1 – Three Thousand Beauties: Water That Corrodes Demonic Souls, What’s It To Her Immortal Grass?
What does water that corrodes demon souls have to do with her, an immortal herb…
Year 67 of Tianyin, Demon Palace.
The sky was a lightless dark, the blood-red moon illuminating countless alluring figures. Their appearances resembled humans, some with wings and tails, others with greenish skin, looking quite peculiar.
“It’s been three years, and the Sovereign Lord is finally summoning us!” The speaker was full of excitement. “With elder sister’s beauty, you’re sure to win the Sovereign Lord’s favor.”
The woman being flattered had crimson scales on her forehead and sharp ears adorned with human bone pendants. Hearing this, she thrust her mostly exposed bosom forward: “The Sovereign Lord’s demon arts are unparalleled. If I receive his favor, I will naturally not forget to elevate you all.”
Nearby, others also formed small groups, with those of low status flattering and currying favor to the extreme, while those of noble bloodline displayed their charm and allure with all their might.
It was no wonder these demon women were so excited. Since the construction of this Demon Palace, the Demon Lord had merely tossed the beauties offered by various demon races into the harem to fend for themselves, never inquiring about them. For three whole years, the three thousand beauties had performed menial tasks in the Demon Palace while enduring loneliness and longing. Now, finally receiving news of the Sovereign Lord’s summons, how could they not feel eager anticipation?
That was the Demon Lord! The Lord of Vengeance who returned from the Heaven-Burying Abyss, the arrogant tyrant who overthrew the Celestial Terrace, the Lord of Ten Thousand Demons who unified the demon realm!
To gain his favor would make everyone envious! To couple with him would bring boundless benefits!
Today might be their only chance to change their fate.
Filled with both longing and anxiety, they had gathered before the gate tower as soon as they received the news, repeatedly checking their appearance and attire. The most extreme had changed over ten sets of luxurious garments within an hour, and several had even fought fiercely for the frontmost positions.
The beauty contest was a bustling scene, and an inconspicuous young girl was naturally lost in the crowd. Though her features were lovely and her figure well-proportioned, her attire was simple and plain: her slightly wavy, grayish-brown hair tinged with purple was styled into two pigtails, and her dress was made of plain satin with only subtle patterns, suppressing her feminine charm into something reserved and youthful. A thin silk sash cinched her waist, and her sleeves were tied tightly at her wrists to avoid hindering her work.
She had no companions nearby, and her thoughts drifted far from the atmosphere of preening and posing. She simply lowered her head, fiddling with the ribbons on both sides of her dress. With her left thumb and forefinger holding the fixed point, her right hand looped one end into a ring. After threading the other ribbon through the loop, she slowly pulled outward, and the ribbon unfolded into symmetrical butterfly wings in perfect balance. Applying the same method, she tied a series of pink-purple bows all over her body.
Liu Wuzhi tied knots while fretting.
As the peace-loving lingzhi spirit herb of the Azure Mist Sect, she had diligently cultivated immortality ever since her senior brother enlightened her into human form. Who would have thought that while carrying out a mission to repair the Inter-Realm Rift, she would accidentally fall into the Demon Abyss? When she opened her eyes again, she had transmigrated into a demon realm beauty named Wuzhi.
The original host’s soul was shattered, and half her body had already turned cold—the diagnosis was essentially hopeless.
Lingzhi had a unique way of preserving life: in critical moments, she could transfer her soul through spores and reshape her form. But now, twelve hours had passed since her accidental transmigration, and she was still trapped in someone else’s body.
If separated from her original form for over a year, she would truly wither and die!
What was even more distressing than soul transmigration without the original host’s memories was that she had no idea how to return!
Liu Wuzhi had originally intended to find a quiet place to meditate and enter a state of concentration, but she was pushed and jostled by the crowd toward the center of the Demon Palace. The incessant chattering around her made it impossible to settle her mind and recite the celestial heart mantra.
She couldn’t understand the topics discussed by the adult members of the demon race, but the Demon Lord’s summons probably weren’t too different from a sect leader’s lecture, right?
If there was something to say, it would be long; if not, it would be short. She hoped the old Demon Lord would hurry up and finish speaking—she was really in a hurry!
“Hey, you.”
The red-scaled woman from earlier had somehow fixed her gaze on Liu Wuzhi, whose appearance stood out. She swept a disdainful look over the girl’s twin ponytails and crude dress, criticizing, “Look at you, how could you dress like this on such an important day? Are you just trying to attract attention?”
Her followers also glared fiercely at the string of butterfly knots tied around Liu Wuzhi’s waist. “Move to the back! If you anger the Sovereign Lord, don’t drag us down with you.”
Liu Wuzhi had only taken human form for two years, and her familiarity with human language was quite limited. She didn’t understand the meaning of “attracting attention,” nor could she comprehend why they harbored such malice toward her clothing. She only caught a few key words: her clothes would make the Demon Lord angry—but what kind of logic was that?
Little Lingzhi blinked with clear confusion. When in doubt, she asked, “The Demon… Sovereign Lord doesn’t wear my clothes, so why would he be angry?”
Her voice was soft and charming, but her tone was utterly innocent.
As soon as the words left her mouth, the red-scaled woman and the others widened their eyes even further.
…What did she just say?
Let the Sovereign Lord wear her clothes? Wear this shabby little dress covered in stupid butterfly knots?!
“How dare you!” The red-scaled woman grew increasingly irritated by the shimmering ribbons. She abruptly raised her hand. “After three years in the palace, you still don’t know your place. I’ll teach you a lesson on behalf of the Sovereign Lord right now!”
Before Liu Wuzhi could ask why she had the authority to act on the Demon Lord’s behalf, the ground beneath her feet suddenly shook violently. Crimson pool water surged out from all directions in the void, thick and foul. Wherever it passed, youthful beauty turned to withered bones.
“It’s water from the Heaven-Burying Abyss!” The demon women screamed in terror, scrambling to avoid it. “This water corrodes demon souls—don’t let it touch you! At best, it disfigures; at worst, it kills!”
Everyone hurriedly covered their faces and fled, as if disfigurement was more terrifying than death to them.
Amid the chaos, only Liu Wuzhi remained unmoving.
—What did water that corroded demon souls have to do with her, an immortal herb?
The water pillars formed dripping bridges in the air. After the surroundings quieted, a man in a crane-feather cloak and deep robes stepped through the void. “What are you hiding from? Serving the Sovereign Lord is a blessing earned over eight lifetimes. Shouldn’t you undergo a trial?”
The formation was disrupted, and Liu Wuzhi, who hadn’t moved an inch, unexpectedly ended up at the front, facing the man across the void. When he remained silent, Liu Wuzhi lowered her head again and leisurely tied another butterfly knot.
The man: ?
As she stood still, a woman beside her seized the opportunity, pushing forward to bow. “Heaven’s prophecy is calamity, like the moon’s darkness. Greetings to Calamity-Darkness Guardian Yuan Lan.”
The others also bowed one after another, completely unfazed by Yuan Lan’s earlier intimidation.
One of the Demon Lord’s Five Great Guardians had arrived in person—this summons must be real!
As long as they were chosen by Guardian Jie Hui, they could climb into the Sovereign Lord’s bed and become superior among humans and demons alike!
The bloody water illusion retracted into Yuan Lan’s palm, transforming into a black feathered fan adorned with red. He covered his lips with the fan and let out a soft, eerie laugh. “The Sovereign Lord has always despised rules. Those who are too polite… will die.”
His voice drifted down from above, light and casual, but the women lost in their beautiful dreams shuddered.
The crowd stood in a dense, dark mass. Liu Wuzhi, mingling among them, adjusted the knots of her rope while inwardly grumbling: The Demon Lord doesn’t like politeness—does he actually enjoy being insulted?
Then he might as well go listen at the Celestial Sect Assembly.
“The Sovereign Lord’s reign spans millennia; these three thousand beauties are merely tribute gifts from subjugated cities. Since your masters serve as slaves abroad, it is only natural that you enter the palace as maids. Do not let arrogance cloud your judgment.” Yuan Lan lowered his gaze, sweeping over the heavily made-up beauties of the harem. “The previous batch of beauties I sent in all dissolved into corpse water.”
As he delivered this cold warning, the noise around Liu Wuzhi finally quieted. Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, she immediately took a deep breath and held it—this was the standard motion for spraying lingzhi spores.
Inhale, exhale… nothing.
Inhale again, exhale again… still nothing.
Inhale even more forcefully…
Just as she was about to exhale with all her might, Liu Wuzhi sensed a shadow falling over her. Looking up, she once again met Yuan Lan’s probing gaze. The slowly swaying feather fan gleamed with a dangerous halo under the blood moon.
At that moment, her hands were clenched into fists, her feet planted in a horse stance, her cheeks puffed out like a pufferfish. The muscles of her face, strained from excessive effort, were scrunched together, and her complexion had flushed a deep red from holding her breath too long. Even the most beautiful features were twisted beyond recognition.
In her nervousness, Liu Wuzhi lost control. In the silent atmosphere, she let out a crisp, bubbly hiccup.
“…” Awkward, but she really did look like a fish.
“See, I told you she was just seeking attention,” the red-scaled woman, who had somehow squeezed her way to the front, fanned the flames. “What, are you trying to seduce Lord Jie Hui too?”
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Liu Wuzhi asked blankly, “What counts as seduction?”
Hearing this, the other woman grew even angrier. “What a shameless vixen!”
Since she wouldn’t explain properly, Liu Wuzhi didn’t press further, but a heavy sense of defeat welled up inside her.
As a young lingzhi, she couldn’t even release her spores anymore. She had truly and completely become a demon woman.
She had desperately cultivated immortality to avoid being captured for alchemy, but now she had ended up a Demon instead. If her senior brother saw her like this, would he cut her down?
No, she couldn’t afford to wait for the Demon Lord to choose his beauties. She had to find a way back.
While her mind raced, a streak of light suddenly shot out from the tightly shut gate tower, heading straight for Liu Wuzhi’s position. But just before it reached her, the beam curved and struck the red-scaled woman with tremendous force.
“Crack—”
The distance was too close. Not only was Liu Wuzhi splattered with blood, but she also clearly witnessed how that unremarkable little bead pierced through the red-scaled woman’s forehead, separating her head from her body and exploding her like fireworks.
Shattered like that, even if she were still a lingzhi, she couldn’t be saved.
Three thousand people stood on the scene, yet even the sound of breathing seemed frozen.
Behind that gate was only the Demon Lord.
Wasn’t the Sovereign Lord supposed to be selecting beauties to serve him? Why would he kill someone?
In the end, it was Yuan Lan’s soft chuckle that broke the silence. “I dare not share a beauty with the Sovereign Lord.”
“The crime of slander warrants execution.”
Wiping her face, Liu Wuzhi felt a belated fear: if the red-scaled woman hadn’t stepped forward, she would have been the one blown to pieces like fireworks. And if she were accused of something like “the crime of distraction,” she might have been made to suffer Soul Scattered and Spirit Vanished on the spot.
The Demon Lord was so ruthless, yet these beauties still rushed to offer themselves. Wouldn’t it be better to focus on diligent cultivation?
She didn’t want to die—neither captured for alchemy nor killed in the demon realm under someone else’s identity.
She had to leave, and quickly!
After a demonstration of killing the chicken to scare the monkey, no one dared to act recklessly again. Following Yuan Lan’s guidance, they entered the depths of the Demon Palace.
The Demon Palace was located at the center of the demon realm, a crystal floating island suspended above a chasm of the Abyss. Its surface was formed from a crystallized dragon bone foundation, with dark purple fluid slowly flowing through the cracks in the crystals, faintly echoing with the sound of a zither.
The crystal maze and winding corridors intertwined illusion and reality, with only the sound of water and the quiet footsteps breaking the silence.
Liu Wuzhi had intended to hide at the back of the group but was pushed forward by those who were afraid. After a while, she was shoved back again by those eager to curry favor. Unskilled in controlling her human body, she was caught off guard by the alternating pushes and stumbled, nearly falling to the ground. Suddenly, she felt a force gripping her throat.
Her feet left the ground, and when she looked back, Yuan Lan was already holding her by the collar, floating in the air.
A “thank you” stuck in her throat, but Yuan Lan spoke first: “The Sovereign Lord is playing the zither. No noise is allowed.”
Playing the zither? The same kind of zither as the Immortal Sect?
Liu Wuzhi remembered that her eldest senior brother would also play the zither in his leisure time. Could the Demon Lord be so refined as well?
Yuan Lan lifted her a little higher, his cold voice whispering into her ear: “Still daydreaming? If not for the Sovereign Lord’s prohibition against killing in his presence, you would have died three times already.”
Though the words were meant as a threat, Liu Wuzhi’s anxiety slowly eased.
It must have been a misunderstanding earlier—the Demon Lord clearly loved peace!
As her mind relaxed, little lingzhi began to carefully observe her surroundings—after all, she had now reached a place even the founder of the Azure Mist Sect couldn’t breach.
The sky was a deep and eerie darkness, with an eternal, never-setting moon as the only light source, its white, red, and black hues marking the passage of day and night. The air carried a metallic scent, and the wind rustled her blood-stained robes, sending a chill deep into her bones.
Liu Wuzhi stared blankly at the dark sky and blood-red moon, marveling inwardly.
Though it was a bit cold, the lighting and humidity were perfect for fungal growth.
From the height where Yuan Lan floated, the procession of beauties from the rear palace stretched densely below, all uniformly young women, more numerous than the spores she had sprayed.
Needing so many people to serve him, the Demon Lord must be quite incapable of taking care of himself.
Finding no chance to escape, Liu Wuzhi drifted aimlessly with Yuan Lan for a long time until they arrived at a purple crystal music platform suspended amidst flowing waterfalls.
Before the Sovereign Lord, all magical power was unusable, forcing everyone to climb the platform on foot. Floating in mid-air, Liu Wuzhi couldn’t understand why the demon women, already panting like oxen from exhaustion, insisted on climbing in their elaborate robes and jewelry. Was maintaining appearances really that important?
After half an hour, the last woman finally reached the top.
Yuan Lan had long since tossed Liu Wuzhi into a corner and knelt facing the edge of the cliff, paying homage: “Jie Hui, with the three thousand beauties of the Demon Palace, pays respects to the Sovereign Lord.”
While Liu Wuzhi was leisurely counting heads, the woman at the front of the group stepped forward and spoke: “Sovereign Lord above, this humble one is the eldest princess of the Night Territory. I wish to offer my family’s full devotion in serving you.”
As soon as she spoke, the others hurriedly recommended themselves, fearing to fall behind.
A familiar gleam of light flashed from a corner of the music platform, tracing a neat, straight line across the neck of the woman who had spoken first—this time, she didn’t explode into fireworks but was cleanly and swiftly silenced. Soon, those who had forced their way forward fell in disarray.
Killing again?!
Seeing this scene, even Yuan Lan, who had been calm and composed along the way, forced a strained smile and cautiously advised, “Sovereign Lord, you may not know this, but most of the beauties in the harem are noblewomen from the demon realm. Although they perform menial tasks in the palace, their backgrounds are watched by forces from the Seven Territories and Eight Wildlands.”
The underlying meaning was: Be a bit more careful when killing! Some can be killed, while others can only be humiliated, not killed!
Suddenly, a deep male voice descended from above: “This lord has already killed them. What of it?”
Only the voice could be heard, not the person.
The tone carried a sinister chill. As the oppressive aura drew near, Yuan Lan’s forehead slammed heavily against the floor tiles, and he quickly corrected himself: “The lives of these beauties belong to the Sovereign Lord. This subordinate should not have spoken out of turn!”
His response was a note from the zither, brimming with killing intent.
After waiting for a long while, a radiant glow lit up directly in front of the high platform. Liu Wuzhi assumed it was the Demon Lord making an appearance, but when she looked up, she saw… a corpse.
Dark iron chains pierced through the corpse’s collarbone and spine, suspending the bloodied remains at the top of the zither platform. As the wind swept by, the wide sleeves fluttered and trembled, revealing twisted and mangled flesh on the arms.
Witnessing this sight, the terrified women let out piercing screams and, heedless of the consequences, turned to flee down the steps. Faster than their footsteps was the slanted wind formed by the zither’s strings. As the heads of the beauties rolled, their lavishly dressed bodies continued to stride forward, collapsing only after three breaths.
The crowd fell completely silent.
Liu Wuzhi stared in shock at the half-shattered jade pendant hanging from the suspended corpse—the azure lotus jade plaque was unmistakably the insignia of a Celestial Alliance Elder.
Her lifelong pursuit was to Ascend to Immortality, yet the Demon Lord had effortlessly killed a powerful figure from the Immortal Alliance?
Little Lingzhi’s worldview was utterly shattered.
Yuan Lan remained motionless, his forehead pressed to the ground, as the fresh blood of the demon women stained the stone steps of the high platform into a winding, dark river.
So, the prohibition against killing near the Sovereign Lord only applied to others. The Demon Lord was not a lover of peace but rather reserved the opportunity to kill to his heart’s content.
…How utterly deranged!
Author’s Note:
During the serialization period, red packets will be randomly dropped. If you pass by, dear readers, please bookmark this story. I’d be endlessly grateful~
This story is also known as “After Toying with the Demon Lord, I Ran Away.” Since ancient times, cute girls have tamed the mad. Guaranteed sweetness! [Rainbow farts]
Additional Notes on the Setting:
Currently, Zhizhi’s way of thinking is entirely from the perspective of “I am a blade of grass.” She has a high tolerance for pain, gore, and death, but this will gradually change later on~
Male lead = a true world-destroying Demon Lord. He will kill many people. Those with strong moral sensibilities, please refrain from reading.
In this story, the male lead’s demon dragon form is not the traditional Eastern dragon with scales but a private setting of a dragon cub with feathered wings. Please take note, dear angels~
All plant-related attributes are sourced from Baidu and are not professional. Please do not scrutinize them too closely.
Chapter comments are now open. Previews in my column are queued up, waiting for your bookmarks—there’s bound to be one that suits your taste! For completed works in the same universe, please enjoy↓
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