Chapter 54

Translator: Rosana

Editor: PlayerProphet

Bai Yang hurried to the door to the Human Realm. He’d already found out that the pathway would open that night, so he wasn’t surprised to see it open when he arrived.

He walked straight for it, passing through the passageway and traveling to the Human Realm.

Since it was night in the Demon Realm, it was also night in the Human Realm.

But the Demon Realm’s night was oppressively dark, while the Human Realm’s night was filled with stars and the moon. It was refreshing.

Bai Yang took a deep breath.

The air in the Human Realm was fresh. When Bai Yang breathed it in, his mind felt more awake.

It’s fine, I’ll forget about what happened a minute ago.

Bai Yang felt like a tourist who left his hometown to travel elsewhere. Even if he experienced unpleasant things, he’d adjust as soon as he took in the beautiful and unfamiliar scenery.

Demons recovered quickly, but Bai Yang had expended a lot of energy trying to suppress the Demon King’s magic. He was exhausted.

He went to the stronghold from before and found an empty room to lay down in. No matter how he tossed and turned, Bai Yang couldn’t fall asleep, probably because he was still high strung.

A faint scent drifted into the room. Bai Yang, smelling the scent, furrowed his brows and relaxed into peaceful dreams.

A tall, slender figure appeared in the dark room.

The figure walked to the side of the bed, staring at the person resting there. He reached his hand out after a while and grasped Bai Yang’s wrist, easing magic in to repair the damaged meridians.

Bai Yang, still not recovered, slept like a dead pig.

After repairing the damage, the Demon King let go of his wrist and gently covered Bai Yang with the quilt that had been kicked off to the side. He then sat on the edge of the bed, unmoving.

He didn’t know what Xie Ze Tian was going to do in the Human Realm, so he followed after him to bring him back. However, with more thought, he realized that Xie Ze Tian would react poorly, and the Demon King still wasn’t prepared to face his victim.

When he thought about how Xie Ze Tian had looked…

The Demon King coughed, his face turning pink.

Forget it, let’s not meet up yet. I’ll wait until I’ve dealt with things in the Demon Realm.

He didn’t know how long had passed, but the sky outside lit up and Xie Ze Tian’s eyelashes began to flutter. He would probably wake up soon.

A voice suddenly came from outside. “Someone opened this door.”

“This is Lord Xie’s room!”

“Perhaps Lord Xie is here?”

“Let’s go in and find out.”

“We should knock first.”

The voices got closer and closer until someone called gently from outside, “Excuse me, has Lord Xie returned?”

The person on the bed’s eyes flew open.

The person sitting on the edge of the bed vanished in the time it took those eyes to open.

Bai Yang was woken up by the people outside. He thought he’d sleep badly, so he was surprised he’d slept so well.

Am I really so pig-headed? After what happened last night, I was able to sleep like a rock, no problem?

Bai Yang sat on the bed and engaged in some self-reflection.

Someone knocked on the door again. “Is Lord Xie inside? Can we come in?”

Bai Yang patted his face with his hands before pushing off his quilt and assuming a posture befitting of a Higher Demon. “Come in.”

It was quiet for a moment and someone with a trembling voice, asked: “When did Lord Xie come back?”

“Last night,” Bai Yang answered. “Bring me a bowl of water.”

“Yes!” The people outside followed orders and returned quickly with a towel and hot water.

After washing up and eating breakfast, he asked someone to bring him some Spirit Stones and swaggered out. From beginning to end, he didn’t explain why he appeared or left just as suddenly. Besides, with his status in leadership, he didn’t need to offer an explanation, and the people around him didn’t dare to ask.

“Xiao Ling, tell me where the Demonic Dragon is,” Bai Yang asked.

“The book says that the Demon Dragon is in Ascended Dragon Lake,” Xiao Ling replied.

In the book, the Demonic Dragon was devouring the surrounding beasts to cultivate itself, disrupting the natural order. Later, the Male Lead’s beau, Feng Ming, had her cultivation wasted. The Male Lead had a high cultivation by then and took her to the Dragon Spirit Domain to find blood lingzhi mushrooms for her, and passed the Ascended Dragon Lake on the way.

The author’s goal was to make the Male Lead and Feng Ming enter the secret Dragon Spirit Domain to cultivate feelings for each other and find the blood lingzhi mushrooms. The Demonic Dragon only had a few lines of description, saying that it was extremely strong and escaped after injuring the Male Lead. It was described in the book that while the Demonic Dragon’s beast core was good for increasing cultivation, it was only good for novice cultivators. Feng Ming’s cultivation was high, so only the blood lingzhi mushroom could recover it. Thus, the Male Lead didn’t bother going after the dragon.

The Demonic Dragon was never mentioned again.

Since the Male Lead had yet to reach the Golden Core Stage, the Demonic Dragon’s beast core was perfect for him.

He wouldn’t dare touch the Male Lead’s blood lingzhi mushrooms or his other precious treasures, but the Demonic Dragon’s beast core was fair game.

Bai Yang had the idea early in his year-long shackling to the Demon King’s side, but he had been unable to leave the Demon Realm. With a reason to leave, of course he’d head straight for the beast core.

With Xiao Ling’s guidance, it was easy to get to the Ascended Dragon Lake.

The Ascended Dragon Lake was between two mountains. The lake was clear and peaceful with no sign of danger at all. The book said that the Demonic Dragon would always strike when its opponent wasn’t paying attention, succeeding more often than not.

Bai Yang scattered his spiritual energy and approached the lake. Dressed as a poor and weak cultivator, he bent down to drink some water.

Beneath the surface of the calm lake, a pair of large eyes stared at him, unblinking.

Bai Yang pretended he didn’t notice. After he finished drinking, he splashed the water up at his face.

It was then that the waiting beast sprung up from the depth of the water, it’s mouth angled to bite off Bai Yang’s head.

By the lake, Bai Yang lifted his head, a startled expression on his face.

The Demonic Dragon, feeling pleased with itself, swallowed its prey in one gulp.

After, it retracted into the water and prepared to digest its meal. Few beasts or cultivators ventured to its lake of late, so it had gone hungry for the past month. The arrival of this cultivator was like a coal delivery in winter. With his fine skin and tender meat, he looked delicious.

The Demonic Dragon retreated into the water, curling up to digest its prey.

However, after a while, its body didn’t feel right. It was like it was wrapped around a hard iron knife that was cutting up the soft and tender innards.

Soon, the Demonic Dragon was rolling across the lake floor in excruciating pain.

The once peaceful lake surface was now surging with waves.

In the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the Demonic Dragon soared from the bottom of the lake to the sky. With a wail, its body split into two.

Bai Yang hung in the air, holding a beast core the size of a pigeon egg.

He was one of the dignified Four Demon Generals. He would dominate wherever he went!

After taking the beast core, his next stop was the Soaring Clouds Sect’s town.

There were two ways to meet the Male Lead: the first was going up the mountain to find him, and the second was getting the Male Lead to come down to meet him.

With the first method, he had to put in a lot of hard work to get onto the mountain, and if he failed, he would be chased down and killed. No matter how he thought about it, the second method seemed more comfortable.

But how will I get him to come down and meet me?

Bai Yang pondered and made a plan. He’d first write a letter to get the Male Lead to come down the mountain. If that didn’t work, he’d have to find some way to sneak up there himself.

Bai Yang understood the Male Lead. The Male Lead Zhou Ying was a man with an adventurous spirit. Most people would shy away from dangers or challenges, but he would face those difficulties head-on. Thus, he had more achievements than most.

Bai Yang wrote a letter, frankly telling the Male Lead that he was the person who gave him the Sun Sky Pill and that he had brought another cultivation pill, so he should come down the mountain.

If ordinary people saw the letter, they wouldn’t believe it. However, Bai Yang did give Zhou Ying the Sun Sky Pill last time, and his cultivation should have increased by leaps and bounds since then. He already had a taste of what he could have. On the other hand, Zhou Ying had an adventurous personality. If he decided that Bai Yang had only contacted him last time to get the Dragon Blade, then he might judge Bai Yang as someone safe to contact, since he was still at the Foundation Building Stage.

Bai Yang bribed a sect disciple in the town with Spirit Stones to hand the letter to the Male Lead. The letter was specially treated so that if anyone but the Male Lead tried to force the letter open, its contents would be destroyed.

Bai Yang waited in a tavern at the base of the mountain. It was the same spot he had met the Male Lead the first time. At sunset, the disguised Male Lead finally showed up.

The Male Lead had stuck a small mustache under his nose and was wearing commoners’ clothes. He looked irresponsible and casual. Bai Yang was using the same look he wore last time and even sat at the same table. He waited with two pots of good wine and a small side dish.

A smile appeared on the Male Lead, Zhou Ying’s face when he saw Bai Yang, and he briskly walked over to sit next to him.

The Male Lead, more self-confident and mature now, poured himself a cup of wine. “You hurried away so quickly last time that I don’t even know your name. Since you’ve called me out this time, you should at least tell me your name, or I won’t know how to address you.”

Bai Yang, appreciating his courage, smiled. “You can call me Mr. Xie.”

“Xie is your surname?” The Male Lead inquired.

Bai Yang nodded.

He hadn’t expected to meet the Male Lead so easily. He thought the Male Lead would send someone to investigate it first without doing anything else or send a letter with a new location and time. He didn’t expect the Male Lead to follow the appointment set by the letter.

It was beyond Bai Yang’s expectations, but it appeared that Zhou Ying trusted him more than he thought.

But, why?

“You’ve come just like this? You do know that everything I’m doing is for the Dragon Blade in your body, right? Aren’t you afraid I’ll kill you?” Bai Yang asked, curious.

Zhou Ying laughed and shook his head. “You won’t.”

Bai Yang was startled by Zhou Ying’s confident tone. “Why?”

“First of all, you know that if you want to get the Dragon Blade, you’ll have to wait until I reach the Nascent Soul Stage. I’m still at the late stage of Foundation Building, so you’d only be destroying the Dragon Blade if you killed me now. So, you definitely won’t kill me.” Zhou Ying said.

“But I could still kidnap and torture you,” Bai Yang said.

Zhou Ying shook his head. “You won’t.”

“Why?” Bai Yang was even more curious.

“Intuition.” Zhou Ying blurted.

Zhou Ying’s words far exceeded Bai Yang’s expectations as he never thought he’d hear the word ‘intuition’ leave his mouth. They’d only met once so far, so why was he so confident that Bai Yang wouldn’t hurt him?

Before he could think up a response, Zhou Ying continued. “I don’t know why, but you just seem familiar, like we’ve met before. It’s not just that it feels like you won’t hurt me, but that you’ll help me.”

Bai Yang was speechless for a moment, before he softly chuckled. He didn’t say anything, but he was stunned by the Male Lead Zhou Ying’s keen intuition. In a sense, his feelings were correct. If one had to name a person in this world least likely to hurt the Male Lead, it would probably be Bai Yang.

Bai Yang was a little moved to be so trusted by the Male Lead, but considering the plot where Xie Ze Tian and Zhou Ying were destined to fight each other, Bai Yang was left with complex feelings.

After pausing, Bai Yang said, “Young man, let me give you some advice. Don’t rely solely on your intuition. You have to find evidence, feelings are easy to deceive. Evidence is not.”

Zhou Ying didn’t take him seriously. “Mr. Xie, you sure have a sense of humor. Anyway, Sir, you said you had a pill to give me, is that true?”

Zhou Ying’s eyes were filled with anticipation.

Bai Yang felt a little speechless. Zhou Ying’s courage was out of control. He knew that once he reached the nascent soul stage he’d be killed, but he was still here, being keen about his cultivation.

The Male Lead really deserved to be the Male Lead. He had courage enough to fill the sky.

“If I didn’t come here today to bring you a pill, would you have come?” Bai Yang asked offhandedly.

Zhou Ying thought for a moment, before nodding. “Since I think Sir is my friend, I’d treat meeting you like meeting a friend. So of course I’d come.”

Bai Yang: “…”

Bai Yang lamented silently, this kid trusts me so much. I hope he won’t hate me later.

“Then, I’m honored.” Bai Yang took the jug of wine on the table and poured a glass before handing it to Zhou Ying.

Zhou Ying took the glass.

Bai Yang poured himself a glass. He raised it and said, “Come on, let’s drink.”

“It must have been fate that we met. If we aren’t drunk by the end of the day, we aren’t going back.” Zhou Ying said as he also raised his glass.

The two toasted and downed the wine. Bai Yang nursed his drink as he stared at Zhou Ying.

“Why are you staring at me?” Zhou Ying felt weird.

Bai Yang placed the cup onto the table and hissed, “Wait.”

“For what?” Zhou Ying questioned.

Bai Yang’s lips curled into a hook. “Do you feel uncomfortable?”

Hearing Bai Yang’s words, Zhou Ying frowned. Kneading his forehead, he said, “Why am I so dizzy all of a sudden?”

Zhou Ying’s eyes widened as though he finally understood something. He seemed to want to stand up and leave, but as he moved, he collapsed onto the table, unconscious.

Bai Yang took his cup and sighed. “Don’t blame me, kid. I don’t have a choice, either.”

He lifted Zhou Ying and disappeared from the tavern with him.

An hour later, Zhou Ying woke to find himself in an unfamiliar place. He looked around to find himself inside a house.

The surrounding area was quiet. The house was old and crumbling, one wall already collapsed. Only three walls remained to block out the elements. The interior was messy with things strewn everywhere, probably unwanted by the previous owner. All in all, the house was a wreck.

Where the wall was missing, a familiar figure stood with his back facing Zhou Ying.

“Mr. Xie?” Zhou Ying sat up from the ground, “Where are we?”

At that point, he probably noticed that something was wrong, but he didn’t want to believe that Bai Yang would hurt him.

Bai Yang turned his head. “Good question. Where are we now?”

Zhou Ying blinked. His blank expression turned serious and a flash of vigilance crossed his face.

“Mr. Xie, I don’t understand.”

Seems like he’s already realized.

Bai Yang walked toward him and leaned down, staring at Zhou Ying. “I told you, you shouldn’t rely on intuition alone. Did you really think I wouldn’t hurt you?”

Zhou Ying stood up and forced a smile. “Mr. Xie, what do you mean?”

“It’s exactly what you think.” There was a hint of arrogance in Bai Yang’s voice that made Zhou Ying feel that Bai Yang was out of his reach, and not quite what he imagined. He had an aura of elegance and nobility. Every move was filled with regality that not even the highest-ranked cultivator in the Soaring Clouds Sect could match. Perhaps it was precisely because of his outstanding appearance and temperament that Zhou Ying relaxed.

“You really want to kill me?” Zhou Ying asked again, unconvinced.

Bai Yang laughed. “What do you think, kid?”

“But I haven’t reached the Nascent Soul Stage.”

“So I won’t kill you right now.” Bai Yang squeezed Zhou Ying’s chin, a cold smile playing on his lips. “But, there are many things in this world that are worse than death. You haven’t even comprehended the possibilities.”

Zhou Ying’s complexion started to change. “Then what do you want to do? Didn’t you come to give me the pill?”

Bai Yang let go of his chin and crossed his arms behind his back. “I did come to give you a cultivation pill, but there are no free lunches in this world. If you want the pill, you’re going to have to make an offer in exchange.”

Zhou Ying took a step back, his whole body alert. “What do you want?”

Bai Yang was silent a moment before speaking. “The Blue Jade Pearl.”