——I want to be the Immortal Lord of the nine continents. Anyone who dares to bully our people will be eliminated.
It was like a dream from a previous life, they had just met not long ago. They were fifteen or sixteen years old, one with no one to take care of at home, and the other couldn’t be managed by the family. They were at the age of wandering around, talking about everything, and going out in pairs everywhere.
At that time, Yun Cuo was still silent. When Xue Huai was not around, he was unusually silent and hardly communicated with the outside world. But there were always people who tried to get close to him, either because of the title of Young Immortal Lord or simply because they were attracted by his hostility and sharpness, just like Xue Huai.
One day, in the first month of their acquaintance, Xue Huai went out for a walk, bought a lot of cakes, and strolled on the street with a nine-colored deer. Suddenly, he noticed that under the pavilion, there was a dandy young man who shamelessly wanted to invite Yun Cuo to have dinner with him.
Those days, Yun Cuo’s little gray cat was sick. He took the kitten to the medical center every day and declined politely.
Unexpectedly, the young man started to curse: “I gave you face but you don’t want it, and you don’t know what is good for you! Just because others call you Young Immortal Lord and you really think you are something? But you are just a bastard from the Demon Realm, what are you being pretentious with me here for? Are you qualified?”
Yun Cuo’s eyes darkened, but before he could make a move, a sharp wind blew by, and the long whip swung in the air with a loud bang like thunder—
Xue Huai rode past, and when he passed by, he stretched out his hand and grabbed the man by the collar, and a very fierce light flashed in his beautiful eyes: “In Dongzhou, if I said that he is the young immortal lord, then he is. Is there a place for you to speak? If someone else were to challenge you, would you be able to handle it?”
He had slender bones and the body of a teenager, but he actually lifted up a muscular peer of his age with one hand and then threw him away and slammed him into a stall where people were coming and going!
That person also didn’t resist and ran away in fear.
Xue Huai smiled contemptuously: “He’s nothing more than that.”
His “heroic rescue of the beauty” was the reason why everyone later knew that “Master Xue and Master Yun were having an affair.” From then on, whenever someone called Yun Cuo a bastard, he would roll up his sleeves and fight, beating them up gracefully and beautifully. If someone cursed him for having a mother to give birth but not being raised by her, Yun Cuo would beat that person half to death before they could even start.
At that time, they were young and frivolous, fighting all the time, and their tempers could be ignited at the slightest provocation, but it happened that they never had a quarrel. Occasionally, when one of them was in a bad mood, they would not talk. They went to the Xunxian Pavilion to eat together and then found a deserted place to lie down together in the sun.
Once, the gluttonous ghost ran away from home and got lost. The two of them went out to look for him, and after finding him, they found an empty grass slope and laid down to bask in the sun.
Yun Cuo said, “I want to be the Immortal Lord.”
Xue held the gluttonous ghost in his arms, stroking its head as he dozed off. He tilted his head and glanced at him. “En?”
“I want to be the Immortal Lord, so that no one will bully us in the future.” Yun Cuo said.
Xue Huai was a little confused: “But after the current Immortal Lord passes away, he will pass the throne to you.”
“It’s different. What I got myself is different from what he gave me.” Yun Cuo said. “He gave it to me as a charity, but I didn’t want it either.”
Thinking back now, it was really wrong, but Xue Huai really got serious, climbed up, and looked down at Yun Cuo, who was lying on the side. “Then will you take me with you? I will go with you, I can be your left protector and help you ascend the throne. I will help you with whatever you want.”
At that time, Yun Yan’s health was already very poor. He issued hundreds of green birds to transfer edicts asking Yun Cuo to return to the throne, but Yun Cuo always ignored them. Yun Yan had no choice but to appoint his younger brother, Yun Zhang, as the Crown Prince. In the end, both of them died under Yun Cuo’s sword.
Soldiers from the royal palace of Xianzhou and the heavenly palace came in batches to die, but all of them disappeared in Yun Cuo’s hands. His strength was almost synonymous with brutality and violence, and the soldiers under his command broke through the defense line as if they were breaking a piece of sandpaper with their fingers.
In addition, he also dealt with several other forces that were eyeing the position of the Immortal Lord. Amid the raging war, he had just sat firmly on the throne when he began endless expansion and aggression.
He personally took Xue Huai to the position of left protector and announced to the people, “Gu’s right-hand and left-hand man should be Xue Huai.”
But Xue Huai still remembered that after he finished saying this, he lowered his voice and said in a volume that only he could hear: “From now on, no one will bully you anymore, Xue Huai.”
His voice was deep, but it was still the childish and twisted shadow, who was willing to take this risk for him that year.
As the tide of memories came flooding back, Xue Huai felt that there was something wrong with Yun Cuo’s words, “I want to return to the position of the Immortal Lord of the nine continents”. But he could not react for a moment.
Yun Cuo took him to the Shenhua Terrace first.
Before leaving, Xue Zong released all the beasts raised in the Xue family’s Bird and Beast Garden to guard the Shenhua Terrace. In addition to the four Qilins, the leader was a deep red Vermillion Bird, whose body was like a blazing fire, looking down at everyone who tried to cast their gazes in.
Xue Huai had only heard of these things in his home before but had never actually seen them. This kind of house-guarding beast usually only obeys the orders of its owner, so it was still unknown whether he could go in now.
He raised his head, looked at the Vermillion Bird, and said softly, “Hello, my name is Xue Huai, I am…”
Before he finished speaking, the vermilion bird had already buried its huge bird head and greeted him, “Welcome back, the two family heads!”
Xue Huai and Yun Cuo were stunned at the same time.
Xue Huai said, “Me…?”
The vermilion bird looked at him and said, “Master Xue Zong has sorted out all the things of the Xue family and left them in the Shenhua Terrace, waiting for you and your Daoist partner to open them. Now that you are the head of the Xue family, you are no longer the Young Master. Please forgive us, as the guardian beasts, for not being able to greet you in advance when you first arrived.”
Xue Huai was stunned there and didn’t say anything for a long time, but he still didn’t give up and asked the vermilion bird again, “Then what about my father? Where did he go?”
The vermilion bird said calmly, “The moment Master Xue Zong left the family seal to you and made his will, we, the beasts of the town, could only recognize you. Therefore, we have no idea where the original owner went.”
Xue Huai murmured, “He even made a will.”
He took a deep breath, wiped his eyes, and whispered to Yun Cuo, “Let’s go.”
The Shenhua Terrace opened for them. In addition to Xue Huai, Yun Cuo was also included.
On the day Xue Huai broke apart with Xue Zong, it was Yun Cuo who came to pick him up. This behavior was something that normal parents could not forgive, and Yun Cuo even thought that he would never be recognized by the Xue family.
But now the vermilion bird also calls him the head of the family.
The small compartment beside the lotus pond was as clean as ever. Because of the presence of the guardian, not even dust could fall in, and the air stopped circulating. It was not until they stepped in that the entire Shenhua Terrace came alive for them again.
As if he knew this day was coming, a heavy wooden box was placed on the small wooden table that Xue Huai often used to draw atlases, and a vast number of files were piled next to the wooden box.
Xue Huai found a cushion for Yun Cuo, and they sat down side by side.
The last time they were here together, Xue Huai was trying to keep his distance from him. He was inside, Yun Cuo was outside, casting healing spells on the lotuses in the yard, repairing a little here, trimming a little there, and the surroundings were so quiet that they could hear the sound of the lotus stems and leaves growing.
The file was neatly divided into two parts, with the handwriting going from old to new. The title page says: The nineteen years of winter in Xianzhou.
It was the year Xue Huai turned fourteen, two years after Mrs. Liu married into the Xue family.
That was also the year when Xue Zong opened the coffin to find out the cause of Murong Mi’s death.
Yun Cuo had already told Xue Huai about the opening of the coffin when he confessed. Now, as he turned the pages of the file one by one, Xue Huai felt more and more clear as to why Xue Zong was angry with him in the first place.
He said he was reckless and extreme, that he ignored the overall situation and did not inform him in advance, and that if he had taken the time to investigate more deeply, things would not have come to this point.
The file contained Xue Zong’s detailed notes, which he analyzed in detail:
The apparent native place of Mrs. Liu is recorded as: Meishu Ji family, a descendant of Daji.
After investigation, it was found that she was actually the offspring of the demon clan and Tushan, a half-demon fox clan, who grew up in the Demon Realm. She was good at using poison, charm, and magic bats. All her previous experiences were fabricated.
Xue Huai said softly, “There is someone behind Mrs. Liu, she was sent by the Demon Realm.”
Yun Cuo let out an “En” and didn’t say anything. He just hugged his waist, and after a long pause, he whispered, “But Uncle Xue is too strict with you, isn’t he? You have to endure and plan for revenge for your mother’s murder. You are only seventeen years old. You don’t have to blame yourself for it.”
“What you said is not right, Yun Cuo.” Xue Huai rubbed his face and smiled tiredly. “I’m already twenty-six years old.”
Yun Cuo was stunned.
“Remember? I really didn’t lie to you. I was reborn. In this new life, I should have the mindset of a twenty six years old, but the facts prove that I haven’t improved at all.” Xue Huai said calmly, “My father was right to scold me. I did something wrong.”
“I’m fine, Yun Cuo, keep looking.”
At the end of the story, the story shifted from Mrs. Liu to the Demon Realm and ended up involving an old story—
The great war between immortals and demons that took place twenty years ago.
Back then, Emperor Fuli relied on his immortal and demonic cultivation to suppress the invasion of the Demon Realm and put an end to the rebellion. In this regard, Xue Zong made the following judgment: “The remnants of the Demon Realm have not been eliminated, and the evil intentions are not dead. They intend to invade the Immortal Realm again, starting with the Xue family.”
“The Demon Realm is going to make a comeback?”
For a moment, Xue Huai and Yun Cuo looked at each other and were both surprised.
They would never have imagined that Mrs. Liu’s background was this complicated.
But if they look closely, Xue Zong lists the reasons and clues he found one by one:
First, Emperor Fuli has retired now. It is said that he is traveling with the Empress. His whereabouts are unknown, and he cannot be contacted. His designated successor, Bai Yi, is of unknown strength and has not yet succeeded to the throne. Now the Fuli Palace is empty, and the Heavenly Court is short of troops.
In other words, there is no longer any force in heaven that can contend with the Demon Realm.
Unless a second person with the immortal cultivation of the cause and effect is not involved, and fifteenth level of demonic cultivation can be found.
Xue Huai flipped through the pages of the book, and when he saw this, his mind moved slightly.
If there is a second person…
“It’s you ah, Yun Cuo.” Xue Huai said.
Yun Cuo remained silent.
He followed Xue Huai’s gaze and saw the second file with his name written on it.
Xue Huai’s father knew him earlier than Xue Huai. When Xue Huai was fourteen years old, he began to study all the information about Yun Cuo.
“He has a half-immortal, half-demon physique and is the ultimate spiritual root that comes from the Nine Continents’ Immortal Lord and the pure-blooded Princess of the Demon Realm. He has a unique advantage when cultivating. Conservatively estimated, if this boy concentrates on cultivating, he can reach the thirteenth level of demonic cultivation and the divine transformation of immortal cultivation before the age of twenty.”
“Even stronger than Emperor Fuli, he will become the strongest cultivator known so far.”
“But there are two problems: this child is mentally handicapped, hates the current Immortal Lord Yun Yan, and has no ties in the Immortal Realm. In addition, a half-demon body is more likely to induce him to become a demon. Whether this child can be used by our Immortal Realm is still unknown.”
“The only thing that is certain is that if this battle is to be fought, whichever side, whether the Immortal Realm or the Demon Realm obtains Yun Cuo will win in the end—that is, whoever obtains Yun Cuo will obtain the world.”
“Writer’s note: Although, from the perspective of an immortal, we should do everything we can to win this child, from the perspective of a parent, we should not force him. This child has a pure heart, knows good and evil, and distinguishes right from wrong. I wish Xiao Huai could accompany him for his whole life. Even if tomorrow is bumpy and rugged, they can be open-minded and move forward hand in hand. When the golden wind and jade dew meet, it is better than countless things in the world.”
Further down is a wooden box, he opened it gently.
Inside were a pair of jade pendants.
It’s old and doesn’t look very valuable.
But Xue Huai recognized them.
This was a token of love between his parents. Xue Zong had been wearing it until Murong Mi passed away, but later he stopped wearing it. Xue Huai thought he had lost it, but he didn’t expect that he had kept it carefully.
It was a wedding gift for him.
There was a note inside: “To my sons Xue Huai and Yun Cuo: Live in harmony and work together to achieve success.”
