The beautiful demon lord’s lips curved slightly upward, and every so often he would glance at her.

Chao Jinsui: ……

“What exactly are you smiling about?”

He refused to speak again, only kept looking at her with shining eyes. Wherever she moved, those beautiful phoenix eyes followed.

Chao Jinsui: ……

She had the illusion that her back was about to be stared through with a hole.

When Chao Jinsui lifted her head, she suddenly saw that beneath the ground where the demonic qi was gradually thinning, something was faintly glimmering.

“What is that?”

Yan Xueyi saw it too. He frowned, grabbed Chao Jinsui, and walked toward the underground area.

Now, the surging demonic qi had gradually been almost entirely absorbed by the Demon Venerable. What remained was slowly dispersing, no longer as dense and violent as at the beginning. For this demon lord, it no longer had any effect.

As they walked, Chao Jinsui suddenly heard the system ask:

“Host, are you wavering?”

“Do you still remember our mission? You absolutely must not fall into demonic cultivation.”

Chao Jinsui: “You mean the matter of letting the inner demon possess me?”

The system silently acknowledged.

There was another, deeper concern that the system did not voice.

—It was afraid she was wavering. That in their day-by-day interactions, she would gradually discover that the demon race was not entirely unforgivable, that they too had flesh and blood. If she slowly came to feel that the demon race was nothing special, even that becoming a demon was not such a big deal…

Especially after witnessing scum like Madam Zi among the human race, and the wavering nature of families like the Su clan—could she still remain firm in her view of the demon race?

Could she still, as before, unwaveringly stand on the side of the human race, steadfastly determined to change the fate of the world’s destruction?

—What if she felt that ruling the world together with this demon lord would be quite nice?

The system realized that things were beginning to become very serious.

Chao Jinsui’s steps paused. “I will not fall into demonic cultivation, and even less will I waver.”

“If I wavered, I wouldn’t have gone to save Lingyun.”

She lifted her head to look at the demon lord walking in front of her. He held her hand tightly, as if afraid she might get lost.

“System, the more I understand the demon race, the more firmly I will hold to my original heart.”

“You saw what he was like just now. Do you think that person was Yan Xueyi? I used to think demons pursued power and that was why they lost control. But now I realize—they don’t want to.”

“—They may even come to loathe themselves because of it, like him. They may feel fear, like Hongniang.”

Who would want to become a beast without reason?

Yet Chao Jinsui knew very clearly—Heaven’s Dao was flawed. Within less than a hundred years, demonic qi would surge greatly throughout the entire world.

High-ranking demons like Hongniang, under the influence of ever-denser demonic qi, would grow stronger and stronger, lose control more and more often, and in the end become a mass of chaotic demonic qi. The number of low-ranking demons would also increase drastically. Demons would devour by instinct, and the world would descend into complete chaos.

When that time came, the Demon God would take his place, and the great structure would collapse.

Perhaps by then, in the entire demon race, only the Demon God would remain with clear consciousness.

But Chao Jinsui knew—the Demon God was not Yan Xueyi.

Where would a god have a “self”?

At that time, there would no longer be any force in the world capable of pulling back this derailed carriage.

Chao Jinsui said, “You don’t need to worry. I know what I need to do.”

The system asked, “You truly won’t waver?”

Chao Jinsui replied briefly, “I would not shrink even in the face of ten thousand deaths.”

The system fell silent.

Soon, Chao Jinsui and the demon lord arrived underground together, coming before that glittering stone.

The stone was only palm-sized, radiating dazzling light. Its surface bore no patterns—it was simply a piece of pure black stone.

Chao Jinsui infused spiritual energy into it, but it was like a drop of water entering the ocean.

She then drew her sword, yet it left no mark on it.

The demon lord also infused a trace of demonic qi into it, but the result sank like a stone into the sea. The entire stone remained completely unmoving.

He raised a brow and sensed it for a moment. This demon lord had plundered homes and robbed treasures for many years and had an extraordinary intuition for valuable objects.

He discovered that inside this stone was a very strange sensation—

“It’s a bit like the aura left by heavenly lightning striking down.”

She frowned. “I’ve heard of lightning-struck wood, but never lightning-struck stone.”

The demon lord said, “Keep it. It should be of some use. It ought to be good for blocking heavenly lightning.”

Chao Jinsui looked at it, deep in thought: so, what exactly is this thing?

The system interjected, “The ‘flaw’ in Heaven’s Dao—the stone used when Nüwa mended the sky.”

—But the system did not finish speaking. In truth, it was one-fifth of it.

Chao Jinsui: “……”

She immediately grabbed the demon lord, who was about to take out the Fumo Sword and try chopping at it.

✦ ─ ˗ˋ ୨୧ ˊ˗ ─ ✦

Hongniang and Guangping had already been waiting at the inn for a long time.

While playing cards with Guangping, Hongniang asked worriedly, “Do you think she’ll die?”

If it were any other situation, Hongniang might have gone up to hold the line, but the opponent was the Demon Venerable. If they went up, they would only end up being eaten.

Monk Guangping played a card. “She won’t.”

Hongniang’s eyes lit up. “Why?”

Guangping said, “This humble monk checked the almanac today. It is an auspicious day.”

Hongniang: “……”

They played cards while worrying, and finally, at noon, they returned.

Aside from the Demon Venerable having a bandaged wound on his arm, they looked mostly unharmed.

It was just that when Guangping intended to help re-bandage it, he was refused by His Venerable—

It was said that His Venerable had decided not to remove it in the future, and would just keep it wrapped like that.

Guangping: “……”

Chao Jinsui went to check on Lingyun. She still had not woken up, but her complexion was no longer so pale.

She came out and asked, “Master Guangping, how is Lingyun?”

Guangping said, “I fed her several doses of spiritual medicine. There is no longer any major problem. It’s just that she likely won’t wake so soon. She will need to be nourished regularly from now on—it will take a long time to recover fully.”

Hearing Guangping say she could recover, Chao Jinsui immediately let out a breath of relief—what she feared most was that the Gu King had drained too much of her vital energy, leaving irreversible aftereffects that would ruin Lingyun’s cultivation.

Guangping took Chao Jinsui’s pulse and said, “The love gu can be removed.”

The Demon Venerable, who had seemed to be in a very good mood, suddenly stiffened.

He drank cup after cup of tea that had long gone cold.

Guangping said, “Actually, once the Gu King died, this love gu no longer had any effect.”

He said calmly, “Then remove it.”

His tone seemed to reveal no emotion.

Since His Venerable had said so, Guangping then said to Chao Jinsui:

“Miss Chao, after removing the gu tomorrow, we can immediately repair your soul. However, although this soul-restoring method is effective, you will need to open your sea of consciousness to this humble monk…”

For a time, only Guangping’s voice remained in the room.

After the time had been set and the medicines arranged.

Sensing that the atmosphere had become extremely strange, Hongniang and Guangping exchanged a glance and quietly slipped away.

Chao Jinsui walked behind the demon lord. One in front, one behind, the two were about to return to their rooms. Neither spoke. For a moment, it was extremely quiet.

Suddenly, the demon lord stopped.

Chao Jinsui nearly bumped into him—but she reacted quickly and stepped back.

He lowered his head to look at her. His beautiful phoenix eyes flickered slightly, as though he had something to say.

Yan Xueyi had heard Guangping speak of the “soul-restoring method”—in truth, it was not difficult. For a powerful demonic cultivator like him, it was even very easy.

But the problem was that for cultivators, the sea of consciousness was like their inner world, not something others could be allowed into lightly. And casually opening one’s sea of consciousness to another person was extremely dangerous.

She had once been so guarded against him…

Yet she suddenly spoke first: “Yanyan.”

He lowered his head.

Then he heard her say, “I’ve only known Guangping for just over a month. I’m not close to him.”

The demon lord, who had been silent all this time, suddenly had those phoenix eyes light up.

“Yan Xueyi, I only trust you.”

She looked at him. “I’m placing half my life in your hands.”

He suddenly lowered his head. The young man’s shadow almost enveloped her. His phoenix eyes swept over her from her shoes to the tips of her hair. Near her ear, he spoke, his breath carrying a trace of coolness:

“Only trust me?”

The final tone rose, full of suspicion.

Chao Jinsui: “Plus one more—Chao Zhaoyue.”

He immediately narrowed his phoenix eyes.

He snorted coldly. “Cunning human.”

Always playing word games!

She said, “Yan Xueyi, you’re pushing your luck.”

Sure enough, the corners of his lips lifted.

He stared at her darkly for a long time, then suddenly said, “Pushing my luck? What is that? I still…”

Still want to do what?

But the demon lord suddenly stopped, not finishing the sentence. Abruptly, he viciously ruffled her shoulder-length short hair, pushed open the door behind her, shoved her inside, and shut it.

“Go sleep properly. Your face is pale like a ghost.”

She had already had an unstable soul, and having forcibly allowed the inner demon to possess her, now that it had left, her complexion was extremely pale.

Outside the door, the great demon lord’s voice sounded lazy, yet carried an awkward note of concern: “You’re not allowed to secretly practice swordsmanship tonight. I’m listening.”

She froze. Ever since she had grown up, no one had ever ruffled her head like that. She touched her hair, now like a bird’s nest, and slowly wiped the spot on her cheek where his scorching breath had brushed against her. His presence was like the man himself—overwhelming, like a blazing fire. She wiped at it for a long time, yet could not erase that feeling.

When she went to the washbasin—she discovered her face had been rubbed red.

Alone in the room, she sat, staring blankly at the Butian Stone.

At first, she was thinking about Yan Xueyi—thinking that perhaps all these years, she had truly misunderstood this demon lord in many ways.

After thinking for a long time, she heard the system calling her.

The system had wanted to talk to her about the Butian Stone, but saw that she had been lost in thought.

System: “Host? Host?”

Chao Jinsui quickly came back to her senses. She turned her attention back to this so-called “Butian Stone.”

She indeed had many questions.

The flaw in Heaven’s Dao? The stone Nüwa used to mend the sky?

The thoughts from along the way resurfaced in her mind again. She slowly pieced together the scattered clues.

System: “Host, what are you thinking about?”

Chao Jinsui said calmly, “Nothing much. I just suddenly realized you’re very suspicious.”

The system trembled all over.

As she thought, she spoke, her pace unhurried,

“At the beginning, you thought that as long as I slept with that demon lord and moved him emotionally, we could prevent the world’s destruction. So you encouraged me to get close to Yan Xueyi.”

“Then, when you discovered that Su Liuyun had died, and that Heaven’s Dao had a flaw, your attitude suddenly changed. You stopped encouraging me to get close to Yan Xueyi, and instead became very quiet, secretly observing me.”

“What are you observing? My attitude toward the demon race? My interactions with Hongniang and the others?”

“Today, when you suddenly asked me that question—were you testing me?”

“If I had shown even a little wavering, would you not have told me about the Butian Stone?”

The system was silent as a chicken.

Chao Jinsui said coldly, “I’ve noticed you don’t dare speak much when Yan Xueyi is around. What are you afraid of? Afraid of the Demon God?”

That faintly threatening sentence made the system not dare utter another word.

She took a sip of tea and said unhurriedly, “Any cooperation is built on openness and honesty, isn’t it?”