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The Palace of the Divine Capital.
Bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun, the entire palace looked absolutely majestic. Its edges were decorated with intricate patterns, and in the shimmering reflection of light, the grand structure gleamed with pure gold, magnificent in every detail.
Inside the palace, the Divine Lord sat high upon a radiant, crystal-clear throne that sparkled with soft light. He gazed down calmly at the two figures bowing respectfully before him.
"So what you're saying is, you want to serve under me, the Fire Lord. But what about your former master, Po Kong?"
"You betrayed her. If she ever comes asking, it'll be hard for me to explain."
He stroked his chin and spoke slowly, clearly amused.
"Your Majesty," said Tara, "I'm simply choosing the brighter path. The Mountain Lord's greed knows no bounds. Her Majesty the Shadow Queen is willing to lead the Shadow Kingdom to serve you instead!"
The Divine Lord chuckled. "Tara, are you saying that the entire Shadow Kingdom only obeys your Shadow Queen?"
"I'm not so eager to accept your offer just like that—you know, I don't really want to make an enemy out of Po Kong."
When the Dark Kingdom first emerged, the Divine Lord had taken some interest, but only as a passing curiosity. To him, it was a toy with no real value or strength.
Just like in the original story, Shendu—despite being sealed for countless years—never actually used the Shadow Army to search the world for the twelve talismans that belonged to him.
Demon Lords were prideful like that. They didn't stoop to relying on such powers.
Even when they had those armies, they were only good for running errands.
Gritting his teeth, Tara raised his hand. A wisp of dark, shadowy magic appeared in his palm as he spoke seriously: "Your Majesty, this is a portion of the Shadow Kingdom's control!"
"If you agree to accept us, this will be the key to command the entire Shadow Kingdom."
The Divine Lord didn't take it right away. Instead, he narrowed his eyes at Tara and asked with mild curiosity, "Things not going so well under Po Kong?"
"What's driving you to switch sides all of a sudden? Interesting, very interesting…"
"Go on, I'm listening."
He tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest, making Tara's heart skip a beat. With a bitter smile, Tara said, "Your Majesty, for some unknown reason, the Shadow Queen suddenly fell into a deep slumber in the depths of the Shadow Kingdom!"
"Even I can't get close to her. And with Po Kong losing territory left and right, we Shadows are now forced to fight with other demons just to survive—it's exhausting."
"So instead of struggling, we figured it'd be better to follow a different Demon Lord!"
"Oh?" The Divine Lord's expression darkened slightly.
In Jackie Chan Adventures, there was never a clear explanation of how the Shadow Queen disappeared or how she ended up reincarnated as Jade, one of the good guys.
Even the Divine Lord couldn't quite figure that one out.
Still, if they came knocking on his door, why not take advantage?
With that thought, he finally accepted the control of the Shadow Kingdom and said coolly, "Guards!"
At his command, a robed human sorcerer stepped forward and knelt on one knee. "Your Majesty, what are your orders?"
"Take General Tara and find him a suitable territory to settle in."
The order clearly caught the sorcerer off guard—he paused for a moment, then smiled awkwardly. "Your Majesty, your lands are already pretty full. There's hardly any space left to offer General Tara."
The Divine Lord frowned. "You're telling me that all of Ancient Asia has no room for them? Are you joking, E Ming?!"
E Ming was the most powerful of the Divine Lord's black magic sorcerers—his abilities were at the level of a grand sorcerer, comparable to the future J-Team's Grand Master.
"Uh…" E Ming quickly sensed the Lord's displeasure and replied, "Humans occupy 40% of the land, as per Lord Silver Dragon's decree. They must offer countless resources every year."
"The remaining 60% has already been granted to the high-ranking demons under your command."
"So if they want land, they'll have to fight for it—the demon way."
He bowed his head after speaking, worried the Divine Lord would scold him.
After all, he rarely interacted directly with the Fire Lord. Most of the time, he just followed orders from Lord Silver Dragon.
"The demon way, huh?"
"Well then, Tara, I can't give you land directly."
"But with your strength, grabbing some territory shouldn't be a problem, right?"
The Divine Lord spoke casually, and Tara nodded, clearly fine with that suggestion.
"Good. Then you're dismissed."
"If you need anything, talk to Ling. As for tributes—I'm sure your Shadow Kingdom knows the deal from your time under Po Kong."
E Ming and Tara turned to leave, but just as they were about to step out of the hall, the Divine Lord suddenly spoke again:
"E Ming, tell your black magic sorcerers to behave. Don't go stirring up trouble right now."
"If they get killed by other demon lords' minions, don't come crying to me about it!"
E Ming muttered an incantation under his breath, then left the hall with Tara.
He wasn't sure what the Divine Lord's warning meant, but he figured he'd better pass it on to his people anyway.
"Shadow Army!"
As the Divine Lord raised his hand, dark corners of the hall lit up—dozens of shadowy ninja warriors appeared, dressed in black with sharp shurikens at their sides.
"Come on, dance for me!"
The well-trained warriors froze in shock. That command hit like a thunderbolt.
But their master had spoken. They had no choice but to obey, and soon they were dancing awkwardly.
"Ugh…" After watching for a while, the Divine Lord waved them away.
"So boring."
He turned and looked at Ling, the one known across Ancient Asia by the demons as Lord Silver Dragon. He lightly grabbed one of her dragon horns. Her previously cold face turned transparent with emotion.
She whispered softly, "Your Majesty, please let go."
"You were once human, but don't forget—now, you're one of mine."
"Are you still clinging to the memories of you and your sister?"
"She's long gone. No human could survive thousands of years, even with my power."
"You're a dragon now, not human. And I don't care what you did for humans in the past."
As he spoke, the Divine Lord released her horn. His flushed face slowly returned to normal.
"How's the magic circle coming along? I barely have time these days to invent a top-tier one from scratch, not even with the full collection left by Ximu."
Ling said nothing, but pulled out a book and handed it to him.
He took it and flipped through the pages.
"Heaven, wind, thunder, fire, water, ice, rain, snow…"
"Nice, nice…"
"This formation definitely lives up to demon sorcerer level."
"You've made me proud. Besides me and Ximu, you're now the third true demon sorcerer."
Ling bowed slightly and said softly, "Your Majesty flatters me."
"Alright, you're dismissed."
With a small bow, Ling quickly left the hall. The Divine Lord watched her retreating figure, his eyes flickering with complex emotions.
"....."