Chapter 783: The Finger-Guessing Game Begins
The Demon Lord’s eyes had always been open, but the vitality within them was slowly fading, growing dimmer by the moment.
Just then, his eyes suddenly brightened for an instant—perhaps because a shooting star streaked across the night sky.
That meteor came from the northern starfield, possibly even from the extreme north where the Heavenly Monarch Star resided. What did this signify?
When killing someone under the stars, why would any omen be given in advance? It was merely a coincidence, just like your arrival—not born of caution or courage, but simply because there was no other choice.
The Demon Lord turned his head with some difficulty and looked at his son. “If you hadn’t killed all your brothers cleanly, leaving no one else capable of wielding the Starry Slaughter, with your patient and forbearing nature, would you have taken such a great risk to come and kill me yourself?”
The young Demon Lord said solemnly, “Even if they were still alive, how could I trust them to meet with you? So in the end, I still had to appear before your eyes.”
“This simple story is well written, and you’ve executed it well.” The Demon Lord looked into his eyes, his voice carrying a hint of coldness. “But you should know very well what the Starry Slaughter means. Have you considered how you will respond if those alien races truly break through the barrier and arrive?”
“Father, I have thought about this question very seriously, and in the end, I concluded that I had no choice but to act this way. First, if I hadn’t used the Starry Slaughter, even if the Military Advisor and Aunt and the others risked their lives to strike, they couldn’t have guaranteed killing you. Two years ago, the Abyss witnessed a miracle once. I don’t want another miracle to happen—especially one involving you. Second, whether the aliens can find a way to breach the barrier through the Starry Slaughter, I don’t care, because that would inevitably take many years.”
The young Demon Lord continued, “Even if a few stragglers have already descended, they will ultimately become my slaves. Before that final day arrives, I believe I will have unified this continent we inhabit. Before the alien army comes, I will lead my forces over there first. So why would I worry about this problem?”
As he spoke these words, his expression was calm, filled with boundless confidence and unwavering resolve.
The Demon Lord looked at this young face, recalling the images that had flashed before his eyes when he saw Chen Changsheng’s stones earlier. He vaguely understood something, and then felt a sense of relief.
Grand ambitions, imperial conquests, unparalleled achievements—it turned out he didn’t need to accomplish them himself. He could entrust them to his descendants, who carried his bloodline.
The Demon Lord smiled and said, “Since you are prepared, that’s good.”
The young Demon Lord bent down, gently kissed his forehead, and said sorrowfully, “I can’t bear to let you leave.”
“No, in truth, I should have left long ago.”
The Demon Lord looked into his eyes and said, “It wasn’t until tonight, witnessing your excellence once more, that I realized my greatest mistake: my ambition was thwarted a thousand years ago, my body has long since decayed and turned to ash, yet I still clung to power, unwilling to pass the throne to you young ones.”
Tears welled in the young Demon Lord’s eyes as he said, “Yes, we could wait no longer, so we had to find a way to ask you to leave this world.”
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It was hard to understand the relationship between the Demon Lord and his son. If there was grief and reluctance, then what were the years of treachery and cruelty?
Chen Changsheng couldn’t understand it either, but he grasped the meaning of the difficult conversation between the Demon Lord and his son.
That night at the Heavenly Book Mausoleum, he had been beside the Heavenly Sea Empress, seeing and sensing the powerful soul of that monk from another continent. Moreover, he himself came from that continent. In a sense, he was the condition the Remnant Clan had offered to the Zhou Dynasty, and he might also become a vanguard for the aliens. More importantly, earlier he had sensed that light in the starry river, seen that mysterious and distant unknown world, and vaguely perceived some terrifying auras.
But as the young Demon Lord had said, that was something for many years later. Whether it was him or Chen Changsheng, they still had enough time to make themselves stronger, to make their respective races stronger, to make this continent stronger, so they could face the unknown challenges with full confidence.
First, they needed to determine who would rule this continent—in other words, who would continue to live.
“I must admit, you truly live up to being the hope of the Remnant Clan, the successor of Yin and Shang. You are far more powerful than the rumors suggest. Tonight, if you hadn’t drawn all of my father’s attention, finding an opportunity to borrow that killing intent from the starry sky would have been extremely difficult for me.”
The young Demon Lord looked at Chen Changsheng, appearing somewhat embarrassed. “Under these circumstances, I naturally find it hard to kill you.”
Chen Changsheng said, “I thought you always wanted me dead.”
The young Demon Lord smiled and said, “That’s right. In the original plan, you should have been dead by now—either at the hands of Lord Haidi, or at my sister’s. Even if you had countless tricks to survive those two trials, you would inevitably have been killed by my father.”
Chen Changsheng said, “I’m still alive.”
The young Demon Lord said, “This is good. Bringing a living Pope back to Xuelao City will help me solve many problems.”
For countless millennia, the human and demon races had been locked in a stalemate on this continent. Never had a figure of the Pope’s stature been captured—on either side. If the young Demon Lord truly brought Chen Changsheng back to Xuelao City, it would undoubtedly become the most glorious moment in demon history and would surely stabilize his position as Demon Lord.
Chen Changsheng said only one sentence: “Do you think that’s possible?”
The young Demon Lord recalled the scene high in the sky he had glimpsed when he opened his eyes earlier, and raised an eyebrow.
At that moment, Chen Changsheng had fused the two most resolute sword techniques of human swordsmanship into the Burning Sword, all to kill him.
Unless his father were still alive, or the Military Advisor and the Demon General were present in person, no one could stop Chen Changsheng, who was calmly resolved to die.
“Indeed, it’s not possible. So then, go die.” The young Demon Lord’s thoughts came quickly and left just as fast. He said to Chen Changsheng, “Anyway, you definitely won’t let me eat you, so hurry up and die. You know, I like Xu Yourong, so I’ve always wanted you dead.”
Chen Changsheng said, “I don’t quite understand where your confidence comes from.”
“And you? You’re severely wounded, unable to fight any longer, yet you can still speak calmly with me. Where does your confidence come from?”
The Demon Lord smiled and said, “You don’t need to answer, because coincidentally, I know the reason.”
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(I drank too much with friends tonight, so the update is late. Sorry.)