Great Demon - Chapter 108

To eliminate the devil, one must first destroy the devil gate that has long existed above the Nine Heavens.

Changying raised her head once more, gazing up at the vast azure sky suspended above the Mortal Realm. Her eyes were dark, showing neither urgency nor haste. Yet, despite her calm demeanor, the dragon’s face was pale, and her hand instinctively pressed against her abdomen—clearly, she was not feeling well.

Changying remained unhurried, but Zhuyou could not bear it any longer. She furrowed her brows and flipped her palm. “Give me the geomantic map and return to the Nine Heavens immediately. Leave this place to me. The affairs of the Nine Heavens still require your attention.” She paused, then added, “The Nine Heavens have nothing to do with me anymore, but if the Three Realms all become a devil’s nest, I fear I won’t be at ease either.”

Changying’s expression remained indifferent, yet her eyes seemed to burn with fire. She stared intently at the Vermillion Phoenix before her, as if she wished to swallow it whole.

Zhuyou could not withstand the scorching heat in Changying’s gaze. This dragon was always cold and detached, yet when she looked at Zhuyou, her eyes burned fiercely. Zhuyou’s lips went dry, and she hurriedly pushed Changying’s shoulder. “Don’t delay. Don’t worry about me either. My life is destined to end in your hands—no one else will take it from you.”

Changying truly could not bear to hear such words from her. Her gaze darkened, and as she released her oppressive aura, the wind that had been raging around them suddenly lost its direction. Grass and trees trembled, dust swirled into the air, and even the birds flapping their wings in the sky froze in place.

The Obsidian Dragon’s fury turned the sky. In an instant, the heavens darkened, and rolling black clouds gathered as if rain were about to fall.

Even though the Nine Heavens faced imminent peril, Changying still sought an answer. To her, the Three Realms seemed nothing more than a mere byproduct of her return to the world. Lowering her gaze, she looked at Zhuyou’s hand resting on her shoulder and asked, “In the eyes of the human world, what are we now?”

Zhuyou abruptly averted her gaze, lowering her head with a quiet laugh.

This dragon was not a devil, yet she was more devilish than one. She had never taken the laws of the Nine Heavens to heart, and now she dared to compare herself to mortals so brazenly.

She was both unrestrained and a harbinger of calamity.

Feeling deeply flustered, Zhuyou withdrew her hand to her side. “Once this matter is settled, I will tell you.”

Changying was visibly displeased. Judging by the surging clouds and rumbling thunder, it was clear she was suppressing a great deal of anger.

Mortal lovers could marry and divorce, but they could not part so easily. Exchanging the blood of their hearts was akin to making a vow under heavenly thunder—something no mere mortal could compare to.

Zhuyou was truly afraid of this dragon. She had not yet returned the water inside her belly, and now she held her breath again in silence—did she truly think she was a bottomless abyss?

Changying was not only angry but also afraid. Her tongue pressed against her sharp dragon teeth, fearing that if she opened her mouth, she would seize this Vermillion Phoenix and carry her back to the Nine Heavens. She just wanted to keep Zhuyou within her sight, wary that Guanshang might try something sinister again.

Just as her tongue nearly pried her teeth apart, her vision was suddenly covered.

A warm touch—Zhuyou’s hand.

Zhuyou covered Changying’s eyes, while her other hand moved behind her back, fingers pressing firmly against her spine. A lingering trace of devil energy, yet to dissipate, was surging upward within her bones. At her touch, it recoiled violently.

The devilish thoughts in her bones were disturbing Changying’s mind. Since she could not remove her own bones, she could only shield Changying’s eyes.

Under her palm, Changying’s eyelids trembled slightly.

Still covering those icy eyes, Zhuyou slowly leaned in. Her lips briefly brushed against the dragon’s pale jaw before moving to her ear, whispering softly, “Don’t look at me. Go back to the Nine Heavens.”

Changying’s throat moved as she swallowed slowly, forcing down the urge to seize the Vermillion Phoenix and carry her back to the Nine Heavens.

“After you return to the Nine Heavens, wait for a while,” Zhuyou said in a quiet voice. “Wait for the Demon King to reach Shangxi City. I’ve set a trap to lure Guanshang out—don’t scare him away.”

Changying suddenly yanked Zhuyou’s hand away and stubbornly asked, “Tell me, if we were in the human world, what would we be called?”

Zhuyou pressed her lips together, gazing at her in silence for a moment. Then, she raised her hand again, attempting to cover Changying’s eyes.

But before her hand could reach, her wrist was caught and pressed against Changying’s lips.

Changying kissed her palm directly, the touch of her pale lips brushing against Zhuyou’s skin. She murmured, “If you won’t tell me, I’ll find the answer myself.”

Then, the dragon, clad in black robes and ink-dark hair, released Zhuyou’s wrist and retrieved the geomantic map from her dimensional storage.

“Take it.” With that, Changying tossed the map and turned resolutely toward the Nine Heavens.

At the moment she transformed into a dragon, her roar shook the heavens. The thick clouds dispersed, and sunlight once again bathed the human world.

Zhuyou raised her hand and caught the map squarely. The beast-hide scroll was not light, and the impact made her wrist tremble. When she looked back up at the sky, not even the tip of the Obsidian Dragon’s tail was visible anymore.

If there were no one guarding the Nine Heavens, the exposure of the devil gate at this moment would surely plunge the Three Realms into chaos. But now, the Nine Heavens had Changying.

Xuanqing’s move was a dangerous one. If Guanshang was gambling with lives, then he was betting on the fate of this entire impure world. If the ancient gods failed to awaken, then not only the Nine Heavens, but the Three Realms would have already become a devil’s den.

Zhuyou flicked her fingers, and a feather drifted toward her from afar—the very one she had used to disguise herself.

In Changming City, a woman had been walking the long streets in circles, but now she suddenly turned into a feather. The mortals who witnessed this rubbed their eyes, thinking they must have been seeing things. How could a person vanish just like that? No matter how slender she was, the wind should not have been able to blow her away.

The mortals exchanged bewildered glances, unable to make sense of what they had seen. But behind that feather, two demons—Hanzhu and Huoshu—were already chasing after it in a panic.

The feather drifted toward Zhuyou, with the two breathless demons following behind.

When Hanzhu saw her mistress, her eyes lit up instantly, but remembering how she had deceived the Obsidian Dragon earlier, her gaze quickly dimmed.

Huoshu spread open her fan to hide her face and exclaimed in surprise, “Your Grace, weren’t you headed to the Demon Realm? Why have you returned?”

“The matter is settled, so I came,” Zhuyou replied.

“When will we return to Shangxi City?” Huoshu’s eyes curved into a mischievous smile, her expression lively and full of mischief.

“Wait a little longer.” Zhuyou estimated that Yueyin should have reached Shangxi City by now.

Though Huoshu didn’t know exactly what this Vermillion Phoenix was planning, she wasn’t naïve despite having lived for hundreds of years. She understood that now was not the time for questions—staying quiet and following along was the best way to survive.

Hanzhu blinked, hesitating for a long moment before finally speaking, “That person came earlier. I told her the feather was you.”

Zhuyou smirked. It wouldn’t have mattered if this wasn’t mentioned, but now that it was, she couldn’t help but recall Changying’s cold yet aggrieved expression when she had come to complain. “It’s fine. There’s no way to fool her.”

Even without anything else, the connection through their heart’s blood alone was enough for Changying to recognize her at a glance.

Hanzhu stared at Zhuyou for a long moment, watching as she tried to conceal her joy with a feigned indifference.

After a while, Hanzhu let out a small laugh at herself. She had been meddlesome. A hundred years ago, during the war in the devil’s domain, she had been the one who insisted on leaving that dragon behind. And now, once again, she was making decisions on Zhuyou’s behalf.

She had always thought she was the only one in this world who truly cared for Zhuyou. Yet, she hadn’t realized that three thousand years ago, she had already lost.

Whether she had come too late or too early, she had no right to such wishful thinking.

With a self-deprecating smile, Hanzhu said, “As expected of the Divine Venerable of Nine Heavens—such tricks could never deceive her.”

Zhuyou gave a slight nod. Though the compliment was directed at Changying, she couldn’t help but feel pleased.

Inside the main hall of the Demon Realm, Yueyin sat motionless upon the ornate throne, staring toward the entrance. Her face was as pale as death, completely devoid of color. She looked like a lifeless corpse—if not for the subtle movement of her ashen-gray eyes, the maid beside her might have assumed her mistress had already passed away.

Yueyin withdrew her gaze and let out a weak cough before speaking in a feeble voice, “Bring me the medicine.”

The maid pinched her own fingertip, the pain snapping her into awareness. “B-but the medicine wasn’t prepared today.”

“Then prepare it now, and be quick about it,” Yueyin ordered again.

The maid pressed her lips together, silently resisting. She remained standing still, as if she hadn’t heard the command at all.

Yueyin frowned. She had never been one to lose her temper or reprimand her attendants harshly, but now her voice turned cold. “Have I lost control over you? I told you to prepare it. Stop dawdling!”

The maid trembled, finally muttering, “But, Your Majesty… Didn’t she say that you must not drink this medicine anymore? Why do you still—”

“It’s the last bowl,” Yueyin cut in abruptly, raising a frail hand to wave her off. “Go now. I can’t wait any longer.”

The maid bowed her head and hurried away to prepare the medicine.

In the vast and silent palace, Yueyin sat utterly still, slightly tilting her head once more to gaze outside the hall. But from this angle, there was little to see—not even the clouds, let alone the suspended Shangxi City.

Yet she wasn’t looking at the clouds, nor at Shangxi City. She was looking toward Nine Heavens.

If things were as that person had said, then Nine Heavens had already cast its net.

She… she only needed to ensure the Demon Realm’s survival.

Moments later, the maid returned, carrying a bowl of steaming hot medicine. She had moved quickly, but her hands were astonishingly steady—she hadn’t spilled a single drop.

“Your Majesty, the medicine is ready,” the maid said, lowering her gaze, her eyes filled with sorrow.

“Why that expression?” Yueyin took the bowl from her, but her grip was unsteady—less steady than the maid’s. A bit of the liquid sloshed over the edge.

The maid remained silent, watching as Yueyin finished the medicine. She bit her lip to keep herself from crying, lowering her voice to say, “If I had known sooner that this would harm you to this extent, I would have never prepared it—even if it cost me my life.”

“Then perhaps I should replace you with someone more obedient,” Yueyin said lightly, swallowing the last sip and handing back the empty bowl.

The maid kept her eyes down and said nothing.

As she reached out to take the bowl, she suddenly saw Yueyin’s hands clench tightly, the veins on the back of her pale hands standing out in stark relief.

Yueyin was enduring the pain as she forced the medicinal power into her spiritual sea. Slowly, she rose to her feet.

“Support me. We’re going to Shangxi City.”

The maid immediately stepped forward to steady her, not uttering a single word.

As the Demon King stepped out of the main hall, the stone statues flanking the doors bowed their heads. The little demons standing outside turned in surprise, only realizing after a moment that Yueyin had left the hall.

They stood frozen for a long while before dropping to their knees and bowing low.

“Your Majesty, may you be in good health.”

Yueyin glanced at them slightly before taking flight toward Shangxi City. In the blink of an eye, she had already descended into the city.

***

Shangxi City had been carved out by force—its edges were jagged and incomplete. The cliffs at the perimeter were barren and desolate, but the streets further inside were bustling with buildings scattered like stars.

To half the demons and devils in Shangxi City, Yueyin was an unfamiliar face.

But those from the Demon Realm had seen her before.

A few demons had just stepped out of a gambling house, laughing and exchanging crude jokes, when they suddenly caught sight of the gray-eyed demon lord approaching from a distance.

For a long moment, it felt like a dream.

It was only after quite some time that they finally snapped back to reality.

This was Yueyin’s first time in Shangxi City. As she made her way into the city, she inevitably caught sight of the glacier formed by the dragon’s breath. She inhaled the lingering aura of the Dragon Clan, and her steps suddenly faltered.

The maid anxiously looked around. “Your Majesty, have you spotted an old acquaintance?”

“Dragon’s breath,” Yueyin replied calmly.

The maid was taken aback. “Is it from the Nine Heavens’ divine dragon, or just a mortal one…?”

“Nine Heavens,” Yueyin said with a frown. She hadn’t expected a mere wisp of its breath to freeze such a massive glacier. She had heard that the Nine Heavens’ Divine Venerable was an ancient divine dragon—now, it seemed to be true.

With such divine power, it would be effortless to wipe out a devil. The fact that the Devil Lord still lived suggested he must be holding onto something that even the Nine Heavens feared.

Yueyin didn’t dwell on the thought. As long as she could protect the Demon Realm, nothing else should concern her.

The maid hesitated for a moment before asking, “Now that we’re here, how should we go about finding that person?”

Yueyin beckoned to a small demon in the distance, who stood frozen in fear. Her voice was weak as she called out, “Come.”

Her face was deathly pale, and though her body appeared to be falling apart, her cultivation remained intact. Her strength was evident. Just that small gesture alone was enough to paralyze the little demon with fear, leaving him unable to flee.

The little demon hurried forward. “M-my lady, where do you come from?”

“The Demon Realm,” Yueyin replied.

The maid whispered beside her, “This is the demon lord.”

The little demon trembled violently and immediately fell silent.

“I want to see the Devil Lord,” Yueyin stated bluntly, her gray eyes fixed intently on the quivering demon before her.

The little demon paled even further, unable to speak for a long while. “I-I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Yueyin frowned.

The little demon quickly added, “Some time ago, the demons and devils in the city were also searching for the Devil Lord. I heard that the Vermillion Phoenix descended to the Mortal Realm, and they followed after her. No demon in the city knows where he is now.”

Yueyin knew that the Vermillion Phoenix would not deceive her. Although she had not spoken outright, the truth was already clear. Yueyin’s voice remained even as she said, “Then I will wait here for the Devil Lord to appear. My time is running out—I cannot afford to wait too long.”

The maid’s heart clenched, and she gripped Yueyin’s arm tightly.

The little demon hesitated. “I heard the Vermillion Phoenix once discussed this matter with you…”

“She did,” Yueyin admitted. After a brief pause, she continued slowly, “With my life nearing its end, it is only natural to seek a way to extend it. After all, who in this world isn’t afraid of death?”

The little demon dared not say a word—he still had a long life ahead of him.

“Tell me,” Yueyin said, her expression unchanged, “if one could claim the Nine Heavens as their own and seize the fortune of the Three Realms, would that be enough to grant me another thousand years?”

From a shadowy corner, a wisp of black smoke suddenly rose, twisting into the shape of a hand. It clung to the wall, slowly creeping closer.