my body was filled with power. My power was already on par with my past peak state.

It was rather mysterious that, after losing the gold dans, my power would grow so much. It was really something that I had been unable to understand. I also didn’t have much time  to focus on such things. When I practiced my magic, even if I suppressed it, a faint radiance could be seen coming from my body, so I had chosen day time to train my magic. While I did the repetitive motions of splitting logs, I secretly gathered light elements, which were constantly changing in my body.

Chapter 23 – Peeking Inside the Palace

Night had arrived again. The time of the day wasn’t bad for me, as it was completely dark and the moon didn’t appear tonight. This was great. I would infiltrate the palace tonight at all costs as I was already running out of time.

I took out an outfit suitable for night travels from my space pocket, before saying to Xiao Rou. “You should stay here. Don’t follow me tonight.”

Xiao Rou nodded. I saw signs of concern in her eyes so I said, “Don’t worry. Even if I can’t defeat them, can’t I just run away? I currently also didn’t have any misgivings that I had felt previously. You just have to wait for me here and also keep an eye on Uncle Firewood. If he makes any movements, tell me about them after I return.”

After giving her the task, I surged my magic power outwards, instantly leaping into the sky. My nightwear outfit was completely black, and under the protection of the pitch black sky, it would be impossible to spot me from the ground. I flew about a hundred metres in the sky, secretly heading towards the inner palace. The palace was still brightly lit. The pitch dark place behind the inner palace should be where the Dark Demon Dragon resides. The security of the outer perimeter in the inner palace was extremely tight, as there were guards everywhere. The interior was slightly better. I had picked the  biggest building to land on, concealing my body by lying on the ridge of the roof.

The building seemed to be occupied as it gave out noisy clamours from time to time. I crawled lightly to a corner since there were were other buildings to conceal my figure. I stuck my ear to the roof ridge and listened attentively.

The sound that was coming from the interior of the building was chaotic. They seemed to be discussing a matter from what I had heard.

A deep voice said, “Your Majesty, now that the morale of the country’s soldiers are high, it’s the best time to attack the human race. Please pass down the order.”

There was another slightly hoarse voice that said, “Your Majesty, the Ström Fortress has been under the management of the human race for few hundred years already. The defense of the fortress is extremely prepared. If we were to attack them now, it may result in a huge loss in our forces so I disagree with Prince Satan’s suggestion.”

Demon King Satan was enraged and said, “Ha Yan Cha, why are you always going against what I do? From your words, we shouldn’t commence our attack, right? The alliance of my clan’s troops with the Valiant Mist Empire have reached beyond 200 thousand strong. We can tolerate a small amount of injuries and deaths, right?”

So, the first person who spoke was Demon King Satan, who was supporting the fight against the human race while the second person that talked was Ke Lun Duo’s father, county’s advisor, Ha Yan Cha.

Ha Yan Cha replied, “Your highness, I didn’t propose the idea of delaying the attack; rather, we should find a better opportunity to avoid needless casualties.”

Demon King Satan sneered, “A better opportunity? What better opportunity will we have? What about your previous rotten plan? Didn’t it fail terribly and lead to the death of countless elite warriors of my country? His Majesty hasn’t blamed you for that matter, and yet, you still dare to continue talking about finding opportunities now.”

A gentle and beautiful voice sounded out, “Uncle, you shouldn’t say it like that. The previous mistake isn’t completely due to Teacher.”

After hearing this voice, my entire body momentarily quaked, and my mind immediately flew beyond the topmost clouds.It wasn’t a stranger; it was Mu Zi, who I had yearned for during the day and dreamt of at night. I was filled with intense longing for her. While I was thinking of my next move, I heard the Demon Emperor’s voice that sounded from below me, “Who are you to unexpectedly infiltrate my palace?” A strong power surged towards my location.

I recovered my consciousness before moving in a flash to the side. ‘Hong!’ The previous place I was at exploded, filling the air with dust. This wasn’t good; I had been discovered. I didn’t run but just hid my body under the eaves. “Sou!” There was a couple of people that leapt out from the hole on the roof.

Demon Emperor Satan voiced out, “Ke Lun Duo, what are you doing! As the leader of the Radiant Protectors, you actually let assassins infiltrate the palace? Everyone is to quickly spread out to search, we must find the infiltrator.” This old fellow didn’t even give a chance that would lead to the disorder of his team.

As I heard the gradually fading sounds, I heaved a sigh of relief before flipping back on the rooftop with my arms. Just as I wanted to find a way to escape, two figures suddenly appeared on either side of me, flanking me in the middle. The one that

was in front of me, Ke Lun Duo, smiled and said, “Friend, you’re very clever but you’re still unable to escape from our hands.”

I hoarsely snorted, gathering magic in my hand, preparing to break out from this enclosement.

“Brother Wa Leng, don’t kill him, and catch him alive.”(Ke Lun Duo’s full name is Ke Lun Duo Wa Leng.) It was Mu Zi’s voice, so the one behind me was Mu Zi.

Ke Lun Duo respectfully replied, “As you wish, Your Highness.”

I used a short teleportation to escape the enclosement, but I didn’t run away as I wanted to look at Mu Zi, who I had yearned for all this time.

Mu Zi hadn’t changed at all. She was still so beautiful, but she was slightly thinner and weaker as compared to before. The Princess attire that she wore had enhanced her elegance. When Mu Zi and the handsome Ke Lun Duo stood together, they looked like an ideal couple, looking extremely compatible together. My heart felt indescribable pain, making me grit my teeth as I stroked the scars on my face. Complicated feelings were expressed from my eyes.

Mu Zi stopped Ke Lun Duo, who was going to charge over. “He has just used teleportation and is giving off a familiar feeling. Who are you?” That question was asked towards me.

I mournfully laughed before replying hoarsely,  “Don’t  ask who I am. You want to catch me? It’s impossible.” I suppressed my stirred up mood, as I used short teleportation to escape.

Mu Zi shouted from behind. “Stop right there and explain what you mean by that!” She used her wind magic and chased after me with Ke Lun Duo.

I definitely couldn’t let them reach me. After using short teleportation to its limit, I was finally able to escape from them at a garden of the outer palace. I crouched down at a corner,

holding onto my pain filled chest. ‘Heaven, why must you be so cruel, allowing me to meet with Mu Zi, but making it impossible for us to identify each other? Why?!’ The tears  from unhappiness moistened the black cloth that was covering my face.  I  initially  thought  that  I  would  be  satisfied  with  just  a

glance at Mu Zi. However, after seeing her, my longing for her intensified. I couldn’t help but want to return to sneak another glance at her. (Author: Faint! Zhang Gong must be really sick of living.)

I withdrew my entire body’s aura as I sneaked back to the garden that was sparsely filled. Mu Zi and Ke Lun Duo hadn’t left, and were still talking.

Ke Lun Duo said, “Your Highness, let’s head back so that His Majesty won’t get too anxious from waiting for us. I can also employ the Radiant Protectors to catch the infiltrator that way.”

There was confusion in Mu Zi’s expression as she muttered, “Why  did  that  person  give  me  such  a  familiar  feeling?  I

definitely know that person, but who is he?” I was touched. It couldn’t be that she was still able to distinguish my identity; even after my body shape and voice had completely changed, right? What I didn’t know was that even though my body shape had changed, the way I walked and used magic hadn’t changed at all. From my bearing and speech, how could Mu Zi easily forget after being so familiar with them?

Chapter 24 – Mu Zi’s Understanding

Ke Lun Duo prompted, “Princess, let’s go.”

A sudden glimmer was shown in Mu Zi’s eyes as she said in surprise, “Zhang Gong? That person is Zhang Gong?”

Ke Lun Duo was startled before he asked, “Is that the mage that you knew from the human race?” This brat was pretending that he didn’t know me; it made me clench my fist tightly in anger.

Mu Zi glanced at Ke Lun Duo with a complicated expression. “Big Brother Wa Leng, it’s him. He has come to the empire to find me. I want to see him.” Upon saying that she was going to

move to find Zhang Gong, Ke Lun Duo pulled on Mu Zi’s sleeve, saying, “Princess, I think that it will be better to head back now. That person is definitely not the person you said them to be.”

Mu Zi said in astonishment, “Why? My instinct tells me that the person is Zhang Gong. I will never forget the familiar feeling that he gave me. Sorry, Big Brother Wa Leng, but even though we grew up together, I’ve only treated you as a brother. Can you forgive me?” Mu Zi, as expected, hadn’t forgotten her feelings toward me. My feelings rose again from the depths of my heart.

Ke Lun Duo sighed as he replied, “Princess, I know that I’m not suitable to be your partner, nor do I have thoughts of it, but you must head back with me for now, alright? If you were to go missing, even if I had 10 heads, chopping them all off still wouldn’t suffice to appease His Majesty’s anger.”

Mu Zi resiliently shook her head. “I can promise you anything else but this matter. Zhang Gong has taken such risks to find me. If I don’t see him, I……”

Ke Lun Duo replied, “That person definitely isn’t the Zhang Gong that you said. Did you not see his eyes were purple?”

Mu Zi said, “ I considered that. When I was heading to the human race, it was easy to conceal, so Zhang Gong must have done the same thing. Please stop trying to convince me otherwise, Big Brother Wa Long”

Ke Lun Duo replied anxiously, “Princess, I definitely can’t let you put yourself at risk.”

Mu Zi replied smiling, “Why would it be risky? Zhang Gong would never hurt me.”

Ke Lun Duo replied, “But, he really isn’t Zhang Gong.”

Mu Zi frowned as she queried, “Why were you so certain from the beginning that that person isn’t Zhang Gong?”

It might be due to being pressured by Mu Zi that he blurted out, “It’s because the real Zhang Gong already died long ago.”

I could feel that Mu Zi’s body had stiffened, even from a far distance away, “Just-who-did-you-say-died?”

Ke Lun Duo realized that he said something he shouldn’t, and hastily explained, “No, I had said that groundlessly.”

Mu Zi said with her eyes widened, “Big Brother Wa Leng, I know that you’d never say anything groundlessly. Quickly tell me what the hell is going on.”

Ke Lun Duo knew that he wouldn’t be able to continue hiding

it from her so he told her how he infiltrated our group and what had transpired in the God Rended Canyon after letting out a long sigh. Mu Zi asked anxiously, “What happened after Royal Father caught him?”

Ke Lun Duo sighed, “From what His Majesty said, since he couldn’t withstand the infiltration of the dark elements,  his body had completely corroded, leading to his death.”

I saw Mu Zi’s entire body sway, with a pale face she muttered, “Did Zhang Gong really die? No, he couldn’t. You must be lying, right? Big Brother Wa Leng, tell me that everything you just said was simply fabricated. Tell me!” The more Mu Zi said, the more stirred up she got as she grabbed onto Ke Lun Duo’s shoulders and shook him violently.

Ke Lun Duo replied, “Princess, please calm down. What I’ve said is the truth.”

Mu Zi dashed towards the inner palace, she seemed to have gone crazy as she shouted, “I must ask Royal Father and get him to say that you lied to me!” I saw translucent water droplets in the air. Ah! Those were Mu Zi’s tears.

Ke Lun Duo shouted, “Princess, please wait for me!” He said that as he pursued her.

As I saw their leaving figures, I stood up from the thicket, with my face covered in tears. If I didn’t have the scars on my body, how happy I’d be. I would immediately reveal my identity and take Mu Zi away. However, what else could I do? I was no

longer a suitable match for her, who had an appearance like a goddess.

After I surveyed my surroundings, I used short teleportation to enter the firewood house. As I just entered, Xiao Rou pounced towards me. I grabbed her and whispered, “Help me keep a look out. I’m going to change my clothes.” I nimbly changed into the servant’s attire before tossing the night attire into the space pocket.

After changing, I heaved a sigh of relief.

Just as I laid on my bed, there was suddenly a loud explosion that came from the inner palace, startling Uncle Firewood and I.

Uncle Firewood said groggily, “What happened?”

I replied, “I don’t know. It seems that something had exploded outside.”

Uncle Firewood put on his clothes before saying, “Let’s go out to see what happened.”

When Uncle Firewood and I walked out from the Firewood house, we saw that the sky at the inner palace was crimson red. Could it be that a fire started somewhere? I didn’t destroy

anything in the inner palace.

All of the staff from the kitchen walked out from their resting place, the kitchen in charge said, “What happened?”

Someone replied, “It seems that assassins appeared in the inner palace?”

“Who would be so daring to do to even think of infiltrating the palace of our Holy Light Empire? That person must be tired of living.”

A group of soldiers walked in from outside. The leader of the soldiers said, “All the members of the kitchen staff are not to move. Assassins entered the palace, and are currently being pursued. Everyone must return to their homes.”

This can’t be happening right? Why are they making such a big deal about a solo infiltration?

The entire night the palace never went silent, the entire grounds, including the kitchen, were searched.

At noon of the following day, whilst I split the wood, I heard chattering of two masters in charge of chopping vegetable. They were discussing about what happened yesterday. I focused on my hearing as I heard them say, “I heard that there were

assassins that infiltrated the palace last night. They were plotting to assassinate his Majesty.”

The other master said, “Everyone knows about this. After fussing about it for a long time, wasn’t no one was caught in the end? I really don’t know what the soldiers are doing.”

“Xu! Hush your voice. Don’t let anyone hear that. If  not, you’re guaranteed to be in trouble.”

“It’s the truth, no? They are responsible for protecting the palace. There were so many of them, and assassins were still able to infiltrate. Moreover, they strutted out with no issues at all. It was really embarrassing!”

“That isn’t even the most interesting part! Something even more intriguing occurred.”

”What’s that?”

“Do you still remember the sudden loud explosion from the inner palace that lead to a blazing fire? Do you know what caused it?”

“Of course, I was awoken from that explosion. It wasn’t due to the assassin?”

The master looked at his surrounding before he whispered, “Of course not. I heard from a small eunuch that was in charge of serving the meals saying that it was the princess that caused it.”

Chapter 25 – Mysterious Man In Black

The other master said in surprise, “What? It was caused by the Princess?”

“Lower your voice. I don’t know why, but the Princess suddenly threw a tantrum at His Majesty. She then cast an unknown large scale magic in fury, leading to the destruction of the Politics Palace Hall.”

Upon hearing that, I lowered my head to hide the stirred up emotions and increased the pace of splitting wood. Mu Zi’s fall out with her father was definitely due to me. ‘Mu Zi! My good

Mu Zi, if I still had my original looks, how great will that be? I’ll definitely escape to a faraway place with you. However, I’m no longer compatible with you. Perhaps, Ke Lun Duo will be the best match for you.’ I gritted my teeth at the idea of not being

able to see Mu Zi anymore. Even though I know that if I were to reveal myself to her, she wouldn’t reject me because of my appearance. But could I do that? I mustn’t ruin her life. If she

were to follow me, whose body was filled with scars, how would other people see  her. Thinking  about that, tears flowed down my face; my heart was filled with all kinds of mixed feelings, be it being sweet, sour, bitter and hot.

Uncle Firewood, who was beside me saw that something was wrong, asked in astonishment, “Eighteen, what’s wrong?”

I hastily wiped off the tears and replied, “Nothing, Uncle Firewood. It’s just sand that got into my eyes.”

‘En!’ Uncle Firewood didn’t continue to push for answers.

I took in a deep breath to calm down the  complicated emotions of my heart. I couldn’t continue to think about Mu Zi anymore. Since I had already seen her, I should be satisfied. My top priority at the moment was to save Big Brother Zhan Hu and the rest, then immediately head back to the base for our last preparation against the Monster King. I bit on my lips as I focused my thoughts on splitting the wood.

At noon, Uncle Firewood patted on my shoulder. “Eighteen, you don’t have to be that hard working. You’ve cut two days worth of woods already. You can take a break, it should be time for our meal already.”

I placed the axe down, using my sleeve to wipe off my perspiration before forcing a smile at Uncle Firewood.

Uncle Firewood frowned, (when you see a ghastly  person smile at you, you frown?), before he continued to say, “I’ll head out to eat first. After eating, I’ll call for you.”

I thought, ‘You must be scared that I will affect your appetite, right?’ After smiling wryly, I continued doing the job on hand.

……

Later at night, I wore the evening attire again to sneak out of the Firewood house before gently leaping onto the roof. No

matter what happened today, I would definitely investigate the position of the Sky Prison. I was afraid that the longer I stayed here, the harder it would be to stave off the temptation to seek out Mu Zi.

Just as I was about to move forward, a black shadow suddenly flashed in front of me, blocking my way.

The shadow approached me at such a shocking speed that even with my sensitivity, I wasn’t able to detect anyone approaching me.

I sized up the person before me, only to see that his entire body was covered with black clothing; not even his hair was in view. It was obvious that he was the same as me, who feared

that someone would recognise him. If it wasn’t for the immense pressure that I felt from him, I would have already made the move to kill him.

I whispered, “What do you want?”

The black clothed man nodded at me before replying hoarsely, “If you don’t want to alarm anyone, follow me.”

After saying that, he moved in a flash, heading out of the palace.

I secretly sighed before pursuing his figure that was headed out of the palace.

The black clothed person used the same method as I did to infiltrate the inner palace. He flew high up and used night to hide his presence to leave the palace. However, he didn’t stop, and just continued to fly outwards. His speed was extremely fast so I didn’t have a choice but to use all of the fusion power in my body to follow him; making it impossible to question him.

After leaving the city, his speed gradually decreased, finally stopping at a small mountain cavity that was 15 km away from the royal city.

I stopped ten metres away from him, lightly panting. The long

distance flight’s consumption of my energy was large.

The blacked clothed person looked at me and said in the same hoarse voice, “What’s your motive for infiltrating the Demon’s palace?”

I coldly snorted, “Aren’t you the same, skulking in the dark to avoid being recognized by people? What right do you have question me?”

The black clothed person replied, “Since you aren’t willing to talk, then we’ll have to resort to force.”

I definitely wouldn’t be careless when facing a person whose strength I couldn’t decipher, so I immediately cast a defensive magic spell, casting a faint glow around my body. I didn’t have Sukrad’s staff, and my magic power hadn’t fully recovered, so the gathering speed of my magic was much slower compared to before.

The black clothed person asked in surprise, “You’re a light magician. It seems that I hadn’t guessed wrong to assume that you are a spy from the human race.”

I waved my hand to cast a light blade, as I must kill him as soon as possible. He had already found out my identity. No matter who he was, this was the Demon race’s territory, so he definitely wouldn’t be my arms in comrade. If he were to expose my identity, it would only increase the difficulty of rescuing Big

Brother Zhan Hu and the rest.

Oddly enough, the man didn’t move to dodge the light blade that was about to hit him. At the moment before impact, his body suddenly gave off a sky blue light, causing the light blade’s power to disperse.

I was shock. What kind of power was that? It unexpectedly countered my attack with such ease. This was the first time I had felt helpless, even though I didn’t cower when facing the demon Emperor.

The black clothed person didn’t launch a counter attack and just sniggered, “That kind of attack is useless against me. It can’t be that you’re only at that level of power, right?”

Hatred formed in my heart as I gritted my teeth and chanted,

“Oh! Great light elements, I plead to you, lend me unlimited divine power to form into stars and eliminate the enemy before me——Bright Star’s Shine!”

“Oh! Great light elements, I plead to you, lend me unlimited divine power to form a Holy light that eliminates all evil beings and eliminate the enemy before me—–Holy Light!”

Since the enemy was powerful, I had consecutively cast two advanced spells. Since my power hadn’t fully recovered yet, I could only recite the chant for the advanced magic spells, unlike the previous case where I didn’t need to chant at my peak state.

Numerous light stars gathered before me, and with  my control, they formed a chain that charged towards  the opponent. Simultaneously, the Holy Light was completed, forming a gold pillar that enclosed the light stars, and increased the power of the spell. This was the light fusion magic that I had developed recently. I had named it Holy Bright Star’s Shine. This was the initial use of it. Even though the  power  didn’t reach the level of a forbidden spell, it was already beyond the capabilities of advanced magic spells.

After using this spell, I felt my entire body weaken as the magic power in my body frantically surged outwards.

The black clothed person moved two steps back. It  was obvious that he knew that this attack wouldn’t be easy to counter. He placed both of his hands before his chest to form a ring. A blue light halo suddenly lit up and charged towards the light stars inside the Holy Light. There were constant sounds of collision sounded in the air, while I just stared with my vision transfixed on the opponent.

Chapter 26 – Magic Race’s War God

When the light ray faded, the black clothed person was still standing at his original position.

I exclaimed in shock, “No! This is impossible. How can someone just use their physical body to withstand the Holy Bright Star Shine?” Even the Demon Emperor would need to borrow the Dark Demon Dragon’s power or the origin Divine spell to block this attack as it was already the most powerful offensive spell, second to the Holy Sword’s power.

The black clothed person brandished his hand in the air. It seemed to be dealing with the remaining power from my previous attack. He said unhurriedly, “There’s a lot of things that are deemed as impossible.”

I suddenly thought passed my mind and replied with wide eyes, “Could it be that you have already trained to… ”

The black clothed person was surprised. “Your sight is not bad, and it’s also unnecessary to hide this fact. That’s right, I’m the sole warrior at the Legendary War God rank in the entire world.”

His words confirmed my thought. I suppressed my fears and asked, “War God? Don’t they only exist in legends? How did you train to that level?” Only the War God would  have  divine powers to dissipate all kind of spells, excluding forbidden spells.

‘If I were to be at my peak state, perhaps, I could be his match. Currently, however, not only have my magic powers not fully recovered, the Sukrad’s staff is gone. How am I going to fight against this black clothed person, that has divine powers, in my current condition?’ Thinking about that, I couldn’t help, but be

depressed.

The black clothed person looked at the sky as he replied, “I trained bitterly for eighty years, and had to give up  settling down to achieve my current standard. Do you think it’s easy? From what I analysed, you have internal injuries. If not, you wouldn’t be at your current standard, and I would have to use all of my strength to overwhelm you. It has been a long time since I killed someone. If you were to tell me your motive, I’ll definitely spare your life.”

I coldly laughed, “What do you mean by sparing my life?”

The black clothed person replied, “I’ll only cripple your cultivation. Whether you survive or not will be up to you then.”

After hearing what he said, I let out a long mournful hiss. How could I not know the pain of having my powers crippled due to a near death experience? His words invigorated my will to survive. I gathered my energy and gradually activated the Holy Sword’s divine power. I would rather fight until I perished rather than return to that state of living dead.

The black clothed person felt the change of power in my body and said in astonishment, “So, you still haven’t used all of your power.” Under the immense pressure of the Holy Sword, he couldn’t help, but tense up, releasing blue light rays from his entire body.

I said indifferently, “Even if it’s to the death, I won’t surrender to you. I’ll let you have a taste of my final attack.” There was a scathing light that appeared in my surrounding. The Holy Sword, giving out silver light rays, appeared above my head; it got larger from the constant surge of magic power entering it.

My entire body reeked of divine aura. Six  light  wings appeared on my back and my hair had turned completely golden. When I suddenly opened my eyes, a dazzling gold ray

shot out as I chanted calmly, “The God King bestowed upon me the Radiant Holy Sword. It shall shine with the soaring radiance of the vault of the heavens.” As I chanted, the silver sword gave out numerous light rays in the sky, lighting up the pitch black sky like the sun that shined in daytime; the light rays were filled with divine aura. Even though I hadn’t fully recovered my cultivation,  the  Holy  Sword  had  brought  out  about  seventy

percent of my power from my peak condition. The fusion power in my body had been constantly consumed by it.

The black clothed person said alarmed, “You’re God’s inheritor. Quickly, stop!”

However, I had finished already chanting the spell. How could I stop due to being yelled to do so? The silver sword suddenly burst forth, charging towards the black clothed person. The surrounding grass and woods had turned to smithereens from the Holy Sword’s power. After the release of the Holy Sword, I collapsed on the ground, void of strength. The outcome of the match would be determined by this move.

The black clothed person looked seriously at the absolute power heading towards him. His both hands constantly changed patterns, leading a blue divine light to be emitted from  his entire body and rapidly formed a blue whirlpool.

It was obvious to see that he was using a lot of strength to maintain that whirlpool from the shudders of his body as he shouted, “Divine Blue Light Revolution!” The blue revolution slowly raised from his hand to get into contact with the Holy Sword that was flying over to him.

I looked at him with widen eyes as I wanted to know which would be stronger, the Divine Light or the Holy Sword. This would also determine my fate.

When the two powers came into contact, it was beyond my expectation as it didn’t gave off an intense explosion that I had expected. The Holy Sword’s power was redirected towards the Royal City due to the blue light revolution.

An enormous silverish white sword encased in a blue light flew towards the city of the Demon race’s Holy Light Empire in the pitch black night. The intense explosion woke up everyone in the city. Seventy percent of the city wall at the west of the capital was destroyed, killing and injuring few hundreds of people. The Demon Emperor got the report saying, “There was an unknown strong power that had attacked the west side of the

City, resulting to the destruction of sixty percent of it due to the collision.” But no one saw the Holy Sword’s shape, as those people at the west of the capital had died from the explosion.

I looked dazed at the intense explosion that occurred at the faraway city. I didn’t expect that the fusion of the two large powers could attack a place that was 15 km away and still possessed a formidable destructive power.

The black clothed person sat on the ground,  panting profusely. I smiled wryly, “Your Divine Light is incredible as it unexpectedly was able to redirect my Holy Light’s power, but there’s something that I don’t understand.”

As the black clothed person panted, he replied, “What’s so

incredible about that? It almost cost me my life. Just ask me what questions you have.”

I asked, “Since you’re a demon, why did you direct the power towards the demon’s city?”

The black clothed person said snappily, “You think I wanted that to happen? Under the attack from a first grade divine instrument, it’s not bad to protect myself. I don’t have  the luxury to think about the rest. However, it’s also time for the guards of the Royal Family to have a wake up call. They’ve had too much peaceful times.”

So, it was that case. It seemed that it wasn’t easy for him to counter my attack.

The black clothed person suddenly turned to look at the demon city. “Not good, the Royal Family’s  guard are heading our way. Let’s move away from here.” Upon saying that he grabbed me as he lept into the sky. As expected of a War God, he still had so much remaining power. It was impossible for me to not concede defeat. However, I was curious why the attitude of this black clothed person seemed to have changed drastically after I had released the Holy Sword’s power. While I thought about that, I secretly gathered the fusion power in my body as the more powers I gathered, the higher the probability of my survival would be.

Chapter 27 – Firewood House’s Uncle Firewood

Very quickly, I discovered that the black clothed person had actually flown towards the palace while bringing me  along. What was his intention? Could he be a subordinate of the Demon Emperor?

The black clothed person gradually decreased his pace, gently landing near the Firewood House. From the amount of perspiration appearing on his body, I knew that he was near his limit, and was secretly elated.

The black clothed person unceremoniously tossed me into the Firewood house, whilst closing the door after he surveyed the surrounding. He panted, “You brat, you’re really heavy. We almost couldn’t return. Don’t overthink this; I won’t  cripple your cultivation, for now. There are some things I want to ask you in the meantime.” Upon saying that, he took off the mask

on his head.

I was momentarily stunned. The black clothed person was shockingly the Uncle Firewood, who drank wine and split logs all day long. I gasped and asked stunned, “Uncle Firewood, it was you all along?”

Uncle Firewood chuckled and recovered his original voice, “Is there a reason you think it couldn’t be me? From the moment I met you, I realised you weren’t simple. How did you possess a first grade divine instrument?” I realised that as he spoke, his battle spirit was rapidly recovering. I understood that simply by relying on force, I wouldn’t have stood a chance if this person teamed up with the Demon Emperor. I sighed and replied, “Since you want to know, I’ll tell you. I’m actually a magician from the human race’s Aixia Kingdom. I’ve been training light magic since childhood……..” I roughly told him all of my experiences, including the acknowledgement of the God King and obtaining the Holy Sword. When I talked about the Monster King, Uncle Firewood’s eye brows deeply furrowed.

“…..Just like that, we head toward the demon race to try to stop the Demon Emperor from continuing to attack  the humans, and instead join forces in resisting the soon to be resurrected Monster King. However, the Demon Emperor didn’t listen to our explanation and just continued on his own course, resulting in me having severe injuries, and the capturing of my teammates.”

Uncle Firewood nodded. “You’re quite the man to disfigure yourself to infiltrate the Royal Palace as a spy to rescue your teammates.”

I smiled wryly, “Do you think I did it willingly? It was down to the corrosion of the Demon Emperor’s dark element. If it wasn’t for the protection of the Holy Sword, I would’ve been finished long ago, but the scars remained on my body.”

“So that was the case. I’ve been secretly following your midnight excursions these past few days. Your relationship with Mu Zi appears quite unusual.” This fellow had understood the situation quite clearly. I hadn’t told him a thing about Mu Zi. I also didn’t expect that he had been tailing me all this time. It seemed that there was no point in withholding information anymore. I felt that Uncle Firewood did not harbour animosity toward me. I smiled embarrassed, “Since you’ve a deep understanding of the Demon race, you should be aware that Mu Zi previously went to the human kingdom as a spy. I was her classmate and can also be classified as her lover. I sincerely love Mu Zi. She was the main reason why I journeyed all the way to the Demon Kingdom. But as you’ve already seen it, I’ve turned out like this. I am now incompatible with Mu Zi and can only secretly long for her in silence.” Upon saying that, my feelings were stirred, and I couldn’t help but be dejected.

Uncle Firewood replied, “Just change your clothes. With the commotion earlier, everyone in the entire city will be on high alert. They may even check in here.”

I asked in astonishment, “You don’t plan on selling me out?

I’m here as a spy.”

Uncle Firewood slightly nodded. “I won’t sell you  out,  but that doesn’t mean that I will let you go. Don’t you even think that you had moved me with your words; I’ve decided to temporarily believe you due to the first grade divine instrument you possess.”

I asked, “The Demon Emperor and you mentioned the first grade divine instrument. What does that mean? It can’t be that the divine instrument have grades, right?”

Uncle Firewood looked at me, as though he was looking at an idiot. “Of course, it’s graded. It can’t be that the God King didn’t tell you about that when he gave you the Holy Sword?  The divine instrument has five grades. The first grade possess the most offensive power. It’s only the God King who grades and holds them in his possession. It was due to that reason I trust you; the God King shouldn’t have had an error in his judgments and mistakenly given his own companion sword to a sinister person. The Dragon God’s Sukrad’s staff should be a fourth grade divine instrument and the Dark Demon Dragon’s gun that the Demon Emperor used should be an ancient Demon God’s pass down. It should be of the second grade divine instrument.”

I said in awe, “So that was the case. But then why wasn’t I able to withstand the Demon Emperor’s second grade divine instrument when I had a first and fourth grade divine instruments?”

Uncle Firewood explained as he changed his attire, “It was due to your insufficient power that you were unable to use its full

potential. Do you think divine instruments are easy to  use? Don’t even mention the first grade divine instrument,  when with your current power, you can’t even fully use the power of the fourth grade divine instrument. While the current Demon Emperor is the number one genius in the history of the demon race, at the age of 50, he was already able to bring out the full power of the Dark Demon Dragon’s gun. Even though his mount, the Dark Demon Dragon definitely expedited the process; his intelligence and hard work is unquestionable. Your current level is at minimum two grades lower than his. Even if the Demon Emperor hasn’t already reached the War God’s rank, he isn’t far from it. Unless you reach the valley that the God King told you to receive the Radiant God’s inheritance, don’t even talk about the defeating the Monster King when  the current you is definitely not a match for the Demon Emperor.”

What he had analysed was correct. I couldn’t defeat the Demon Emperor even when I was in my peak state and had two divine instruments. There was definitely a gap in our abilities. I had originally thought that I could be counted as a peak expert in the continent, but the disparity of power between Uncle Firewood and the Demon Emperor was large.

Uncle Firewood had already changed his clothes. He suddenly coughed violently and his face paled. I had already recovered some of my power so I hastily went forward to support him. “What’s wrong, Uncle Firewood?”

Uncle Firewood glared at me before taking some of the logs to split. As he split the logs, he said, “It isn’t caused by you. I’ve aged and become useless. My old illness has acted up due to using lots of energy today.”

I went forth and replied, “I can help you to split the wood while you take a break.” Currently, my little life is in his hand. How could I dare to offend him?

Uncle Firewood replied, “Don’t need. I can do it by myself. When I trained my battle spirit to the War God’s rank, I had forcefully broken through my meridians. Even though it was successful, I injured my lungs. Lungs belong to the wood element. This is why I’ve been splitting wood to distribute the energy to my lungs. I’m already 97 years old this year. I doubt that I’ve long to live.”

I had changed into my original clothings and told Uncle Firewood, “With a look, you don’t appear ordinary. Why do you continue to stay here? It shouldn’t be just to split logs, right?”

Chapter 28 – The Empire’s Royal Protector Uncle

Uncle Firewood said coldly, “I’m not afraid to tell you that I’m an uncle of the Demon Emperor. The previous Demon Emperor was my brother. Thus, I’m staying here to use my remaining lifespan to protect the Holy Light Empire. If you dare do something that will endanger the demon race, hmph! I  will make you die with an incomplete body.”

I was shocked, as I would never have thought that a prince would be splitting wood in a place like this. I shook my head and looked at the sky and noticed it was really dark, so I laid at the side to sleep.

I was awoken by Uncle Firewood the  next  morning. “Eighteen, it’s time to split logs. I will warn you that without my permission, you aren’t allowed to take a step out the perimeter of Firewood house. If you do, you will know the

consequences.” This was bad, I’m watched attentively by the current prince of the Demon race. How could I rescue big brother and the rest? Could it be that I was destined to die here?

I was anxious for the entire day. At night, I finally couldn’t bear it any longer so I ran to face Uncle Firewood and said fumingly, “What on earth are you thinking? If you want to kill me, just do it now. What’s your motive for  restraining  me here?”

Uncle Firewood replied indifferently, “I understand how you’re feeling. I’ve thought about it for a day. The Monster King is definitely a major threat to us. Just as you’ve said, if the Monster King resurrects, the first to topple will be the Holy Light Empire, so I’ve decided to team up with you.”

The change in Uncle Firewood’s attitude gave me a shock. “Team up? How so?”

Uncle Firewood replied, “Even though I’m currently unable to prevent the allied demon race and beast race troop from invading the humans, I can still use my influence to delay it. I hope that during this period of time, you’ll be able to find solid evidence for everyone to see, and prove that the Monster King’s threat is true. At that moment, you’ll have the possibility of convincing the Demon Emperor.”

I replied, “You’re letting me go?”

Uncle Firewood nodded. “Not only am I going to release you, I’m also going to help you rescue your friends. However, I want

you to swear in the God’s name that from now on, you won’t do anything to endanger my demon race.”

I said smiling, “My target has never been the demon race, but the Monster King that can topple the world and eliminate all forms of life. I, Zhang Gong Wei, under the supervision of the Gods, promise that if I endanger the Demon race, may my body be struck by five lightnings that would result in my death and inability to reincarnate.” As long as I could do what I planned to do, what would an oath count for?

Uncle Firewood replied in satisfaction, “You’ve to remember what you swore. Come here, I’ll treat your wounds.”  Upon saying that, he brandished his hands at me, making me move in front of him. When his palms interlocked, my back was momentarily facing him and I sat cross legged. Blue divine light emerged from Uncle Firewood’s body, encasing me within. An incomparably pure power entered through my shirt, constantly breaking through my clogged meridians. I definitely wouldn’t let this chance escape so I immediately circulated the fusion

power, following the steps of Uncle Firewood’s divine light battle spirit’s movement.

After the fight with Uncle Firewood, I still hadn’t completely recovered. The single gold dan had slowly segregated to three under Uncle Firewood’s help to break through my meridians. A horn like power formed in my upper dantian, making the absorption speed of light elements increase drastically. I knew that my old wounds were making a complete recovery, and caused me to be jubilant. I totally revered Uncle Firewood, who was a senior expert of the demon race. He would actually lend a hand to an outsider for the fate of his clan. I definitely couldn’t win against him in aspiration. I couldn’t talk about the others, but if that brat, Ke Lun Duo, were to be in my hands, even if I wouldn’t kill him, I would peel his skin. I wasn’t that good hearted.

When I stopped cultivating, dawn had arrived.  Uncle Firewood was sitting to the side, slowly splitting logs. I said in gratitude, “Thank you, Uncle Firewood. I feel much better

already.”

Uncle Firewood plainly replied, “If you keep to your promise, it will be the greatest gratitude you can offer me. I’ve really underestimated you. You’ve already broken through the Magister’s realm, and are heading towards the Grand Magister’s realm. It’s really extraordinary for you to reach such a standard within your age. But for the future of my clan, I must have you make another promise.”

What? Another promise? I couldn’t help but frown as I calculated in my heart. My current power had recovered eighty percent from my peak state. After another day’s work, I should be able to recover to the state where I fought with the Demon Emperor. At that time, I should barely be a match to Uncle Firewood. However, I couldn’t do it now. For my little life, I could only compromise. “What is it you want me to promise?”

Uncle Firewood revealed a ‘I knew that you would agree’ look. “I want you to promise that after the defeat of  the  Monster King, you will immediately withdraw from  any  conflicts between the various races, nor are you allowed  to  indirectly help at the side. This should already be very fair to you. Do you agree?”

I had thought the worst when he asked me to promise something. After eliminating the Monster King, only a ghost would be willing to mix in the matters regarding the various race. I immediately smiled. “That’s easy. I, Zhang Gong Wei, swear that once the Monster King’s matters has been resolved, I’ll immediately live in seclusion and will never ask about what happens in the world. The conflict between the  various races will have nothing to do with me.”

Uncle Firewood replied, “It doesn’t need to be at the point where it has nothing to do with you. I just hope that you won’t be biased to the human race when dealing with us. When you received the God’s inheritance, and learn to fully utilise it, no one in the world will be your match. If you are to be biased to the human race, won’t my demon race be eliminated? Then, won’t I become a traitor to the demon race in that case?”

I replied, “That will definitely not happen. Even if  there’s other reasons, for Mu Zi, I’ll definitely not eliminate the demon race, but I’m still of the human race. If I can become the top expert of the world, I’ll use my remaining life to protect the entire world and its peace and harmony, not letting anyone invade it.”

Uncle Firewood nodded and said after sighing, “In the recent hundred years, I currently understand that what has brought to our flourishment is peace and harmony. Even though  the Demon and beast race has an unbreakable chain of hatred with the human race, I still don’t wish for the war to continue. I’m

aging, and perhaps won’t be able to see the world prosper in peace and harmony. This matter will need you younger generations to fulfill it. You don’t have to split wood today. You’re to do your best in recovering your  cultivation  as  I’ll bring you to rescue your teammates tonight.”

I instantly became elated. “Will the Demon Emperor punish you, knowing that you have helped me to rescue my friends?”

Uncle Firewood smiled. “The previous Demon Emperor gave me the mission to protect the Kingdom, so I can make decisions for the Demon Emperor on some major matters. Moreover, the Demon Emperor was brought up by me. He should at least give me some face. All you have to do is to find the evidence for the emergence of the Monster King as soon as possible.”

Chapter 29 – Invading The Sky Prison

After an entire day of training leisurely, I finally recovered my peak state. My body was filled with fusion powers, making me so excited that the scars on my body didn’t seem to bother me anymore.

Uncle Firewood and I wore our night clothes and snuck out of the Firewood house ats night. It was already much easier to follow Uncle Firewood’s steps after recovering my cultivation.

Uncle Firewood brought me to the eastern city wall as if it was a walk in the park. As we hid in a dark corner, Uncle Firewood pointed to a tall building and said, “That is the Sky Prison. Remember, you aren’t allowed to kill anyone later on. Do you understand?”

I nodded. “Don’t worry, I won’t. However, the  security  is tight. Do you think we’ll succeed?”

There were about 50 guards at the entrance of the Sky Prison. If I wasn’t allowed to kill anyone, it would be difficult to infiltrate.

Uncle Firewood thought for a moment and said, “Your friends should be locked at the lowest section of the Sky Prison. We would need to go through four security points. We will encounter some difficulties. Do you know teleportation spells? Can’t you teleport in?”

I smiled wryly. “There must be fixed point for the teleportation. Otherwise teleporting incorrectly, we may find

ourselves locked in a cell. we’ll then be in lots of trouble.”

Once again Uncle Firewood began to think for a while, he crouched down and started to draw. Wherever his finger pointed, stone fragments shattered. After a short moment, a simplified map appeared on the ground.

Uncle Firewood pointed at the lowest position of the map. “If I haven’t guessed incorrectly, they should be in there.”

I calculated the position precisely before saying to Uncle Firewood, “With this map, I can try setting a magic array. However, it will be risky.”

Uncle Firewood replied, “Just quickly do it. If there’s no other option, we can still kill our way out. They won’t be able to stop me.”

If that was the case, I contemplated for a moment before starting to draw up a penetrating magic array that had a fixed position for the short teleportation.

After drawing the array, I nodded towards Uncle Firewood before chanting softly, “Open the Space’s door to penetrate all obstructions and send us to the position we have set.”

A faint light shone from the magic array, Uncle Firewood and I vanished from the dark corner.

After the bright light faded, I had discovered that we  had really teleported into a jail cell. The dozen prisoners in our surrounding looked at us in shock. I smiled wryly and said, “It seems there was a deviation from the position that I’ve  set. What shall we do now?”

Uncle Firewood rapidly let out a blue light, causing all of the prisoners that surrounded us to faint. He whispered, “What else can we do? We’ll use the time before the guards discover us to find your friends.”

I pulled on Uncle Firewood who was about to break through

the door and used the fusion spell to enclose us, while I used a short teleportation to get us into the corridor of the Sky Prison. Uncle Firewood chuckled and said, “There’s really quite a lot of ways to use magic. Perhaps, I should have learnt dark magic instead.”

I asked, “Which direction should we go?”

Uncle Firewood looked at both sides before replying, “Let’s head towards the interior as the more important the criminal is, the deeper they’ll be locked up in jail.” At that moment, we heard some voices. Uncle Firewood pulled me into a corner.

Four prison guards were slowly heading in our direction. Even though I knew that their martial skills weren’t high, I still

nervously clenched my fist.

Uncle Firewood glanced at me and as four of the prison guards were in front of us, he suddenly moved out in a flash, making the four guards, who originally had decent martial prowess, instantly faint with his battle spirit. Under the control of Uncle Firewood’s divine light, the four of them were placed gradually on the floor. I surveyed the surroundings carefully and made certain that there was no one around. I held up a guard and said to Uncle Firewood, “Wake him up to make him lead the way.” Since it was deep in the Sky Prison, the amount of guards decreased drastically.

Uncle Firewood nodded before he gently patted on that guard.

As the guard groggily woke up, I clutched on his neck and said icily, “You’re to answer whatever question I’m going to ask you. If you dare to resist or call out to your comrades,  I’ll immediately break your neck.”

It seemed that our luck wasn’t bad to meet up with a coward. The guard replied in a shaky voice, “Please don’t kill me. Just ask whatever questions you want.”

Uncle Firewood frowned; it was obvious that the guard of his Kingdom didn’t have a backbone, which had made him unsatisfied. He said in a lowered voice, “Where are the few human captives located now?”

The guard looked at me, hesitating, I used strength in my

grip, instantly making his face flush red due to the lack of air. When he was near his limit, I released my grip before saying coldly, “Say it.”

The guard replied helplessly, “Walk straight down from here and turn to the right. There’ll be a door where the humans are being kept.”

I turned to look at Uncle Firewood, who slightly nodded in response. Fusion power was released from my hand, instantly making the guard faint again.

We followed the instructions that the guard had given and rapidly arrived in front of a metal door. Uncle Firewood indicated for me to stand back. The blue light emitted from his

body before he extended his right hand towards the metal door.

When the metal door came in contact with the light ray, it seemed to slowly corrode. I looked in awe at what I’d seen. Uncle Firewood had actually dug out a 66cm by 33cm small door from the thick metal door.

Uncle Firewood nodded towards me. I moved in a flash to enter metal door through the gaping hole taking the lead, with Uncle Firewood following closely behind me. After entering the metal door, it was pitch black, making my vision fuzzy. Uncle Firewood replied, “Be careful, they may have traps.”

Suddenly, I felt dread and unease. It was all too easy

At the moment, the surrounding suddenly lit up. Uncle Firewood and I were blinded by the light, making us unable to open our eyes. Uncle Firewood’s battle spirit instantly surged outwards, enclosing us in the center.

The exterior of the battle spirit had given off the continuous sounds of collisions. ‘Peng! Peng!’ It was obvious that someone was constantly attacking us. When I heard a loud sound behind me, I hastily looked back, only to find that a thicker metal door had descended in front of the metal door that we had broken through.

A long laughter entered my ears before he said, “I knew that you lowly humans would come to rescue your teammates, allowing me to catch you red handed. I’ll make it impossible for you to escape.”

Uncle Firewood and I found that the situation was against us. In the large and empty stone room that we were in, there were almost a hundred experts surrounding us, with Demon King Satan as their head.

Demon King Satan said with nonchalance, “I advise you to give up and surrender willingly. The more you struggle meaninglessly, the faster you will die.” I didn’t know why, but when I heard his words, it felt extremely uncomfortable. His voice was abnormally ear-piercing.

Chapter 30 – Escape Scroll

Uncle Firewood transmitted his voice to me, “This is bad. Everyone here should be Satan’s elite subordinates. It’ll be difficult to escape.”

I transmitted my voice to him, “If we really don’t have other choice, simply reveal your identity. They  shouldn’t  makes things difficult for you that way.”

Uncle Firewood conveyed his voice over, “Silly child, if  I reveal my identity, won’t they add the criminal offence of colluding with the enemy onto my sentence?”

I suddenly thought of a plan, before saying to Demon King

Satan with my voice lowered, “You want to catch  us?  You’ll have to wait for your next life.” Under the protection of Uncle Firewood’s battle spirit, I rapidly took out an escape scroll from my space pocket and inserted my fusion power into it. After a light flashed, we momentarily disappeared from the stone cell.

Demon King Satan was first stunned before flying into a rage as he shouted, “You trash! Why are you not pursuing them?! They definitely won’t be able to get far from here.”

It was right, we didn’t teleport far from there, but we were already out of the Sky Prison. But it would be impossible to catch Uncle Firewood and I, now that we were out of the prison, even if it was the Demon Emperor.

I found out that this escape scroll was quite useful. It had saved me again from a critical moment. My few teachers, you really have given me too much. I decided that after surviving this calamity, I would definitely research how to create the escape scroll. (That book that belonged to Teacher Zhen had the creation method, but since making of the scroll was complicated, being a lazy person, I didn’t deeply research it.)

After returning to the Firewood house, Uncle Firewood and I heaved a sigh of relief. Uncle Firewood leaned against the bed and said, “That was so dangerous. If we didn’t have that teleportation spell, we would have to have prolonged and dangerous battle. Even if we escape then, we definitely wouldn’t be unscathed.”

I furrowed my eyebrows, “How did they know we would carry out a rescue mission? From their memories, they should have thought that I died. Can it be that some people from the human race came over?”

Uncle Firewood shook his head. “If I didn’t guess incorrectly, the attack on the city wall two days ago  should’ve  attracted their attention as only the human race dares to attack the Demon race’s main city. They’ll naturally suspect that there’ll be someone to rescue the captives. Your friends aren’t weak so if they were to be rescued, it’ll create a major problem. Satan, that fellow, he’s really sinister. He almost trapped his own blood related uncle.” When he said that, he didn’t express dissatisfaction, but rather a full smile. It was obvious that he was really satisfied with the Demon King Satan’s actions.

I mocked him, “You think that’s great? If we were trapped, even if we wanted to cry, we wouldn’t be able to. Now, what should we do? We don’t know where my comrades are held captive.”

Uncle Firewood sighed and replied, “With the situation so tense, we can only wait for another opportunity to appear. You shouldn’t be too anxious as it’s useless being impatient. Just quietly split your logs.”

That was the only thing I could do now.

……

I made Xiao Rou investigate the location of Big Brother Zhan Hu and the rest outside the palace when I ran out of other options. But I still didn’t get news on them.

After I gathered the split wood at night, I sat dazed in front of the Firewood house. Uncle Firewood walked over and sat beside me. “Eighteen, what are you thinking? Are you worrying about your friends?”

I nodded. “It has already been quite some time already but there isn’t any news about them. It can’t be that the Demon Emperor has……”

Uncle Firewood shook his head. “It shouldn’t be. I understand the personality of the Demon Emperor. He…….” Just as he said that, Xiao Rou, who had turned into a squirrel, rapidly ran over. My instinct had told me that something must have happened.

As expected, Xiao Rou lept on my shoulder and said, “Master, this is bad. The Demon race has announced that at noon tomorrow, they’ve decided to execute Zhan Hu and the rest at the center of the public square.” The news came to me like a bolt that appeared out of nowhere, making me speechless.

Uncle Firewood also simultaneously changed his expression, “Why did the Demon Emperor order this? It doesn’t seem to be the way that he does things. If he wanted to kill your comrades, he didn’t have to make it public. This is obviously a provocation to the human race.”

I calmed down from my panic and said resolutely, “No matter what, I must save them.” Big Brother Zhan Hu and the rest came to the Demon race for me. I couldn’t just stare as they die in a foreign land. I was already in such a state already. Even if I were to use my life to exchange for theirs, I was also willing.

Uncle Firewood asked in shock, “It can’t be that you want to plunder the execution ground?”

I solemnly nodded.

Uncle Firewood frowned. “Don’t you know how heavy the security of the execution ground will be for such important people? Even if the Demon Emperor won’t be there, he will dispatch an enormous amount of experts to guard the execution ground. Moreover, there is a high possibility that Satan only laid this as a trap for you to appear. Although you’re a human, I can’t bear to see you to leap to your death.”

I replied, “Even if I were to die, I’ll head there, as it was due to me that this happened.”

Uncle Firewood grabbed on my arm and said heatedly, “It can’t be that you’ve forgot what you have promised  to  me, right? If you were to die, who is going to fulfill what you have promised me.”

I shook off what he said and replied, “I’ve promised you, but before carrying them out, you must help me save my friends for those to be valid. Now, we can’t even do the most fundamental part of the promise. Why should I help you do things then?”

Uncle Firewood was so angry that his mustache flared. When he wanted to rebuke me, Xiao Rou interrupted, “Stop arguing!

Master, Uncle Firewood has said that for your well being. Please calm down.”

Uncle Firewood’s expression became better. “Hmph! Your intelligence is lower than this little fox.” With his experience, he had already determined the identity of Xiao Rou.

I didn’t continue to quarrel, but raised my head to look at the sky. “What else can we do? We don’t even know where they are so we can only force our way through.”

Uncle Firewood patted my shoulder and sighed, “The heavens won’t cut off all ways. There definitely will be a way. Ah! That’s right, aren’t you specialized in long  distance  teleportation? Can’t you just teleport them away?”

I gave him a look. “I’m not god. Do you think that space magic can move mountains and drain seas? That’s impossible.”

Uncle Firewood asked stunned, “Even if it’s a short teleportation, it also won’t work?”

I took at the book that Teacher Zhen gave to me from my space pocket and flipped through it to the end. “It’s not definitely impossible. The forbidden space magic spell can temporarily seal a person in a dimension and when in need, I can summon them out like a summoning.”

Uncle Firewood smiled. “Won’t it work then? If we were to use this method, we’ll definitely save your friends.”

I smiled wryly and said, “But I don’t have enough magic power. I can barely seal a person that isn’t resisting, but to seal all ten people at one go, it’s impossible.”

Chapter 31 – Preparing For The Execution

Uncle Firewood said smiling, “What if it’s with the assistance of my power?”

I was moved and momentarily understood what Uncle Firewood meant. “You’re saying….”

Uncle Firewood nodded. “The power circulating in your body isn’t pure magic nor battle spirit but a fusion of  different powers. If I were to insert my divine light battle spirit into your body when you cast a spell, you can instantly change it to magic power. You should be able to seal your friends in that case.”

After hearing what he said, I remembered when I used a forbidden light spell with Teacher Zhen’s assistance. I couldn’t help being overcome by intense feelings of homesickness from the memory.

Uncle Firewood nudged me. “Do you think it will work or not? Tell me!”

I woke up from the reverie. “In theory, with your help, a warrior of the War God’s rank, the converted magic power should be enough for the spell. However, we don’t know if it’ll be the same when we do it. If luck is on our side, there’s a 50% chance of it succeeding.”

Uncle Firewood  replied,  “It’s  worth  trying  it  with  a  50%

chance. At that time, I’ll use my battle spirit to attract their attention. You’ll immediately start working on the spell. What’s more troubling is the center of the public square is quite large and if we were to cast a spell of that size in front of the crowd, there is a low possibility of it going unnoticed. If we were surrounded, it would be difficult to escape the  encirclement after we use the forbidden spell.”

This was really a problem. “How far is the center of the public square from here?”

Uncle Firewood replied, “About 5 Km away.”

Upon hearing what he said, I remembered the short teleportation escape scroll with a fixed location that Hai Shui

used to save me. If I were to make one, I wouldn’t be afraid of being trapped.

“After using the forbidden spell, how much remaining power do you think you will have?”

Uncle Firewood thought for a moment before saying, “It’ll be hard to say as it depends on how powerful your forbidden spell is and its activation requirements. If we were to use both of our powers to do the spell, I shouldn’t be drained of all my powers.”

I replied, “Alright, at that time after sealing my friends, you just need to protect me for a breath. After I activate the escape scroll, we’ll be able to successfully rescue them.”

Uncle Firewood replied with a smile, “It has been many years since I have had such a thrill. My interest has been fully aroused.”

I smiled forcefully, “This is a highly dangerous matter. It’s not a game.” This old fellow seemed to be much light hearted these few days. It couldn’t be due to my influence, right?

Uncle Firewood replied, “Don’t worry. Do you want to rehearse it first?”

I shook my head. “I can’t as there won’t be enough time. If we were to practice it first, even though our chance will be larger, we won’t be able to recover to our peak condition. Moreover, I still need today’s remaining time to create a fixed position escape scroll and that will be our life safeguard. It can’t be that you want to fight with all of the Royal family’s  protectors, right?”

Uncle Firewood scratched his head. “You’re  right.  When we’re out of alternatives, we’ll need to use it to escape. I just remembered, there’s something that I want to tell you.”

“Please don’t tell me that I’m not allowed to kill again,” I said wearily.

Uncle Firewood gravely nodded his head. “That’s right. You are forbidden to kill.”

“What if they want to kill me? It can’t be that I should just stand there to let them kill me, right? If the Demon race are living beings, do you think that our human race isn’t? Don’t you know that to accomplish big missions, there has be some sacrifice?” I said with fury. When  I thought he  didn’t want me to kill anyone, I got mad. If I were afraid of the head and terrified of the tail, it might cost me my life, not  to  even mention saving anyone else.

Uncle Firewood complexion turned green then white. After a long time, he sighed. “Alright, it shall depend on the situation. However, I hope that you will have mercy on the Demon race.”

Seeing the old man’s look, I got soft hearted. “I’m not a person who relishes killing. As long as it doesn’t jeopardize our lives, I won’t take my actions lightly. Moreover, after using the forbidden spell, there’s still a problem on whether I will have any power left to retaliate.”

Xiao Rou said, “Master, time is pressing. You should complete that escape scroll as soon as possible.”

I nodded and returned to the Firewood House. I took out the book that Teacher Zhen had given me and began to research. Uncle Firewood went out of the room to split the logs while being a lookout for me.

After I studied the creation process of the fixed teleportation

escape scroll, I started making it. I managed to succeed in creating three fixed location teleportation escape scrolls before it got dark. Uncle Firewood and I covertly went to the center of the public square to investigate the area late in the night.

Uncle Firewood told me, “Look at that side. That should be place of the execution. At that time… Ah!  That’s  right,  does your short teleportation work from a distance?”

I had read on this point in the book and replied. “It should be within a fifty meter range to seal a person. With our combined power casting the spell, it won’t be a problem, even if the distance is 500 metres.”

Uncle Firewood replied, “Familiarize yourself with the area.

We’ll mix in the crowd tomorrow and act according to situation.”

I nodded before taking out an escape scroll that I had made meticulously. I smiled, “Now, we will see if we can successfully return to the Firewood house.” Upon saying that, I used my fusion magic power to activate the escape scroll. We instantly disappeared in the dimness of the night with a flash of light.

It was so smelly. Where were we? I pinched my nose to survey our surroundings, but couldn’t see anything. Uncle Firewood smacked me once and said, “Where did you teleport us to?”

I thought, ‘This is bad, if we aren’t able to complete the escape scroll and there won’t be enough time to improve it.’ As I

thought, I cast at illumination spell, lighting up our surroundings. As expected, we were in a toilet, but Uncle Firewood and I were overjoyed as this place was actually the kitchen’s toilet. It was only a few steps to the Firewood house. Even though my fixed position wasn’t extremely accurate, it wasn’t bad.

Uncle Firewood and I quietly entered the room. I held onto the remaining escape scrolls and thought, ‘Big Brother Zhan Hu and the rest’s life or death depends on this scroll tomorrow.’

……

Multitudes of people came out from everywhere, emptying every street and lane, gathering at the center of the Demon

race’s Royal City’s public square as the Demon Emperor announced that there would be the execution of the assassins from the human race today the day before. Since the majority of demons hadn’t seen how humans looked, they all wanted to see. Places around the square were crowded with people wanting to watch the execution, with the center of the public square becoming restricted by the Royal Protectors. Uncle Firewood and I were in the crowd; we had already made some simple changes to our appearances, with our power, we definitely wouldn’t be squashed by the crowd. We had reached a distance of 50 metres from the center of the public square with ease.

Chapter 32 – Forbidden Seal

Uncle Firewood gave me a look, telling me to get ready.

I didn’t know where they found a stage overnight as it wasn’t there previously. The stage was about 3 metres tall and 33 meters wide. The surrounding area was filled with the Royal Protectors, guarding the area around the metal container.

Demon King Satan was sitting at the center of the stage. Why was it this guy again? Could it be that he had something against us? From his gloomy and cold appearance, I couldn’t figure it out. As long as it wasn’t the Demon Emperor that came to supervise, I felt much more confident. However, when I looked at Mu Zi beside Satan, my heart shuddered constantly. Mu Zi seemed to have lose a little bit of weight. Even though she wore a veil, I could see that her face was a little pale. Her entire body was covered by a green mage’s robe. Why did she come as well?

Uncle Firewood pressed onto my shoulder and whispered, “I seems that you’re serious towards my niece. If you really can’t stand it, you can just seal her with the rest later.” It was a tempting suggestion, but how was I going to face Mu Zi. I shook my head violently to get rid all thoughts about Mu Zi.

Demon King Satan ordered, “Bring forth the criminals!”

Big Brother Zhan Hu and rest, who I hadn’t seen for a long time, walked on the stage with rattling sound of metallic shackles on both arms and feet. Uncle Firewood whispered, “Keep your calm and make your move when you find an opportunity.”

I nodded silently.

Satan walked to the forefront of the stage with his body giving off an insufferably arrogant and domineering aura. He cleared his throat before shouting, “Citizens of the Holy Light Empire, everyone should know that my kingdom and the Valiant Mist Empire allied to make the most violent invasion in history. During this battle, the lowly human race didn’t dare to fight with our valiant warriors head on, but rather, they tried to assassinate our noble Imperial Highness, the Demon Emperor. This row of people are the assassins. Everyone tell me, what shall we do to them?” As he said that, he pointed towards big brother and the rest.

Almost all demons were roused, shouting, “Kill them! Kill Them!”

Satan nodded. “Everyone said the right thing. When dealing with such lowly trash, it must be to kill! Kill! Kill!” Upon saying that, his appearance was filled with excitement, making  him look indescribably sinister.

While he was making the announcement, I told to Zhan Hu and the rest, no matter what happened, they must relax their body and mustn’t resist. If they showed signs of struggling, it would definitely give me an immense pressure.

What I didn’t notice was that when I conveyed the message, Satan’s ears twitched and an imperceptibly secretive smile played across his face.

Uncle Firewood whispered to me, “This is the moment. Get

ready.”

I felt Uncle Firewood heavily stamp his foot on the ground, creating a strong power that surged to the left side. Uncle Firewood said, “Let’s start.” When he placed his hands on my back, I felt a strong and pure battle spirit surge into me. I focused and started to rapidly revolve the three gold dans, converting the endless flow of battle spirit into magic power.

I chanted softly, “The mighty god of space, who transforms space and controls dimensions, I plead for you to use your limitless divine power to sunder the space that I had designated, sealing the sinister beings from my surroundings. Please follow my  request,  Forbidden  Spatial  Rift  Seal.”  This  was  the  only

forbidden spell recorded in the book that Teacher Zhen had given to me. According to Teacher Zhen, this was an ancient spell that he hadn’t used before. (He didn’t have enough power.) There were two ways of using the spell. The first is to cast a big dimensional slash that would directly suck them into a different dimension, this was used to annihilate enemies. The second seal

would be what I would be using that was to seal the target in another dimension for a period of time and  releasing  them after. The duration of the sealing to rely on the caliber of the caster. If I had really reached the Grand Magister rank, I could seal them in there forever without a problem. I could currently only seal them for a short period of time. I would let them out after finding a safe location. But if the duration of the sealing had went beyond the my limit in sustaining the spell, those people that were sealed would be trapped in the  other dimension forever.

Just as I finished chanting the spell, a building on the left side of the public square suddenly exploded. The enormous sound attracted everyone’s attention. I knew that it was done by Uncle Firewood.

Following the completion of the spell’s chant, the space elements in my surroundings revolved frantically, pushing the crowd back 10 meters. Uncle Firewood, who was behind me, felt as though I was a bottomless pit, crazily absorbing his battle

spirit. An enormous hexagram appeared beneath me, I involuntarily raised both of my hands. A divine light  was emitted from my body, similar to when I used the divine instrument. My hair had turned completely golden and  six wings of light emerged from my back. The revolution speed of the three gold dans had already exceeded their limit.

When Satan, recovering from the explosion, fixed his gaze on me, was casting the spell, he immediately understood what was going on from his knowledge, so he shouted, “Quickly stop him! He’s casting a forbidden spell.” The demons momentarily fell into a disorderly state, rapidly trying to leave the public square.

By the time he yelled, it was already too late as I had already completed the spell. The Royal Protectors that wanted to attack me had been sent flying away by the berserk elements surrounding me.

I opened my eyes and shouted, “Spatial Rift!” The dazzling light rays from my body had made the surrounding crowd temporarily blinded. An enormous crack appeared at the sky at the center of the public square’s stage, creating a huge attractive force.

The eleven of them, Zhan Hu and the rest, were momentarily attracted into the sky, entering the rift.

An intense battle spirit emerged from Satan’s body, protecting Mu Zi and him as he looked fearfully at the crack in the sky.

If I had used the forbidden spell to annihilate the enemies, he wouldn’t be able to resist it. However, I just wanted to save my comrades. Since my target wasn’t him, I naturally couldn’t suck him into the dimension.

I brandished my hand. “Seal!” Two gold lights shot out from my hand, forcefully sealing the crack.

As the light ray left my body weakened, I had almost used up all of the fusion powers of my body. Uncle Firewood supported me and asked, “How is it?”

I nodded. “We succeeded. Let’s leave this place.” I took out an escape scroll and inserted my magic power into it.

At that very moment, Satan was the first to snap out of his shock and shouted, “You want to escape? Eternal Dark Mist Boundary!”

Chapter 33 – Xiao Jin Speaks

When the light ray from the escape scroll enclosed Uncle Firewood and I, numerous dark mages appeared, surrounding the center of the public square. The commoners that were running in all directions didn’t obstruct the mage troops that ambushed us. Every one of them chanted softly, quickly making the entire public square enclosed by a dark boundary.

After the light shone, I realised that we were still in our original positions, and didn’t return to the interior of the palace as planned.

Uncle Firewood was greatly alarmed and asked, “What’s this magic and why haven’t we teleported?”

I smiled wryly, “I also don’t know, but this is bad.” Uncle Firewood had about 30% of his battle spirit while I didn’t have any combat power left. Under this circumstances, how were we supposed to escape this encirclement? Could it be that I was destined to die now?

Satan let out a self-satisfied laugh, while the Royal Protectors had tightly surrounded us.

Satan said, “You previously used this method to escape and you think to using it again? Using the same method twice before me? Do you really think that I’m as stupid as you Human race? The Eternal Dark Mist Boundary would impede the use of all space magic. It is impossible for you to escape now.” Upon saying that, he ordered for our capture.

Mu Zi, who was at his side, suddenly stood in front of me, with a paled face. She asked me in a trembling voice, “Zhang Gong, is that you?”

My entire body quaked violently. I knew that she had recognised my figure when I cast the forbidden spell. She had seen me cast a forbidden spell before when we were still in Aixia afterall. That scene must had been deeply engraved in her memory.

At this moment, how could I admit my identity to her? I laughed hoarsely, “Little lady, you must have recognise the wrong person.” I rubbed off the makeup from my face and shouted, “Is this the Zhang Gong that you’re looking for?”

With my face covered in scars, even Satan was stunned, not to mention Mu Zi. Her face turned increasingly paler and her eyes showed a dejection as her body slumped.

Satan supported her and yelled, “Ke Lun Duo! Immediately capture them!”

Ke Lun Duo’s familiar clear voice sounded behind us, “Yes, Your Highness.”

The Royal Protectors from around us dashed towards us, bravely with no thought of personal safety.

Uncle Firewood sighed before he joining his hands on  his chest and suddenly extending it. The strong battle spirit surged out towards the front of the Royal Protector members, and sent them flying from the shockwave.

I knew that he didn’t want to injure them nor did he want to kill them.

I said, “You can just break through the encirclement by yourself. You can just forget about me as it’ll be impossible for us to escape together.” With Uncle Firewood’s strength powers, even though he only had 30% of his power, it wouldn’t be difficult for him to break through the encirclement.

Uncle Firewood rebuked in fury, “Do you think that  us demons are that greedy for life and fearful of death? Even if I were to die today, I want to die by your side.” It was true that a crisis revealed a person’s true nature and feelings. I didn’t know that he would have treated me in this manner.

I was moved and closed my eyes to circulate the remaining power in my body. The more power I recovered, the higher my chances of escape.

Uncle Firewood fought with all his might against the endless waves of guards, while pulling me with him. But he was only one man after all, with a small portion of his powers left. His body was already covered in wounds after a short time.

I suddenly felt a familiar feeling of warmth appearing above the dark boundary just as we were entering a crisis.

A dragon roar that resounded throughout the square, the dark boundary suddenly broke with a golden light ray had illuminating the public square. I yelled excitedly, “Xiao Jin, I’m here!”

After hearing my call, the first one to respond was Mu Zi. She knew that this scarred person was Zhang Gong Wei, whom she had yearned for numerous days and nights. She then moved in a flash before me, without any hesitation, helping me block three spears that were heading in my direction.

Xiao Jin’s familiar body appeared in the sky. When he sensed I

was facing a crisis, he momentarily yelled out loud, making a shower of light pour downwards, instantly eradicating the enemies surrounding me.I looked at Uncle Firewood, whose expression was terrible. I was apologetic towards him.

Demon King Satan roared out in fury before interlocking his hands to cast a dark power ball towards Xiao Jin, who was in mid air. He simultaneously ordered his subordinates, “Quickly return to the palace to request the Demon Emperor’s aid!”

Xiao Jin looked disdainfully at the black magic ball. With the flap of his wing, he shot out a golden dragon flame. The black power ball was instantly engulfed by the golden dragon flame, leading to a small explosion.

Xiao Jin whistled happily before withdrawing his wings to head down towards my direction.

Mu Zi stared at me, with tears flowing down her face. I knew that I was helpless to deny it. I looked at her in a daze, as though everything that was happening in my surrounding had nothing to do with me. In my eyes, there was only the appearance of Mu Zi, of whom I had yearned for through countless days and nights.

My sight suddenly darkened as Xiao Jin landed beside me. His head extending his head between Mu Zi and I and constantly rubbing against me. I grabbed onto his horn and flipped onto his head before saying sorrowly to Mu Zi, “Just forget about me.”

I turned my head and called out to Uncle Firewood, “Uncle Firewood, come quickly.”

Uncle Firewood lightly lept on the back of Xiao Jin before asking in awe, “Is this your mount?”

Xiao Jin unhappily shook his large head and I replied, “This is my friend, not my mount.”

Mu Zi stiffened in her position and asked with her lips quivering. “Why?”

As I met her gaze, it was heart wrenching as though a knife had pierced through my heart, but I couldn’t ruin Mu Zi’s life for my own selfish reasons. I gritted my teeth and went against my heart as I said, “You’re a demoness while I’m human. It’s impossible for us to be together. You should rely on Ke Lun Duo. Xiao Jin, let’s go.”

Xiao Jin flapped his wings, blowing away the Demon soldiers that were heading in our direction. With a piercing roar, Xiao Jin took Uncle Firewood and I into the sky.

Mu Zi mournfully yelled out, “No!!! Zhang Gong, don’t do this to me! Wait for me!”

I suppressed my tears that were threatening to fall as I said to

Uncle Firewood, “Don’t let her catch up with us.”

Uncle Firewood sighed deeply before casting his battle spirit downwards, enclosing Mu Zi, who was flying after us, sending her back to the ground.

Just was Mu Zi was about to fly after us again, Ke Lun Duo grabbed onto her and said, “Don’t chase after them, Mu Zi. Is that really Zhang Gong? Isn’t he supposed to be dead?”

Mu Zi frantically struggled against his hold  and  shouted, “He’s Zhang Gong! He’s Zhang Gong! Even if he is turned to ashes, I’ll still be able to recognise him. Let me go!”

Mu Zi’s voice was becoming softer as we flew further away from the perimeter of the Royal City.

I indicated for Xiao to descend. He flew to the left side of the God Rended Canyon and landed on a mountain peak. “Master, are you alright?”

I lept down from his back and placed my face against his large head. I couldn’t control the downpour of tears any longer, they flowed freely wetting his scales. Xiao Jin asked anxiously, “Master, what’s wrong?”

Chapter 34 – Successful Rescue

I shook my head, forcing myself to calm my racing heart. “Nothing. I’m lucky that you came in time. If not, it would have been really dangerous today.”

Uncle Firewood said, “Zhang Gong, don’t overthink it. Let your friends out before we go any further.”

I was startled, I was so focused on my own misery that I almost forgotten about the most important task.

I told Uncle Firewood, “Try your best to recover your battle spirit. With Xiao Jin’s protection, there shouldn’t be any problems unless it’s the Demon Emperor.” Upon saying that, I

sat on the ground and started recovering the disordered fusion power.

Just as I had recovered a portion of my fusion power, Xiao Jin’s sudden frightened emotion was conveyed to me. I was alarmed and distributed the fusion power all over my body before sobering up.

There was a gargantuan amount of soldiers heading in our direction from the Royal City. This isn’t good, I thought as I hastily woke Uncle Firewood up. Uncle Firewood’s expression changed and said, “This is bad. Look at the sky, the Demon Emperor has personally come to look for us.”

As expected, the Dark Demon Dragon’s familiar figure entered

into sight. I made a decision on the spot. “Xiao Jin, your body is too large. Quickly get away from here. We’ll meet up in 10 days time.”

Xiao Jin rubbed against me in reluctance. I urged him, “Quickly go! Don’t worry, nothing will happen to me.”

Xiao Jin then spread his wings to fly into the distance.

I told Uncle Firewood, “Let’s hurry, we have to find a place to hide. It’s impossible to fight them in our current condition.”

Uncle Firewood nodded. After surveying our surroundings, there were quite a lot of huge rocks. Uncle Firewood said, “Look at what I can do.” After gathering the divine light battle spirit, he heavily struck the ground not far from our location. ‘Hong!’ It resulted to an explosion, forming a large hole. He didn’t stop there as he turned around and walk towards the edge of the God Rended Canyon. He straightened his hand like a knife, with a flourish of his hand, a blue light blade shot out from his hand. Instantly, a colossal rock was cut down from the  precipice. Uncle Firewood drew back his hand, moving the  enormous stone to the mountain peak they were on. He then said to me, “Quickly, jump into the hole.”

I already understood what he wanted to do so without hesitating, I lept into the hole. When Uncle Firewood saw the nearing Demon soldiers, he lept to my side and moved both his hands, pulling the the enormous rock over us; the entire hole was momentarily covered.

My nose was filled with the scent of earth as Uncle Firewood

said, “It shouldn’t be easy for them to find us now. The air is thin in here. Let’s quickly heal our wounds. When our strength is back, everything will be fine.”

Even though I couldn’t see him in the dark, I could feel that he had weakened. The cutting of that enormous rock must have used up most of his strength. Currently, I held complete trust towards this old man.

I whispered, “Xiao Jin killed a lot of the Demon race’s warriors. I apologise to you on his behalf.”

Uncle Firewood sighed. “The situation was quite dangerous at that time, and it was completely due to wanting to protect his master, so I won’t blame him.” After saying just a few

sentences, I was already starting to feel a little pressured by the low amount of oxygen so I stopped talking and sat cross legged, focusing on my cultivating.

The fusion power in my body had already begun moving by my will, rapidly revolving. The oppressive feeling instantly disappeared as I had changed from outward breathing to inner breathing. However, I still maintained a thread of consciousness to deal with unexpected situations.

After a while, a frenzied sound came from above us. The Demon military squad had already searched this place.

“Reporting to officer, there doesn’t seem to be any traces of the enemy. Only the gold dragon has flown away.”

Ke Lun Duo replied, “En! They should have escaped by riding that dragon. I don’t know why, but His Majesty’s Dark Demon Dragon seems unwilling to pursue, unexpectedly slowing down its speed. If it weren’t the case, it would have caught up.”

After hearing what he said, I calmed my worried heart before focusing on recovering my strength.

After an unknown amount of time, I felt that I had already recovered 40-50% of my power. I opened my eyes and casted an illumination spell. Uncle Firewood felt the undulation of my spell and also woke up. He didn’t say anything, but fixed his eyes on the enormous rock above us.

After a long time, Uncle Firewood let out a breath. “They should have already left. The air here is too polluted. Let’s head out of here.” With that said, he used the force on his hands, to shift the enormous rock away. We simultaneously lept onto the peak of the mountain.

There was a light breeze at the peak of the mountain. It gave me a feeling as though a life time had passed.

Uncle Firewood said, “I have already recovered 80% of my power. How much have you recovered?”

I replied, “40-50 %”

Uncle Firewood nodded. “Quickly let your friends out then.”

I said, “Please help to protect me while I cast the spell. Great God of Space, I beseech to you to remove the seal and release the captive evil beings.”

I extended my right hand, quickly a hexagram appeared in the sky. The hexagram gave off light, making a small crack that was only big enough for one person to appear. Big Brother Zhan Hu and the rest dropped out from it, one by one.

I hastily used a light blade to break their shackles. “Big brother, how are all of you?”

Zhan Hu grabbed on my hand emotionally. “Zhang Gong, is that you? How did you turn like this? I never expected we’d be reunited again.” The strong bond of friendship could be felt through his hands. My eyes moistened while I replied, choked by my emotions, “Big brother, it’s hard to explain in a  few words. I have caused you much trouble.”

Dong Ri said, “Zhang Gong, what silly words are you saying? Who would have thought Su He was an imposter? It seem that our power has been restricted as I am unable to use any. Moreover, all of our divine instruments have been confiscated, excluding Big Brother Zhan Hu’s and mine.”

“Dong Ri, I’ll immediately help you remove the restrictions. Is there any discomfort in your body?”

Zhan Hu replied, “In the beginning, I don’t know what power the Demon Emperor used to infiltrate our body, making us hover between life and death. But after our light elements had been engulfed by that power, there wasn’t any more feelings. It’s only that our powers has been sealed. What happened to your face?”

I nodded. I knew that they only practiced a little light magic so the harm of the dark elements from the Demon Emperor wouldn’t be as bad as mine.

I replied, “I’ll help you recover your powers first. We’re still

in the Demon City’s territory so the more the power we possess, the safer we’ll be.”

Upon saying that, I activated the dragon magic’s mysterious runes to break the magic seals.

With my head as the center, a golden halo spread outwards, enclosing the eleven of them.

After the halo dissipated, I immediately asked, “How are you feeling? Have you recovered some of your powers?”

Chapter 35 – Returning To The Firewood House

Zhan Hu frowned as he checked his body’s condition. After a while, his expression grew relaxed before excitedly saying, “My power’s back, even though it’s only at 30%. After training for a while I’ll definitely be able to make a full recovery.” The others examining their own conditions felt the same way .

I suddenly became happy. “That’s great.”

Jian Shan said, “Big Brother Zhang Gong, what’s happened to you?”

My mood instantly dampened as I started to tell them the events that befell me. When everyone heard I was disfigured due to the affliction of the dark elements, they all had the same reaction. They were all simultaneously enraged  without knowing the details beforehand, and expressed concern towards me.

……

Zhan Hu grabbed on my shoulder and said bitterly, “Zhang Gong, it must have been hard for you. You still saved us under such conditions. Your big brother’s life is truly yours from now on.”

I replied with emotion, “Big brother, don’t you ever say such

words, as I was the one who almost led you to your death. Saving all of you is something that I had to do.”

Uncle Firewood voice rang out out from behind me. “Zhang Gong, we should head back . Even though there’s enough firewood, if we were to go missing for too long, it’ll definitely arouse their suspicion.”

I hastily made introductions, “This is Uncle Firewood, he helped me rescue everyone here.” When I introduced Uncle Firewood, I didn’t reveal his identity and just said that he was an eccentric person who was hiding in the Demon race.

Zhan Hu and the rest immediately bowed, thanking him for saving their lives.

Uncle Firewood looked at them and smiled. “You really are young heroes. I didn’t have your level of power when I was the same age as you.”

I replied, “If there’s a chance in the future, we may need your tutelage.”

Uncle Firewood replied, “There’s not enough time. Let’s leave your friends here to recuperate and head back. When there’s a chance, we’ll get your divine weapons back.” The divine instruments were extremely important to us all, especially Sukrad’s staff.

I nodded and said to Zhan Hu, “Big brother, you and the others can stay here to recuperate. There’s a hole there.  If there’s any danger, you can hide in there and cover the hole with the enormous rock. I’ll meet you here in 10 days time, with or without the the divine weapons.”

Zhan Hu nodded, “Relax, once we recover our strength, there won’t be anything to be afraid of. You have to be careful in whatever you do. If you find that it’s impossible to carry on with recovering our divine instruments, quickly come back here.”

After bidding everyone farewell, my heart felt lighter. With the exception of myself, there wouldn’t be anyone that would be harmed in this trip.

Uncle Firewood asked, “Will that escape scroll work?”

I replied, “It can work, but we must be 5 km from the designated location. Once we’re 5 km away from the kitchen, we can teleport there.”

“That’s great, we can use it once we enter the city. I hope they won’t suspect us because of our absence for the entire day,”

“It shouldn’t, as when we left we placed the wood required today in front of the door. Moreover, after so many things happened, who will be in the mood to eat?”

The security of the city’s entrance was extremely tight. There were patrolling soldiers even outside the city. I drew a simple teleportation spell on the ground, successfully sending Uncle Firewood and I into the city.

Once we entered the city, I immediately used the escape scroll, returning us to the toilet.

We pinched our noses and walked into the kitchen. A Head Chef walked over and asked Uncle Firewood, “Old Firewood, where have you been all day?”

Uncle Firewood responded with deception, “I’m extremely unwell today, so I’ve been resting in the room.”

The Head Chef was rather unobservant, as he didn’t even notice that we were covered in dust. He replied excitedly, “Did you know something major happened today? The criminals that attempted to assasinate His Majesty have escaped.”

Uncle Firewood feigned shock, “What? There’s someone in the world who can rescue those criminals. Who could’ve done that?”

The Head Chef replied, “I heard that it was done by two people. I also don’t know what the Royal Protectors are doing. They weren’t even able to catch a glimpse of the criminals. I

heard that the two people used forbidden spells, and also had the help of a dragon. It couldn’t be you two, right?”

Uncle Firewood and I were greatly alarmed. I immediately gathered fusion powers into my hand, surveying the surroundings intently in preparation for an ambush.

While we were bewildered, the Head Chef suddenly burst into a laughter. “Don’t be frightened. With you two, one old and the other crippled, what could you do? I was kidding.”

We then heaved a sigh of relief, and secretly cursed him.

Uncle Firewood replied, “Head Chef, you can’t say such things so casually. If the royal guards were to capture us, who’ll split logs for you then.”

The Head Chef laughed, “The two of you go and split the logs.

I’ll return to my cooking.”

Little did he know that it was really us, an old man and a cripple, that had turned the world upside down in the Demon’s city.

When I saw him walk away, I wiped the perspiration from my forehead. After seeing that no one was close, I whispered to Uncle Firewood, “It seems we’ve crossed the final hurdle.”

Uncle Firewood and I had already recovered to our peak state in a day’s time. After finishing a hard day’s work, the horizon brightened with pale sunset hues of red and orange playing across the clouds. The sight was mesmerising.

Uncle Firewood came to my side and sighed. “Wouldn’t an endless sunset be wonderful. However, a part of the beauty in the sunset is that it only appears in the evening.”

I smiled and replied, “How can you be old? The Demon race still need you as its towering pillar.”

Uncle Firewood shook his head gently. “No matter what form of life, there’ll always be an end. I have thought it through already. Even if I were to die at such an age, it can’t be counted as dying prematurely, but I must die at my appointed place.”

While listening to him, I suddenly felt an uneasy premonition come over me. Uncle Firewood was an elder who was worthy of my admiration and respect.

Uncle Firewood replied, “Let’s stop talking about this. My powers have already made a full recovery. Let’s make our preparations to retrieve the divine instruments.”

Actually, retrieving the divine instruments was just an excuse. The real motive was a hope to see Mu Zi a few more times. Even though I said that I wanted to part with her, I had left my heart at her side. When my memory touched on Mu Zi’s lovely appearance, I couldn’t help but be hurt and feeling a heart- rending pain.

When Uncle Firewood saw that my face had suddenly paled, he asked, “What’s wrong? It can’t be your old wounds are acting up, right?”

I just looked at him hopelessly.

Chapter 36 – The Demon Emperor Awaits

Uncle Firewood said, “I understand. It’s because of Mu Zi, right? I really don’t understand love aspects, so you’ll have to rely on yourself. However, Mu Zi doesn’t seem to despise your current look. What are you going to do? Are you going to abandon her?”

My heart shuddered as I heard his words. “Even if that’s the case, I can’t ruin Mu Zi. How can I, an ugly person, be compatible with her Goddess-like looks? I can’t let her live her life in misery. She’ll be able to forget about me as time passes.”

Uncle Firewood was stunned. “I didn’t think your feelings would be that deep. Is love so great? Let’s not talk about this now, and keep your dispirited looks away. We have to deal with the business at hand.”

I took in a deep breath. “Where are the divine instruments being kept?”

Uncle Firewood thought and said, “They’re top grade, so it should be in the Demon Emperor’s armory.”

I asked, “Will it be heavily guarded?”

Uncle Firewood shook his head. “That place doesn’t have any guards.”

I was startled. “How can such an important place be unguarded? That’s impossible.”

Uncle Firewood said wryly, “Even though there’s no guards, it won’t be easy to sneak past the Dark Demon Dragon.”

I was greatly alarmed. “Can it be…..”

Uncle Firewood nodded. “That’s right. The weapon armory is beside the Demon Dragon’s resting place. With the Demon Dragon guarding it, it’ll be more terrifying than a few thousand

soldiers. Moreover, there’s magic restrictions in it. Your teleportation spells will be useless. The only one that can enter and exit without restrictions is the Demon Emperor.”

I said frowning, “What do we do then?”

Uncle Firewood replied, “Actually, the Demon Dragon won’t be a problem. With our combined strength, we don’t have to fear it. What I’m most afraid of is we’d alarm the rest. It wouldn’t be good if we got surrounded by guards. There’s only one chance. If we fail, it’ll be hard to infiltrate the armory.”

I nodded. “What you said is right. We’ll have to improvise- each step we take.”

Uncle Firewood replied, “When we break in, you’re to dash in and find the weapons. I’ll stall the Demon Dragon outside the armory. It won’t give any sound for a short while.” Upon saying that, Uncle Firewood gave off an intense sense of confidence.

Actually, even with his War God power, it wouldn’t be enough to deal with the Dragon, but there wasn’t any alternatives.

We wore night attire to secretly infiltrate into the  inner palace, and then directly went to where the Demon Emperor rested when night came.

Uncle Firewood replied, “After this building, we will be where the Demon Dragon resides. Be careful.”

It was incomparably dark, as even with our sight, we could only clearly see what was within ten metres of our front.

I closely followed Uncle Firewood. When we reached an enormous courtyard, the Demon Dragon was awe-inspiringly before us. With two of its wing wings covering its head, it was in deep sleep.

Uncle Firewood gave me an eye indication to charge towards the Demon Dragon. I rapidly dashed in without any hesitations.

The Demon Dragon’s sensitive sense immediately detected us. When it wanted to open its mouth to roar in anger, Uncle Firewood immediately used his powerful battle spirit to seal its mouth. Blue light permeated the area. Uncle Firewood used his divine light battle spirit to enclose him and the Demon Dragon within. As expected, not a single sound was heard.

The dark magic that was given off by the Demon dragon was constantly blocked by Uncle Firewood. Uncle Firewood didn’t attack it, but used his battle spirit to form a boundary,  not letting the Demon Dragon to dash out.

When I thought that the weapons were with my reach, I heard a heavy sigh.

The Demon Emperor’s tall and eminent body figure blocked my path.

While I was stunned in place, pale with fright, the Demon Emperor didn’t attack me, but just looked at me bewilderedly.

Uncle Firewood was obviously oblivious to what was happening here as he continued to stall the Demon Dragon.

The Demon Emperor moved in a flash to the border of the boundary and extended a finger at it. ‘Pu!’ Before I could react

to stop it, the boundary broke.

Uncle Firewood didn’t panic in shock and moved to shield my body.

The Demon Emperor stopped the Dark Demon Dragon from roaring before asking Uncle Firewood, “Uncle, is it worth doing this? It can’t be that you don’t know that he’s a spy from the human race, right?”

Uncle Firewood and I stunned as the Demon Emperor had already figured out our identity.

Uncle Firewood sighed and took down the black cloth from his face before replying indifferently, “Qi Meng, when did you figure it out?”

The Demon Emperor smiled and replied, “When I heard the report from my subordinate that there was an expert with a blue battle spirit with the human, I knew that it was you. Let me ask, excluding you, who possesses a War God’s power? After you saved those humans, I knew that you would return for the weapons. The Dragon God’s staff is an exceptional treasure so I waited here for you guys. As expected, it is as I’ve predicted.”

I couldn’t bear not to ask this. “Since you already knew about it, why did your dare to face us by yourself? Aren’t you afraid that the combined power of us may bring you to a disadvantageous position? Even though you’re powerful, you

still wouldn’t be our match if we were to work together.”

The Demon Emperor sniggered in disdain. “If it weren’t for my uncle, I wouldn’t even reply to your question. Uncle Firewood is the supervisor of the kingdom. Even if I were to think that everyone was a traitor, I’ll believe that my uncle isn’t as the majority of my powers were trained by him. My trust in him is beyond the trust in myself.”

Uncle Firewood eyes moistened. “After so many years, I never expected that you remembered this old fart.”

The Demon Emperor replied respectfully, “How can I do that, uncle? You’re our race’s top expert. Since I feared that I might interrupting your training, I didn’t come to disturb you, but in

my heart, you’re forever the top expert to me. But why are you helping the human’s spy to invade my race?”

Uncle Firewood looked at the Demon Emperor with complicated emotions as he indifferently said, “After so many years of ruling, Qi Meng, it can’t be that you still don’t know what’s beneficial to the race, right?”

The Demon Emperor was stunned. “What is it?”

“Peace and harmony.”

“Peace and harmony?”

“That’s right, only with peace and harmony, can we continue to flourish. You should have understood this point.”

“But Uncle, it can’t be that when our race has resided in this bitter and cold place, the human race has the populous and affluent areas. How do you want me to lead my citizens to prosper in such a barren place?”

Uncle Firewood replied, “That’s not the most important issue now. It can’t be that Zhang Gong hasn’t told you about the Monster King right?”

The Demon Emperor frowned. “Uncle, it’s something that he had fabricated. You believe what he said? The Monster clan was already eliminated by the God’s clan a few thousand years ago. Why would the Monster King reincarnate now?”

Uncle Firewood sighed and replied, “Child, I believe what he said. If he wasn’t acknowledged by the God King, how could he receive God’s inheritance and the God  King’s  companion sword? Don’t you feel this is strange?”

Chapter 37 – The Demon Emperor’s Bitterness

The Demon Emperor went deep into thought.

After a long time, he replied, “Can it be that it’s real?”

I replied, “Of course, it’s real. It’s undeniable as I’ve personally fought against the Monster race once.”

“Do you have any evidence?”

“Even though I currently don’t have any, there definitely will be. If Your Majesty doesn’t prepare for the changes now, once the Monster King resurrects, the very first race that he’ll invade will be your Demon race. It can’t be that you don’t care for your citizens?”

Uncle Firewood knew that the Demon Emperor wasn’t listening. “Qi Meng, if you still don’t believe me, I don’t have any other means of persuasion but I do hope that you’ll let Zhang Gong and his friends go. You can deal with uncle anyway you like.”

A cold gaze fell upon me as the Demon Emperor looked at me. He then said icily, “Zhang Gong, even if uncle hadn’t interceded on your behalf, I’d still have let you go. Do you know why?”

I asked, cluelessly, “Why?”

“It’s for my most beloved daughter. I didn’t expect that you’d have such a tenacious life and unexpectedly survive, but had resulted in your disfiguring. I admit that it was due to my carelessness at that time when I allowed the dark powers to invade your body. I was almost killed by my daughter in her fury.” After a short pause, his gaze became benevolent as he continued, “If I were to kill you again, I’m afraid that I’ll lose her.”

My feelings got the better of me and I blurted out, “Mu Zi?”

The Demon Emperor nodded. “I’ll believe you for now, but it isn’t due to what you have said. It’s due to my trust in uncle and

faith in Mu Zi’s sight. You can go now, but you must find the evidence of an invasion by the Monster race.” Such an unexpected opportunity had presented itself that made me momentarily stupefied with happiness.

Uncle Firewood said with tears, “Your Majesty, thank you.” Upon saying that, he began to get on his knees facing the Demon Emperor.

The Demon Emperor quickly went to pull Uncle Firewood up. “Uncle, don’t you ever do that towards me. In front of you, I’ll always be the rash Qi Meng. Zhang Gong, I can let you go, but I’ve a condition.”

I calmed myself and said, “Please state it.”

The Demon Emperor said in smiles, “I want to dispatch two people to follow you.”

I frowned. “Is it to monitor my actions?”

The Demon Emperor replied loftily, “Of course, do you think I’ll let you go freely?”

“Who are you going to dispatch?”

The Demon Emperor replied, “Ke Lun Duo and Mu Zi.”

My heart lept to my throat as I cried out involuntarily, “Why?”

The Demon Emperor replied, “My purpose in doing this is to make Mu Zi clearly see your unsightly appearance and feel the disparity between you and Ke Lun Duo, making her to completely give up on you. Moreover, with Mu Zi around you won’t have any opportunity to plot or scheme.”

I immediately said, “I swear that I definitely don’t have any sinister plots and you can just dispatch Ke Lun Duo to follow me.”

I wouldn’t know what to do if I were to face Mu Zi on a daily basis. But deep within my heart, I felt a small surge of joy.

The Demon Emperor snorted coldly, “Is that something that you can decide? Moreover, it’s Mu Zi’s wish. You aren’t willing to see her again?”

I was willing, ten thousand times willing, but I had finally made my decision with great difficulty. With this move, all I had done would be wasted. If Mu Zi were to leave me due to my unsightly appearance, I didn’t know if I would be able to handle

it.

The Demon Emperor said, “That’s decided then. Wait a moment.” After saying that, he went into the armory in a flash.

The Demon Emperor took out a stack of weapons quickly. My Sukrad’s staff was surprisingly within that pile.

The Demon Emperor tossed the weapons towards me. I hastily opened my space pocket to keep them, excluding Sukrad’s staff.

The Demon Emperor coldly said, “If you were to expose this matter, hmph! You should know what will happen.”

I contained my excited heart and said, “Your Majesty, I can accept your condition, but I’ve also another condition that  I hope that you will accept. It will be beneficial to both sides.”

The Demon  Emperor  frowned.  “You  dare  set  a  condition?

Don’t forget that you little life is in my hands.”

I replied with a smile, “I have already said that this condition will be beneficial to the both of us. I believe that you will definitely accept it.”

The Demon Emperor’s eyes gave off an frosty gaze. Even though I looked calm, I was actually scared. If I were to enrage him, I wouldn’t have any chance at all.

“Speak.” When I heard that word, I heaved a sigh of relief.

I tried my best to maintain a calm appearance. Suddenly, I felt the gentle caress of a cool breeze, helping me clear my mind. I stated my condition, “I hope that His Majesty will temporarily stop plans to attack the human race while I find evidence of the Monster race’s invasion.”

The Demon Emperor wasn’t angered as I thought he would.

He just calmly said, “Why?”

I replied evenly, “It’s for the benefit of both  sides.  Think about it, if the Demon and Beast races were to have a great war against the human race, it’ll definitely lead to the increase in hatred between races. Even if I were to find evidence of the Monster race’s invasion, do you think that your race can still be able to ally with the Human race to fight against Monster race? Moreover, if war were to break out, there’ll definitely be casualties and the depletion of resources. The fewer the resources you possess, the greater the disadvantage you will have against the Monster King. Currently, the most important matter is for us to be able to live in this world.”

The Demon Emperor looked at me silently. I knew that he was thinking it through.

Uncle Firewood said, “Your Majesty, what Zhang Gong said is correct. There is no need for unnecessary sacrifices.”

The Demon Emperor replied, “Zhang Gong Wei, do you know how many rations are consumed daily at the camp for my Demon race’s great army at the frontline and how many resources are used?”

I was startled as I didn’t know that he would say such words, but was happy as I knew that there was a chance of this matter could be resolved. I thought for a moment and said, “I’m not sure about that, but the consumption for a million soldiers will definitely be enormous.”

The Demon Emperor suddenly sighed and looked up at the moon. His current appearance was like a benevolent senior, rather than the imposing ruler of the western continent.

“The land of my Demon race is barren so it can only produce some Demon beasts and ore. I can only rear Demon beasts as a means for survival. The Beast race’s ground is slightly  better, but they can only plant the meanest of grains. Our races have already prepared for a hundred years to fight against  the Human race and gather enough resources to support the army. Every day you ask me to wait, the great army at the frontlines will have consumed a month’s worth of resources from the Empire. Waiting for a month, would be equivalent to two years of resources to the Empire. Do you think that my Demon race naturally loves to invade? It’s because we don’t have any alternative for our survival. Even though your conditions are tempting and are morally right, I can’t accept it. I’ll commence a full scale war against the human race with the  combined forces of the Beast race from the Valiant Mist Empire soon. I must start the war so as to have ample resources to sustain it.”

Chapter 38 – Mu Zi’s Journey

After hearing what the Demon Emperor had said, Uncle Firewood didn’t make any remarks. I understood that what the Demon Emperor said was the truth.

After I pondered for a while, I said, “In that case, can’t you move some of the troops from the frontline back to rear the Demon beasts?”

The Demon Emperor shot a glance at me and said, “You’re too naive. Do you think that the Human race are herbivores? Once they see that some of the troops had retreated, they would immediately use that opportunity to raid the troops. They may even continue their attack, plotting to eliminate  my  citizens. The Demon race’s animosity with the Human race is extremely deep.” Actually, whenever I remember Prince Ke Zha, who tried to plot against my life, who was his life’s benefactor,  just because I helped the Demon race, I trembled with slight fear to this very day.

The Demon Emperor remained silent for a while before saying, “There’s actually a way that may allow you to gain some time.”

I asked anxiously, “What will that be?”

The Demon Emperor shifted his gaze from the moon back to me as he replied seriously, “That’s for both sides to withdraw their troops and sign a treaty that forbids invasion. It’s the limit of what I can compromise.”

After hearing what he said, I thought, ‘Firstly,  what is the probability for this to succeed? I’m currently a traitor to the Kingdom of Aixia. How am I going to convince the three large Human kingdoms? Secondly, is there a motive for the Demon Emperor to suggest this? If he were to go back on his promise

and suddenly attacked the Human race when  they  retreat, won’t I become a traitor to humanity then?’

The Demon King looked at me with locked eyebrows. “Will that be difficult to accomplish?”

I nodded. “Can you promise that both of the races will simultaneously retreat?”

The Demon Emperor smiled sweetly. “You don’t  have  to worry about that. Not to mention that my clan has a strong

alliance with the Valiant Mist Empire, with my strength, it’s guaranteed that I can convince the Emperor of the Beast race to make our troops retreat simultaneously. That matter should be what you’re most uneasy about. You must thinking whether it’s a plot for me to strike against the Human race, going against the promise, once they start to retreat.”

I chuckled awkwardly before saying truthfully, “I’m really worried that it will be that case as even though you govern the Demon race, you must also listen to the opinions of your subordinates. I doubt that they will let go of that opportunity.”

The Demon Emperor dusted his robe. “It’s completely unnecessary to have such thoughts. Not only does my race have integrity, for the proof of my point of interest in doing this, I’ve consented my most beloved Mu Zi to head back to the Human race with you, that should be the most best guarantee to you. Even if we want to eliminate your race, we’ll do it just and honorably. Moreover, Mu Zi, the main successor to the my throne, will be in your hands. What else would you be wary of?

To tell you the truth, from the subordinates’ point of view, the majority of them are against the dispatch. There definitely will be more than 50% of them against the war. No matter which side I support, it’ll definitely be advantageous to me. Now, it’s your turn to give me a reply on whether you can convince the three human Kingdoms.”

I felt much comfortable after hearing what he said. From the depths of my heart, I really didn’t want a war to break out. Since the Demon Emperor had showed his sincerity, even if it would be difficult, I wanted to give it a try.

I abruptly raised my head and looked resolutely at the Demon Emperor. “If you keep to your promise, even if I were  to sacrifice my life, I’ll try my best to convince them. If it really can’t be done, I won’t involve myself if you decide to invade the Ström Fortress and will continue to pass any information regarding the Monster King to you.”

The Demon Emperor broke out in a laughter. “Great! Great! Great! I really didn’t misjudged you. You’re really courageous and is worthy of Mu Zi’s affection. This will be the highest classified information for both of our races. However, I will tell you that even if you succeed in doing those, I’ll only give you a period of two years to give me concrete evidence on the Monster King existance. If not, I’ll recommence the attack and fight to the very end against the Human race.”

Uncle Firewood placed his hand on my shoulder and lamented, “This should be the best outcome.”

I nodded. “Two years time is more than sufficient. What I need to do now is to head back and convince the  three Kingdoms to pull back their troops. Your Majesty, if I succeed in convincing the three kingdoms, how am I to contact you?”

The Demon Emperor suddenly sighed. “The main drive for me to do this is Mu Zi’s persistence towards you, in addition to uncle’s support. I can’t help but make a risky bet. I’ll pass a military seal to Mu Zi, giving her the rights to mobilize the troops. Once you succeeded in negotiating, Mu Zi will be able to deploy the million troops of the Demon race. I’ll also notify the Beast race beforehand so that they would retreat at the same time. I’m going to place Mu Zi’s safety in your hands. If something happens to her, I’ll dismember your body into tiny bits, even if I’ve to go to the ends of world.” Upon saying that, an intense killing intent surged out from his body. The Dark Demon Dragon gave out a soft roar. It was obvious that it was communicating with his owner.

My heart hurt on the mention of Mu Zi. I said dejectedly, “Even though Mu Zi and I are destined to meet but not fated to be together, she’s still the one I love the most. No matter who it is, if they want to hurt her, they must walk over my dead body. If something were to happen to Mu Zi, you don’t have to look for me. I’ll appear before you to kill myself as my punishment.”

The Demon Emperor nodded in satisfaction. “Alright, you can head off now. I’ll arrange for Mu Zi and Ke Lun Duo to meet with you at the west entrance of the city tomorrow morning. Uncle, are you still going back to the Firewood house? It must be hard on you.”

Uncle Firwood chuckled. “I’ve already never been so happy as I am today after so many years. Your Majesty, don’t worry. I’ll definitely not bother you when I’m in the palace. I’ve already gotten used to the Firewood house. If you need me for anything, you just have to find someone to notify me.”

I took a cloth from the dimensional pocket to cover up the radiance filled Sukrad’s staff. I bowed deeply towards the Demon Emperor. “Your Majesty, I’ll take my leave.”

‘En!’ The Demon King agreed.

Uncle Firewood and I looked at each other before soaring into the sky.

As the Demon Emperor looked at our leaving figures, he shook his head and sighed. “You should be satisfied this way.”

Mu Zi, whose face was covered in tears, came out from the dark corner. She kneeled down before the Demon Emperor and exclaimed in tears, “Father, thank you! Thank you so much!”

The Demon Emperor held Mu Zi up and used his hands to wipe her tears off her face. With a benevolent gaze, he said in smiles, “Be good, don’t cry. I’ve done what you’ve wanted. It’ll really depend on both of you to succeed in getting together. Zhang Gong is indeed an exceptional talent. If I can make use of him for my Demon race, it’ll be great. With his and Ke Lun Duo’s assistance, it will be as easy as reaching in a bag to obtain the world.”

Mu Zi said displeased, “Father!”

Chapter 39 – Everyone Assembles

The Demon Emperor laughed before saying, “Alright, let’s stop talking about this. I still have some things to give you so come with me to the study room.”

……

I waited nervously with Uncle Firewood at the west entrance of the city the following day. Xiao Rou had stayed in the same squirrel form on my shoulder. I initially wanted her to stay in the Demon race, but she persistently refused and wanted to follow me no matter what. Meanwhile, I saw the restored peace of the Demon race’s Royal city, and was deeply moved by its peace and harmony.

Uncle Firewood said, “The task that you’re to accomplish is extremely important and difficult. You’ve got to be careful in whatever you do.”

This old man, who was expressing his sincere thoughts and had dedicated his entire life for the Demon race, was worthy of respect in my eyes. I nodded and replied, “Uncle Firewood, thank you for your care in this period of time. If it weren’t for you, I may have already been killed. I hope that when we meet next time, we can stand on the same field to team up against the enemy.”

Uncle Firewood chuckled before taking out a small booklet and passed it to me. “Good child, that day will definitely come. Even though I’ve aged, living for a few more years shouldn’t be a problem. This are my understandings when I broke through into the Sword Saint and Legendary War God’s ranks. The aptitude of your friends are great. Help me to pass  this  to them.” As a member of the Demon race, he had unexpectedly passed his lifetime’s knowledge to the human race. Such strong

generous friendship had made me…….

When Uncle Firewood forcefully gave me the booklet, he said, “Stop being overly sensitive. Mu Zi should be here soon so prepare to head off.”

After receiving the booklet, I treated it as an important possession and kept it in my space pocket. Just as I wanted to say something, I found that Uncle Firewood’s gaze was looking behind me so I followed his gaze to look over.

Even though Mu Zi had changed her appearance to resemble an ordinary village woman, I could still recognise her at first glance. It was as though I had been struck by lightning as I couldn’t move a single step from where I stood. Hidden

bitterness filled Mu Zi’s eyes, who wasn’t far from me. Ke Lun Duo, who was beside her, had showed helplessness.

Uncle Firewood pushed me forward and said, “It’s quite late already. You should depart now.”

I hugged Uncle Firewood, filled with strong feelings towards him. “Take care. I’ll return as soon as possible to find you.”

Uncle Firewood patted my shoulder. “Alright, please take good care of my niece.”

Upon saying that, he greeted Mu Zi and Ke Lun Duo before he laughed and walked away. I knew that he didn’t want to experience the pain of separation.

As I looked at Uncle Firewood’s figure, I mentally pleaded to the heavens to protect that old man, who had gained my incomparable reverence.

Ke Lun Duo said, “Zhang Gong, we should head out.”

I turned my head and looked at them with complicated feelings before I agreed and took the lead to head out of the Demon City. I didn’t dare to speak to Mu Zi and tried my best to suppress my feelings.

Mu Zi also didn’t talk to me, beyond my expectation. She just followed behind me with Ke Lun Duo beside her.

When we were reaching the God Rended Canyon, Ke Lun Duo couldn’t bear the silence and said, “Zhang Gong, I’m really sorry for what happened previously. I really didn’t have a choice in that.”

I stopped my steps and shot him a glance as I replied indifferently, “You don’t have to apologise. We just follow different masters. What should happen has already occurred anyways, so it’s meaningless for me to continue blaming you for that.”

While hearing my words, I obviously felt Mu Zi’s  body tremble. I didn’t dare shift my gaze to her so I kept my eyes to the front and continued to move on.

When we finally arrived at the previously appointed  place with Big Brother Zhan Hu and the rest, I was the first to reach the peak of the hill.

“Who are you?” A cold sword energy appeared before me.

I said in smiles, “Jian Shan, is that the way to treat me? Your hand sword’s skill is not bad.”

Jian Shan’s well built body appeared before me. He said in excitement, “Zhang Gong, you’re back! Has everything been settled?”

I nodded. “How’s the rest?”

Jian Shan replied, “They are still cultivating. We’ve already recovered most of our powers in the past two days. I’ve the least injury so I’m responsible for protecting them while they cultivate.”

“Zhang Gong, you’re back.” Big Brother Zhan Hu voiced out. When I turned my head, everyone had come. They must had been awoken from the previous clamours.

I replied, “I’ve affected everyone’s cultivation. However, I was also able to retrieve our weapons.” Upon saying that, I  had taken the divine instruments out from the space pocket and tossed it to them.

At that moment, Big Brother Zhan Hu’s expression suddenly changed and he charged forth, heading behind me. I realized that Mu Zi and Ke Lun Duo had also reached the peak of the hill. Zhan Hu punched out without saying a word; his strong battle spirit had roused the dust and sand in the surrounding. I immediately hollered, “Big brother, stop! They are with me.”

When Ke Lun Duo saw an enormous fist shadow just as he ascended the hill, he immediately gathered his power and charged against the attack. Both of their battle spirit had caused a strong explosion. Where the point of contact of the  battle spirit met at the centre, a large pit formed on the ground.

Ke Lun Duo was forced to move a step back. It was obvious that he was at a disadvantage in that attack, but I knew that it was due to the lack of time to make preparations as he could only hastily deal with the attack. He was worthy of the Demon Emperor’s praise as that brat’s power was definitely not below that of Big Brother Zhan Hu. When Zhan Hu wanted to continue his attack, he looked at me stupefied after hearing what I said.

I extended my hand to stop the rest, who were preparing to charge over. “Everyone, calm down. Even though he had lied to us previously, he’s a negotiation envoy sent by the Demon Emperor.”

Dong Ri asked in surprise, “What’s negotiation envoy?”

I walked forth to pull Zhan Hu back to the rest and called Ke Lun Duo and Mu Zi over. As I looked serious, everyone didn’t say anything and just looked fixedly at me.

“Take a seat and listen to what I’ve to say.”

Mu Zi dusted her clothes before pulling Ke Lun Duo down as she took the initiative to take a seat.

Zhan Hu glared viciously at Ke Lun Duo as he did the same as the rest to sit on a large rock at the side.

After they calmed down, I said, “The situation is  like  this now. I had made sudden progress in this trip to the Demon city,

……, so just like that, Ke Lun Duo and the Princess of the Demon race, Mu Zi, has represented their race to head back to the Eastern continent with us to negotiate with the three kingdoms. I hope that everyone can give up prejudice as this affects the future of the world.” I had given them a run down of what was discussed with the Demon Emperor.

Dong Ri exclaimed, “Mu Zi, the Demon race’s princess? Isn’t that……”

I glared at him, forcing him to be unable to continue to say ‘older brother’s wife’.

Mu Zi’s face blushed a little before she stood up and bowed, “My greetings to the fellow brothers, I really hope that we will be able to team up to dissolve the grudges between the three races.”

Chapter 40 – A Pained Heart

Ke Lun Duo stood up and said awkwardly, “What I did to all of you was wrong. I hope that you can forgive me. We really are sincere in representing the Demon Emperor in  this negotiation.”

When Zhan Hu saw the scars on my face, he shook his head. “Since Zhang Gong, the one who suffered the most, doesn’t mind, what else can we say? However, Ke Lun Duo, you brat, remember that our matter remains unfinished. If there’s a chance, I’ll definitely fight you fair and square and if you use any more tricks, I won’t be forgiving.”

Ke Lun Duo became the yes-man. He could really endure, which was probably the most terrifying part of him.

When everyone saw my expression has turned grim, they didn’t say any further.

I said, “Everyone, thank you for understanding. We’ll need to stay here for a few more days as I’ve already made an appointment with Xiao Jin to meet up with us.”

Dong Ri asked, “Didn’t you send that horrifying pet back?

Why did it return?”

“He finished his cultivation at the Dragon Valley, so naturally, he will come back. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have been able to rescue all of you.” When I saw that everyone wasn’t putting Mu Zi and Ke Lun Duo on the spot, I calmed down a little and my tone became much relaxed.

Jian Shan said, “Everyone must be hungry. I’ll go and hunt for two demon beasts.”

Xiao Rou squeezed out from my clothings. With a flash of light, she stood in front of everyone. “I think it will be better if I go instead.”

When Ke Lun Duo and Mu Zi saw Xiao Rou’s appearance, they looked at each other with astonishment.”

Jian Shan chuckled. “How did I forget about you little demon?

According to what Zhang Gong said, it was due to her that he survived. We have yet to thank you for it yet.”

Zhan Hu stood up in smile. “That’s right, little girl, thank you for saving my brother.”

Xiao Rou didn’t have her previous seductive attitude as she replied shyly, “I’m not a little girl, I’m much older than all of you. It’s my duty to save my master. Moreover, I’m really happy by Master’s side. You can call me Xiao Rou from now on; it’s the name that Master gave me. I’ll go and get food for you. Heh heh!” Upon saying that, she ran off skipping.

I looked to Mu Zi and Ke Lun Duo, who were still in shock, and said “Xiao Rou was the six tailed Demon fox. If it wasn’t for

her, I wouldn’t be in front of you right now.”

Ke Lun Duo replied, “I always thought she only knew how to seduce people. I didn’t expect such a demon beast knew how to save a life.”

Dong Ri said mockingly, “Even though Xiao Rou seduces people, she hasn’t harmed anyone, unlike someone else here.”

Ke Lun Duo was speechless from that while Mu Zi looked at me strangely.

I found a large stone some distance away, and sat down to cultivate my fusion powers.

Ke Lun Duo took a overcoat from his bag and placed it on Mu Zi before saying caringly, “The wind here is strong. Don’t catch a cold.”

Mu Zi glanced at me before moving Ke Lun Duo’s hand. “Big Brother Wa Leng, I’m not cold. You can wear it yourself.” After saying that, she walked over to me. Even though my eyes were closed, I could distinctly hear Mu Zi’s soft footsteps. As I heard the footsteps nearing, my heart started beating faster.

I hastily circulated the fusion power in my body as if I by continuing to cultivate them, my powers would become chaotic.

Mu Zi stood three steps away from me. A gentle breeze brought Mu Zi’s familiar sweet scent,  instantly  mesmerizing me. I immediately pinched myself secretly, in order to maintain a clear mind.

Mu Zi did not speak for a long time, not even moving from the spot she had taken, but the wind kept bringing her sweet scent to my nose. I couldn’t help but be frustrated as to why she was standing there.When my curiosity peaked, I gradually opened my eyes to find Mu Zi’s tear-filled face before me. She had changed back to her original appearance with tears constantly flowing out from her eyes, dampening her clothes. She was trying her best to control herself from making a sound. She just stared at me and let her tears flow freely.

I felt all the nerves in my body spasm; especially the

indescribable sharp pain from the left of my chest. I did my best to sound as calm as possible as I asked, “Is there something wrong, Your Highness? Do you need me for something?” Upon saying that, I even felt my heart freeze a little.

Mu Zi walked two steps forward before gently caressing the scars on my face. Her hand was cold while translucent tears continued to flow down her face. As the cold little hand gently moved on my face, I felt an indescribable comfort. I unknowingly got enchanted by her delicate hand.

Mu Zi’s voice was very light and gentle. “Zhang Gong, it must have been hard for you.” Hearing her gentle and beautiful voice, I immediately woke up from my infatuated state. I grabbed on her small hand and said, “Your Highness, you shouldn’t do this. Men and women should not casually touch each other. Moreover, your fiance is still over there.”

Mu Zi suddenly pounced into my embrace and cried bitterly. I wasn’t prepared, and was momentarily pushed to the ground. My heart felt heavy, but I still had a clear mind. I tried to push her away, but Mu Zi had hugged me extremely tightly.  Her entire body was on me without leaving any spaces between us, and her moving body constantly rubbed against my sensitive organ. My male characteristic was slowly aroused. Wasn’t there that expression? The one that said men used their lower halves to think? With my intense feelings and longing for Mu Zi, I tightly hugged her back, tasting the sweetness of her lips. Luckily, we were on the other side of the hill. If not, we would be performing in public.

I flipped my body and pressed Mu Zi’s body down as I frantically kissed her forehead, her cherry lips, hair and her snow-white neck.

The sky suddenly darkened and large droplets of rain fell, waking me up from my dreamy state. I wiped the rain off my face and sat up. While looking at Mu Zi’s blushing face, I stood up and moved to the side, casting a light boundary around Mu Zi. Since I knew that she was dark magic based mage, I had specifically made the boundaries larger, as a prevention from hurting her.

Mu Zi also stood up and dusted the dirt from her body. She glanced at me before she silently found a large stone in the boundary and sat on it. With both hands hugging her knees, she seemed to be thinking about something.

I violently shook my head to get rid of the previous loving feelings, and stood under the rain while allowing it to  pour down my body. If only this heavy rain could help wash my scars and sorrows away, how great would that be? The clouds in the sky gradually moved away and the rain dissipated. The previously darkened sky brightened again as the  rain  got lighter. As I looked afar, I knew that the sun would soon

reappear after the rain stopped, lighting up the land once again. However, my heart was already forever trapped in that cloudy rain-filled state, and what descended in my heart wasn’t rain, but blood.

Chapter 41 – Xiao Rou’s Transformation

I walked through the boundary to Mu ZI’s side before calmly saying, “Princess, I’m sorry for what I’ve just done. I must have offended you.”

Mu Zi looked at me with a complicated glimmer in her eyes. “The rain has already stopped. Please let me out from the boundary.”

I was eager for her to distance herself from me as I couldn’t completely control my emotions currently. If we were to  do what we did previously, only heavens knew whether  I  could stop myself.

I dissipated the boundary and watched Mu Zi slowly walk away. She suddenly stopped 10 meters away from me  and turned to face me, “I’ll use facts to prove myself to you.” Upon saying that, she turned and ran back the way she came from. I was stunned. What did she want to prove to me? Was it to prove that her feelings towards me was unchanged?

As Mu Zi’s figure walked to the other side of the hill and disappeared, I was a little dejected. I touched the scars on my face and bitterly laughed. Why was my self-control so terrible?

I pulled out Sukrad’s staff that was stuck into the ground to the side. I teleported to Big Brother Zhan Hu’s side in a flash. After Zhan Hu looked at Mu Zi and Ke Lun Duo in the distance, he looked at me and whispered, “Brother, is that the girl that you love?”

I silently nodded.

“What’s going on with you two? Your relationship  looks  a little awkward.”

I sighed and replied, “It’s really awkward. Big brother, look at how I look now, how can I still be with Mu Zi. There shouldn’t be anyone uglier than me in the world.”

Zhan Hu replied with a frown, “What’s to be afraid of? If she really love you, why will she care about your outer appearance. I don’t think that she’s that kind of shallow person.”

I looked at Mu Zi, who was sitting on a rock, before sighing and replied, “Perhaps, but I can’t ruin her. To love someone is to wish for her happiness. Even if she’s willing to be with me, I can’t continue to harm her. It’s impossible for me to ruin her future by my hands as I’m no longer a match for her. Big brother, do you still remembered what Ke Lun Duo had said previously? He had said that Mu Zi was his fiancee. With his looks that have even surpassed my original appearance along with a strong martial skill, he should be the best candidate for Mu Zi’s successful future.” When I said those last words, I couldn’t help but feel stabbing pain in my heart.

Zhan Hu fumingly replied, “What? Has that brat not hurt you enough already? He even wants to steal your beloved. I can’t take it any longer. I’ll deal with him now.” Upon saying that, he took a sword beside him and wanted to charge over.

I hastily stopped him and replied, “Big brother, don’t do that. I truly wish for Mu Zi’s happiness. Moreover, it’s due to us serving different masters so how can I blame Ke Lun Duo for that? I can only say that my life is a bitter one. If I still live after everything is finished, I will find a place that nobody will go and stay there until I die from old age.”

Zhan Hu blanked after hearing the sadness from my speech. He didn’t expect that I would be so pessimistic and was no longer the high spirited Zhang Gong he knew. He emotionally grabbed my shoulder. “Zhang Gong, don’t give up. I  don’t believe that with the numerous doctors in the world, no one will be able to recover your initial looks. Even if I have to walk every inch of the world, I’ll find a way to treat your scars.”

A strong warm feeling filled my sorrow filled heart. Both of my eyes reddened as I bit on my lips and said, “Big brother.”

Zhan Hu embraced my shoulder and looked at the faraway clouds. “Brother, look, the sun has come out again. There’s nothing that can’t be solved. You’ll definitely recover after the dark clouds shift and the clear sky comes into view. Just take it easy, ok?”

I nodded as looked towards the slowly bright and beautiful sunlight. I felt much better now. In my most difficult of times, big brother’s friendship had made my sorrowful heart return to it’s peaceful state.

“Big brother, where’s Dong Ri and the rest?”

“They’re training over there.” Zhan Hu pointed to the right.

“Master! Master! I’ve hunted some prey.” Xiao Rou ran back bouncing vivaciously, with a few Demon beast dragged along behind her. Since it just rained, Xiao Rou’s hair was drenched and her clothes sticked to her skin, revealing her mellow and full body. Water droplets constantly flowed down from her flushed face. Even though her body was drenched, it was unable to cover up her happiness. With her moving and lovable looks, my heart twitched as though it had caught on something.

I took the food from her hands. “Xiao Rou, it must be hard on you.”

Xiao Rou shook her head. “It’s not hard. Master, you don’t

know that these demon beasts are stupid and my martial skills seems to have improved as well. I’ve already caught  some demon beasts in this short amount of time. It should be enough for us, right?”

I placed my right hand on her head. “It’s more than enough. Now, stand still and let me help you evaporate the water from your body. It won’t be good if you catch a cold.” A golden light constantly entered Xiao Rou’s body as Xiao Rou’s exposed a drunken expression. The baptism of the divine power was the most favoured to her kind of species. Her clothes  was completely dried by the heat of the power in a short time.

I withdrew my right hand and Xiao Rou automatically sat down on the floor to get used to the power I gave her. I turned to face Zhan Hu and whispered, “Big brother, do you still have those seasonings? We’ll need your cooking skills today.”

Zhan Hu said in smiles, “Even though I don’t don’t have any more seasonings, I had gathered some plants this few days. We can use their juice for seasoning. You just have to wait and see. Xiao Rou is extremely innocent and kind. She’s slowly being influenced by us as she accompanies us and is gradually losing her beastial nature. Didn’t she say that after she gets nine tails, she can transform? Let’s help her out since she saved your life after all.”

I replied, “I understand. Big brother, don’t worry. I won’t mistreat her.”

Xiao Rou’s face was extremely calm. With her body enclosed by a faint gold ray, the current her didn’t have her initial seductive aura, but rather, a divine aura. I knew that her cultivation had reached its critical point. It was highly possible

that she would make a new breakthrough. At this moment, she mustn’t be disturbed so I had vigilantly surveyed the surroundings before circulating the fusion power in my entire body before making a rigid gold boundary to appear and enclose us within. Xiao Rou seemed to have felt something and the golden ray from her body became brighter than before. Since I wasn’t clear on how a demon beast cultivates, she could only depend on herself. The power from her body gradually started to move like waves, constantly surging towards the back of her head.

Chapter 42 – Nine Tailed Demon Fox

I frowned as I didn’t understand what she was doing. The most sensitive part in the human body was the brain. Even with my cultivation, I wouldn’t casually surge magic powers or battle spirit towards it. There must be a reason for her action, but it was extremely risky. A rictus of pain gradually formed on Xiao Rou’s face as white smoke was slowly released from her head, giving off a burned smell.

It couldn’t be that her head was burning up right? It shouldn’t happen; Xiao Rou’s cultivation was gentle in nature, so she shouldn’t have any offensive powers. Even when blending her powers with mine, it shouldn’t be possible for Xiao Rou’s head to be set alight.

Xiao Rou’s expression showed intensifying pain. Bean-sized sweat drops that were gold in color, flowed down her  face, giving off a pungent smell. I quickly placed a small defensive barrier around my nose to filter the scent coming over.

The boundary around us slowly filled up with white smoke. The situation here had attracted everyone’s attention. Zhan Hu and the rest instinctively formed a protective circle with the boundary as its center while Mu Zi and Ke Lun Duo stayed at the outer perimeter, watching us.

Mu Zi asked, “What are they doing? Why is there so much smoke?”

No one had ill feelings towards Mu Zi due to my relationship with her. Zhan Hu replied, “Xiao Rou seems to be cultivating, and Zhang Gong is protecting her in the process. You can just rest at the side. Once they’re done with training, we will have our meal.”

Ke Lun Duo looked at the boundary and exclaimed, “Zhang Gong treats that demon fox really well. He’s even using his divine power to protect her. That demon fox should be making a new breakthrough.”

Once he said that, Xiao Rou, who was in the boundary, suddenly cried out mournfully. She spread her limbs as she floated up into the sky within the barrier. Her clothing had disintegrated completely and all the hairs on her body had instantly turned into ash.

Startled, I hastily shot my power into her  body,  which resulted to her being suspended in mid air, while sensing the circulation of powers in her body.

Xiao Rou abruptly opened her eyes and two cold light rays shot out like lightning. When I saw its sharpness, my heart shuddered. I knew that she had made a qualitative leap in strength.

Xiao Rou called out, “Master, I’ve succeeded!” Upon saying that, she dashed towards me, but stopped when she was a metre away from me. After looking at the golden fluid on her body, she frowned.

I smiled as I gently brandished Sukard’s staff, creating an enormous waterball that slowly moved towards her. When it was in front of her, it suddenly turned into a whirlpool that covered her. With this method, I could help wash the dirt off her body and also test the standards her powers had reached.

Xiao Rou was initially shocked, but she quickly leaped into the whirlpool. Unexpectedly, she didn’t need to change back to her original form when faced with an advanced water spell. Under our astonishment, the dirt on her body gradually cleared, revealing a lustrous, pure white and delicate figure.

Xiao Rou cheered out as she dashed towards me and wound around me like an octopus. My entire body stiffened from the intense stimulation. I immediately cast a protective barrier around my body and gently pushed her away. After I dispersed the boundary around me, I took out a large mage robe from the spatial pocket and covered Xiao Rou’s body with it.

The slightly pale Mu Zi gazed at me with eyes full of sadness.

Xiao Rou excitedly told me, “Master, I’ve finally evolved into a nine tailed demon fox. Take a look at this.” Upon saying that, a light flashed, and she appeared in her original form. The fur on her body had turned into a beautiful silver colour with nine tails at her back. I knew that Xiao Rou wouldn’t be any weaker than the cyclops we had fought previously now that she had become an A-ranked demon beast.

I took out a shirt and a pair of pants from the spatial pocket. “Congratulations Xiao Rou, you’ve finally evolved!”

Xiao Rou changed back to her human form. However, the color of her long hair which reached to her butt had become a blend of silver and ash grey. She quickly put on the clothes that I had given her. With her sparkling and almost translucent skin, she wasn’t inferior to Hai Shui when it came to beauty. Her

looks were only slightly inferior to Mu Zi’s.

I looked at everyone’s stunned expressions and mischievously chided them, “You bunch of lechers, what are you doing? Never seen a beauty before?”

Jian Shan instantly moved over and sized Xiao Rou up before he said with a smile, “Xiao Rou, you really are too beautiful. Wanna be my girlfriend?”

Xiao Rou’s face flushed before she replied, displeased, “Big Brother Jian Shan, what do you think you’re doing? I’m  a demon beast, not a human.”

Jian Shan scratched his head. “Aiya! I’ve forgotten about that.

I’m really sorry.” His words made everyone laugh.

“It isn’t impossible. There’s a possibility that Xiao Rou can become a human. Jian Shan, if you’re serious, I can try to help you.” I said with a smile.

Jian Shan elatedly replied, “Really? That’s great! Will she look the same as she does now after transmuting into human?”

My mood dampened. “If  you only like Xiao Rou’s looks, I

won’t help you since I’m responsible for taking care of her.”

Jian Shan replied apologetically, “How can I be that kind of person? I like Xiao Rou’s personality.”

Zhan Hu teasingly said, “You don’t mind that she’s a demon beast? Will your elders agree?”

Jian Shan gave an embarrassed smile, but didn’t say more.

Xiao Rou’s eyes suddenly reddened and she stood behind me with her head lowered. I knew that she must be upset; even a demon beast would want someone who would love her. Moreover, Xiao Rou was a demon beast with intelligence. I consoled her, saying, “Xiao Rou, I’ll definitely help you turn into a human and find your ideal partner. How’s that?”

Xiao Rou clung on my arm and said, crying, “Xiao Rou doesn’t want to be with anyone, nor does she want to turn into  a human. Xiao Rou just wants to follow and serve Master for her entire life.” I smiled but didn’t mind. I just patted her head to console her.

Dong Ri suddenly punched Jian Shan. “You’ve offended Xiao Rou. Hmph! You won’t get any food today as punishment.”

Jian Shan looked awkwardly at me and didn’t refute Dong Ri’s words since he knew that his previous action had hurt Xiao Rou. I remedied the situation by saying, “That should  be enough. Everyone must be hungry. Let’s have our meal first. Big Brother Zhan Hu, how’s your cooking skills today?”

Zhan Hu arrogantly replied, “I’m an old-timer and top expert when it comes to cooking. I guarantee that whatever I cook will make you bite your tongue. Let’s go.”

Big Brother’s cooking skill really was extraordinary. Even if he didn’t have any ready- made seasoning, the demon beast meat was well seasoned so it was still extremely delicious. It even managed to cheer up the melancholic Mu Zi. Xiao Rou was so engrossed in eating that she disregarded everything other than having her meal. Jian Shan had given her the best part of the demon beast from his share to make up for his mistake. She had a demon beast’s leg in her left hand and a piece of the demon’s chest meat in her right, eating cheerfully. Seeing that all these people with different ideals got together in eating the

delicacies, I chuckled. ‘Who cares what tomorrow will be like? We must be proud to be joyous in life. Let’s eat!”

Chapter 43 – War God’s Book

Three enormous Demon beasts were gradually annihilated under our powerful attacks.

Night slowly descended with the sky gradually darkening. Everyone found a flat rock to start cultivating. Xiao Rou turned back into her squirrel form as she stayed by my side. She fell into a deep sleep, lying down on her large tail.

I looked at Mu Zi, who wasn’t far from me, sitting cross legged like a dignified gem. Mu Zi‘s figure emitted a faint dark aura, causing her body to be barely discernible. Even though she had changed her appearance, it didn’t lessen my desire for her. Ke Lun Duo had sat on a stone beside her, giving off a similar dark aura. I knew that he was still vigilant towards his surroundings.

A night fog blew over, which blocked the light from the stars and moon, making my vision turn pitch black. ‘Could it be that the heavens wanted to stop me from looking at Mu Zi?’ I chuckled bitterly, mocking myself. I closed my eyes and focused on circulating the three gold dans, cultivating  my  fusion powers.

After recovering my power, I felt that my  fusion  power seemed to have stagnated. During the casting of the forbidden spell with Uncle Firewood’s help, Uncle Firewood was obviously more powerful than Teacher Zhen. Moreover, there was a qualitative leap in my power after I absorbed the Divine Spring. It had used up all of my powers, but it didn’t surpass the previous time that I cast a light forbidden spell. Could it be that my power had unknowingly degraded? (Actually, it wasn’t due to the degradation of my power. When I first cast the forbidden spell, Teacher Zhen was a mage and had a close relationship with Teacher Di. During our cooperation, he was familiar with my magic gathering speed and direction. Thus, he was then able to help me without wasting any of his power. However, Uncle Firewood and I weren’t that familiar with each other. Even though his battle spirit could be converted to magic power, it had to undergo a conversion process and during that process, some of the energy was naturally lost in the conversion.

Additionally, I was multitasking to control the spell, all these factors influenced the power of the spell.)

My future path was filled with brambles and thorns. I wanted to cross it step by step so I had to put in much more effort than everyone else; I truly needed to increase my power. My heart froze when I thought of what Uncle Ke Zha did previously. I also didn’t know how the other two kingdoms would react. Would they give up the war against the Demon race just on my words alone? Unlikely, so convincing them would be the most difficult task. Thinking about that, I didn’t feel discouraged by the hardships and perils of my future, but felt much more comfortable instead, as I shouldn’t influence the entire world’s peace and harmony due to my emotions. I had seen the invasion and destructive power of the Monster race. I must eradicate them before I can maintain the world’s peace and harmony. Even though my power would be too little, I would work hard, even if I were to lose, I wouldn’t be afraid. A sudden thought occurred to me, dying together with the Monster King. What could I do in the future with my ghastly looks? Losing Mu Zi was equivalent to losing everything. Similarly, I couldn’t inflict my current self on Hai Shui. It would be much better to sacrifice myself for the happiness of all; it should be counted as a contribution to everyone.

I suddenly felt my three gold dans split apart as I  was thinking. One of the gold dans stayed in my upper dantian, another went into my lower abdomen, while the last went to the Holy Sword at my chest. The three gold dans formed a straight line and I was astonished to discover that I couldn’t control them as they revolved by themselves. All I could do now was to relax my body and allow them to move freely. After a short moment, I discovered that the three gold dans no longer had fusion powers, as the three powers had separated again. The gold dan in my upper dantian was purely magic elemental powers, the gold dan at my chest was filled with the Holy Sword’s divine power, and the last gold dan in my lower abdomen was filled with the Ascending Dragon’s Judgement Battle Spirit that Big Brother Zhan Hu had taught me.

‘What is going on? Could it be that they had gone back to their initial states? Have my powers worsened?’ The control over the powers gradually came back to me. I opened my eyes and stood on the rock. I felt a deep sense of satisfaction and comfort. I could almost feel the energy revolving around me when I raised

my hand. This was a sign that my powers had improved, but I

was certain that it had just worsened.

I used short range teleportation to teleport to the border of the God Rending Valley. I found out that with my will, the Holy Sword’s power and Ascending Dragon’s Judgement Battle Spirit surged out from the bottom two gold dans while the area near my upper dantian was suddenly turned into light elemental magic power. When I reached the destination that I had set and looked back, I could see an afterimage from where I had stood before.

Had I really improved? I raised my hand and circulated the Ascending Dragon’s Judgement Battle Spirit. As I thought, this time, the Holy Sword and light elemental magic powers surged towards the sea of energy, making the battle spirit abruptly increase in power. From my guess, I should be at least at the Radiant knight rank.

I looked towards my hands, dazed. I just couldn’t believe what I was seeing. At my current level, it would be extremely difficult for me to improve. I had used the remaining Divine Spring Vein’s power to improve. After the powers separated, I had gained the ability to use any techniques with the purest power. Moreover, I could change martial skills at will. When I used my battle spirit, I would be an expert warrior while when I used my magic power, I would recover my Magister identity. The power of all my martial techniques had improved compared to when my power was fused.

The sudden improvement had made me indescribably surprised and pleased. After floating back to the original rock, I constantly familiarized myself with the circulation of the different powers, unknowingly entering a trance.

I regained consciousness the following morning. Everything looked much more refreshing compared to earlier. I took in a few mouthfuls of air while I looked at the rising sun. I couldn’t help but float down from the rock. Currently, I really could accurately determine that I had really improved.

Big Brother Zhan Hu walked over from a short distance to me and said, “Zhang Gong, you’ve awakened. Your complexion looks alright.”

I said smilingly, “Your complexion also looks better. Big brother, I’ll call for Xiao Jin using Sukrad’s staff soon. Since time is pressing, let’s not dally. Please protect me when I’m calling for Xiao Jin.”

Zhan Hu nodded. “Our powers have recovered already. Don’t worry. Even if there’s a great mountain before us, we  are capable of flattening it.”

I took out the small booklet that Uncle Firewood gave me. “Big brother, this is what Uncle Firewood wanted me to pass on to you all. It’s the experiences and understandings he got from training in his entire life. If you want to become a War God, you should start by reading and studying this booklet.”

Chapter 44 – Dragon Staff’s Call

Stunned, Zhan Hu took a while to process the information before elatedly snatching the booklet from me and started to flip through its pages. As he read it, the happiness on his face intensified. He quickly skimmed through the entire book and then said excitedly, “This is awesome! Zhang Gong, thank you for giving us this booklet! It’s really too important. With this, the effect of our future training will be doubled, with only half the work, so our training will be much smoother than before!”

I gently shook my head. “Big brother, you don’t have to thank me. You should thank Uncle Firewood instead. He has disregarded his race’s discrimination and gave his lifetime’s knowledge to us humans. Do you know what that means? It means that the demon race really wishes to mend their relationship with the humans, so no matter how difficult it will be, we must make the negotiation a success. Please protect me now, while I call out to Xiao Jin.”

I stood on a rock. To be honest, I didn’t know how to summon him, but I thought that the Sukrad’s staff was the Dragon God’s staff. Its aura should be able to lure Xiao Jin over, since he was nearby, right? Let’s give it a try.

I raised Sukrad’s staff and inserted my magic power in it. The three different powers in my body had already been completely changed to magic power, surging into Sukarad’s staff.  An intense golden ray was constantly being emitted from my hand. I never knew that I actually possessed such strong powers. It felt so strong that I felt confident enough to cast a forbidden spell on my own.

I didn’t know what to do next to call Xiao Jin over. As I continued to insert my magic power into the staff, I chanted silently, “Xiao Jin, my friend, please return to my side.” I didn’t know if it would work. I had done all I could do, so I would just have to wait and see. However, I distinctly felt that Sukrad’s staff was constantly giving off wave after wave of power.

Zhan Hu, who was by my side, stared blankly at me. The powerful undulations surging out of my body had made him indescribably amazed. He didn’t think that I would have improved at such a rapid pace.

The strong gold light had attracted everyone. Zhan Hu signaled them not to disturb me. When Ke Lun Duo saw the strength of the magic power from my body, he understood that he would forever be unable to be my match.

Suddenly, Xiao Jin’s familiar telepathy came into my mind, “Master, where are you?”

I was elated and hollered to the sky. The magic power had suddenly surged outwards with me as its center, forming  a magic field. Everyone was pushed 10 metres back and a dazzling gold light was shot out from the transparent gemstone of the Sukrad’s staff into the sky.

Everyone, except for Ke Lun Duo and Mu Zi, was alright. When Ke Lun Duo and Mu Zi had withstood the light elements unintentionally spread around, it was abnormally strenuous for them. They found that the light elements I gave off were much purer than before. Both of them had to use all of their might to withstand it.

The clouds in the sky were penetrated by the golden light that I shot out. It looked as though a golden pillar that could support both heaven and earth had appeared in the world.

A bright dragon roar mixed with my long holler. Xiao Jin was finally back. A gold dot in the far sky gradually became larger and larger. I yelled out in excitement, “Xiao Jin!” I changed my magic power into battle spirit, and instantly soared into the sky like a magic artillery shell. Xiao Jin happily roared. It was obvious that he had noticed me. I grabbed his neck and flipped onto his back. “Xiao Jin, how have you been?”

“Master, I can finally see you again! I received the message that you were looking for me when I was just starting to get really impatient.”

“It must have been hard on you these few days. Xiao Jin, let’s descend. My friends are here.”

Xiao Jin withdrew his wings and we descended at  a frightening speed, giving me a shock. When we were about 33 meters away from the crowd, under everyone’s  astonished gazes, Xiao Jin abruptly opened his enormous wings. The speed of the descent rapidly decreased before he gently landed on the ground.

Dong Ri exclaimed, “Wah! Xiao Jin, what good stuff have you been having? You look much fatter than before.”

Xiao Jin snorted, “You’re the one who’s fat. I’ve only grown bigger due to the increase in power. If you aren’t satisfied, I can have a spar with you. With your broken bow, heh heh! You aren’t a match for me.”

Dong Ri asked with intensified amazement, “You can talk?”

Xiao Jin arrogantly replied, “Of course, I’m the descendant of the five clawed dragons. Learning your human language isn’t even such an amazing thing. Are you going to compete with me or not?” Upon saying that, he folded his wings and  walked closer towards Dong Ri, filled with ill intentions.

Dong Ri immediately waved his hand at Xiao Jin. “No! No!

No! Who wants to compete with you? You want my life?”

Xiao Jin chuckled. “You’ve just said that I’m fat. How are we to settle that, then?”

I mockingly scolded, “Xiao Jin, stop fooling around. You started bickering with Dong Ri the first thing once you arrived. It seems that you’ve been hanging out with that  bunch  of clowns in the Dragon Valley.”

Hearing my voice, Xiao Jin obviously exercised restraint as he awkwardly glanced at me and said softly, “The friends from the Dragon Valley said that I must be more quick witted outside the valley. If not, I’ll be bullied.”

Dong Ri replied laughingly, “Bully you? With  your  power, who can bully you?”

Xiao Jin turned back to face him and angrily rebuked, “Haven’t you bullied me just now? I’m an awesome, handsome dragon, outstandingly elegant, with the manners of a jade tree and also a young lady dragon’s killer. You’ve unexpectedly said I was fat. If it wasn’t for Master pleading mercy for you, hehe! I would have loosened your bones for a bit.”

Faint! Was this still Xiao Jin? Not only was Dong Ri stunned, I also blanked. I had never seen this side of Xiao Jin before. He had always been obedient. Even though he was currently still listening to me, he had more attitude now. It ought to be due to those dragon clowns that Xiao Jin had become corrupted. But it was much more interesting this way.

Xiao Jin’s words had made everyone, excluding Dong Ri and I, to break into a happy laughter; even Mu Zi’s melancholy had been temporarily lifted.

Xiao Rou hid at a side, shivering. Even though she had turned into an A ranked Demon beast, when face to face with the most powerful creature in the world, she couldn’t help but fear it. Due to my acute emotional sensitivity, I quickly noticed her condition and caringly asked her, “Xiao Rou, what’s wrong?”

Xiao Rou changed back to her human form and stuck to my side, while replying pitifully, “Master, I…I’m really afraid.”

Xiao Jin had discovered her and was now looking at Xiao Rou with interest. “Master, who is she?”

All smiles, I replied, “She’s also my friend. During this trip to the Demon race, if it weren’t for Xiao Rou, you wouldn’t have been able to see me again.”

A peculiar glimmer flashed in Xiao Jin’s large eyes. He bounced and skipped over to my side. He then lowered his large head, and told Xiao Rou, “Thank you for saving my Master, little sister.”

Chapter 45 – A Sorrowful Farewell With Xiao Jin

Xiao Rou hastily hid behind me and shivered even more violently.

I said, “Don’t be scared, Xiao Rou. Xiao Jin won’t hurt you. Xiao Jin, how can you call her little sister? She’s older than you by a few hundred years. You should call her older sister.”

Xiao Jin was stunned, then he hastily corrected his words. “Older sister Xiao Rou, I’m known as Xiao Jin. Please take care of me from now on. If anybody bullies you, you can tell me. I’ll stick out for you.”

Smiling, Zhan Hu said, “Xiao Jin, when did you join the criminal underworld? It’ll be great if you join our bandit group. Haha!”

When Xiao Rou saw that Xiao Jin didn’t have any bad intentions, she boldly stuck her head out from behind my back to size Xiao Jin up before whispering, “Your golden sparkling scales are so beautiful!”

Xiao Jin said, proudly, “Of course, I’m the prettiest in the Dragon race. Elder sis, you also look really beautiful.”

I patted Xiao Jin’s large head. “Xiao Jin, stop joking around. I have something that I’ll need your help with.”

Xiao Jin replied seriously, “What’s the matter, Master?”

I took out a previously written letter. “You’re to head to our base to find Big Brother Xiu Si and pass this letter to him.”

Xiao Jin suddenly shook his head like a rattle drum and said, “I don’t want to! I’m not going.”

I was momentarily stunned. Xiao Jin had never disobeyed my request. Why would he do it now?

Xiao Jin stopped shaking his head and tears flowed  down from his large eyes. Choked with emotions, he said, “Master, I’ve reunited with you with such difficulty. Please let me to stay by your side and protect you. Xiao Jin doesn’t want to leave you. I’m begging you, ok?”

My eyes instantly reddened. Xiao Jin had such deep feelings towards me. I caressed his large head and said emotionally, “Xiao Jin, behave and stop crying. I don’t have a choice. The risk of heading back to the Ström Fortress isn’t much lesser than being in the Demon race. Your task  is  extremely important. I promise you that after you have accomplished this task, I won’t separate from you ever again, alright?”

Zhan Hu asked, “Zhang Gong, isn’t it just sending a letter? Is it that urgent?”

I sighed and replied, “Big brother, you should know that I’m currently a wanted person from Aixia. It won’t be easy to convince the three kingdoms. We’ll need to use the God’s inheritor’s name. Even though we aren’t weak, it won’t be enough to face the three kingdoms’ millions of soldiers. It’s always better to have more powers, so I want Xiao Jin to send the letter and ask Big Brother Xui Si, Xin Ao, and Gao De to bring along some elites to assist us. With the six divine instruments, we don’t need to fear anything. When necessary, we can use their power to frighten the three kingdoms in order to accomplish our objectives. Among us, only Xiao Jin can fly for a long period of time and only he has enough power to fly past the Heavenly Falling Mountain with great speed. After sending the letter, Big Brother Xiu Si and the rest could join up with us as soon as possible. Time is pressing. I’m reluctant to be separated from Xiao Jin, but under the present conditions, I must do precisely that.”

Dong Ri said, “Zhang Gong is right. Our trip back will  be really dangerous. Only with Big Brother Xiu  Si’s  intelligence and Zhang Gong’s planned strategy will we succeed with this

task. I agree with Zhang Gong’s suggestion.”

Xiao Jin unwillingly took the letter from my hands. I took out a map from the space pocket and showed him the location of the base before reminding him, “Xiao Jin, you must head there at top speed and pass the letter to Big Brother before you come back to find us. I know that you know how to find us. Actually, it won’t take a long time before we meet again, so don’t be sad.”

Xiao Jin nodded dejectedly. “Master, you must keep true to your words. After returning, Xiao Jin won’t ever leave you again.”

I stuck my face to his head. No matter how I looked, Xiao Jin’s feelings for me wouldn’t ever change. “Don’t worry. I’ll

definitely keep my words. Take care of yourself.”

“Master, I’ll head out now, so that I can come back earlier. Just wait for my good news.” Upon saying that, he flapped his wings and soared into the sky. After a few words, Xiao Jin was leaving me again. I felt the emotions surging in my heart and how I loathed parting from him.

Mu Zi walked over to my side and whispered, “If I were to be gone, would you be that reluctant then?”

My body shuddered and I turned my head to come face to face with her gaze, filled with hidden bitterness. I controlled my emotions while I whispered, “Princess must be joking with me. I’m just a commoner. How could I even think about that?”

Mu Zi sighed. “Can I talk to you late at night today?”

I shook my head. “Your fiancé is here. I don’t think it’s good for you to be meeting alone with a guy.”

Mu Zi replied, slightly displeased, “I’m not afraid, so what are you afraid of? Can it be that you’re not even willing to talk with me for a little while?”

Seeing her slightly displeased look, my heart softened, so I nodded my head while smiling wryly. “Alright.”

Mu Zi nodded her head with satisfaction before turning around and walked aside.

I told Zhan Hu, “Since we’ve already reunited with Xiao Jin, we should head out. With so many people, I’m not confident I’ll be able to teleport all of us there. To avoid any incidents, I’ll have to trouble all of you to fly.” Upon saying that, my battle spirit surged and I took the lead, soaring up into the sky. I hovered in the sky, waiting for everyone to come.

Everyone finished tidying up their belongings, and met me in mid-air. Just like that, about a dozen of us started  flying towards Ström Fortress.

……

As night gradually fell, everyone was extremely tired after flying for a full day. We chose a dense forest as a resting place. Xiao Rou hunted our food, as usual, and Big Brother Zhan Hu cooked it. After our meal, excluding me, who was charged with keeping a lookout for the night, everyone had already went to rest.

I leaned on a large tree and looked at the bright moonlight. I felt indescribably uncomfortable.

“Zhang Gong, I’ve come.”

My entire body shuddered when I turned around to see Mu Zi, who had recovered her exceptional looks. She had lost weight again. With a slight smile on her face, she leisurely walked over.

“Princess, you’ve come. What do you want to talk about with me?”

Mu Zi walked over until she was just a foot away from me. With her orchid-like scent coming over, I couldn’t help but to feel light headed. I inwardly knocked on a wake up bell at my heart. I mustn’t lose control.

“Can you not call me princess? There are no outsiders here.

Call me Mu Zi, like you always did.”

“I don’t dare, since our status is different.”

Mu Zi chuckled a little. “What status are you talking about? Firstly, I’m a demoness and you’re human. We’re of different species. Do I have a status at your human side as the princess of the Demon race? Moreover, you’re a God’s inheritor.  Your status should be higher than me judging by that. Call me Mu Zi, ok?”

Chapter 46 – Mu Zi’s Agreement

I didn’t think that she would reply so sharp. I subconsciously said, “Mu Zi, I…..”

She smiled with satisfaction. I knew that I had lost this round.

Mu Zi turned around, with her back facing me.She continued to say in a gentle and touching voice, “Zhang Gong, when I found out that you’d come to the Demon race to find me, my heart had already flown to your side. Do you know that when Big Brother Wa Leng told me that you’d died, my heart shattered?”

Her words  moved  my  heart.  “Princess,  I’m  not  worthy  of

you.”

Mu Zi suddenly turned around with an angered expression. “Haven’t we settled that you’ll call me Mu Zi?” Faint, had I agreed to that?

“Zhang Gong, I know that you still love me, right?”

The topic had come so quickly that I didn’t know how to answer. I looked at her in a daze. Mu Zi continued, “I understand why you’re purposely pushing me away. It was only an excuse when you said that it would be impossible for  a demon and a human to be together. The real reason is your scars, right? Zhang Gong, my beloved, could it be that in your heart, I, Mu Zi, am that shallow?” She looked straight into my

eyes, not allowing me to dodge her gaze.

Mu Zi’s words had moved me tremendously. She still had such strong feelings towards me. I abruptly raised my head to look at her moving, lovable appearance. Just as I wanted to embrace her, my atrocious looks appeared in my mind. I grabbed onto my hair and hollered in agony, “No!!”

Mu Zi was shocked and quickly grabbed on my hand. “Zhang Gong, what’s wrong?”

I shook my head with all my might and huskily replied, “Mu Zi, forget about me. I’m no longer compatible with you. I can’t allow you to follow me, who is so ugly, all of your life. Forget about me! Ke Lun Duo should be the best choice for you.”

Tears constantly flowed down Mu Zi’s face.She replied choked with sobs, “No! Zhang Gong, I only have a sibling’s feelings towards Ke Lun Duo. The one I truly love is you. No matter how much your appearance changes, I’ll forever stay by your side, all of my life, and until the end of time.”

“I can prove Mu Zi’s words.” Ke Lun Duo moved out in a flash from the shadows by the thickets. “Even though Mu Zi and I grew up together, I had only treated her as a sister. I already have someone that I admire. Even though I don’t wish that Mu Zi would marry you, her feeling towards you are really too deep. Can’t you be more confident in yourself and accept her? You had initially thrown away your great future for Mu  Zi.  Why can’t you put aside your feelings and show your dedication for her again?”

I gradually calmed down and looked at Mu Zi and Ke Lun Duo. I tore my shirt, revealing the numerous scars on my chest, then chuckled mournfully. “Mu Zi have you seen clearly? This is me now. My body is filled with hideous scars. Do you want to spend your entire life with such a freak?” I prevented her  from replying as I continued to say, “Even if you’re willing, I’m not. I definitely can’t ruin your great youth by my hands.”  Upon saying that, after a flash of light, I disappeared from that place.

Mu Zi shouted behind me, “Zhang Gong!”

Just as she wanted to chase after me, Ke Lun Duo held her back and consoled her. “Mu Zi, don’t be too anxious. Zhang Gong’s disfiguration is something that has hurt him deeply. He can’t accept it in such a short while. You should give both him and yourself some time. After you two calm down and consider things objectively, perhaps, it’ll lead to a different outcome.”

Mu Zi looked at Ke Lun Duo and no longer insisted to chase after me. In tears, she said, “Zhang Gong, why do you want to run away? No matter how your appearance changes and no matter how determined you are, I’ll use all of my methods to soften your determination and love you all of my life. My heart is for you alone!”

I hadn’t gone far away; I simply teleported to a nearby tree, behind them. Hearing Mu Zi’s words, I painfully gripped onto the tree before me. How great would it have been if I heard them before I got injured? Without these hideous scars, even if the entire world objected, I would stay by your side without a second thought. But now, could I do that? I could only choose to evade her and hope that time could lessen our feelings toward each other. I only wished for Mu Zi’s happiness, but with my current looks, I couldn’t give that to her.

……

I didn’t dare to get into contact with her after that night. No matter the time, I evaded her. I was rather curious about Ke Lun Duo’s actions. He had talked so much when he previously impersonated Su He. Now, I rarely heard his voice the whole day long. He just silently stayed by Mu Zi’s side and dutifully protected her.

Ten days passed by quickly. We had returned to the  cliff where we initially met Ke Lun Duo. The alliance troops still had high morale. From the orderly line up, I knew that in these few months, both sides hadn’t had any significant battles.

Zhan Hu asked me, “How are we getting across? The front

path has been blocked by the alliance troops. Are we going to use long distance teleportation again?”

“No! I’m afraid. I’m more willing to rush in and  kill  the enemy than to teleport again. If it turns out badly, I won’t even know how I died,” Jian Shan voiced out from the back.

All smiles, Zhan Hu replied, “You brat, stop  thinking  that way. Zhang Gong has made a large breakthrough  recently. There shouldn’t be any dangers.”

I shook my head. “Even with my power’s improvement, this time we have two more people, so the burden will be much larger. Moreover, I can’t set the location of the teleportation. If we were to be separated from each other, it would be really

troublesome to regroup. I think it’s best not to teleport, for everyone’s safety.”

Zhan Hu was stunned. “Are we really going to kill our way through? There’s a few million troopers there.”

Mu Zi said, frowning, “You can’t use force. Firstly, I won’t stand by as you kill the Demon race, and secondly, even if we were able to make our way over to the Ström Fortress through killing, it may affect future peace talks. Let’s think of other ways.”

Dong Ri suggested, “Can’t we fly over?”

Ke Lun Duo replied smilingly, “Obviously, it wouldn’t work. Our Demon and beast races have numerous weapons specialized in attacking airborne objects. If not, how could we deal with you humans’ wind mages? If we were to fly through, we’d just become targets for both races’ artilleries.”

Dong Ri was stunned for a moment, before refuting, “We wouldn’t be discovered that easily if we were to wear nocturnal equipment and fly at a high altitude, right?”

Mu Zi shook her head and replied, “In order to prevent the enemies from attacking the back of the troops via flight, the Demon and beast races have special methods to detect high altitude objects. Moreover, their surveillance covers the entire sky, so our success rate would be extremely low.”

Chapter 47 – Flying Across The Allied Armies

Dong Ri said worryingly, “Neither method would work. But we can’t just stay here forever, right?”

I said, “Everyone, calm down and let me think.” Upon hearing my words, everyone went silent.

After a long time, I asked Zhan Hu, “Big brother, do you still have that signal flair from Big Brother Shan Yun?”

Zhan Hu replied, “It was long taken away from me when we got caught by the Demons.”

Without the signal, we couldn’t get Big Brother Shan Yun’s help to divert the enemy from us. There really weren’t any good methods available.

I sighed and said, “For everyone’s safety, let’s make a disturbance before we use our greatest speed to fly over, with the dark night as our cover. Only Mu Zi used wind magic to fly among our group. I could convert all of my magic powers to battle spirit so it was my responsibility to bring her along. “Everyone, be prepared. We’ll make our move at night.” To be truthful, I didn’t want to be the one helping Mu Zi because that would give her hope, but I was more focused on her safety. Since my power was the strongest among the team, she would be safest with me. Moreover, even if I said that I didn’t want to have anything to do with her, I would still feel uncomfortable at the idea of other men touching her body.

As Mu Zi heard my words, a hint of happiness flashed past her eyes. Even though it happened in a flash, it didn’t escape my sight.

Everyone sat together and started to cultivate, as they  all knew that it would be dangerous tonight. Only with plentiful battle spirit would there be a greater chance of survival.

Night fell quickly. Our luck was quite good, as it was a moonless night. In the pitch black night, we could see great numbers of fire lights.

I asked Ke Lun Duo, “What do the Demon and beast races use for surveillance?”

Ke Lun Duo glanced at Mu Zi for approval, then said, “It’s like this. Among our Demon race’s demon beasts, there’s a type with good eyesight. They can see far into the distance extremely clearly, so they are used in the troops as scouts for observation. Every day, their kind will take turns to survey the  sky.  The Beast race is similar to ours, only they use beastmen specializing in farsight.”

After hearing his words, I asked with a plan in mind, “Under what conditions would all of the scouts be dispatched?”

Ke Lun Duo’s eyes lit up. He was also an intelligent person, so he immediately caught on what I meant.  He  replied, “Obviously, it is when the enemy attacks. But some of the scouts would still be left behind.”

I nodded. “There will definitely be a risk. Even if a portion of the scouts will be left behind, in case the enemy attacks, they will be mostly focused on the attack. It would be the best opportunity to charge through to the Ström Fortress.”

Zhan Hu asked, “How do we make it seem like an enemy’s attack?”

I glanced at Mu Zi. “In a while, I will use a large  areal offensive light magic. This is a spell that I’ve only thought of recently. It’s originally light ball shaped, but under my control area, I can change it into a light rain attack at will.”

Ke Lun Duo frowned and said, “Your magic should be extremely potent. How much loss will the Demon race suffer?”

I smiled and replied, “For the sake of our cooperation, I’ll be a little despicable and aim for the beast men. The damage of the light magic on the Beast race will be significantly lower than on your Demon race. There shouldn’t be too much damage then. However, I’ll need help from you and Mu Zi later. After I cast the spell, you shall use your dark magic to cover the light ball. You only have to use a small amount of magic power and leave the rest to me. Big Brother Zhan Hu, Dong Ri and Shan Jian, you are to stand behind to insert your battle spirit into me.”

The three of them nodded and specifically placed their right hands on three of the important acupuncture points on  my back. “Get ready,” I told Mu Zi and Ke Lun Duo.

I didn’t chant, just simply raised the Sukrad’s staff, making numerous light elements rapidly gather towards me. A large, dazzling golden light ball appeared before everyone. Mu Zi and Ke Lun Duo used their dark powers to cover the light, so that the it couldn’t be seen. I reminded Mu Zi, “Be extremely careful not to make any contact between your dark spell and my light ball.”

Mu Zi nodded and rapidly gathered her dark powers together with Ke Lun Duo. A thick layer of black fog completely covered the gold ball, making the surroundings fall back into darkness.

“How long can you sustain this spell?” I asked.

Mu Zi replied, “Without controlling it, it would probably last

about as long as it takes to brew a cup of tea.”

“It’s enough. Big Brother Zhan Hu, Dong Ri and Shan Jian, you can start channelling battle spirit into my body. The rest of you, stand by and be ready to fly at any moment.” Upon saying that, I extended both of my hands, and the dark ball shot into the sky. With a brandish of Sukrad’s staff, the black ball shot out like lightning towards Ström Fortress.

Asking Big Brother Zhan Hu and the rest to help me was for having better control, and so that I could save enough power to fly across later on.

The black ball passed through the sky of the alliance troops. I estimated that no matter how powerful their scouts were, it was

not really possible for them to discover this magic bullet. When the black ball reached 330 meters from Ström Fortress, some perspiration formed on my forehead, Even though this spell wasn’t difficult for me, it was still too far away, and it was my first time casting such a long-distance controlled spell.

At that moment, the black mist around the power ball had already disappeared, revealing the bright light ball. I shouted and traced its path as though it was coming out from the Ström Fortress. The light ball rapidly advanced. When it arrived above the Beast race’s stronghold, under my control, the light ball exploded. The rain of light that covered the sky poured down in the night, making people gasp in amazement at the spectacular sight. The Beast race’s camp broke out in blood-curdling screeches.

The alliance troops momentarily became restless. All of the beast and demon soldiers gradually woke up from their dreams.

“Human’s are attacking the camp! Human’s are attacking the camp! Everyone get up!” A frantic voice made the entire alliance troops frenzied in a moment. However, after a short while, the two troops slowly regained order as they started heading towards the Ström Fortress.

I shouted, “Big brothers, withdraw your powers and prepare to fly.” My voice woke everyone up from their state of shock. My magic control was something that they couldn’t have imagined.

Even though it was extremely difficult to control this spell, I had discovered that it didn’t use much of my powers. It hadn’t used much of the battle spirits that Big Brother Zhan Hu and the other two inserted in me. Seems like I had really improved.

I shouted, “Mu Zi, come over here. Everyone is to maintain a team formation. Mu Zi and Ke Lun Duo are to cast their dark magic below us while the rest will keep a lookout for danger. Once we are attacked, you’re to immediately dodge and defend yourself, without breaking the formation.”

Everyone gathered around after hearing my words. My previous display had made everyone have a whole new level of respect towards me, and place more of their trust in me.

Seeing that they were all ready, I shouted, “Alright! Our target is the dense forest on the right side of the Ström Fortress. Set out!”

About a dozen shadows rapidly soared into the sky, forming a triangle shape. I placed my arm around Mu Zi’s  waist, cautiously examining the movements below. Mu Zi was fully engrossed in enjoying my embrace, while Ke Lun Duo rapidly cast a dark protective screen below us. Just like that, our team moved across the horizon, charging towards the Ström Fortress.