I Was Here First

Me, a mighty Demon Lord, pawed at by a little Qi Refining cultivator?

That was exactly what had happened.

Tian Mingye had plenty of demon pills in her Storage Ring, but as long as her true body remained inside the formation, the Form-Returning Formation would drain every pill she took out.

She had always been so confident in her Heavenly Demon power that she carried no magical artifacts... Of course, using demonic power to drive human artifacts would have been a waste anyway.

Unless she lost control, transformed into a Heavenly Demon, and devoured every living thing within ten miles, there was nothing she could do about this brazen little Qi Refining cultivator.

It was just as Jiang Chen had guessed.

As he carried the voluptuous beauty along—the demoness who killed without blinking—he felt only how soft and cold she was. His consciousness sank, as though he were falling into a ten-thousand-fathom Abyss...

It seemed he could stay clearheaded only by fixing his gaze on the demoness's surging bosom.

While the illusion above the mountain-protecting formation still held, Jiang Chen sped away on his sword, taking Tian Mingye to the easternmost edge of the Azure Mist Sect: the Burial Ground.

The Thousand-Faced Fox had placed an illusory ward there.

At that moment, everyone in the Azure Mist Sect was focused on the illusion above the mountain-protecting formation. No one noticed Jiang Chen abduct the demoness.

Only after the Thousand-Faced Fox's illusion faded did they realize the demoness was gone. They assumed she had escaped.

Tian Mingye sensed the illusory ward. She sat cross-legged in the Burial Ground, her beautiful eyes cold enough to pierce bone as she stared at Jiang Chen and said flatly:

"A mere Qi Refining cultivator, yet you're rather pretty. Speak. Who are you, and what do you want? Say something worth hearing, and I'll leave your corpse in one piece."

I'm rather pretty? You're the pretty one!

Jiang Chen knew they could not stay long. He had a hundred breaths at most. The arrow was on the string; he had no choice but to let it fly.

There was no time to woo the demoness or play those empty games.

A graveside was hardly the place for it, but he had no choice.

Jiang Chen sat cross-legged before Tian Mingye.

He channeled strength into one hand and seized that towering, vast, indescribable thing with the other. "I want you to replenish my demonic power!"

Tian Mingye glanced down without reacting.

A Heavenly Demon was a demon by birth, not a corrupted human. She knew what happened between men and women, but she had never experienced it as a human woman would.

"Replenish your demonic power... What does that mean?"

Jiang Chen snatched his hand back and touched his handsome face. Holy shit, I'm still alive!

He hurriedly explained with a straight face:

"It's a physical technique that joins yin and yang. Through a certain kind of deep exchange, both sides slowly pass spiritual energy and demonic energy into each other's bodies."

Tian Mingye frowned. Then she lowered her gaze to Jiang Chen's sea of qi and suddenly understood.

"Take off your clothes!"

Jiang Chen froze. You're in even more of a hurry than I am!

He had barely removed his shirt when Tian Mingye pressed her palm to his lower abdomen. Then she took out a demon pill and swallowed it.

In an instant, demonic energy surged out in torrents!

The vast flow was not siphoned away by the formation. Instead, it traveled through Tian Mingye's palm and into Jiang Chen's sea of qi.

And this time, because Tian Mingye controlled the demonic energy herself, it did not harm his soul.

Jiang Chen stared at her, bewildered. He had no idea what trick she had up her sleeve.

"Raise your palm toward the sky."

"Hm?"

"I said raise your palm toward the sky and run the formation in sync with that old thief Gui Qi."

Jiang Chen paused.

This demoness has some unusual tricks.

She had evidently seen the changes in his constitution and sea of qi. She knew his method of Qi Refining shared its source with Reverend Guiqi's Form-Returning Formation.

"Oh..."

For now, Jiang Chen could only do as the demoness said. He raised his palm toward the sky and activated the Return-Form Formation.

At the same time, the giant of demonic energy above the mountain-protecting formation brought its palm down toward Jiang Chen.

The demonic energy in the two palms came from the same source, as did their formations. Together, they pierced the mountain-protecting formation in an instant.

Boom!

The Form-Returning Formation collapsed.

Reverend Guiqi, already gravely injured when the giant of demonic energy had crushed him, violently spat blood again...

Above the formation, demonic energy that had yet to finish turning into spiritual energy, demonic energy that had already transformed, and the battered giant outside the formation all returned to Tian Mingye's body, one after another.

Tian Mingye swept her sleeve and rose, once more bearing the appearance and dark aura of a Demon Lord.

Jiang Chen stared, dumbfounded.

Who said having a big chest meant having no brains?

I wanted the demoness to replenish my demonic power, but she used my body for free?

The mountain-protecting formation gradually crumbled. Ancient, long-sealed spiritual energy burst out and rose slowly.

While everyone stared in shock, Tian Mingye appeared in the rising currents with Jiang Chen.

The little demon girl who had served as timekeeper came over too. She seemed unsurprised to see her lord restored; her bright eyes kept roving over Jiang Chen.

Tian Mingye's eyes were cold as stars. She drew the Violet Star Sword again and slashed. Crimson light blazed ten thousand feet, surging straight at Chen Gongxing.

"Second-tier Heavenly Demon energy..."

Chen Gongxing dared not take it lightly. He met the attack with the Resonance Sword Technique.

A piercing sword shriek tore into the sky.

The Sword Qi split the crimson Demonic Flame in two, sending it surging past on either side like twin waves.

Soon, the crimson Demonic Flame receded.

Chen Gongxing and Tian Mingye were both unharmed.

Behind him, Reverend Guiqi was dead...

Only then did Tian Mingye sheath her sword in satisfaction. Taking Jiang Chen and the little demon girl with her, she left without a care.

Shocked as he was, Chen Gongxing did not stop her.

Anyone capable of wielding the Crimson Flame Heavenly Demon's second-stage power could transform into a true Heavenly Demon. Then the entire Azure Mist Sect would drown in slaughter, and even he could do no more than protect himself.

He did not linger. He casually removed Gui Qi's spine, summoned a flying boat, and sat cross-legged at its prow with a flask of wine in his hands. Then he left the Azure Mist Sect in carefree fashion.

The dust settled over the Azure Mist Sect.

Luo Qingzhou and the others had not even fully pieced together what had happened before everyone was gone...

Tranquil Heart Peak, inside a cave dwelling.

Liu Ruyan had seen everything that had just happened in the Burial Ground.

In principle, Jiang Chen had done nothing wrong. He had helped Tian Mingye break through the formation and kill Reverend Guiqi. It was that talk of replenishing demonic power that left her unhappy.

"But... I was here first..."

On the way to the Demon Sect.

Tian Mingye, the timekeeper, and Jiang Chen stood on a huge, spinning stone disc. It spiraled through the sky toward an unknown destination.

Jiang Chen asked curiously:

"Why do I have to go to the Demon Sect with you?"

Tian Mingye gave a cold laugh.

"Weren't you the one who wanted me to replenish your demonic power? You did well this time, so I'll take you as my cultivation vessel. You'll have all the demonic energy you want!"

Jiang Chen was dumbstruck. In cultivation novels, "cultivation vessel" was never a good thing.

"I've heard that becoming a cultivation vessel means losing your freedom... and having your body drained?"

Tian Mingye stood before Jiang Chen with her hands behind her back.

She was about his height, yet despite looking him in the eye, her dark, icy gaze seemed to look down on him.

"There's no need to underestimate your constitution.

"As for freedom... Once you've fully become a member of the Devil Race, you can be my one and only man.

"You'll stand below me, but above ten thousand demons."

Jiang Chen had no words.

His constitution made it impossible for him to become a member of the Devil Race. If he could not combine the powers of humans, demons, and devils, his cultivation would not advance an inch.

Wouldn't that mean a lifetime without freedom, at the demoness's mercy?

Beside them, the little demon girl covered her mouth and laughed.

"My lord, didn't you say you would never give yourself to a man?"

Tian Mingye thought it over. She was reluctant to give up Jiang Chen, but she did not want to go back on her word. So she said:

"Then how about turning him into a woman?"

Jiang Chen:

"..."

The little demon girl suddenly felt as though she had fallen out of favor. She looked Jiang Chen up and down, then asked in puzzlement:

"This fellow has no talent and no cultivation to speak of. Other than his handsome face... what does he have going for him?"

Tian Mingye did not tell her outright. She only said:

"You'll find out in time."

Then the little demon girl activated the Stone-Carved Bell and opened a rift in space.

A gigantic Demonic Beast, leviathan-like in size, slowly rose from the Abyss and swallowed all three of them.

It plunged back into the Abyss and headed straight for the Heavenly Demon Sect.