After Switching Bodies with the Villainous Demon Lord - Chapter 8
Xiao Wuchen didn’t even bother paying attention to what he said.
Duan Ze stared at the lightning bolt crashing straight down from the sky, and something in his mind just snapped.
He could understand the guy’s mood, sure—but no matter how good your temper is, there’s a limit before you blow a fuse.
If possible, he really wanted to just whip out a teleportation talisman and beam himself straight to Yunxiao Sect to beat Xiao Wuchen up on the spot. But with the sect currently crawling with mid-to-upper level cultivators from all over the cultivation world, his sudden appearance would probably get him thrown out on the spot.
After thinking it over for a second, Duan Ze decided to play nice and go in through the main gate. He activated a substitute talisman and transformed into a fresh-faced, good-looking young man, flung out a sword, and flew over.
One day, when they switched back to their own souls, he wouldn’t even wait for Xiao Wuchen to come find him—he’d personally deliver himself to his doorstep. If they didn’t go all out and have a proper fight, then none of this would feel settled.
To be fair, the one who originally had beef with Xiao Wuchen wasn’t this current Duan Ze. The original host had already died fifty years ago. Duan Ze had transmigrated into this body and voluntarily took on all the grudges and restraints from the Heavenly Dao that came with it, but those extra feelings like guilt or shame? He saw no reason to carry any of that.
While flying on his sword, Duan Ze sorted it all out in his head.
If Xiao Wuchen wanted to go nuts, then he’d go nuts right along with him. Right now, they were pretty evenly matched—let’s see who could out-crazy the other. In the end, he realized it was just him not letting go enough.
Unfortunately, all that fiery determination of his got totally smothered right outside Yunxiao Sect… by his own disciple-grandson.
“Aren’t we all disciples of Cangyu Sect? Why can’t I go in?”
Two young men in inner sect robes stood outside the gates. One of them, tall and broad-shouldered, gave Duan Ze’s outer sect badge a cold glance. His face darkened slightly, and his words were about to turn nasty, but when he saw the clean, mild look on Duan Ze’s face, his tone softened a bit. “Outer sect disciples are not allowed.”
“So inner sect disciples can go in?” Duan Ze still had an inner sect uniform tucked away.
“Only sect leaders and selected representatives from the participating sects are allowed in this time,” the more gentle-looking youth on the other side chimed in. Seeing Duan Ze, though dressed as an outer sect disciple, show no sign of timidity like the others, he took a liking to him and even gave a kind reminder, “You should leave quickly. Outer sect disciples have heavy coursework. If any Shixiong or Shishu pass by and catch you loitering around here, you’ll definitely get a scolding for slacking off.”
Based on what the guy said, it was clear Duan Ze wasn’t getting in through the main entrance.
Just then, a familiar voice called out from behind him. “What’s going on here?”
Before Duan Ze could even turn around, the two inner sect disciples immediately cupped their fists in greeting, faces full of admiration and respect for the newcomer.
“Xie Shishu.”
Duan Ze followed their lead and bowed.
“Shishu.”
“This Shidi got lost. We were just giving him directions,” the softer disciple quickly stepped in to cover for him.
Xie Qingyu turned his head toward Duan Ze and swept his divine sense over him from head to toe. “Which mountain gate are you from? You look unfamiliar.”
“I’m from the back mountain of Yuqian Gate. Just got here a few days ago,” Duan Ze replied with his head slightly bowed, thinking he really needed to teach the male lead some manners someday—stop using divine sense to probe people at random. Super rude.
“Yuqian Gate? Isn’t that near my Shizun’s place? That’s not exactly close. How’d you get here?” Xie Qingyu didn’t seem fully convinced and kept pressing.
Still, his attitude wasn’t bad, which Duan Ze greatly appreciated.
He pondered for a moment and then said, “Here’s the thing. I was chopping wood in the back mountain when Shizu suddenly descended from the sky and told me to bring something to Yunxiao Sect. But I’m new to Cangyu Sect and don’t really know the layout yet, so I kept asking around on my way here. I was afraid I’d gone to the wrong place, so I asked them again.”
Most of what Duan Ze said was actually pretty reasonable. Cultivators at the level of Shizu often had eccentric ways of thinking. Asking a total stranger to run an errand for them wasn’t out of the question.
The stuff about asking directions was clearly just to match up with what the disciple had said earlier to help him out. After all, if he admitted he was here to see Xiao Wuchen, the guy probably would’ve gotten punished for lying.
Xie Qingyu still didn’t completely let down his guard. His divine sense had found no flaws, but he still felt something was off. “What did Shizun ask you to bring? I’m heading in—how about I deliver it for you?”
Duan Ze immediately shook his head. No way. Xie Qingyu had lived with him for decades—given Xiao Wuchen’s chaotic personality, just a few sentences and he’d definitely spill everything.
Left with no choice, Duan Ze took out a token from his storage ring. “This was also given to me by Shizu. He said if I showed this, they’d let me in.”
When Xie Qingyu saw the token, his expression dimmed. The two disciples beside him looked shocked. “If you had Shizu’s token, why didn’t you show it earlier?”
“Shizu said only use it if absolutely necessary. It’s a backup.” Duan Ze confidently made up the explanation for himself.
He cupped his hands to Xie Qingyu. “Thanks for your help, Shishu. But my mother always taught me—if you promise someone something, you should give it your all and do it yourself.”
He gave an apologetic little smile.
His eyes sparkled like sunlight shining through glass—pure and translucent. Xie Qingyu looked at him and seemed to see a shadow of someone from the past. He patted Duan Ze on the shoulder and smiled softly. “Since Shizun sent you, I won’t insist.”
“No, no. If Shizu knew Shishu was this understanding, he’d definitely be pleased,” Duan Ze replied quickly.
Xie Qingyu didn’t look at him again and muttered with a bitter smile, “Would he?”
His voice was so soft that Duan Ze only saw his lips move and asked, “Huh?”
“Nothing. Let’s go.”
⸻
Yunxiao Sect was where Cangyu Sect received guests. Every session of the Immortal Cultivation Grand Ceremony was held in a different location. The host sect usually used this gathering as an opportunity to discuss future cooperation or alliances.
After years of this, even if there was no actual intent to ally, the post-ceremony gatherings became an unspoken tradition.
Among all the sects, only a few had truly outstanding overall strength. The rest all had a single representative powerhouse—like Cangyu Sect’s shizu, Duan Ze. His presence alone had elevated the once-mediocre sect to a top-tier position, now one of the four great sects of the cultivation world.
But Duan Ze was known as a hands-off boss—he was always in seclusion and never managed the sect’s affairs. Some of the newer, younger sects hadn’t seen his former glory and carried a bit of arrogance, often picking fights. It was annoying as hell.
Li Qingyuan had invited Duan Ze this time precisely to work with Xie Qingyu—one to represent the sect’s foundation, the other its future. Together, they could put some people in their place.
The two stars of the show hadn’t arrived yet. Meanwhile, the early arrivals from various sects formed little groups and chatted quietly.
Most of them hadn’t reached the Nascent Soul stage and couldn’t talk via divine sense. Their sect leaders were sitting way up on the high steps and didn’t care what they talked about, so no one was being discreet.
“Have you seen this year’s top pick, Xie Qingyu?”
“Nope. Heard he’s High Immortal Duan Ze’s new disciple. Been cultivating for just over fifty years, right?”
“He’s that talented? Was he from that world?”
“Definitely not. I’ve got an outer sect friend who knows him. He got in through open selection, and he wasn’t this strong before.”
“Only fifty years and already competing in the Grand Ceremony? Sounds shady to me.”
“Why shady? High Immortal Duan Ze is personally overseeing this! And Xie Qingyu really is gifted. In the last round, he beat the previous champ fair and square—looked totally legit.”
“This is Cangyu Sect, though. Duan Ze’s one of theirs. If he secretly helped out, who could even tell? No one knows how biased he might be…”
The guy didn’t even finish talking before he vanished on the spot.
Li Qingyuan had been eavesdropping from afar and was furious. But even he didn’t expect that his shizun had already arrived and kicked that snarky disciple from another sect flying without a word.
BOOM! A lightning bolt came crashing down from the sky, lighting up Duan Ze’s usually cold face into something fierce and demonic.
That disciple hadn’t guarded at all and got kicked straight into a nearby pillar—smashed into it a good few inches deep, spitting blood, bones visibly broken.
The place went dead silent, save for the guy’s groaning.
Xiao Wuchen dusted himself off. Like Duan Ze had said before, no one likes getting struck by lightning. But that dude’s words? Seriously annoying.
What pissed him off even more was that the lightning was sure to attract that annoying guy.
Sure enough, moments later, Duan Ze and Xie Qingyu entered Yunxiao Sect one after the other.
Everyone’s eyes immediately turned to them.
The emotions in those gazes were complex—relief, frustration, maybe even a bit of hope.
Most of them were looking at Xie Qingyu. In their eyes, Duan Ze was just an outer sect disciple, not worth the attention.
“Why is there an outer sect disciple here?” one sect leader asked casually, trying to break the awkward silence by picking the easiest target.
Xiao Wuchen frowned and glanced over. “Problem?”
“N-Nope! No problem at all,” the guy quickly nodded. Maybe High Immortal Duan Ze had been in seclusion too long, ‘cause his temper today was something else.
“Didn’t you have something to return to my shizun?” Xie Qingyu suddenly tossed the spotlight on Duan Ze.
Everyone’s focus instantly shifted to him.
Cangyu Sect’s shizu was famously aloof—everyone knew that. And his belongings? Absolutely impossible to borrow.
So just who was this outer sect disciple, and what was his connection to the shizu?
Even Xiao Wuchen himself looked confused. Since when did he lend someone anything?
The two stared at each other across the crowd. Duan Ze let out an awkward laugh, but before he could speak, Xiao Wuchen cut in coldly, “I don’t know—”
The last word, “him,” didn’t even get out before Duan Ze suddenly started coughing like he was choking and pulled out the shizu token from his storage ring to flash it to everyone.
Made from rare black ink crystal, the token gleamed with a dark purple sheen under the sun. There was definitely no second one like it out there—this thing was real.
A wave of murmurs swept through the crowd.
If they were surprised before, they were completely shocked now.
A token this important wasn’t something you just handed out. But here it was, in the hands of someone claiming to be an outer sect disciple. Clearly, this guy’s identity wasn’t as simple as it looked.
From a distance, Xie Qingyu stared. He understood their shock—he’d felt the same when he saw that token earlier.
He remembered how tightly Duan Ze had guarded that thing. No one was allowed to touch it. And now he’d casually handed it over to some stranger… how ironic.
“Shizu, I brought what you asked. Should I come to you or… eh, never mind, I’ll head up.”
Duan Ze straightened his face, bent slightly forward, and jogged up with the token held respectfully in both hands. No one dared stop him—they were all terrified of getting on Xiao Wuchen’s bad side again.
Xiao Wuchen’s expression was terrible. The token was real, and this guy wasn’t just telling everyone they were close—he was also telling Xiao Wuchen that the man in front of him was Duan Ze in disguise. And Xiao Wuchen’s divine sense hadn’t even seen through the substitute talisman.
Duan Ze reached him quickly, shoved the token and a special communication token into his hands, and spoke via divine sense.
“Here. No matter where we are, we’ll stay connected. I have a feeling we’re gonna need this later.”
Xiao Wuchen gave him a long, hard look but took it. “We won’t.”
As everyone watched the mysterious outer sect disciple and Duan Ze lock eyes, a pale inner sect disciple burst in, stumbling and panicked. “Sect Leader! Bad news! The Demon Realm has arrived with a massive army outside the sect gates!”
Duan Ze perked up, eyes twinkling. “Oho, looks like someone’s here to pick me up back to the Demon Realm. Guess we will need it after all.”
⸻
Author’s Note:
Duan Ze, “Let the world burn already. Chop-chop.”