The demon clan differs from the human clan. When mortal women give birth, they must carry the child for ten months, risking death at the gates of hell to deliver. During those months, their bellies swell prominently, impossible to hide. The demon clan is different – when demons give birth, they nurture the primordial soul with essence and blood. Others cannot tell, and after ten months, the child is born as an infant. There are also no reactions like morning sickness. Without a deliberate announcement, no one would know.
When Bujiang was pregnant back then, Gui Diao Tang had just obtained the Xiaoyuan Pearl and was already showing signs of being bewitched by the demon pearl. The Demon Empress was cautious and did not make this matter widely known – only trusted confidants knew. Later, when the great war between humans and demons broke out, the sects wished they could eliminate the demon clan. Not long after, Bujiang secretly gave birth while concealing it from everyone, and Gui Diao Tang perished at the Ruins of Golden Gate. Initially, she had planned to hide the baby girl in Heishi City, but after Gui Diao Tang’s fall, some demon clan members harbored ulterior motives, while the cultivation world outside watched like tigers eyeing their prey. With no choice, Bujiang used the demon seal to suppress the baby girl’s Demon Lord bloodline and sent her to the human world.
After that, Bujiang fought off the sects’ pursuit on one hand while stabilizing the fragmenting Demon Realm on the other. More than ten years passed in a flash, and of the trusted confidants who knew of the baby girl’s existence, only Xiao Shuang remained.
Therefore, when she mentioned the pregnancy, the demon cultivators present were so astonished.
Some clever ones had already connected this to Zanxing’s identity, their gazes toward Zanxing hiding excitement.
Bujiang’s gaze swept over everyone: “These years, Zanxing hid in the human world until she awakened her Demon Lord bloodline in the Extreme Ice Abyss.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Zanxing released her suppression of Yuanli. A vigorous stream of light surged along her body, gathering and burning at her brow, where an azure begonia quietly bloomed.
“The Demon Lord seal, it’s the Demon Lord seal!”
“She is His Lordship’s bloodline!”
After a brief shock, everyone erupted in excitement.
“She is my daughter with the Demon Lord.” Bujiang spoke calmly: “In this world, the pure Heavenly Demon bloodline.”
Heavenly Demon bloodline – in the entire Demon Realm, aside from Bujiang, now only Zanxing possessed it. Gui Yansheng claimed to be the Demon Lord’s son, but his Demon Lord seal was not pure azure – he was a half-demon’s son. But the one before them was a genuine Heavenly Demon bloodline, the Demon Lord’s daughter.
The demon cultivators’ gazes toward Zanxing immediately changed. A Demon Lord’s daughter who could walk out of the Extreme Ice Abyss must possess formidable strength. Perhaps it was precisely because of her arrival that the spiritual veins that had been withered for years began flowing again. Back then, Demon Lord Gui Diao Tang single-handedly changed the demon clan’s fate, though ultimately he failed. Perhaps this young girl would become the second Gui Diao Tang, leading the remaining demon clan to wash away their shame and return to their peak.
Xiao Shuang lifted his robe corner, knelt, and respectfully said: “Welcome back to the city, Young Highness—”
Throughout the hall and beyond, countless demon cultivators knelt, respectfully saying in unison: “Welcome back to the city, Young Highness!”
The withered crows outside Heishi City seemed startled by this earth-shaking cry, flapping their wings and flying away. The beauty in red robes smiled slightly, looked at Zanxing, and gently spoke: “Welcome home, Zanxing.”
……
Night rain began falling softly, dropping into the rivers of Heishi City.
The rivers of Heishi City were red.
Those winding blood-colored streams writhed through the pitch-black mountainous terrain like scarlet long worms, rushing toward the distance, all the way to the edge of the Demon Realm.
Zanxing sat in the great hall, with Mimi quietly lying at her feet.
This great hall seemed to have gone unattended for many years, or perhaps it had always been this decrepit. The entire hall was pitch-black and dim, carrying a rotten dampness. The walls seemed to have splattered brown bloodstains that had begun turning black. In any case, this place was eerie and cold, strangely oppressive.
The beauty in red robes walked in from outside, her footsteps pausing beside those brown bloodstains. Her willow eyebrows immediately shot up as she complained: “That madman turned a perfectly good treasure hall into such an eerie appearance – he truly is a madman.”
Zanxing looked up at Bujiang: “Wasn’t this place like this before?” She had thought it was always this way.
“Of course not.” Bujiang found a comfortable, soft couch to sit on. “In the entire Demon Realm, your father was the most elegant. The Chaos Hall of those days surpassed even the immortal palaces of the cultivation world, but…” She sighed: “Forget it, let’s not speak of those things. What are your plans for the future?”
Zanxing said, “I want to go to Gufeng Mountain to rescue my friends.” Gu Baiying and Hong Su were both left at the sect, especially Gu Baiying, having let her escape under everyone’s watchful eyes, she didn’t know how the sect people would treat her. Now that she had emerged from the Extreme Ice Abyss, she should rightfully go to the mountain to find them.
“There you go again. I’ve told you before – he is Qinghua’s son, with exceptional cultivation talent. Even if it meant sacrificing the entire Taiyan Sect, Shaoyang Zhenren wouldn’t let anything happen to him. Besides, demon cultivators in the human world have already sent back messages – these days, there’s been no news of the cultivation world sects punishing disciples.”
“Perhaps they’re secretly torturing them.” Zanxing retorted.
Bujiang smiled: “If the sects truly wanted to punish those related to the demon clan, they would certainly make an example to prevent other disciples from repeating the mistake. If they were going to punish the Taiyan Sect leader’s disciple, they would naturally make it known throughout the three realms. Since they’re keeping quiet now, the matter has naturally been resolved. If you attack Gufeng Mountain, confirming your deep friendship with them, that would be unnecessary and counterproductive.”
“But…”
“There’s no ‘but’ about it. Even if you’re determined to go up the mountain, with all the major sects joining forces, do you think you alone could escape unscathed?”
Zanxing didn’t speak.
That “Peerless Heart Sutra” re-explored the great path in a way that was neither demonic nor immortal. Though she cultivated it, she ultimately hadn’t achieved proper results. Being able to leap out of the Extreme Ice Abyss was also because Mimi devoured the tribulation clouds, helping her break through. She hadn’t fully absorbed the Qin Chong seeds yet – if she wanted to recover to her best state, now was not the time. And the sects had endless magical artifacts and talisman formations. Forget everything else – just the Ten Thousand Kill Formation alone, she had no confidence she could survive a second time.
“I very much want to accompany you in attacking the cultivation world,” Bujiang said calmly, “but after your father’s incident, the Demon Realm was severely wounded. Gui Yansheng’s whereabouts are now unknown – he might return soon. I cannot gamble the demon clan’s lives with you. Zanxing,” she looked into Zanxing’s eyes, “in this world, the strong are revered. The sect people forced you into the killing formation, Gui Yansheng made you fall into the ice abyss – all because you weren’t strong enough. Now, the cultivation world is gathering demon-extermination forces. Gui Yansheng possesses the Xiaoyuan Pearl – with wolves ahead and tigers behind, the Demon Realm’s remaining forces can hardly protect themselves. Why not focus on cultivation?”
“Cultivation?”
“Only by becoming strong yourself do you have the power to choose. Now that you’ve returned to the Demon Realm as the Demon Lord’s daughter, everyone has high expectations of you. If you’re not strong enough, naturally, people will come to challenge you. To convince the masses, you need sufficient strength. I can help you gather information about the sects, but before that, you need to think clearly about your path forward.”
Zanxing asked: “You hope I’ll focus on cultivation and revitalize the demon clan?” She was merely an outsider who had mistakenly entered the game, and to shoulder the fate of an entire clan seemed rather hasty.
“Not for the demon clan, but for yourself.”
“You have high aspirations and refuse to accept fate. Otherwise, in the Extreme Ice Abyss, you would have already become one among countless names. Your father also refused to accept fate back then, so he fought desperately, though unfortunately, he failed in the end.”
“If you want to change the rules and change fate, you must have the qualifications to fight against heaven. If the demon clan is destined to produce a genius youth, I hope that person is you.”
She looked at Zanxing, her gaze tolerant and gentle.
Zanxing didn’t speak, but in an instant, she thought of many things.
She thought of when she struggled in the black swamp of Gufeng Mountain, when she fell into the demon-extermination formation in Li’er Kingdom. When she met Qinghua Xianzi, she encountered the Serpent Witch in Wu Fan City. The memory of seeing the Wuyou Sword in the treasure ground, obtaining the fruit of the sacred tree, being framed by Gui Yansheng and pointed at by thousands, struggling desperately in the Ten Thousand Kill Formation, finally having her soul extracted by the Ashura Umbrella and cast into the Extreme Ice Abyss.
Countless times, she thought she was going to die, and each time, a miracle arrived at the last moment.
The Qin Chong seeds found on Gufeng Mountain would save her life when death was imminent. The kitten picked up on nights when fierce beasts roamed would much later carry her leaping up from the silent, long abyss.
What seemed like coincidental fate might not be without heaven’s trap. Miracles arrived late, but ultimately didn’t fail to appear.
What should she do? What should she do?
Zanxing lowered her head, looking at her palm.
The flower branch pattern growing in her palm had completely disappeared the moment the Xiaoyuan Pearl left her body. What disappeared along with it seemed to be a fate dominated by heaven’s way. In the Ten Thousand Kill Formation, the Golden Core condensed in her body was burned and melted by divine fire, along with her past identity and former self.
From the moment she lost the Xiaoyuan Pearl, she was free.
The current “Zanxing” was no longer the Yang family’s young miss. She had become the Demon Lord’s daughter, the demon clan’s Young Highness, awakened the Demon Lord’s power – what should she do now?
Zanxing had never thought about what she should do after breaking free from the identity heaven had arranged for her. All along, she always felt that perhaps one day she might return. But now, with the pattern in her palm gone, she had become one among countless cultivators on the Duzhou continent. She had friends and family here – she had to admit the fact that perhaps she could never return in this lifetime.
“What do you plan to do?” Bujiang asked her once again.
Mimi lay at Zanxing’s feet, swishing its iron rod-like tail. Its massive body occupied most of the palace space. The demon cultivators were naturally fearful of this ancient divine beast and always kept their distance. The Yinlang Shi still couldn’t freely shrink and change its form, hiding here like a giant beast guarding its master, docile yet dangerous.
Zanxing thought for a moment, then asked: “When will Gui Yansheng return?”
“I guess after he refines the Xiaoyuan Pearl.”
Zanxing smiled and patted Mimi’s big, fluffy head.
One moment, she was the sect’s promising junior sister; the next, she became the infamous Demon Lord’s daughter. Having received the villainous role meant to destroy heaven and earth, yet doing heroic deeds to save the world, life’s ups and downs were thrilling enough. Unable to guess what lay ahead, perhaps made it interesting.
She took a deep breath and stood up: “If that’s the case, then I’ll be the demon clan’s genius youth.”
Bujiang was slightly stunned.
Zanxing looked at her, the corner of her lips curving up, her smile bright as stars.
“Mother,” she said, “I want to enter closed-door cultivation.”