“I heard the cultivation world has a lot of duos like that—one demon paired with one cultivator. Today we dress like this, tomorrow we’ll change our look and go in again,” Chuci said. “I’m the demon, and you’re different. The aura on you is unique. You can pass as a mortal or a god. Even if you claimed to be a demon, no one would be able to tell.”
Kunlun: “…”
Chuci: “How about it, huh? Kunlun~”
Kunlun: “…Alright.”
Kunlun finally understood what she meant by going to the demon city for fun. Her main goal was to play dress-up with her, using the excuse of hiding their identities to do something perfectly brazen.
Bright White City was far more bustling than Lanzhou City on the surface, though its liveliness wasn’t shown in shoulder-to-shoulder crowds or bustling prosperity, but in sheer strangeness. Outside the barrier, formations of winged dragons flew in flocks, their wide brown feathered wings seemingly capable of blotting out the sky and sun. There were also many sword-wielding cultivators heading out beyond the barrier for training, occasionally clashing with the winged dragons outside. Multicolored flowing clouds blanketed the barrier—a truly spectacular sight.
As for Bright White City inside the barrier, it was hardly any quieter than the outside. Some beings with massive true forms simply walked down the streets, blocking entire roads. But a demon city was still a demon city, far removed from the walled cities of the mortal realm. There was a city-guarding demon army here, but they only defended Bright White City’s outermost defensive line and the City Lord Mansion.
In a demon realm where the strong were revered, the ones who swaggered boldly through the streets could be sons of wealthy clans, common folk, but never incompetents. Why? Because brawling in the streets was perfectly legal. No one would interfere. If a powerful being walked sideways through the street, no one dared utter a sound. If you refused to accept it, you could just walk up and cut them down—then it would be your turn to strut around arrogantly.
“Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!” A chaotic, noisy clamor erupted nearby, shouts thundering.
Chuci and Kunlun had just entered the city and immediately caught a good show.
“Excuse us, excuse us.”
Chuci shielded Kunlun and squeezed through with difficulty, securing a spot with an excellent view.
In the middle of the street stood a lion three men tall. Its eyes were crimson, its forehead marked with gold, and it stood proudly as if riding the wind. A deep, imposing roar rose from its throat in waves. It was locked in a vicious, unresolved struggle against a bare-handed young man, their claws slashing through the air.
A rat spirit brother next to Kunlun was watching with extreme excitement, shouting until spittle flew everywhere, though it was unclear who he wanted killed. He turned his head, probably too worked up and wanting to share his thoughts, but upon seeing Kunlun’s impoverished, shabby appearance, he averted his gaze and swallowed the words about to spill out.
“Let me ask,” Chuci whispered to Kunlun. Then the two switched places, and she asked the rat spirit, “Who’s in the arena?”
The rat spirit sized her up, seemingly deciding she was a kindred spirit, before pouring out all his pent-up words in one breath: “This lion king’s been strutting around Bright White City throwing his weight around for days now, rampaging through the streets with no one able to take him down. I heard he came from the northwest grasslands, from the same place as our City Lord.”
This rat spirit must’ve been the gossiping type. He let out an “Eh” sound and continued, “You’re not from Bright White City, are you? Newcomer? Let me tell you, our City Lord was originally the mountain-guarding divine beast of the Sky Roar Temple in the Western Regions. Later, the Mountain Lord of Sky Roar Temple got into a fight with the catfish spirit of Inspiration Grotto, and they both ended up badly wounded. Sky Roar Temple and Inspiration Grotto were destroyed in a single day. The City Lord came down from the mountain and went to the northwest grasslands. How does the mortal saying go…”
He lowered his voice, as if afraid someone might overhear. “It’s called ‘turning bandit in the wilderness.’ Then, a long, long time later, he came to Bright White City, devoured the previous City Lord, and became the current City Lord, bringing his sons and grandsons along. The City Lord’s Eldest Young Master, ah…”
“Hey?” Chuci hastily interrupted him. This rat spirit was going on and on. She lifted her chin. “And the young man fighting the lion—who’s he?”
“Him?” The rat spirit shook his head. “I’m not too clear on that young master’s origins. The mouse brother next door said he just arrived a couple days ago. No idea what he is, but he’s the first one who could tangle with the lion king for this long. Maybe some clan’s young master? But I haven’t seen him bring out any spiritual treasures.”
Not only had the young man not brought out any spiritual treasures, he hadn’t even used a weapon. He seemed to possess boundless strength, fighting the lion bare-handed without losing ground. Chuci watched as the lion swung a claw at him, and the young man simply reached out and blocked it casually, as though using no effort at all. The lion king’s steel sinew and iron claws were forcefully stopped mid-swing. The young man followed the momentum, gripping the lion’s claw with both hands, and gave a great shout: “Rise.”
The three-men-tall lion king was lifted by him without the slightest power to resist.
The young man then shouted: “Break!”
“Careful!” Chuci immediately yanked Kunlun into her arms. The next moment, as if the heavens shook and the earth heaved, the hard bluestone street caved into a pit nearly three chi deep. Over half the people on the street were shaken off balance by the impact, nearly collapsing. The rat spirit closest to Chuci, his hand almost brushing her sleeve, simply couldn’t reach. His body, beyond his control, finally flopped down with a “plop,” planting him flat on the ground.
The young man laid his palm flat against the lion king’s body. A cold light flashed. From within the lion king’s body, he pulled out an inner core the size of a goose egg, swallowed it in one whole gulp, turned around, and walked off.
Chuci’s eyes sharpened. She asked Kunlun in a low voice, “Can you tell what that thing is?”
“It’s an osprey, but its talons are tiger claws.”
“How many years?”
“Not quite ten thousand years.”
Chuci licked her lips. “Can I eat it? It just swallowed the inner core of a ten-thousand-year-old lion king. Highly nourishing.”
“I’m afraid you can’t beat it.”
Chuci: “…Aren’t there always you?”
Kunlun: “Ah? I’m not lifting a hand.”
“Fine, fine, I know you won’t act. If I need your help just to hunt prey, what kind of image would that give me? But I can’t eat this osprey after all.” Chuci let out a sigh. “What a pity.”
Kunlun watched her disappointed expression, thought for a moment, then hesitantly asked, “How about I go grab it for you? For you to eat.”
As if steeling her resolve, she gave herself a pep talk. “Mm.”
She said it and was ready to do it. She felt the longsword on her back, adjusted it straight, then slowly stepped out from the crowd still recovering from the shock, following the young man.
The young man seemed to sense something and turned his head, facing a small sword cultivator. The sword cultivator had a delicate, handsome face, fair and clean, with a docile, harmless look in her eyes. His sharp gaze instinctively softened. He nodded, taking it as a greeting, and continued walking forward.
Chuci, finally reacting, grabbed Kunlun at once. “What are you doing?”
“Helping you catch it.”
Chuci pressed her forehead. “I was just joking, just talking casually. I don’t want to eat everyone I see, silly stone.”
The light in Kunlun’s eyes slowly dimmed.
Chuci immediately changed her words: “But that osprey, I do have my eye on swallowing it now. However, since it can so easily defeat a ten-thousand-year-old lion king while its own cultivation base is inferior, it must have naturally strong sinews and bones. Perhaps it has a great origin. We’re out and about—it’s still best to be cautious. Don’t you agree?”
Kunlun made a low “Mm” sound.
“Are you unhappy?” Chuci asked.
Kunlun pursed her lips and shook her head.
“Why unhappy?”
Kunlun: “…I’m not.”
“Your eyebrows are about to droop down to your ears, and you still say you’re not?”
Kunlun forced a smile. “Really, I’m not. I just felt… there’s nothing I can do for you. A little… a feeling of being lost, I suppose.”
“Aren’t you by my side? That’s the best thing you can do.” Chuci held both of her hands. “If I couldn’t find you, I would go insane.”
“But still…”
“No more ‘but still.’ Next time, you catch me one with a simple background to eat, alright?” She shook Kunlun’s hands, whining. “Alright? Alright, please?”
Had Jiang Yang been here, even her teeth would’ve been scared right out. Her king, in order to coax a woman, really had no face left. She’d soon be matching that good-for-nothing Saintess Lian from the Da Liang Kingdom.
Kunlun stared fixedly into her eyes. “Then… it’s settled.”
“Settled.”
Only then did a faint trace of a smile appear on Kunlun’s face.
She had done wrongs in the past and had given her heart to Nuwa to mend the heavens. Because of this, she often felt she was deeply in Chuci’s debt. Letting her do a little something, however insignificant—to her, it was an immense gift.
“Kunlun, look. That osprey’s fighting someone again,” Chuci suddenly said.
Kunlun turned her head. Sure enough, it was so. And this time, the opponents weren’t just one. They were orderly, dozens of them lined up in a row, six rows in total. Clearly, it was the guard army of the City Lord Mansion.
“That osprey”—Jing Mo had just planned to leave when he ran head-on into a troop of guard soldiers. The one at the front pulled a pitch-black token from his robes and said, “Halt. The City Lord requests your presence.”
The spectating humans, demons, and immortals all fell into an uproar. The City Lord Mansion’s eagerness to recruit talent was common knowledge, but in recent years, not a single person had received such an honor.
But this “halt,” in Jing Mo’s eyes, was arrogance and tyranny. What he detested most were the arrogant and tyrannical. That lion spirit earlier—he hadn’t planned to deal with it, but it had blocked the road for far too long, so he simply had to pluck out its inner core and swallow it like a candy bean.
Jing Mo didn’t even spare the Captain of the Guard a straight look. He changed direction and kept walking.
This was practically slapping the City Lord Mansion’s face in public.
The Captain of the Guard was the younger brother of the City Lord’s daughter’s husband, just eight thousand years old this year. He was considered a rather outstanding child among this generation. In silence, he raised his long halberd. The dozens of guard soldiers behind him simultaneously aimed their long spears at Jing Mo.
Uniform and precise. Cold iron blades drawn.
Without lifting his head, Jing Mo said, “Scram.”
“Irrelevant bystanders, clear out!” The Captain of the Guard shouted loudly.
The surrounding crowd hurriedly gave way, opening up a spacious area. Kunlun and Chuci also stepped back a few paces with the crowd.
The Captain of the Guard pressed down on his halberd. “Everyone, with me! Attack!”
