Ji Jiuchen was the Demon Lord of the demon realm. How could a mere Qi Refining cultivator possibly challenge someone of his cultivation level?
Jiang Xuezhi had only succeeded because he had underestimated her and let his guard down. The wound on Ji Jiuchen’s foot healed quickly, the pain had lasted only a moment.
But a moment of pain was enough.
Anyone who dared to kick her in the face would have died countless times in the past.
Now, with her current physical condition, this was the best she could do. Still, it was better than doing nothing and far more satisfying.
With these thoughts in mind, Jiang Xuezhi calmly observed the newcomer. Sensing an aura entirely different from that of a cultivator, she concluded that he was either a demon or a monster.
She contemplated his identity and assessed his limits, far beyond those of the Xuan Tian Sect disciples, perhaps even comparable to the disciples of Tian Yong. That would mean…
Jiang Xuezhi’s thoughts abruptly halted.
She stared at Ji Jiuchen’s face in astonishment, her expression completely transformed.
If her earlier demeanor had been cold, regarding him as if he were already dead, now she looked at him as if he were the most important person in the world.
It was an all-too-familiar face, and she couldn’t control her instinctive reaction.
Jiang Xuezhi’s origins were humble, a fact that had been held against her before she became a commander.
She had no desire to recall how she had clawed her way up from the bottom, enduring the oppression and abuse of the nobility. But she would always remember the person who had given her a second chance at life.
Ji Jiuchen, the one who had personally pulled her out of the icy waters of a desolate river on a barren planet.
At eighteen, just after his own awakening, Ji Jiuchen was also an Alpha. While on a mission to that barren planet, he had ignored his companions’ objections and insisted on rescuing Jiang Xuezhi from the river.
The river on that barren planet was no ordinary body of water. Though it appeared to be a vast river, its depths were contaminated with all manner of chemical waste.
Anyone who fell in would die within ten minutes, their body completely corroded. Jiang Xuezhi was the exception.
She had survived in that river for three days and three nights. No one knew how she had endured, not even herself. Clinging to her last breath, she refused to die, convinced that there was still much she needed to do.
She had to take revenge on the one who pushed her into the water. She had to truly live, not die like this.
That year, she was only eight years old.
Ji Jiuchen’s companions were wary of how a frail little girl could survive in that toxic river for so long. Fearing danger or a trap, they kept their distance, unwilling to get involved.
Only Ji Jiuchen stepped forward. He took her away, gave her access to his own medical pod, and granted her a second chance at life.
From that day on, she followed him.
She vowed that she would not let his rescue be in vain, she would bring him the greatest benefits.
At the time, Ji Jiuchen paid no heed to a child’s words. But when Jiang Xuezhi awakened at eighteen and became an Alpha with a rare 3S-level spiritual power in the empire, he finally realized she was serious.
Though they were not related by blood, Jiang Xuezhi had always regarded Ji Jiuchen as her adoptive father.
On the day of her coming-of-age ceremony, with only the two of them present, she made a promise to him under the moonlight: she would secure a glorious future for her adoptive father.
Ji Jiuchen had seemed in low spirits that day. The very next morning, he developed a high fever and fell into a coma.
Everyone thought it was just a minor illness, that he would recover soon, and Jiang Xuezhi believed so too.
She bid him farewell as planned, whispering in his ear that she was heading to her first battle. If she won, she would bring back the spoils to give to him.
The spoils after an Alpha’s coming of age were extremely important, and the first obtained were the most significant. By choosing to give them to him, she showed how much she valued him.
She promised to return soon and indeed came back in just three days, but she never got to see Ji Jiuchen one last time.
That young man, at the age of twenty-eight, closed his eyes forever.
It was absurd and utterly ridiculous, he died just like that.
The Ji family guarded the truth fiercely, refusing to reveal the real cause of his death. It took Jiang Xuezhi a very, very long time to gradually dismantle and destroy the Ji family, piece by piece, until she finally learned the truth from someone who came to plead for peace.
Ji Jiuchen died from a secondary differentiation.
No one knew why he suddenly began a secondary differentiation, it was an extremely perilous process. Success could change one’s life, while failure meant death.
Ji Jiuchen failed.
Even after learning the truth, Jiang Xuezhi still found it absurd.
In her mind, that spirited Alpha youth at eighteen was destined for greatness. If he were to die, it should have been on the battlefield, not ending so hastily at twenty-eight.
A mere twenty-eight years of life, it was utterly laughable.
And the person before her looked exactly like Ji Jiuchen.
Slender eyes, a face frozen in the appearance of someone in their late twenties, exactly the age Ji Jiuchen was when he died.
Even the curve of their eyes when they narrowed with sharp, cold intensity was identical.
Jiang Xuezhi couldn’t stop herself from stepping forward, her voice carrying an indescribable tone.
“Who are you?” she asked.
Ji Jiuchen felt that he had been out of the public eye for too long, at least, not openly. How could there be someone in this world who didn’t recognize him?
Weren’t the cultivators supposed to curse his portrait during their morning and evening prayers?
It seemed that staying dormant for too long had made his enemies complacent, a rather delightful discovery.
“Who am I?”
He held nothing back, quite pleased to inform her of his identity, because in his eyes, the person before him held some research value, though that value had vanished the moment she dared to offend him.
A person about to die deserved to know who was taking their life.
And her gaze was utterly repulsive, sticky and damp, making him deeply uncomfortable and nauseated.
“I am Ji Jiuchen.”
He only gave his name, instinctively assuming that no one could possibly be unaware that the Demon Lord of the Demon Realm was Ji Jiuchen.
But Jiang Xuezhi truly didn’t know.
She had read most of the books, but in them, the Demon Realm’s most prominent figure was the Young Master. The Demon Lord only appeared near the end of the plot, hinting that he was the true final boss, destined to confront the female lead after she entered the First Immortal Manor.
The book seemed to intend a sequel, leaving some suspense.
That suspense had not revealed the Demon Lord’s name.
Ji Jiuchen.
She wasn’t sure if the characters were the same, but even the identical pronunciation made Jiang Xuezhi feel profoundly unsettled.
She stared intently at his face and, in moments, had walked right up to him.
Only a single step separated them. In recent years, very few had gotten this close to Ji Jiuchen.
It was deeply uncomfortable.
Ji Jiuchen slightly furrowed his brows. Without even needing to raise his hand to form a seal, an overwhelming demonic energy surged forth.
Pojun informed Jiang Xuezhi in her consciousness of his true identity.
“That’s the Demon Realm’s Lord, Ji Jiuchen!” Pojun was utterly exasperated. “How is your luck so good that you keep running into such formidable figures? The person who saved you when you first entered the secret realm was also of extraordinary status, but I truly couldn’t see through who they were.”
Even a divine artifact couldn’t see through them? That alone showed how overwhelmingly powerful the other party was. Perhaps only the person before them now could compare slightly.
“I advise you to leave quickly. I’ve gathered so many treasures for you, there must be something among them that can help you escape.”
Pojun was still somewhat confident about this. The treasures from a Heaven-tier secret realm might not be enough to defeat the Demon Lord, but they could at least save her life.
However, Jiang Xuezhi had never been one to listen to its advice.
When it told her to leave, she insisted on moving forward, nearly pressing her face against Ji Jiuchen’s nose.
She twirled the Star-Speckled Spear in her hand, one of the treasures she had obtained in the secret realm.
This treasure could withstand a full-force strike from a Deity Transformation stage expert once, and she wasted it just like that.
Pojun was nearly dying of heartache. Broken or not, she should take the chance to escape now!
But Jiang Xuezhi acted as if she couldn’t hear, not only refusing to leave but also staring intently at the other party.
Could it be that she had developed a crush on him at a time like this?
For heaven’s sake, that was Demon Lord Ji Jiuchen! Old Demon Ji had always been known for his terrible temper. Even before Pojun was thrown into the Barren Abyss Prison, it had often heard disciples recount his brutal deeds.
Though no one knew why he had been silent for so many years, some even speculated that he had succumbed to qi deviation and died an untimely death, he was undoubtedly an extremely dangerous figure. His sudden appearance and initiative to seek them out meant things were about to get serious.
Alright, it had to admit his face was rather handsome, but this was no time for Jiang Xuezhi to be swooning.
Pojun began to regret its choices, wondering if it had misjudged her. Even if she had to develop a crush, wouldn’t the mysterious righteous cultivator who had saved her be a better choice?
Snap out of it, will you!
Just as Pojun was baffled and helplessly complaining, Jiang Xuezhi’s actions completely surpassed both its and Ji Jiuchen’s expectations.
Ji Jiuchen wasn’t particularly surprised that his first strike had failed. Since she had emerged from a Heaven-tier secret realm, it would be strange if she didn’t have some life-saving treasures.
That strange “demonic cultivation technique” she possessed should also give him something to witness.
But her gaze was truly unbearable. He didn’t want to give her too many opportunities to show off.
Daring to ogle him so brazenly was utterly audacious. Even if he wanted to know the origin of her demonic cultivation technique, he could search for clues from her corpse, it wasn’t necessary for her to remain alive.
She would die soon.
Ji Jiuchen believed this, and Pojun somewhat despairingly believed it too.
It didn’t know how it felt, but when Jiang Xuezhi faced mortal danger, it couldn’t help but want to assist.
But she didn’t need help.
For some reason, Jiang Xuezhi restrained the restless divine artifact and faced the Demon Lord’s full-force strike alone.
All her magical treasures were thrown forward as if they were worthless, all to seize an opening, an opening to seize the other party by the throat.
?
After staring so obsessively and intently for so long, her success wasn’t some romantic gesture but an action aimed at seizing his vital point.
It’s understandable, only by truly controlling someone can you even begin to do anything to them.
In this regard, Ji Jiuchen and Jiang Xuezhi were somewhat aligned in their thinking.
Unfortunately, what Jiang Xuezhi truly intended to do to him had nothing to do with romance or elegance.
The moment this woman grabbed his neck, she exerted all her strength, instantly shattering his larynx and causing him to uncontrollably spray a mist of blood.
Then, just as Ji Jiuchen had anticipated, he once again witnessed her mysterious “demonic cultivation technique.”
Her pupils contracted sharply as she snapped his neck, her face splattered with his blood.
An immense and overwhelming force crushed and shattered him. Trapped within it, Ji Jiuchen gradually realized that this must be a branch of soul power. Her cultivation level wasn’t high, but her soul was extraordinarily powerful, so much so that it could shake the heavens and the earth, and even he found it somewhat difficult to resist.
Once again, he became aware of his underestimation of her, yet he didn’t believe he would be completely defeated. Just as he was about to retaliate, he was slapped hard across the face.
“How dare you have the same face as him?”
She stared at him ambiguously for a long time, only to end up slapping him and saying disdainfully, “What kind of trash are you, to dare look like him?”
“And you even dare to share his name.”
In the past, Jiang Xuezhi hadn’t really cared about who had thrown her into this book.
But now, she was starting to mind.
Whoever it was must know her well, to understand how to disgust her.
If she ever made it back, she would tear them to pieces.
Jiang Xuezhi would never forget the day she crawled out of the icy river, leaning into the warm, dry embrace of a young man who asked her, “Please don’t die. If you die, my risking my life for you would’ve been for nothing. Say something. If you really don’t know what to say, why not start by telling me your name?”
Name?
What name could a worthless person from a barren star possibly have?
She shook her head silently.
The young man pondered for a moment and said, “No name? That’s fine. Let’s give you one now.”
His words genuinely captured her attention, diverting her mind from the physical pain.
In her dazed state, she looked at his face and heard him say, “You escaped death from the river, so why not take ‘Jiang’ as your surname? It’s snowing today, can you feel it? The snow is heavy, and you were floating on the river, covered in snow, as if woven from it.”
He said casually, “How about Jiang Xuezhi?”
It sounded like a name given on a whim.
Jiang Xuezhi didn’t disdain it; she actually used it.
She, too, had thought it was just a random name, until her coming-of-age ceremony, when Ji Jiuchen told her it wasn’t.
“Jiang” symbolized vast, flowing waters.
“Xue” represented cold purity.
And “Zhi” meant interwoven threads.
Amid the snow-covered river, she had been reborn.
He hoped she could carry that vitality and continue to live cleanly through the tangled, difficult paths of life.
Jiang Xuezhi’s aura shifted abruptly as she pressed Ji Jiuchen’s neck, forcing him to lower his head.
Her tone devoid of emotion, she enunciated each word clearly: “You have his face and share his name. What, do you want to be my stepfather too?”
Ji Jiuchen: “…”
What kind of nonsense is this?
No interest in randomly becoming someone’s father, thank you.