GB Chapter 57

Lüling had been guarding the edge of the sea for decades, his observations about evil ghosts were naturally accurate. As expected, it wasn’t long before mournful wails echoed from the island. Upon hearing the sound, Zhuge Qingtian immediately released his Ghost Domain to prepare for battle. Qianren was using Underworld Soil to create a body and couldn’t be disturbed, Lüling was as fast as lightning but his destructive power was honestly lacking, so now only he could face the enemy, and couldn’t afford any laxity.

However, perhaps due to never having it easy from Demon Blood, Zhuge Qingtian guarded the forest for a day. Although the wails were close, they never approached the blood pool, which relieved him somewhat.

Creating a person with earth was easier said than done. When a cultivator reached the Nascent Soul stage, even if their body died, as long as the Nascent Soul remained, they could seize a new body and be reborn. Even if their cultivation wasn’t sufficient, they could use rare and precious resources to recreate their body. However, Zhuge Qingtian’s problem lay in his identity as a Ghost God. Ghost Gods were not tolerated by heaven and earth, and ordinary flesh could not withstand his baleful aura. Only Underworld Soil, which could resist even demonic energy, could be tried.

The amount of Underworld Soil the Demon Lord used to make clay figures wasn’t that much, and the excess couldn’t be wasted. Therefore, Qianren was extremely careful with every movement when creating the figure. However, no matter how similar he made it, it was never as lifelike as the puppets created by the Demon Lord. He naturally didn’t want Zhuge Qingtian to use such a fragile body, and he couldn’t help but fall into distress.

Just as he was pondering without success, Zhuge Qingtian also hesitantly approached him. His hesitant expression immediately caught Qianren’s attention. Knowing that the man must have something to say, he asked, “Why the hemming and hawing? It doesn’t suit you.”

Zhuge Qingtian had just made a big discovery, but for a moment he didn’t know how to open his mouth. After much hesitation, he tentatively asked, “Um, what do you think of the Demon Lord?”

“I am a Demonic cultivator, would I oppose him?”

Unexpectedly, he would ask such a question suddenly. Qianren was stunned for a moment before giving a matter-of-course answer. However, after glancing at the Demon Lord’s corpse beside him, with his eyes closed, he pondered for a moment and gave a more detailed answer,

“Actually, to be honest, the Demon Lord wasn’t a complete failure back then. At least, the point that cultivators absolutely would not accept being ruled by mortals is something that both the righteous and demonic paths absolutely support. The Heavenly Dao Alliance still keeps the Demonic Cult around for the sake of guarding against the court. Once the court wants to interfere with the Jianghu forces, these old Taoists would most likely turn a deaf ear and let Demonic Cultivators run amok in the mortal world. Only the Heavenly Dao Alliance can protect mortals from Demonic cultivators, so the court cannot ignore the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s wishes when making any decisions. The righteous path has been guarding the human realm, but they have never forgotten to guard against them. After so many years, the world hasn’t really changed much.”

“I understand, mortals can be really annoying when they cause trouble.”

Lowering his eyes in agreement with his statement, Zhuge Qingtian, who was once trapped in the memories of Zhu Jiaji, was very clear about the extent of the malice that mortals could generate when they became foolish. In fact, he thought that if the former Zhuge Qingtian had obtained such powerful strength as the Demon Lord, he might have done the same thing. After all, demons are always born from people.

Back then, the Demon Lord’s proposed approach was to divide mortals and cultivators into two races. Mortals would completely obey the rule of cultivators. To this end, he destroyed the Xi Shang dynasty. Any royal nobles who refused to submit were all killed, and those who submitted also signed a blood contract to be slaves for eternity.

Although his initial methods were intense, not many cultivators objected, after all, they couldn’t be bothered with the matters of the court. The real reason that an opposition force was formed was due to an order issued by the Demon Lord after unifying the world. He demanded that all cultivators and mortals draw a clear line. Once someone embarked on the path of cultivation, they would have no family and no friends. Cultivators could only befriend other cultivators, and treat mortals as inferior beings, like pigs and dogs.

Even after hundreds of years, descendants still couldn’t understand why the Demon Lord would issue such a crazy order that forced righteous cultivators to resist to the death. Even the Demonic Cult elders thought that it was completely unnecessary to go to such lengths.

Qianren also didn’t understand in the past, until he walked in the Jianghu with Demon Blood and experienced the days of being avoided by everyone, he suddenly understood some of the Demon Lord’s feelings back then.

Looking at that face that was somewhat similar to his own, he said calmly, “Throughout history, many high-ranking figures have had articles and books praising their achievements passed down through the world. Only the Demon Lord, though he ruled all the cultivators in the world, had no record of his merits or demerits. The elders say that was because the Demon Lord didn’t allow anyone to praise him. I think it wasn’t because of arrogance, but because the Demon Lord hated all humans, including himself who was born as a human.”

He was a demon who hated humanity from the bottom of his heart. He had no mercy for those who resisted him, and even drank human blood at all times just to draw a line between himself and this race. Beings of the same kind do not devour each other, only beasts can be slaughtered in large quantities, and humans take pleasure in killing animals using various refined methods. Therefore, the Demon Lord who could coldly and indifferently do the same to humans was what made the world afraid.

That man didn’t choose to stir up a bloodbath because he found it interesting. He simply believed from the bottom of his heart that humans shouldn’t exist, and that included himself. Qianren even had a premonition that his creation of Underworld Soil might have been with the intention of destroying the current human race and creating a new race to take over the world. And this was what heaven didn’t allow, and it was why the immortals were sent to stop him.

“To ensure that the Jianghu forces held absolute superiority in the world, the Heavenly Dao Alliance’s approach was to turn the emperor into a powerful cultivator as well. In the past, the Demon Lord’s method was conquest and destruction, while the Heavenly Dao Alliance chose assimilation and indoctrination. Although the end goal was almost the same, the different processes led to completely different outcomes, that’s all.”

Lightly stating the reality that the conflicts in the Jianghu had still not stopped, Qianren didn’t know what kind of world it was that made the Demon Lord vow to become a demon. He only sighed softly at that person’s remains,

“I don’t agree with the Demon Lord’s approach, not because of those boring reasons like cruelty. It’s just that, cultivators are also humans. Even if mortals are completely placed under the rule of cultivators, the world’s conflicts wouldn’t stop. As long as there are desires, people will endlessly fight. Having said that, perhaps when he named me, he already understood.”

Humans are creatures that need responses. A person who is not loved by the world and always lives in malice will eventually repay the world with double the malice. Every cultivator has the feeling of hating the world. The only thing that can make them overcome this inner demon is a love that is stronger than hate. This love can be for people, for things, for truth, etc. The most important thing is to be able to encounter it at the right time. Too early won’t work, too late won’t work either.

Finally, taking out a lifelike clay figure from his sleeve, Zhuge Qingtian lowered his head and said softly, “In the end, the Demon Lord who hated humans so much, deeply loved you as a human.”

Not noticing the abnormality in his expression, Qianren simply sat side-by-side with this Demon Lord who had once caused the entire human realm to fear. Even though he knew this person was no longer here, he still had the illusion that he was talking with his father. In the end, he just smiled faintly, “Actually, it’s better that he’s gone. Like this, he looks like a peaceful father. I don’t need to worry about any ideological conflicts or argue with him about the path of life. Just sitting together is enough.”

Perhaps having inherited the Demon Lord’s indifference to the world, Qianren rarely smiled. This was the second time Zhuge Qingtian had seen him smile, yet just seeing it once again caused his heart to flutter. He then reached out and held the man’s hand, saying seriously, “Um, if I said your dad is still around, but he’s become a bit different from the legends…”

The moment he heard these words, countless possibilities flashed through Qianren’s mind. He knew Zhuge Qingtian wouldn’t joke with him about something like this. He was silent for a long time while facing his father’s face, and finally hesitantly asked, “How different?”

“Like Lüling?”

“You’ve successfully scared me.”

Qianren had already made various mental preparations, even having the confidence to calmly deal with the dilemma of his own father being resurrected and his master being at odds with him. The only thing he hadn’t expected was this possibility. Recalling Lüling’s image of being a busybody, freely striking up conversations with anyone he met, he really couldn’t associate it with the Demon Lord in his memory. Although there was indeed a saying in medical books that pregnancy made one silly for three years, but this was his dad!

The reason Zhuge Qingtian chose to tell Qianren was naturally because he had conclusive evidence. At this time, he only resentfully handed over the clay figure in his hand, “I don’t want to believe it either, but, he made this.”

Lüling’s speed of action was far faster than he had imagined. As soon as he saw the clay figure, Zhuge Qingtian realized that apart from the fact that the material wasn’t Underworld Soil, the clay figure made by Lüling was extremely similar to the one in Qianren’s hand, both in terms of facial features and clothing. A spirit like him couldn’t have specially learned how to make clay figures, being able to make them so well based on instinct could only mean he had made them countless times, and was already skilled at it.

“Let me process this.”

Seeing the clay figure, Qianren knew it couldn’t be a coincidence. Thinking about Lüling, and then looking at his birth father’s corpse beside him, who still had a faint hint of majesty even in death, it was as if a high mountain was collapsing in front of him. In the end, he could only quietly support his forehead and sigh in his heart,

The upright and forthright great senior brother of the Xuan Sect, who roamed the world with his sword, became the dissipated and hated first demonic cultivator He Huan as soon as he raised him; the composed and elegant leader of the Heavenly Book Pavilion, Zhao Huai’an, had become the frivolous and wanton Zhuge Qingtian when he met him; and now it was even more terrifying, even the world-shaking Demon Lord could become an enthusiastic spirit like Lüling around him…

Where exactly was his way of traveling in the Jianghu wrong? Was it his destiny to be surrounded by a group of abnormal people?

Although Zhuge Qingtian couldn’t hear the tangle of emotions in Qianren’s heart, he could understand it very well. After all, he had also been greatly shocked when he first discovered this fact. But thinking about how he had to place a father figure on the chair during the wedding ceremony, for the sake of his own lifelong wish of marrying his master, he still encouragingly patted Qianren on the shoulder, and only said, “A son doesn’t dislike his father for being silly, keep going, you can do it.”