After a brutal battle, Xie Chen had nearly been cleaved in two at the waist, the wound so deep that bone was visible.
Though his life had been barely preserved, the dark, demonic miasma that clung to him was like a disease rooted in the marrow, refusing to disperse no matter what was done.
No matter how he secluded himself in meditation, purifying his body with all his strength and no matter how the sect leader and the elders took turns trying to expel the poison, that strange, ominous black aura continued to seep endlessly from within him.
Seeing this, the elders and fellow disciples could not help but grow increasingly anxious.
This was far too abnormal.
Everyone knew that only newly admitted disciples, mere mortals with no foundation, might be so easily invaded by the miasma of the demonic marsh when their cultivation was still shallow.
Once someone had trained for even a year or two and their spiritual roots had stabilized, such miasma could scarcely invade the body again.
“And yet Junior Brother’s cultivation has clearly reached its peak, unmatched among his peers yet he’s still tormented by this mere demonic marsh aura to the point that he cannot sleep, suffering endlessly… This alone shows that his foundation has been damaged. I’m afraid this is a sign that his life is nearing its end. What are we to do?”
“Yes, if this continues, before the Demon Star even appears, Lord Zhaoye might already…”
“No, no, let’s try to think more positively.”
“Do you remember? During the Tianxiang Trial, Junior Brother Xie was also afflicted by the demonic marsh poison.”
“Ah, now that you mention it… it did seem strange back then. With Junior Brother Xie’s cultivation, there was no reason for him to be struck by such a minor toxin. Senior Brother Yin was with him day and night, fighting side by side until the end and he wasn’t affected at all, was he?”
“That’s true. So perhaps Junior Brother Xie simply has a naturally unusual constitution, one that easily attracts impure energies?”
“I hope that’s the case…”
Everyone voiced their agreement.
But the moment they stepped outside and happened to run into Xie Chen, they could not help but feel their hearts pound in fear.
His current appearance was simply too terrifying.
His face was deathly pale, completely devoid of color, his eyes threaded with dense blood red veins. His once refined and handsome features had become gaunt and sharp from rapid weight loss and the thick, inescapable black demonic aura surrounding him made his entire presence feel oppressive and lifeless.
Where was the elegant, upright figure he once was, radiant as clear wind beneath a bright moon?
“He… he looks a bit frightening.”
“Don’t say that. Junior Brother has been running day and night, slaying demons and protecting the common people. Anyone would collapse under that kind of strain.”
“But… last time, when the sect leader and Daoist Luoye were trapped, they had no choice but to seek help from the Jinduan Sect. I noticed that Senior Brother Yin, over this past year, has been living quite well, his complexion glowing, his bearing refined and noble, far better than when he was here with us!”
“How could that be the same? The Jinduan Sect is wealthy beyond measure. They treat spirit pills and elixirs like daily meals. Of course he looks better.”
At the time, this conversation was nothing more than idle chatter among fellow disciples. No one took it to heart.
But soon after, within the Tangdi Immortal Sect and even throughout the entire cultivation world, a rumor began to spread in secret once more,
The reason the Demon Lord had yet to reappear was not because he lay dormant but because he possessed a special bloodline.
No one could trace the origin of the rumor yet it spread with uncanny detail, as though every word were certain truth. It claimed that this generation’s Demon Lord was the offspring of an ancient evil demon and a great cultivator.
Because of this, his demonic energy could nearly be mistaken for a powerful spiritual root, allowing him to blend openly within the righteous path, almost impossible to detect.
Once the rumor emerged, it stirred waves of unrest.
After all, among the younger generation, those with such extraordinary talent were only a handful, names everyone knew well.
As the story spread, suspicion gradually began to gather around Xie Yin.
After all, the pitch black aura that lingered around him day and night, impossible to dispel, was simply too abnormal.
Could it be that what afflicted him was not the erosion of the demonic marsh at all but demonic energy itself?
When the rumor first reached the Tangdi Immortal Sect, everyone rejected it outright.
“Nonsense! Junior Brother Xie is aloof and pure, willing to risk his life for others, what part of him resembles a demon?”
Yet, scarcely half a month later, beneath the depths of the Lingshui Abyss, an ancient demon core, known as the “Ming Core”, was on the verge of awakening. It drew countless demonic creatures as if in pilgrimage, all flocking toward it, seeking to use its power to tear open the barrier between realms.
The various immortal sects had no choice but to gather there as well, preparing for a desperate, last stand.
That battle lasted seven days and seven nights. Its brutality was like the descent of a living hell.
Once the demonic creatures reached Lingshui, they were no longer a disorganized mob. Driven by the unified will of the Ming Core, they surged forward like a black tide, crashing relentlessly against the crumbling defensive line, wave after wave, without end.
Cultivators fell in heaps, their spiritual light dimming one after another. Blood soaked the scorched earth until it turned into a mire of mud and gore. In the end, the cultivators were completely overwhelmed. Their spiritual power exhausted, they were trapped within a dead valley, powerless before the soon to awaken corrupted core, with no path to escape.
Zhou Xuanle was among them at the time.
His aptitude was mediocre and he was already injured, his entire body numb. Only a desperate instinct to survive kept him from collapsing.
In his dazed state, the sounds around him blurred together, ragged breathing like bellows, mingled with the agonized cries of his comrades and the shrieks of demonic creatures.
Through his hazy vision, only one figure remained, Xie Chen, still fighting at the very front.
That figure no longer carried the cold, upright bearing of the past. Every swing of his sword seemed as though he bore the weight of mountains. Deep wounds, cut to the bone, covered his body and his black robes had been soaked through with blood again and again yet he still stood firmly before everyone, like the final dam on the verge of collapse.
Then suddenly, the Ming Core, swollen with absorbed demonic energy, let out a piercing shriek. From its cracking surface burst forth a devastating black light,
It was about to awaken.
In that very instant, Xie Chen turned his head and glanced back, as though searching among the people he had been protecting, trying to find someone.
But there was no one.
Lowering his gaze, he gave a resolute, almost gentle smile.
Then, he chose to perish together with it.
“Junior Brother, don’t-!” someone cried out hoarsely.
But it was already too late. Xie Chen burned through all his spiritual power and charged straight toward the core, intending to destroy both it and himself.
Yet what awaited him was not death.
Instead, a black vortex, fiercer and more devouring than the corrupted core itself, erupted violently from within his body. A vast, ancient demonic resonance pierced into everyone’s consciousness.
In the next instant, boundless, terrifying and supremely pure demonic energy surged outward like a tidal wave, carrying an aura both ancient and sovereign. It forcibly wrapped around the rampaging core, compressing it, suppressing it, pushing it back into dormancy by sheer overwhelming force.
For a brief moment, heaven and earth fell silent.
But in that silence, every heart plunged into an even deeper abyss of cold.
Because they had all seen it.
The overwhelming, pure demonic energy of the core, the kind that made one tremble from the depths of the soul, was now actively circling around Xie Chen, joyful, submissive, as though it belonged to him, as though it shared the same origin and life.
And there he stood, dark demonic patterns spreading beneath his eyes like thorny vines, his gaze filled with a churning darkness that did not belong to the mortal world.
The Demon Lord had awakened and all the filth of the world had gathered upon him.
The rumors… had been true.
Zhou Xuanle lost consciousness amidst the shock.
When he woke, he had already returned to the immortal sect.
What met his eyes was the familiar bed canopy patterned with calming runes and at his nose lingered the faint scent unique to the Tangdi Immortal Sect, a blend of medicinal herbs and sacred sandalwood. His injuries were not fatal. After resting for half a month, he was finally able to move about again.
On the surface, the sect seemed unchanged.
It was early spring. Peach blossoms bloomed brilliantly across the mountain peaks, like clouds dyed in rosy hues. Petals drifted down onto the bluestone paths and into the jade green pools, their beauty untouched by the dust of the world.
And yet, everything had changed.
The Tangdi Immortal Sect no longer had Xie Chen.
That quiet and refined junior brother, clad in white, like a snow covered mountain beneath an eternal moon,
Had turned out to be the Demon Lord.
The entire righteous cultivation world was shaken by this earth shattering revelation.
With the Demon Lord’s identity exposed overnight, no one spoke any longer of Xie Chen’s years of merit and glory. Almost immediately, the highest level “Demon Extermination Decree” was issued, its wording solemn and resolute, proclaiming the need to “purge demonic miasma, cleanse the universe, eradicate evil at its root and restore the natural order of heaven.”
It vowed to correct the deception the Demon Lord had wrought over the years and to return clarity and righteousness to the world.
The slogans rang loud and grand, dignified and righteous.
Yet while all sects were united in their declared stance of “upholding justice and slaying demons,” their attitudes diverged when it came to the actual pursuit.
Some sects sought to seize the foremost credit for killing the Demon Lord, hoping to consolidate their supreme prestige and command over others. Others, driven by private motives, coveted his demonic core and spiritual root, secretly issuing orders to capture him alive if possible, or at the very least, retrieve his corpse.
There were also those like the Tangdi Immortal Sect, caught in an awkward position and weaker second and third tier sects that merely hoped others would charge ahead while they preserved their own strength, lest they become cannon fodder.
Still others took advantage of the chaos, fishing in troubled waters to seize profit.
Because each sect harbored its own schemes, despite the overwhelming momentum behind the “Demon Extermination Decree,” three full months passed, with several large scale encirclements and hunts yet none succeeded in eliminating the heavily wounded, exhausted Demon Lord.
Naturally, a matter as momentous as hunting Demon Lord Xie Chen had nothing to do with ordinary inner disciples like Zhou Xuanle.
Zhou Xuanle’s recent task was to descend the mountain with fellow disciples, assisting survivors of recent calamities in rebuilding their homes, dredging spiritual veins and purifying the lingering foul energies.
During breaks from labor, as they sat together to rest, they inevitably indulged in hindsight speculation.
“Thinking back now, the massacre of the entire Xianyue Pavilion overnight, corpses everywhere, the whole sect wiped out and only Xie Chen survived. The elders actually believed that, in a moment of danger, a child awakened his fire spiritual root and fought back to kill his enemies.”
“In truth, it was probably those murderers who had the misfortune of running into the Demon Lord. If it weren’t for Zhaoye Jun, who else could have killed a Demon Lord?”
“And everyone knows a once in a century spiritual root is already exceptional but a once in a thousand years? When has that ever been heard of? Turns out it wasn’t a spiritual root at all, it was a demonic core!”
“And now that I think about it, Senior Brother Yin, who truly possesses a top grade fire spiritual root, was the first to say he was a demonic cultivator.”
At those words, a chorus of sighs and exclamations followed.
“Ah, back then, the entire sect was deceived by the Demon Lord. Senior Brother Yin had sharp insight and spoke the truth yet he was accused of jealousy toward a fellow disciple and was ultimately expelled unjustly!”
“No wonder he refused to confess no matter what, he was innocent all along, framed by others!”
“Now that the truth is revealed, his grievances have been cleared. Thinking about it, it really makes one feel vindicated on his behalf!”
Yin Xuanlin was indeed quite vindicated.
At this moment, he was soaking in a luxurious hot spring within the opulent Golden Butterfly Sect.
Beside him were eighteen platters of exquisite delicacies and spirit fruits, along with six or seven varieties of fine beverages and wines. The scene was one of utter indulgence, leisurely, carefree and thoroughly satisfying.
Now that it had been proven that Xie Chen was the true demon, the matter of Yin Xuanlin’s expulsion from the sect had resurfaced.
Those elders who had once despised him and pronounced judgment upon him were now each labeled as “blind to the truth” and “wrongfully harming the loyal and good.” Scholars everywhere spoke in his defense, debating passionately on his behalf.
As a result, whenever the elders of the Tangdi Immortal Sect saw him lately, their expressions were… complicated, rich, varied and rather entertaining to behold.
Of course, their complicated expressions were not merely due to shame.
More importantly, Yin Xuanlin… remained, as always, utterly insufferable.
For an entire year, the various sects had poured immense manpower, resources, spirit stones and magical artifacts into pursuing Demon Lord Xie Chen yet time and again, they fell just short of success.
Worse still, while the identity of the Demon Lord had been made clear, the identity of Zhaoye Jun remained completely unknown, leaving the elders even more uneasy.
And yet, while all the sects were frantic, overwhelmed and in a state of burning urgency…
What was the immensely powerful Golden Sect doing?
And what, exactly, was its young master Yin Xuanlin doing?
He was selling goods.
Hosting poetry gatherings, holding tea parties, basking in tranquil days and fragrant blossoms, as though the world were at peace. He soaked in baths, utterly at ease, as if nothing at all were amiss.
It had already been a full year. If they still failed to capture the Demon Lord, whose power was capable of overturning heaven and earth, the cultivation world itself would face catastrophic ruin.
And yet this man, aside from occasionally assisting in disaster relief or eliminating ordinary demonic creatures, remained composed and unhurried, making no real move?
Worse still, more and more opportunistic sects had begun to align themselves with the Golden Toad Sect, following its lead and colluding in quiet complacency.
They no longer pursued the Demon Lord with urgency, instead dragging their feet, muddling through the chaos, taking advantage where they could, it was enough to infuriate anyone watching.
How could one remain so detached, hanging the matter high above as though it had nothing to do with them?
Truly.
If the Golden Toad Sect were still under the leadership of its former sect master, the righteous leaders of the cultivation world would have long since stormed its gates, pointing fingers and denouncing him as a disgrace to all cultivators.
But now, the one in charge was Yin Xuanlin.
Not only was he the greatest victim of the Demon Lord Xie Chen’s so called “framing,” he was also the earliest and most exemplary figure to have “exposed” him.
Now that he chose to withdraw and remain inactive, who could possibly claim the moral ground to criticize him?
They could only swallow their indignation, watching his leisurely, carefree demeanor with hollow frustration.
Over the past year, Yin Xuanlin had not paid much attention to Xie Chen.
At most, he would occasionally hear reports.
That the Demon Lord had been gravely wounded in the Eastern Sea, nearly destroyed in body and spirit by the “Nine Heavens Thunder Array” jointly set by three great sects. That in the Western Desert, his demonic veins had burned out, forcing him into a desperate breakout like a cornered beast.
That he had dragged his broken body into a secret realm within the Northern Snowfields to heal, only for his whereabouts to be exposed, resulting in an ambush by several great powers. A brutal battle followed, shattering the mysterious ice and staining half the snowfield red with blood.
Good.
Served him right.
How could it not be deserved?
Yin Xuanlin thought back to how arrogant and dismissive Xie Chen had been in the past, how he had treated him with cold indifference. Then he recalled how wholeheartedly Xie Chen had trusted those people from the Tangdi Immortal Sect, how he had risked life and limb for them, giving everything without reservation.
Hah and now?
Betrayed, weren’t you?
Is there even a single person left to protect you?
And you truly believed those people cared about you, that they valued you.
Moreover, no wonder he had turned the tables back then when Yin Xuanlin was falsely accused. It turned out he was nothing more than a born villain, a deceitful Demon Lord from the very beginning and yet he had managed to maintain that flawless façade of cold purity, deceiving everyone with ease.
Hmph.
The Demon Lord had now reached the end of the road, with nowhere left to escape.
The latest news was that several major sects had once again joined forces, casting a net as vast as heaven and earth, trapping the already exhausted and failing Xie Yin within a remote, insignificant place in the south called Qinghe Village.
The fierce battle had already raged for two days and two nights. The killing array blazed skyward, its radiance piercing the heavens. It was said that this time, they might finally succeed in eradicating him completely.
Yin Xuanlin rose to his feet and stretched lazily.
He deliberately changed into an exceedingly ostentatious robe of crimson, richly embroidered with golden toad and drifting cloud patterns. Then he summoned his flamboyant Eight Treasure Agarwood Flying Palanquin, his expression one of unrestrained ease and arrogance.
“Let’s go. It’s time for our grand entrance.”
Jiang Qianjin asked, “Xuanlin, where are we going this time?”
“To Qinghe Village.”
“The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. It’s time for our Golden Toad Sect to step in, reap the rewards and claim the credit.”
✦ ✧ ✦
Fleurveil
[Translator]
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ChaptersChapter 1 · Once a chosen one of heavenChapter 2 · Why didn’t you crawl in the shadows?!Chapter 3 · They would rather fight each otherChapter 4 · I’ll do a handstand and run naked three times!Chapter 5 · So what if I’m showing off!Chapter 6 · If you look again, I’ll gouge your eyes out!Chapter 7 · The young couple is fighting again.Chapter 8 · I’m back at the Jinchan SectChapter 9 · Sour, sourChapter 10 · To seize credit for someone’s workChapter 11 · The Golden Toad Sect has come to our aid to annihilate the Demon LordChapter 12 · Sect Leader’s HusbandChapter 13 · The stone, fox, tree, and scarecrow are named XuanlinChapter 14 · My junior and I have had sweet moments in private!Chapter 15 · The truth behind their first falling out back thenChapter 16 · Hate lasts longer than loveChapter 17 · Xie Chen was actually the Demon LordChapter 18 · Slaying the Demon LordChapter 19 · From resistance to enjoymentChapter 20 · Xiao Xie’s perspective begins!Chapter 21 · Only because it was Yin XuanlinChapter 22 · Xie Chen was not a foolChapter 23 · The End