The news of the Demon Lord’s return spread across the Duzhou continent in an instant.

Heishi City celebrated for a hundred days, and all the major sects sent congratulatory letters. Regardless of what they truly thought, the demon clan and human race were currently at peace, maintaining surface tranquility. To put it bluntly, what if the Heavenly Dao decided to cause more trouble a hundred years from now? At that time, they would still need to unite against a common enemy and make plans together. Leaving others a way out was leaving oneself a way out. The sects were all filled with old foxes who understood this principle.

Zanxing also held her succession ceremony in Heishi City.

As the eleventh Demon Lord of Heishi City, there wasn’t much that needed managing in the current Heishi City. All those trivial matters were handed over to Xiao Shuang to handle. Bujiang had issued new laws, and the demon clan was now much better-behaved than before. Though they still often caused trouble everywhere and used crude language, with the laws keeping them in check, they no longer dared to kill at will or take pleasure in being bandits as they had in the past.

The succubi always felt that the new Demon Lord’s harem was too empty, constantly hinting that Zanxing should expand her harem and take in more beautiful men. Zanxing was thoroughly annoyed by this.

Setting aside whether she had any such intentions, the aesthetic differences between the demon and human races were truly enormous—it really couldn’t be forced.

Under these circumstances, Gu Baiying was naturally unhappy every day, acting as if someone owed him spirit stones and hadn’t repaid them. He also had to strictly guard against the Lamp-Blowing Ghosts’ attempts to curry favor, and seemed to have secretly arranged fights with General Cable and the others. The next day, Zanxing saw a hall full of “consorts” with black eyes and swollen faces, leaving her quite speechless.

He had even laid hands on such a frail child as Bing Mo!

After this chaotic period of chickens flying and dogs jumping, they finally made it through the hundred days of celebration. Zanxing informed Bujiang that she planned to make a trip to Gufeng Mountain.

Bujiang had no objections, but Hong Su began preparing clothes for Zanxing to take three days in advance.

Looking at a full chest of golden robes and silver skirts, Zanxing was silent for a moment before he couldn’t help but remind Hong Su: “Isn’t this a bit too much?”

She wasn’t going to a fashion show!

Hong Su snapped the chest shut with a “clap” and declared righteously: “Of course not! Back then, Miss was forced into the Ten Thousand Kill Formation on Gufeng Mountain, and never went back to Gufeng Mountain after that. Times have changed—now that you’ve become the Demon Lord, you must let those people who look down on others see what true Demon Lord magnificence looks like!”

“That’s how this world works—bowing to the high and stepping on the low. They don’t look at the person; they look at the clothes. The more splendidly Miss dresses, the more they’ll fear you.”

The little girl held quite a grudge. Having stayed in Heishi City for so long, she had picked up some of the demon clan’s cunning and roguish air. She pushed out another chest: “These are jewelry sent by the succubi. Miss should wear them all together.” She patted her chest: “Heishi City doesn’t lack money!”

Heishi City indeed didn’t lack money. Heishi Mountain was full of mineral veins everywhere, with all kinds of beautiful spirit stones and demon pearls. The demon clan often used crystals the size of millstones to decorate their caves. If the cultivation world saw this, they would surely be scolded for wasting precious resources.

But so what if they wasted precious resources? As long as they were happy.

Seeing that she wasn’t speaking, Hong Su asked: “Miss, you’re not going to refuse to wear them, are you?”

“I’ll wear them.” She sighed helplessly: “I’ll change three times a day to make them die of envy, alright?”

Hong Su said, embarrassedly: “Twice would be enough—we shouldn’t be too ostentatious.”

Zanxing: “……”

……

The Taiyan Sect remained the same as always.

Perhaps due to the recovery of spiritual veins in recent years, spiritual energy was much more abundant everywhere. The green forests on Gufeng Mountain looked much more lush than before, with an entire mountain wrapped in ethereal green clouds among the peaks, overflowing with spiritual energy. Zanxing thought that if she hid Mimi here, the time for it to break out of its shell should be greatly shortened.

Xuan Lingzi had been waiting at the entrance since early morning. As soon as Zanxing and Gu Baiying reached the main hall, they saw someone rushing out frantically from inside, grabbing Zanxing like an old father reunited with his long-lost daughter, almost weeping with joy. Xuan Lingzi said: “Zanxing—”

He looked even more excited than when Gui Diao Tang first met Zanxing.

“Master.” Zanxing patted his back, afraid he might faint from excitement.

“Good, good, good! It’s wonderful that you’ve returned!” Xuan Lingzi said “good” three times in a row, looking at Zanxing with mixed emotions. “These years, your master has thought of you day and night, couldn’t eat well or sleep well, and lost a lot of weight. Now seeing you safe and sound, a weight has finally been lifted from my heart. Truly worthy of being Xuan Lingzi’s disciple—you can always turn misfortune into fortune and have a bright future ahead!”

Looking at his waistline, which had grown another size, Zanxing couldn’t tell if he was joking or not.

Xuan Lingzi didn’t even glance at Gu Baiying, directly pulling Zanxing inside: “Come, your martial uncles are all waiting for you.” These years, he was still holding a grudge about Gu Baiying not letting him place Zanxing’s statue in the main hall. The relationship between the two martial brothers had grown so tense that when they met, neither acknowledged the other.

Seeing his deliberately ignoring attitude, Gu Baiying was amused by his anger. Too lazy to say much to him, he followed Zanxing inside.

In the Jinhua Hall, several martial uncles were present.

Yueguang Daoren looked somewhat younger than he had a few years ago. The abundant spiritual energy in recent years has benefited his appearance preservation as well. However, there were also rumors that last year he had encountered that female disciple from the Hehuan Sect with whom he had dual cultivated for seven days and seven nights in his youth. The female disciple was still as beautiful as a flower, while Master Yueguang had become an old man. Perhaps the contrast was too great—in a fit of anger, Yueguang Daoren decided to reclaim his youthful years.

But rumors were just rumors and might not be true.

Yueqin was much more amiable than before. Her gaze toward Zanxing wasn’t as stern as in the past, and she even took the initiative to mention Zanxing and Gu Baiying’s relationship. She said: “It’s good that you’ve returned. During the years you were away, I saw Seventh Junior Brother melancholy and rarely showing a smile. When female disciples from other sects wanted to get close to him, he wouldn’t even give them a pleasant expression, offending them all. It’s good that you’ve returned—now he’s gotten his wish and won’t have to put on a sour face for others to see every day on the mountain.”

Gu Baiying’s brow twitched: “…Who was melancholy?”

After Zanxing’s return, he had gradually recovered his former temperament. Fighting when he should fight, scolding when he should scold, not wasting a moment, quite arrogant.

Zhao Mayi said: “It was—we were melancholy, alright?” Then muttered quietly: “What’s he pretending for? Everyone on this mountain, including General You, knows he was ready to live or die for her…”

Gu Baiying angrily said, “Zhao Mayi!”

Zhao Mayi waved his hand: “I won’t say anymore.”

Li Danshu said with a smile: “Who cares who it was? Anyway, Zanxing being able to return is the best thing. I received a batch of spiritual herbs a few days ago, and they happen to be ready for the furnace today…”

Before Li Danshu could finish, Cui Yufu pushed him aside. The azure-black talismans on his arms had increased even more, and he looked at Zanxing with earnest eyes: “Good martial niece, your martial uncle has written many talisman books these years, originally intending to have people burn them as offerings to you. Now that you’ve returned, it’s perfect timing. I’ll have people move them to your courtyard later.”

“You must read them all carefully—they’re all essential knowledge.”

Zanxing: “…Alright.”