“Everyone, what do you think? This is an enormous opportunity!” The master of White Emperor Mountain, Wind Emperor, spoke with passionate intensity: “If what my disciple Xia Yan says is true, then Lord Cizang has come to the cultivation world alone. Isn’t this the perfect chance for us to join forces and kill him?”

As Wind Emperor reached the height of his excitement, he stood up from his position adorned with red gold and spirit jade, assuming the posture of a leader giving a grand speech.

However, none of the various major and minor immortal sects present responded, creating a rather awkward atmosphere.

Wind Emperor was displeased and looked toward Crimson Water Abyss, which held equal status to White Emperor Mountain. “Master Yu, what’s your opinion?”

The Master Yu, dressed in a fiery red robe, was blowing on his fingernails as if something rare had sprouted from them. Without even shifting his gaze, he responded with perfunctory ambiguity: “Oh, hmm, I think this matter isn’t simple. Let’s discuss it further, discuss it further.”

Seeing his lack of seriousness, Wind Emperor turned to look at the adjacent Heaven Worship Palace. “What does the Palace Master think?”

The Palace Master of Heaven Worship Palace had a dazed expression. Wind Emperor called out twice before seeing him sluggishly stir, uttering a sound of confusion and asking with bewilderment: “What’s the matter? Is the meeting over?”

Wind Emperor nearly died of anger, but since Heaven Worship Palace and Crimson Water Abyss were similar in power to White Emperor Mountain, and he couldn’t afford to fall out with these two, he had to temporarily endure and asked the remaining two of the five main seats: “What about Elder Rui and City Master Shang? Surely you two have some courage!”

The old man from Auspicious Crane Village had somehow set up a star chess board beside him and was engrossed in his game, completely ignoring Wind Emperor. Only the City Master of Pipa City, Shang Qinyin, was twirling a hairpin while lifting her eyelids to glance at him, and with a curl of her lips said: “Do you take us for fools? You call us here, say a few words, and then expect us to risk our lives for you, making you the big boss? Things aren’t that simple.”

Wind Emperor’s face alternated between red and white from her barb, his expression turned ugly as he surveyed the other masters of medium and small sects. None of them met his gaze – some lowered their heads, others turned away, and some pretended to be fascinated by the patterns on their sleeves. The entire group maintained the attitude of “dead pigs unafraid of boiling water.”

Wind Emperor felt these people were truly useless, having been suppressed by Gengchen Immortal Mansion for so many years that they now lacked any spirit.

He snorted heavily, “It seems you still don’t believe me. My disciple Xia Yan was formerly a disciple of Gengchen Immortal Mansion. He can confirm that was Lord Cizang. I’ve also sent people to investigate Guyu Settlement, and, indeed, he didn’t bring any demon generals.”

“Everyone knows what happened to Gengchen Immortal Mansion years ago. He suffered such severe injuries that he probably couldn’t recover for decades. He’s only been recuperating in the demon realm for a few years and is likely just putting up a front. Otherwise, his return to the cultivation world wouldn’t be so quiet, and we wouldn’t fear him so.”

“Back then, he inexplicably turned demonic and slaughtered many families of Gengchen Immortal Mansion. With such a heavy blood debt, shouldn’t we, as righteous cultivators, speak out for our fellow cultivators who died tragically? Moreover, he’s now the half-ruler of the demon realm. Who knows if one day he might lead demon cultivators to attack our cultivation world? Perhaps this time he’s secretly infiltrating the cultivation world to gather intelligence in preparation for a future war! If so, we should eliminate this source of calamity as soon as possible!”

Wind Emperor spoke with conviction, and when he finished, the room was filled with shock. Seeing the surprised and even terrified looks on everyone’s faces as they gazed… behind him.

The sound of applause echoed in the extremely quiet room.

Wind Emperor had stepped forward while speaking earlier. Now he saw that in his previous seat sat a young man in black robes.

The young man had fair skin and flowing black hair. Lowering his hands after applauding, he said: “Well said.”

Almost no one present had ever seen Lord Cizang’s true appearance. His time in the cultivation world had been brief yet extraordinarily impactful, leaving everyone both fearful and fascinated. Now, seeing this man who had appeared silently, everyone simultaneously thought of one name.

It’s him.

If it wasn’t Lord Cizang Sima Jiao, who else could appear suddenly without attracting any attention among so many powerful cultivators, and then casually sit in the main seat?

“The First Immortal Mansion has pressed down on you for too long. Now that this mountain is gone, you’ve swallowed some leftovers and can’t wait to replace the former number one.” Though Sima Jiao’s voice carried no obvious emotion, it somehow felt full of mockery and disdain.

Wind Emperor had spoken so eloquently and righteously earlier, but now facing Sima Jiao, he dared not say another word. He only retreated several steps, cold sweat streaming down his forehead.

Sima Jiao stared at him: “How did you plan to deal with me? Unite these people to surround and attack Guyu Settlement?”

Wind Emperor felt a sharp pain in his head as if a hand were mercilessly rummaging through his spiritual mansion and brain. He didn’t want to speak, yet found himself unable to resist answering truthfully: “First capture Liao Tingyan…”

“Poof—”

Everyone present turned pale.

Wind Emperor’s cultivation was the highest among those present. If not for this, the others wouldn’t have attended this private meeting out of respect for him.

Yet, such a powerful Wind Emperor couldn’t even put up any resistance before their very eyes, as Lord Cizang cracked open his mind. Even his soul let out a sharp wail, completely incinerated by the fire that rose from Lord Cizang’s hand, destroying both body and soul.

What level of cultivation did he possess?!

Master Yu and the others’ expressions changed drastically, their eyes filled with vigilance and fear as they stared at the suddenly aggressive Lord Cizang.

Would he, in a fit of anger, eliminate them all? This man had destroyed Gengchen Immortal Mansion without hesitation, let alone them. Many inwardly blamed Wind Emperor – ever since his White Emperor Mountain had absorbed many territories and forces of Gengchen Immortal Mansion, he had become increasingly arrogant. Now, not only had he died himself, but he might drag them down too.

Sima Jiao sat back in the main seat. No one in the hall dared to move or whisper among themselves. All remained seated, with many not even daring to look at him.

“I want a piece of land,” Sima Jiao calmly began. “Near the exit of the demon realm, extending outward 8,800 li, ending at the Lonely Group Mountain Range. From now on, it all belongs to me. All cultivation sects must relocate from there.”

Upon hearing this, everyone was stunned. The clever ones immediately understood this powerful figure’s meaning and were overjoyed! It’s better when such a powerful person has demands than none at all! After all, if he wanted, he could easily kill them all and take whatever he desired. The fact that he was willing to communicate with them meant he didn’t want to completely break relations.

And although the area he demanded contained some spiritual mountains and treasure lands, it was quite far from most cultivation sects. Being near the demon realm, it had a rather wild atmosphere. If they could exchange this land for their peaceful existence, they would gladly do so.

When Sima Jiao went out, Liao Tingyan didn’t know. They weren’t together every moment. After Sima Jiao pointed out the spirit source to her, she had gone early to find her master.

Although she felt she had only given up a necklace—one she didn’t particularly like—this was a major matter for Guyu Settlement. So Master Ji Wuduan took her to find the Settlement Master, and they held a meeting with many elders.

Hearing that she was willing to provide so much spirit source to help the settlement through its difficulties, the elders were moved to tears. They momentarily forgot their fear of Lord Cizang and lavished praise on Liao Tingyan. Then a group of them escorted her to inspect the back mountain, telling her how the spirit source would be used, and planning to allocate a small plot of land to her as a reward.

“From now on, this whole valley is yours!”

The Settlement Master marked out a large area.

Liao Tingyan: “No, no, give it to my master. I don’t know how to farm.”

Ji Wuduan: “That works too. It will be in your name, and your senior brothers will help you farm it. Just tell your master what you want to plant.”

Because of this tremendous good news, Guyu Settlement held another grand feast. This time, Liao Tingyan suggested having a hot pot, with everyone bringing their ingredients. Liao Tingyan’s table was piled so high with various ingredients that there wasn’t enough space. The duck-raising uncle was particularly generous, providing a heap of tender ducklings.

Sima Jiao circled Liao Tingyan before the feast began, then returned to soak in the Youpu pond. Liao Tingyan ate alone. Without Sima Jiao present, everyone mysteriously relaxed. The feast continued until midnight before dispersing. The senior sisters brought out many homemade strong spirits, knocking down countless brothers and sisters. Liao Tingyan also drank a bit more, feeling slightly dizzy.

She walked to the stone pool behind Youpu and saw the man soaking in the water.

Sima Jiao opened his eyes and saw her sitting by the pool holding her head, looking at him with somewhat hazy eyes. He extended his hand, the sleeve creating rippling sounds in the water, and his cold wet fingers caressed Liao Tingyan’s face.

“Did you have fun?”

Liao Tingyan became a bit more clear-headed, nodded, and smiled, “Senior brothers’ vegetables and meat are delicious.”

Whenever Sima Jiao was soaking in water and saw Liao Tingyan, he would always pull her in. But this time, he didn’t do so, instead tracing her eyes with his fingers.

Liao Tingyan found his cool hands very comfortable. She touched the back of his hand and pressed against it, unconsciously burying her nose in his palm.

“Drunk?” Sima Jiao asked.

Liao Tingyan shook her head, “No, I didn’t drink much. Senior sisters didn’t let me drink the strong stuff.”

After speaking, she tossed Sima Jiao’s right hand back into the water and reached for his left hand. “This hand isn’t cold anymore, let me have the other one.”

Sima Jiao gave her his hand and said, “Hmm, you’re drunk.” Otherwise, since she forgot her past, she rarely took the initiative to be close to him like this.

Liao Tingyan wasn’t drunk. It was just that the night was so beautiful, the moon in the sky so round, reflecting in the pool. The man resting in the water, showing her a faint smile, made her heart skip a beat, wanting to be closer.

Sometimes, people unwilling to admit they’re attracted to someone blame it on the moonlight. Liao Tingyan swayed slightly and stepped into the pool, reaching out to embrace Sima Jiao’s neck and burying her face in his cold, damp chest. This was a cold embrace. Sima Jiao also hugged her back, habitually pinching the back of her neck with one hand, and then running his fingers through her hair.

The moon in the pool was at their feet, while the moon in the sky hung on the osmanthus tree by the pool.

There were fallen osmanthus flowers in the pool water. Liao Tingyan felt a few scattered flowers land on the back of her hand and put them in her mouth to chew.

“Do you eat osmanthus flowers?”

Sima Jiao lazily answered her: “Mmm… no.”

Liao Tingyan pulled at his collar and leaned in.

After a while, Sima Jiao pinched her neck to pull her away. “That scent is too strong.”

Liao Tingyan giggled.

“Why do you always look at me for a while and then smile? Was it like this before too?” Liao Tingyan suddenly asked.

Sima Jiao raised an eyebrow: “Do I always smile?”

Liao Tingyan: “Yes, you do.”

Sima Jiao shook his head, seemingly unconvinced, but not wanting to argue with her. So he just made a sound of acknowledgment, “Well, if you say so.”

He did. Sometimes Liao Tingyan would just be casually cracking sunflower seeds, accidentally dropping one. When the cracked seed fell to the ground and couldn’t be eaten, she would show a slightly dejected expression. She’d turn her eyes and see Sima Jiao watching her, as if amused by her expression, showing a brief smile.

Sometimes Liao Tingyan would sit with her legs crossed watching live streams, suddenly becoming interested in counting how many trotters the chef was stewing, unconsciously pursing her lips. Then she would notice Sima Jiao watching her and smiling.

Sometimes she would just change into a different skirt, twirl around to see how it flared out and find Sima Jiao watching her with a slight smile.

But she had only heard people say that Sima Jiao was ruthless; she never heard that he liked to smile.

Perhaps only she knew this secret.

They stayed at Guyu Settlement for some time. The days were extremely peaceful. There were no conflicts in Guyu Settlement, unlike other places. The disciples often gathered to eat together. Liao Tingyan occasionally heard them mention that things were chaotic outside, saying something about White Emperor Mountain disciples fighting for power creating a mess, and giving other cultivation sects opportunities to take advantage. Guyu Settlement generally didn’t participate in these matters, as they were the largest supplier of spiritual food ingredients in the cultivation world.

Living daily in a granary, Liao Tingyan almost forgot that her dao partner was a demon lord of the demon realm.

“Time to go back,” Sima Jiao said.

Liao Tingyan thought for a moment, then realized: “Oh right! Hong Luo should be about to be born!”

Sima Jiao wasn’t referring to this, but he didn’t say anything, taking Liao Tingyan back to the demon realm. Before that, he also took her to another place.

“Where is this?”

“Autumn Leaf Dai Mountain, Cold Sand Encircling Water, Dai Encircling Mountain. In the future, palaces will be built here, and you can live here.”

“But this is outside the demon realm?”

“So?”

“This territory?”

“Belongs to you now.” Sima Jiao pointed at the mountains that stretched beyond sight. “8,800 li, ending at the Lonely Group Mountain Range.”

Liao Tingyan: …In her original world, she couldn’t even afford an apartment, and now, what was she supposed to do with such a vast territory?

She was still pondering this question after returning to the demon realm.

Upon returning to the demon realm, the big black snake came to greet them first. It had gone with other demon generals to attack the three southern cities, but when they returned to claim credit, they found their ancestor missing, along with the newly recovered Liao Tingyan. Staying in the forbidden palace had nearly given it depression.

Then Liao Tingyan, dragging the miniaturized dog-like black snake, met Hong Luo. Having been nourished with various spiritual medicines while in the womb, Hong Luo had already grown to the size of a three or four-year-old child within days of birth.

Liao Tingyan didn’t initially recognize this little girl, who hugged her legs and exclaimed: “Damn! Damn! Damn! I never thought you’d be so awesome, sister! I never imagined I could be resurrected, let alone in such a badass way! Damn, I’ve hit the jackpot! Hahaha, I love you! You’re like my second parent. I’d even call you dad from now on!”

She recognized Hong Luo by her manner of speaking.

Liao Tingyan: This constant cursing style was quite similar to Sima Jiao’s childlike voice flame. Perhaps calling him dad would be more appropriate.