"After all that, there's one more thing. I require everyone present to keep my identity as the Demon Emperor secret. Don't let it get out."
Li Mo looked at everyone with a grave expression.
At his words, even Bai Ze was a little dumbfounded.
Keep it secret? How was his master supposed to bask in the glory if no one knew?
No way!
"Mo Huang, may I ask why? Now that you've become our Demon Emperor, you shouldn't keep it under wraps," the leader of the Mad Rhino Clan said.
Li Mo lowered his voice and leaned toward the demons as if he were a thief. "You don't know the whole story. We Demon Race have far too many enemies, both in the open and in the shadows."
"So I'm going to be the Demon Race's trump card. With me as our hidden ace, if anyone dares to come after us, we can catch them off guard and strike like a bolt of thunder, crushing them in one fell swoop. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"
At his words, everyone present wore an expression of sudden understanding.
The other Four Emperors nodded repeatedly.
That was true!
Concealing their strength and biding their time was a good strategy.
Even Bai Ze couldn't help nodding.
But if that was the case, wouldn't I lose plenty of chances to bask in the glory?
My disciple is the Demon Emperor!
If I couldn't tell anyone, I'd be bursting with it.
Still, he knew how to put the greater good first.
For the time being, nearly all the demons kept the matter to themselves.
"Since that's the case, we'll do as Mo Huang says," Di Jun said.
[All right, not bad.]
[Now I just need to figure out how to get Jun Ge to kick me out of the Heavenly Court.]
[As long as I sever my ties with the Heavenly Court, even if the War of the Liches destroys the whole Primordial World, it won't have anything to do with me.]
[I stayed before because I needed someone powerful to rely on.]
[Now that I'm at the mid-stage of the Golden Immortal realm, even my master, Bai Ze, probably isn't my match.]
[And with the God Slaying Gourd and Luohu on my side, the only one in the open who could beat me in this Primordial World is Hong Jun.]
Li Mo thought to himself, feeling quite pleased.
Di Jun's teeth ached.
Li Mo actually wanted him to be kicked out of the Heavenly Court?
As if! That was absolutely impossible.
He'd gone to all the trouble of tying Li Mo to the Heavenly Court. How could he possibly kick him out?
Once everything was settled, everyone dispersed.
As he left, Li Mo was granted permission to build a residence on the Sun Star.
Bai Qianqian was so excited that she clung to Li Mo's arm and said, "Senior Brother, you're the Demon Emperor now. Throughout the entire Demon Race, no one other than the other Emperors has a higher standing than you."
"Of course!" Li Mo grinned.
"Alas! This is it, then. My disciple can go out on his own now. He's become the Demon Emperor, so he won't care about me, his master, anymore," Bai Ze sighed.
"Exactly. What are you worth? Li Mo's the Demon Emperor now!" Bai Jiu interjected, then turned to Li Mo. "Good son-in-law, I'm entrusting Qianqian to you from now on. You have to take good care of her."
As he spoke, he took Bai Qianqian's little hand and placed it in Li Mo's.
"Father, what are you saying?"
Bai Qianqian blushed and tugged at her body-hugging skirt, looking adorably embarrassed.
Li Mo nodded calmly. "Chief Bai Jiu, is that really the right way to address me?"
"Huh? Right, right! Listen to me, going on like that. I should call you Mo Huang, Mo Huang!" Bai Jiu was delighted. Though he'd been proven wrong twice, he was more than happy to let Li Mo make him eat his words.
He'd said Li Mo wouldn't become the Demon Emperor, and Li Mo had taken the throne.
He'd said Bai Qianqian's partner had to be at least a Golden Immortal, and Li Mo had become one in an instant, advancing as if riding a rocket, right before his eyes.
And now he'd be Li Mo's father-in-law! Wasn't Mo Huang's status impressive?
It was! But Li Mo still had to call him father-in-law!
"Right, then, Master, Chief Bai Jiu, let's look around the Sun Star and find a suitable place to build Mo Huang Palace." With that, Li Mo took Bai Qianqian and vanished.
"What are you so proud of? No matter how great you are, you're still my disciple!" Bai Ze said, sweeping his sleeve. He had to admit, he was terribly jealous.
"Exactly! No matter how great he is, he's still my son-in-law!" Bai Jiu grinned. He sounded smug, but he was delighted too.
"Come on, let's go have a drink!" Bai Ze and Bai Jiu said at the same time.
How could Bai Jiu not be happy about such a wonderful thing?
While the Demon Race secretly celebrated Li Mo's becoming the Demon Emperor, the other major powers also noticed the strange signs on the Demon Race's side.
Purple qi stretched across thirty thousand miles, and merit golden dragons kept descending. There weren't many great powers who could have missed it.
The first to notice was none other than Hong Jun, the only Sage in the Primordial World.
He looked down and murmured, "I've used the Jade Disc of Creation to make deductions several times, yet I still can't tell what happened down there. How could such a tremendous phenomenon suddenly appear among the Demon Race?"
After a long while, he shook his head and sighed. "Never mind. It's perfectly normal that I can't make deductions when the heavenly secrets are in disarray. According to my plan, once Donghua Immortal Palace is destroyed, the Witch and Demon Clans will clash."
"When the War of the Liches ends, the fortunes of both the Witch Clan and the Demon Race will be mine. Add the fortunes of those six little ones, and my chances of merging with the Heavenly Dao will improve greatly."
"But before that, I still need to make the necessary arrangements."
Kunlun Mountain!
The Three Pure Ones had also noticed the phenomenon.
They glanced toward the Demon Race with great interest, but said nothing more.
Ever since the Three Pure Ones had returned from Buzhou Mountain, a rift had formed between the three brothers.
Donghua Immortal Palace!
When Donghua Daoist and Xi Wang Mu saw the phenomenon, both were utterly shocked.
"What's going on? How could such a heavenly phenomenon appear among the Demon Race?" Donghua Daoist said.
"I don't know. Why don't we try to make some deductions?"
With that, Donghua Daoist set to work.
But the moment he did, he felt a force of backlash strike him.
He spat out a mouthful of blood and was badly injured.
"Someone caused that phenomenon, but concealed the heavenly secrets. I can't deduce what happened," Donghua Daoist said with a frown, still deeply wary of what he'd just felt.
"Immortal Chief, don't worry. We've recently brought many clans under our wing, including some with ties to the Demon Race. We can send someone to ask them," Xi Wang Mu said.
"Good idea!"
With that, Xi Wang Mu summoned everyone and asked about the situation.
She soon discovered that among the clans they had recently taken in was the Tu Shan Clan's fox tribe.
"You're the chief of the Tu Shan Clan?" Xi Wang Mu looked down and fixed her gaze on a handsome-looking fox with nine tails.
"That's right, Xi Wang Mu. I'm Tu Shan Qing," the strikingly handsome fox man replied.
"What's your relationship with Bai Jiu of Qingqiu?" Xi Wang Mu asked.
"Before we transformed, we once shared life and death. You could say we were brothers for a time. If you want to learn what's happening with the Demon Race, why not let me look into it?" Tu Shan Qing said.
"Very well!"
Xi Wang Mu nodded.
Before you continue