Chapter 167: Xu Xian Has Ruined Me!

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhiqing frowned slightly. After a brief moment of silence, she said to Yan Shu, "Let them go. Once I discuss this with the Senior Brother and the others, I will personally go to Yunzhou City to settle things with the Eastern Imperial Family. It is only natural for the Xuantian Sect to protect the mortals of Yunzhou, but that is not something they should use as a bargaining chip to feign compliance while plotting behind our backs."

These words resonated with absolute conviction. Whether Dongfang Shang felt any shame or not, Yan Shu could not be certain, but she figured that people like him were probably incapable of feeling shame at all.

Such people possessed a mindset that was fundamentally unchangeable. They inherently believed that because they were weak, they were always in the right, and that others were obligated to protect and indulge them!

Instead of feeling any gratitude toward you, they took everything for granted.

In the past, the imperial family provided resources to the sects while the sects offered protection—a mutually beneficial arrangement where no one was indebted to anyone else, nor was anyone taking advantage of another.

Yet over the past few centuries, the contributions from the Eastern Imperial Family had dwindled year by year. Even the spiritual rice allocated to the four major peaks barely amounted to enough for ten people. Converted into spiritual stones, it did not even equal ten middle-grade spiritual stones.

One could say that the Xuantian Sect was essentially working for free, sustained purely by the goodwill of the past.

Despite this, not only did the Eastern Imperial Family show no gratitude, but they also blamed their own incompetence on those who helped them, even plotting to smear and slander the Xuantian Sect.

To put it bluntly, these people were like unfeedable dogs and ungrateful wolves with white-rimmed eyes!

After putting away the Mystic Spirit Mirror, Yan Shu instructed the Demon King to release them.

The Demon King withdrew the Immortal-Binding Rope, let out a cold snort toward Dongfang Shang and the others, and declared, "It's a good thing you're in Yunzhou. If you were in my Haizhou, I would have wiped out your entire clan!"

Hearing this, Dongfang Shang flushed with embarrassment and anger, shouting, "Immortals are not allowed to—"

"Ha!" The Demon King let out a cold laugh, cutting him off. "Not allowed to do what? Not allowed to kill mortals, or not allowed to overthrow a mortal dynasty?"

"Do you really think that even if I did such a thing, anyone could possibly do anything to me?! As for your so-called imperial family, you simply had a bit of good luck among mortals. Do you think I couldn't prop up a second imperial family? Could the Xuantian Sect not prop up a second imperial family?"

The Demon King looked at Dongfang Shang with utter contempt. "You are foolish without even realizing it, daring only to bully the kind-hearted Xuantian Sect. Get lost, and stop being an eyesore to me and my wife!"

Yan Shu found these words immensely satisfying—though it would have been even better without that bit about being his wife.

Yan Shu glared at the Demon King, but figuring he was at least standing up for her, she temporarily swallowed her pride to avoid humiliating him in front of others.

The disciples of the Hidden Sword Sect looked deeply ashamed. Although the Demon King had not mentioned them by name, every single word he spoke was a direct slap to their faces.

The Xuantian Sect was kind-hearted, and the Eastern Imperial Family was ungrateful. Then what did that make them, who had seized the opportunity to collude with the ungrateful Eastern Imperial Family?

They were not mortals; they were fellow cultivators. If this matter had been resolved quietly behind closed doors, no one would have said a word. But once it was laid out in the open, they truly found themselves alienated from everyone, failing to fit in anywhere.

Overwhelmed with shame, the several disciples grabbed Dongfang Shang—who had been scared out of his wits by the Demon King's threats—and slunk away in disgrace.

The moment they left, Yan Shu turned her wrath on the Demon King. "You are forbidden from spouting nonsense about me being your wife! You are several thousand years old, aren't you ashamed of taking advantage of me?!"

The Demon King blinked. "Why should I be ashamed? Among my romantic confidantes, there are plenty who are much younger than you."

Yan Shu: ......

She had forgotten that this fellow was half-dragon, and dragons were by nature prolific. With his high cultivation level and immense wealth, the number of women he had been involved with—ranging from demons to cultivators, and even mortals—was simply too vast to count.

Seeing her face fall, the Demon King quickly reassured her, "It's fine. I just wanted to borrow a bit of your destiny to live a little longer. Judging by your cultivation speed, you'll likely ascend in another two or three hundred years. By then, to everyone else, whatever was between you and me will be nothing more than a legend."

That sounded somewhat reasonable, but was her reputation really that worthless?!

The Demon King gave a light cough. "Just let me borrow a bit of your aura, and I guarantee I harbor no inappropriate thoughts toward you. As a token of my gratitude, ten percent of the profits from the Yunzhou Myriad Treasures Pavilion will belong to the Xuantian Sect."

Yan Shu's eyes lit up. "Fifty percent!"

The Demon King nodded. "Deal!"

Yan Shu: ......

Clearly, she had earned spiritual stones, so why did she feel like she had just been scammed?

Regardless, with the profits from the Myriad Treasures Pavilion, even without Xiao Jihan, the Xuantian Sect could be considered completely out of poverty.

Happily, Yan Shu struck the pact with the Demon King. Holding the contract in her hands, she smiled so widely her eyes curved into crescents. "There's something I've always been curious about."

The Demon King put away his copy of the contract. "What is it?"

With a deadpan, serious expression, Yan Shu asked, "Do you demons really turn back into your original forms if you drink realgar wine?"

The Demon King: ？？？

"What kind of foolish nonsense are you talking about? Unless a demon's spiritual power is utterly depleted or they do it voluntarily, they never reveal their true forms."

Yan Shu: ......

Xu Xian, you've deceived me!

With matters settled, the Demon King took his leave. Before departing, he handed Yan Shu a token, saying that presenting it would grant direct access to the fifth floor of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion.

Not only that, but the token was linked to his core demon essence; should she ever encounter danger, crushing it would summon him instantly.

Much like how the Beast Taming Sect could summon spirit beasts to fight, even though demons had taken human form, they were fundamentally beasts that had attained sentience.

This was a unique secret technique belonging exclusively to demons, functioning essentially as a one-time summoning talisman.

Whether it was access to the fifth floor of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion or a one-time summoning talisman, Yan Shu acknowledged this favor.

She generously told the Demon King, "Feel free to drop my name whenever you want. After all, a debtor doesn't worry about having too many debts!"

Under Yan Shu's eager gaze, the Demon King departed in satisfaction.

Yan Shu watched him leave, only to turn around and run straight into Xiao Jihan's cold, piercing gaze.

For some inexplicable reason, Yan Shu felt a pang of guilt. She quickly handed over the token the Demon King had given her. "For you?"

Xiao Jihan looked at her, then down at the token in her hand, and said calmly, "Am I really that petty?"

Yan Shu: ......

Aren't you, though?!

Xiao Jihan did not dwell on the issue with her for long. After making his remark, he continued, "Since your senior brother will handle the matters here, there is nothing left for us to do. Get a good night's rest tonight, and tomorrow we set off for Central Province."

Central Province?

Central Province, where the Primordial Sect was located? Central Province, where Yuwen Che was?!

Their current journey was supposed to be to Hanzhou to pay respects to Xiao Jihan's mother. After leaving Yunzhou, there were two possible routes: one passing through Youzhou to reach Hanzhou, and the other passing through Central Province to reach Hanzhou.

Yan Shu had assumed that, given Xiao Jihan's petty nature, he would certainly avoid Central Province. Yet she never expected that not only did he fail to avoid it, but he had actively chosen this route without giving her a second option.

What on earth was wrong with the male lead? Had he truly had a sudden awakening, realizing that friendship wasn't about exclusive possession, and grown up overnight?

Or was this simply another test?

*Snap!*

With a crisp sound, a light flick landed squarely on Yan Shu's forehead.

Looking at her, Xiao Jihan smiled and said, "This time, not only are we going to Central Province, but we're also going to visit Yuwen Che at the Primordial Sect. Aren't you happy?"