Chapter 95
Anonymous reader, thank you for the Ko-fi!
Editor: Sahloknir
The person in front of Rong Jue had the same face as Shi Qing, but his aura was very different from the Shizun he knew.
Although Supreme Elder Shi Qing of Qing Jian Peak would occasionally show a gentle smile, his expression was never genuine. For Rong Jue specifically, he had nothing but scorn. It was like the corners of his lips were unable to lift even the slightest fraction.
The person in front of the demon lord now had a gentle look in his clear eyes.
He was definitely already a young man, but his body still radiated the characteristic innocence and purity of a teenager.
While shielding the unconscious little Rong Jue on the ground from the rain with his umbrella, the young man tended to the child’s wounds. He didn’t get up immediately after, regarding the child on the ground with pity instead.
“What a poor child. He’s already gone through so much at such a young age.”
Rong Jue heard him sigh softly. He watched as the young man undid his cloak with one hand and gently covered his younger self with it.
His empathetic expression made that already pretty face look more and more gentle.
His soft, beautiful eyes were dark and bright, as if they were glittering with drops of morning dew.
He was a different person from Qing Jian Peak’s Supreme Elder Shi Qing.
While Rong Jue narrowed his eyes at Shi Qing with suspicion, a third person spoke.
“Qing-er, don’t do anything superfluous.”
The sudden appearance of this voice made the demon lord’s body reflexively tense up. He turned around in a defensive stance.
Rong Jue saw a man that embodied the phrase “as cold as ice”. Dressed in dark robes and wearing a jade crown, this person’s features were similar to Shi Qing’s, but a more mature and indifferent variant.
Only when his eyes fell on Shi Qing was some of the indifference replaced with warmth.
Although Rong Jue had never seen this person before, he could tell from his resemblance to Shi Qing, and the high-level aura he exuded that this was Shi Qing’s father.
The powerful cultivator who had ascended shortly after Rong Jue’s arrival at Qing Jian Peak.
No wonder this Shi Qing was very different from the one from twenty years later.
After all, twenty years ago, Shi Qing had not yet a.s.sumed the position of Supreme Elder. He was only a young master who was very well protected by his father.
As Supreme Elder Shi looked at the child on the ground, his expression cooled again. A longsword pointed directly at the unconscious little Rong Jue.
At his level of cultivation, the sword energy he wielded would require even fellow cultivators to expend their spiritual energy to resist, let alone a mortal child.
With one stroke of his sword, little Rong Jue would definitely die.
Even though he knew that this had already happened, the demon lord couldn’t help stepping forward to block the sword energy after seeing ‘himself’ being put in mortal peril.
But there was another figure who was quicker than him, who sent his own spiritual energy to wrap protectively around little Rong Jue.
“Father!”
Rong Jue’s pupils shrank as he looked in front of him.
The Shi Qing of twenty years ago had dropped his bamboo umbrella to hold the tiny child in his arms protectively. Fully exposed to the rain, his expression was filled with pleading.
“He doesn’t know anything. He’s just a child.”
“A child?”
Supreme Elder Shi remained cold. “Qing-er, you saw it with your own eyes. This ‘child’ just murdered his parents and relatives. Half demons are naturally uncontrollable, not to mention that I deduced that he will sit on the demon lord’s throne and kill you with his own hands in the future.”
“Father will have to ascend in less than ten years. How can I leave you without worrying if I don’t get rid of him now?”
The Shi Qing of twenty years ago hesitated, but his thin, white fingers only hugged the child in his arms tighter. “The demons who controlled him were at fault, not him. Besides, it is not impossible to change visions of the futurek2026;”
“If I kill him, you will definitely live out your life in peace. If I don’t, you will only have a slim chance of survival.” Supreme Elder Shi was clearly unmoved as he continued, “He is a half demon, innately able to cultivate faster than others. His demonic nature will consume him once he reaches the Void Refining stage. Father will not be around then, so how will you control him?”
As the heavy downpour continued, Shi Qing began to look very wretched and pale. He still refused to let go of the child firmly clasped in his arms.
Despite his wretched state, his voice was strong and clear in the rain.
“Father, you have taught me since I was a child to have compa.s.sion for the young and the weak—that to be a cultivator means to go against the heavens for my life!”
“This child was born to a wealthy household with loving parents. Overnight, he was reduced to this pitiable state. It doesn’t sit right with me to kill him merely because of a prediction. I’m afraid that if we do, I will be plagued by internal demons born from guilt for the rest of my life.”
A cultivator was as good as dead once they had an internal demon.
After Shi Qing’s words, cracks began forming in Supreme Elder Shi’s murderous resolve for the first time.
As father and son reached a standstill, the child being held by Shi Qing struggled to open his eyes.
Despite his very young age, he could vaguely understand what had happened. He cried out at the top of his voice before he could even see the situation clearly.
“Father! Mother!! Mother!”
Before he could let out even a few sobs, he felt himself being embraced. With inexperienced motions, this person carefully patted him on the back a few times.
The demon lord stood there and watched as Shi Qing helplessly hugged his younger self and coaxed the boy quietly, “Be good, don’t cry anymore.”
But little Rong Jue’s tears refused to stop. He kept crying while looking around, trying to find traces of his parents in the ruins.
Supreme Elder Shi, who had been a silent observer, suddenly spoke, “Although it was not his intention, it is an indisputable fact that those demons used his demonic energy to kill his loved ones.”
“After this bloodshed and his demonic energy awakening, he is no longer an innocent child. He saw all of his loved ones die before his eyes. Even if I don’t kill him, he will live the rest of his life in agony, guilt-ridden.”
Shi Qing continued comforting the crying child, but his gaze dropped to the floor, as if he were deep in thought.
After an unknown amount of time, he said, “Then let’s erase his memory.”
In the heavy rain, the handsome young master looked at his father with determination, “Father, please erase his memory.”
“With your current cultivation level, unless this child can reach the point of imminent ascension, it would be absolutely impossible for him to undo the mental restriction. If you erase his memory, he will not know about his demonic energy, so naturally he cannot use it again.”
“This is the mortal realm. As long as he doesn’t set foot on the path of cultivation or enter the demon realm, he can only be a mortal in this life.”
A sh.e.l.l shocked demon lord stood in the pouring rain.
Although he lost his memories, the Rong family’s annihilation definitely created many ripples. Almost the entire city was talking about it after he woke up.
And it was from the ‘Rong’ character engraved on the bangle on his wrist and his high quality clothing that Rong Jue deduced that he was a member of the Rong family. When he went back to check more thoroughly as an adult, he discovered he was this family’s young master.
Naturally, none of the cityfolk knew the truth behind Rong family’s annihilation. Afterwards, when Rong Jue took the position of demon lord, he found those demons who had slaughtered his family and learned what really happened.
Those demons really did use his body to kill his parents and loved ones. However, they didn’t antic.i.p.ate Rong Jue to be a rare half-demon. His demonic energy being controlled instead of awakened caused most of the demons’ forces to be destroyed in the backlash.
Out of self-preservation, the remaining demons hurriedly evacuated the area. Their mission this time had already been accomplished anyway.
That was the reason Rong Jue survived.
Of course Rong Jue was tormented by the fact that his relatives died because of him, but perhaps his lack of memories regarding them prevented him from having a complete breakdown. Instead, he took out his hatred on the demons responsible.
But never did it occur to him that those lost memories were not merely a cruel twist of fate.
Rather, his amnesia was due to the compa.s.sion of a man.
For the next few moments, the demon lord was frozen.
He watched as Shi Qing finally persuaded his father.
He watched as that Supreme Elder Shi erased his memories.
He also watched as Shi Qing carefully set him down in a clearing amongst the ruins at his father’s repeated insistence.
Supreme Elder Shi said, “Since you have decided to let him be a mortal, don’t get too involved with him in the future. Return with me to cultivate.”
Even when his father urged him, Shi Qing still insisted on secretly guiding a pa.s.serby to discover Rong Jue.
He waited until Rong Jue was placed in that broken temple before he left with his father.
The rain continued to pour. His younger self had already been delivered to safety, but the demon lord remained in the rain.
The gentle voice of the Mirror Spirit rang out again, “Child, I sense you are sorrowful. Why is that?”
The demon lord seemed to snap out of his daze. He suddenly looked up. “Is there anything else besides this?”
The Mirror Spirit paused.
Then it said, “Naturally, you can take a look if you like.”
The scene in the Mirror Spirit changed again.
Rong Jue was now eight years old. He had just discovered that he could draw energy into his body, marking the start of his journey to find the immortals spoken of in legends.
He encountered a fierce tiger and nearly got eaten.
Sensing a change in the spiritual energy he left in that child, Shi Qing rushed to his location to help him chase away the fierce tiger.
When Rong Jue fell off a cliff, Shi Qing used vines to grab him. He hid himself nearby, watching the child clench his teeth and climb back up.
When Rong Jue came across a poisonous snake and was dying from its bite, Shi Qing got the herbs to make an antidote and placed them by his side.
……
The list went on. Who would’ve thought that every time Rong Jue escaped danger by the skin of his teeth in his search for immortal sects, there was actually someone watching over him.
Rong Jue used to think that his luck was just that good, that he was able to turn any situation around no matter what.
But only now did he realise who was responsible for that good fortune.
All the way until he reached the number one immortal sect, Chi Yun Sect.
At the foot of the mountain, Rong Jue’s eyes were full of hope.
At the peak of Qing Jian Peak, Supreme Elder Shi’s eyes were full of murderous intent.
“He actually found his way into the cultivation world. Qing-er, you are soft-hearted and won’t let me kill him, fine. I won’t kill him, I’ll just cripple his spiritual root.”
Shi Qing was still trying to stop him, “He’s only eight years old. How could he possibly withstand the pain of having his spiritual root crippled?”
“But he has already entered the sect. With his apt.i.tude, his cultivation will certainly go up by leaps and bounds. The moment he reaches the Void Refining stage will be the time of your death.”
Supreme Elder Shi’s expression was cold. “My ascension is a breath away. How can I leave such a scourge behind?”
Seeing that his father was really going out with his sword, the blue-robed young master blurted out anxiously, “Then let him become my disciple!”
Supreme Elder Shi stopped in his tracks.
He turned to look at his son.
Shi Qing pleaded, “Let him become my disciple. Father, you know that my apt.i.tude is below average. With a Shizun like me, his cultivation gains will be subpar as well. I will keep an eye on him and make sure he remains an ordinary cultivator.”
Supreme Elder Shi looked askance. “And if he reaches the Void Refining stage? Qing-er, this is not just about you. If he becomes a demon lord, within a hundred years, Chi Yun Sect and even the entire cultivation world will be destroyed by him.”
“A single life in exchange for the entire cultivation world is worth it.”
Shi Qing’s face was ashen, but he still grit his teeth and said, “Then I will cripple his cultivation with my own hands.”
“Once he reaches the Void Refining stage, I will personally destroy his spiritual root, so that he can only be a mortal.”
—’personally destroy his spiritual root.’
In the demon lord’s mind, only those words remained.
Why did his Shizun s.n.a.t.c.h him away from the other supreme elders, but then not teach him properly?
Why, once he had made progress in his cultivation, did his Shizun seem displeased and rebuke him?
Why did Shizun secretly plot against him and destroy his spiritual root?
And why did he take care of him behind his back while refusing to tell him the reason for this charade?
It was all because…Shizun was afraid of him recovering his memories and suffering once he discovered that he’d murdered his relatives with his own hands…
Rong Jue understood everything now.
As these images flashed past one by one, the demon lord remained upright, but he felt like the sky was falling.
He lowered his head to stare blankly at these hands of his.
They were long, white, and calloused.
These were the hands that had hoisted his Shizun into the room.
The same hands that had forced the Charm Pill into Shizun’s mouth, making it so that he could never leave the company of men.
Rong Jue’s vision began to darken. He could barely stand.
What had he done?
What had he done to the Shizun who did so much for his sake?
—Bang!
The demon lord bowed his head in dismay and knelt heavily on the ground, unable to get up for a long time.
Outside, Shi Qing withdrew his hand from the Mirror Spirit.
Shi Qing: [That should be enough.]
The System had been reduced to an screaming chicken running around with its head cut off: [Rong Jue’s animosity value: 400/100]
Rong Jue’s animosity value: [200/100]
Rong Jue’s animosity value: [0/100]
The System had gone mad.
Absolutely, completely mad.
Sahl: Screaming chicken system. ?
Rain: Finally, we have made it through the iffy consent chapters! Like Shi Qing said earlier, nothing but sweetness remains.