The second male lead was none other than the Young Lord of the Demon Race, Xie You Mingyao!
Xie You Mingyao had originally intended to use Huo Li as a Cultivation Cauldron, but she coordinated with Mo Chenxue, who had come to her rescue, and successfully escaped.
Several subsequent incidents gradually deepened the bond between the two, and in the end, Huo Li became the Female Emperor, while Xie You Mingyao was appointed as a Palace Attendant, a position equivalent to that of a palace maid.
Although Palace Attendants could also serve in the imperial bed, their status in the Female Emperor’s harem was the lowest.
It wasn’t because Xie You Mingyao lacked ability, but because he was naturally unruly and wild in his actions, often provoking the Female Emperor’s anger, so he could only be a Palace Attendant…
Luo Qingyan found it amusing just thinking about it.
Now that the Demon Race was invading and all the peaks were on high alert, Joyful Peak had instead become a paradise, where she could continue cultivating without a care in the world!
Comfortable!
…
Demon Race camp.
A sinisterly handsome man dressed in a black robe reclined lazily on a soft couch. His hand, adorned with a ring, was long and powerful, casually swirling a cup of blood-red wine.
The Great Protector, kneeling on the ground, looked stunned: “Your Highness, you mean we’re not going to seize the Heavenly Phoenix Maiden, but instead capture a female disciple named Luo Qingyan from Joyful Peak?”
Xie You Mingyao swirled his wine glass, his tone languid.
“Did this Prince not speak clearly enough? Do I need to repeat myself?”
“No, this subordinate is simply dull-witted!” The Great Protector hastily said in panic: “This subordinate will arrange things according to Your Highness’s wishes right away!”
Though he didn’t understand, he still had to obey.
Xie You Mingyao raised his hand and tossed a scroll to him.
“Everything you need to do is written on this. This is such a simple task, and this Prince does not wish for any mistakes.”
“Understood!”
The Great Protector took the scroll and immediately went out to prepare.
Xie You Mingyao sat alone in the tent, the candlelight reflecting in his eyes as they gleamed with a wild and wanton light.
“Obtaining power by deceiving a girl’s feelings—that kind of behavior is truly despicable, truly vile…”
“But this Prince likes it!”
“As for that fool code-named Xuan, who knows how much effort he must have put in, only to play his favorability from first place down to dead last… He should be someone from the Ask-Immortal Sect, right? People of the Immortal Sect truly are all stupid to the extreme, heh.”
“As for that little girl named Luo Qingyan, I hope she suits this Prince’s taste, so the game will be more interesting…”
“So-called favorability should begin from the moment of meeting, and the trap has already been set.”
Xie You Mingyao took a lazy sip of wine, a cruel and wild smile curling at the corners of his lips.
“Poor little girl, falling into my trap, you’re about to lose both your body and your heart, hahahaha…”
…
On the day of the Demon Race’s invasion, the entire sky above the Ask-Immortal Sect was shrouded in layered Barriers.
Luo Qingyan looked up at the sky and clapped her hands: “This Barrier is so beautiful, all shimmering and colorful!”
Dongfang Che said: “Indeed, the other peaks have also activated their protective Barriers, each with different colors, like a rainbow.”
After admiring the beauty of the Barriers, the two returned to their cultivation as usual.
In the forest, Luo Qingyan was practicing the Divine Escape Steps when more than a dozen streams of black smoke suddenly descended from the sky, transforming into over a dozen masked figures in black robes who surrounded her in a tight circle.
“Little girl, come with us.”
Luo Qingyan stared at their attire and said in shock: “You are… the Demon Race?!”
The Great Protector of the Demon Clan, at the lead, said: “That’s right, we’re here to capture you.”
Luo Qingyan: “??”
Weren’t the Demon Race supposed to capture Huo Li?! Why had they come to Joyful Peak instead?
After a moment of stunned silence, Luo Qingyan suddenly understood: “You’re lost, aren’t you?”
“You want to capture someone but can’t even find the right place… how troubling… Come, come, let me tell you how to get to Mystic Sword Peak.”
Complaining as she spoke, Luo Qingyan grabbed the Great Protector’s sleeve and dragged him to a cliff, pointing at the towering mountains in the distance as she explained:
“Big brother, look over there! See the tallest peak in the middle, the one with the white Barrier… Yes, see it? That’s Mystic Sword Peak. The Huo Li you want to capture is right there.”
“…”
The Great Protector was speechless for a long moment before saying: “We know Huo Li is there.”
“Then why don’t you hurry over?”
“But she’s at the Golden Core Stage and hard to capture, so we’re not going after her anymore. We’ll just take you to make up the numbers.”
“…What?!”
Luo Qingyan was startled, then angrily rebuked: “As the Demon Race, how can you be afraid of trouble when capturing people! If you’re going to capture someone, you should go for the ones with higher cultivation to have some dignity! Taking someone as insignificant as me back would be an insult to your Young Lord, wouldn’t it?”
The Great Protector said: “Thank you for your concern, but our Young Lord doesn’t mind being insulted.”
With that, he reached out to grab her.
“Whoosh”—the girl’s figure moved in an instant, miraculously appearing behind him.
The Great Protector grabbed nothing but air and said with slight surprise: “Not bad, you’ve got some skills.”
The next second, Luo Qingyan vanished from her spot like lightning.
“She jumped off the cliff!”
A Demonic Cultivator shouted.
Luo Qingyan lamented her insufficient cultivation as she fell.
Over a dozen high-level Demonic Cultivators were after her, a mere First Level of Qi Refining, and she’d only learned the escape technique a few days ago—where could she possibly run?
Fortunately, there was water below the cliff. As long as she could dive into the river, there was a chance to escape!
As the water’s surface drew closer, close enough to touch, a wisp of black smoke suddenly chased down from the cliff, wrapping around her like a rope.
Luo Qingyan: “…”
Jumping off a cliff had just turned into bungee jumping.
An hour later, Luo Qingyan was packed into a crate and transported to the Demon Realm.
The Demon Race had always delighted in abducting young women of Immortal Cultivation, capturing them to serve as maids and slaves, or even as tools for carnal pleasure or Evil Cultivator practices. Their fates were often tragic.
“You worthless wretches! With a Golden Core right there, you go and grab a Qi Refining one… Not a shred of ambition! You’ve disgraced the Demon Race entirely!”
“The future of the great Demon Race will surely be ruined by you good-for-nothings!”
The stream of curses continued to pour out from the crate.
One Demonic Cultivator said speechlessly, “Milord, this girl has been scolding us the entire way.”
Another Demonic Cultivator added resentfully, “Yeah, she talks just like my old man. The brothers can’t take it anymore… So why exactly are we capturing her?”
The Grand Protector let out a sigh.
It was all by His Highness’s order; he couldn’t understand it either.
He could only mutter quietly, “Bear with it a little longer. We’re almost there. It should be over soon…”
Inside the crate, Luo Qingyan was in the middle of lambasting the Demon Race’s incompetence when she suddenly heard a sharp shout from outside.
“How dare you demons disturb our Zhongzhou!”
The voice was pleasant to the ear—it belonged to a young man.
Immediately after, sounds of fighting erupted outside the crate, mixed with the pained screams of the wounded Demonic Cultivators. Soon, they were defeated one after another and fled.
With a “crack,” the crate’s lock was broken open, and sunlight streamed in.
Accompanied by the man’s magnetic voice.
“Miss, you’re safe now.”
Luo Qingyan looked up.
Before her stood a young man. His black form-fitting attire outlined a lean and perfectly sculpted physique. He removed the silver mask from his face, revealing a strikingly handsome visage.
His handsome, well-defined features were sharp and clean-cut, with slanted brows sweeping into his temples. A pair of obsidian-like eyes sparkled like stars, his demeanor wild and unrestrained, radiating an intense aura of raw magnetism.
Luo Qingyan blinked.
Oh? It seemed this handsome man had saved her!
[Affection +60]
[Host’s current affection: 60%.]
A faint, barely perceptible smile crossed Xie You Mingyao’s lips.
A life-saving grace was worth 60 affection points—a bit less than he’d anticipated, but no matter.
The game had only just begun, and he still had many tricks up his sleeve…
This little girl before him was pretty and adorable, looking soft and easy to handle. How amusing!