Chapter 1 — The day I died, the ancient Demonic Wanjun Sword reappeared in the world. Jianghu had previously said in legends that the wielder of the Wanjun Sword would become the one above all else in the Demon Kingdom, acquiring the throne and becoming the King of Demons…
🎕
The day I died, the ancient Demonic Wanjun Sword reappeared in the world.
Jianghu had previously said in legends that the wielder of the Wanjun Sword would become the one above all else in the Demon Sect, acquiring the throne and becoming the King of Demons.
As I had spent my entire life as a demon, I had sought this achievement to the very end. Just one step away from succeeding, I had yearned to become the Demon King and henceforth unify the Demon Kingdom, which had been scattered for a millennium. I would have had the power to overturn all the land under the heavens. When I summoned people, no one would dare to resist!
Thus, when the Wanjun Sword was about to be brought into the world, I had lead my disciples from the Wan Lu Sect and hurried to the Millenium Sword Tomb. At that place, cultivators of the Demon Path had long since begun to mutually slaughter one another. I myself didn’t feel inclined to watch this scene. I ordered my subordinates to help me break through the slaughtering crowd, and I alone entered the Sword Tomb.
Recalling this moment now, I realized I had committed two mistakes then. One was previously not paying attention to the underlying divine energy hidden beneath the chaotic energy. The second mistake was not taking care of the insignificant, hideous guy who had followed me into the Sword Tomb.
That insignificant unsightly fellow actually had a name, or I had given him one——Mo Qing.
It was because when I first met him, he was injured, black and blue from head to toe. His face also had what looked like inky, pitch-black scars on it, each one seemingly some kind of mysterious Daoist charm. His scarred face was hideously ugly.
But since he cultivated the Demon Path, this had never been a problem.
At that time, he had been embracing the ice-cold corpse of his mother to his chest. Standing in front of him were ten patriarchs with their great Immortal clans behind them. The patriarchs had called him the child of the Demon King.
I took exception to this, however.
Our Demon Kingdom accepted that our Demon King had already died a thousand and eight hundred years ago. After the old Demon King had died, the entire Demon Path split up and scattered all over the world. Warlords had seized territory they claimed as their own, and no proper ruler had emerged. Those Buddhists had caught ten Demon Path cultivators over the centuries and had claimed each of them to be the Demon King. According to their logic, this world had thousands and tens of thousands of demons that was under this king’s command.
But that was way too many!
If their rules were taken into consideration, even if these thousands and tens of thousands of demons were unified under a king, then that was not going to include me because I had no subordinates at that time.
I had not been convinced, so I had intended to teach them a lesson and force them to acknowledge that even without subordinates under my command, I could also be extremely powerful.
Therefore, back then, I had blocked Mo Qing’s body with my own and taunted those several hundred men about bullying orphans and widowed mothers. And then, by myself, I had fought with those ten great clans.
Later generations would pass on that the day following this battle, the faintly dark Jianghu dried up. Even though what they said had been very exaggerated, it was true that I had stood up for the Demon Path in that battle.
My whole body had been bloody as I plucked Mo Qing from danger. Since then, my rumored reputation let everyone know that a demoness had fought with ten great clans in Chen Ji Shan. People that had come to rely on me for help came in an endless stream.
I had established Wan Lu Sect, accepting a thousand disciples. As for the one who I had rescued in that battle, Mo Qing, I had no free time to take care of him because I had been busy. I had given him to a master, and his master had said that he had no talent for cultivating the Demon Path. Therefore, he had been sent off to scout out Immortal Sects.
Later on, I heard very little news of him until my death, where he had once again appeared before me. Back in those days when he had been a youth, this unsightly youth’s face still had those frightening black patterns that had yet to fade…
That day in Sword Tomb, for who knew how long before, the Immortal Sects had set killing formations there. They had used these formations to annihilate well-known Demon Sects, but they hadn’t foreseen that my Wan Lu Sect’s strength to actually be so tremendous. Relying on my subordinate disciples to block all the other Demon Path cultivators and keep them outside, only my lone figure entered the Sword Tomb.
Before the Wanjun Sword was brought into the world, in the Sword Tomb, I had been engrossed with suppressing the billowing sword energy, evil energy, and a hundred thousand years worth of grievances that had accumulated due to mortals being sacrificed to the sword. Those long concealed Immortal Sect cultivators had suddenly struck.
I originally didn’t pay attention to these people, but I truly hadn’t foreseen that the energy within this Sword Tomb to unexpectedly be so difficult to deal with.
My Zhen Trigram had broken through the Immortal Sect killing formations, but I hadn’t guarded against the aura of death within the Sword Tomb. I was ruthlessly stabbed, and with the last of my strength, under the aura of death pressing down on me within the Sword Tomb, I had hidden in the corner. I had only needed to wait for the Wanjun Sword to come into the world. I would then seize the opportunity and claim it, and then I could have been the king that overlooks all the lands under the heavens.
Those Immortal Sect disciples who had set down the killing formations I had broken with my Zhen Trigram had yet to leave. They had entered the Sword Tomb to look for my tracks. At that very moment, I had not possessed the strength to battle with them. My neck had been sliced by the Sword Tomb’s aura of death, so deep that the bone could be seen. My neck had nearly been chopped off, making it difficult for me to even form words.
I had hidden in a crevice in the stone, cautious and solemn. All of a sudden, I had felt my neck warm up. My entire body had stiffened, and just as I had been about to attack, a man covered my mouth. I had raised my head and saw a face with black scars covering it all over. It had actually been Mo Qing.
He saw that I had recognized him. Though when he released me, he had covered my neck with his hand, helping me staunch the bleeding. I had looked at him and saw that he had been unable to mask the worry on his face as his eyes shifted back and forth across my face.
“Mo Qing.” I had yelled his name, my voice hoarse. “Do you like me?”
Yes, this question I had asked was sudden, but his deeply concerned expression really hadn’t been common for any sect members to display. Thinking it over, I could only call to mind one possibility.
Sure enough, after I had asked him this question, he had looked at me and hadn’t said anything, as if he was mute. He had merely seized the moment to quietly grasp the side of my body firmly. I had smiled and watched as his face, covered with black scars, turn away. Talentless in cultivating the Demon Path, he had quietly followed me into the Sword Tomb, all for the sole purpose of helping me at this critical moment. It had made me remember him, okay? Because apart from this instance, he had never appeared in front of me again.
I had gazed at him and amiably smiled. “Mo Qing, since you like me, then you certainly don’t want me to die here, right?”
He had silently looked at me before he looked down, closely examining the small silver mirror hanging around my neck. The mirror reflected the black scars that covered his entire face. I hadn’t known what he was thinking, but I had believed for the time being that he had wanted a reward. Thus, I had moved as if to take off the silver mirror. “This silver mirror, I’ll give it to you as a keepsake. Today, if you can protect me and safely take me away from here, I will definitely protect you in the entire Demon Kingdom and help you look down upon the warlords vying for supremacy.”
Where this silver mirror came from, I had already forgotten. I also hadn’t known its function. I just thought that it was pretty, so I had always worn it. Thus, I didn’t have any reluctance in giving it away.
But Mo Qing had silently pushed my hand down. “You don’t need to give me anything.” Unlike his hideous-looking face, his voice had unexpectedly, extraordinarily been pleasant to hear. “You keep it.” He continued, “Just stay here, safe.”
Not wanting anything in exchange for haplessly giving his life for me, I had naturally been content with this result. Hence, I had released the small silver mirror and gazed at him, trying my best to give him a gentle and soft smile. “Help me leave by drawing away those Immortal Sect disciples, okay?”
He had suddenly lifted his hand and lightly caressed my cheek. His fingertips had temporarily stopped on my dimples. I had currently been relying on him to save me, so I naturally didn’t get angry and allowed him to caress me however he pleased.
“Patriarch.” He had called me like this. It wasn’t any different from when the other disciples would call me this, but because this time he had been calling me while his fingers were touching my face, it had been extremely different from when other disciples had addressed me. “I am willing to lay down everything for you, as long as you’re safe and sound.”
Mn, the devotion manifesting at this time, this was truly a disciple speaking.
Only, his words hadn’t stirred up any emotions within me. This kind of thing, I had seen many times with countless others saying them. ‘I am willing to lay down everything for you.’ Furthermore, this hadn’t been because he held great admiration to me; it was merely because he was utterly lacking at first.
I had thought like this mentally, but the split second I felt Mo Qing’s finger stiffen slightly, I had believed that he had seemingly seen through my thoughts. I had mentally panicked a little, but shortly afterward, Mo Qing had lifted his sword and walked away.
Not being able to see his face, I had just thought that this youth’s tall and straight back made people not want to draw their eyes away from him.
Thus, I had believed that I was definitely saved. While Mo Qing had drawn those Immortal cultivators away, I would grab the Wanjun Sword and quietly slipped away to an empty area to cultivate and treat my injury. Then, I would return to Wan Lu Sect and unify the entire world. When that happened, if Mo Qing was still alive, I would protect him. If he died…then I would give him a nice-looking stele.
I had believed this was excellent. While I had hidden in the wall crevice, I had stealthily peered outside to look at what was happening. I had seen that this brat Mo Qing was unexpectedly fighting the Immortal Sect members while also heading further into the Sword Tomb.
Within the Sword Tomb, there was an aura of death that had pressured me. In the middle was a bit of light that had broken through the ground and illuminating the ceiling.
It was the Wanjun Sword!
Anxiety had riddled my mind. I had only seen Mo Qing, who did not have a very high cultivation, drip with blood as he chopped down the Immortal Sect members. He had stood at the entrance of the Sword Tomb, blood flowing into the Sword Tomb and eventually reaching the rays of light——soaking it.
In due course, an Immortal Cultivator was able to slice his tendon, and Mo Qing had suddenly fallen to the ground. His hand had stretched out to grip the ground just where the Wanjun Sword was breaking out of the Sword Tomb.
The Wanjun Sword’s recognized its master!
Although my heart had been anxious, I had firmly believed that Mo Qing, with his miniscule cultivation, would absolutely not be able to pull out the Wanjun Sword. Who could’ve anticipated that his blood would unexpectedly seep slowly into the sword hilt. All of a sudden, a surge of energy had violently exploded within the Sword Tomb. All types of energies had burst out, breaking through all of the formations that were restricting the Demon Path cultivators. In a flash, innumerable Immortal Sect disciples were shot dead!
Just as Mo Qing had been about to shout, the sword had completely emerged. The energies within the Sword Tomb had immediately exploded out, the waves of energy washing over half a thousand kilometers and sweeping across the three kingdoms. And not only had the Wanjun Sword’s master not been my seriously injured self, when that tremendous wave of energy surged…
I had died in this damnable surge…
Before I had died, I had seen the black scars on Mo Qing’s face slowly fade away as the rays of light from the sword began circulating.
At that moment, our Demon Path side came to a sudden realization. So, as it turned out, the black scars on his face unexpectedly hadn’t been inked charms for amusement. Instead, they were seals, seals to restrain the son of the Demon King.
I had also came to a sudden revelation. So what those ten great clans said about him being the son of the Demon King had unexpectedly been true and not to deceive me…
I had come to an even grander revelation at this moment. This Mo Qing had followed me into the Sword Tomb. Perhaps, from the start, his intentions had not been in order to protect me, not in order to make me pay more attention to him, and not even because he liked me. He had merely wanted to take back his father’s possession. And since the Wanjun Sword was sealed and his strength lacking, he had waited for me to finish the whole process for him. He had allowed himself to be cut by those two Daoist Immortals. Ultimately, he would seize the Wanjun Sword, and by using his blood, he would make the Wanjun Sword recognize its master…
This brat! Truly marvelous scheme!
Oh, how unfortunate had my life been! Working as if my life had depended on it, extremely tormented and haunted with dreams of the future, only for the wedding dress to unexpectedly be for someone else! I had truly hated spending all of my energy unwittingly!
Forgive me for being unwilling to die as well.
Such an inglorious, nonexplosive, and a little unfathomably mysterious death…
And so, I once again became aware of this world’s existence. It was late at night, and the rain was heavily pouring down. I sat above my new grave, the raindrops passing through my ghostly form. Pipa. The sound of it hitting the gravestone echoed.
I floated around my monument to look at it. The monument didn’t even have a single word written on it. I angrily wanted to kick this monument and break it into pieces. I hated being unable to take an awl to chisel in large letters: ‘Unparalleled in the heavens and in the land below, the one who rose to be above all else, Demon King Lu Zhao Yao.
A gravestone without any writing, how could this make people be at ease after dying!
《 🎕 🎕 》
(墨青) His name literally translates as “Blue Ink.” Thus, since his skin was mottled blue and black from bruising and injuries, it looked like he was blue. “Ink” came from the inky scars on his face. More on Daoist Charms can be read here: The Fourth Trigram, also known as the Arousing, Shake, is the element of thunder. Set in the east direction, its purpose is to incite movement, representing the initiative stage and the dragon.