GB Chapter 36

Unlike the ghosts, demons, and spirits who are inherently different, the righteous and demonic cultivators, while initially disagreeing, had not yet reached the point of irreconcilable conflict. The real escalation of contradictions occurred during the era when the Demon Lord unified the Demonic Path.

At that time, the Demon Lord believed that cultivators were immortals evolved from humans, and they were not the same species as the lowly and ignorant mortals. All mortals had to serve cultivators with all their possessions in exchange for survival, and if any mortal dared to disobey a cultivator’s order, their entire family would be exterminated, causing chaos throughout the world. The righteous cultivators, on the other hand, insisted that they were once mortals before their cultivation, and although they appeared weak and isolated compared to the prosperity of the Demonic Path, they still refused to abandon their parents and siblings and vowed to fight against the Demon Lord to the death.

Few people in this world dislike being above others. In that era, most cultivators supported the Demon Lord’s path. If the Xuanmen ancestors had not descended from the Immortal Realm to intervene, the Demonic Path might not have been defeated. However, even after the Demon Lord was eliminated, not all the cultivators who had followed him were demonic cultivators. Some cultivators, although practicing righteous techniques, still agreed with the Demon Lord’s views. These people could easily infiltrate the Heavenly Path Alliance by simply changing their sects. These remnants are still lurking in the shadows, and the Tian Shu Pavilion is one of their secret contact points.

Since its establishment, the Tian Shu Pavilion had been secretly promoting the strategy of cultivators unifying the world. On one hand, they sought allies within the Heavenly Path Alliance, and on the other hand, they supported Demonic Path sects to subdue demonic cultivators for their own use. Several large-scale conflicts in the Jianghu and court in the early years were all influenced by them. However, just when this plan called “Resurgence” was proceeding smoothly, He Huan suddenly emerged as a variable in the Demonic Path. The several sects that the Tian Shu Pavilion supported were all annihilated by He Huan. The Joy Palace that he led also showed signs of unifying the Demonic Path. With such a conflict of interests, He Huan naturally became a thorn in the side of the Tian Shu Pavilion.

Unfortunately, He Huan’s cultivation was exceptional, and his usual behavior appeared bizarre, but he was actually very shrewd. The Tian Shu Pavilion’s several secret schemes and even the organization of a Heavenly Path Alliance siege could not deal with him. In the end, they could only decide to target his disciples to eliminate him. Yu Qing was the Nascent Soul cultivator who volunteered to infiltrate the Joy Palace at that time.

Yu Qing was once a close attendant of the Demon Lord and the only person in the world who had seen the Demon Lord. After the Demon Lord’s death, he had gone into hiding, waiting for an opportunity to take revenge on the Xuanmen. He was undoubtedly a ruthless character who could survive the righteous purge. Upon hearing that He Huan’s disciple came from the place where the Demon Lord fell, he decided to infiltrate the Joy Palace. To do so, he even sacrificed his own body and possessed a child’s body, so even He Huan did not discover any flaws.

Hook Star protected Qian Ren very well. Although Yu Qing had been lurking by Qian Ren’s side since childhood, he had not found any opportunities to get close until Qian Ren finally reached the age to go out and train in the Jianghu. At that time, Qian Ren had not experienced any setbacks, and the missions he received were all high-difficulty tasks involving assassinating important figures. The Joy Palace provided him with several young disciples for his use, and Yu Qing, with his extraordinary talent, became one of them. Initially, he was just an intelligence officer, but he was slowly promoted to a personal guard. He was like a silent viper, patiently approaching his target step by step, waiting for the critical moment to deliver a fatal blow.

For Jianghu people, the friendship cultivated in life-and-death battles is the most trustworthy. As they went through more and more life-and-death experiences together, Qian Ren gradually became familiar with this companion who always smiled shyly.

In the memories of the young Qian Ren, his fellow disciple, Yu Qing, was always melancholic and silent. However, whenever they went on missions, he seemed like a different person. He couldn’t bear to see Qian Ren injured even slightly. Whenever there was an unexpected event, he would voluntarily cover the rear and would even be willing to take a knife for him. Qian Ren believed that this was the best kind of friendship in the world, and he trusted Yu Qing exceptionally. So, on the day of his eighteenth birthday, when Yu Qing invited him to a valley outside the palace, he went without hesitation. What he didn’t expect was that the person who could take a knife for him would actually betray him.

Yu Qing had been lurking in the Joy Palace for ten years. Although such a time was not considered long in the lives of cultivators, it was already half of Qian Ren’s life at that time. Before that day, the young Qian Ren was still full of hope for the world. He believed he was mature enough to distinguish between good and evil, believed he had the ability to deal with all the conspiracies and schemes in the Jianghu, and believed that after today, he could make a name for himself in the Jianghu.

As a result, the first step of his young and brilliant dream was awakened by fate, and he finally opened his eyes to see this less-than-beautiful world. Only what one has personally experienced can be called experience. No one is invincible from the beginning. Only he knew how much Qian Ren had experienced to grow into the formidable Demon Cult Protector who made all righteous sects in the Jianghu helpless.

At that time, he saw layers of ambush in the valley. Even though he fought desperately, he was still no match for the Nascent Soul cultivator and was locked in a dungeon. And the person he once thought was a life-and-death friend was just holding his face with fervor and madness. His eyes still held the former longing and love, but the person he was looking at was not him. Yu Qing said, “My Lord, you’ve finally returned.”

At that time, Qian Ren didn’t understand that a person doesn’t need any reason to hurt another person. He would still angrily question why the other person had betrayed him, and the result was an answer that made him even more uncomfortable.

“Mortals are foolish and ignorant, yet they think they know everything. Such lowly creatures are naturally eliminated by the Heavenly Path. What Xuanmen orthodoxy and Heavenly Path Alliance? Our Tian Shu Pavilion is the true executor of the Heavenly Path, and you are the savior, the Demon Lord, who will lead us to eliminate these traitors.”

He Huan had concealed Qian Ren’s origins very well. But as he grew older, the young man’s appearance became increasingly similar to that of the former Demon Lord. Upon discovering the demonic energy within Qian Ren’s body, Yu Qing had already recognized him as the reborn Demon Lord.

He had been deeply attracted to the Demon Lord since he was just a young Taoist priest, and he had even betrayed his own sect to follow that aloof man. Now that he finally saw the face he had been longing for day and night, he only lovingly stroked the young man’s face. His words were full of endless affection, “I will never forget such pure demonic energy. My Lord, didn’t you say you would accompany me? Will you always stay by my side, okay?”

Those were the words that Qian Ren had once said to Yu Qing before a mission. Now, hearing them, he only felt nauseous. It turned out that this person’s care and love had never been for him, and he had actually trusted such false affection, putting himself in such a miserable situation. He was truly extremely foolish.

“My Lord, this is the blood of the cultivator you loved the most in the past. Don’t you want to drink it?”

Although the Demon Lord hated humans and did not get close to anyone, he was extremely fond of drinking human blood, especially the blood of righteous cultivators filled with righteousness. In the past, Yu Qing had successfully stayed by the Demon Lord’s side with this. Now, he was just trying to please the man he admired, just like in the past. Facing such terrifying behavior, even Qian Ren, who was born a demonic cultivator, was shocked.

This was the first time in the young man’s life that he understood what regret was. He thought he had seen through the evils of the world, but now he knew that was only a fraction of it. There were many more terrifying demons hidden in the depths of people’s hearts. Demonic cultivators were easy to recognize, but the demons within one’s heart were difficult to distinguish.

However, even though his heart was full of disgust, he was still tightly bound by chains and could not move at all. He could only watch as Yu Qing cut his wrist and brought the blood to his lips. Both the falsely gentle words and the fishy smell of the human blood made him sick. The only thing he could do was to turn his head away and say, “Don’t touch me, it’s disgusting.”

“Yes, that’s the expression. You despise everything. Someone as noble as you would never develop feelings for anyone. That He Huan actually dared to have you call him master. Is he even worthy?”

Yu Qing’s sanity had been abnormal since the Demon Lord’s fall. Now, he was even more excited by Qian Ren’s cold treatment. He wanted that face to show an even colder expression. That Demon Lord would never smile at anyone, and he would never want to be companions with humans. In that person’s world, there was nothing worthy of attention besides killing. He had to make the Lord regain his former self.

That’s right. The first thing to do was to eliminate those who were interfering with the Lord: He Huan, Hook Star, and all the others who had seen the young man. Besides him, no one in this world was qualified to look directly at this noble man.

Finally finding the shadow of the former Demon Lord in Qian Ren’s disgusted eyes, he smiled silently. Although he was a well-known righteous cultivator, he looked like a ghost in the young man’s eyes. “Don’t worry, we will eliminate He Huan, who has tarnished your glory. If it’s his blood, perhaps you will want to drink it.”

That was the most helpless moment in Qian Ren’s life. The person who betrayed him was right in front of him, claiming to harm his master, whom he regarded as his father. Yet, he could do nothing but grit his teeth. He couldn’t save himself, he couldn’t kill his enemy, and he could only watch as the other person used him as bait to lure out his master. In life, one inevitably makes mistakes, but not all mistakes can be redeemed. Just trusting the wrong person would require an unimaginable price.

It was only then that he understood how dangerous it was to trust a person. Time, experience, and status were not enough to see through another person. How could one ever determine whether someone was trustworthy? Even now, Qian Ren still had not found the answer.

Qian Ren was ultimately lucky. He had a master that the whole world feared, and that master had never thought of giving up on him. At the moment of the young man’s greatest despair, the top of the dungeon suddenly shattered. Along with the pouring sunlight, a handsome man in bloodstained clothes slowly landed in front of him. His face still held his usual reassuring smile, but his eyes were extremely cold. He said, “May I ask this piece of trash, what do you think you are doing to my disciple?”

His master’s tall figure blocked all the malice. His eyes only saw the man’s fluttering blood-colored robe and the dazzling yet warm light. At that moment, Bi Qianren finally ushered in his true coming-of-age ceremony. He vowed that in the future, he would become that kind of man, one who could shoulder everything like a mountain, one who could make everyone feel safe and reliable simply by appearing, and one who could shield those he cherished from the storms of the world. He never wanted to be the one who needed saving again.

The author has something to say:

Yu Qing: My male god is aloof, and I will not allow anyone to destroy his image. All who approach him must die!

Zhuge Qingtian: Master is awesome~ I’ll shower you with flowers~ Will you be my wife?

Qian Ren (with a pained expression): Compared to this, my foolish disciple is really strangely adorable.