Volume II: Kunlun—Ephemeral Life Chapter Sixty-Eight

About half an hour passed before Shi Xin hurried into the great hall, where he caught sight of the weary young girl. Her long hair, black as ink and flowing like a waterfall, cascaded over the jade table, and her snow-white cloak wrapped her small frame in its embrace.

Shi Xin smiled, glanced down at his own dark brocade robe, then lifted a hand to brush the demonic mark from his brow. With a wave, it vanished; his expression returned to normal, even his crimson eyes shifted to a warm brown, and his splendid robes became a simple long tunic.

The Demon Lord, whom all feared, now appeared no more than a refined young noble.

He drew nearer, his breath quieting, and could not help but smile as he watched her sleeping face. He wanted to lift her in his arms and lay her on the couch, yet could not bring himself to wake her. So he sat at her side, gazing at the storybook she had left unfinished.

If Liu Ya had been present, he would surely have thought that today’s Demon Lord was no Demon Lord at all, but some little immortal in disguise.

“My lo—” A maid was about to offer her greeting, but Shi Xin silenced her with a cold glance, and she quickly withdrew.

Time passed—how much, none could say.

Only when Tian Yu finally stirred and looked up did she meet the cool gaze of the dark-clad youth.

She hurried to her feet, nerves taut. She was in another’s domain now and could not afford to be bold.

“Lo—Lord Demon.”

Shi Xin took in her anxious manner, wondering if he had somehow frightened her.

“What’s this? This isn’t like you at all,” he remarked with a hint of mockery in his voice, making her force a wry smile. The past was the past. On her own turf, she had been free; now, in someone else’s territory, it was only sensible to restrain herself.

“I was ignorant before and offended you, Lord Demon. Please forgive me.”

Watching the shifting colors of her face and listening to words so at odds with her nature, Shi Xin almost laughed. It was the first time he had seen her speak so contrary to her heart.

He rose to his feet. “I thought that after you refused me, you’d never seek me out again. What’s this? Only a few days have passed.”

Tian Yu looked at the youth, his smile both roguish and devilishly charming, his long fingers idly toying with a jade pendant. She could well imagine how smug he felt at this moment.

“I was wrong,” she said, her patience nearly exhausted.

“Really now? Can’t you say anything more pleasing? Are you truly so impatient?” The Demon Lord sounded surprised, and hurried to speak.

Tian Yu wore a polite smile.

He gestured for her to sit, but she shook her head. “My legs are numb. I’ll stand for a while.”

Who dared sit at eye level with the Demon Lord? If he took offense, a mere flick of the finger and she, a mortal, would be snuffed out.

Shi Xin asked, “So, have you thought it over? Will you be my consort?”

Tian Yu shook her head. “No, your consort should not be a mortal. You’d do better to find someone else. I came today to ask you—how can a mortal cultivate the immortal path?”

Shi Xin could hardly believe his ears. This beautiful, steadfast mortal was refusing him again, and then asking how mortals might become immortals?

A shadow flickered in the youth’s eyes, making them unreadable.

Tian Yu continued, “I wish to cultivate immortality. Can you teach me?”

“Oh, there’s a way. I can give you a breath of my spirit, and you’ll be able to start cultivating.” The Demon Lord spoke with playful malice.

Tian Yu frowned. Was it really so simple?

“A breath? How does that work?”

A mischievous smile played at his lips. He pointed deliberately at his own mouth, curious to see how she would respond. To his surprise, before he could react, she leaned in and pressed her lips softly to his.

Though cunning, the Demon Lord was pure of heart and startled, leaping up in confusion, his eyes flustered.

“What... what are you doing?”

“Transferring breath, of course.”

His ears reddened, and for a moment, he was at a loss.

When he finally regained his composure, he said, half laughing, half exasperated, “Really now, must you be so hasty?”

Tian Yu nodded. If she waited any longer, Jing Ye and You Su would be wed, and she had to get to the bottom of things before that happened.

The Demon Lord tried to clarify, “I—I was only joking just now.”

So, he was toying with her.

Seeing her fair face flushed with suppressed annoyance, his mood brightened once again. Yet, as a demon cultivator, he had long been severed from the immortal and divine paths. Even if he were to teach her, it could only be the demonic way.

But the demonic path was too painful—not suited to her at all.

“My lord, could you not tell me how one might truly cultivate?” The earnest, hopeful look in her eyes softened his heart once more, and he relented. “Then tell me, why do you suddenly wish to follow the immortal path?”

Tian Yu had anticipated this question on her way over and answered, “Recently, evil spirits have run rampant. I wish to cultivate, to banish evil and protect the people.”

He, too, had once yearned to safeguard the world, placing the fate of all living things above his own. But eventually, he saw the futility of it—why squander his strength to shelter weak wolf cubs, when he could pursue greater power and seize what he truly desired?

With power, one need not trouble oneself over the fate of ants.

In the end, the one thing he wanted in this world, he lost in the battle of strength—but at least he gained her two wishes.

He would restore his vitality, regroup, and one day level the Holy Domain.

“You have such resolve. Very well, stay in the Qin Hall for the next few days. I’ll teach you tomorrow, is that agreeable?”

Demon cultivators could not touch immortal teachings again, or risk heaven’s retribution—lightning and endless calamity, with no hope of return.

Tian Yu thought it over and agreed.

Liu Ya frowned as he watched the dark-robed youth leaf through ancient tomes of immortal techniques that should have long since been destroyed.

“My lord, your body is still unwell. It would be best not to handle those things.”

“Liu Ya, you’ve been talking rather much lately.”

Knowing he should not press further, Liu Ya quietly left.

This Demon Lord ruled over the three realms of the demon domain. It was he who unleashed the myriad beasts and demons to counter the Holy Domain—though the losses were grave, he himself fared little better. Struck by the Ninefold Emperor’s Spiral Wing Needle, he still carried it within him; every so often, it gnawed his bones and heart, threatening to annihilate his very demon core.

In those times, the demon beasts of all three realms became his prey, their demonic energy consumed to bolster his own.

His mercurial temper was infamous throughout the demon realms.

Once, Liu Ya had seen him toss a helpless spirit beast into the Beast Pit, listening with relish to its shrill, agonized cries. Another time, a demon elder, who had just spoken to him kindly, was killed the next instant—his hand plunging into the elder’s chest to clutch a still-beating heart, which he then crushed to pulp.

Liu Ya had seen his cruelty and savagery, but also his utter vulnerability.

He had failed to save a single subject on the battlefield—those he had most yearned to protect. Watching them fall before him, powerless to intervene, he was left with nothing but the blame and resentment of the very people he had tried to shield.

Once-thriving temples quickly fell to ruin, their altars littered with talismans, their statues shattered, columns scrawled with curses and filth—all slowly eroded him.

For protecting others, he lost half his heart.

With a heart thus fractured, the path became unstable, and it was easy to fall into darkness.

Heaven’s tribulation loomed, and the sorrow of the path was deep.

Liu Ya had seen him, once radiant and noble as the Ninefold Emperor, stoop to gently touch a girl’s face with a genuine, kindly smile.

He had also seen him, fallen in the mire, trampled by all who passed, wretched and beyond help, mired in regret.

So, when Liu Ya attained human form, the only thing he ever wished was to assist the Demon Lord—no matter what he had become.