Chapter 98.2
Editor: Casey
Rong Jue knew that Shizun detested uncultured people the most, so he selected soldiers that were of decent character and appearance as quickly as possible.
They were dressed in all black armour with spears in hand. There was a cold and solemn look in their eyes as they stood guard, causing many Chi Yun Sect disciples to gather quietly and watch them.
Many of the disciples had never been out of the sect for training before. Everything they knew about the demon realm, they had heard from someone else.
Apparently, some demonic cultivators in the demon realm were once mortals, and some were born as demons. The few remainders were like Rong Jue, former immortal cultivators that degenerated into demonic practices.
Of course, he was the only one who immediately wiped the floor with the entire demon realm after becoming a demonic cultivator.
According to the rumours in the cultivation world, demonic cultivators were all unkempt, smelly, sketchy, and obviously evil characters.
But the demon army in front of them was clearly well-trained and resolute.
Because they knew that the demon realm and the cultivation world were going to ally soon, some of the younger disciples of Chi Yun Sect weren’t that wary of the demonic cultivators. One of them boldly stepped forward and quietly asked the most decent looking personal guard a question.
“Um…big brother, I heard that Rong-shixiong–no no, Demon Lord-daren just entered the demon realm a week ago. Why do you all seem so, so reverent towards him?”
What could possibly inspire such respect in that short amount of time?
Although Rong-shixiong was a very charming individual, it’s only been a week…
The demon soldier: “…Everyone who wasn’t reverent towards His Lordship is dead.”
That disciple: “……”
He froze for a long time before he laughed dryly, “Then, then it seems that Demon Lord-daren likes it when other people revere him. Many of us here at Chi Yun sect looked up to him when he was here.”
The demon soldier gave the silly disciple in front of him a sullen look. “You, admire His Lordship? If an ugly person dared to admire His Lordship, he would have been killed on the spot. So why are you still alive?”
That disciple: “????”
“A-are you saying I’m ugly..? Wait, why would you die if you’re ugly?”
The demon soldier: “His Lordship said it was because they had sinned too much and abused too many people in the mortal realm previously…”
“But when I look at the way His Lordship regards them, it’s clear that he dislikes their ugly looks.”
Saying that, he looked that disciple up and down and added, “Someone as ugly as you would die too if you were there.”
That disciple: “……”
That disciple: “Then, then how did Demon Lord-daren conquer the demon realm in just seven days? Isn’t that too short?”
The demon Soldier: “Fine, I’ll tell you because you aren’t as good-looking as me.”
In a monotone voice, he recounted the events like he was dead inside.
“His Lordship entered from the demon realm’s southern border and fought all the way to the north. He said that he was in a hurry, so he targeted the subordinates of the demon ruler zhenrens on the cultivation world’s wanted list first. He killed his way up the chain of command then.”
“In the end, we discovered that all of our tactics and strategies were useless before His Lordship. So the demon ruler would come out and surrender when he reached the last city they commanded.
If other people were using cheats, then Rong Jue was a complete monster.
He was already ridiculously OP, and the number of subordinates he had only continued to grow.
In the beginning, it was Rong Jue against the entire demon realm.
Halfway through, it was Rong Jue + half the demon realm’s cultivators versus the other half of the demon realm’s cultivators.
Demonic cultivators were not as blinded by ‘honour’ and ‘duty’ as their righteous counterparts. When they discovered Rong Jue’s awe-inspiring might, they immediately defected to his side.
“There were also people who tried to a.s.sa.s.sinate His Lordship, but they were all killed on the spot. Hundreds of thousands of our troops still remain in the demon realm, but none of those people were as good looking as us. That’s why we were allowed to follow His Lordship to the cultivation world.”
Saying that, he looked down at the disciple in front of him and let out a snort. “If our demon realm wanted to fight your cultivation world, we would take it down in a minute.”
That disciple’s pride was provoked. He asked in the heat of the moment, “Then why aren’t you guys fighting?”
The smugness on the demon soldier’s face immediately disappeared.
He silently clutched his weapon, as if he was recalling the demon lord who slaughtered all in his path. He cringed. “Nonsense. If we fight, His Lordship will kill us first.”
***
The demon realm and the cultivation world finally signed an alliance treaty.
Well, it was signed under the hidden threat that, “If you don’t, we’ll lay waste to the cultivation world.”
Some were afraid that the demonic cultivators would not keep their promises, but Rong Jue wasn’t too worried.
Those cultivators who had previously abused and killed the innocent were all dead.
The only ones left were those scared out of their wits and those who have never taken a human life before.
Who said demon cultivators have to kill in order to cultivate? If they were to cultivate like those in the cultivation world in the future, there was no need to resort to murder.
When signing the treaty which bound both factions, the demon lord ‘strongly insisted’ that an additional clause be added.
The cultivation world must allow teacher-disciple relationships like the demon realm.
And those couples must be able to get a golden cultivation partner seal from any major sect, just like other couples.
The cultivators who were worried sick about what excessive demands he might make: “……”
When combined with the fact that Rong Jue wanted to give the entire demon realm to Shi Qing earlier, it was evident what his goal was.
This demon lord was, in fact, lovesick.
Rong Jue didn’t care what other people thought of him. After finalizing the treaty, he practically skipped out. He tried his best to clean himself up and turn back to the disciple Shizun once liked.
Right now, he had only one goal.
He wanted to openly stick to Shizun’s side.
Although Rong Jue had been doing nothing but killing without rest for the past few days in the demon realm, his mind only grew clearer with each life he took.
It was crystal clear to him now. He did not want to leave Shizun, nor was he content to just be a beloved disciple to Shizun.
He wanted to be something more.
He wanted to be by Shizun’s side openly as his cultivation partner.
This might be easier said than done.
After all, he should be grateful that Shizun doesn’t hate his guts after what he had done.
However, perhaps due to his half-demon nature, greed and possessiveness were engrained deep into Rong Jue’s bones. He wanted to be by Shizun’s side and guard him for the rest of his life.
Rong Jue tried to cheer himself on!
Alright, he’s done the first step!
The next step was to offer the demon realm he had conquered to Shizun.
Rong Jue spent a lot of effort to finally arrange a meeting with Shi Qing.
The demon realm personal guards were running drills on Chi Yun Sect’s practice grounds.
Every one of them was giving 110% effort.
Their boss had left a deep psychological shadow on them when he conquered the demon realm. If they didn’t try hard enough, His Lordship might slice them up like vegetables.
As Shi Qing looked at their neat and tidy formations, admiration appeared in his eyes. “Rong Jue, did you teach them all this?”
Rong Jue was dressed in white and wore a jade crown on his head. It was like he had returned to being the graceful and elegant eldest disciple of Qing Jian Peak.
“I did, Shizun.”
The demon soldiers who were practising: ….No you f.u.c.king didn’t.
Rong Jue was practically racing against time back then. When would he have time to teach them anything? All of their skilled movements were because they practiced desperately to avoid being killed, okay?
But the refined supreme elder in blue believed Rong Jue.
The corners of his lips lifted up into a light smile as he tilted his head to look at him. “Indeed, you have always been a conscientious teacher to your junior martial siblings, even as a child. It was you who patiently instructed them while I was in seclusion.”
“At the time, almost the entirety of Chi Yun Sect was envious that such a good disciple like you belonged to my peak. Not only did you have great apt.i.tude, you were also of remarkable character. Back then, this master went into seclusion without any worries because I knew you would take care of Shang Lu and Lingyu in my place.”
At this point, there was a slight hint of nostalgia in the supreme elder’s eyes, followed by a sigh, “Now you have all grown up. Gone are the children who liked to follow me around.”
Rong Jue keenly heard the nostalgia in Shizun’s words. He immediately became emotional.
He turned and carefully grasped the hem of Shi Qing’s sleeve, just like he did as a child. “Shizun, Shang Lu, and Lingyu weren’t clingy to begin with. It’s natural for them to change as they grow older…”
The demon lord smoothly glossed over the fact that Shang Lu has always liked to go find Shizun whenever he was bored. Rong Jue made an effort to lower his head onto Shizun’s slender shoulder, saying in a soft voice.
“But this disciple is still like a child inside.”
This position wasn’t very comfortable for him, considering how tall he was.
But Rong Jue made it seem natural, like he really was just a little kid acting clingy and spoiled around his Shizun.
Shi Qing softened further. He half-heartedly shoved Rong Jue without actually using any force. Naturally, the other person didn’t move.
He laughed lightly, his tone likewise softening a fraction. “You’re a demon lord now. People will laugh at you if they see you like this.”
Rong Jue’s heart jumped with joy.
Just as he had thought!
The thing Shizun liked most about him was how sticky he was.
Now that he knew Shizun’s weakness, Rong Jue capitalized on it.
“Shizun, although I’m a demon lord, I’m still your disciple as well.”
Rong Jue pitifully nuzzled his face against Shizun’s shoulder. “There are many evil people in the demon realm. When I first went there, I was so scared that I couldn’t sleep. I always wished that Shizun could be by my side then.”
The demon soldiers who were practicing: “……”
So scared that you couldn’t sleep???
You didn’t even try to sleep, okay?!
You were obviously too busy killing people in the demon realm, ah!
The ones who should be so scared they couldn’t sleep are the people of the demon realm!!
However, no matter how much they wanted to scream inside, none of them dared to expose the demon lord’s lies to his Shizun.
Shi Qing was doubtful. “But they said that most of the forces followed you because you slaughtered so many in the demon realm.”
“Those are just baseless rumors.”
The demon lord leaned on his Shizun contentedly, entirely at ease. “This disciple has taken Shizun’s lessons deep to heart. How could I indiscriminately commit slaughter? The demon army follows me because they admire this disciple’s moral character. After all, none of those demon rulers were taught by Shizun like me.”
As he said that, he casually pulled a demon soldier over. “Shizun, if you don’t believe me, ask him. Everyone in the demon realm knows that this disciple came from Qing Jian Peak. They all consider me to be gentle and kind.
Rong Jue still couldn’t get over how Shi Qing seemed to like Shang Lu more. Even though he didn’t dare to remark on anything Shizun did these days, that didn’t stop him from secretly trying to fight for favour.
He asked this demon soldier, “Tell me, did you follow this lord because you admire my character?”
The demon soldier who was pulled over: “……”
Many images flashed through his mind at this moment.
Some of them being:
Rong Jue, sword in hand, emotionlessly tearing his way through the battlefield like a monster.
Rong Jue, who surrounded an entire city with demonic energy, announcing that the price of not surrendering would be their lives.
Rong Jue, whose face was flecked with blood and whose eyes were dimly glowing red.
With trembling legs, eyes, and lips, the demon soldier stuttered out, “T-this subordinate, this s-subordinate…”
Rong Jue carefully circled his arms around Shizun’s waist and looked over, saying in a gentle tone that made all the hair on the demon soldier’s body stand on end.
“Just tell the truth.”
This demon soldier was an honest man. With trembling lips, he stammered out with difficulty.
“Y-Your Lordship, do you really want to hear…” the truth?
The rest of his words got stuck in his throat when he saw Rong Jue casually shift his right hand, which was radiating demonic energy. The demon lord glared at him coldly with killing intent.”
“T-the, the, the, the….”
Shi Qing slightly wrinkled his eyebrows. “Why is he speaking like that?”
Rong Jue: “He was born with a stammer.”
The blue-robed supreme elder subconsciously glanced at the demon soldier.
The demon soldier nodded frantically, “Yes, yes! I stammer!!”
Rong Jue: “Since he stammers, Shizun, let’s ask someone else.”
With that, he looked at the other demon soldiers.
The demon soldiers didn’t even dare to breathe when the demon lord looked at them. Sweat rolled down all of their foreheads.
Rong Jue: “Forget it, all of you should say it together.”
“Tell Shizun why you follow this lord.”
The demon soldiers looked straight ahead with their chests out and posture straight. They were sweating profusely from fear, but their voices were resounding.
“We subordinates admire His Lordship’s character!”
“We follow him voluntarily!!”