“Damn it, just what is this blood-colored sword aura?” The more Demon Lord Meiyan fought, the more alarmed she became. As she tangled with the aura unleashed by Lin Mo, she discovered something terrifying: the blood-colored sword aura could devour her demonic energy. What was supposed to be a battle to suppress Lin Mo had instead become increasingly awkward after he released it. Lin Mo was now fully determined to make Demon Lord Meiyan experience the same pain that Xiang’er had once endured.
However, given the current situation, he still couldn’t completely take her down. “System, how many regret points do I have left?” he asked. The system replied excitedly: [Over 620,000 regret points, Host! If it should be spent, spend it! We’ve got to make that wicked woman pay the price she deserves. According to my calculations, you can spend 300,000 regret points to upgrade the Nameless Sword Technique by one level. With 200,000 regret points, you can raise your cultivation to the middle stage of Divine Transformation. Spending regret points this way will give you the greatest possible boost in strength!]
The system’s calculations were part of Lin Mo’s own plan. While the system was usually unreliable, it could still be counted on at critical moments. Hearing his thoughts, it chirped happily: [Right? Right? I would never abandon you, Host! I’m your loyal partner through and through!] “Quit dawdling and get to work already,” Lin Mo urged coldly. The moment the system confirmed the expenditure of regret points, his aura surged once more. The blood-colored sword aura grew more vivid, its power increasing by several levels.
“He actually broke through mid-battle?!” Demon Lord Meiyan was utterly shocked. To break through during combat was nearly unheard of. Cultivators usually went into seclusion to avoid external interference, since a disturbance during a breakthrough could cause severe injuries, regression in cultivation, or even death. To succeed under such circumstances meant either extraordinary fortune or an unbelievably strong state of mind. From her perspective, Lin Mo was clearly the latter.
From this point on, already at a disadvantage, she was no longer able to withstand Lin Mo’s increasingly powerful onslaught. “I heard your demon kind have incredible regenerative ability?” Lin Mo’s expression was cold as frost. Before she could even process the meaning of those words, her bone marrow and meridians were crushed, followed by waves of excruciating pain. She didn’t cry out, but sweat beaded on her forehead. “You sure can endure pain,” Lin Mo sneered coldly. Yet within just a few breaths, her body began to heal rapidly.
“As expected, you recover quickly.” As soon as he finished speaking, he once again used demonic energy to crush her body from within. “You brat, don’t go too far,” she spat, glaring at him without crying out. But Lin Mo paid no attention to her words. He simply waited for her meridians to recover, then crushed them again.
Yan Ruyu watched all of this from the side with an indifferent gaze. Of course she knew what Demon Lord Meiyan had done to her daughter. Demons by nature were cold and unfeeling, so to her, watching the demon be tortured by Lin Mo only brought satisfaction and relief. She felt no hint of cruelty in it whatsoever.
Yan Ruyu’s emotions were somewhat complicated. The boy she had once dismissed was now the only one who could help her. But a cornered dog will leap over a wall; even a rabbit will bite when pushed too far. Demon Lord Meiyan was truly enraged.
She had refrained from transforming into her demonic body because her current form allowed her to cultivate more effectively. With a few more decades of seclusion, she would have broken through to a higher minor realm. But now she had abandoned that plan—she was determined to kill Lin Mo. Bound by the blood-colored sword aura, she suddenly transformed into a swirling cloud of black mist, and the demonic energy around her began to rise rapidly.
Seeing this, Lin Mo furrowed his brows—Granny Rong had done the same before. Once they turned into that pitch-black form, their strength would increase greatly. Very soon, the blood-colored sword aura could no longer hold her back. Just as Demon Lord Meiyan broke free of the aura’s bindings and lunged toward Lin Mo, he suddenly called out, “Wait a moment!” The shift caught her completely off guard, and she halted, asking coldly, “What else do you want to say?”
“Do you recognize this?” Lin Mo tossed her the ring given to him by the old man beneath the Abyssal Sea. “The Ancestor’s ring?” Yan Ruyu gasped in shock. Taking the ring, Demon Lord Meiyan froze for several seconds before realizing what Yan Ruyu had said. “Who gave this to you?” she demanded emotionally. “An old man,” Lin Mo replied truthfully. “You went to the Abyssal Sea—and came back alive?” she asked in disbelief. “Yeah. Is there a problem with that?” Lin Mo responded.
Demon Lord Meiyan and Yan Ruyu exchanged glances, a trace of doubt in their eyes. The truth about the Ancestor’s sealing beneath the Abyssal Sea was known only to a handful of high-ranking demons. They had tried going down themselves, but even slightly descending into the depths caused their demonic energy to be sealed away. As a result, none of them knew whether the Ancestor was alive or dead. Still, until his death was confirmed, none of them dared claim that he had perished.
But how was Lin Mo able to enter the Abyssal Sea? “Could it be because he’s a half-demon?” Yan Ruyu speculated, only to be interrupted by Demon Lord Meiyan. “Impossible. I’ve tested it before. Even half-demons with demonic bodies can’t descend into the Abyssal Sea. And those with human bodies can’t even enter the Demon Realm.” That was why they were all confused.
Upon hearing this, Lin Mo thought of his unique cultivation—training in both the immortal and demonic paths. When he had entered the Abyssal Sea, his demonic energy was indeed sealed, but his spiritual energy remained unaffected.
“Could it be that I’m the only one who can enter the Abyssal Sea?” Lin Mo thought to himself. After all, he was likely the only person in this world who cultivated both immortal and demonic paths. Didn’t that make it feel like a unique privilege?
Suddenly, the ring in Demon Lord Meiyan’s hand flared with radiant light and shot straight into her mind. The voice of Ancestor Chu Tiange echoed in her ears: “Meiyan, release Yan Ruyu. The one before you is the Young Lord I have personally appointed for the Demon Realm. I am close to breaking through the boundary, and until I emerge, you must follow his orders.”
Her expression turned dark, but the Ancestor’s word was absolute. Until now, with no certainty whether the Ancestor was still alive, the three great demon clans had competed fiercely for dominance. But now, with the promise of his return, Demon Lord Meiyan abandoned her ambitions. She dissolved her pitch-black form, leaving Lin Mo bewildered—only to kneel respectfully before him. “I greet the Young Lord.”
Lin Mo was stunned. Yan Ruyu quickly pieced it together: the Ancestor had passed a message through the ring, declaring Lin Mo the Demon Realm’s Young Lord. She, too, bowed respectfully. “The one you met was our Demon Realm’s Ancestor,” Demon Lord Meiyan explained. “This was his will.” Lin Mo, though, was completely thrown off. He had known the old man was unusual, but he never expected this. On their very first meeting, he was being made Young Lord of the Demon Realm?
“There’s no such thing as free gifts falling from the sky. This is way too suspicious,” he muttered. “Why would your Ancestor want me to become Young Lord?” “The Ancestor didn’t explain,” Demon Lord Meiyan replied. Lin Mo let it go for now—since his Dream of a Yellow Millet ability hadn’t activated, it meant there was no life-threatening danger in accepting the position. Besides, the role of Young Lord carried many advantages.
Demon Lord Meiyan couldn’t help but feel speechless. If Lin Mo had shown the ring earlier, none of this conflict would have happened. She wouldn’t have fought him, and she wouldn’t have wasted a century’s worth of cultivated demonic energy. Now, she would have to start over to break through again. Lin Mo raised a brow. “So what? I just felt like tormenting you first—got a problem with that?” “Not at all. If it pleases the Young Lord, then by all means,” she replied with a perfectly serious expression.
“Oh? Then go ahead and crush your own bones and meridians,” Lin Mo said casually. To his surprise, Demon Lord Meiyan immediately did so with her own demonic energy, harming herself without hesitation. He had only spoken offhandedly—yet she had obeyed without question. Clearly, the authority of the Demon Realm’s Young Lord was far greater than he had imagined, and the Meiyan Clan’s loyalty to their realm’s ruler was absolute.
“All right,” Lin Mo said at last, “let Yan Ruyu go first.”