My Love

News of the Xuantian Immortal Venerable descending to the Moon-Grace Minor Realm in the midst of his busy schedule to kill a Nascent Soul junior and snatch his “pet” spread across the Nine Realms within two days. Even the Great Realm of Nine Serenity, a gathering place for ghost cultivators, caught wind of it.

Cultivators everywhere were embroiled in heated discussions regarding Xuan Lie’s intentions. Most, however, expressed little surprise at the fact that he used his status as an Immortal Venerable to openly strike down a junior.

—After all, this was the Xuantian Immortal Venerable, a man whose fierce and murderous reputation “echoed” throughout the Three Thousand Realms. That Nascent Soul brat actually had the gall to publicly demand the return of a snake demon already offered to him; it was truly a case of “the ignorant know no fear.”

Yet, just because the masses weren’t surprised by his methods didn’t mean they weren’t baffled by his goals.

For an Immortal Venerable to deign to visit a minor realm for a mere Golden Core hatchling was strange enough. To go as far as killing for it suggested these eccentric actions had nothing to do with the demon’s inner dantian. As a member of the Spirit Race, Xuan Lie was born “empty-hearted,” meaning he was immune to inner demon tribulations. Furthermore, as a Tribulation Transcendence powerhouse, the core of a Golden Core hatchling was useless to him.

With those ruled out, the only remaining possibility became clear: everything Xuan Lie did must be linked to the fallen Demon Emperor.

It was common knowledge that the Immortal Venerable and the Demon Emperor were at odds. Ten years ago, the Immortal Venerable had disregarded his own reputation, using a dishonorable sneak attack to strike down his arch-rival. Now that he had acquired a snake demon pet—the same species as the Demon Emperor—it was the perfect tool to either humiliate the leaderless demon race or flaunt his own status.

As for whether keeping a demon pet suited the reputation of the Leader of the Righteous Path…

One could only say that the Xuantian Immortal Venerable was somewhat different from the conventional definition of an “Immortal Venerable.” Especially when the Demon Emperor was involved, anything he did seemed to fall within the realm of “reasonable.”

While the Great Realms enjoyed the gossip, the cultivators of the minor realm were scared out of their wits.

The classification of the Three Thousand Realms is not based on geographical size, but on the cap of spiritual energy. A “Minor Realm” is defined as such because its spiritual limit only supports cultivators up to the Nascent Soul stage. Anyone at the Soul Transformation stage or above cannot stay for long. First, their power is suppressed, hindering their own cultivation; second, a powerful being in a minor realm acts like a siphoning whirlpool, threatening to drain the entire world’s spiritual energy dry.

To a minor realm, if a Nascent Soul cultivator is a flicker of flame in the night, then a Tribulation Transcendence powerhouse is a scorching sun standing right in front of one’s eyes.

The moment Xuan Lie struck during the ceremony, the aftershocks were felt even in the neighboring Frost-Grace Middle Realm. The practitioners of the Moon-Grace Realm felt as if they were being roasted at the edge of the sun, trembling in terror for their lives.

Fortunately, by the second day, that terrifying aura vanished from the Moon-Grace Realm. Shortly after, the Su Family—who was in charge of the ceremonial affairs—released news that the Immortal Venerable had taken the young snake and departed for the Upper Realm alongside the Changming Sect Leader.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Then, curiosity took over. They asked the same question as the Great Realm cultivators: What was he actually after?

—”Indeed, what is this Stupid Stone after? He came down, killed someone, and instead of leaving, he’s suppressing his power to linger in this minor realm. What for?”

Bai Yujing rested his chin on a rock at the edge of the hot spring, speculating with a subtle hint of fury.

Could it be that, like the legendary First Spirit Lord, he finally grew a ‘Spirit Heart’ for some priestess, only to be dumped by her, and now he’s suffered a cultivation deviation?

Bai Yujing sneered internally with vengeful glee. This shameless rogue deserves to be dumped!

The coiled young snake recalled the recent incident and, overcome with shame, lowered his head to lick his long-dry abdomen for the umpteenth time. No matter how much he licked, the soft, snow-white belly remained clean and normal.

Bai Yujing felt dizzy with rage, cursing even himself. This useless body… to react like that just because that bastard rubbed it a couple of times. What a total disgrace!

Even the strange golden light in his belly was currently unnervingly quiet.

After calming down, the white snake looked up at the night sky. Amidst the brilliant stars, the moonlight draped over the world like water. It wasn’t just his imagination; ever since the golden light’s commotion at the ceremony, his intuition had grown even sharper.

…Are you doing well after your Ascension, Qingyu?

He stared at the firmament for a long time before trailing his gaze down to the mist-shrouded Xiaoyao Pool.

There, stood Xuan Lie—the man everyone believed had returned to the Upper Realm. He stood by the pool with his back to Bai Yujing. A bizarre bloody aura radiated from him, nearly staining his white robes black.

This was the price of forcibly suppressing a Tribulation Transcendence cultivation down to the Nascent Soul stage. The extreme malevolence of his true form could no longer be quelled by his realm alone; he had to wash it away daily in a spirit spring.

Hmph. A wolf in sheep’s clothing, Bai Yujing mocked him gloatingly in his heart. Let’s see how you keep up the act now.

Unlike the Demon Race, the Spirit Race rarely revealed the nature of their true forms to outsiders. While demons didn’t usually hide their true forms, they kept their true names secret to prevent high-level cultivators from forcing a pet contract upon them. Thus, even though Bai Yujing was the Demon Emperor, very few in the Three Thousand Realms knew his birth name.

The Spirit Race was the opposite. They were born “empty-hearted” and had to cultivate a “Spirit Heart” to achieve the Great Dao. Therefore, their names were public, but their true forms were kept secret to prevent enemies from discovering the state of their Spirit Heart and using targeted methods to pollute it.

For the past thousand years, many had tried to calculate Xuan Lie’s true form. Whether it was the hexagrams of the Witch Race, the Heavenly Eye of the Asura, the Nuwa Mirror of the Humans, or the Sansheng Stone of the Ghosts, none could find an answer. Eventually, people began to guess based on his appearance—assuming his true form was Tianshan Jade or something similar.

Whenever Bai Yujing heard this, he wanted to laugh. White Jade? You’ve got to be joking.

The horror of that man’s true form was unlike anything he had ever seen. He must have been under countless curses to condense such a sinister color. It was a hue darker than night, a tone more unsettling than blood.

Contrary to popular belief, Xuan Lie’s true form wasn’t some pure, aloof Tianshan Jade. It was a bizarre “Ancient Jade” that seemed to have been soaked in a sea of blood and mountains of corpses for eons. Bai Yujing had scoured ancient demon records until he finally found a name in the “Ominous Artifacts” section that matched: Blood Mountain Jade.

The First Demon Lord had called it the most evil stone in the world—a harbinger of great calamity.

And yet, this sinister stone that even the Demon Lord feared was currently masquerading in human skin, revered as the “Leader of the Righteous Path.” Those righteous cultivators must be blind!

As Bai Yujing felt the blood-aura intensifying, he recalled the first time he saw the man’s true form. It had been in a hot spring just like this one. Ignoring his instinctive urge to flee, Bai Yujing had opened his mouth and bitten that sinister stone, leaving a clear tooth mark on it.

That bastard should be grateful I wasn’t too disgusted to bite him, Bai Yujing thought proudly. …Of course, he transformed into a human immediately after. If I hadn’t run fast enough, he probably would have hung me up by my tail.

Thinking of this, Bai Yujing felt a twinge of resentment. His only regret was that when the “Stone” transformed back into a human, no scar remained on his face. By all rights, a Sky-Reaching Serpent can “break the heavens”; any wound inflicted by Bai Yujing should last a lifetime unless he chooses to heal it.

Yet, Xuan Lie’s face remained as perfect and infuriatingly handsome as ever. It made Bai Yujing so angry that he had spent days biting his own tail in the Demon Palace, wondering if Blood Mountain Jade had some innate talent that countered Sky-Reaching Serpents.

Tonight, his long-standing doubt was finally answered.

The “righteous” white robe finally slid off the man’s shoulders, revealing terrifyingly powerful muscle fibers through the mist. Xuan Lie tossed the robe aside and stepped into the pool. The blood-red mist around him faded slightly as it touched the water.

Bai Yujing searched for a scar but found nothing. In his annoyance, he flicked his tail. The white tail-tip brushed the water, making a subtle sound.

The man in the water froze. In the next instant, he turned around.

“…!”

Bai Yujing froze. There, a hideous scar stretched from Xuan Lie’s collarbone all the way down his chest, disappearing into the water.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a “scar” because the wound hadn’t fully closed. However, due to the nature of his true form, no blood leaked from it. From the outside, it wasn’t repulsive; instead, it added a devastating, aggressive edge to his perfectly tempered physique.

The little snake, no thicker than three fingers, widened his eyes. He lifted his head from the shore to get a better look, his gaze trailing down the scar…

Xuan Lie suddenly stood up from the pool.

“—!”

Water splashed as the man walked through the night mist to stand before the little snake. He looked down coldly.

Bai Yujing: “…”

…I thought the Spirit Race was supposed to be heartless and passionless? Why would a naturally impotent stone bother to manifest something that big when transforming? To boost his own courage?

He backed away indignantly, thinking he had been too soft-hearted back then—he should have bitten an inch lower.

On the surface, however, the little snake looked terrified, shrinking back with a hint of piteousness.

An unreadable glint flashed in Xuan Lie’s eyes. He asked, “Can you transform?”

…Now? In a bath?

Looking at the naked Xuantian Immortal Venerable, Bai Yujing backed away further in disbelief. What is this bastard trying to do? He even began to wonder if the man had developed some bizarre fetish in his quest to grow a Spirit Heart.

Fortunately, Xuan Lie seemed to remember something and reached out to pull on an inner robe. Although the hideous scar on his chest was still visible, at least his lower half was covered.

“…”

Relieved, a brilliant, wicked idea suddenly struck Bai Yujing.

The white snake lowered its head. As a breeze blew past, a graceful silhouette appeared in the mist.

Seeing the person before him, Xuan Lie’s breath hitched.

Bai Yujing had intentionally chosen a “Pink Silk Sunset Robe” from the bottom of his collection. Large peaches and blossoms were embroidered with pink-gold thread onto fabric as thin as a cicada’s wing. His sleeves were adorned with gold, silver, and jade ornaments—he looked as flashy and “dainty” as possible.

Yet, even the gaudy silks and jewels could not overshadow the brilliance of his face. His current appearance was the same one Su Jiu-shao had seen—not the face Xuan Lie knew. Compared to his true visage, this face was more vivid and coquettish, lacking any of the Demon Emperor’s majesty.

Bai Yujing had often complained that this face was “too vulgar,” but for his current purposes, it was perfectly vulgar.

Xuan Lie stood motionless, seemingly disgusted into silence by the demon’s flashy appearance. Bai Yujing laughed internally. This is just the beginning. I’ve got plenty more to make you feel sick.

The “beauty” in the translucent pink robe sat barefoot on the edge of the spring, bowing timidly. “This little demon greets the Immortal Venerable. Thank you for your life-saving grace.”

The jewels clinked as he bowed, and the pink robe slipped slightly, revealing a patch of snowy-white neck.

Xuan Lie’s gaze darkened. It was unclear if it was because of the view or the thought of where this person might have been for the last ten years. Eventually, he didn’t bite the bait. He simply asked:

“Your name.”

A demon’s name cannot be given away easily, but with Xuan Lie’s power, a fake name wouldn’t work.

“…”

Bai Yujing’s mind whirled before a spark of inspiration hit him. He feigned hesitation. “I… I have no name. I only have a ‘pet name’ (infant name)…”

He paused dramatically. The thought of what he was about to say made him want to burst out laughing; he had to look down and use all his strength to keep a straight face.

As expected, Xuan Lie asked, “What is the pet name?”

The “little beauty” looked up, meeting the man’s gaze with his heterochromatic, inhuman pupils. He said cautiously:

“In response to the Immortal Venerable… this one’s name is…”

“Qingqing, My Love“