When Du Yuanzhong escaped from under Jun Yanye’s grasp, he felt mentally dazed. He had actually survived. Having followed Jun Yanye for hundreds of years, Du Yuanzhong considered himself relatively knowledgeable about the Demon Lord. Due to his memory loss, the Demon Lord seemed permanently shrouded in mist, with a vacant, distracted demeanor being his normal state. He usually handled matters with calm detachment and rarely displayed such intense emotions. For a five-thousand-year-old Demon Lord to lose his temper like that, the interior of the cave must have been left in absolute ruin and that was being restrained, as he hadn’t simply blown up the entire mountain.
“General, what happened just now? We heard quite a commotion in the cave,” a young demon soldier asked, noticing Du Yuanzhong covered in sweat and looking rather pale.
“Don’t ask about what you shouldn’t,” Du Yuanzhong snapped. Then, noticing a distinctive small sachet tied to the soldier’s waist, he asked, “Where did that come from?”
“Oh, I ran into Young Master Shi just now. He gave it to me, saying it could help with cultivation advancement,” the soldier said with a radiant smile.
“What…” Du Yuanzhong gasped, his expression changing instantly like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. “Give it back! Do you want to lose your life?”
“Huh?”
Du Yuanzhong began to suspect Shi Li’s identity once more. Could he be a spy sent specifically to dismantle the demon army? If he kept giving things away like this, the morale of the entire army would be shaken.
In the blink of an eye, the night for dual cultivation arrived again. Shi Li sauntered over to Yuanlan Lake, where Jun Yanye was waiting for him. Seeing Shi Li arrive, Jun Yanye glanced back at him with indifference before turning his face away.
“Ignoring me?” Shi Li picked up a strand of Jun Yanye’s hair.
“Young Master Shi has been very busy lately,” Jun Yanye said. “Many in the demon army and among the demon clans have benefited from your generosity.”
“Hahaha, just a small favor, not worth mentioning!” Shi Li stripped off his clothes and stepped into the water. “The Changming Sect is up to their tricks again, throwing a bunch of things into the Wanyou Valley for no reason. I saw that they were all good items, and it would be a waste not to use them, so it’s better to give them to others to improve the strength of the guard team.”
Jun Yanye gazed at him, words catching in his throat. Shi Li blinked, understanding immediately, and said, “Those are just little knick-knacks, they’re not for you.”
“Did I say I wanted them?” A fire ignited in Jun Yanye’s heart once more.
“I knew the Demon Lord was magnanimous and wouldn’t haggle over such things,” Shi Li said, leaning against Jun Yanye’s shoulder.
“Ugh.” The fire in Jun Yanye’s heart dimmed slightly.
Shi Li reached out, conjuring thousands of lanterns by the lakeshore. Warm-colored candle flames burned within petals of various colors, dazzling like stars and creating a dreamlike, illusory scene in the vast grassy woods.
“What is this?” Jun Yanye was baffled again.
“To add some romantic flair,” Shi Li held up a lantern, the sunset-colored glow illuminating his profile. “I have the capital to squander my spiritual power now.”
The lanterns Shi Li conjured were not made of paper, but of glaze. This display drained his spiritual power completely, and it would take until this time tomorrow to recover. It was truly spectacular, and it truly burned through his spiritual power, but Shi Li did not care as long as he was happy.
“If you were to claim the throne, you would surely be a tyrant,” Jun Yanye said.
Shi Li looked at him, leaned in, and kissed Jun Yanye’s lips. Jun Yanye’s heart melted into a pool of water. Shi Li’s eyelashes were thick, their shadows blurred, and as Jun Yanye’s gaze became entangled with his, their breathing became one.
“I asked you before if you preferred to be on top or underneath, and it seems you prefer the top,” Shi Li said. “You’ve become quite skilled.”
Jun Yanye blocked his mouth. “Don’t speak.” It ruined the mood.
Shi Li lowered his eyes and smiled, the sound of his soft laughter blending with the splashing of the water. Very soon, however, Shi Li could no longer laugh. This time, Jun Yanye was exceptionally aggressive, attacking and seizing territory like he was fighting a war. It wasn’t enough that the people in the city had surrendered; he wanted to trample every inch of land with his iron hooves, leaving no room for retreat.
Shi Li could feel it; Jun Yanye was harboring a desire for revenge. The Demon Lord was holding a serious grudge because Shi Li had given gifts to his subordinates but had not given him one. He intended to reclaim everything during their dual cultivation.
The lanterns burned brightly, and spiritual light overflowed within Yuanlan Lake. Shi Li’s whole body felt so hot it was as if he were burning up.
“You’ve reached the Nascent Soul stage,” Jun Yanye said, locking Shi Li in his arms and looking into his eyes. Jun Yanye’s face was as beautiful as jade, with black hair and red eyes. He possessed a face without a shred of evil intent, yet he was performing the most depraved of acts.
Shi Li weakly slapped Jun Yanye’s face; he had no strength left, so it felt more like a caress. “You pushed me to the Nascent Soul stage, and you still have the nerve to talk?”
“You must be the first person to reach the Nascent Soul stage at this age,” Jun Yanye said.
“Sooner or later, I’ll die of exhaustion from dual cultivating with you,” Shi Li gasped for air, brushing a stray lock of hair from his lips.
“If you die, I will turn the Underworld upside down,” Jun Yanye promised.
Shi Li closed his eyes to recover for a while.
“In a few days, I will take you to Wanjian Mountain to pick out a sword,” Jun Yanye said. Shi Li shook his head, refusing.
“The Qintan sword can no longer keep up with your cultivation, nor can it manifest a sword spirit,” Jun Yanye stated.
“I’m used to using it.”
Jun Yanye did not understand; Shi Li seemed very contradictory. He thought that if Shi Li truly hated Yan Moqiao to the bone, he would not keep the sword that man had given him.
On the day Shi Li ascended to the Nascent Soul stage, many in the Holy Realm suffered from insomnia. Everyone who had once thought he would never turn his situation around had, in a mere month, seen him rise into the top ten of the Holy Realm, placing him on equal footing with his former head senior brother, while also having the Demon Lord as his dual cultivation partner.
Those who had clashed with Shi Li or gossiped about him behind his back could not help but be terrified. “Have you heard? That person has broken through to the Nascent Soul stage! It’s too frightening… it hasn’t even been half a month.”
In the outer disciple dormitory of the Changming Sect, a few disciples responsible for sweeping were unable to sleep, sitting up around a lamp to whisper.
“Hasn’t he been dual cultivating with that demon? The demon’s cultivation is so high that he dragged his cultivation up all at once. If you ask me, working diligently doesn’t compare to finding the right dual cultivation partner.”
“Keep your voices down. Shi Li suffered enough here. If they both show up at our door, it won’t be easy to handle.”
Zhou Man, an outer disciple, remained silent. He turned to pack his bedding, planning to flee down the mountain to seek refuge. “Hey, what are you doing?” his roommate asked, pulling his sleeve.
“I’m going away for a while,” Zhou Man said, his face ashen.
“Hahaha, you don’t have to be that scared. We still have the Sect Leader and the Young Sect Leader. What are you afraid of.”
The others didn’t know that when Shi Li was imprisoned, Zhou Man had been responsible for delivering his meals. At the time, Zhou Man was in a foul mood and had taken his frustrations out on Shi Li with punches and kicks. Now, hearing that Shi Li had advanced his cultivation, he had been too terrified to close his eyes for days and nights. Upon learning that Shi Li had reached the Nascent Soul stage, his inner composure collapsed completely.
“At this rate of cultivation, he might ascend next month, right?” an outer disciple propped his chin up, fiddling with the candle flame, and teased Zhou Man. “Hey, if you’re really that scared, why don’t you find a high-level cultivation partner and quickly increase your own level, too?”
“Who would want him, hahaha.”
The group burst into laughter. Zhou Man hastily packed his bag and descended the mountain before dawn.
Late at night, Jun Yanye and Shi Li were sleeping in the same bed. In truth, with their cultivation levels, neither of them needed to sleep, but Shi Li’s advancement had been so rapid that he could not immediately abandon many of his habits from when he was at a lower level. Moreover, Shi Li liked to sleep; when he was drunk, he would sleep. Jun Yanye lay beside Shi Li, acting as his sleep companion. Watching Shi Li fall asleep brought peace to Jun Yanye’s heart.
But tonight, Shi Li was sleeping uneasily. He frowned, his fingers gripping the quilt as if he were desperately enduring something. Jun Yanye gripped his hand. “Shi Li?”
“Ugh…” Shi Li breathed out, like someone drowning who had finally gasped for air. He opened his eyes, the confusion and terror not yet faded from his gaze.
“Did you have a nightmare?” Jun Yanye’s voice was very soft.
Shi Li took a moment to recover and see that the person before him was Jun Yanye. Only then did he relax. “You scared me to death. I just dreamt that you poured all the wine I had saved into the lake.”
“Ugh.” Jun Yanye did not believe a single word of it, but he still retrieved some soothing wine and handed it to Shi Li.
Shi Li turned his face away in disgust. “Medicine-laced wine again? You’re a Demon Lord, why are you so focused on ‘maintaining your health’? I want to be drunk for a thousand years.”
“Ugh.” Jun Yanye and Shi Li locked eyes. Shi Li seemed to realize something and tried to run as soon as he got out of bed.
Jun Yanye pointed a finger. “Freeze.”
Shi Li now understood the importance of cultivation advancement. With tears in his eyes, he watched Jun Yanye use the same trick again and feed the soothing wine to him.
“You’re forcing me!” Shi Li grumbled angrily.
“I am a Demon Lord. So what if I force you?” Jun Yanye replied, feeling perfectly justified.