The imperial palace’s collection of books was mostly ancient texts from previous dynasties. Besides paper books, there were also dozens of large chests filled with bamboo scrolls and parchment books.

The court official managing the library was very attentive and had already categorized the books. So if they were looking for accounts of ghosts and spirits, they were all concentrated on the innermost bookshelves.

After entering the study, Xiaoxiao looked around, pondering where to start.

But Wei Jie first found some cushions and piled up a soft nest for Xiaoxiao beside the incense table, so she could comfortably lean inside while reading.

Wei Jie’s temperament had changed several times recently. Although he recovered somewhat to normal when his divine status shattered, as his demonic nature spread, he began gradually becoming cold and taciturn again.

However, in matters of caring for Xiaoxiao’s daily needs, perhaps due to the habits of his obedient disciple Jie’er, he remained so thoughtfully attentive.

Xiaoxiao suddenly recalled the phantom dreams that would automatically find her during meditation these past few days.

Those were dreams about the black-scaled man and the little black phoenix.

Although the man in the dreams was cold, when caring for that little phoenix, he was meticulous. He would even bring small water basins for the little phoenix to roll around and bathe in, then let it nestle on his shoulder to dry its feathers…

More often, the man would take it to the back mountains of Ghost Stone Cliff for quiet cultivation. One person and one bird would stand on great trees atop vast mountain peaks, quietly meditating and watching the dawn gradually rise.

Though the man was cold and spoke little even to his disciples, whenever he spent time with this little black bird, he would talk to himself quite a lot.

That little black phoenix seemed to understand. It would even forget to peck at the peanuts the man offered, instead tucking its small head into the man’s robes, as if listening to his heartbeat to prove that he wasn’t the cold, heartless demon people said he was – he too had a human heart!

The man before her eyes was identical to the one in her dreams, except for the presence or absence of scales on their faces.

Although he wasn’t raising any beloved pets now, Xiaoxiao suddenly felt she had replaced that little crow’s position and was being kept by the man.

Since accepting this big disciple, he had always managed her three daily meals, and they accompanied each other in meditation. As for bathing and such, Wei Jie had privately told her he was very good at helping people bathe, but after Xiaoxiao slapped him away, nothing came of it…

In any case, he was very good at taking care of people, which Xiaoxiao, who had lacked parental love since childhood, simply couldn’t resist.

Even knowing he was a great demon king in his previous life who had conspired against her with his disciple, whenever he gently combed her long hair or fed her food with a doting expression, Xiaoxiao would become intoxicated by his tender gaze.

She even thought, why not just stay in these two hundred years ago? Even if neither of them became immortals, what would be wrong with being an ordinary worldly couple in the mortal realm?

Unfortunately, such thoughts were now just wishful thinking.

Tang Youshu had said that Wei Jie’s heart demon had formed and was difficult to remove. Only by finding a way to repair his divine status could they help the master separate from his demonic nature and avoid falling into the demonic path.

But now there was another immortal like Ye Yi in the human realm, who had deep enmity with Wei Jie.

With such a formidable enemy, being a worldly couple was impossible – they might accidentally be roasted over a fire pit.

Most importantly, since confronting Ye Yi, Wei Jie seemed to speak much less.

Even after that, his usual casualness and nonchalance gradually disappeared. These past few days, when he had free time, he rarely came to fool around with Xiaoxiao, instead using all his time for quiet meditation. This positive attitude was what someone aspiring to immortality should have, but Wei Jie had never been like this before.

This gave Xiaoxiao the illusion that the cold Ancient Flame Emperor seemed to have returned.

Like now, the handsome man standing by the bookshelf with his back to her seemed much more imposing and tall.

This wasn’t an illusion. Since Wei Jie’s divine status was shattered, his entire being was rapidly developing toward demonization.

Unlike his previous life covered in black scales, Wei Jie’s appearance remained unchanged, but his stature had grown taller, and his features became increasingly sharp and angular, his eyes more piercing, making him appear more imposing and oppressive.

According to Tang Youshu, although the master’s divine status was shattered and he couldn’t quickly become a god, he had already awakened his talent potential for becoming a demon, so his entire temperament would gradually change.

It was precisely this sense of strangeness that made Xiaoxiao somewhat anxious, as if she might lose her Jie’er at any moment…

Thinking of this, she stood up and couldn’t help but walk behind the man, gently embracing his waist.

When she wrapped her arms around the man’s waist and felt the warm breath from him, only then could she be sure she was holding a man with warmth.

Xiaoxiao secretly thought that as his demonization deepened, if one day he suddenly turned ruthless, like when his divine status possessed him and suddenly didn’t recognize her, she shouldn’t feel surprised.

It’s just that before that day arrived, she should prepare herself psychologically early, to avoid being like that time on Qilao Mountain, suddenly losing focus and becoming dispirited…

Thinking of this, she suddenly realized she had lost composure and disturbed Wei Jie’s book browsing, so she quickly let go and prepared to return to her nest to continue reading ancient texts.

But before she could straighten up, Wei Jie pulled her into his embrace.

The man’s eyes darkened, inexplicable anger rising as he glared fiercely at Xiaoxiao. Then, before Xiaoxiao could speak, he suddenly lowered his head to lift her up and skillfully kissed her cherry lips.

The man who had become silent these past few days was still so passionate when kissing her, as if he could instantly melt her in his broad, solid embrace.

After the slightly punishing kiss ended, Wei Jie’s voice was tense as he said coldly, “Just now… were you thinking of leaving me again?”

After entering his heart demon, his connection with the demon pearl in Xiaoxiao’s body became even stronger.

Although he didn’t know Xiaoxiao’s specific thoughts, he could sense her joys and sorrows.

Just now, although Xiaoxiao was holding him, that intense desire to distance herself made Wei Jie’s neck hair stand on end, and he immediately pulled Xiaoxiao into his embrace.

In that moment, he truly wanted to merge her into his very blood so she could never leave.

Xiaoxiao was somewhat amused and helpless about Wei Jie’s ability to sense her emotional fluctuations.

She was born a swindler, accustomed to acting, but now, before this man, she had nowhere to hide.

Since that was the case, there was no need to lie for comfort. Xiaoxiao honestly said, “It’s not that I want to leave you, but I’m afraid that one day you won’t need me anymore and won’t want me in your sight… You’ve been speaking much less to me these past few days…”

Wei Jie’s changes were very obvious – Xiaoxiao couldn’t ignore them even if she wanted to.

Hearing this, Wei Jie’s eyes darkened further. He slowly pressed his forehead against Xiaoxiao’s, looking at the girl’s trembling long lashes as he said in a low voice, “Because I’ve changed, so you’re afraid?”

How could he not know he was changing? Now, whenever he looked in the mirror, he would be startled by the strange, cold aura he emanated.

Tang Youshu had said that after he became a demon in his previous life, he was very diligent in cultivation, his power advancing by leaps and bounds, improving tremendously each day.

Wei Jie initially thought this was nonsense because he had always been casual about cultivation and accumulating spiritual power, going with the flow, never deliberately being very diligent.

He was naturally gifted, so he naturally didn’t need to follow the path of diligence, compensating for lack of talent like those with dull aptitude.

But only after Wei Jie became a demon did he discover that only by constantly improving his spiritual platform energy could he contend with the demonic nature within his body.

This was like a sharp blade hanging over his head, forcing him to be constantly vigilant. Besides meditation and becoming stronger, there was no other way out, so he naturally put away his former laziness and constantly fought against his heart demon.

However, contrary to his wishes, it seemed that as his spiritual platform energy gathered, his demonic nature also rose like a tide.

On the day they left the royal residence, even the persistent Ling Zhishan was frightened into retreating after looking at him, not even daring to look directly at him. This was enough to show that his demonic aura was overwhelming.

If Xiaoxiao was also afraid of such a version of himself, it would be understandable…

But thinking of Xiaoxiao also avoiding him like a venomous snake as Ling Zhishan did, Wei Jie suddenly felt an indescribable irritation in his heart. His expression became even more coldly terrifying, even wanting to overturn this library…

But just then, a slender arm hung around his neck. Xiaoxiao pinched his straight nose and deliberately said fiercely, “What, since I’ve separated from you and am no longer your master, you can casually frighten me? Putting on such a fierce, dead-looking expression – who are you trying to scare?”

The tall man being pinched on the nose by the petite girl in his arms looked quite unmanly.

But the irritation in Wei Jie’s heart was miraculously calmed by Xiaoxiao’s kitten-like fierceness.

Unlike the demons from his previous life that arose from various suppressions, injustices, curses, and discrimination, although Wei Jie had become a demon in this life, it was a heart demon, and the trigger was Cui Xiaoxiao.

Heart demons capable of shattering divine status were even harder to dispel than the demons induced by the Po Hun Snake’s painful torment in his previous life.

Whenever Xiaoxiao showed the slightest intention to retreat or distance herself, Wei Jie’s heart demon would uncontrollably spread and grow.

However, when he saw Xiaoxiao’s eyes looking at him with clear moisture and brightness, her heart and eyes full of only him, all the uncontrollable irritation would be swept away, replaced by another kind of desire that seemed impossible to fill…

The next moment, Xiaoxiao felt the world spinning. Her entire body was pressed down by Wei Jie onto the incense table. Although her head was gently and properly cushioned on soft padding, her entire body was restrained by the man and pressed beneath him.

Recently, in private, Wei Jie’s similar intimate actions increasingly carried some impatience.

Even Xiaoxiao’s reminders that his vital energy was damaged and hadn’t been repaired were becoming ineffective.

Wei Jie already had an enchanting appearance, and now with added demonic nature, he was even more bewitchingly attractive and compelling.

What kind of cultivation and determination would it take to resist such a handsome man pressed against one’s body?

However, while being kissed passionately by him, Xiaoxiao retained a trace of clarity. The beams were high here, the hall door was ajar, and palace attendants stood outside ready to be summoned at any time. If they carried on wildly here, were they planning to add another touch of color to palace romantic history?

So while being taken advantage of, Xiaoxiao still had to contain hot tears in the corners of her eyes while coaxing her disciple not to fool around anymore.

“Jie’er, be good. Wait until we’re out before… continuing…”

Bah, even when coaxing a wolf cub, what kind of suggestive words was she saying?

However, Wei Jie also knew that this imperial library wasn’t a place to leisurely enjoy tender embraces. After kissing until his mouth was full of sweetness and his fingertips retained lingering fragrance, he finally rose slightly, sparing the woman who had been kissed until her whole body went soft.

Xiaoxiao seemed not quite conscious yet. Even after Wei Jie got up, she still stared straight at the ceiling beams.

Wei Jie touched her face and asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong?”

Still lying on the incense table, Xiaoxiao pointed up at the roof above the beams and said, “Look, doesn’t that pattern look like the divine seal on your forehead?”

Wei Jie looked up – indeed it was! Right in the center of the high beam was a pattern the same as the mark on his forehead!

However, there were many carved beams and painted rafters on the roof. If not for Xiaoxiao’s sharp eyes, it would have been difficult to distinguish.

Wei Jie immediately jumped up to the beam. Looking up again, he discovered that beneath the ridge carved with this pattern was a wooden board with gaps around it. He could see traces that this board had been moved.

After Wei Jie felt around for a while, he found a mechanism that could be moved between the gaps. After sliding it open, the wooden board fell with a cloud of musty dust. A wooden box dropped from the hidden compartment, which Xiaoxiao caught perfectly below.

When they opened it, they found inside a long parchment scroll.

They spread it out on the table and discovered this scroll seemed to be left by Great Qi’s first ruler.

This scroll was filled with a generation of the emperor’s frustration at being cheated out of his national fortune.

Unfortunately, this was a fair trade and a contract with a god, so naturally, there was no room for regret.

However, these unspeakable secrets, this former emperor had written into a scroll and hidden in the roof ridge.

Xiaoxiao had just looked through the library hall records. When that Lord Can was still the new emperor, he had renovated this library.

Might he not have also discovered this parchment scroll, thus learning the Xia family’s secrets? However, as a secret of the Xia imperial family, Lord Can probably read it and then put it back, keeping a backup for the Xia family in case this secret was lost forever.

The first half of this scroll contained nothing new, basically the same as the story Wei family’s grandmother had told them. However, the end of the scroll mentioned some reasons for the private fight between the two high gods back then.

Originally, when the ancient Heavenly Emperor fought various demons and redefined the boundaries of the three realms, the three high gods had distinguished military achievements.

However, at that time, those three high gods were merely divine lords, not yet enfeoffed.

Besides Ancient Flame Divine Lord and Dong Yuan Divine Lord, there was also a commanding female divine lord named Wei Feng.

This female divine lord was the only woman among the eight palace divine lords of the heavenly court, yet she didn’t yield to men. Following the Heavenly Emperor’s orders to assist Dong Yuan in conquering all directions, she established remarkable military achievements.

Then, during the conquest, she refused to listen to Dong Yuan’s advice and slaughtered the demon city, sparing neither men, women, old, nor young, thus committing excessive killing that required experiencing nine levels of heavenly punishment to cleanse her sins.

For high gods, so-called heavenly punishment, though requiring some suffering, was merely going through the motions. As long as proper preparations were made, or if there were close immortal cultivation partners to assist, there wouldn’t be any problems.

But coincidentally, the female divine lord’s heavenly tribulation arrived unexpectedly early.

Just as the female divine lord had recovered the West Sea evil spirits and was severely wounded, alone in the West Sea, she encountered heavenly tribulation.

With weakened divine status, she couldn’t resist the thunder tribulation that descended early, and her soul thus fell into the underworld, needing to wash away killing sins at the bottom of the underworld’s River of Forgetfulness before she could be reborn through reincarnation.

Then, for unknown reasons, this trace of soul seemed to tire of the disputes of the three realms and didn’t board the ferry to the afterlife, instead sinking to the bottom of the River of Forgetfulness, delaying reincarnation indefinitely.

After that, the other two high gods were enfeoffed. The Ancient Flame Emperor entered the immortal realm’s Ninggu Pagoda and was exiled to the underworld. The favored son of heaven, Dong Yuan, was enfeoffed into the heavenly court to manage the rewards and punishments of all immortals.

It was said that the Dong Yuan Emperor had always been infatuated with the female divine lord Wei Feng, and there were even rumors that the two would become immortal partners.

However, Wei Feng died, leaving Dong Yuan’s bitter love unfulfilled. He originally seemed to patiently await the female divine lord’s reincarnation and re-ascension to the immortal realm.

But when his beloved didn’t reincarnate for a long time, careful inquiry revealed that Wei Feng Divine Lord, had fallen to the bottom of the River of Forgetfulness!

In his urgency, he went to the underworld to find the Ancient Flame Emperor to search for her.

The two emperors, who hadn’t gotten along well during the conquest of the eight wastelands, had disagreements and fought a great battle. That fierce battle nearly caused the underworld to collapse.

Thus, the Heavenly Emperor was enraged and sent both gods, whose divine status was damaged, down to the human realm for punishment.

But the Dong Yuan Emperor encountered the Xia ancestor who was at a low point in life, and deceived the emperor’s fate to replenish his divine status.

The Xia ancestor only learned the hidden truth on his deathbed and knew how miserably he had been deceived.

Wei Jie looked up and asked Xiaoxiao, “Do you think that Ye Yi went to such great lengths to open the gates of the underworld and search in the underworld for that Wei Feng Divine Lord?”

Xiaoxiao thought it very likely. Since Ye Yi wanted to use soul marriage techniques, it meant he was looking for a soul in the underworld.

This parchment scroll said that the female divine lord refused to reincarnate and sank to the bottom of the River of Forgetfulness, which matched this situation.

When they walked out of the library, the sky was already darkening. As cultivation practitioners, they couldn’t stay overnight in the palace, so they came out early to meet up with Yu Ling’er and Tang Youshu.

They didn’t linger long in the prosperous capital. After leaving the city, they found a quiet riverside. Accompanied by gurgling streams, Xiaoxiao roughly told them about her and Wei Jie’s discoveries in the palace.

Yu Ling’er couldn’t help but sigh, “Who would have thought Dong Yuan Emperor was such a devoted lover?”

Hearing the little fox say this, Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but shake her head and smile. Yu Ling’er tilted her head while washing wild fruits and asked Xiaoxiao, “What? Did I say something wrong?”

While splashing water, Xiaoxiao said, “Maybe because I grew up on the streets, I don’t see people and things as optimistically as you do. When I read that parchment scroll, I only felt… the lines were full of shocking conspiracies and calculations…”

Yu Ling’er asked, puzzled, “How so?”

Xiaoxiao thought and said, “Three high gods killed and conquered the three realms for the Heavenly Emperor, inevitably getting blood on their hands. But among the three, except for the Dong Yuan Emperor, who remained in the heavenly realm enjoying high god treatment, the other two didn’t end well. I originally thought Ancient Flame Emperor entering the underworld, which no one wanted to go to, and being demoted to the human realm was bad enough. I didn’t expect there was also a female divine lord who suffered the fate of having no remains and no salvation. She would rather sink into the River of Forgetfulness than continue reincarnating. Where is there any pure love between good men and women? I see that one careless step leads to eternal damnation!”

After Xiaoxiao’s explanation, Yu Ling’er couldn’t help but gasp.

Indeed! If there were no accidents, how could heavenly tribulation arrive early? For the high gods, what was originally a formality of heavenly tribulation suddenly became eternal damnation – thinking about it was terrifying.

Thinking this way inevitably made one suspect whether this female divine lord’s misfortune was connected to that Dong Yuan Emperor.

If so, the Dong Yuan Emperor’s devoted searching also seemed much less sincere.

After Yu Ling’er was guided by Xiaoxiao to reinterpret everything, when she looked up at the sky again, she had no expectations.

As a fox demon, the fox clan’s greatest desire was to weather tribulations and ascend, becoming immortal in one step.

But now it seemed that the heavenly realm wasn’t a haven free from all troubles either. If one didn’t bring their brain along when ascending, they truly couldn’t last even a few incense sticks’ worth of time. In the blink of an eye, they’d be calculated against and brought down to the mortal dust, or even fall into the underworld with no hope of even reincarnating as livestock…

Thinking of this, Yu Ling’er felt there was nothing wrong with the human realm. There was food, drink, entertainment, and… she couldn’t help but look at Tang Youshu, who was preparing medicine for his master. She handed the washed fruit to the scholar and asked quietly, “Young Master Tang, if you couldn’t become immortal, how would you spend your life?”

Tang Youshu already had a ready answer to this question in his heart. He looked up at Yu Ling’er, his face showing a vicissitude-filled smile that didn’t match his appearance, saying indifferently, “Probably find a mountain, take a few disciples, continue healing and saving people during cultivation leisure time. If there’s no immortal fate, then sit in meditation until returning to dust.”

As a fox demon, Yu Ling’er was very sensitive to human joys and sorrows. Although Young Master Tang was just stating plainly, there was a tranquility that saw through life and death, as if… he had truly died before.

Hearing this made Yu Ling’er’s nose tingle, and she said softly, “Your master ancestor has already started practicing the Carefree Bliss Sect. As a disciple-grandson, why are you still so unenlightened? Two people cultivating together are always better than one person being lonely. Can disciples lie in your bed at night to chat with you?”

Stinky scholar, why wasn’t there a place for her in what he just said? She was very suitable for accompanying people to chat in bed! Of course, if he didn’t want to chat, they could do other things…

For a moment, the little fox’s cheeks were flushed, but her gaze toward Young Master Tang never flinched, remaining so passionate and bold!

Tang Youshu was quite used to Yu Ling’er’s bold mountain demon nature. After all, in his previous life, he had been an old acquaintance of Yu Ling’er.

It’s just that back then, this fox clan girl gave all her passionate boldness to Demon Lord Wei Jie. Tang Youshu only watched from the sidelines as this little fox fell into hopeless unrequited love, devotedly giving her all, and finally died tragically trying to save Wei Jie…

This girl shouldn’t get involved in romance…

Thinking of this, Tang Youshu’s no-longer-young heart couldn’t help but ache. He looked at Yu Ling’er with seeming emotion and decided to enlighten her further.

“I’ve been studying fortune-telling recently. Since we’re idle now anyway, how about… I divine your romantic fate?”