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Zhou Lan narrowed his eyes, a strange glint flashing through them as if he could see right through Shendu's schemes."Shendu, you get it, don't you?"
"You've hit a bottleneck with your control over worldly power. My lunar authority—my power of the moon—is your best shot."
"The other demon lords? They only care about indulgence and pleasure. But you and I…"
"We're different. We're seekers of the greater path. We're the same kind."
Zhou Lan wouldn't have come to Shendu unless he was fully confident.
And just as Zhou Lan said, Shendu gave a faint smile. "Pleasure doing business."
As he spoke, a blazing golden flame—searing and majestic—appeared in Shendu's palm and floated toward Zhou Lan.
"This is the manifestation of my Fire Authority. Take it."
Zhou Lan took it calmly, and for the first time, a subtle smile appeared on his face.
Then he stashed away the Fire Authority and summoned the manifestation of his own power—a miniature version of the lunar star—and tossed it to Shendu.
As Shendu caught it, he could feel the unfamiliar, yet oddly familiar, force of a world-level power. The strangeness of it stirred up a trace of excitement in his heart.
"Shendu, it's been a pleasure. I won't stay any longer," Zhou Lan said with a twisted grin.
"Suit yourself," Shendu replied.
With that, Zhou Lan turned and vanished from Shendu's sight.
Meanwhile, Shendu looked down at the Moon Authority in his hand, then swallowed it whole.
In an instant, flames of solar fire blazed in his blood-red eyes—but now, those flames were mixed with the soft glow of moonlight.
Moments later, his eyes revealed a perfect balance: one sun, one moon.
"Sun... and Moon," he whispered.
With a swirl of yin and yang energy glowing in his palms, Shendu slowly walked toward his secluded chamber, where he had long remained in isolation.
He had no desire to rule all of Ancient Asia. It was enough just to be the leader of the demons. Everything else? Let his self-created avatar, Ling'er, deal with it.
Zhou Lan was a demon born of the moon, ruler of lunar forces and master of gravity.
But once he handed that power to Shendu, it transformed. What Zhou Lan gave became not just gravity, but the chilling presence of the Cold Moon—a balance of pure yin and yang.
Likewise, the fire Shendu gave Zhou Lan didn't stay the same either.
The blazing, masculine flames in Shendu's hand turned into a cold fire in Zhou Lan's—a flame that could freeze life itself. Totally different from gravity.
At the end of the day, Zhou Lan wasn't truly a god of the moon.
If not for Shendu's involvement, Zhou Lan might've never even thought to trade divine authorities like this.
Their deal? A win-win. A perfect, natural alliance.
The power exchange between Zhou Lan and Shendu happened in complete secrecy—none of the other six demon lords caught wind of it.
They were still too busy indulging themselves and causing chaos in the human world.
But one thing had changed…
Because of a joint command from all eight demon lords, an all-out massacre of righteous mages and black magic sorcerers had begun.
Any mage or sorcerer not loyal to a demon lord was hunted down like never before.
This persecution pushed almost all independent magic users to band together—to fight back against the demon lords and their armies.
Their combined resistance showed ordinary people just how powerful magic could be.
Humans realized… maybe they could beat demons.
Maybe, just maybe, they didn't have to live under demon rule forever.
But just as this spark of hope ignited, it was quickly crushed.
The alliance between light and dark mages caused such a stir that even the demon lords themselves were forced to step in—and wipe them out.
Normally, the demon lords wouldn't bother with mere ants. But this time, the rebels stirred up a war underneath the continent—right in the territory of Di Kui, lord of the earth.
They turned the entire underground upside down. Di Kui's meticulously built underground palace was wrecked. The foundations collapsed. Dirt and rock buried everything he had worked so hard to create.
In a flash, countless demons were crushed underground, while most of the humans fled to the surface.
Di Kui was furious. His underground world, destroyed just like that.
The other demon lords mocked him for it.
Eventually, Di Kui couldn't take it anymore. He came down personally, as a demon lord, to wipe out the rebel magic users once and for all.
Under his command, human spellbooks were burned. The legacy of human magic was erased.
History recorded this as the "Burning of the Books, Annihilation of Magic."
Thousands of years passed in eerie silence. Human mages and sorcerers became little more than myths.
But one day, under Di Kui's rule, deep in the mountains of a remote village…
A miraculous child was born. The heavens themselves seemed to celebrate.
The moment the baby was born, vibrant flowers bloomed across the surrounding forests. Because of the flowers, the child was named Lan Caihe.
In Di Kui's barren lands—where flowers were never seen—suddenly, blossoms were sprouting everywhere.
The demons assigned to destroy all plant life were overwhelmed.
They didn't report it, afraid that Di Kui would punish them. After all, everyone—humans and demons alike—knew he hated flowers.
No one realized yet that one of the Eight Immortals had arrived in the world.
The eight demon lords continued their indulgent lifestyles, ruling the world unchecked.
But destiny was shifting. The Eight Immortals would soon emerge one by one, to challenge the demons.
With Lan Caihe's birth came others: Lü Dongbin, Zhang Guolao, Han Zhongli… All began to appear in the world.
Their presence was hidden by righteous energy, which kept them off the demon lords' radar.
The Eight Immortals quickly grasped the basics of righteous magic—they were natural geniuses. What took ordinary people ten years to learn, they mastered in a single thought.
Their magical talent was so extraordinary that even veteran Grandmasters were stunned.
These mages saw hope. They believed the Eight Immortals were destined to overthrow demon rule.
They didn't just teach them everything they knew—they even poured their own magic power into them, hoping to speed up their growth and spark a revolution.
But somehow, word of all this reached the ears of black magic users still loyal to the demons.
Before long, the news quietly made its way to the demon lords.
At first, they didn't care. But then… a name popped up.
A name said to have once challenged the flow of time—a being prophesied to suppress the demon lords themselves.
That name drove the demon lords into a frenzy.
They unleashed their most powerful demon generals, all to kill this one prophesied person.
And as for Shendu? Still in seclusion, meditating.
Zhou Lan? Sleeping on the moon, studying the fire authority's mysteries.
Their lack of response made the other six demon lords furious.
But they couldn't do anything about Shendu or Zhou Lan, so they just let it go.
That person—the one said to be able to suppress the demon lords—supposedly died during one of the uprisings.
Once they believed that threat was gone, the demon lords returned to their decadent ways, ignoring human mages again.
But the truth?
That person had faked their death.
They went into hiding, tucked away in a remote corner of Ancient Asia, quietly training…
Waiting for the day they could rise again—stronger than ever—and finally bring down the demon lords…
And begin a new age for humankind.
"....."