The silence that hung over the private courtyard was comforting...
However, Ren Zu broke the calm with a slightly different, more serious tone.
"Father, Mother... before emotions overwhelm us too much, I have a request."
The eyes of Yun Qinghong and Mu Yurou turned to him immediately.
Ren Zu did not hesitate.
"I would like you, for now, to continue pretending you are ill. As if nothing has changed."
As he thought... There was no shock on his parents' faces, only an exchange of knowing and understanding glances.
Yun Qinghong was the first to speak, his voice gentle but with a tone of genuine curiosity.
"Oh? And why do you think we should keep this a secret, Zu'er?"
Ren Zu tilted his head slightly and said calmly.
"Father, in the years you were incapacitated, many who once showed respect must have harbored dissatisfaction in secret. Perhaps some even thought of seizing power, waiting for the right opportunity. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that some may have sought alliances with other families to secure their chances. Or even that some families might be planning a way to depose our Yun Family from being one of the Twelve Guardian Families."
"If you and Mother simply appear recovered overnight, those snakes will hide deeper, change their plans, and wait for the next opportunity. But if we maintain this facade, we can give them the confidence that their betrayals are still safe. And we can also create an opportunity for the families outside who want to depose our family to make their move, and then we can take them all down in one fell swoop..."
Mu Yurou's eyes softened, a faint smile escaping her lips. Yun Qinghong, in turn, let out a low chuckle, genuinely pleased.
"You've truly grown, Zu'er," Yun Qinghong said with a smile. "Your reasoning isn't much different from mine."
Ren Zu only smiled and said:
"It's been a long year of learning under my master... But I still have much to learn..."
"And regarding this matter I just mentioned, I have a suggestion..."
.
.
.
.
Twelve hours later.
Spending time with his parents was good; it was nearly night when Ren Zu left their private courtyard, raising his arms to the sky as he stretched deeply.
The dry sound of his shoulders popping echoed faintly on the snow-covered stone path.
Snowflakes continued to fall slowly and steadily, as if the sky were in no hurry at all. He paused for a moment, staring at the dull gray of the clouds covering the sky even at night.
In his perception, at that moment, there was something in the air that felt denser than usual, a silent omen that, from then on, nothing would ever be the same. Perhaps that was it. Perhaps not. He wasn't entirely sure.
But if he had to name that feeling, he would call it an early longing for the routine of training. A part of him had fallen in love with the discipline he had chosen for himself. Someone born in the modern world, who had never tasted the thrill of growing stronger day by day, couldn't help but be enchanted by the process.
Although the routine was enchanting, he knew he couldn't let himself fall in love with it forever. There was an invisible limit to that comfort zone. No matter how talented he had become, advancing in the "Profound Way" grew exponentially more difficult as one progressed. It was an immutable truth: the higher one climbed in cultivation, the thicker and more impenetrable the wall ahead became.
Even so, he knew he wasn't slow.
Quite the contrary.
After all, who else could have crossed from the Elementary Profound Realm to the Earth Profound Realm in just a single year? And without relying on legacies. Though he had resorted to one in the beginning, one that barely boosted his cultivation, the majority of the path had been walked through his own effort and talent...
Ren Zu shook his head, pushing away the vanity that tried to take root in his thoughts. His eyes lifted one last time to the gray sky, as if searching for something only he could understand.
Then, without hesitation, he activated the [Ancestral Spatial Symbol].
A gray flash enveloped his figure.
In the blink of an eye, Ren Zu reappeared on the shores of a familiar lake, the same one where, months ago, he had witnessed the Little Demon Empress. The water's surface reflected the cloudy night sky, and the snow fell gently, melting into small ripples as it touched the water's mirror.
He stood still, letting the snowflakes slowly accumulate in his black hair.
His eyes turned to a distant point, where the horizon seemed to merge with the stormy clouds.
The ancestor of the Illusory Demon Royal Family had originally been just a Neon Demonic Sparrow who, by a twist of fate, assumed human form. However, upon entering the Lightning Flame Valley, he inherited the sacred legacy of the Golden Crow, gaining not only its bloodline but also its divine flames. With such power, he became invincible within the Illusory Demon Realm. Faced with such absolute strength, the clans did not hesitate: they decided he would become the first Emperor of the Realm.
Since then, his lineage prospered. The Illusory Demon Royal Family claimed direct descent from the Golden Crow, proclaiming themselves blessed by the Divine Beast. The Lightning Flame Valley, in turn, was renamed the Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley and became the most sacred territory within the Illusory Demon Realm.
The elemental aura that permeated that valley was suffocatingly dense. The flames and storms circulating in the region fueled the continuous birth of fire spirits, lightning spirits, and other demonic creatures aligned with the elements. Moreover, the place was a true nest of rare materials and natural treasures, making entering the Valley not only a valuable experience but a chance to defy the heavens with luck. It was common for those who ventured through its trails to emerge with fortunes... and, not rarely, with a meteoric advance in their cultivation.
However, such a privilege was reserved for the Illusory Demon Royal Family and the Twelve Guardian Families, who were granted permission to enter the Valley once every five years. Yet, after the tragic incident a century ago... the Yun Family was excluded from this right. While the new generations of the other guardian families reaped invaluable rewards within the Golden Crow Lightning Flame Valley, the Yun Family's youths could only watch, silently gnawing at their bitterness, trapped in the frustration of powerlessness.
At the heart of the Valley, in its most inaccessible depths, rested the soul of the Golden Crow, in a sacred place known as the Golden Crow's Sacred Land. It was a place of legends, whose entrance opened only once every thousand years. However, to enter such a domain, a unique key was required... the "Demon Emperor's Seal," an artifact that had long been lost in the Profound Sky Continent along with his adoptive grandfather.
Yet, he didn't exactly need that artifact, for his mastery over [Space] would allow him to teleport directly there. Still, he decided to approach the Little Demon Empress first. He knew how much she longed to enter that place to inherit the Golden Crow's legacy and fulfill her vengeance. He intended to use that desire as an opportunity to win her over.
But how to do so intelligently?
He had been thinking about it for the past eight months before making a decision...
Instead of flattering her or making empty promises, he preferred a more direct and dangerous path.
He would face her openly, with the arrogance of someone who already knew the outcome of the battle. His intention would be clear: to create a rivalry.
He was confident he could defeat her and, more importantly, knew she wouldn't accept being surpassed so easily. The Little Demon Empress was driven by a thirst for vengeance, and by losing to him, in the right way, that desire would also turn toward him. And that was exactly the spark of obsession he wanted to ignite.
She would try to defeat him again in the future, of that he had no doubt. And in this game of provocations and confrontations, he would find the opportunity to become someone indispensable in her path.
That was what he wanted, at least.
However, deep down, he knew this was a risky bet. An idea that could prove foolish in the future. Everything depended on factors beyond his control. She could very well develop genuine hatred, something that crossed the line of provocation and turned into a real desire to kill him.
Fortunately, he was handsome enough that this was unlikely to happen, as long as he didn't act like a complete idiot. His face gave him a generous margin of error, and he knew very well how to use it.
Still, he needed to be careful. He couldn't reveal his intentions too explicitly. It had to seem like an accident, a misunderstanding... an inevitable clash between two proud individuals.
Now, why go through all this trouble just for her?
The answer was ridiculously simple.
Sure, there was the perverse thrill of "stealing" one of the women who, in the future, would belong to Scum Che. It was almost a pastime. But deep down, the real reason was far more primal.
Eight months ago, when he saw her for the first time, he found the Little Demon Empress absurdly beautiful. Far too beautiful. And attractive enough that his mind simply dismissed any logical argument against the idea...
He was a simple man. A calm man. And above all, a man honest with himself.
The fact is that every man, on some level, is impacted by a woman's appearance in the first instant. It's not about a conscious desire or an articulated thought, but a natural reflex, rooted in thousands of years of evolution. The male mind is biologically shaped to react to visual cues that indicate health, fertility, and youth—factors that, from a biological standpoint, are associated with survival and the continuation of the species.
The eyes capture the forms before any trace of personality can be known. The harmony of the face, the glow of the skin, the proportion of the body—all of this is processed in milliseconds, even without intention. It's a primitive filter that precedes any rational judgment. In that first moment, a man isn't evaluating character, intelligence, or values; he's simply reacting to the visual impact, to the "snap" his brain makes when it perceives patterns deemed attractive.
This doesn't mean all men share a single standard of beauty. Culture, personal experiences, and even social context influence what each one perceives as beautiful. But the crucial point is that, regardless of these variations, appearance is the first gateway. It's like a beautiful envelope that draws attention before the content is read. A man may not cling to it later, may value other qualities far more over time, but the first impulse, the one that hooks his attention in those initial seconds, is almost always visual.
This process isn't a conscious choice. It's not a decision he ponders or something he can turn off with a rational command. The male brain simply works this way, and that doesn't make it superficial or incapable of seeing beyond. It merely reveals the natural order in which information reaches him. Appearance sparks the initial interest; the person's content determines whether that interest endures.
After all, the visual is the first language the male brain learns to interpret, even before words. What each man does with that perception, whether he remains fixated on it or transcends it, is what truly defines his character...
As he thought about all this and recalled the image of the Little Demon Empress without clothes in his mind, he couldn't help but let his thoughts wander.
The world he was in was filled with insane beauties, women so stunning they could make any man lose his head or his soul. And honestly, he was curious to see if all these legends lived up to their fame.
But that was a thought for later. For now, he had a Demon Empress to provoke.
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
Ren Zu untied the belt that held his robes and, with a deliberately slow movement, let the fabric slide off his shoulders. The tunic slipped down without resistance and fell to the ground in a soft murmur, muffled by the snow.
He took a step forward, barefoot, then another, and another, until the water touched his ankles and kept advancing, letting the water rise over his legs, his hips, until his entire body was submerged up to his waist.
Immediately, an invisible gray aura enveloped his body, dissipating into the air as if he had never been there.
It was the manifestation of his supreme concealment ability.
With that done, he dove deeper into the lake's waters, descending slowly until he touched the silent lakebed.
The lake was surprisingly deep, and as he descended, he noticed a thick current of icy energy emanating from the depths. The abrupt drop in temperature was suffocating, but he reacted immediately, enveloping his body in the Vermilion Bird's Flames to resist the biting cold as he continued his descent.
The Little Demon Empress possessed the Golden Crow's bloodline but had not inherited the Record of the Burning World, the manual that allowed full control over the Golden Crow's Flames. Because of this, as the energy of the flames matured within her body, the burden of keeping them under control became unbearable. That was why she resorted to extreme methods to pacify the Golden Crow's flames, as she had done on that occasion eight months ago when he first observed her.
A thousand meters below the surface, threads and currents of cold energy still snaked through the waters, remnants of an icy spring that once exuded a far denser chilling energy than it did now. It was this spring that the Little Demon Empress used to suppress the chaotic flames raging within her body. However, it was clear she had already resorted to this place countless times. What was once an icy spring capable of freezing the soul had now lost much of its effect, and he guessed it would lose its potency entirely in one or two months.
He sat at the bottom, in a meditative position, patiently awaiting the arrival of the Little Demon Empress.
In no time, he saw a beautiful figure appear at the edge of the pool. She was looking around with a cold glint in her eyes, like a God of Death, before burning her clothes and revealing her enchanting body to the world and entering the pool...
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