The sword was still trembling faintly. The tiny white glow at the end of its hilt pulsed like a heartbeat, greedily absorbing the Dark Element drifting around it.
A chill spread from his palm.
In Xuan Ye's mind, Cai'er's young face suddenly appeared.
Along with the words she had left behind.
—"I'll go kill Long Xingyu."
Xuan Ye didn't dare imagine
what impulsive thing the girl might do.
The girl who clumsily called herself "Mom" had a very small world—so small that he was the only one in it.
He had to grow stronger, faster!
Even though he was already cultivating at twice the speed Long Haochen had in the original story, it still wasn't nearly enough!
Just as Xuan Ye's emotions were surging,
the familiar pale blue screen appeared before his eyes.
[Divine Choice activated.] [Host detected in a severely injured state. A Devil Race Patrol Squad has appeared three li ahead.]
After the system's prompt, three options appeared in clear succession.
[Choice One: Take a detour and avoid them. Rest and recover. Reward: [Revenge] evolution progress +1%.] [Choice Two: Hunt down lone demons. Reward: [Revenge] evolution progress +3%. A small amount of Inner Spiritual Power will also be awarded, depending on the strength of the target.]
Xuan Ye's gaze went straight to the final option.
[Choice Three: Annihilate the entire Demon Race Squad (composition: 1 Tier 4 Moon Demon x 4 Tier 3 Dual-Blade Demons).] [Reward: Innate Dark Inner Spiritual Power +1, [Revenge] evolution progress +10%.]
"I choose... three."
He made his choice silently.
The system's screen vanished without a sound, but Xuan Ye's breathing grew heavier.
Why had he said Cai'er might do something impulsive?
Because he himself was about to do something incredibly reckless.
In the past, faced with an ambush while severely injured, he would have chosen to retreat without hesitation.
He had only one life, and wise people didn't put themselves in danger. He understood that better than anyone.
But now, he felt a boiling murderous intent fill every part of his body.
He was afraid he wouldn't be able to protect that little home—or the girl inside it.
Xuan Ye needed power, no matter the cost, by any means necessary!
But his anger didn't overwhelm his reason.
Xuan Ye took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the surging blood in his chest.
"Chaos Spirit Furnace. Bloodline Activation."
A wisp of pure dark energy flowed from the Chaos Spirit Furnace, then coursed slowly through his blood. His aura began to change, growing sinister and elusive. A faint purple crescent mark flickered into view between his brows.
This was an ability he had awakened when he first obtained the Chaos Spirit Furnace.
Bloodline Activation allowed him to disguise himself as any kind of demon.
Among all the demon races, the Moon Demon Race most closely resembled humans in physique and habits. They were the best choice for a disguise.
Under the cover of night, a figure silently melted into the darkness.
Time flew by.
A month later.
At the border between the Devil Race Territory and the Temple Alliance, a barren stretch of the Gobi Desert lay beneath the sky.
The cool moonlight poured down, casting a silvery sheen over the woman's face.
She wore an elegant purple gown, and her long purple hair danced in the breeze. Yet her purple eyes were full of sorrow.
Yueye.
The seventy-second inheritor of the Demon God Emperor's Demon God Pillar, and the daughter of Agareus, the Moon Demon God.
For nearly a month, she had been crisscrossing this border region under the pretense of "studying the human defenses."
Only she knew she wasn't studying the defenses. She was searching for someone.
Or, more precisely, a demon.
"Lady Yueye, Lord Agareus has urged you to return several times."
The maid in a purple dress bowed behind her, her voice tinged with helplessness.
"You've already wasted too much time here. That person... may have left long ago, or perhaps..."
The maid didn't finish, but her meaning was clear.
Yueye didn't turn around. She simply said, "Do you think a genius who can hunt more than a dozen Demon Race Squads in a single month would die so easily?"
The maid shuddered slightly at her words.
Of course she knew who Lady Yueye meant.
A month ago, when Lady Yueye was leading a merchant caravan back, she had chanced upon an extraordinarily unusual aura.
It possessed the purity of a demon, yet also carried a trace of human light.
It was exactly the same as the aura of the human hybrid genius she had sensed before!
But...
Yueye had realized that her initial judgment had been wrong.
Although the other party had awakened Light Inner Spiritual Power, at his core, he was... a Moon Demon hybrid!
Bloodline auras didn't lie!
From that day on, Lady Yueye had seemed completely obsessed, frantically searching for this kinsman she had never met.
The maid could understand.
Lady Yueye was a hybrid herself. She had found someone who shared her pain.
A human-demon hybrid, just like her.
And... of the same race.
"But, my lady, you can't keep searching for a needle in a haystack. Lord Agareus can't be kept waiting forever," the maid urged, gathering her courage. "Why not leave this to us and return first? A hybrid genius of our race is certainly important, but not important enough for you to..."
"Silence."
Yueye cut her off.
The maid fell quiet, then withdrew without a word.
Watching Lady Yueye's lonely figure, she sighed softly to herself.
She knew Lady Yueye was under tremendous pressure.
Only after the maid had gone did Yueye lift her head and gaze alone at the Crescent Moon on the horizon.
"Child, are you doing all right?"
She murmured softly, as though speaking to someone who wasn't there.
"You appeared among the humans. I imagine... your life was even more miserable than mine was."
Yueye remembered her own childhood.
Even as the daughter of the Moon Demon God, her thin human bloodline had earned her ridicule and rejection from demons her own age.
If she had suffered so much, what about that child?
He had grown up surrounded by people who hated demons. How difficult must that have been? Now that he had finally entered the Devil Race Territory, his human upbringing would probably make him feel out of place, stirring up even more conflict.
Where did he live?
Did he have enough to eat?
If he got into a conflict with demons like this... what would he do if he encountered a powerful opponent?
Yueye's heart ached without warning.
She wanted to find him.
She wanted to tell him face-to-face:
Being a hybrid isn't your fault!
From now on, I'll protect you and prove it to everyone!
Anyone who dared to gossip about your identity, anyone who dared to look down on you...
would die!
Your past pain, your past sorrow...
You wouldn't have to endure any of it again.
A glint of murderous intent flashed in Yueye's purple eyes.
She knew that the one she wanted to protect wasn't the demon she had never met.
It was a figure from her distant past.
A girl in a white dress, facing all kinds of inexplicable hostility.
Under Agareus's authority,
no demon had dared to do anything to her.
But that girl still felt...
Cold, hostile gazes fixed on her.
Mocking words surrounded her.
All she could do was clutch the stuffed toy in her arms.
Before you continue