Chapter 54: Poison
The dragon scale powder was truly effective. Bai Jingxue, examining her newly formed Golden Core, her cultivation now stable, withdrew her focus, returning to the physical world.
She wasn’t sure what had changed, but her senses were sharper. She could now clearly hear the cries of the two children in Fu Yuan’s room.
She covered her ears, unwilling to listen. Those two brats were incredibly annoying.
When she opened her eyes again, she found Lü Qingyan sprawled before her, the little dog, her cultivation still stuck at the Foundation Establishment stage, wagging her tail happily.
“Jingxue, you’ve reached the Golden Core stage!” she exclaimed. “You’re almost at Nascent Soul!”
The dog had no sense of urgency. Bai Jingxue, though exasperated, knew she couldn’t rush things. Perhaps they should fall into another well, hoping Fang Xin would bestow some blessings upon Lü Qingyan.
They had tried that, but the well seemed to have become an ordinary well. Jumping into it would only pollute the water.
Bai Jingxue sighed. “Aren’t you supposed to be cultivating?”
Lü Qingyan chuckled sheepishly. “I am,” she said. “But you know I’m not good at it. Teach me, Jingxue.”
They still had plenty of dragon scale powder. Bai Jingxue considered giving Lü Qingyan a larger dose, but such a drastic measure would have side effects.
She decided against it.
But she had just broken through to the Golden Core stage. She was feeling lazy. “Just go practice on your own,” she said, her voice weak. “I’m tired.”
Seeing that the cat was truly exhausted, Lü Qingyan didn’t press the issue. She expanded her body, then gently scooped Bai Jingxue onto her back.
Bai Jingxue, startled by the sudden movement, settled onto the dog’s warm, soft fur, her eyelids drooping.
She tried to stay awake, but sleepiness overwhelmed her.
Lü Qingyan, hearing the cat’s soft purrs, slowed her pace, her movements gentle.
“This breakup is pointless,” she muttered under her breath.
She wouldn’t dare to say that to Bai Jingxue’s face, but the cat was asleep, so she allowed herself a moment of honesty.
She missed their old dynamic. Bai Jingxue had always been awkward, but she hadn’t denied their relationship.
She would jump onto Lü Qingyan’s back at dusk, her arms wrapped around Lü Qingyan’s neck, her voice soft. “I’m tired, Qingyan.”
But this wasn’t so different.
Luo Nianshang, entering the chamber, saw the cat using the dog as a bed, Lü Qingyan’s expression one of pure contentment.
She decided it was time to choose a dowry.
But the thought of being related to the Demon Lord filled her with unease.
She couldn’t handle someone as shameless as the Demon Lord, especially when that shameless individual seemed to be rather fixated on her face.
Then she thought of her eldest disciple. If she was related to the Demon Lord, then her disciple would inevitably interact with the Demon Lord more often.
The Sword Saint, her imagination running wild, panicked. She didn’t want to separate the cat and dog, but she also didn’t want her disciple to be corrupted by the Demon Lord.
She hadn’t considered that she might be the target of the Demon Lord’s affections.
Accustomed to solving problems with violence, she wasn’t a strategic thinker, but after careful consideration, she concluded that the best solution was to find someone else for her disciple to fall in love with.
But that someone had to be exceptional, someone capable of resisting the Demon Lord’s charms. Was there anyone more captivating than the Demon Lord?
She decided to consult the Ejian Sect’s intelligence files on the Demon Lord. She left the chamber, her movements hurried.
Lü Qingyan, watching the Sword Saint rush off, tilted her head. Luo Nianshang seemed troubled.
She felt a ticklish sensation on her back, but she didn’t dare to move. The cat shifted, her purrs resuming.
Lü Qingyan grinned, then quickly covered her mouth, stifling her laughter.
Luo Nianshang, bursting into the sect leader’s hall, didn’t even wait for him to greet her. “Give me all the information you have on the Demon Lord,” she demanded.
The sect leader, who had been enjoying a leisurely drink, quickly set aside his cup, retrieving a jade slip from his spatial ring.
He presented it to Luo Nianshang with a respectful bow. “Ancestor, this is the De…”
Before he could finish, both the jade slip and his ancestor vanished.
He stared at the empty space where Luo Nianshang had been standing, his heart pounding. He had rarely seen his ancestor so agitated.
She had requested information on the Demon Lord. And the Demon Realm was currently in turmoil, a turmoil partially caused by Luo Nianshang’s attack on the Demon Lord.
Had she discovered something?
He paced his chamber, his anxiety growing. He had no idea what was happening. He summoned his subordinates, ordering them to intensify their surveillance of the Demon Palace.
He would never understand that his ancestor’s urgency stemmed from her desire to orchestrate one marriage while preventing another.
Luo Nianshang, back in her chamber, began to read through the jade slip. The initial information was familiar. It detailed the Demon Lord’s involvement in the village massacre.
After the massacre, Qiu Yingxi had resorted to begging, but she had been weak, her meager earnings often stolen by other beggars.
Even among beggars, there were territories, and she had been constantly chased away, her life a struggle for survival. At night, she had sought shelter in an abandoned temple.
But the temple had eventually been claimed by other beggars, forcing her to sleep beneath a statue of a deity, erected by mortals.
Desperate, she had prayed to the statue every day, but her pleas had gone unanswered.
Her heart had twisted, her anger and resentment growing. She had fled to the Demon Realm, where she had been taken in by the city lord of Que City, becoming a medicine slave.
Luo Nianshang closed her eyes. She had no fondness for demon cultivators. Although her experiences had softened her stance, the deaths of her masters had left a deep scar. She couldn’t let go of her prejudices.
She had only been civil to the current Demon Lord out of necessity, hoping, perhaps naively, that the Demon Lord could be redeemed.
But after reading about the Demon Lord’s suffering, she doubted it. Could someone who had endured such pain still have hope for humanity?
She couldn’t be sure. If she were in Qiu Yingxi’s position, she couldn’t guarantee that her heart would remain pure.
She rubbed her temples, sighing.
She had seen medicine slaves during her campaigns against the Demon Realm. Many demon cultivators used poison as their primary weapon, and they often used humans with unique constitutions as test subjects.
But those chosen as medicine slaves usually possessed special abilities that allowed them to survive multiple poison trials. They could endure at least ten doses before succumbing.
During her second campaign, she had encountered a group of medicine slaves in a demon city. There had been adults and children, their clothes ragged and filthy, their limbs shackled.
The ones who had endured the most potent poisons were no longer human. Their bodies were covered in sores, their blood drained, yet they clung to life.
Luo Nianshang shuddered, closing her eyes. Red, spiderweb-like patterns appeared at the corners of her eyes.
She chanted a cleansing mantra, and the patterns faded.
Once her mind was calm, she resumed reading, her heart sinking with each passing line.
The Demon Lord’s early life had been tragic, but her later years had been filled with triumphs. She had achieved in a few centuries what had taken Luo Nianshang millennia.
There was no one more brilliant or powerful in the righteous and demon realms.
Luo Nianshang felt a surge of despair. It was as if Qiu Yingxi had been created to torment her.
“Achoo!”
The Demon Lord rubbed her nose, wondering if someone was cursing her.
But then she realized that if hatred could trigger sneezes, then, considering the number of enemies she had made, she would sneeze herself to death. That would be the most pathetic way for a Demon Lord to die.
She was currently in the city lord’s manor of Que City, observing Ouyang Ba and Su Yunluo, their excessive fawning over Zhu Chi filling her with disgust.
She leaned against a wall, her gaze cold as she watched them. The situation was still under control, so she didn’t intervene.
This place brought back unpleasant memories. If her resolve wasn’t so strong, she would have revealed her true identity and destroyed everything.
But she wouldn’t allow herself to be consumed by the past. Those days of weakness were over. She was the Demon Lord now, the ruler of the Demon Realm.
She turned her attention back to the mortal who had escaped her grasp multiple times, watching as he preened before Zhu Chi like a peacock displaying its feathers, his desire evident.
She scoffed. The heavens truly had terrible taste. How could this pathetic creature be worthy of destiny’s favor?
Luo Nianshang was the one who deserved such blessings. She might be a bit rigid, but her heart was pure, her love for humanity genuine.
An idea sparked in her mind. Perhaps she could steal Ouyang Ba’s destiny and bestow it upon Luo Nianshang.
The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. Her gaze, fixed on Ouyang Ba, took on a predatory glint.
Ouyang Ba, feeling a sudden chill, as if he were being watched, looked around, but he couldn’t find the source of his unease.
He gave up, his attention returning to Zhu Chi.
Her beauty captivated him. Learning that she was searching for someone, he subtly probed for information.
“Is the person you’re seeking your beloved, Immortal Zhu?”
Zhu Chi, though blind, was a seasoned sect leader. She was immune to such clumsy attempts at flattery.
And demon cultivators were inherently untrustworthy. Deception, manipulation, and betrayal were their specialties.
“I’m afraid I cannot divulge such information,” she said coldly.
Ouyang Ba, his ego bruised, felt a surge of anger. His life in Que City had been so comfortable that he had almost forgotten the humility required of a weaker being.
A malicious glint flashed in his eyes, but he suppressed it. He had poisoned their drinks. Once they consumed it, their spiritual energy would be temporarily disabled.
A servant girl approached the Demon Lord, offering her a cup of wine. “Please, enjoy,” she said.
The Demon Lord recognized the poison instantly. She picked up the cup, swirling the liquid, then drank it in a single gulp.
She placed the empty cup back on the tray, scoffing inwardly. Compared to the poisons she had endured in the past, this was nothing.
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