The Empress wanted to take a recovery pill to heal herself, only to remember that her storage bag had been stolen.
Helplessly, she circulated her cultivation technique to suppress the injuries inside her body.
Then, she stumbled all the way to her backup location.
While changing her clothes, she also took a recovery pill she had stored there!
After consuming the recovery pill, she found that although her injuries were somewhat suppressed, she was still far from fully recovered.
Glancing at the sky, the Empress decided to return to the palace.
The moment she stepped back into the grand hall of the imperial palace, she frowned.
The Demon Emperor was already sitting by the table, waiting for her!
“Xintong, where did you go? Didn't you say you would wait for me?”
Hearing the Demon Emperor's words, the Empress's heart tightened. What if he came close to her?
What if he discovered she was injured?
As luck would have it, her worst fear was realized!
Right then, the Demon Emperor's voice rang out again:
“Xintong, why is your face so pale? Are you unwell?”
As he spoke, he prepared to rush over to her side!
The Empress hurriedly cried out:
“Ah!... Don't come over! I'm fine...”
The Demon Emperor, who had already taken a step forward, stopped and asked in confusion:
“Xintong, what is wrong?”
“Ah... haha... It is nothing. I just went to have a divination done. The master said that before our wedding anniversary, we should not get too close. Otherwise, it will be bad for our relationship...”
“Is that true?”
The Demon Emperor asked, a hint of suspicion in his voice.
“Of course it is true!”
The Demon Emperor said rather reluctantly:
“Alright! I will stay away from you.”
With that, the Demon Emperor took half a step backward.
The Empress's lips twitched. I told you to stay away, and you only back up half a step?
Nevertheless, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the Demon Emperor believed whatever she said.
She then looked at the Demon Emperor standing not far away and spoke again:
“A-Yuan, why don't you stay in another palace for the next few days? That way, we will not accidentally get too close...”
Hearing this, the Demon Emperor snapped his head up, his eyes filled with resistance:
“Why? I am not going...”
The Empress explained helplessly, “A-Yuan, this is to ensure our relationship remains stable and long-lasting. Just bear with it for a bit...”
After listening to the Empress ramble on about a long list of benefits, the Demon Emperor felt he had played along enough, so he nodded and agreed:
“Alright! I will listen to you!”
The Demon Emperor then turned and left the hall.
Watching the Demon Emperor's retreating figure, the Empress was slightly taken aback. Why did it feel like he was practically scrambling to leave?
“Xintong, come visit me when you have time!”
“Alright!”
The Empress nodded and agreed. Now, that is more normal.
As she watched his retreating back once more, her eyes grew misty.
“A-Yuan, I am sorry...”
The Empress murmured silently.
If not for her father...
She truly wanted to just live like this with A-Yuan forever!
“Pfft...”
The Empress spat out a mouthful of blood. She had no time to lose and quickly entered the seclusion chamber the Demon Emperor had just used to heal her wounds!
At the same time, she was rather bewildered. Why was this injury of hers so difficult to heal?
“Whoosh...”
After the Empress entered the seclusion chamber, the Demon Emperor doubled back.
He cast one array pattern after another toward the seclusion chamber...
In another grand hall, the Demon Emperor called out:
“Golden Crow Guard!”
“Present!”
The moment his voice fell, a demon dressed in golden attire with a Golden Crow head materialized before him.
He looked around in confusion, not understanding why the Demon Emperor was not keeping the Empress company today.
“Investigate... Investigate what the Empress has been up to all these years.”
Siyang, the captain of the Golden Crow Guard, froze in disbelief.
“Are we... investigating the Empress?”
Siyang asked cautiously.
Ever since the Demon Emperor married the Empress, their Golden Crow Guard had been completely forgotten.
They basically never received any missions. Even when they did, it was always to find out what the Empress liked and bring it back to her.
Now, everyone referred to them as love's lackeys.
Meanwhile, the Demon Emperor ignored everything else day in and day out, focusing solely on romancing the Empress.
The entire demon race was in absolute chaos. Any faction with even a shred of strength harbored thoughts of overthrowing the Xiaotian Imperial Clan.
Granted, the Xiaotian Imperial Clan had been somewhat in decline before.
But when this generation's Demon Emperor ascended to the throne, things actually started off quite well!
They had all believed the Xiaotian Imperial Clan was about to rise!
That they would reclaim their past glory!
Yet, from the moment the Demon Emperor fell for the Empress, he seemed to have become a completely different demon.
He acted like a complete simpleton every day, with nothing but romance on his mind!
Everything he did was for the sake of his love life.
Perhaps because the Demon Emperor himself was leading the charge, the entire demon race had begun to spawn waves of love-crazed demons who would do anything for romance.
Thus, hearing the Demon Emperor's command, Siyang found it utterly mind-boggling!
They were actually going to investigate the Empress?
Then, Siyang began to worry again. What if he actually discovered that the Empress had issues?
Should he report it? How should he say it? Could he even speak of it?
The Demon Emperor was also taken aback by Siyang's questioning.
Then, he let out a helpless sigh. He had made this bed, and now he had to lie in it!
“Yes, investigate the Empress. Find out who she is in contact with and if she has done anything detrimental to the demon race.”
The Demon Emperor felt it was better to make things clear, lest they let their imaginations run wild.
“Yes!”
Siyang's eyes lit up, and he responded loudly.
“Oh, and while you are at it, investigate General Dog, General Tiger, and Minister Fox as well!”
“Yes!”
Siyang complied once more, then turned and left.
...
After the Demon Emperor left, Lu Ming also found a grand hall and began to cultivate.
He felt a profound sense of urgency. Dammit, ever since he arrived in the demon race territory, he realized that the lowest-ranking entities he dealt with were 4th-rank demon beasts, which were equivalent to the Nascent Soul stage!
As a mere Golden Core stage cultivator, he felt incredibly insecure!
Moreover, he had offended some 98th Prince.
Just thinking of that kid's resentful glare made it impossible for Lu Ming to sleep... He was suffering from severe insomnia!
No, he had to cultivate. He absolutely had to cultivate...
First, he examined his Golden Core. Previously, it had exploded Ye Fan's golden core!
Later, on the way to the Xiaotian Imperial City, it had exploded the demon cores of a few blind fools!
With each explosion and subsequent reformation, Lu Ming found that his Golden Core grew a bit stronger.
Especially this time, though he had no idea what part of the Demon Emperor he had exploded, his Golden Core had grown significantly stronger yet again.
Lu Ming felt that if he exploded a few more things, he might just be able to break through!
Since exploding others' cores allowed him to break through so quickly, who would actually bother to cultivate diligently?
He would definitely just wait to blow someone else up!
Therefore, he decided to use this time to do something productive and focus on body refining...
His body refining technique had been stuck at the first rank for a long time now.
He decided to see if he could break through to the second rank!
The second rank, Copper Skin and Iron Bones, required using spiritual energy to temper all the bones in his body. Once achieved, his body would be ten times stronger than before.
With this in mind, Lu Ming began to pump himself up!
“It is fine... it is fine... It is just pain. I am not afraid... not afraid... It is just pain...”
“Ah... oh... hiss...”
As Lu Ming began his body refining, he let out a series of bloodcurdling screams.
When Lu Ming first began using spiritual energy to temper his bones, it felt like a tiny steel drill, spinning and boring directly into them.
“Ugh... holy crap, this hurts way too much!”
Lu Ming felt his bones emit a sharp cracking sound.
They were not breaking; rather, they were being forcibly shattered, compacted, and tempered by the spiritual energy.
The pain caused his entire body to twitch, veins bulging on his skin, and his mind to buzz wildly.
Meanwhile, hearing Lu Ming's agonizing screams, Big Yellow and the others wore expressions of deep sympathy.
They could not understand why Lu Ming was in such excruciating pain every single time he cultivated!
Was his cultivation technique perhaps a bit sketchy?
Rate on N.U.
