Jiang Yang had originally planned to secretly follow Little Chuci every day. First, to observe her closely, and second, to protect her—after all, the demons in these mountains were unpredictable. But that blunt, straightforward dragon Meng Zhaozhong was simply too “considerate.” He feared she might get eaten by something if she was alone, and insisted on tagging along, calling it “protecting” her.
She didn’t need that stupid dragon’s protection! He was just holding up her important business.
Fortunately, Jiang Yang was clever. After shaking him off multiple times, yet returning home safely and on time each day, she finally got the worrywart Meng Zhaozhong to relax a little. He stopped following her so persistently.
After many days of observation, Jiang Yang realized that Little King’s cultivation method was indeed simple and brutal. She would fight other demons, win, and take their Inner Cores to eat. If they had no core, she’d consume their flesh and blood for sustenance. This was likely a raw, instinctual reaction cultivated from deep within the earth. Modern Demon Cultivators, apart from a minority who still followed the traditional path of killing demons and using their cores, mostly cultivated to become immortals and thus refrained from killing, as it violated the Heavenly Dao.
Deep down, Jiang Yang was a hundred percent demon. Although she had cultivated her temperament for over forty thousand years in the Heavenly Court, some things never changed. One day, she finally couldn’t suppress her desires and swallowed a three-thousand-year-old unicorn.
This unicorn was quite well-known in this region because his parents were the masters of this Demon Domain—the Golden-Eyed Unicorn, who had lived for twenty thousand years, and the Crimson Flame Heavenly Horse.
Like feudal lords in the Mortal Realm, demons also divided up territory. By a terrible coincidence, Little Chuci had only recently expanded her “domain” here. Now, the demon domain master’s precious son had been swallowed. All hell broke loose in the formerly peaceful region.
The hunter can always get pecked blind by the hawk.
Little Chuci could never have anticipated this. That day, when she left home and arrived at her newly claimed territory, she immediately sensed something wrong in the air. As soon as she moved a paw, all signs of life around her were sealed. She had no doubt that if she dared move again, blood would splatter on the spot.
When had such a monster arrived here?
Little Chuci didn’t dare breathe loudly. She retracted her claws, now grown with long nails, pulled back her teeth, and tried her best to hide her aura, wishing she could turn invisible. She wasn’t stupid—seeking attention at a time like this was suicide.
But even if she didn’t go looking for trouble, trouble found her.
The Golden-Eyed Unicorn had cast his spiritual sense over this area to scan it. Finding no large demons, he was about to leave when the Crimson Flame Heavenly Horse made a small sound of surprise. She pointed upward with her hoof and said, “Golden-Eye, there seems to be a trace of that Lord’s Qi here. Could that one have done something to our son?”
“No way, right? Hasn’t that one never interfered in our affairs?”
The Crimson Flame Heavenly Horse continued, “Who can say for sure? That one has held high status for so long, no one knows what goes on in that mind. Didn’t I hear she picked up a child to raise a thousand years ago? That child was from the Demon Clan. And that White Dragon beside her—isn’t he also a demon who never gained the Upper Realm’s recognition?”
“Wait, Crimson Flame, you just said… a child picked up a thousand years ago?”
Little Chuci’s heart tightened. Before she could even react, the Golden-Eyed Unicorn casually scooped her into his claws. His claws were an azure blue, the skin rough, reeking heavily of blood. The Golden-Eyed Unicorn squinted at the tiny thing between his fingers and asked, “This one?”
Little Chuci was nearly suffocated by the stench of his breath.
“Yes.” The Crimson Flame Heavenly Horse raised a hoof and poked the little milk-dog’s head. “How about we take her and go question that Lord up there?”
It was at this moment that Jiang Yang received Little Chuci’s gaze. Her tiny body was trapped in those scaled claws, barely able to move, but her look directed toward Jiang Yang’s hiding spot was extremely calm. She didn’t seem to know the exact location, but she knew the direction.
Jiang Yang removed the Illusion Spell she had set up for concealment, exposing her entire serpent body clearly in Little Chuci’s eyes. Then, Jiang Yang saw her lift her chin, point at the two demons before her, and mouth silently: Save me.
The Golden-Eyed Unicorn had been about to answer his wife but suddenly stopped mid-sentence. Every hair on his body instantly stood on end. He gently set Little Chuci aside, bound her casually, and then vigilantly scanned the surroundings, warning in a low voice, “Crimson Flame, something terrible is here. If we can’t handle it, I’ll hold it off. You run.”
Flames danced beneath Crimson Flame’s hooves. Her giant wings unfurled from her ribs, lifting her into the air into a battle-ready stance. She also murmured, “What are you saying? You and I are husband and wife, one entity. We should live and die together.”
Golden-Eye didn’t answer. He surveyed the area and shouted, “When did a mighty being arrive in this king’s domain? Why not show yourself?”
A soft scoff came from the air. A female voice rang out, not booming, nor soft, just stating lightly: “You want me to show, so I must? I simply won’t. What can you do about it?”
A short silence fell.
Crimson Flame suddenly asked, “May I ask, Lord, was our son’s disappearance related to you?”
Another pause. Then the woman sneered. “You mean that little three-thousand-year-old unicorn? I swallowed him. Hmm… his bones and residue have probably dissolved by now. So? Want revenge?”
Crimson Flame’s face changed drastically. She gnashed her teeth. “Spineless rat, hiding your head and tail! Do you dare come out and face me in battle?”
Golden-Eye silently stepped forward, shielding Crimson Flame. The horn on his forehead swelled explosively, reaching over ten feet long. His voice was still calm: “The hatred of a child eaten is irreconcilable. I ask the Lord to show yourself.”
The Cultivated Snake was an ancient creature, a relic from primordial times. Legends said its body could exceed three hundred meters. What level had Jiang Yang reached after tens of thousands of years of cultivation? Even Chuci didn’t know. But forty thousand years ago, she had already far surpassed those legends.
When Jiang Yang’s massive true form slowly emerged from the tall, dense forest, a desire to flee immediately erupted from the hearts of Golden-Eye and Crimson Flame. Only their son’s death and their pride as masters of this Demon Domain forced them to stay.
If Meng Zhaozhong were here, he would know what “blotting out the sky and sun” truly meant.
When Jiang Yang raised her head, her black body lifted a mere tenth of its full height—yet it completely eclipsed the sun above Golden-Eye and Crimson Flame.
Her deep green, slit pupils looked down imperiously upon the demon domain master, her voice filled with contempt: “What are you supposed to be? A mere little unicorn with twenty thousand years’ cultivation, daring to call yourself a king?”
With the corner of her eye, Jiang Yang caught sight of Little Chuci. The little girl was completely stunned. Jiang Yang couldn’t help feeling a bit proud. To receive such a look from the King meant she could die without regrets—even if the King was still just a Little King for now.
The moment Little Chuci saw Jiang Yang, her first reaction wasn’t fear, but… an indescribable excitement. This was different from Kunlun. Kunlun was also powerful, but her power was gentle—so gentle it felt almost without pressure. Little Chuci could practically hear her own blood rushing. The innate love for combat and conquest in her bones filled her with an intense longing for Jiang Yang’s combative, overwhelming strength.
She was almost desperate to become powerful. Power unmatched in the world. Omnipotent.
She watched as Jiang Yang opened her mouth to an exaggerated angle and swallowed the Golden-Eyed Unicorn in a single gulp. As for the heavenly horse, after a failed escape attempt, Jiang Yang smacked her dead with a single lash of her tail, blood splattering everywhere.
The great demon that had clutched her in its palm moments ago died in Jiang Yang’s grasp in an instant.
Jiang Yang used her fangs to root around in the Crimson Flame Heavenly Horse’s corpse, pulling out a goose-egg-sized golden Inner Core. She lowered her massive serpent head, offering it ingratiatingly to Little Chuci.
She knew what she wanted.
Little Chuci took it without any hesitation, then swallowed it with great difficulty. She hadn’t yet learned how to absorb better, so she had to resort to this crude method. Just as she was about to sit cross-legged and refine it, she was knocked flat onto her stomach by Jiang Yang’s head.
Jiang Yang: “Hiss—”
Little Chuci: “…”
She then tentatively touched the triangular serpent head.
Jiang Yang grew even more excited: “Hiss hiss—”
Little Chuci, looking at a fang that was bigger than her own body, felt a twinge of toothache. She said, “I want to refine a portion of the Inner Core first. Can you stop pestering me for a bit?”
Jiang Yang’s hiss died down.
When Little Chuci opened her eyes again, a neat-looking woman in blue robes stood before her. She wore a jade ring at her waist, and a teardrop-shaped green jade adorned her forehead, complementing her exceedingly dark features perfectly.
“Little King,” she said happily, “congratulations on growing again.”
Little Chuci, who now had the appearance of an eleven or twelve-year-old, looked at her with a hint of a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.
Jiang Yang’s heart sank.
Then she heard the girl say in a crisp voice: “Kunlun, I helped you lure her out.”
From behind a tree, a figure slowly emerged. Black hair, black eyes, a long cyan robe with wide sleeves, slender and tall. She spoke gently: “Long time no see, Little Yang.”
Little Chuci moved naturally over to her, taking hold of Kunlun’s left pinky finger.
The two of them looked at Jiang Yang together.
Jiang Yang: “…”
