The Demon Lord Always Tries to Hinder My Promotion - Chapter 1

In the Demon Realm’s Nixiao Ruins, the twilight was deep and dim, with the lingering sunset forming delicate patterns in the sky.

Under normal circumstances, boiling tea to chat under the sunset, drinking wine, and laughing would be considered a poetic and elegant affair. But at this very moment, Qi An had absolutely no interest in such romantic moods.

Standing before the Yuetong Palace, she stared blankly at the two Demon Realm elders, her heart feeling cold.

Over a month ago, the Heavenly Emperor’s youngest son, Yang Xu, went down to the mortal realm for training and accidentally met the Demon Realm’s little princess, Yue Jiao. The two one god, one demon were at that tender age where love first blossoms, and within a few short days, they had fallen deeply in love and secretly pledged their lives to one another.

After returning to the Heavenly Realm, Yang Xu proposed to the Heavenly Emperor that he marry the Demon princess. The Emperor was furious, scolding Yang Xu for the “rebellious and unforgivable” idea of wanting to marry outside his kind.

Later, the Heavenly Empress stepped in, using her “loving” hands to remind the Emperor of how he had overcome all obstacles and married her a mortal by birth despite the disapproval of all the other deities.

And so, with his face swollen from the Empress’s “reminders,” the Heavenly Emperor agreed to Yang Xu’s request and ordered the Hehe Immortal Palace, which was responsible for matters of marriage, to go to the Nixiao Ruins to propose.

Because the matter concerned the little prince’s marriage, Old Man Yue Lao took it very seriously. He sent a group of capable elites to the Demon Realm, but every single one of them was beaten and turned away.

Helpless, Yue Lao had no choice but to stroke his white beard and go himself. He thought that no matter how wild and unruly the demons were, they should at least understand the concept of respecting their elders and give him some face. But when he returned to the Heavenly Realm leaning on his cane, he discovered that he hadn’t lived long enough, and his understanding of the Six Realms was still lacking.

In the month that followed, the Hehe Immortal Palace was almost completely wiped out, leaving only one small, temporary worker who had just reported to the palace that worker was Qi An.

As the final hope of the Hehe Immortal Palace, Qi An wasn’t exactly entrusted with high expectations, but Yue Lao promised her that if she could successfully negotiate this matter and ensure the little prince’s marriage went smoothly, she would be officially recorded in the Hehe Immortal Palace’s register of immortal officials.

Being recorded in the register meant she would no longer have to wander from palace to palace looking for odd jobs. She would receive a fixed monthly salary and spiritual elixirs, and she would finally shed the title of “Heavenly Realm Vagabond.”

Just thinking about her bright future made Qi An overjoyed.

Her fellow immortal colleagues were kind-hearted. Seeing her undisguised joy, they didn’t have the heart to crush her spirit, so they only gave her two pieces of advice:

“If you run into the Iron-Faced Lady in the Demon Realm, you must dress yourself to look ugly. She is incredibly jealous and cannot stand the sight of beautiful girls; the more beautiful you look, the more it triggers her anger, and the heavier her hands will strike.”

“If you run into General Giant-Hammer, dress yourself to look delicate and dainty, and throw in some sweet, soft words. He can’t stand dainty, pretty girls. While this doesn’t offer any real leverage, at least it might get you back unscathed.”

Qi An held these words as gold, but she forgot to ask: What should she do if she ran into both of them at the same time?

Looking at the woman in front of her wearing an iron mask and clutching silver needles, and the hulking man in full armor carrying a giant hammer on his shoulder, she desperately wanted to turn around and run away. But thinking of that beautiful future, her feet wouldn’t budge.

She couldn’t give up without even trying. What if she was having a lucky day, and these two were in a good mood and willing to let her off?

So, she cleared her throat and recited the prepared speech: “I am the immortal official Qi An of the Heavenly Realm. I have come specially to propose on behalf of the Heavenly Realm’s Third Prince, Yang Xu, to Princess Yue Jiao of your realm. I hope to have an audience with the Demon Lord to discuss the relevant matters.”

General Giant-Hammer’s voice boomed like a bell: “Those pedantic fellows who came the other day rambled on and on. You are the most concise and to the point that’s not bad.”

It was a compliment! Things seemed to be looking up.

However, before Qi An could even be happy, she heard the Iron-Faced Lady scoff from behind her mask, saying chillingly: “Not bad? I think she’s just being evasive, thinking we’re easy to fool! Today, unless you can defeat us, don’t even think about seeing the Demon Lord.”

Qi An smiled gracefully: “Lady, you misunderstand. The medical expenses for the Hehe Immortal Palace over this past month have almost exceeded the total medical expenses of the entire previous year. How could this small immortal think the two of you were easy to fool? It’s just that this is my first time acting as a matchmaker, and I’m a bit unfamiliar with the process. I hope the two of you will forgive me.”

The Iron-Faced Lady sneered: “Sending a green, inexperienced immortal to propose and you say you aren’t trying to fool us!”

Qi An was speechless. Senior immortal officials had come before, even Yue Lao himself had been dispatched, and hadn’t they all been beaten back? Otherwise, why would they let a temp worker like her handle such an important job?

But the Iron-Faced Lady didn’t give her a chance to argue. As soon as she finished speaking, she attacked. Several silver needles, coated in the sunset’s glow, shot toward Qi An simultaneously.

The moment Qi An sensed the danger, she spun to dodge. However, before her feet could land, she saw in her peripheral vision that the General was swinging his giant hammer toward her. She immediately gathered wind in her palms, struck the ground, and used the force of the wind to escape the danger zone.

After putting some distance between herself and the two demons, she clutched her heart and said in a soft, dainty voice: “I am only a civil immortal official. Even if the two of you win by force, it wouldn’t be a glorious victory. It would only damage your reputations. How about we negotiate? Let’s not use force, shall we?”

The Iron-Faced Lady raised her hand, and all the silver needles returned to her.

A murderous glint flashed in her eyes, and she said sternly: “What a joke. Do you think we demons have any reputation in the eyes of you gods? Instead of letting you smear us, we might as well make the crime official.”

“Lady, that’s not the right way to look at it. Reputation is something you earn for yourself.” Qi An began to reason with them: “For example, when our head, Yue Lao, came to visit the other day, if you had respected his age and gone a bit easier on him, he could have spread word of your realm’s virtue of respecting elders back in the Heavenly Realm, couldn’t he?”

The Iron-Faced Lady shot a cold, piercing glare at Qi An: “Hmph! That old man? I only gave him a little scare, and he fell off his cloud on his own. You’re blaming that on me? You gods really know how to turn black into white! And you shameless lot are actually dreaming of marrying our Princess? Keep dreaming!”

Qi An paused silently, remembering how Yue Lao had stammered when asked about his injuries after returning to the Immortal Palace. She realized with a flash of insight why he hadn’t been willing to talk about it in detail.

Feeling awkward, and in order to protect the reputation of her boss and the Hehe Immortal Palace, she could only take the blame on herself.

“Well… perhaps I misunderstood that incident. But I have another proposal. I am only a hundred-odd years old; in front of the two of you, I can barely be considered a child. Why don’t you let me pass? When I return to the Heavenly Realm, I will certainly spread the word about your noble virtue of protecting the young.”

The Iron-Faced Lady was about to mock her, but General Giant-Hammer spoke up: “Don’t fall for her tricks. She’s stalling for time.”

Upon hearing this, the Iron-Faced Lady reacted immediately. She stopped talking and suddenly burst out with fierce killing intent. Burning with rage, she and the General attacked Qi An together.

However, just as they moved, a golden immortal net suddenly fell from above, covering their heads. The two reacted decisively, splitting to dodge left and right but they hadn’t expected there to be another net on each side.

Three nets descended simultaneously, trapping them tightly. No matter how they struggled, they couldn’t break free.

Qi An breathed a slight sigh of relief. Thank goodness she had managed to set up the trap array in time.

These three immortal nets had cost her entire life savings, and she had poured most of her magic power into them; they should hold them for a while.

“My apologies, it’s a grievance to have the two of you stay in this immortal net for a while.” After saying this, she tapped the ground and gracefully vaulted over them.

However, before she had gone far, she suddenly heard a loud boom behind her. Looking back, she saw that her immortal net, which seemed to shimmer with the golden glow of money, was torn to shreds, turned into dust by the General in the blink of an eye.

She froze in her tracks, staring blankly at the now-free Iron-Faced Lady and General Giant-Hammer. She looked up and sighed to the heavens did the power of money really not make up for the gap in magic power?

For a moment, she didn’t know whether to grieve for her entire fortune going down the drain or worry about her own fate.

She watched helplessly as the two demons closed in. Faced with a massive gap in strength, she bowed her head in defeat and gave a sheepish laugh: “The two of you truly deserve to be the right and left hands of the Demon Lord top-tier experts of the Demon Realm! I admire you! In that case, I won’t disturb you any further. I’ll return to the Immortal Palace to report back first. I’ll bring some immortal peaches to taste another day.”

“Your butt-kissing skills are also top-tier,” the Iron-Faced Lady glared at her. “But it’s too late. Even if you want to leave now, you’ll have to wait until I’ve vented my anger!”

Qi An knew she was done for.

Watching the Iron-Faced Lady raise her hand to wave the silver needles, her expression became surprisingly calm. She just stood there, resigned, without a trace of evasion.

She knew her own limitations; she knew she couldn’t beat them. Since she was going to get hurt whether she resisted or not, she might as well get it over with quickly, saving some energy for her return to the Heavenly Realm.

At any rate, relations between the Heavenly and Demon Realms were currently harmonious, and both sides tacitly agreed to turn a blind eye to minor scuffles, as long as no lives were taken. A few injuries? She could handle it. She only hoped that after returning to the Palace, she could report it as a work-related injury and at least claw back some of the money spent on the immortal nets.

Watching the silver needles aim straight for her forehead and heart, she held her breath nervously, her hand involuntarily moving to her waist.

Just as the needles were about to pierce her body, a dark, mysterious light shot out from her waist, forming a pale-blue barrier around her. In an instant, those silver needles were reduced to powder.

The Iron-Faced Lady’s eyes were filled with disbelief. She roared angrily: “That was a magical artifact I refined with my own magic power and vital blood! How could a useless little immortal like you destroy it!”

General Giant-Hammer’s expression also changed. He asked in a low voice: “What did you do? With your level of magic, it’s impossible to accomplish such a thing.”

Facing their questions, Qi An looked completely blank: “If I said I didn’t know either, would you believe me?”

The Iron-Faced Lady’s veins popped out: “You’re playing with me!”

With a shout, the Iron-Faced Lady turned into a blur, instantly appearing before Qi An. She turned her palms into claws, her ten fingers tipped with concentrated magic and demonic energy, wanting to pierce the barrier and strike Qi An directly.

At the same time, the General came alongside her, swinging his hammer toward Qi An.

Qi An was too slow to react; she couldn’t dodge. But even if she had enough time to react, she likely would have chosen to stay put anyway.

Although she didn’t know where this suddenly appearing barrier came from, she knew it could protect her.

This barrier had appeared once before, a hundred years ago on the day of her tribulation. It had blocked nine heavenly lightning strikes for her, helping her ascend.

She had originally assumed it was a fixed part of the tribulation process—that it appeared on everyone who ascended. She hadn’t expected it to appear again after all these years.

She didn’t know what had triggered it, but she believed that if this thing could withstand heavenly lightning, it should be able to handle the attacks of the two demons in front of her.

Sure enough, the moment they touched the barrier, it was as if they had been struck by lightning. Their bodies trembled several times, and then they were flicked away, landing on the ground a hundred paces away, where they immediately fainted.

Even though Qi An had anticipated this, she was still stunned into silence. She hadn’t expected this thing to be so powerful easily knocking unconscious two Demon Realm elders that the entire Hehe Immortal Palace couldn’t handle.

She tentatively reached out a finger, wanting to feel the texture of the barrier, but the next moment, the barrier vanished into thin air.

She pulled her hand back cautiously, feeling that the barrier was too eerie.

However, the most important thing right now was not to investigate the barrier, but to propose. Both the Iron-Faced Lady and the General were unconscious; there was no one left to stop her.

She walked to the gate of Yuetong Palace and was about to use her magic to knock, when the gate made a dull sound and opened from the inside.

Qi An stood still, staring as a youth dressed in white walked out from the palace. In that instant, she felt as if all things had become silent, a spring breeze brushed her face, and her heart skipped a beat.

This person… he was truly, incredibly beautiful.