Night fell in silence, the moon faint behind drifting clouds.
At the desolate peak of a high mountain, the cliffside had been carved into a cave by the sheer force of sword wind.
Yu Chengyan leaned against the stone wall, cold sweat soaking his collar as it ran down his neck. His thin lips parted, his breaths uneven and difficult, and the clarity of his eyes was now shrouded in a red haze.
If those sect elders who had praised him at the Grand Ceremony of Xuantian Sect could see him now, they would be utterly shocked.
When cultivators fall into demonic frenzy, their pupils often turn red—a sign of true energy rebounding against them.
Yet, for most cultivators, this red glow is like a mist overlaying the pupil. In Yu Chengyan’s eyes, the red fused with his pupils, jewel-like and radiating terrifying pressure.
Experienced cultivators would recognize that the youth was not only on the edge of madness but had been drawing strength from his inner demons for years, becoming inseparable from them, hence displaying such a phenomenon.
Walking the line of demonic frenzy, drawing power from inner demons, is a forbidden path in cultivation. If discovered, it could provoke combined attacks from multiple sect elders.
Chaotic forces collided within the protective formation, splitting and surging, giving Yu Chengyan a splitting headache. The world around him blurred, and the air pressed in from all sides, suffocating.
For three thousand years, he had contained and used his inner demons. He never imagined he could lose control.
All this began simply because of his mother’s distance and disdain.
When Ning Suyi told him the days were long, Yu Chengyan understood her hidden meaning perfectly.
He knew Yu Wei was easy to console; this was not a serious matter.
He had already accepted that forcing her would result in her dislike. He knew all the reasoning, but reality proved him weaker and more helpless than expected. Just an afternoon of cold treatment, and he could not bear it.
Bang—!
He gritted his teeth, striking the stone wall with a fist.
Sweat fell drop by drop to the ground, his organs burning, his eyes closed, cold sweat streaming from his lashes.
All the surrounding forces in the chaos rushed at him, disrupting his mind, tempting him toward the abyss of madness.
Three thousand years of memories were clawed at by his inner demons, twisted vines searching for the most shameful, painful, and enraging moments in his past.
Fragments involving his mother were abandoned for the first time, because she now stood before him. Even the slightest pain connected to that cruel past was enough to pierce him, forcing him awake to protect the unharmed Yu Wei.
Then, a streak of pure white entered the ink-black chaos.
True energy surged inside him, drenching him in sweat until he was soaked like he had fallen into water. His vision blurred, only noticing the cold, pure white in front of him.
It was icy and clear, as if it could disperse all chaotic darkness and evil.
“You should not be like this,” a distant, cold voice spoke, descending as if from the Ninth Heaven, indifferent to human emotions.
“You are not suited to this path of cultivation.”
Time blurred in that moment. Yu Chengyan lifted his head and laughed bitterly.
“And you, father?” he said, his voice still carrying the clarity of youth but full of sarcasm and malice, “What right do you have to interfere? You never…”
You never cared about me.
From the day I was born, you despised me, did you not?
His breaths grew rapid, his long, defined fingers raking through his hair, eyes increasingly blood-red.
He hated Xie Jianbai, yearning to surpass him, to pull him from his exalted Celestial Lord position, to force him to acknowledge his arrogance and ignorance.
But since the day he became bound to his inner demons, Yu Chengyan had known he was walking a dead end.
He could not resolve the heart demons tied to Yu Wei’s potential death, only carry them forward, even drawing power from them, using forbidden paths to reach his current Immortal Lord status.
He had never imagined he could survive the tribulation.
A god with inner demons—a laughable identity.
He knew, better than anyone, that he would eventually face disaster.
He could never reach Xie Jianbai’s heights, nor prove to him that he was right.
Even if he crossed time at the edge of collapse, he could not free himself from his demons’ grasp.
This was his self-made cage.
Yet another path existed. If he abandoned cultivation and godhood, he could become the first fallen god, feeling the call of the abyss. Should he embrace madness, he could become the strongest demon in history.
He could take revenge on Xie Jianbai, no longer be powerless, and even create a world where Yu Wei could be happy every day, free from tasks she disliked.
Ugh—
His head throbbed, eyes widening, pupils emptying.
The heart demons seized on his fleeting weakness, ensnaring him like a web, prying open his defenses, leaving no moment to recover.
Then he faintly heard the sound of thunder.
At first distant and unclear, it soon became deafening, surrounding him as if about to strike his head in the next instant.
Yu Chengyan shivered, and his mind cleared instantly.
He had followed the inner demons’ path, forbidden by the Heavens, and thus faced a tribulation harsher than any other cultivator at the Great Ascension. The Heavens struck him mercilessly, as if he were not a cultivator but a rogue Great Ascension demon.
The pain and fear penetrated to his bones, subconscious terror and trembling. Hearing the thunder freed him from chaos.
He awoke, drenched in sweat, the heart demons retreating as if they had never appeared.
Leaning against the stone wall, he looked out into the world, hazy but aware.
It was raining.
When Yu Wei woke in the morning, the rain was already heavy.
Yu Chengyan had sent a message early, saying today was for rest. Yu Wei, unapologetically, stayed in bed, chin propped on her hands, staring out the window.
The dorm was quiet; all other disciples had gone out.
Yu Wei hated rainy days, refusing to leave the dorm. With nothing else to do, and her notebooks and snacks gone, she turned to a Qi Refining textbook, but sleepiness took over after the first line. She gave up reading.
Meanwhile, Ning Suyi braved the rain to find Yu Chengyan.
She had been startled by his emotions yesterday. His attitude toward Yu Wei did not reflect only one month of acquaintance. After her show of disdain, his world seemed to collapse.
Something was off.
She remembered their first meeting, when Yu Chengyan had broken Elder Liu’s wrist. She had sensed his killing intent then.
Even if Elder Liu struck first, Yu Chengyan’s willingness to kill had seemed excessive and sensitive.
…Does he lose control whenever Yu Wei is involved?
Her thoughts raced as she climbed the mountain to meet him halfway. Seeing Ning Suyi approaching in a raincoat, Yu Chengyan did not move, projecting his true energy above them to shield against the rain.
She removed her hat, assessing his condition. He appeared as if nothing had happened yesterday and asked calmly, “The rain is heavy. Miss Ning, why are you not in the dorm?”
The words seemed considerate, yet Ning Suyi sensed a deeper meaning: he was asking why she wasn’t inside with Yu Wei.
She ground her teeth.
This guy is a true cat servant. Only a month here, and he worries more about Yu Wei than she does.
With others, she might twist her words three times over. But with Yu Chengyan, perhaps because of his actions or yesterday’s extreme reaction, she did not bother.
“Ling Xiao, are you hiding something from us?” she asked bluntly. “Did you know Yu Wei before?”
Yu Chengyan paused, unprepared for her directness.
He could not predict her thoughts, only showing a caring smile. “Miss Ning, why ask this all of a sudden?”
“What do you think?” she snapped. “Yu Wei ignored you, and you acted as if the sky fell. Did you secretly cry last night?”
Yu Chengyan: …
He felt awkward. He had not cried, but it was almost the same, even needing to flee far from Xuantian Sect to handle his heart’s turmoil.
“I…” He looked aside, voice dry. “It’s fine. I can endure it because of Yu Wei’s training.”
Ning Suyi was speechless. She had tried to provoke him, but he had accepted it, carrying himself like a martyr.
Was he genuinely slow or pretending?
“I asked if you could endure without crying,” she said, exasperated. “I meant, are you hiding something from us? Do you know Yu Wei or not?”
Yu Chengyan fell silent for a long moment.
“Yes,” he said, “and no.”
Before Ning Suyi could respond, he lifted his gaze to her.
“I have seen my family harmed before, so I am sensitive in these matters. And Yu Wei… I feel a blood connection with her, so I care deeply about her opinion of me.”
Everything he said was true, enough to convince Miss Ning.
When Ning Suyi fell silent, he continued to look at her intently, sending a shiver down her spine.
It was a strange feeling, as if Yu Wei were a lamb cared for inside a house, and her guardian dog stood outside, motionless, watching over her.
This was still Yu Chengyan, not fully in control of his emotions, his protective and possessive instincts toward Yu Wei showing.
Ning Suyi’s annoyance grew—she had arrived first and met Yu Wei first, yet Ling Xiao acted like the true caretaker.
His words were partly believable, but being stared at so intensely irritated her. She asked, “So in all these years you really had no contact with the outside world? She is truly not your daughter?”
Then she saw Yu Chengyan, usually composed, reveal his first unrestrained, twisted expression. His gaze shifted, unreadable, words hovering on his lips.
Ning Suyi: ?
Why that reaction?