After Switching Bodies with the Villainous Demon Lord - Chapter 22

Duan Ze noticed the gaze and quickly halted his movements. With his hands clasped behind his back, he spoke sharply, “You think I have to answer just because you asked? You think you’re worthy?”

Xie Qingyu froze at those words. When he looked up, he met a pair of cold, indifferent eyes. Duan Ze continued, “Even if your Shizun and I aren’t as close as we used to be, I wouldn’t go so far as to leak information to someone trying to hurt him.”

The man’s words were like icy needles stabbing into his bones. Xie Qingyu trembled all over, opened his mouth, but couldn’t think of anything to say.

Seeing him stay silent, Duan Ze summoned a magic tool from his storage ring, ready to leave. He had no intention of wasting any more time here.

Just then, Xie Qingyu suddenly stood up from the ground and questioned him, “But didn’t you help cover for me when I tried to harm my shizun? You even made sure he walked right into the trap! You hate him too.”

Xie Qingyu spoke with certainty. Back then, he’d clearly seen the hatred in Xue Jiang’s eyes when he looked at Duan Ze—that intense emotion was definitely not fake.

Chi Xiuzhu, upon hearing this, couldn’t be bothered to keep watching Xue Jiang anymore. He cursed Xie Qingyu as a total idiot in his heart. His gaze flickered, full of regret that he hadn’t left earlier. Now it looked like he was really about to lose his life here.

What infuriated him even more was—how could someone like Duan Ze the High Immortal end up with such a disciple and friend? Every single one wanted to harm him.

Duan Ze’s movements paused. He turned to look at Xie Qingyu, but didn’t unleash pressure this time. Instead, he spoke calmly, “And what if I did?”

“You’re not afraid I’ll tell my shizun?” Xie Qingyu threatened, “If he finds out what you did, knowing his temper, do you think he’ll let you off?”

As soon as those words left his mouth, Chi Xiuzhu felt a tightness in his chest and nearly couldn’t breathe. Did this guy even think before speaking?

Earlier, they might’ve still had a sliver of hope based on Xue Jiang’s attitude. But now? He was practically begging for death.

Sure enough, the calm air around Duan Ze shifted. A wave of killing intent enveloped both of them. With just a twitch of his fingers, Xie Qingyu seemed to be strangled by invisible hands. His face turned crimson, veins bulging across his forehead.

There was a cold smirk in Duan Ze’s eyes as he said in a low voice, “You think I’d give you the chance to speak?”

Xie Qingyu raised a hand to his throat, struggling desperately, but he couldn’t break free at all. That long-forgotten fear slowly crept back in, cooling his once impulsively hot-headed brain.

He had assumed Xue Jiang wouldn’t lay a hand on him because he was Duan Ze’s disciple. But now? That assumption had clearly been wrong.

As oxygen grew scarcer, panic finally showed on the youth’s face.

“S-Sorry…”

Duan Ze responded with a lazy, “Hm?” Another twitch of his fingers. “Sorry for what?”

Feeling the pressure on his neck ease slightly, Xie Qingyu quickly sucked in a deep breath—only to choke and cough harshly. After a long moment, his voice came out hoarse, “I shouldn’t have followed you. And I really shouldn’t have threatened you.”

Duan Ze looked completely unbothered and shrugged, “Honestly, even if you did say something, I wouldn’t care.”

Making Xue Jiang take the blame was a little shady, sure—but it probably wouldn’t affect him too much. At most, he’d just have to invite him for some tea and clear things up.

Chi Xiuzhu had been keeping a low profile the whole time. While using his spiritual power to resist the aggressive killing intent that Xue Jiang was emitting, he also tried to plan how he might survive this situation.

Xue Jiang was strong, sure—but compared to Duan Ze, there was still a gap. Yet the man standing before him now was strangely confident, acting like he wasn’t afraid of Duan Ze coming after him at all.

“I’m actually quite curious,” Duan Ze said, looking at Xie Qingyu, “what your shizun did to make you hate him this much.”

…

Xiao Wuchen stood outside the Treasure Pavilion, glancing around at the Cangyu Sect disciples who were supposed to be guarding the place.

Just a second ago, those disciples had been either lazily playing chess or dozing off. The moment they saw him arrive, they all jolted and snapped to attention, quickly stashing away their things and returning to their posts.

Their faces turned extremely pale—they knew they were in deep trouble.

The Treasure Pavilion was one of the most important places in the entire Cangyu Sect. Not only did it hold rare treasures from the sect, it also housed twenty-five small cultivation worlds.

To put it simply, their continent was considered the “Upper Realm” by those smaller worlds.

Every time someone ascended to immortality in those worlds, they would emerge here, all their memories wiped clean, transformed into infants through the cleansing of the spiritual energy in this realm, and then adopted by the sect.

Kind of like reincarnation.

These people were born with immortal bones, which made them cultivate much faster than others and gave them higher talent. Just that alone was enough to make other sects green with envy.

Only the Four Great Sects had access to these small worlds. While accepting ascendants, they also bore the responsibility of protecting those worlds.

Unfortunately, the chances of someone ascending from these worlds were extremely low. On average, out of ten small worlds, only one person might ascend in a thousand years. Some sects wouldn’t even make it that far before being replaced by newer ones.

Worse still, if something went wrong inside and they failed to stop it in time, it could produce a demon seed.

If that demon seed ascended, it would be sent not to the cultivation realm, but to the Demon Realm. And unlike normal ascendants, demon seeds kept all their memories. There had even been cases where entire sects were wiped out by them.

And now, these guys had been treating the Treasure Pavilion like it was nothing… and they got caught by Duan Ze the High Immortal.

That guy was notorious for being cold and heartless. They were definitely getting punished—no way out of it.

Several disciples stood stiffly, faces drained of color, staring straight ahead without daring to move.

Xiao Wuchen looked at them, confirmed that they’d seen him, then deliberately waited a bit longer—just to mess with them. He stayed until their breathing became so tense even their ribcages barely moved, then finally walked into the Treasure Pavilion without a trace of guilt.

The Treasure Pavilion of the Cangyu Sect looked like a spiral-shaped feather floating in mid-air, pure white and spotless. Golden runes swirled around it, forming several glowing rings of protection.

The reason those disciples dared to slack off was precisely because the Pavilion itself had powerful defense mechanisms. Anyone unauthorized—be it demon or Demon Lord—couldn’t even get close.

Xiao Wuchen reached out and gently touched the feather-like structure. He remembered sneaking in here once as a kid and getting burned so badly his hand nearly got crippled. But now? Not only could he touch it, he could come and go freely without being expelled.

The door to the Treasure Pavilion was a barrier gate. Walking through it created a brief ripple in space, and then—rows and layers of dazzling magical tools came into view.

He walked to the center of the Pavilion and looked up. At the top floor, a locked room sat quietly. The thing he longed for most was hidden inside.

But the time wasn’t right yet.

The man lowered his gaze, took a step back, and walked over to the library entrance. He reached his hand inside and, with a casual rip, tore open another door.