The Beautiful Demon Lord’s Disciple Won’t Pretend Anymore - Chapter 2

When Xu Chengbi first transmigrated into this world, he had imagined himself as an invincible demon lord. He didn’t demand that everyone treat him with reverence, but he at least expected not to be a tiger bullied by dogs just because he had fallen on hard times.

The sheer pressure radiating from Hua Yao left Xu Chengbi’s limbs feeling weak and aching. After stumbling a few times, he was forced to kneel before his captor, the sharp stones on the ground digging painfully into his knees.

He grimaced in pain, his inner rage burning bright. When he heard Hua Yao’s words, his anger flared even higher. He snapped his head up, locked eyes with Hua Yao’s icy pupils, and sneered, “Manners? What manners? I only know that you have no right to lock me up here. Do you realize this is illegal detention? You could go to jail for this!”

Hua Yao had expected to hear vulgar, crude insults from Xu Chengbi, but he hadn’t anticipated this. He couldn’t help but slightly raise his eyebrows, masking his surprise well. After locking eyes with Xu Chengbi for a moment, he calmly withdrew his hand, shifted his gaze away, and said indifferently, “If you knew this would happen, why did you act as you did in the past?”

He was referring to the time Xu Chengbi had kidnapped beauties to the demon realm to satisfy his own amusement, which had ignited widespread public outrage.

Upon hearing this, Xu Chengbi was rendered speechless.

Damn it, I really don’t want to carry the blame for that!

Xu Chengbi’s chest heaved rapidly. After a long moment, he swallowed his bitterness and muttered with feigned reluctance, “If you let me out, I promise I won’t cause any more trouble.”

As if.

Once he got out, the first thing he would do was finish off this “pretty boy” who had illegally imprisoned him.

Xu Chengbi acted obedient and well-behaved on the surface, but inwardly, he was as savage as any villain.

“Although you have broken through your bottleneck, you still cannot control your emotions or your spiritual energy very well.”

Hua Yao flicked his fingertips, and semi-transparent chains slithered out from his palm, slowly binding themselves around Xu Chengbi’s wrists, ankles, and neck.

Hua Yao waved his hand to dispel the barrier, then flicked his fingers again, dragging Xu Chengbi toward him like a dead dog. He leaned over, looking down at Xu Chengbi, who was struggling to break the chain around his neck—and spoke in a soft voice:

“Given your current level of cultivation, the barrier can no longer hold you for long. But if one day you truly repent, my ‘Oblivion Lock’ will naturally fall away from you.”

The Oblivion Lock was one of Hua Yao’s personal artifacts, forged entirely from ice. A drop of Hua Yao’s own heart’s blood was condensed in the center of the chain, making it bitingly cold. As soon as it touched Xu Chengbi’s body, he shivered uncontrollably.

Hua Yao turned around, ignoring how Xu Chengbi cursed at him from behind, or how he threatened to “f*ck you to death” once he got out. He simply walked away.

After all, he had more important matters to attend to.

Hua Yao’s cultivation had already reached the Tribulation Stage. He should have ascended to immortality a hundred years ago, but for some reason, he had encountered a sudden bottleneck and remained within the Lingxiao Pavilion, serving as an elder.

As soon as he returned to the Hall of Absolute Emotion, a young attendant trotted up to report that the princess of the Yulong Kingdom in the Eastern Continent was getting married soon and had sent an invitation for him to attend.

Hua Yao let the attendant remove his outer robe, then changed into a pale cyan gauze garment, draped a cloak over his shoulders, and fastened it at the neck. He didn’t even glance at the gold-dusted invitation, saying in a low voice:

“Decline it.”

His voice was not loud, but cold and clear, like the mist in a mountain valley at dawn—refreshing and bringing clarity to the mind when it brushed past one’s ears.

Hearing this, the attendant dared not delay any further. He quickly took the invitation and retreated. Watching Hua Yao finish tidying his appearance and wiping the traces of blood from his face, he hurried out of the Hall of Absolute Emotion.

“Senior Brother, why didn’t the Master accept the overtures of the Grand Princess of Yulong?”

Nearby, a young Taoist disciple watched his Senior Brother place the invitation onto an eternal flame. The note, still carrying the faint fragrance of a woman, quickly turned to charred ash.

“I heard that the Master accidentally got injured while saving the Princess during his travels, and out of gratitude for his kindness, she went to the Goddess of Yulong Mountain to ask for the Azure Jade Si Nan to treat him… One thing led to another, and it sounds like a beautiful romance.”

“What would you know?” The young disciple who was burning the invitation had a pair of fox-like eyes. He cast a sidelong glance at his foolish Junior Brother. Under the lamplight, his pupils emitted a gold-leaf luster, revealing a hint of cunning:

“The Master cultivates the Path of No Emotion. He has already reached the Tribulation Stage and will soon ascend to immortality once he breaks through his bottleneck. While the Grand Princess of Yulong has a noble status, she is, after all, a mere mortal. How could she be a match for the Master?”

The fox-eyed disciple scolded him lightly, “It’s a pity you are also cultivating the Path of No Emotion, yet your head is full of romance. Your Dao heart is not firm. I am punishing you to copy the ‘Precepts of Clearing the Heart’ ten times, so your mind doesn’t wander and cause you to be punished by the Master later.”

“Yes,” the young disciple, who had been full of curiosity just a moment ago, turned pale and retreated timidly.

Meanwhile, Hua Yao had hurried to Mount Guanghan, where his disciples were already waiting by the edge of the mountain, obediently listening for his instructions.

“Today, I will teach you all how to draw a teleportation array.”

Although Hua Yao cultivated the Path of No Emotion, he was also quite knowledgeable about arrays. As he spoke, he drew a teleportation array on the ground as a demonstration.

The patterns he drew were complex, and the inner-sect disciples dared not slack off. Most of them pulled their attention away from Hua Yao’s cold, beautiful profile and focused intently on the ground. Aside from a few who were giggling and not taking it seriously, they all became well-behaved after receiving a stern, heavy glare from Hua Yao.

One short, chubby youth wearing a golden crown was a bit unique. His name was Ren Jun. Although he was plain-looking, possessed mediocre talent, and didn’t enjoy cultivation, it was said that he was the illegitimate younger brother of the Grand Princess of Yulong. Because Hua Yao had received the favor of the Azure Jade Si Nan from the Princess, he had taken Ren Jun in as his chief disciple to repay the debt.

He seemed somewhat distracted today, drawing the array symbols crookedly. Noticing Ren Jun’s lack of focus, Hua Yao frowned and walked over to remind him to concentrate.

Ren Jun had not expected to be called out by the Master in front of everyone. He blushed, quickly collected his thoughts, and nodded in agreement.

Only then did Hua Yao feel at ease and walk away.

One by one, the disciples began to disappear from Hua Yao’s sight as they successfully activated their arrays.

Watching his highly intuitive disciples successfully draw the teleportation arrays, Hua Yao finally allowed himself to let out a breath he had been holding.

Once the forced suppression of his internal energy was lifted, it surged up like a breaking levee. Hua Yao unexpectedly coughed up a mouthful of blood, feeling the bottleneck he was struggling to break through deepen further, forcing him to sit cross-legged in meditation to regulate his inner energy.

The Oblivion Lock used to trap Xu Chengbi was fueled by his own heart’s blood, which had drained much of his spiritual power and nearly compromised his ability to suppress the injuries already present in his body.

But without it, now that Xu Chengbi’s cultivation had reached a level nearly equal to his own, he could not risk letting him remain in the Forbidden Land without the restraint of the lock, lest he break out and wreak havoc on the world.

However, Hua Yao had already suffered many injuries a hundred years ago to seal Xu Chengbi, and now it was like adding insult to injury.

The sound of his meridians snapping could still be heard. Hua Yao furrowed his brows tightly. Faint red lines, resembling cinnabar or fresh blood, kept emerging on his wrists, slowly condensing into a red dot. It flickered in and out, secretly suppressing the growth of his cultivation.

Hua Yao tried to suppress the chaotic spiritual energy rampaging through his body. But just as he managed to take a breath and was preparing to guide the chaotic energy through his meridians, a shrill scream suddenly rang out from the distance.

Accompanied by the roar of a demonic beast, it sounded like a sharp claw tearing through his eardrums, slamming hard into his fragile heart and causing his soul to tremble violently.

Hua Yao was jolted into a cold sweat. His meditation was interrupted, and the unguided energy attacked his heart, forcing him to spit out another mouthful of blood.

He couldn’t afford to hesitate. He quickly stood up and, using his toes to skim across the tops of the bamboo, flew toward the source of the scream. Just as he landed on a bamboo tip, he saw the demonic beast kept in the Forbidden Land opening its bloody maw, biting the body of an inner-sect disciple in half.

Ren Jun, the youth who had been drawing arrays with his fellow disciples just moments ago, had died on the spot. His body was shattered into countless pieces of flesh and blood, which rolled onto the ground, kicking up clouds of dust and instantly staining the eyes of everyone present red.

Hua Yao had not expected that because of his momentary lapse in concentration, Ren Jun had drawn the teleportation seal incorrectly and accidentally transported himself into the Forbidden Land where Xu Chengbi’s mount, Mie Shi (World Extinguisher), was imprisoned.

Mie Shi was a fierce beast covered in eyes. The eyeballs on its limbs darted around as it moved, which was truly terrifying. It resembled an ape with thick, hard black fur. When it opened its mouth, it revealed rows of jagged fangs like dense sword blades embedded in its gums. When it roared, the stench blowing out with the gale was enough to make people unable to open their eyes.

Due to its long imprisonment, Mie Shi’s malevolence had reached its peak, and it had killed Ren Jun instantly upon his accidental intrusion.

The fellow disciples who had rushed to the scene saw the broken remains of bodies littering the ground. Their burning passion was doused as if by cold water. The timid ones turned pale with fright on the spot, while the braver ones tried to summon their life-swords to defend themselves, only to be chased around by the ferocious beast, completely powerless to retaliate.

Hua Yao frowned. He raised his fingertips slightly, conjuring a bow and arrow out of thin air using his spiritual energy. He slowly pulled the string to its limit. Just as Mie Shi opened its mouth, ready to bite another inner-sect disciple to death, he released his fingers. Three arrows flew simultaneously, nailing themselves into the ground around Mie Shi.

The three arrows seemed to form some kind of barrier, faintly revealing the brilliant light of the Taiji Bagua. It quickly enveloped Mie Shi.

Mie Shi tried to move, but it was pinned down by the barrier, unable to budge.

Despite its thrashing, it could not escape the semi-transparent film of spiritual energy. In its struggle, it let out a desperate, broken roar that sounded like a cracked gong, making everyone’s eardrums ache. The dense cluster of eyes all over its body widened simultaneously, turning in unison to glare at Hua Yao. The pitch-black pupils were filled with bone-deep hatred, making one’s scalp crawl.

Hua Yao’s inner energy was already in flux. Being shouted at like this made his hand shake, and he was nearly blown away by the sound waves.

Fortunately, after moving back a few meters, he stabilized his posture. Resisting the metallic taste of blood in his throat, he prepared to cast a spell to send all the disciples back to the safety of the back mountain, so he could face Mie Shi alone.

But what he didn’t anticipate was that due to the increase in Xu Chengbi’s cultivation, Mie Shi’s power had also increased. Before Hua Yao could cast the spell, the beast locked its gaze on him. As if recognizing this was the very enemy who had sealed it away a hundred years ago, it planted its heavy limbs and opened its fangs-filled maw. Regardless of the pain as it slammed into the barrier, it tore through its own flesh and blood to break the restraint. Then, like a mad dog, it lunged toward Hua Yao.

Hua Yao’s heart skipped a beat. As he stepped back to dodge, he caught a glimpse of several disciples hiding behind him, clutching their swords, looking at him with trepidation yet full of hope. Behind them was an open field; they were like little rabbits waiting to be gutted by a predator, completely unable to protect themselves.

Hua Yao’s gaze deepened. Blue veins popped on the back of his hand as he gripped the bow. Suddenly, he realized a problem.

He could not step back.

The moment this thought surfaced, the terrifying, hideous face of the monster reflected in Hua Yao’s wide pupils—its myriad eyes filled with red blood vessels, all staring at him in unison, while the gaping bloody maw that had opened before him occupied nearly half of its face. The sharp teeth were coated in thick, murky fluids, carrying a pungent, bloody scent.

It had already closed in.