The Demon Lord Relied on His Imagination to Get Together with the Protagonist. - Chapter 41.1

Chapter 41.1

“Master, what’s wrong?”

Cen Letian noticed that his Master seemed distracted. He thought she might be tired from helping out during the day, so he poured Immortal Master Fu Luan a cup of clear tea.

Fu Luan stared distractedly at the rising steam in the cup and suddenly muttered to herself: “I keep feeling that the people here look familiar, and not just one person, but many… they all give me a very familiar feeling.”

“How could that be?” Cen Letian smiled. “It must be your Master’s delusion. We’ve never been to the Scarlet Sky Realm, nor have we ever had any interaction with them, so how could you find them familiar?”

“Perhaps,” Fu Luan rubbed her temples, letting her white hair loose. While patiently letting her disciples help her dress her hair, she said, “I hope I was mistaken. After all, decades have passed. The deceased are no more, so where would familiarity come from?”

Since they were going to disrupt the ritual at night, Fu Luan planned to dress up as the bride at the wedding scene. Then, she would have her disciples take the real bride away, which would stop the wedding procession and break the nightmare.

They had used their connections to get an identical wedding dress worn by the bride every night, which was placed by the couch.

Fu Luan hadn’t looked earlier, but now that she looked, that familiar feeling surged again.

With the phoenix coronet fully placed, Fu Luan looked at herself in the mirror while changing her frosty white hair to pitch black.

This time, it was Cen Letian’s turn to be surprised. He looked at Immortal Master Fu Luan in the bronze mirror and sighed with emotion: “Master, honestly, I find you familiar too, in this attire.”

Fu Luan: ???

Cen Letian asked: “Master, where were you from before you ascended?”

“Xinglin Kingdom,” Fu Luan said. “I thought you knew.”

Cen Letian was delighted: “Master! I am from Xinglin too!”

Fu Luan’s expression shifted slightly, and then she lowered her gaze: “I ascended many years before you. We shouldn’t have met in the mortal world.”

Cen Letian: “Oh? Then why do I find Master so familiar in this attire?”

“Don’t ask anymore,” Fu Luan spoke this way for the first time. She interrupted Cen Letian and asked, “Is there any movement from the Demon Lord’s side?”

There was no movement from the Demon Lord’s side.

During the day, Tong Siqing was bored and pestered Shi Zhihua to tell her a story. Shi Zhihua told the story very seriously, but the listener kept bursting into laughter.

After a while, Qing Lin and Su Rong also came to listen.

Then, the three of them laughed together.

Shi Zhihua: “…”

Was it that funny? I’m telling a story in earnest.

“Is everything the Venerable Lord said true?” Su Rong asked. “No intentional jokes?”

“It’s true,” Shi Zhihua said helplessly. “When this Venerable One first became a demon, before ascending to the position of Demon Lord, I indeed encountered quite a few unlucky things.”

Tong Siqing was still laughing non-stop on the side: “Hahahahaha…”

Shi Zhihua: “…”

Stop laughing.

She hadn’t intentionally told a joke just now. She had simply brought up a small incident from those years, starting from when she hadn’t yet transformed into human form. At that time, she was a black leopard demon. One day, she encountered a very beautiful white rabbit and was planning to eat it as an extra meal, when she unluckily ran into the Saint-Scribe.

The Saint-Scribe stopped her from eating the rabbit and, ridiculously, pointed at the rabbit and told her that the rabbit had a thread of destiny with her and would be her future wife.

Shi Zhihua was instantly enraged.

Even an Immortal shouldn’t speak so carelessly! She already had a thousand years of cultivation then and was about to transform into human form. How could she lay hands on a rabbit with no spiritual power whatsoever?

“The Saint-Scribe was already the Celestial Venerable then,” Shi Zhihua said, resting her chin on her hand. “This Venerable One thought at the time, if I were to ever like someone in the future, my other half must be my equal, capable of commanding awe in one region.”

With her ambition, she naturally wouldn’t be content, nor would she ever imagine her other half to be of a delicate and tender nature.

“This Venerable One has always disliked pretentious women,” Shi Zhihua said. “In all the years since becoming the Demon Lord, those women who are sticky and clueless like glue dare not approach me.”

Now, she looked at Tong Siqing beside her and suddenly felt a sting of embarrassment.

Tong Siqing wasn’t just laughing at this one point. She rarely heard about her Father Venerable from others. When she went to the Father Cloud Palace in the Xianning Sect, she always greeted him with self-restraint and courtesy, and then excused herself. To her, “Father Venerable” was like a cold, emotionless divine statue, utterly incapable of eliciting any due intimacy.

And in the Xianning Sect, presumptuously discussing the Celestial Venerable was a great sin. Everyone’s speech was strictly controlled. They couldn’t make fun of the Celestial Venerable’s image. Even when mentioning the Celestial Venerable Saint-Scribe, it was all flowery, positive commentary.

Therefore, this was the first time Tong Siqing had heard such an amusing anecdote about her Father Venerable elsewhere.

Too amusing.

Father Venerable actually pointed at a rabbit and told a black leopard that it was its other half.

Hahahahahaha!

This story was both absurd and entertaining.

“What are you laughing at?” Shi Zhihua shot her a glance. “Isn’t it all your Father Venerable’s fault for being so improper?”

Tong Siqing nodded: “Yes, yes, it’s all my Fath…”

…Father Venerable?

Wait.

This address seemed a bit off.

Tong Siqing’s smile froze. She didn’t know when Zhihua had learned her true identity.

She always wore all her thoughts on her face. The moment those two words slipped out, she instantly stopped laughing, looking at everyone with disbelief.

Zhihua, Su Rong, and Qing Lin all had no change in expression, as if they hadn’t heard, or as if it was already commonplace.

Tong Siqing didn’t dare to delve deeper and could only follow Zhihua’s lead and move past the subject.

The good news was that she finally stopped laughing presumptuously at Zhihua.

Shi Zhihua knew exactly what she was thinking. She had deliberately spoken that way just now to put Tong Siqing in her place a little, so that the other party wouldn’t be so smug.

Su Rong watched the psychological exchange between the two and found it very interesting. She then said to the Demon Lord: “It is truly remarkable that the Venerable Lord encountered such an utterly unique and interesting event. Although it’s a bit nonsensical, it’s very fun to listen to.”

In other words, she was urging her—Anything else? Say it quickly to cheer us up.

Shi Zhihua: “…”

What is it today? Everyone is eagerly looking for trouble.

“There is,” Shi Zhihua said with a forced smile. “Qing Lin once brought back a beautiful mirror for this Venerable One. It wasn’t like an ordinary bronze mirror, but one with a clear and transparent surface. This Venerable One liked it very much and placed it in the bedroom that very day. Who knew that the broken mirror would speak that very night? This Venerable One found it interesting and asked it about my destined love…”

Ah? Isn’t this just like my ability to foresee heavenly secrets!

Tong Siqing was very interested in this and asked: “Did it tell the truth?”

“Completely baseless, all nonsense,” Shi Zhihua said. “This Venerable One didn’t believe it, so I smashed it.”

Sigh. So it wasn’t one that told the truth.

Tong Siqing sighed regretfully.

Qing Lin on the side, however, pressed Shi Zhihua: “Venerable Lord, why don’t you tell us the mirror’s reply? I can analyze for the Venerable Lord whether its words were biased.”

Shi Zhihua said coldly: “It said that even if this Venerable One became the Demon Lord, I wouldn’t be able to indulge in excessive luxury and debauchery. It even said that one day I would fall deeply in love with someone, a love that would be unrequited, causing me heartache and anguish…”

Everyone: “…”

This… didn’t the mirror speak quite accurately?

Isn’t that true?

Qing Lin could testify that this perfectly predicted the current situation of their Venerable Lord. It was an exact match.

Shi Zhihua was likely infuriated into embarrassment at the time. After all, she had the pride of a Great Demon. As a demon, most are promiscuous and lascivious, fond of beautiful women and delicate maidens. She should naturally be the same. Truthfully, a demon being so deeply in love would be considered an anomaly in the Demon Realm.

At that time, Shi Zhihua smashed the mirror after hearing it.

She didn’t believe it. There was no way she would become a person of deep affection.

Who would have thought that a few short years later, she became the Demon Lord, without the countless beauties she imagined, or beautiful concubines and virtuous ladies? The inner palace was empty, without even a personal attendant.

Shi Zhihua: “…”

Su Rong chuckled and asked: “If you could do it all over again, the Venerable Lord probably wouldn’t smash the mirror, would you?”

Shi Zhihua was indignant: “This Venerable One does not regret it. It must be that unlucky mirror’s inauspicious words that brought me to this plight.”

Everyone: “…”

It wasn’t completely dark yet. The few of them were waiting for night to fall. The atmosphere was quite relaxed, and everyone was in a state of ease. They found a small lakeside pavilion, chatting and waiting.

While the Demon Lord recounted stories from the past, Su Rong couldn’t help but laugh softly.

“I smashed that mirror, only to find out that it was the legendary Immortal artifact, the Phantom Mirror,” Shi Zhihua said. “But when I went to look for it again, its traces were hard to find. It is thanks to Su Rong knowing the whereabouts of the Phantom Mirror that we found the Scarlet Sky Realm.”

Su Rong was stunned she didn’t know where it was. “In the Scarlet Sky Realm” was just a fabricated excuse!

It was precisely because she heard that the Phantom Mirror had long since vanished that she lied like that initially. Who would have thought that the Venerable Lord had actually encountered that Immortal artifact!

Su Rong grew nervous, and cold sweat broke out.

Shi Zhihua patted her shoulder: “Su Rong has performed a meritorious service. When this Venerable One finds the Immortal artifact, I will definitely reward you heavily.”

Su Rong trembled with fear: “Can a broken mirror be fixed?”

“I don’t know if it can be fixed, but this Venerable One isn’t taking it to fix it,” Shi Zhihua said. “It’s just to cause trouble for others without benefiting myself. Although this Venerable One has no intention of collecting all Immortal artifacts, I also cannot allow others to collect them. Otherwise, there will be endless conflicts in the Three Realms, and a heap of troubles. If the object is with this Venerable One, those who lack courage will give up on the idea.”

Su Rong: “…Mm.”

If the Venerable Lord finds out I deceived her, I will surely suffer a terrible death.

Su Rong was on the verge of tears, her mood sinking again.

Because the Phantom Mirror wasn’t in the Scarlet Sky Realm at all!

Tong Siqing knew where the Phantom Mirror was.

That ugly mirror was in the Father Cloud Palace, personally guarded by her Father Venerable. No one could steal it.

Zhihua’s wish would likely fall through. If the other party failed to find the Phantom Mirror’s whereabouts in the end, she would definitely be very sad.

There was no time to think about this now. The people who habitually wandered out at night also started moving. The few of them had to quickly tidy up and follow the main group.

There were far too many people on the street.

However, tonight was much livelier than last night. The people who should have turned into white bones after last night had not died. For some unknown reason, they were resurrected tonight and continued to wander with the crowd in the same direction.

Tong Siqing asked a person a few questions. The person replied that it seemed that because the number of people was decreasing, the Eldest Princess found it not lively enough, so she specially pardoned the deceased to be resurrected and join in to build momentum for the wedding banquet.

“Who is getting married? Who is the wedding for?”

Tong Siqing asked, and the person answered: “Eldest Princess Wei Luan of Xinglin Kingdom and a young master from the Demon Realm.”

Tong Siqing asked again: “What is the young master’s name?”

The person answered meticulously, like an emotionless tool: “Yu Xi.”

After gathering the information, Tong Siqing relayed the original words to the Demon Lord and the others.

Shi Zhihua and Qing Lin’s expressions were very complex.

Tong Siqing asked: “Is something wrong?”

“The Xinglin Kingdom was destroyed decades ago,” Shi Zhihua said. “And that Yu Xi was once this Venerable One’s subordinate.”

Qing Lin said: “Before Su Rong came, Yu Xi and I both served the Venerable Lord.”

What?

Tong Siqing asked: “I stayed in the Palace of Decadence and Lust for so long and didn’t see any sign of Yu Xi. Did the Venerable Lord exile him?”

Qing Lin didn’t speak. Shi Zhihua also remained silent for a while. After a moment, the Demon Lord broke the silence: “He deceived this Venerable One, did something very wicked, and fled in fear of punishment. He never returned to the Demon Realm.”

Nearly a hundred years ago, Shi Zhihua, as the Demon Lord, was very ambitious, determined to gather all Immortal artifacts in the world and unify the Three Realms. When she learned that she had shattered the Phantom Mirror, she immediately ordered Qing Lin and Yu Xi to search for it.

“Later, when they found it, it was discovered that half of the object had been taken by the Immortal Realm, and the other half had fallen into the royal palace of the Xinglin Kingdom,” Shi Zhihua said. “However, it is very difficult for our Demon Clan to attack the royalty. Firstly, we cannot kill them, and secondly, it easily invites heavenly retribution.”

This was indeed a tricky matter. Tong Siqing nodded, recalling the ugly mirror in the Father Cloud Palace. That mirror was the Phantom Mirror. Father Venerable hadn’t lied to her, but… it wasn’t complete. Because the mirror had been shattered, the Xianning Sect only had half, which Father Venerable had pieced together.

It was pieced together very poorly, though.

Tong Siqing suddenly understood, and at the same time, she felt relieved. Perhaps the other half of the mirror was indeed in the Scarlet Sky Realm!

Zhihua still had a very high chance of success.

“Since they couldn’t kill the royalty, Yu Xi turned to killing the common people of Xinglin. He guarded the city gate, trapping everyone inside to deplete their resources. As soon as someone couldn’t bear it and tried to come out, they would be killed by him,” Shi Zhihua said. “The Emperor of Xinglin Kingdom was young. The only one in charge was the then Eldest Princess of Xinglin, Wei Luan. Seeing that the citizens of the entire city were about to perish from imprisonment, she couldn’t bear it and proposed to negotiate terms with the Demon Clan.”

Tong Siqing said: “Then couldn’t the Venerable Lord have just demanded the Phantom Mirror from the other party?”

“Yes, a normal person would think so, wouldn’t they,” Shi Zhihua was speechless whenever she thought of this matter. She sighed: “Who knew that Yu Xi was someone who was driven by lust upon seeing beauty? After seeing the Eldest Princess of Xinglin, he became infatuated with her beauty and deliberately twisted the facts when he returned to report to this Venerable One.”

Qing Lin continued for the Demon Lord: “What Yu Xi told the Venerable Lord at the time was that Xinglin refused to agree to the condition, so he came up with a good idea—to marry into Xinglin, to marry the Eldest Princess of Xinglin. After the marriage, he would have free access to the Imperial City and could help the Demon Realm find the Immortal artifact, the Phantom Mirror.”

Tong Siqing: “How beautiful?”

Shi Zhihua: ???

Is that the focus?

“How beautiful exactly, to make the Venerable Lord’s confidant so deeply infatuated,” Tong Siqing was very incredulous. “There are many beauties in the Demon Realm. It seems Wei Luan must be the most beautiful woman in the world.”

Shi Zhihua interrupted her fantasy: “No. There are many beauties in the Demon Realm, but most demons are promiscuous, wanting to possess any beauty they see. That Yu Xi wasn’t without lovers. On the contrary, he frequently changed partners every few days.”

Tong Siqing: “Then why did the Venerable Lord…”

“Isn’t it because of that unlucky mirror,” Shi Zhihua said, gritting her teeth. “If you don’t ask questions properly again, this Venerable One won’t continue.”

Tong Siqing immediately shut up, blinking her eyes to signal that she wouldn’t talk.

Shi Zhihua waved her hand at Qing Lin: “Qing Lin, you tell it.”

Qing Lin nodded: “On the day of the wedding, the entire Xinglin was filled with the sounds of gongs and drums, lively and bustling. Yu Xi rode a tall horse, full of vigor, to marry the beauty. But guess what happened?”

Tong Siqing: “What happened?”

Su Rong: “What happened?”

Shi Zhihua cleared her throat: “Qing Lin, are you telling a storytelling performance?”

Qing Lin immediately stopped being smug and quickly became serious: “Well, the Eldest Princess of Xinglin turned out to have great merit. Just as she was about to be married, she actually ascended to become an Immortal!”

Tong Siqing: “Wow.”

Su Rong also exclaimed: “How impressive. The number of mortals who ascend in the Xianning Sect each year is only a handful, very few. It seems this Eldest Princess of Xinglin had great merit, did many good deeds, and the accumulated merit finally broke out at the critical moment, allowing her to ascend to Immortality.”

Qing Lin nodded: “Exactly. This truly infuriated Yu Xi.”

Shi Zhihua’s voice came through, cold and faint: “This stupid fellow almost drove me to death too.”

Because the idiot failed to successfully marry and, while drowning his sorrows in alcohol, got so drunk that he accidentally set fire to the Nine-Layered Palace of Xinglin, and the Phantom Mirror was instantly burned to nothing by him.

At the time, Eldest Princess Wei Luan ascended to Immortality in front of thousands of common people, instantly transforming from a mortal to an Immortal, which completely shocked Yu Xi.

After ascension, the mortal body would go dormant. This Eldest Princess was also very carefree, directly abandoning her mortal body and flying away.

Tong Siqing asked: “Then wasn’t she afraid that Yu Xi would harm the common people?”

“Yu Xi wouldn’t dare,” Su Rong said. “The homeland where an Immortal ascends is considered the Immortal’s territory. Future merit temples and shrines will primarily be established there. Simply put, that area is covered by this Immortal Wei Luan. If demons were to harm the local people, they would surely be sought out for trouble later.”

Tong Siqing didn’t understand this, as she hadn’t ascended. She was born an Immortal, so she didn’t understand these intricacies and social conventions.

Su Rong explained: “A mortal who ascends has the status of an entry-level disciple of Xianning, but because they have initial merit, they cultivate much faster. Those disciples who ascend through cultivation methods are far inferior to those who ascend as mortals.”

So that was how it was.

There were so many classifications within the disciples.

“After Eldest Princess Wei Luan ascended, she should be able to advance in rank within a few years,” Su Rong calculated and said, “By this age, she is at least an Immortal Master now.”

Tong Siqing sighed with emotion: “That’s wonderful.”

Qing Lin: “Hasn’t everyone noticed a problem?”

Tong Siqing: “What problem?”

“Since Wei Luan has already ascended, who is getting married to Yu Xi in the Scarlet Sky Realm now?” Qing Lin paused. “Didn’t her mortal body die? How can a dead person get married?”

Oh, right.

Tong Siqing echoed her: “How can she get married?”

Perhaps… the one getting married tonight is someone else.

“Whether that Eldest Princess Wei Luan is her actual self or not, we’ll set that aside for now…” Shi Zhihua tapped her knuckles. “This Venerable One is more concerned with another question—what is the relationship between Wei Luan and Fu Luan?”

The others were all startled, turning to look at Shi Zhihua.

Shi Zhihua asked Su Rong: “Su Rong, when your Xianning Immortals take their Immortal titles, how are they generally chosen?”

Su Rong replied: “Generally, the Master grants one character, and then the disciple takes one character from their own name. The two characters are combined…”

Very well, no need to say more.

Shi Zhihua’s face darkened: “Fu Luan coming to the Scarlet Sky Realm, this Venerable One does not believe she is merely here to save the Scarlet Sky Realm from disaster.”

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