On the official road outside Qingyun Village, dust billowed.
A carriage carved with cloud patterns rolled slowly forward, flanked by several robed cultivators in green. Their auras were restrained, yet the pressure in the air was heavy.
The curtain lifted, and a cold, strikingly beautiful female cultivator stepped down.
She wore a silver-white battle skirt, a sword at her waist singing faintly, and her frosty eyes swept over the village gate.
Someone recognized her and sucked in a sharp breath. "That's Liushuang, the Sword Guardian of the Tianyan Sect! They say she's personally slain three Nascent Soul–stage demon kings."
The villagers shrank back in fear, whispering among themselves:
"Who is she here for?"
"Has to be Lin Heng… word is, he has an army of demon kings behind him."
—
Liushuang strode into the village, step by step, until she stood before Lin Heng's courtyard gate.
She raised her hand, a wisp of spiritual light condensing at her fingertip into the shadow of a sword. "Mortal Lin Heng, are you aware that the cultivation world now says… you are the reincarnation of a demon god?"
Lin Heng poked his head out of the chicken coop, still holding a freshly laid egg.
"Huh? Me? Demon god? You sure you've got the right place?"
Liushuang's voice was cold. "Three days ago, your spirit pet's single bark shattered a hundred zhang of bluestone. Yesterday, a cloud resembling heavenly tribulation fell upon your courtyard wall. If you are not a demon god reincarnated, how else do you explain it?"
Lin Heng froze, and a scene flashed through his mind—
The big black dog, napping lazily, suddenly rolled over and reduced the roadside stone post to rubble; the gray cat, stretching out, flicked its tail and split the sky with a bolt of lightning that roasted the fish he'd hung to dry into charcoal.
Lin Heng coughed awkwardly. "That… might've been bad weather."
—
Liushuang was about to speak when—**Boom—**a muffled sound rang out.
The big black dog strolled out of the courtyard, a half-gnawed pork bone in its mouth. It gave Liushuang a single glance, and the air seemed to twist for an instant.
The accompanying cultivators' faces changed drastically—
"A demon emperor's aura!"
"No wonder they say he's a demon god reincarnated… that dog must be a mount he casually took in!"
The gray cat padded along the courtyard wall, flicking its tail lightly. In the distance, the sky erupted into a mass of dark clouds, thunder rolling straight toward the village gate.
Jiji swooped down from above, wings flaring as it let out a cry; even the sword spirit at Liushuang's feet quivered under the pressure.
—
Liushuang's eyes finally wavered.
She stared at Lin Heng for a long moment before bowing solemnly. "If Senior truly is the hidden demon god, the Tianyan Sect is willing to form an alliance with you to face the coming heavenly tribulation."
The egg in Lin Heng's hand almost slipped. "I told you, I'm—"
But before he could finish, Liushuang had already led her people away respectfully, leaving behind a thick stack of high-grade spirit stones as a "greeting gift."
—
That night, Lin Heng sat at his table counting the spirit stones, sighing. "You guys… can you behave? I'm just a mortal."
The big black dog yawned, the gray cat licked its paw, and Jiji slept curled up on the roof beam — as if they hadn't heard a thing.
Meanwhile, the cultivation world's intelligence networks exploded with a new rumor:
> Lin Heng — reincarnation of a hidden demon god, with three demon emperors as guardians, suspected to be preparing for a return to the divine realm.
Do not test lightly.
Lin Heng: …I really just wanted to keep a few pets!