The scarlet blood was mixed with filthy clots, clearly showing that Ao Qin had been so enraged that the strain had injured his heart.
The young Azure Dragon guard who had delivered the urgent report was nearly frightened senseless. He instinctively retreated two steps, only for Ao Qin—whose face had become covered in blue scales at some point—to seize him by the throat.
“Continue.”
Savage dragon horns protruded from Ao Qin’s forehead. His normally refined eyes could no longer maintain their composure and had turned a terrifying shade of red.
“L-Lord…”
The young guard trembled so badly that he could barely speak.
“Th-there’s nothing else.”
Ao Qin narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip.
He watched the guard struggle painfully in his hand, blood flowing from all seven orifices. Yet at the final moment, Ao Qin regained his senses.
Rather than crushing the guard to death in front of everyone, he slowly lowered him to the ground.
Under Wu Yao’s half-smiling gaze, Ao Qin handed the Azure Dragon guard a bottle of pills.
“I lost control just now.”
The guard had narrowly escaped death. How could he possibly dare accept the pills?
He hurriedly kowtowed in thanks before fleeing.
“Ao Qin, don’t forget our agreement.”
Wu Yao had no intention of preserving Ao Qin’s dignity in front of his subordinates. Their relationship was nothing more than a business transaction.
Ao Qin swallowed the blood churning in his throat. Left with no choice, he handed more than half of the treasures he had only just obtained to Wu Yao.
“Don’t forget that the witch clan must also help me surround and kill that crippled dragon.”
“I know.”
Wu Yao accepted the spatial pouch containing the treasures, and delight immediately spread across his face.
As Ao Qin watched him smile, the resentment and fury inside his heart climbed to their peak.
He had schemed painstakingly for decades, only to receive such a result.
The countless nights he had spent strengthening his resolve and confidence now seemed like one enormous joke.
He had been thoroughly played!
It was all that crippled dragon’s fault.
Ao Qin laughed from extreme anger, his expression frighteningly twisted.
He was so furious and unwilling to accept the outcome that he could only comfort himself.
It did not matter.
Once he devoured the crippled dragon’s flesh and blood, he would certainly reach the seventh rank.
At that time, he would be able to obtain some of the cultivation techniques and inheritances from the forbidden lands, so this would not be a complete loss.
Ao Qin took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. Then he took out a communication token.
“All tribes, heed my command. Every warrior above the third rank is to assemble immediately and travel to Yifa City in the Demon Realm.”
“We will offer Yifa itself as part of the blood sacrifice.”
He paused and glanced at Wu Yao.
His voice was quiet, yet it carried overwhelming rage.
“I want his life.”
…
The Demon Realm
Jiu Qing and Uncle Chen had just ended their communication with the Alliance of Special Lifeforms.
Aunt Hua rubbed between her brows.
“I didn’t expect the dragon race to discover the unrest here in the Demon Realm so quickly.”
“Such an enormous upheaval occurred in the demon capital. The Alliance of Special Lifeforms already delayed the news for almost two days and gave us time to stabilise the situation. That’s more than enough,” Uncle Chen said, taking the matter in stride.
“The Sun-Devouring Rat tribe was still a royal clan. It’s perfectly normal for them to possess internal methods of communication. We had already accounted for the news reaching the dragon race.”
“Mm.”
Jiu Qing’s expression was somewhat grave.
“The Alliance of Special Lifeforms just told us that Wanwan and the others appeared at the merfolk market last night and purchased a map of Yifa. They’re probably heading towards the forbidden land there.”
“A large number of powerful members of the dragon and witch clans have begun moving from various regions. They may be planning to surround and kill them.”
A cold light flashed through Jiu Qing’s eyes.
“It’s time for us to set out as well.”
Uncle Chen smiled pleasantly, but his tone was serious.
“We can go. You should remain here and stabilise the tribe.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Jiu Qing sneered.
“You wish, Uncle Chen. I’m definitely going.”
“You only have seven tails remaining. Do you even still possess fifth-rank strength?”
A teasing voice sounded.
A bewitchingly handsome man with silver hair walked inside, speaking with merciless mockery.
“What? You don’t want the remaining tails either? Why not give them to me?”
“…”
Jiu Qing rolled her eyes at him.
“What would a tailless fox like you want tails for?”
Wu Jin sighed, his voice filled with helplessness.
“Jiu Qing, if you aren’t here to oversee the situation, the public support we finally managed to stabilise will scatter again.”
“The demon tribes cannot endure one upheaval and conflict after another.”
Hearing him call her by name, Jiu Qing stared at the male demon before her with her peach-blossom eyes, briefly stunned.
They had grown up together. While she was away, he had independently carried the entire fox clan upon his shoulders.
He had never called her name like that before.
And when had he reached the fourth rank?
Jiu Qing was extraordinarily beautiful.
Even when she merely stared at him in a daze, the corners of her eyes curved like seductive hooks, making Wu Jin’s heart itch.
Especially since he had loved her for several decades.
However, Wu Jin had always been skilled at disguising himself.
Over the years, those feelings had gradually solidified into stone and become buried deep within his hardened heart, rarely stirring.
Just as he had tugged her tails to annoy her when they were children, Wu Jin spoke in a tone that could only make her dislike him.
“If you insist on going, prepare yourself for the possibility that you won’t return.”
Ah. He was still just as irritating whenever he opened his mouth.
Jiu Qing withdrew her gaze.
“With you here, I don’t need to worry about the Demon Realm.”
Wu Jin gave her an enchanting smile.
“Oh? Then by the time you return, the position of Demon King may already belong to me.”
“Fine.”
Jiu Qing spoke indifferently.
She casually straightened from the chair and put away the seven fluffy tails that had been sprawled across it. Then she took out the bottle of pills Mu Wanwan had left for her, her expression becoming serious once more.
“Uncle Chen, it’s time for us to leave.”
Once Wanwan’s husband entered the inheritance grounds, she would still face danger, even if members of the Alliance of Special Lifeforms were waiting in Yifa City to receive her.
Wanwan was very similar to her.
She was also her benefactor.
No matter what happened, Jiu Qing intended to protect her.
Jiu Qing pressed her red lips together.
She somewhat regretted allowing that dragon to take Mu Wanwan away.
She could only hope that they would not encounter danger before she and the Alliance members arrived to support them.
…
Mu Wanwan, whom they were worrying about, had already fallen asleep from exhaustion beside Mr. Dragon’s ear.
She was curled within the shelter formed by his fluffy ear, firmly protected by a small spiritual-energy barrier.
Snowflakes landed on the barrier and accumulated into a thin layer.
A small porcelain bottle rested in her right hand. Traces of blood remained beside her lips, and exhausted dark shadows lay beneath her eyes.
Her left arm held a White Phoenix-brand hand warmer as she slept deeply.
Mengmeng, who had also been repeatedly exhausted by breathing fire over the past two days, lay sprawled in Mu Wanwan’s arms, sleeping soundly.
Because he had expended so much energy recently, Mengmeng had also grown very quickly.
When they had first found him, he had been a tiny, skinny chirp no larger than a palm. Now, he had expanded until he was more than half the size of a cushion.
However, he had merely grown rounder.
He remained soft and adorable in appearance, without the slightest trace of majesty. At most, he resembled a large, plump chirp.
Mr. Dragon’s spiritual sense swept over the human and chirp.
Only after confirming that Mu Wanwan was sleeping soundly did he carefully shake his enormous ear and throw off the accumulated snow.
Sensing the increasingly violent wind and the faint demonic energy concealed in the air, he slowed his flight.
They were almost at the Demon Realm.
“Wanwan.”
A gentle voice sounded, accompanied by a warm touch against her cheek.
Mu Wanwan’s eyelashes trembled. She opened her eyes and found herself looking directly into Mr. Dragon’s pale-golden eyes.
Snowflakes still clung to his eyelashes and slowly melted.
For the first time, Mu Wanwan noticed just how prominent the creases of his double eyelids were.
Her mind went blank for a moment before she realised that Mr. Dragon was holding her in his arms.
“Have we arrived?”
Mu Wanwan climbed out of his embrace.
He held both of her hands, sending warmth into them, and leaned close to her ear as he answered clingingly,
“Mm. It’s just ahead.”
His warm breath made her shyly move aside.
She looked into the distance and saw a peculiar city resembling a crystal sphere.
A barrier surrounded its exterior.
Snowflakes fell upon it, then slowly slid down its edges. Pale-grey buildings were faintly visible inside.
Apart from the city in the distance, the area around them consisted entirely of a hard, frozen plain.
Beyond the city stood an enormous fissure covered in black smoke.
The barrier kept the black mist outside.
That should be the Abyss marked on the map.
Faint roars from demonic creatures seemed to echo beside her ears.
Mu Wanwan lightly ground her foot against the surface beneath them.
Mr. Dragon chuckled softly.
“There’s practically no soil here. The ground is entirely made from flat stone.”
“…Mm.”
Mu Wanwan nodded before remembering something.
“Where’s Mengmeng?”
“Inside the space.”
After answering, Mr. Dragon tapped her forehead with his index finger.
Mu Wanwan felt the space around her shift. In the next instant, something felt slightly different.
“We’re in the Demon Realm now, so we need a small disguise.”
He explained as he took her hand and slowly walked towards the barrier.
Mu Wanwan curved her lips into a smile.
She noticed that an almost imperceptible dragon-horn barrier still covered her body. It was probably meant to block the demonic energy.
She followed him and reached the city gate without difficulty.
The gate stood outside the barrier, guarded by only one elderly demon.
This was Mu Wanwan’s first time seeing a demon.
The creature had grey-white scales, and his beard almost blended into the snow. He forced his cloudy eyes open and examined them.
“Two Karl demons. The entrance fee is four demon coins.”
Mu Wanwan blinked.
She looked at the sharp horn on his head, which gradually darkened towards its tip, and watched Mr. Dragon take four old coins from his robe and hand them over.
“Oh…”
The elderly demon stared at them nostalgically.
“These coins are from the previous Demon King’s reign, aren’t they?”
“Were they left to you two young demons by your parents? Ah, how nostalgic.”
“Forget it, forget it. I won’t charge you an entrance fee.”
Mu Wanwan glanced at Mr. Dragon.
Seeing an almost imperceptible sadness flash through his eyes, she thanked the elderly demon and accepted the four worn demon coins from him.
The barrier opened, and the two walked inside.
Yifa City was also severely run-down.
Its buildings were merely houses assembled from stone blocks, far inferior to those in the dragon capital.
There were very few demons on the streets.
Most were tall and carried a thick, murderous aura.
With Mr. Dragon holding her hand, they had to walk for a considerable distance before spotting the occasional demon selling goods.
When they approached one stall, Mu Wanwan saw that most of the items displayed were bloodstained metal weapons and chopped pieces of flesh.
The meat appeared to come from a freshly killed demonic beast.
Thin streams of demonic energy emanated from it.
It had even been a third-rank demonic beast.
Mu Wanwan felt slightly intimidated.
Mr. Dragon placed his large hand against her waist, shielding her from the faint glances cast by the surrounding demons.
The two soon arrived at the centre of Yifa City.
According to the map, this was where the Xianqing Pavilion was located.
Beside it stood the finest inn in all of Yifa, protected by its own specialised barrier.
Leave a Reply