Liu Shuang patted Qing Luan’s large head, and it chirped affectionately in response.

“By the way, how did you revive Qing Luan?” Liu Shuang asked. “It seems to have hatched after coming out of the Demon Suppression Tower.”

When she had retrieved Qing Luan from the lake, it was just an egg without any life force. Did Yan Chaosheng already have the ability to revive dead demons at that time?

“Qing Luan?” Yan Chaosheng glanced at her, tacitly accepting the name Liu Shuang had given the little demon bird. Unwilling to speak of using his heart meridian to extend Qing Luan’s life, he could only say, “It was a coincidence. I found an opportunity in the Demon Suppression Tower that helped it hatch.”

The two returned to the sleeping chamber, which was much warmer than outside. The Ming Pearl’s light illuminated the gauze curtains. Liu Shuang could feel that the hand she held was growing increasingly stiff.

What was Yan Chaosheng thinking?

Despite his discomfort, he still didn’t pull away from her.

However, she decided to treat him better, just as he had once done for her in the Demon Palace.

Liu Shuang withdrew her hand. Yan Chaosheng paused momentarily, lowering his gaze. His palm felt empty, yet seemed to retain her lingering warmth.

Soon, this slight feeling of loss vanished because she pointed to the carved bed and said, “Go to sleep. You were injured just days ago and need proper rest.”

There was only one bed in the chamber.

Yan Chaosheng’s throat went dry: “No need. My demon body is resilient. I don’t need sleep. I can spend the night in the cold pond.”

Though Yan Chaosheng’s elemental body had stabilized, if he truly spent a night in the cold pond, he would be completely frozen by morning.

She said seriously, “You’re injured and cannot sleep in the cold pond.”

For some reason, Yan Chaosheng’s wounds hadn’t healed after so many days. Whenever Liu Shuang came near, she could smell a faint trace of blood.

She pushed him behind the gauze curtains: “Alright, go to sleep. After being up half the night, Zhan Xueyang finally healed my body, and I should rest too.”

With that, she walked to the outer chamber.

Yan Chaosheng’s wildly beating heart finally calmed when he saw the small couch in the outer chamber.

What had he been thinking just now? How could he have assumed she would sleep with him?

Liu Shuang had somehow procured a small couch and placed it in the outer chamber, covering it with soft cloud brocade. When he entered, his attention had been entirely on her, so he hadn’t noticed it immediately.

While Yan Chaosheng still stood inside the gauze curtains watching her, she had already climbed onto the small couch and sweetly closed her eyes.

Yan Chaosheng also lay down on the bed, using his arm as a pillow as he looked outward.

Perhaps because Liu Shuang had slept in this bed for several days, her fragrance lingered everywhere. Yan Chaosheng was seriously injured, and everywhere on his body ached. Yet now, quietly sharing a room with Liu Shuang, with sandalwood incense burning softly, he no longer felt the pain.

Yan Chaosheng sensed that she had begun to care for him. She applied medicine to his wounds and trusted him enough to let him return to the palace to stay.

Although Yan Chaosheng understood that from childhood to adulthood, those who cared for him never had good intentions—the demon who pretended to be his mother yet wanted to stew him, the female demons who curried favor with him, and the wandering immortal who wanted to gouge out his eyes.

Including Mi Chu, who sent him immortal armor—none of them had good intentions.

But at this moment, Yan Chaosheng didn’t want to think about these things. He deliberately avoided wondering what Liu Shuang wanted. If he remained sensitive and suspicious, he would lose even this remaining ray of hope.

However, the little immortal maiden seemed not to understand how to treat a man well. He looked at the cloak at the head of the bed, then at the small couch where she rested.

It was usually men who treated women this way, wrapping them in cloaks and giving up beds for them to sleep on. She had reversed this, applying it all to him, treating him like a woman she was comforting.

He lay in the soft light of the Ming Pearl that filled the chamber, gazing at her across the short distance.

As the night deepened, Yan Chaosheng got out of bed and walked to her side. She lay on her side, one hand half-curled by her cheek.

Yan Chaosheng bent down to lift her and placed her on the bed.

Now that Liu Shuang had regained her immortal body, such movement awakened her, though she was still somewhat drowsy. Perhaps because the lamplight was so warm, when Liu Shuang opened her eyes to look at him, they too were filled with melting warmth.

He gently patted her back: “It’s nothing, go back to sleep.”

The bed was naturally much more comfortable than the small couch. Liu Shuang had been staying here all this time, and upon touching the source of warmth, she instinctively nestled closer, closing her eyes. She cut off her divine consciousness and allowed herself to fall asleep.

Yan Chaosheng walked out from behind the gauze curtains and went to the small couch.

Originally, Liu Shuang had prepared the small couch for herself. It wasn’t much larger than a woman’s stature, and when Yan Chaosheng lay down on it, his long legs were forced to curl up uncomfortably.

The next day, Liu Shuang awoke in the carved bed, but Yan Chaosheng was nowhere to be seen.

Liu Shuang sat up, looking at the surroundings that were both strange and familiar, recalling some things about Yan Chaosheng from her previous life.

In a sense, Yan Chaosheng was truly diligent, leading by example, and able to endure hardship. That’s why seven hundred years later, after marrying her, an immortal herb, he would laugh at how delicate and difficult she was to care for.

She needed soft and beautiful lighting, wind chimes that moved with the breeze, beautiful colored glass lamps, and soft cloud brocade.

The two of them, before consummating their marriage and going to the Ghost Realm, had lived here in the Demon Palace. Only seven hundred years later, it was much more magnificent, vast, and spacious, no smaller than the Celestial Palace.

Yan Chaosheng’s palace chambers were simple and cold, while Liu Shuang’s were extremely comfortable. Yan Chaosheng had been accustomed to sleeping in austere places, but later she dragged him to lie together with her on the cloud brocade in her room.

She had asked him expectantly, “How is it?”

Yan Chaosheng narrowed his eyes and, after a long pause, said, “Not bad.”

She had been overjoyed, pressing him down, not allowing him to get up, making him lie there to sleep. His expression was strange, his black eyes looking at her. Liu Shuang hadn’t understood his meaning then and touched her face puzzledly, “What’s wrong?”

He closed his eyes and turned away, “Nothing.”

Later, the mighty Demon Lord was led by her into “extravagant indulgence.” When not fighting wars, he would sleep with her on the cloud brocade.

When the weather in the demon realm was good, looking out from her room, one could even see half the sky filled with sunset, which was extremely beautiful.

In those early days of marriage, the two of them interacted innocently like friends. Although they later parted on bad terms, Liu Shuang had to admit that their time in the Demon Palace had been extremely pleasant and warm.

Yan Chaosheng had already told her his purpose in marrying her.

Once, as she was drifting off to sleep, she asked him, “Husband, why did you marry me?”

How could the ruler of two realms marry a small immortal herb? She couldn’t figure it out. With his status at that time, what kind of immortal maiden couldn’t he have married?

Yan Chaosheng answered her question with another: “Why did you marry me?”

With her eyes closed, she instinctively answered, “Because I like you.” Especially, especially like you.

He was silent for a long time, not answering the question. A cold, large palm, however, fell on her face. Just as she was about to fall completely asleep, he coldly said, “Because I wanted your heart.”

Seven hundred years ago, she had naively thought this was a sweet nothing heard in a dream, and her heart had been delighted, just as when she said she liked him. Little did she know, he had always been speaking the truth.

Liu Shuang touched her heart. In this life, did Yan Chaosheng also want this Hui spiritual heart?

The letter Liu Shuang had sent out these past few days transformed into light and flew away.

The demon general guarding the Demon Palace barrier intercepted her letter and went to seek instructions from Yan Chaosheng. Yan Chaosheng asked, “Where is it being sent?”

The demon general said, “It seems to be the Kung Sang Immortal Realm. Should we confiscate it?”

Yan Chaosheng paused briefly: “No need.”

He released his hand, and the letter transformed into a paper crane and flew away, disappearing before their eyes in an instant.

The demon general asked worriedly, “Won’t you look at it?”

Yan Chaosheng didn’t look at it and continued planning the future path of the Demon Palace with Fu Hang. In the mortal realm, autumn had arrived. News came from the Celestial Palace that the Celestial Lord had died, and Feng Fuming had succeeded him, becoming the new Celestial Lord.

Unlike his father, who only wanted to live in mediocrity, Feng Fuming’s first act upon becoming Celestial Lord was to mobilize troops, directly targeting the Demon Palace.

This was not good news for those in the Demon Palace. Although their numbers were increasing, they hadn’t had enough time to train and would find it difficult to resist the Demon Lord. Moreover, this battle couldn’t be avoided; it had to be fought, and it had to be won.

Only with victory would the demons, long oppressed to the point of timidity, truly believe they had the power to fight back against the immortal clans.

If they unfortunately lost, the resolve of these demons would completely crumble into disarray.

Nor could they hide within the barrier without emerging. Although the Primordial Mirror was resilient, if repeatedly struck by celestial troops, it would dissipate after several months, causing even more panic.

Though Feng Fuming had ascended to the position of Celestial Lord, he still didn’t think much of Yan Chaosheng, even though Bai Zhuixu had already fallen at Yan Chaosheng’s hands.

For the first battle against the Demon Palace, he ordered a famous general under his command to lead the celestial army.

As the celestial army approached, the sky grew dark and gloomy, and everyone’s face bore a solemn expression. Yan Chaosheng didn’t plan to wait until the immortal army struck the barrier, as that would easily break the demons’ morale, creating a sense of retreat before the battle even began.

He prepared to proactively meet the enemy a hundred miles away, before the celestial army arrived.

Liu Shuang came out and encountered the fully equipped Yan Chaosheng, with the dense mass of demon troops behind him.

They couldn’t even gather complete armor, wearing clothes made from their fur.

Leading them, Yan Chaosheng held Zang Tian, dressed in dark red clothes. Among the motley crowd of demons, he stood out as the Mountain Lord, handsome and striking.

His demon army was truly poor this year.

Liu Shuang had seen him at the height of his glory, shaking the Eight Wildernesses. Now, seeing the still youthful Yan Chaosheng marching to battle, it was like witnessing how the future magnificent palace would be built from mere tiles and stones, growing into a dazzling and magnificent form.

He didn’t have enough armor, but the people he had trained were surprisingly obedient, arranged in neat formations.

The Demon Palace now had all kinds of people, including children curled up beside their demon mothers, timidly watching as the Mountain Lord led the army against the celestial troops.

Yan Chaosheng passed by a child and patted the little one’s head.

Strangely, Liu Shuang could see a trace of tenderness in this gesture.

Fu Hang said in a low voice, “Mountain Lord, the immortal maiden has also come.”

Yan Chaosheng turned around, and sure enough, Liu Shuang stood on the other side. After a moment of silence, he ordered Fu Hang: “Lead them ahead first. I’ll say a few words and catch up shortly.”

With Yan Chaosheng’s speed, it would be easy for him to catch up with the demon army. Fu Hang accepted the order and left.

Yan Chaosheng walked to Liu Shuang. This time, before Liu Shuang could painstakingly take out the battle armor she had prepared early in her dimensional pouch to give to Yan Chaosheng,

The large palm that had just rested on the child’s head now fell on her cheek.

Liu Shuang looked up in surprise.

In Yan Chaosheng’s black eyes, this time she could see genuine tenderness, even softer than when he had comforted the child.

His thumb caressed her cheek as he suddenly said, “You should leave now. You’ve stayed with me long enough these days. Return to Kung Sang. The Demon Palace barrier is now open; you can leave anytime.”

She blinked, doubting what she’d heard. He was letting her go just like that? He had broken the Primordial Mirror and extracted Bai Zhuixu’s soul, only to ask her to stay in the Demon Palace for a few bland days.

“Yan Chaosheng?”

The next moment, he lowered his head and, not allowing her to refuse, kissed her forehead.

“Go,” he said coldly.

His lips were slightly cool, touching briefly before parting. Liu Shuang pressed her forehead, surprised that someone who had been stiff even when holding hands these past few days would suddenly do this. She stepped back in shock and looked up at him.

Yan Chaosheng showed rare frankness as he met her gaze.

Some things were no longer concealed. Liu Shuang was even vaguely burned by the emotion in his eyes. She hesitated, not immediately stepping forward, feeling that compared to the feelings in his eyes, whatever she might say seemed inappropriate. The battle armor in her dimensional pouch remained undelivered.

Yan Chaosheng gave her one last look, a look she couldn’t comprehend, before she could only watch his back as he went to catch up with the demon army, never looking back. For some reason, Liu Shuang glanced at the little demons behind him. All the demons who could fight and bear burdens had gone to face the immortal clans.

The demons left behind were all “the elderly, the weak, the women, and the children.” Previously, when the demons were training troops, Liu Shuang rarely saw them. Now, with the demon army marching to battle for the first time, everyone had come to see them off, making for a complete gathering.

These demons, despised in other places, had all been taken in by Yan Chaosheng. Liu Shuang even saw an old willow tree demon whose teeth had nearly all fallen out, looking no different from an old mortal grandfather.

She knew that in this era, it was not easy for demons to die of natural causes.

Now they were anxious and uneasy.

“Can the Mountain Lord win?”

“I heard that the troops coming are from the Feng clan of the Celestial tribe, each one valiant.”

“Will the Mountain Lord be all right? Will my Ah Nan be all right? Alas…”

Not many demons believed that Yan Chaosheng could stand against Feng Fuming. The existence of the Celestial tribe was like a deeply rooted tree, while the newborn demon tribe was but fragile cattails.

Liu Shuang thought that Yan Chaosheng would win. He wouldn’t so easily die under Feng Fuming’s army.

At that time, Liu Shuang didn’t know that, unlike in her previous life, even Yan Chaosheng himself wasn’t confident he could return.

With only half an elemental core left, his cultivation was far inferior to before, having dissipated by more than half.

The last thing he did was to let her go, to let her return home.