They Are Archenemies, But They Have A Child - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: God and Demon

“I hear this God-Defying Temple grants every wish; it’s extremely effective.”

“I’ve heard the same. My neighbor Liu Saozi’s son was critically ill, but recently, he’s actually been able to get out of bed!”

Hearing this, a middle-aged man in tattered clothes tightly gripped the basket of incense in his hand. He looked up through the crowd at the enormous divine statue before him. The statue’s eight tails were coiled around a huge sword it held, and a pair of golden eyes looked down upon all living beings. The longer he looked, an inexplicable chill went through him, and he hurriedly bowed his head.

“I pray to the God-Defying One for protection, to protect your disciple from hardship and the struggle of having nothing to eat…”

The middle-aged man knelt sincerely on the prayer cushion, remaining in that posture for a long time.

That same night, a wisp of red smoke drilled into his house. The smoke split in two. The front end coiled round and round the neck of the woman sleeping beside the man. The back end entered the woman’s facial orifices. The woman’s face was contorted in pain, but she couldn’t make a sound. Her sensation-less lower body couldn’t perceive her master’s suffering, lying still where it was.

Before long, the woman completely lost her breath. Terror lingered in her empty eyes, and the blood from her seven orifices gradually dried in the long night.

…

The Celestial Realm.

The Heavenly Emperor and the Heavenly Empress sat together on the main hall. King Qin Guang, who rarely ascended to the heavens from his long post in the underworld, was full of fury: “That half-baked fox demon privately established a temple, declared himself a god, and uses the fulfillment of mortal wishes as a pretext for slaughter! So many people’s lifespans are incomplete, wandering in the mortal world. My staff in the underworld are working day and night and still can’t keep up. The order is a total mess! I beg the Heavenly Emperor to administer justice!”

The Star Lord of Scented Incense, wiping the cold sweat from his brow, said sternly: “That fox demon built a temple near every one of our divine temples. He doesn’t care about good or evil, turning no one away. As a result, his incense is flourishing, and the incense we receive is fully half less than usual. If we let this continue, it will surely lead to a great disaster.”

“That demon is quite ambitious. A mere half-demon, yet he dreams of becoming a god. He truly overestimates himself!”

“A half-demon who can make all the great demon clans bow to him should not be underestimated. In the great war a hundred years ago, we suffered heavy losses as well.”

“Hmph, that’s only because he was utterly unscrupulous! It’s pitiful for those immortal friends whose cores he devoured…”

“We should have nipped him in the bud back then!”

Amidst the constant discussions, the young man who had remained silent among the gods stepped forward. The youth wore silver light armor, his white hair half-tied into a high ponytail, as cold as ice and snow. He looked up at the Heavenly Emperor, a layer of shadow shrouding his blue eyes: “Grand-Divine, I am willing to descend to the mortal world and eliminate the demon.”

The Heavenly Emperor lowered his gaze to his hand, which was now free of wrinkles, and sighed lightly: “That demon now has substantial power. If we kill him, the Demon Realm will surely fall into chaos, and the mortal world will not escape calamity. Qingwu, you must not only consider the quick route in all matters; you must look further ahead.”

Cloud Qingwu lowered his eyes, concealing the look within them. After a long moment, he replied: “Yes, I respectfully obey Grand-Divine’s teachings.”

…

In the mortal city of Qingning, the streets were bustling with people, but the largest crowd gathered at the magnificent God-Defying Temple. The incense was so strong that the solemn scent of burning offerings could be smelled two streets away.

But to Cloud Qingwu’s nose, the scent held no solemnity; it was only the sickening stench of a demon.

To brazenly build a main temple in the middle of a bustling city…

Utterly arrogant.

Inside the God-Defying Temple, the acolytes guiding the incense visitors shivered uncontrollably, a hint of terror involuntarily flashing in their eyes before they quickly covered it up, trying to appear composed.

“It’s the Bai Ze! The Bai Ze has come! I… I’ll go report to the Demon Lord!”

A fox tail suddenly emerged from behind an acolyte standing in the corner. The next second, it was instantly retracted, and he took off, intending to head toward the main hall.

“What’s the rush?”

The acolyte looked up at the person blocking him, then lowered his head again: “Reporting to the Director, I’m going to report about the Bai Ze.”

You Suqian’s expression was unchanged. He nodded: “Since you could sense it, how could the Demon Lord not know? Go and notify everyone to leave immediately and not stay here to cause trouble for the Demon Lord.”

“This…”

He hesitated slightly.

“Go on. If you stay and cause trouble, the Demon Lord will only be angrier, and the situation might be difficult to control then,” You Suqian patted the little demon’s shoulder again, his tone sincere.

“Understood.”

He no longer hesitated and turned to go in a different direction.

You Suqian watched the little demon’s receding figure, feeling the uncontrollable trembling in his hands, yet his eyes were filled with excitement.

In the main hall, the eight-tailed statue, which filled the entire height of the inner chamber, looked disdainfully at its believers. Incense from all directions continuously poured into the statue’s heart, which contained a great secret.

Seated at the center of the heart was the true being, identical to the statue. However, compared to the statue’s majesty, the person’s appearance had an extra touch of breathtaking beauty. At this moment, the Lord of the Demon Realm, who had been stirring up chaos in the world, had his eyes closed and brows relaxed, seemingly unaware of the external changes.

A greenish ancient lamp was placed in front of him. The lamp greedily absorbed the pouring incense, while also emitting a golden mist that drilled into the golden demon crest on the great demon’s forehead.

Were it not for the overly ominous fire-red long hair cascading over his shoulders, this scene would genuinely possess a touch of indescribable divinity.

“There is no god here, only a fox demon responsible for countless murders! All of you, leave quickly!”

A clear male voice, carrying suppressed anger, pierced the silence inside the hall without obstruction through the statue, causing a slight crease in the great demon’s smooth brow.

The commotion outside, however, only grew louder.

“What nonsense are you talking about! The God-Defying One is more effective than any other god! If you want to worship, get in line! Don’t try any clever tricks; we won’t fall for them!”

“Exactly! Move aside!”

“Out of the way! Out of the way! Don’t block the path!”

Cloud Qingwu watched the scene before him, his right hand tightly clenched into a fist. The blue veins standing out on the back of his hand betrayed the force he exerted, as if only this could suppress the sudden surge of rage in his heart.

The God-Defying One?

The hand clenched into a fist suddenly opened, and an ice spear instantly condensed and formed, swiping backward with fierce momentum.

What kind of useless ‘god’ is this?

A sudden crack appeared on the majestic and beautiful divine statue.

“You! This is blasphemy!”

Screams and curses mixed together in a tumultuous clamor.

In the midst of the chaos, a pillar of fierce flame suddenly ignited within the shattered statue, attacking Cloud Qingwu and the crowd behind him without warning. Anyone or anything touched by the flame was instantly engulfed. Before Cloud Qingwu could even think, he instinctively conjured a barrier behind him to isolate the mortals. Before he could defend himself further, a sharp pain shot through his chest—a sword tip had already arrived.

Cloud Qingwu batted away the sword that had pierced his chest, retaliated with his spear, and glared at the golden eyes burning with intense fire: “Is this how the God-Defying One treats its believers?”

“Believers?”

Leng Lici’s golden eyes narrowed slightly, unmoved. The ice-crystal spear and the fire-wreathed sword clashed, letting out a massive bang. The resulting blast of air whipped up a fierce wind, adding further damage to the already broken hall. He raised his right hand and swung it down. The flames instantly enveloped the man below who was crying and hadn’t yet managed to crawl into the barrier.

“Ah ah ah ah ah—”

The man’s screams were agonizing, and in less than a minute, he was completely reduced to a pile of ash.

“They are merely losers, lambs to the slaughter.”

Leng Lici looked at Cloud Qingwu with a tone of mockery: “And you—did you not foresee this outcome when you caused trouble here today?”

As soon as the words fell, the fallen leaves on the ground turned into fire blades, flying towards Cloud Qingwu.

“Hypocritical and utterly disgusting.”

Hypocritical?

Cloud Qingwu looked at the arrogant demon before him, an overwhelming sense of disgust bubbling up. Over the years, the dead souls beneath Leng Lici’s feet spanned the three realms, too numerous to count, yet not a shred of shame remained in this demon’s heart.

Of course.

He conjured a spell with his left hand, and countless ice shards condensed around him, shattering the fire blades one by one. At the same time, he tossed the spear upwards, the resultant air current fiercely pressing towards Leng Lici.

How could a demon possess shame?

Leng Lici stared intensely at the air current rushing toward him, his eight tails flashing out from behind. His eyes were filled with the light of anticipation. In their last confrontation, he was heavily wounded by this move because his cultivation was slightly inferior. He had been stewing over this, which is why he followed You Huqian’s advice to absorb a massive amount of mortal incense using the power of the Ancient Green Lamp to boost his power.

Today, he was determined to erase that shame.

The air current engulfed Leng Lici. His eight tails spread out and wrapped tightly around his body. The fox tails burned with fierce flames, making him look like a giant fireball from a distance.

The fireball shot through the air current and directly charged at Cloud Qingwu. The moment it got close, he abruptly threw two snake chains. The snakeheads violently lunged at Cloud Qingwu’s shoulder blades.

Due to the extreme speed, Cloud Qingwu only managed to dodge one of the snake chains. Agonizing pain came from his right shoulder blade, and at the same time, he felt his magical power dissipating.

With this strike, Leng Lici overexerted himself, and bright red blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. He pressed his lips together, his brow furrowed, and wiped the blood away with his hand, his expression clearly disgusted.

He intended to press his advantage, but the surrounding air suddenly seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, forcing him to fall uncontrollably. Each breath felt like swallowing sharp spikes, grinding against his internal organs.

Cloud Qingwu cast a divine seal. Countless tiny droplets of water instantly converged into an indestructible wall of ice, pressing down on Leng Lici from above.

Leng Lici’s brow darkened, and a look of unwillingness appeared in his eyes. Cloud Qingwu’s cultivation had unexpectedly increased by more than just one realm…

Also unable to endure the pressure was You Suqian, who was around the corner. His cultivation was already inferior to Leng Lici’s. At this moment, he was halfway transformed into his original form, struggling on the ground, his face flushed red from difficulty breathing. But even so, his gaze was fixed on the direction Leng Lici was falling, the excitement in his eyes increasing rather than decreasing.

“Go! Go and devour that half-baked creature!” He used all his strength to throw the dark-red alchemical furnace in his arms toward the target.

He had been waiting for this moment!

Cloud Qingwu watched Leng Lici fall with an indifferent expression, chanting the spell continuously. Yet, there was no joy in his heart at the imminent subjugation of the demon.

“Qingwu, you must never let killing intent cloud your eyes. You must learn to consider the big picture.”

The Grand-Divine’s instruction echoed in his ears. Before his departure, the Grand-Divine personally handed him this divine seal, which contained his own magical power, cautioning him that when necessary, he could use it to deliver the final blow to Leng Lici, making sure to capture him alive.

This seal could only seal, not kill.

Therefore, the moment he used the divine seal, he lost the freedom to slay Leng Lici.

Cloud Qingwu’s eyes were heavy as he watched the demon continue to descend.

As soon as Leng Lici landed, the ice shard would rapidly contract, suppressing the prey within it.

Right now, the distance to that moment was only three feet.

!

Cloud Qingwu’s pupils suddenly contracted. He didn’t have time to swing his weapon.

The next second, he accelerated, chasing after Leng Lici.