Wind rolled the dark clouds, night enveloped the Demon Capital, and the bustling market streets were filled with people coming and going, amid flickering shadows of lanterns.
At a small stall selling sugar figurines, it was packed with people. The stall owner was busy without pause, his face blooming with smiles, continuously shouting to attract more customers.
“Come one, come all, take a look! Personally selected by the Ninth Demon King, the sweetest sugar figurines in the Demon Capital. One taste will sweeten your heart to the core—”
Sweetness bloomed between his lips.
Sitting on the couch, the black-haired young man tilted his head back, his phoenix eyes widening slightly, staring at the face so close to his, momentarily stunned.
Zhou Xuanlan bit off a small piece of the sugar figurine, bent down, and kissed the moist red lips, his black eyes revealing a hint of light mirth.
In Qilin City, Shen Liuxiang had sweetened him once with a sugar figurine. As a disciple, he naturally returned the sweetness to his master.
Shen Liuxiang’s dark eyelashes trembled lightly, caught off guard by the teasing, his expression somewhat at a loss.
Until he noticed his disciple before him, perceiving his overflowing nervousness, showing a somewhat proud expression, as if he had done something remarkable that could be secretly cherished for days.
Shen Liuxiang’s mindset instantly changed.
He couldn’t endure provocation, couldn’t withstand teasing. Not striking back would make him itch inside.
So his hands emerged from the blanket, hooked around Zhou Xuanlan’s neck, and his handsome, fair face tilted slightly, finding a suitable angle.
The tip of his soft red tongue peeked out a little, lightly licking the thin lips.
Then, in complete silence, he tilted his chin slightly, gradually licking away the small piece of sugar figurine.
The smile in Zhou Xuanlan’s eyes completely disappeared, his tall figure frozen.
Finally, he saw the young man in the dark inner garment on the soft couch lower his hands, black hair lightly falling over his shoulders, smiling like a cat that had stolen cream.
“Quite sweet.”
In that instant, it was as if an invisible little paw had gently scratched Zhou Xuanlan’s heart.
He lowered his eyelids, the corners of his lips curling into an ambiguous smile.
How quickly Master had forgotten.
Before, on the warm jade bed, shaking his head and crying out that he couldn’t take it anymore, his handsome face covered with teardrops.
That pitiful, helpless appearance made Zhou Xuanlan’s heart soften and yet unable to resist being even more relentless, until the person in his arms was driven almost to breakdown by desire, capturing that beautiful, enticing posture, before finally being satisfied and letting him go.
But now, that person who had once pitifully begged for mercy seemed to have forgotten all this.
Instead, his whole body, down to the tips of his hair, seemed to be shouting at Zhou Xuanlan—he, Shen Liuxiang, was up for it again!
Zhou Xuanlan remained silent, wanting to test if he was really up for it again, but after thinking it over, Master had just woken up, so he decided against it.
He handed the sugar figurine, now missing a small piece, to Shen Liuxiang’s mouth, asking, “Master still hasn’t said who came earlier?”
Shen Liuxiang took it from him and told him everything in detail, except for Ling Ye’s comment that Zhou Xuanlan didn’t belong to the current demon race.
After finishing, Shen Liuxiang took out a jade slip, intending to send a message to Di Yunyu that the place where Qiongqi was sealed was near the Demon Capital, thinking perhaps Di Yunyu might have an impression of it.
As his fingertips gathered spiritual energy, just about to touch the jade slip, the door burst open with a bang.
Xu Xingchen rushed into the room. When his gaze fell on the jade slip in his hand, the expression on his pale face changed dramatically, and he cast a spell without hesitation to knock it away.
“Stop! Don’t tell Father Emperor!”
The jade slip with golden tassels fell onto the bedding with a thud, having not yet been touched by Shen Liuxiang’s spiritual energy, still dull and lusterless.
Xu Xingchen quickly moved to the couch, his expression dazed the entire way, only regaining some composure when he saw Shen Liuxiang. He opened his mouth, his lips trembling slightly, “Broth-brother…”
Seeing him with a bloodless face, his eyes filled with hideous bloodshot, Shen Liuxiang frowned, “What’s wrong? Who bullied you?”
Xu Xingchen shook his head vigorously, suddenly gripping his hand, his long fingers as cold as snow, squeezing until they turned white.
His whole body trembling, he said: “It’s, it’s Father Emperor—”
Shen Liuxiang’s pupils contracted.
After Xu Xingchen left in the afternoon, he had intended to return directly to his lodgings to rest, but unexpectedly he was intercepted by a man in plain clothes. The man looked kind-faced, with several black spots on his neck, smiling gently as he called him Star Young Lord.
Xu Xingchen became alert. At this point, others on the street saw this and bowed in greeting, not to him but to the plainly dressed man—the Great Demon King, Heng Jiuyin.
Knowing it was Heng Jiuyin, Xu Xingchen actually felt no fear.
In broad daylight, what could Heng Jiuyin do to him? He casually flicked his sleeve and asked: “What is it?”
“Young Lord rarely comes to the Demon Capital. Why not join me for a quiet moment at a teahouse?”
When the Great Demon King extended an invitation, who would dare to be negligent? Anyone else would have immediately followed respectfully, or at the very least, considered the other’s face and politely declined with a bunch of pleasantries.
But Xu Xingchen didn’t care about such things. He was extremely tired, and moreover, recalling his earlier encounter with Heng Feican—like father, like son—he didn’t have a good impression of Heng Jiuyin. So he said: “Another day. This Young Lord needs to go back and rest.”
Heng Jiuyin smiled indifferently: “If that’s the case, I’ll have to find Young Lord Shen instead.”
Having said this, he actually started to leave.
Hearing this, Xu Xingchen hurriedly stopped him: “What do you want with him? Am I not a Young Lord anymore?!”
Heng Jiuyin: “Didn’t Young Lord say he wanted to rest?”
Xu Xingchen: “He’s resting too!”
Heng Jiuyin chuckled, his tone carrying a mysterious meaning, “But I believe he would be willing to get up and listen.”
Provoked by this and his curiosity piqued, Xu Xingchen immediately said: “Fine, fine, I’ll go with you. Which teahouse… Let me tell you, in the Imperial Palace, apart from Father Emperor, my word carries the most weight. Seeking me out for important matters truly shows your discerning eye!”
Heng Jiuyin smiled without speaking, leading Xu Xingchen to a quiet teahouse.
However, he didn’t let anyone pour tea, just waved his hand, having them bring several sets of tea utensils, arranging them on the table. “Young Lord’s status is noble, traveling thousands of miles from Shenqi Mountain to the Demon Capital for a mere scroll. It must have been arduous.”
Xu Xingchen looked puzzled: “With teleportation arrays, how is it arduous?”
Heng Jiuyin smiled without humor. By now, Xu Xingchen finally reacted as he had hoped, cautiously asking: “You know about the scroll. What exactly do you want to say?”
Heng Jiuyin: “Di Yunyu seeks the place where Qiongqi is sealed. Do you know why?”
Xu Xingchen: “It’s because one of you was bold enough to try and release Qiongqi, so Father Emperor sent us to stop it.”
Heng Jiuyin shook his head, turned a teacup upside down on the table, then took another teacup and placed it on top, unhurriedly stacking them up.
“Do you really think anyone could break Emperor Di Yunyu’s seal? In this world, apart from Emperor Di Yunyu himself, the only one with a chance to break his sealing technique is the ancient fierce beast trapped underneath.”
Xu Xingchen frowned, believing most of what he heard. Given Father Emperor’s cultivation level, what Heng Jiuyin said did make some sense.
He thought for a moment: “…Anyway, someone has tampered with the scrolls, harboring ill intentions!”
Heng Jiuyin methodically continued stacking the cups, changing the subject: “Regarding ascension, how much do you know?”
Xu Xingchen was silent for a long while: “Heng Feican is your son. Why are you asking me how much I know?”
The plainly dressed man paused, the corner of his mouth twitching almost imperceptibly. He raised his index finger, pointing upward. “The ascension of achieving the Dao.”
Xu Xingchen: “…I know what should be known. Why are you asking me? If you’re seeking guidance, you’ve found the wrong person. Besides, demons can’t ascend.”
Strangely enough, although the path to ascension was extremely difficult, every few hundred years, some cultivators at the pinnacle of the continent would succeed.
But demons were different. According to records, very few demon cultivators could trigger the ascension tribulation lightning, and to date, not a single one had passed the tribulation and ascended. It could be said they all perished, becoming lost souls under the tribulation lightning.
Heng Jiuyin stacked nine cups and said: “In half a month, it will be four hundred years since Emperor Di Yunyu’s original ascension day.”
Xu Xingchen was stunned. Heng Jiuyin was indeed an old demon who had lived for several hundred years. His knowledge of Father Emperor’s past was even more detailed than that of his son, who had grown up studying Father Emperor’s life, precise to the very day.
He said: “Father Emperor did face the ascension tribulation lightning, but because of the fierce beast’s appearance in the world, he gave it up.”
“Emperor Di Yunyu has great benevolence, far beyond what I could manage,” Heng Jiuyin pointed to the stacked teacups in front of him. “However, only he could do this. If it were anyone else with their trivial cultivation, failing the tribulation would have meant their cultivation would scatter completely, and they would perish.”
Xu Xingchen’s heart skipped a beat: “Th-that’s natural. Father Emperor achieved enlightenment on Shenqi Mountain, unmatched by anyone. But… what do you mean by cultivation scattering? When ascension fails, doesn’t one simply perish under the tribulation lightning? As long as one survives the tribulation, shouldn’t everything be fine?”
Heng Jiuyin sneered: “Wrong. That’s just the appearance.” Xu Xingchen looked at his expression and suddenly had a bad feeling.
Heng Jiuyin tapped the teacups, producing a crisp clicking sound: “Ascension not only means reaching another vast realm but also that this continent can no longer contain them. Cultivators who fail the tribulation don’t perish under the lightning; it’s this continent taking back all the spiritual power it bestowed upon them.”
“In other words, those who fail the tribulation will have all their cultivation dissipate, returning to spiritual energy flowing through the world, achieving a kind of balance that some find entertaining.”
Xu Xingchen’s face unknowingly turned frighteningly pale. If this were true, wouldn’t Father Emperor’s cultivation be continuously dissipating!
“No… that’s not right,”
He shook his head vigorously. “If what you say is true, after dissipating for four hundred years, how could Father Emperor’s cultivation still be at the pinnacle of the continent!”
“That’s why he is Emperor Di Yunyu,” Heng Jiuyin smiled. “But undoubtedly, he has been greatly affected. If I’m not mistaken, Emperor Di Yunyu’s memories would gradually blur with the disappearance of his cultivation. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have forgotten the place where the fierce beast is sealed and be desperately searching for the scrolls.”
“Though this seems incredible, it’s actually simple to explain.”
Heng Jiuyin placed another cup beside the high stack and said: “Ordinary people with cultivation the height of one teacup can reach the ascension boundary. But after Emperor Di Yunyu achieved enlightenment on Shenqi Mountain, his cultivation was like the height of these nine stacked teacups, far exceeding what’s needed for ascension. Therefore,”
Xu Xingchen watched as Heng Jiuyin removed the stacked cups two by two. “For his cultivation to completely dissipate, it takes time—one hundred years, two hundred years, three hundred years… four hundred years.”
As he spoke, Heng Jiuyin pointed to the last teacup. “In the end, he still has the ascension boundary cultivation of an ordinary person.”
Xu Xingchen was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, “I understand! I understand! You’re saying Father Emperor won’t end up like those who failed the tribulation with their cultivation completely scattered and perishing, because he still has one chance at ascension!”
Xu Xingchen tightly grasped the sole remaining teacup, as if clutching a lifeline. “This is ascension boundary cultivation! There will still be tribulation lightning!”
Xu Xingchen’s expression fluctuated, and after a while, he asked: “Why are you telling me all this?”
Heng Jiuyin raised his eyelids: “I’ve always admired Emperor Di Yunyu and naturally don’t want him to make the same mistake again, missing this last opportunity.”
Xu Xingchen’s face changed, and he stood up abruptly: “Why would he miss it? How could he miss it? Explain clearly, quickly!!”
Seeing his extreme anxiety, Heng Jiuyin revealed a faint smile in his eyes.
“Because of Qiongqi. With the ascension tribulation approaching, he’s having you search for the sealing place, most likely wanting to resolve this major problem for the Three Realms before he leaves. But with cultivation far inferior to what he once had, forcing this approach, he might be able to kill the fierce beast, but what would he use to resist the subsequent tribulation lightning?”
“If he fails the tribulation again, even the highest immortals couldn’t save him,”
Heng Jiuyin stared at Xu Xingchen, asking word by word: “Emperor Di Yunyu dares to gamble, but does the Young Lord? Do you really want to test how strong Emperor Di Yunyu is?”
Xu Xingchen was severely shaken, his back covered in cold sweat, and an endless chill rose from the depths of his heart. He left the teahouse in a daze, and by then, darkness had fallen.
He instinctively came looking for Shen Liuxiang, just in time to catch him transmitting a message to Father Emperor, and immediately moved to stop him.
“No! You are not allowed to transmit any more messages about the fierce beast to Father Emperor!”
Thank You for the new chapter(⋆◗̑◡◗̑)⸝♡