Senlou, known for his quick temper and bloodthirst, had barely left Sizhou when Nanrao, having carefully timed her move, rushed towards the Forest Cliff Demon Cave where the Chongming bird clan was imprisoned. This place, Senlou’s domain, was fraught with danger. Nanrao had spent an entire night contemplating her decision, finally mustering the courage after a few drinks.
Following the Demon Queen’s death, the demon race, especially the Chongming bird clan, harbored a deep hatred for the Red Emperor. Nanrao could only approach this matter from the perspective of her half-blooded lineage. Though rash, her decision was backed by the confidence that came with being the Red Emperor’s daughter.
“The Underworld Seal is one of Senlou’s signature treasures,” she mused. “If you keep using it, its spiritual power will eventually deplete. Senlou will inevitably notice its presence in his old home and return. We’ll be in trouble then.”
Senlou hadn’t lied about this – wielding the Underworld Seal made them akin to half-rulers of Sizhou. Not only did the Forest Cliff Demon Cave’s barriers pose no obstacle, but even the blood slaves cleared a path for them. They reached a prison cell, where Nanrao finally put away the seal.
A faint demonic aura emanated from the cell, punctuated by occasional cries of pain – clearly where demon-human hybrids were held. After the great victory in the State-Breaking War, the Six Venerable Ones divided the Twelve Regions. One of the spoils human cultivators enjoyed was the exploitation of resources from overseas regions, primarily targeting the demon race.
Nanrao finally understood when she saw the hybrid descendants bound and bleeding in the cells. The criminalization of intermarriage was just a pretext; the rulers of the regions needed more resources to pave their path to ascension. The demons sealed in the grand arrays were no longer sufficient, and these hybrid descendants offered similar benefits.
Their flesh, blood, and bones could all be used for alchemy. Even among the mindless blood slaves outside, many were demon-human hybrids. This was a victorious slaughter and feast.
“Do you think we’re good people?” Nanrao asked.
Ao Guanghan replied, “You’re already preparing to pick locks and free people. What’s this talk about being good or not? The Underworld Seal can’t open this lock. Can you handle it?”
“Let’s give it a try,” Nanrao said. “We’ll save who we can. If not, we’ll pretend nothing happened and go down the mountain to eat some Sizhou roasted Qi lamb. I’ve been craving it for a while.”
Despite her casual tone, Nanrao’s lock-picking skills were unparalleled, even impressing the Red Emperor himself. Even with multiple seals, unlocking the cells took no more than a few moments.
Most of the prisoners were dried corpses on wooden racks, with few survivors – mostly recent captures of all ages and genders.
“Let me be clear,” Nanrao warned. “Freeing you is incidental. Anyone who dares make a sound and attract the Flame Demon here, I’ll give you a quick death before you’re recaptured.”
After securing the prisoners’ fearful compliance, Nanrao and Ao Guanghan opened over eighty cells. In the last one, they found more than seventy hybrid descendants of the Chongming Great Demons.
“You… dare to risk coming here?” these prisoners asked, unaware of Nanrao’s identity. They mistook her for a fellow hybrid from another clan. “Senlou’s abilities are beyond your imagination. With so many of us escaping, we likely won’t make it out unscathed. Since you’re so capable, don’t burden yourself with us when the time comes…”
The Chongming Great Demons held a high status in the demon realm, and the other thousand demon-humans looked to them for guidance.
Ao Guanghan, sensing trouble, warned, “The Red Emperor and all demon clans are mortal enemies. If they find out, you’ll be caught between two sides.”
Nanrao retorted, “Who are you calling two-faced?”
With nearly a thousand people on the move, they were quickly exposed, despite the scarcity of human cultivators in the Forest Cliff Demon Cave. Besides Senlou, there was also a Flame Demon he had nurtured, combining the strengths of demons, ghosts, and monsters. Just as the escapees reached the cave’s exit, flames rained from the sky, and a ram-headed, lizard-bodied monster crawled down from the mountaintop. With a single sweep of its tail, dozens who couldn’t escape in time were instantly obliterated.
“Tch,” Nanrao, being of the Red Emperor’s bloodline, couldn’t flee without tarnishing her reputation. She drew out a phoenix-feather bow and told Ao Guanghan, “You lead these stragglers away. I’ll hold it off for a while and catch up soon.”
“Interesting. You think you can hold off this Nascent Soul stage great demon?” Ao Guanghan, ever contrary, summoned a dragon-blood whip and lashed at the Flame Demon’s eye socket, unleashing a dragon’s roar.
Nanrao quipped, “Wow, you’ve learned to use a whip. Exciting.”
Ao Guanghan retorted, “I’d like to scrub those dirty thoughts out of your head.”
Years of being childhood friends and rivals had honed their teamwork to perfection. Despite their usual bickering, they worked flawlessly together, managing to hold off the Nascent Soul stage great demon’s attacks.
“Who are these two monsters?” the escaping demon-humans below watched in awe.
“Even among demon clans, we’ve never heard of such figures.”
“Now that human cultivators deny us a place to live, we can only rely on demon clans. Chongming clan members, do you know which faction they belong to?”
In the distance, red and blue lights danced around the great demon, accompanied by fire and thunder. Seizing the opportunity when the Flame Demon’s eye was blinded, Nanrao glanced at Ao Guanghan, who immediately understood.
Ao Guanghan transformed into a celestial dragon and soared into the sky, while Nanrao cut her hair to use as arrows, shooting them skyward.
At the zenith, a fire net coalesced, accompanied by rolling thunder. Falling celestial fire and lightning engulfed the Flame Demon like a natural disaster.
The distant Chongming clan members watched in shock, hatred suddenly flaring in their eyes.
“Dragon Awakening… Pan Ya Celestial Fire…”
Throughout the overseas regions, everyone knew these were the signature moves of the Old Dragon Lord and the Red Emperor during the great State-Breaking War. The identity of those who could use these techniques was obvious.
As the great demon’s agonized screams echoed throughout Forest Cliff, Nanrao and Ao Guanghan landed, observing the trapped demon.
“This demon can regenerate its physical form,” Nanrao said. “We lack the spiritual power to outlast it. Let’s go.”
However, they hadn’t gone far before some desperate demon-humans blocked their path.
“Why haven’t you left yet?” Nanrao asked in surprise. Ao Guanghan, sensing the tense atmosphere, grabbed the exhausted Nanrao and dodged, barely avoiding a combined attack from seven or eight fellow Nascent Soul stage demon-humans.
“Humans… all humans should die! Especially the Red Emperor! He destroyed our homeland and killed our loved ones… he deserves death more than anyone!”
Behind them, the Flame Demon was close to breaking free from the lightning net. Seeing Ao Guanghan’s back stained with blood, Nanrao’s eyes flashed with killing intent. “You ungrateful fools! Even if the demon realm still existed, with your half-human blood, how do you know they wouldn’t treat you like animals? I went out of my way to help you today. Those who appreciate it, consider yourselves lucky. Those who don’t, get lost!”
The force behind her words momentarily gave her the semblance of the Red Emperor himself.
The Red Emperor was the demon realm’s nightmare, and some immediately retreated in fear. However, the Flame Demon had broken free and was now crawling towards them in a rage.
“Make way!” Nanrao shouted.
The demon-humans looked desperate. Someone laughed bitterly, “We’re dead either way in this human-controlled region. Might as well drag the enemy’s bloodline to hell with us!”
Faced with imminent death, Ao Guanghan calmed down and closed his eyes. “Old fox, I can exhaust my essence blood to transform into a dragon once. When that happens, you should take the chance to leave… What are you doing?! Untie the Immortal-Binding Rope! What are you planning?!”
“Stop shouting. You’re embarrassing us,” Nanrao said, feeling the ground trembling beneath her feet. She smiled coldly at the demon humans who had turned against them after being rescued. She removed her hairpin and transformed it into a barrier to protect Ao Guanghan. Then, wisps of golden-red flames ignited around her body as she walked step by step toward the Flame Demon.
The Phoenix Nirvana Fire could return everything to chaos.
Ao Guanghan’s eyes bulged in fury. “Don’t you dare go! Come back!!!”
Before her form was engulfed by the Nirvana Fire along with the Flame Demon, Nanrao looked back. Her eyes seemed to pierce through the northern sky, seeing something beyond. She left behind a regretful murmur.
“The wine hasn’t finished fermenting yet…”
…
A thousand miles away, on the coast of Maozhou, Senlou sensed his contracted demon’s impending death. On his way back, he stared intently at Jiming, who stood blocking his path and sealing off this part of the world, gazing towards the southern seas.
“Buddhist Repentance Lord, why are you obstructing my way as I attend to family matters?”
Since the moment in the meditation room, a dull pain had been gnawing at Jiming’s heart. He had hesitated for hours before finally coming here. Yet upon arrival, the pain in his heart only intensified.
“I’m asking you a question. Why don’t you answer?!” Senlou demanded.
Jiming withdrew his distracted gaze and asked softly, “Are you going to find her?”
Senlou frowned for a moment. From Jiming’s downcast eyes, he finally thought of Nanfang Zhu and his expression darkened further. “I see… So even the self-proclaimed pure and holy master of Choushan Academy can’t escape such worldly emotions. Let me tell you, I am indeed going to find her. Once I do, I’ll teach that ignorant child a lesson she won’t forget. She’ll learn what punishment awaits her at my hands!”
Jiming didn’t know how Senlou planned to punish her or to what extent.
He still tried to cling to his last shred of compassion. “If the Red Emperor finds out, he’ll surely have a falling out with you, Demon Master.”
“Hahaha…” Senlou laughed heartily. “I’ve already humbled myself by seeking to marry his ill-reputed daughter. Now that Nanrao has come to Sizhou, she should know she’s chosen to become my woman. We’ll be family from now on. Even if the Red Emperor holds a grudge, with his ascension imminent, how long can his anger last?”
“Demon Master, do you truly refuse to let her go?”
“What I want, I’ve never failed to obtain.”
“And if you truly can’t have her?”
“Then no one else will ever have her either!”
Jiming fell silent. The gentle clarity in his eyes gradually faded. When he looked up at Senlou again, his eyes were filled with a blood-red hue reminiscent of corpse-strewn battlefields.
Senlou had cultivated the purest demonic techniques. Only when he sensed the growing demonic aura emanating from Jiming did he exclaim in shock, “What kind of technique have you cultivated?”
“This poor monk has recently gained enlightenment in a new path, not yet revealed to the world. I wish to… verify it with Fellow Daoist Senlou.”
Several days later, a heavenly phenomenon occurred in Zizhou, awakening countless people from their meditative states. For the first time since the end of the State-Breaking War, a Venerable One in the third stage of celestial tribulation had fallen.
The Buddhist Repentance Lord had killed Senlou, the Demon Master of Sizhou. A Buddhist path, whose power had been underestimated by all, had managed to slay a demonic cultivation grandmaster on the verge of ascension.
On that day, the three floating mountains of Daosheng Heaven simultaneously dimmed.
I didn’t think it was possible, but my opinion of the cultivators has sunk to a new low. How TF is it ok for a few jerks to decide on new laws for everyone, then start killing people for breaking laws that haven’t even been broadcast to the public? How crappy that it was Zewei that came up with banning inter species relationships, as if he could foretell Nan Yu’s fate. Then she’s saving people and they try to kill her. Everyone is sucking here. Go Jiming, glad you got rid of the gross old man!