Chapter 67#

Chapter Sixty-Seven#

Xue Jingci never expected that to avoid being manipulated by Xiao Xun, Pei Huang would actually break the bones and tendons in his right hand at the last moment.

This man’s actions were equally crazy, yet different from others.

Xiao Xun’s divine sense was powerful, so he naturally heard what Pei Huang said. Seeing his right hand resting limply in Xue Jingci’s palm, he instantly understood what the man had done.

His expression changed drastically.

The hour… the hour had arrived!

Regardless of the dripping blood from the wound on his shoulder, he strode frantically toward the Third Prince.

There’s still time, there must still be time to change Master’s fate!

However, before he could even get close to the iron pillar in the center, scorching flames erupted from Pei Huang’s body, instantly spreading through the secret room and turning it into a sea of fire.

Xiao Xun seemed oblivious, struggling to move closer to where the Third Prince was. His hair was in disarray, and now it was singed by the flames, his clothes also catching fire.

Yet, when he finally crossed the flames and reached the side of the iron pillar, he found that there was already no one there.

Changing fate… had failed.

The only thing he could have used to make amends to Master had thus gone up in smoke.

There was no daylight in the Demon Realm; it was a place of eternal night.

At this moment, a crescent moon hung in the sky, illuminating the broad and boundless long river in the desert.

This place was very desolate, with few tall trees. Only a bit of weeds struggled to break through the soil, yet they could hardly block the piercing cold wind.

Xue Jingci held Pei Huang’s hand, carefully reconnecting his bones and tendons, as if something in his heart had also broken through.

Pei Huang gazed at Xue Jingci. After growing up, there weren’t many people who could injure him, let alone such a fatal injury.

It would be a lie to say it didn’t hurt. His lips were tightly pressed, and cold sweat appeared on his forehead, but his gaze remained fixed on Xue Jingci.

Finally, he couldn’t help but ask: “What exactly happened to your fate, and why did Xiao Xun want to use the Third Prince to change it for you?”

Xue Jingci had only mentioned to Pei Huang before that Xiao Xun had taken another master at the apprenticeship ceremony, but he hadn’t spoken about changing Xiao Xun’s fate.

Now that Pei Huang had asked, he gave a brief account of it.

In the depths of his heart, Pei Huang felt both anger and bitterness.

The bitterness was because Xue Jingci could actually do so much for Xiao Xun, while the anger was from hating Xiao Xun for not being willing to ask Xue Jingci. Clearly, this misunderstanding could have been resolved sooner if only he had asked.

Thinking of this, a sudden shock hit Pei Huang’s heart.

Speaking of not being willing to speak up, wasn’t he actually the same? These days he had been with Xue Jingci, he clearly had many opportunities to be honest about his demon cultivation, yet he had forcibly suppressed it, dragging it out in self-deception.

To the point that he let Xue Jingci see him being revered as the Demon Lord without any preparation.

Pei Huang looked up and, without further hesitation, confessed everything to Xue Jingci.

From being pursued by demon cultivators as a child, to discovering a force of demon cultivators secretly protecting him, claiming to be his mother’s old subordinates…

Xue Jingci listened carefully, and the doubts in his heart were finally completely resolved.

No wonder the system points had soared these past few days; it turned out to be because Pei Huang had already quietly subdued the Fire Demon’s forces.

And what he had to do was help Pei Huang unify the Demon Realm and then find the culprits who had brutally murdered his parents back then.

Xue Jingci couldn’t help but ask the system: “Pei Huang seems to fit the criteria of a disciple better than the other two; why couldn’t the system detect it?”

He was someone who rarely regretted things, but now he couldn’t help but think that if the system had prompted him to take a disciple back in Donglai Village, perhaps Pei Huang wouldn’t have had to dodge pursuit everywhere at such a young age.

The system was evasive, thinking how could Pei Huang fit the standards of a “crematorium” target.

Fortunately, Xue Jingci didn’t press further. He looked at Pei Huang and asked: “So you set a trial period because you were afraid I wouldn’t be able to teach the techniques of the Demon Race?”

Pei Huang hadn’t expected that after saying so much to him, Xue Jingci’s only concern was actually this matter.

Had Xue Jingci never even thought about the conflict between good and evil?

Pei Huang’s heart completely relaxed. He looked at Xue Jingci and shook his head: “You are a righteous cultivator; I was afraid you wouldn’t be able to accept my demon cultivation, so I thought of ways to delay.”

Xue Jingci was stunned. He came from another world and didn’t have any obsession with the distinction between good and evil.

Only now, hearing Pei Huang say this, did he realize that in the eyes of the people of this world, the righteous and demonic paths are opposing existences.

No wonder Xie Zheng had left without saying goodbye back then…

Xue Jingci didn’t think too deeply and quickly withdrew his thoughts. Now he only needed to teach Pei Huang, this disciple, well; as for others, they had nothing to do with him anymore.

The two completely talked through the matter of demon cultivation, so Pei Huang no longer hid anything and directly led Xue Jingci toward the territory of the Fire Demons.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, sparse villages actually appeared in the desolate desert.

And within the villages, there were still many people bending over to plow and plant, bits of green stubbornly peeking their heads out from the yellow sand.

A flicker of curiosity flashed in Xue Jingci’s eyes. He hadn’t expected that in such a desolate Demon Realm, there would also be farmers tilling the land.

Suddenly, those who were plowing dropped their plows and hoes, and hurriedly knelt and bowed toward them in panic.

“Greetings, My Lord.”

Xue Jingci blinked, suddenly realizing that “My Lord” they were calling was Pei Huang, so he turned his head and stared at Pei Huang.

Pei Huang was a bit embarrassed by his gaze and quickened his pace, leading Xue Jingci toward the city.

As soon as they entered the city gate, a demon cultivator ran toward the two in a hurry.

“Demon Lord, you’ve finally returned. The Sand Demons have actually sent an envoy over, naming you and saying there are important matters to discuss.”

Sand Demons?

Hearing this name, Xue Jingci’s expression changed slightly.

On the way here, he had heard Pei Huang briefly talk about the current distribution of power in the Demon Realm. He knew the Water Demons were the strongest faction, followed by the Fire Demons. The Thunder Demons and Sand Demons were roughly equal, while only the Wind Demons were the weakest, constantly bullied by other forces.

And previously, the area where the Third Prince was imprisoned belonged to the Sand Demons. They were also experts in puppetry, clearly having a great connection with the Xiao family.

Xiao Xun hadn’t sent anyone to pursue them along the way; he hadn’t expected that he was waiting here.

The two followed behind that demon cultivator to the place of discussion, and from afar saw a tall man sitting piously on a chair.

Hearing footsteps, that person turned his head, and his features were extremely familiar to Xue Jingci.

It was exactly the master Xiao Xun had temporarily changed to at the apprenticeship ceremony back then, Lu Chengyuan.

Xue Jingci hid the astonishment on his face and sat down in the discussion hall following Pei Huang.

His face was somewhat unfamiliar, and several demon cultivators looked at each other, all revealing expressions of doubt.

Pei Huang directly introduced him to everyone: “This is my master. We haven’t held the apprenticeship ceremony yet; we will formally hold one in a few days.”

Several people immediately stood up to congratulate them.

Hearing the words “apprenticeship ceremony,” Lu Chengyuan’s eyes flickered, circling between Xue Jingci and Pei Huang.

However, he didn’t express his inner thoughts, but just handed a scroll to Pei Huang, saying: “Our Demon Lord heard that you have a new leader and specifically sent me to congratulate you. This scroll is the congratulatory gift he sent.”

He didn’t say who the Demon Lord was, but Xue Jingci and Pei Huang both knew his Demon Lord was Xiao Xun.

Pei Huang picked up the scroll and, with a brief glance, found it was actually an invitation to a martial arts competition.

He looked fixedly at the envoy and asked: “This martial arts competition is the congratulatory gift?”

There were no extra expressions on Lu Chengyuan’s face; he still maintained the same serious and humorless look from his time at the Lingxu Sect, only his overall aura was cold and viscous, no longer making anyone feel like he was a righteous cultivator.

He looked at Pei Huang and said slowly: “For so many years, the Demon Realm has been without a master. Now that the person in the prophecy has appeared, why don’t the various factions take this opportunity to compete and see who is superior?”

“Naturally, the distribution of resources in the Demon Realm in the future should also be ranked according to this competition.”

Pei Huang didn’t respond but flipped to the end of the scroll, where the rules of the martial arts competition were written.

Each faction would send thirty people from their ranks to participate, and the age could not exceed a hundred years.

However, the Fire Demons could only send one person: Pei Huang.

At the very end, it was even specifically written with a cinnabar pen: Once on the stage for competition, life and death are irrelevant.

Pei Huang frowned and asked: “Why can only our side send one person?”

Lu Chengyuan said: “Your position is different. Since you are the one pointed to by the prophecy who can unify the Demon Realm, naturally you must use one person’s strength to overcome all other factions to convince the masses.”

He was originally a Peak Master of the top sect of the upper realm, the Lingxu Sect, yet now he addressed a junior like Pei Huang as “You” (honorific).

Others didn’t know his identity and just took him for an envoy of the Sand Demons; even if they had much disrespect in their hearts, they had to go through the motions on the surface.

But Xue Jingci felt it was strange.

With Lu Chengyuan’s cultivation and status, how could he fall to this level?

However, there was no time for him to think much now. What Xue Jingci cared more about was that this competition was clearly an open scheme set up by Xiao Xun against Pei Huang.

Xue Jingci had been listening quietly, and at this moment his gaze slightly changed.

Clearly, this was an open scheme.

If Pei Huang truly accepted the challenge, it would be difficult for him to withstand the top experts under each Demon Lord. Not only would it be hard to convince the masses, but it would also affect the Fire Demons’ current ranking.

He had only sat in this position for a short time. Most of the people willing to support him were because of his mother or belief in that prophecy.

But there were also many people who just followed the crowd. Once the resources of the Fire Demon faction decreased, internal strife would arise.

At that time, perhaps without other factions acting, the interior of the Fire Demons would turn on him and pull Pei Huang down.

Moreover, the rules of this competition clearly stated that life and death were irrelevant, which was even more flagrant than those previous assassinations.

Xue Jingci withdrew his gaze from the scroll and met Pei Huang’s eyes.

Seeing no one speak, Lu Chengyuan stood up and said: “I have been out for a long time and should return to report. If you don’t dare to participate, I will take this scroll away, but since the remaining factions have all accepted the challenge, the ranking for resource distribution might be…”

Hearing this, the Fire Demon cultivators present couldn’t sit still and all looked at Pei Huang.

Pei Huang rolled up the scroll and put it in his bosom, his expression normal as he looked flatly at the envoy and said: “I will go.”

“Good. This martial arts competition is set for one month from now, and the location is at the Absolute Dust Valley of the Water Demon Tribe.”

After saying that, he walked to Xue Jingci’s side and said in a voice only the two of them could hear: “The Head of the Family told me to tell you that back then I was just his subordinate, following orders, and there was no true master-disciple relationship with him.”

With that, he actually turned into a blurred black shadow and left the discussion hall silently.

Pei Huang walked to Xue Jingci’s side, and seeing something odd in his expression, asked: “Do you know him?”

Xue Jingci nodded, spoke about the incident of Xiao Xun taking Lu Chengyuan as his master back then, and also told Pei Huang what Lu Chengyuan had just relayed.

Pei Huang thought to himself that this man truly was shameless. Even if his actions that day were just to spite Xue Jingci and he didn’t truly want to change to another master.

But it was an indisputable fact that Xue Jingci was hurt by him.

For a moment, an idea suddenly occurred to Pei Huang. Although he had agreed to be Xue Jingci’s disciple, there were no others to witness their master-disciple bond.

Pei Huang had originally intended to hold an apprenticeship ceremony in the Fire Demon territory. Since Xiao Xun had gone through the trouble of creating a martial arts competition, it would be better to directly hold the apprenticeship there, so that everyone in the Demon Realm would know Xue Jingci was his master.

However, to act like this, it must be after he had taken first place.

He didn’t intend to tell Xue Jingci about things he wasn’t yet sure of, so he suppressed the idea.

Seeing the envoy had left, the demon cultivators present also excused themselves one after another, and only a beautiful woman remained.

Pei Huang introduced the woman’s identity to Xue Jingci; it turned out this person was the previous Demon Lord of the Fire Demons, Shi Ting-shuang.

Looking at Xue Jingci up close, Shi Ting-shuang was secretly surprised. With her experience and cultivation, she naturally saw at a glance that Xue Jingci did not cultivate the demonic path.

She didn’t ask further but looked at Pei Huang and said: “That Demon Lord of the Sand Demons is accustomed to using such methods—appearing upright on the surface while being treacherous in reality. Only, I didn’t expect that the other four tribes would all agree to this competition.”

Shi Ting-shuang sighed: “If you could completely learn the techniques left by your mother, the other four tribes would probably not be your match. Now there is only one month; it’s too tight after all.”

Pei Huang, however, showed no signs of panic. After coming to the Fire Demon territory, Shi Ting-shuang had shown him many things left by his mother, so he felt great respect for this former Demon Lord in his heart.

Pei Huang softened his expression and comforted her: “Since I came to the Demon Realm, I’ve been chased and assassinated every day, and I’ve become a bit annoyed. Now that someone finally couldn’t hold back and played their hand openly, it’s a good time for a final settlement.”

Shi Ting-shuang laughed upon hearing this: “Your mother’s talent back then was extraordinary, yet she had no ambition and preferred to go outside the city to study how to plow and plant in the desert. You are indeed different from her.”

Shi Ting-shuang recalled the past, and her laughter suddenly stopped. She wondered if the person who brutally murdered his parents back then would also reveal themselves in this battle.

Thinking of this, she reached out and patted Pei Huang: “Prepare for battle with peace of mind. Put your life above all else. As for the ranking, our Fire Demon Tribe has a deep foundation, and a bit of cultivation resources are not worth worrying about.”

With that, she stood up to leave, but Xue Jingci took a step forward to stop her and asked: “During Pei Huang’s cultivation these past few days, I want to take a look at the techniques of the Fire Demon Tribe. I wonder if you could do me a favor.”

Seeing that he was a righteous cultivator yet took the initiative to propose studying the techniques of the Demon Race, a look of astonishment flashed in Shi Ting-shuang’s eyes.

However, Shi Ting-shuang still nodded and said: “We have a library here. Take this token, and you can freely take and read any book in the entire library.”

Xue Jingci thanked her, and after that day, he threw himself into the library, not even remembering to eat.

Pei Huang was worried about him, so during his cultivation breaks, he would go to see him and make sure he drank his medicine.

Xue Jingci usually didn’t like drinking medicine, but now to save time, he would just drink it in large gulps, which made Pei Huang feel distressed and helpless.

Fortunately, five days later, Xue Jingci handed a brand-new technique into Pei Huang’s hands.

The Fire Demon Tribe had always been very curious about the Demon Lord’s master. Hearing that he had improved the techniques for Pei Huang, they all tried to ask indirectly to have a look.

After obtaining Xue Jingci’s consent, Pei Huang shared the technique. Unexpectedly, after many people read it, they were dismissive of it and all persuaded Pei Huang to change masters.

“His improvements to the technique are not many; he just made the original circulation route a bit smoother. To be the Demon Lord’s master, he’s probably not qualified enough.”

“Yes, the Demon Lord possesses bloodline power, and his aptitude far exceeds others. Xue Jingci’s aptitude is very mediocre; he simply can’t teach the Demon Lord well.”

Pei Huang usually rarely put on the air of a Demon Lord, but hearing these rumors, he rarely became angry. He caught all the people who started them and interrogated them one by one.

However, halfway through the interrogation, he was interrupted by Xue Jingci, who hurried over.

When Xue Jingci arrived, he happened to hear a demon cultivator saying his aptitude was mediocre and the improved technique had nothing special about it.

He was stunned, feeling that the scene before him seemed to overlap with the past.

Back at the Lingxu Sect, whenever someone heard about his relationship with Xie Zheng, they would show such a contemptuous expression.

Xie Zheng’s aptitude was extraordinary; he was a favored son of heaven and was simply not a person from the same world as him.

Now Pei Huang, as a demon cultivator, also possessed the enviable bloodline power. Simply by virtue of this innate power, many people were willing to recognize him as their master.

Xue Jingci understood when he was an intern host that this type of person was called a protagonist, born to be brilliant.

And supporting characters like him, although better than extras, were destined to be the existence that set off the protagonist.

Xue Jingci’s emotions had been dull in the past, and he didn’t care about the pointing of others, but now he felt some strange emotions.

Pei Huang saw him coming and quickly stood up to block the gaze of those demon cultivators, asking softly: “You haven’t rested for several days and just finally fell asleep; why did you come over?”

Xue Jingci lowered his eyes and said: “When you cultivate that technique, I need to watch from the side.”

Hearing him mention the technique, a demon cultivator couldn’t help but raise his voice and shout: “Demon Lord, you’re going to participate in the competition in a month; this technique can’t help you at all!”

Xue Jingci looked up at Pei Huang and said urgently: “You can try practicing for a few days first. This technique is beneficial to you; I’m not lying to you.”

Pei Huang nodded and said: “I naturally believe you.”

With that, he secretly instructed the demon cultivators around him to continue detaining those several people first. Even if they couldn’t get anything out of the interrogation, at least they could intimidate the demon cultivators outside so they wouldn’t spread those rumors anymore.

Xue Jingci led Pei Huang toward a place for secluded cultivation.

Once there, he signaled Pei Huang to sit down and run the technique he had written.

Pei Huang did as he was told and began practicing the technique Xue Jingci had given him seriously.

Xue Jingci breathed a sigh of relief.

In the eyes of the world, most demon cultivators are extremely vicious with blood-stained hands, and a large reason for this is related to their techniques.

Those who choose to cultivate as demons mostly have poor roots and bones. If they cultivate righteous techniques, they might find it difficult to even reach the entry-level realm.

But the techniques of the Demon Race are different; even people with very poor roots and bones can quickly absorb the surrounding spiritual energy.

They advance much faster than righteous cultivators, but this cultivation method has a major drawback.

Only because when absorbing spiritual energy, it is impossible to purify it with roots and bones, they often inhale a large amount of turbid energy.

Although they advance fast in the early stage, in the later stage, they are easily affected by turbid energy, to the point of being delirious or falling into a state of frenzy.

The more powerful a demon cultivator is, the easier it is to fall into obsession.

Pei Huang was his disciple; Xue Jingci naturally would not let him fall into a state of obsession.

Fortunately, when he was guiding Xie Zheng’s cultivation back then, he had thought of a way to compensate for the drawbacks of the Demon Race’s techniques.

Now it was just right for Pei Huang to use.

Xue Jingci withdrew his thoughts, sat cross-legged beside Pei Huang, and also began to run the spiritual energy in his body.

During cultivation, it is extremely difficult to perceive the passage of time. When Pei Huang opened his eyes again, seven days had already passed.

He opened his eyes and looked down at his body, a look of surprise in his eyes.

Clearly, the technique Xue Jingci gave him was not extraordinary, but he had progressed rapidly during his cultivation these past few days. What was even more rare was that his mind was clear and bright, without any of the heavy and irritable feeling from the past.

Pei Huang suddenly remembered what Yin Xinyao had told him.

When they were in Suzhou and Yin Xinyao was instructing him on how to decoct medicine for Xue Jingci, he had indirectly asked about the past between Xue Jingci and Xie Zheng.

He only then learned that back then at the Heaven Gate Array, the young master of the Medicine Sect had revealed that Xie Zheng’s roots and bones were naturally insufficient, and also said that someone had reshaped them for him, which made his talent so outstanding.

Xie Zheng believed this without doubt and felt extreme remorse.

But in fact, many people didn’t believe it.

After all, even a three-year-old child knows that roots and bones are innate, and people’s aptitude is born into different grades.

Even Xie Zheng’s master, Li Xuanfeng, didn’t believe this statement and told the young master of the Medicine Sect not to talk nonsense and disturb his disciple’s Dao heart.

He admitted that Xue Jingci had some talent in the way of arrays, but to say he could change someone’s roots and bones was truly a bit absurd.

If he truly had such ability, why didn’t he change his own? Everyone knew all these years that Xue Jingci’s cultivation speed was mediocre, not even one-thousandth of Xie Zheng’s.

The young master of the Medicine Sect tried hard to explain that this technique of investigating roots and bones was a secret technique of the Medicine Sect and couldn’t be wrong; Xie Zheng’s roots and bones had indeed been changed.

But he couldn’t say what method could change a person’s roots and bones.

The only person who knew about this was Xue Jingci, who had already fallen, so the matter became an unsolved mystery.

All these years, under the persuasion of the people around him, even Xie Zheng gradually believed that his talent was truly extraordinary.

Since then, Xie Zheng remained the enviable favored son of heaven in the sect, the darling of the Heavenly Dao. Even the Sect Leader broke the rules and handed over the power to manage sect affairs to him.

His actions in the upper realm also became increasingly arbitrary and overbearing. He placed extreme importance on the Heaven Gate Array and would often go and sit at the place where Xue Jingci repaired the array for a whole day.

Pei Huang withdrew his thoughts, emotions surging in his eyes.

When he first heard of this that day, he also felt that Xue Jingci was very good to Xie Zheng, but the talk of changing roots and bones was impossible.

Only, having personally cultivated Xue Jingci’s technique these few days, he was certain his aptitude had truly improved.

All of this must be related to Xue Jingci.

Pei Huang walked to Xue Jingci’s side and crouched down. After Xue Jingci opened his eyes, he asked: “Master, besides this technique, what else did you do? Why do I feel my aptitude has actually improved?”

A look of surprise appeared on Xue Jingci’s face; he hadn’t expected Pei Huang to be able to sense even this. Only, it would be very troublesome to explain, as it would involve his power from another world.

He said flatly: “If it’s useful to you, just practice it.”

Hearing this, Pei Huang boldly leaned closer and said gloomily: “But I don’t want to be the only one who knows Master’s goodness, while others only know to say that my natural talent is outstanding.”

His voice had always been low and steady; at this moment, he intentionally softened it, sounding somewhat like he was acting spoiled.

Xue Jingci looked at him fixedly and, seeing his gaze full of seriousness, finally began to explain slowly.

When Xie Zheng was taken away by him back then, he was already twenty years old and had missed the best age for cultivation.

To compensate for his disadvantage in roots and bones, Xue Jingci remembered several Demon Race techniques he had read before.

Most of those who cultivate Demon Race techniques are people with extremely poor roots and bones. Cultivation only pursues speed without considering the consequences of turbid energy entering the body.

But the operation of this technique is indeed more efficient than those of the righteous path.

Xue Jingci thought hard and suddenly had a flash of inspiration: if he could first swallow the turbid energy within the surrounding spiritual energy, then even if Xie Zheng practiced with a Demon Race technique, his speed would only increase and he wouldn’t inhale turbid energy.

So Xue Jingci spent over half a year setting up an array in the courtyard where they lived, constantly swallowing the turbid energy within the array every day, finally leaving only the extremely pure part.

Then he handed the Demon Race technique to Xie Zheng and let him practice it.

As expected, Xie Zheng advanced extremely fast, and that spiritual energy entering his body in turn nourished his roots and bones, actually directly improving his aptitude.

In the eyes of outsiders, Xie Zheng had clearly stepped into the ranks of peerless geniuses.

This made Xue Jingci very pleasantly surprised.

In this world, it had always been believed that roots and bones are innate and difficult to change. Even Xue Jingci had accepted this setting from the beginning.

…

Pei Huang listened quietly to this past event and finally heard Xue Jingci say: “You don’t need to speak of this to others. After all, besides you, I won’t swallow turbid energy for anyone else.”

He pursed his lips and said nothing, knowing that what Xue Jingci said was correct. There are many people with profound cultivation in the Demon Realm who suffer from the pain of falling into obsession all year round.

If they found out, they would probably capture Xue Jingci and force him to swallow turbid energy day and night.

But if it’s not said, outsiders will never know what Xue Jingci has sacrificed; they will only say his aptitude is good and that’s why his cultivation progresses by leaps and bounds.

Even if he hadn’t asked to get to the bottom of it today, he wouldn’t have known what Xue Jingci had actually done.

Clearly, Xue Jingci was the one who should be looked up to by everyone.

Pei Huang pursed his lips and remained silent, but made a decision in his heart.

He must let outsiders know that Xue Jingci is not mediocre, and his achievements come precisely from this person.

In this world, only Xue Jingci is worthy of being his master.

As soon as cultivation began, the days seemed to pass exceptionally quickly, and over half a month passed in the blink of an eye.

Because Pei Huang had captured many people, those outside didn’t dare to discuss Xue Jingci at will anymore. However, when everyone saw Xue Jingci, they still didn’t have much of a respectful look.

Granted, Xue Jingci’s sword skills were outstanding and he was proficient in the art of arrays, so being someone else’s master could be said to be more than enough.

But as it happened, he was Pei Huang’s master, and Pei Huang’s talent was unique in the entire Demon Realm.

The system felt bad for Xue Jingci and even couldn’t help but secretly contact 6B, asking indirectly how respected a protagonist’s master would be in their world.

6B had recently finally been assigned a new host and was in a very good mood. It replied enthusiastically: “Respected? That’s a bit difficult; after all, you can’t steal the protagonist’s spotlight.”

“So in our case, they usually live in the protagonist’s ring or act as his guardian spirit. That way, if someone comes to provoke, the protagonist can borrow the master’s power, slap them in the face, and become famous. Isn’t that especially exciting!”

System: “…” This sounded even worse than it is now.

It felt dejected, but its own host didn’t care about the evaluation of others, leaving it with nowhere to vent its gloom.

Fortunately, the system soon discovered that Pei Huang was also worried about this matter just like it.

It would often turn into a kitten form to find Pei Huang, and the relationship between the two was actually much better than before.

Seeing that the day of the competition was approaching, besides cultivation, Pei Huang thought about Xue Jingci’s affairs.

He had actually long made a plan to take first place in the martial arts competition and then take Xue Jingci as his master under everyone’s witness.

But if at that time, others also questioned why Xue Jingci could be his master, just like the demon cultivators in the Fire Demon territory, how could he shut these people up?

He couldn’t capture them all.

If only he also had the power to swallow and could in turn change Xue Jingci’s aptitude.

This thought flashed by, but Pei Huang suddenly stood up.

His movement was too large, and he almost stepped on the kitten’s tail, causing the system to cry out in dissatisfaction.

Pei Huang, however, showed a smile: “I thought of it.”

He ran all the way to find Xue Jingci and, seeing him studying techniques, sat down quietly on the side.

After Xue Jingci put down his pen, he said urgently: “Has Master ever thought about writing a collective technique?”

“Collective technique?” Xue Jingci was puzzled.

Pei Huang smiled and explained: “The techniques you wrote before were all for my individual use. A collective technique is for a group of people to use. Remember the power to swallow? That is Master’s unique power, but I’ve thought carefully these past few days: isn’t the act of absorbing spiritual energy through cultivation itself a kind of swallowing?”

Xue Jingci had very deep research on techniques, but previously his mission had always been to guide the protagonist, and he had never thought of anything else.

Hearing Pei Huang say this now, a vague idea instantly popped into his head, and he immediately bent over the desk and started writing rapidly on the paper.

Pei Huang stopped talking. When he was young, he had no one to guide his cultivation and learned all sorts of unorthodox ways. He would try his best to learn anything that could save his life. He didn’t have Xue Jingci’s ability to clearly organize the operation of a technique.

The room was extremely quiet. Xue Jingci’s cool fragrance intertwined with the ink scent, floating around Pei Huang faintly.

It also settled his anxious heart these past few days.

He simply sat cross-legged in meditation and began cultivating beside Xue Jingci.

After an unknown amount of time, he finally heard Xue Jingci say: “Done.”

Pei Huang quickly stood up to see the new technique Xue Jingci had written.

This technique requires twenty or more people to cultivate simultaneously. Among them, the technique practiced by nineteen people is no different from ordinary demon cultivator techniques and will absorb turbid energy, only the speed is much slower.

Once they have absorbed the turbid energy and left behind pure spiritual energy, the remaining person will use another set of techniques similar to Pei Huang’s to speed up the absorption of spiritual energy.

This spiritual energy is extremely pure and will nourish the roots and bones, eventually improving this person’s aptitude and helping him purify the turbid energy inhaled into his body.

Then it’s the next person’s turn…

But to truly implement it, the biggest problem lies in human desire.

Xue Jingci had walked the world for many years and naturally knew that human desire is infinite. When the first person experiences the benefits of improved aptitude, they will want more, rather than absorbing turbid energy to help others improve their aptitude.

So Xue Jingci added an array in addition to the technique.

Anyone entering this array needs the concerted effort of twenty people to break the array and get out. If someone doesn’t follow the rules, don’t expect others to assist in breaking the array; in the end, they can only stay in the array forever.

After reading the combination of technique and array, Pei Huang immediately went to find Shi Ting-shuang.

Shi Ting-shuang was recently worried about the demon cultivators held in the prison. In her view, Pei Huang had only been the Demon Lord for a short time, and to imprison them for punishment just because they talked about Xue Jingci would truly be hard to convince the masses.

But after all, Pei Huang was that person’s child; she inevitably felt a bit soft-hearted and let him be.

Seeing this new technique written by Xue Jingci, Shi Ting-shuang’s eyes lit up, and she immediately went to the prison, gathered that group of troublemakers, and let them practice this technique together.

Initially, the demon cultivators in the prison were dismissive of this new technique written by Xue Jingci, feeling it was even simpler than the previous one.

But once they truly started practicing, they found that every part was just right.

Most importantly, they finally felt how powerful Xue Jingci’s array was.

Someone was dishonest; after their aptitude improved, they wanted to run, but were forcibly trapped on the spot by the array and finally beaten up by the others.

By the time they were released, countless people thought they would curse Xue Jingci. Unexpectedly, these people seemed to have changed their characters, praising Xue Jingci as a rare genius in heaven and on earth.

Others thought they were being tortured and were speaking against their will, but soon discovered that these people’s aptitude had actually improved a lot.

Xue Jingci was unaware of the changes in the outside world. Every day he still cared about Pei Huang’s cultivation.

The martial arts competition was getting closer and closer. As a master, he naturally had to guide Pei Huang’s cultivation diligently.

It wasn’t until over half a month had passed and there was only one day left before the martial arts competition that Xue Jingci finally left the place of cultivation and set out on the road to Absolute Dust Valley with Pei Huang.

However, as soon as he stepped out of the door, he noticed that the entire Fire Demon territory had changed its attitude toward him.

Not only was their attitude exceptionally respectful, but they would even cast looks of envy and jealousy at Pei Huang from time to time, sighing and saying things like “it’s really a few lifetimes of good luck for the Demon Lord to have such a master.”

Xue Jingci looked around in a daze, finally meeting Pei Huang’s smiling gaze.

“I didn’t even know I was this good.”

Pei Huang shook his head helplessly: “That’s because you were only good to one person before, so others didn’t know.”

Xue Jingci was stunned and wanted to say more, but Pei Huang grabbed his hand.

The demon cultivators who originally wanted to chase after Xue Jingci to ask about cultivation problems saw this scene and stopped in their tracks.

The ears of the two finally had some peace.

Absolute Dust Valley was located in the center of the Demon Realm, within the territory of the Water Demons, and was the place with the most abundant demonic Qi.

Previously, it had always been controlled by the Water Demon Tribe, and demon cultivators of other tribes were never allowed to enter.

Seeing that the Water Demon Tribe was so generous, Shi Ting-shuang was worried that they had secretly colluded with the Sand Demons long ago, so she took the initiative to propose traveling separately from Pei Huang.

Those who went to watch the battle would go first to attract others’ attention.

As for Pei Huang, he and Xue Jingci changed their appearances and went a day later.

Near Absolute Dust Valley, there were more and more demon cultivators on the road, all of whom had come to participate in or watch the competition.

Pei Huang and Xue Jingci, wearing disguises, didn’t enter Absolute Dust Valley immediately, but found a small inn to stay temporarily.

According to the plan, Shi Ting-shuang arranged for other demon cultivators to disguise themselves as Pei Huang and enter Absolute Dust Valley first, so as to draw out those who wanted to act against him first.

As for Pei Huang, he would truly enter on the eve of the competition.

Once the two had rented a room, they went downstairs to find something to eat. Unexpectedly, when they went outside, they suddenly heard a sound of arguing.

“Master, clearly I’ve already beaten them all down; why can’t I participate in this competition!”

Hearing the word “competition,” Xue Jingci immediately slowed down, wanting to hear if there was any useful news.

He tugged at Pei Huang’s sleeve, signaling him to stand behind the corner with him.

The two actually started eavesdropping like that.

Pei Huang rubbed his nose, always feeling like he was the one who had corrupted Xue Jingci.

After all, before it was he who dragged Xue Jingci to hide under the bed of the ghost theater troupe like a thief.

Xue Jingci listened intently and soon figured out why these two were arguing.

These two were from the Thunder Demon territory. The youth was clearly a genius. Although young, he had already practiced the Sky Thunder Technique to the fifth level, and his talent could be called terrifying.

But his master felt he had no practical combat experience. In a competition, swords have no eyes, so he arbitrarily removed his name from the competition list.

The two were at a stalemate. The youth became angry and actually turned around and ran away.

The master shook his head, bent over to pick up the sword he had dropped on the ground, and didn’t immediately chase after him.

Xue Jingci didn’t know why, but he suddenly thought of Xie Zheng and Xiao Xun.

When he was in the main god’s space, he always failed the emotional interaction assessment, and the evaluation conclusion was emotional dullness.

To the point that back then, it also took him a long time to finally figure out why those two had parted ways with him.

He only felt that the technique was good for Xie Zheng, but never thought about whether his personality would accept it.

Xie Zheng was exiled for his remonstrance back then. In his heart, right and wrong could never be confused, even if he had to pay with his life for it.

But when he was unaware, Xue Jingci gave him a demon cultivator’s technique to practice.

That’s why he left without saying goodbye for the upper realm and refused to recognize him.

As for Xiao Xun, his childhood experiences made him develop a suspicious character, and he would subconsciously speculate about the people around him with malice.

Xue Jingci thought that moving the destiny was good for Xiao Xun, but didn’t know that this was exactly what he tabooed most.

These things took Xue Jingci a long time to figure out, yet he had never mentioned them to anyone.

Seeing that youth who had run away in anger now, he blinked and couldn’t help but walk over.

The youth was so angry that his eyes were red, and he was crouching on the ground, pulling at the pitiful weeds beside him.

Plants in the Demon Realm grew with difficulty. Xue Jingci reached out to save the grass, looked at the youth, and said slowly: “I heard what you and your master said just now.”

The youth’s face turned red and he stammered: “You, why were you eavesdropping on others?”

Xue Jingci didn’t answer but just said to himself: “I also took two disciples before; they were just like you, both angry with me.”

The youth was young after all. Hearing Xue Jingci say this, he immediately became curious and asked: “Why?”

Xue Jingci said: “Just like your master, I did things I thought were good for you, but never thought about whether you were willing to accept…”

Listening, the youth couldn’t help but say: “Did my master really think so? Does he also feel he did something wrong?”

Xue Jingci nodded: “Masters are also human; humans can make mistakes. It’s not like only disciples can do things wrong in this world.”

the child nodded thoughtfully, and subconsciously reached for the sword behind him, only to find it was gone.

He seemed to have suddenly found a reason for himself to turn back, and said to himself: “Yes, I’m going back to find my sword.”

The next second, he ran back to his master without hesitation.

Pei Huang had been standing quietly beside Xue Jingci, listening to him talk to the youth.

Many things in this world are actually just twists of fate; once people accidentally miss each other, they can never be reconciled as before.

Back then, Xue Jingci left three times without saying goodbye, and he had also thought of giving up. Thinking of it now, everything might be God’s will; now he can finally stay by this person’s side properly.

Xue Jingci watched the child from afar as he went all the way to find his sword, finally finding that the sword had already been picked up and wiped clean by his master.

The two said something unknown, suddenly burst into laughter, and actually reconciled completely.

Xue Jingci also didn’t know why, but just looking like this, he couldn’t look away. He didn’t know how long he watched, until his eyes were gently covered by a pair of hands covered in sword calluses.

A voice came from behind, low yet firm: “No need to envy others.”

His thoughts were suddenly pointed out, and for a moment Xue Jingci didn’t know what to say.

Looking at the reconciled master and disciple just now, he actually felt some bitterness in his heart.

After all, he had truly sacrificed a lot for Xie Zheng and Xiao Xun back then, but in the end he didn’t get a good result.

Pei Huang felt Xue Jingci’s eyelashes trembling in his palm, knowing his mind wasn’t as calm as it appeared on the surface.

Even though he had stabbed Xiao Xun with a sword without hesitation last time, it couldn’t erase everything between the two in the past.

Pei Huang slowly released the hand covering Xue Jingci’s eyes and then walked to his front, so that Xue Jingci’s vision could only see him.

Xue Jingci was about to say something when Pei Huang suddenly stuffed a pine nut candy into his mouth.

Pei Huang stared at him and smiled: “Because you have me.”