In the twilight, the demon general who had been knocked unconscious at the doorway was now leading the three beauties, his face grim as he warned, “No one is to speak of tonight’s events. When I catch her, I’ll make her beg for death.”

The three beauties dared not defy him and hastily agreed.

Everyone understood that if the Mountain Lord learned that the general had caused trouble by letting someone of unknown origin stay in the demon palace, and that she had escaped to who knows where, he would certainly be furious.

The demon general’s name was Lao He, a surrendered soldier. Even when serving the previous Mountain Lord, he had been accustomed to flattery and ingratiation. Sharing similar tastes with the former Mountain Lord, he had been highly favored.

In Lao He’s view, it didn’t matter how many Mountain Lords changed; as long as his position remained secure, he could continue to enjoy the good life.

Demons respect strength, and he was adept at shifting allegiance with the wind. Last month, when the new Mountain Lord crushed the old Mountain Lord’s neck, Lao He’s legs weakened, and without any resistance, he led all his former subordinates to pledge loyalty to him.

Although Lao He didn’t think highly of the new Mountain Lord, in his heart.

This youth was too young, with a cold and stern appearance, his looks better than many women’s. But when he expressionlessly crushed the old Mountain Lord’s bones, the chilling sound still lingered unforgettably.

He was a ruthless one.

Lao He had his thoughts. The new Mountain Lord possessed powerful magic and was merciless, but he was ultimately young and vigorous. A few days ago, he had people observe and discovered that the Mountain Lord’s demon form was unstable.

An unstable demon form meant a long period of heat for demons.

Lao He had secretly gathered beautiful women, planning to present them tonight. The more powerful the demon, the longer it would take to stabilize its demon form. Unfortunately, the demon palace had been desolate for too long, and there weren’t many truly beautiful women who came here.

Lao He had managed to gather three with great difficulty.

Originally, there were four. Thinking of the girl who had stunned him with her beauty, Lao He gritted his teeth fiercely. When he caught her, he wouldn’t need to present her to this new Mountain Lord anymore. He would enjoy her himself and then throw her to his brothers. How dare she scheme against him!

Lao He couldn’t discern the new Mountain Lord’s temperament. Keeping someone Fu Hang wanted to drive away was undoubtedly a mistake. His position wasn’t yet secure, so he didn’t dare let the Mountain Lord know. He could only order people to search for and capture her.

He looked back at the three alluring women and said, “Ahead is the Mountain Lord’s bedchamber. Whether you can stay and receive favor depends on your abilities.”

The female demons hugged their arms, asking hesitantly, “Why is it so cold?”

The closer they got to the Mountain Lord’s chambers, the colder it became. Now, approaching it felt like the dead of winter in the mortal realm, making them shiver in their thin gauze clothing.

Lao He’s cultivation was much deeper than theirs, so naturally, he could withstand the cold better.

He thought they were useless while still admiring their beauty, saying meaningfully, “There’s a cold pool in the chamber. If you can satisfy the Mountain Lord, he naturally won’t need that thing anymore.”

The female demons were amazed and simultaneously felt a bit of joy.

They hadn’t dared to imagine that the Mountain Lord would be so young, with an unstable demon form, yet at the peak of his desire, he had chosen to ice himself in a cold pool.

They had been anxious about whether they could stay and live a good life. Wasn’t this the best opportunity? Most had come hoping to emulate the butterfly spirit of Cong Xia. Cong Xia had originally been a female slave of the old Mountain Lord, living miserably. But recently, she had been smug with success, received many treasures, had no injuries on her body, and even had people serving her.

Truly “favored.”

The female demons wanted this too—an overnight rise to success, not wanting to drift outside or be abused by powerful demons. Their appearances were better than Cong Xia’s; they would surely be able to stay.

After all, no powerful greater demon would rather suffer the torment of ice than sleep in the soft, fragrant embrace of a beauty.

At the midnight hour, Lao He stepped forward, “Mountain Lord, your subordinate Lao He has prepared a special gift for you.”

After a long while, a cold voice sounded from inside, “Enter.”

The man’s voice was slightly hoarse. The female demons stirred, their initial thoughts of attachment now mixed with anticipation.

A powerful being who needed women—this undoubtedly intoxicated and excited the female demons.

Lao He bowed and gestured for them to enter.

They finally saw the full view of the Mountain Lord’s bedchamber. Compared to outside, it was even colder inside, as if a heavy snow had just melted.

Demon Mountain was still rudimentary, but because the previous Mountain Lord favored luxury and splendor, this bedchamber was also gorgeous. Behind the floating warm gauze curtains was a cold pool emitting white mist.

On the shore, a man whose face couldn’t be seen was observing Lao He and them through the gauze curtain.

He was tall, with a slender and straight figure. His hair was half-bound with a crown, and his robes weren’t properly fastened, presumably having just risen from the cold pool at midnight.

The female demons endured the chamber’s cold, trying their best to showcase their beauty.

Lao He’s tone was suggestive, “With them, the Mountain Lord won’t need to endure extreme cold.”

After speaking, Lao He looked up to see the man still standing, silent and unresponsive. Puzzled, he asked, “Mountain Lord?”

The man was silent for a moment before saying, “Leave them. You may go.”

Lao He felt relief in his heart, happiness washing over him. This meant the Mountain Lord was willing to accept his grand gift. Thus, he didn’t need to worry about being replaced by someone who had ruined Fu Hang.

Lao He left, thoughtfully closing the door behind him.

The three female demons knelt in the bedchamber, waiting for the Mountain Lord to speak. They were shivering from the cold but dared not show it, fearing displeasure from the man behind the gauze curtain. Once in his embrace, pleasing him, they would surely warm up.

After a long while, the female demons could barely withstand the cold. He sat down behind the gauze curtain and said coldly, “Come in.”

The female demons’ hearts leaped with joy as they walked through the gauze curtain, finally seeing his appearance.

They were stunned. He was remarkably handsome, with long eyebrows and thin lips, with black eyes that appeared cold and cruel. His aura, between youth and mature manhood, made one’s heart skip a beat.

His slender fingers were pale, and like his entire being, they exuded a hint of morbid beauty, though his lips were crimson. His pupils were slightly narrower than ordinary people’s, resembling dangerous and terrifying snake.

Due to his unstable demon form, the corners of his eyes carried a faint redness. Unlike other demons, the sensuality about him was scattered. This appearance, in immortals’ eyes, would be seen as crazed and demonic, but in demon aesthetics, it was unusually cold and stern.

If before coming, they had only sought wealth and status, now the female demons secretly rejoiced. No one had imagined the new Mountain Lord would be so young and so handsome.

They would help him through this difficult period. If they could survive, he would surely not mistreat them.

One of the female demons, named Nian Yi, boldly spoke, “Mountain Lord, shall we serve you to bed?”

He raised his eyes to look at Nian Yi.

His gaze was as cold as jade. If not for the unusual atmosphere in the chamber, they wouldn’t have noticed he was enduring the pain brought by his unstable demon form.

He said, “Very well.”

As the female demon named Nian Yi approached, Yan Chaosheng thought this was how it should be; this was the path he was originally meant to walk.

Despite having stayed in Kung Sang for three years, in his bones, he was still just a dirty, lowly demon in their eyes.

The pain of strengthening his true form was like having his flesh carved and bones picked.

That day when he was surrounded by the three elders, he had transformed into his true form for the first time. Later, in the Demon Suppression Tower, he had forcefully suppressed his nature.

After the tower’s collapse, he stayed in a cave with the little demon bird for a night. His body began to heat up.

His demon form started to grow, continuously expanding.

From several zhang tall, to ten zhang, until now, when his true form couldn’t fit in a bedchamber.

He had been in pain for several days, frightening the little demon bird. But no one would shelter them, and he couldn’t return to Kung Sang. Because of his overwhelming demon aura, Daoists had even traced them to the vicinity.

Beneath his scales, blood stained everything. Strengthening his true form had triggered the demon mating season that had been long delayed.

Ice encasement was already useless. He would either be like a beast, casually mating with female demons in the forest.

The little demon bird was almost crying with worry.

Their hearts were connected, and Yan Chaosheng’s heart was beating too fast, so fast that the bird felt his blood vessels might burst and cause his death. It was also a demon, and even though it could ease the pain of strengthening his true form, finding female demons wouldn’t be a big deal.

But Yan Chaosheng, with bloodshot eyes, had stubbornly come to Demon Mountain, asking to borrow the cold pool in the demon palace’s bedchamber for ice encasement. He didn’t even know what he was persisting for.

He transformed the immortal whip into a demon treasure and presented it to the previous Mountain Lord.

That unfortunate previous Mountain Lord, indiscriminate in his tastes, accepted the treasure but also took a fancy to Yan Chaosheng’s appearance, harboring lustful intentions.

Yan Chaosheng’s long-suppressed demonic nature boiled over violently.

At that moment, the entire mountain was filled with blood mist. He killed his way through, grabbing the previous Mountain Lord’s neck, his expression malevolent and cold: “You want me to accompany you, to satisfy you before lending? Mountain Lord, are you satisfied now?”

The previous Mountain Lord trembled, never imagining that this seemingly weak person on the verge of death was a god of death: “No, no need, I’ll lend it to you, lend it to you.”

“Now, it’s not necessary anymore.” Yan Chaosheng exerted force with his hand, crushing his bones.

The previous Mountain Lord died with wide-open eyes, slumping down like mud.

That day, Yan Chaosheng couldn’t even count how many he had killed. Those who resisted all died by his hand, and the rest submitted completely.

It was laughable. He had sought immortality with all his heart, enduring for three years, only to be hunted by the sect, forcing him to strengthen his true form.

While he had no intention of being a demon, in one fit of madness and killing, he was respectfully honored as the Mountain Lord.

A demon’s true form typically undergoes several transformations, but strengthening the true form meant all growth occurred at once, with multiple times the pain and rampant demonic nature intertwining within.

Yan Chaosheng could only remain conscious for a few hours each day to manage the demon palace affairs. All the rest of his time was spent ice-encased in the cold pool.

He lowered his gaze to look at his pale fingertips. Staying in the cold pool for too long, along with having previously drawn in passion flower poison, had generated cold poison within his body.

Continuing like this, even if he survived the consequences of strengthening his true form, he would still die young.

The female demons were already undressing.

Yan Chaosheng had always understood Lao He’s thoughts. Perhaps such people embodied how demons should survive.

Wanton, malicious, filthy beyond redemption.

He knew what he needed at this moment.

The window was open, and the night breeze outside the bedchamber carried the fragrance of scattered flowers. His cold fingers tightened. At such a moment, he knew he shouldn’t think of that person.

Since their parting under the willow tree, he had said they would never meet again in this life.

He should hate her.

She had caused him to lose his cultivation, her father wanted to kill him, and what she had left him with was this body full of cold poison, neither human nor ghost.

Compared to before, he had grown taller during this time, and his face had also changed significantly.

The female demons’ alluring bodies were right before his eyes. Demonic instinct should have compelled him forward, to sink into the sea of desire, cutting ties with the past once and for all.

But he sat motionless for a long time. What appeared before his eyes seemed to be that night in the Demon Suppression Tower, when the young woman cried his name with grievance. She cried so pitifully, transforming into that appearance, sobbing for him to save her. His hatred also became powerless; she always knew what his weakness was.

Beneath his chest, where the heart-protecting scale was missing, it began to hurt again.

Since completely falling to become a demon, claiming a mountain as his domain, had he reached a point of no return?

He forbade himself from thinking of her again, forcing himself to walk his original fated path.

Nian Yi, seeing him motionless for a long time, boldly tried to lean into his embrace.

The flower fragrance carried by the night wind was intoxicating. The new Mountain Lord raised his hand in a gesture that seemed like he would embrace her, but to Nian Yi’s shock, he pushed her away.

The room fell silent. The female demons knelt in fear, not knowing what had displeased him.

Yan Chaosheng seemed angry, yet also coldly mocking: “You all go back—”

Before his words could finish, all the bells on the gauze curtain began to ring, tinkling incessantly.

They saw the Mountain Lord suddenly stand up with a cold face. Then, thinking of something, he calmly sat down again and called, “Fu Hang.”

A man, silent as a shadow, appeared: “Mountain Lord.”

Yan Chaosheng’s fingers tightened, not knowing what he was anticipating: “Bring them here.”

Fu Hang: “Yes.”

Fu Hang thought to himself that besides managing demon palace affairs, the Mountain Lord had only done one thing these days: repeatedly strengthening the original barrier. Even more ruthlessly, he had arranged an array with nine Ten Commandment Rings at the barrier behind the mountain.

A full nine of them!

Let alone ordinary people trying to break through, even a Daluo Golden Immortal would find it extremely difficult. This was truly malicious. Previously, Fu Hang hadn’t understood why anyone would go to that place, but today someone had tried to break through.

The female demons were already hurriedly dressing: “Mountain Lord, shall we withdraw first?”

“No need,” Yan Chaosheng said with a dark face. “Stay, all of you stay!”

His fingers retracted, turning the Taotie on the armrest into dust. He thought absent-mindedly that perhaps he had been mistaken. Perhaps that day, he had left too hurriedly and should have clarified which of her kindnesses toward him were genuine and which were false.

If she showed a little sincerity, he could forgive her and her father.

So when Liu Shuang was brought to the bedchamber, she saw this scene: three women in disarray, half-concealed, kneeling and laughing coquettishly to please a man.

These three looked familiar—not long ago, they had almost become her “companions.”

The person on the seat was even more familiar.

It was Yan Chaosheng.

Since their unhappy parting, she hadn’t seen him for some time. He was taller than before, with more open features, having matured somewhat. At this moment, he didn’t even look at her, lowering his gaze to smile at the beauties at his feet.

“I wondered who was breaking through the array, so it’s the Chi Shui Immortal,” he said with cold mockery, his words barbed. “Do you think my demon palace is uninhabited? How presumptuous. Has the Immortal considered the consequences?”

“Mountain Lord?”

Liu Shuang hadn’t been bound by the Ten Commandment Rings. Before deciding to break through the array, she had already sensed something was amiss, with an array formation at her feet. When Fu Hang came to find her, she had followed without resistance, planning to talk with the new Mountain Lord. After all, from the waiter’s words, she could see that the demons at this time somewhat feared immortals. She was only passing through, so there should be hope for negotiation.

But now, her gaze swept over the women at his feet. The legendary, violent, ruthless, heavy-taste new Mountain Lord was Yan Chaosheng?

It was truly… after a brief separation, one must view them with new eyes.

Recalling their parting day when she learned he liked her, now facing him felt strange, no matter what.

What was going on with him? Why didn’t he like Mi Chu, but instead liked her?