Chapter 0: Kong Ling and Mo Ning
The Great Liang Dynasty’s ancestral land, a magic formation built with spiritual, giant stones, exuded a desolate, ancient aura.
Everyone stood in a line, Yan Qiaoyun held tightly in Zhao Xinting’s embrace.
“Master, after entering the Demon Race Abyss, we might be temporarily separated. Let’s meet at the largest city nearby then,” Zhao Xinting said with meticulous thought.
Lord Qin Gou nodded and tossed several high-grade spirit stones into the formation.
In an instant, a yellow-orange radiance enveloped the bodies of Lord Qin Gou, Zhao Xinting, Li Yuanzhen, and Ao Banwei. They stepped into the semi-transparent gate formed by the formation, disappearing one by one.
Seeing this, Ye Yaoh quickly left the ancestral land and returned to the imperial palace. That same day, she issued a secret mission to her hidden guards: to collect the most potent aphrodisiac in the cultivation world, which was colorless and odorless, at all costs!
Seated firmly on the throne, Ye Yaoh narrowed her beautiful eyes, her expression shifting unpredictably.
“As the ruler of a nation, my word is law. If I say you will be force-fed until you’re full, then you will be. Even Lord Qin Gou of Arc-Moon Mountain cannot make me retract my decree… and it won’t just be targeting you anymore.”
The Demon Race Abyss.
Three giant fireballs hung in the sky, illuminating all things.
A dense crowd gathered around a scarlet and evil altar. Leading them was an old man in animal hide clothing, holding a bone staff, along with a young boy of about ten years old.
The old man in animal hides chanted something, his tone eerily like weeping and howling, presumably a sacrificial incantation.
A moment later, the old man in animal hides stopped chanting. Everyone looked up at the sky with devout expressions, as if awaiting something’s arrival.
The boy, with a demonic mark between his eyebrows, was filled with innocence and asked curiously, “High Priest, will the legend be true? Will the heavens truly bestow upon us an unparalleled warrior, who will wholeheartedly assist our race with his very being?”
“Of course, this prophecy was divined by myself! As the high priest of our clan, when has my divination ever been even slightly inaccurate?” The old man’s voice was hoarse and unpleasant. His cloudy eyes cast a meaningful glance at the boy before he spoke indifferently, “The blood of ten types of beasts, eight types of birds, and the life of a male child. These are what the prophesied warrior intends to demand. Our clan has prepared all the offerings, awaiting the noble warrior’s descent from the heavens. Do not be too sad; someone must sacrifice for the clan. Sacrificing one for the many is the highest merit.”
Upon hearing this, the innocent boy looked at the vats of scarlet blood, remembering the brutally killed spiritual beasts, and shivered. He felt an immense pity, failing to realize that he was the most pitiable and tragic one present.
Just then, in the sky above, a yellow-orange humanoid object appeared out of nowhere and plummeted down at extreme speed.
“This must be the warrior’s descent!”
“The prophecy is true, the warrior has come! Our race is saved!”
The old man in animal hides’ face turned red with excitement. He forcefully pushed the boy’s shoulder and said, “Shihou, get on the altar immediately. This is a command.”
“Yes.” The boy stumbled from the push. He then obediently and dazedly stepped onto the very center of the altar.
“He’s here. Just as I expected, he’s coming this way.” Seeing the humanoid object heading straight for the altar, the old man in animal hides began to dance strangely, chanting the mysterious incantation with renewed fervor.
Immediately after, a loud ‘boom’ echoed.
The yellow-orange humanoid object flew over the altar and landed precisely on the excitedly dancing, leaping old man in animal hides.
The great high priest died on the spot.
As the radiance dissipated, everyone finally saw the man with his eyes closed… Lord Qin Gou.
“It’s the noble warrior!”
“Quick, take the warrior back to the clan!”
The crowd immediately surged forward.
Standing within the altar, the young boy gazed with admiration at the greatly sacrificed high priest, his reverence evident. “The High Priest’s foresight is truly divine. A warrior has indeed descended from the heavens today. And you, at your advanced age, deliberately maintained a child’s body, sacrificing yourself for the clan. You even worried about accidentally harming me just now, telling me to stay away in advance. How great you are, High Priest! I’ve decided, from today onwards, I, Shihou, will also strive to become a high priest.”
At the same time, the son of the old man in animal hides was dumbfounded. “My father was a child?” Directly after, as a filial son, he unhesitatingly slapped his mother, who was beside him, across the face.
Seventy-two dark flame-burning demonic pillars surrounded a magnificent palace.
A maidservant nervously knocked on the door, her voice trembling, “Grand Princess, you haven’t shown yourself for ten days. We are all very worried about you.”
“Scram!”
A chilling female voice came from within the room. “Dare to say another word, and you will not live.”
The maidservant’s face turned pale with terror and she quickly retreated. She knew that the Grand Princess’s threat was not to be taken lightly.
Inside the room, Kong Ling was disheveled, but her beautiful eyes were filled with unyielding rage.
“This is madness! What in the world is the Demon Emperor scheming, forcing me to marry and bear offspring so quickly? What does he take me, Kong Ling of Arc-Moon Mountain, for?” Purple demonic markings flashed in Kong Ling’s eyes as she sent a spirit power transmission. “Mo Yu, no matter where you are now, you must appear before me within three days.”
At this moment, a small creature, identical in appearance to Kong Ling but only the size of an index finger, with a pair of small horns on its head, like a little demon, climbed onto Kong Ling’s shoulder. It said with a worried expression, “Kong Ling, what do you want Mo Yu for again?”
Kong Ling glanced at the doll-like creature on her shoulder, a slight curve to her lips, and sneered. “My dear Miss Mo Ning, the esteemed Grand Princess of the Demon Race, I, Kong Ling of the Human Race, am very angry right now and need an excuse to beat Mo Yu soundly.”
“You!” Mo Ning gritted her teeth and ran a few steps, pounding Kong Ling’s fair and tender neck with her tiny fists, but her strength was no more than a tickle. “Kong Ling, why are you so wicked and detestable? Why do you always bully my brother? I’m fighting you!”
Kong Ling grabbed the petite Mo Ning in her palm, her eyes cold. “Isn’t this all your fault? Originally, I, Kong Ling, had loving parents and a kind master in the human world. I lived happily on Arc-Moon Mountain every day, so content and joyful. You’re the one who forced me to come to this Demon Race Abyss and become this damned Grand Princess!”
“We were originally one person, so how can you say one harmed the other?” Mo Ning said with heartache. “Besides, after returning to the Abyss, how many crazy things have you done? You didn’t even spare our own younger brother, whipping and humiliating him daily. Why can’t you be like me? Repent and turn back, and become a kind and upright girl from now on? Don’t you remember Lord Qin Gou’s teachings?”
“How dare you mention his name!”
Suddenly, Kong Ling’s killing intent flared, her beautiful eyes sharp as swords. “You undying old hag, a devil with countless ghosts under your feet, pretending to be innocent by relying on others’ temperaments? Do you know how much effort Father, Mother, and Master put in just to make me a cultured and sensible young lady, while you reaped the benefits… and you made me this mad and bloodthirsty, just like you used to be. You succeeded. Even though I still retain my memories of the human race, I have become an addicted abuser, an absolute madwoman!”
