Chapter 139: Lele: You are free to go
On the golden platform, the bloodstains from yesterday had been cleaned away, and comfortable chairs were placed to the side.
Yu Le led Mo Cunzhi to the platform, whispering in his ear, “Defeat all the challengers, and I’ll let you go. But if you lose… I’ll have to keep you locked in the palace chambers.”
With that, Yu Le seated himself in the best spectator’s spot, watching eagerly, clearly looking forward to the spectacle.
Mo Cunzhi stood in the designated dueling area on the golden platform, looking around at the bustling crowd of demonic cultivators, many of whom were eager to challenge him.
Knowing that he had been brought here in the role of “Queen,” he understood that leaving would not be easy. Mo Cunzhi prepared himself for a fierce battle.
No matter what happened today, he would win.
After last night, he realized even more clearly that he couldn’t stay by his junior brother’s side. The other person always had a way of easily unsettling him, disturbing his calm.
No matter how much preparation he did, it would all be in vain.
Compared to facing his junior brother, he preferred to confront these demonic cultivators who were itching to fight him.
“Alright, let’s begin.”
At Yu Le’s command, a slender figure leapt onto the golden platform—a seductive woman, wielding a soul banner with her pale face set in determination. Without a word, she launched a deadly attack on Mo Cunzhi.
In demonic duels, there were never any limits on life or death, unlike in the Immortal Realm, where care had to be taken not to cause fatal harm. In the Demonic Realm, once a fight began, it was always a life-or-death struggle, making it particularly fierce.
The crowd of demon cultivators watching from the edges of the golden platform cheered loudly, urging the two onstage to kill each other.
In this fevered atmosphere, it was easy for many to get caught up in the excitement, but Mo Cunzhi remained as calm as a bowl of ice water that could never be boiled over, his coldness at odds with the chaos around him.
Even after severely injuring his opponent and sending them crashing off the stage, he merely wiped the blood from his blade, waiting for the next challenger.
There was no joy on his face, no arrogance, as if winning was only natural.
“This won’t do, he’s too arrogant! I can’t stand it. Let me take him down a peg!”
A muscular man with a bare chest and gold armbands leapt onto the stage.
The crowd below booed, “What do you mean ‘can’t stand it’? You’ve got your eye on the Queen, don’t you?”
Hearing the shouts from the crowd below, Mo Cunzhi glanced at the demonic cultivator on stage who was constantly showing off his physique.
As a result, this one fell off the stage even more miserably than the woman before him.
One challenger after another left in defeat, and the high platform challenge turned out to be much easier than Mo Cunzhi had anticipated.
He had expected Yu Le to send some skilled demon cultivators to block his way, but the ones who stepped onto the stage varied in strength. None were particularly formidable, and none matched the demonic cultivators he had faced in front of the Wuyue Immortal Sect.
Moreover, what Mo Cunzhi found slightly strange was that most of the challengers were women.
Could this be a custom in the Demonic Path?
As the sun was about to set, a few more formidable opponents finally arrived.
They seemed to have come from elsewhere, most of them at the Xuandan realm, and there was even one at the Nine Desires realm.
Mo Cunzhi, though only at the Void Returning realm, defeated the Nine Desires realm demonic cultivator. After that, no more demonic cultivators from the audience dared to challenge him.
At sunset, the platform was lit up.
Under the bright lights, it was declared that he had successfully passed the trial set by Yu Le.
“I’ve won.”
You should honor your promise and let me go.
Yu Le saw the unspoken words in Mo Cunzhi’s eyes. He couldn’t help but turn his head with a soft laugh, quickly masking it, then stood up with a beaming smile and clapped his hands, saying, “Not bad, very good.”
He stood next to Mo Cunzhi as thunderous applause and cheers followed from all around, with countless people shouting “Queen.”
Mo Cunzhi, still bearing a few bloodstains on his face and body, frowned at the overly enthusiastic cheers.
What was the meaning of this?
The Nine Desires realm demonic cultivator, who had been defeated by Mo Cunzhi, sighed and said, “King’s judgment is indeed sharp. Ming Ji is utterly convinced. I have no objections to someone like him being the Queen.”
“Since the new Queen has beaten all the sisters who coveted the King, how could we have any objections?”
“With such a fierce Queen, our poor King is really having a hard time! It makes one feel sorry for him!”
“The Queen is powerful, no doubt, but he’s far too jealous. He won’t allow the King to take a single concubine. Look at those who tried to win his favor today, full of hope when they stepped onto the stage, but now they’re barely clinging to life!”
“I heard the Queen made it clear—anyone who can’t defeat him on the golden platform today is forbidden from getting close to the King. But he even beat someone at the Nine Desires realm! For people like us with lower cultivation, we have no chance in this lifetime!”
Mo Cunzhi, overhearing these whispered conversations from the crowd below, was left speechless.
“Why exactly were today’s duels held?” Mo Cunzhi asked.
Wasn’t this supposed to be the condition for his release? Yet from what the crowd was discussing, that didn’t seem to be the case at all.
Yu Le, watching the situation unfold as if enjoying a good show, responded in a teasing tone, “Hmm, what do you think?”
Mo Cunzhi wasn’t a fool. After listening to the gossip, recalling how most of his challengers had been women—each of them filled with resentment and jealousy—he finally pieced it together.
Yu Le patted his hand and said, “Congratulations, Senior Brother. You’ve defeated all the dissatisfied challengers and successfully secured your place as my one and only Queen. Now, no one else is qualified to enter my harem.”
Mo Cunzhi: “…”
With a laugh, Yu Le loudly announced, “From today on, he is officially my rightful Queen!”
As the demon cultivators around them howled and jeered, Mo Cunzhi, trying to remain calm, said, “You’re deceiving me again.”
Yu Le tilted his head. “How have I deceived you?”
“You said if I won, you’d let me go.”
“And I am!” Yu Le responded, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “As the Queen of Kingdom of Bliss, you are free to go anywhere in the entire demonic realm.”
Mo Cunzhi was at a loss for words. This kind of “freedom” was completely different from what he had imagined.
Yu Le, still smiling mischievously, deliberately asked him, “Where does the Queen want to go play? Go ahead, I won’t stop you.”
With such confidence and smugness, Mo Cunzhi felt a surge of anger in his heart. Suddenly, he reached out, grabbed Yu Le’s arm tightly, and without a care for anyone else, dragged him back and gave him a harsh “lesson.”
However, judging by the way Yu Le lay on the bed afterward, casually eating grapes, it was clear he hadn’t been “taught a lesson” at all.
Instead, it was Mo Cunzhi who, after his anger subsided, wore a complicated expression. Even he probably couldn’t untangle his own feelings—love mixed with resentment, anger and hatred, unwillingness and confusion, wavering yet restrained.
The wound on his arm had yet to be treated, and in his earlier disregard, it had torn open again. He sat on the bed in silence, looking genuinely a bit pitiful.
Suddenly, Mo Cunzhi felt warmth in front of him. Yu Le had rested his head on his lap, tugged at his long, hanging hair, and handed him a grape.
“Eat it, it’s really sweet.”
Mo Cunzhi turned his head away, not wanting Yu Le to see the look in his eyes.
But in the next second, Yu Le popped the grape into his own mouth, then leaned in to kiss him, pressing the juicy, sweet fruit into Mo Cunzhi’s mouth, forcing him to taste it.
With grape juice still lingering on his lips, Yu Le clung to Mo Cunzhi’s shoulder and complained, “You’re really conflicted.”
…
Although Mo Cunzhi had injuries, even without treatment, they healed by the next day.
He still insisted on using immortal techniques and swordsmanship, refusing to draw upon the demonic energy within him.
However, now that he was in the demonic realm, surrounded by an atmosphere filled with demonic energy, the part of him that belonged to the demon clan was slowly awakening. His strong body and the fast healing of his wounds were constant reminders of this fact.
Perhaps his rapid recovery was also partly due to his dual cultivation with Yu Le.
When Mo Cunzhi said he was leaving, sure enough, the next morning, he got up and left.
With Yu Le’s prior orders, no one dared to stop Mo Cunzhi as he left the city alone. A few demon clansmen muttered about how strange it was that the Queen was traveling without a carriage or escort.
Yu Le lounged sleepily in his chair, still half-drowsy.
Xiao Niang approached from outside the hall and softly said, “Master, he has already left. Are you really not going to stop him?”
“Hmm? No need.”
“But… although he’s the Queen, the grand ceremony hasn’t been held yet. You’re just going to let him go like this?”
Yu Le’s tone was casual. “Right now, I’m merely the King of the Five Nations. What’s the point of holding a grand ceremony at this stage? When I’ve recaptured Yeyuan City and truly become the ruler of the demonic realm, then we’ll hold the ceremony. It won’t be too late.”
Xiao Niang, fully aware of his ambitions, believed wholeheartedly that he would become the new master of the Demonic Path. This made her even more meticulous and attentive in her considerations.
“But among the Five Nations, there are still some who do not submit to you, Master. If the Queen leaves alone and runs into someone reckless enough to harm him, what would you do?”
“Anyone who disrespects my Queen would just be giving me a reason to deal with them,” Yu Le said.
Xiao Niang wasn’t sure what Yu Le’s true feelings toward Mo Cunzhi were.
Bringing him back specifically to make him the Queen seemed to show affection, but this current attitude, treating him like a pawn for Yu Le’s political maneuvers, made it seem like he didn’t truly care.
“Master, aren’t you even a little worried?” she probed.
Yu Le chuckled softly. “Mo Cunzhi may have no way to deal with me, but he can handle other demonic cultivators just fine.”
In the Demonic Path, aside from Yu Le, Mo Cunzhi feared no one.
This man, if he didn’t care about emotions, was practically invincible. In the original storyline, after being forced into the Demonic Path, he had cast away all feelings, becoming heartless and ruthless. Even the male protagonist and female protagonist had nearly met their end at his hands.
But if someone seized upon his emotional weakness, no matter how high his cultivation, he’d be nothing more than a child with a sword.
*
Mo Cunzhi left the Kingdom of Bliss, heading in the direction of the Yeyuan City, where the Demon Palace was located.
Had Yu Le not unexpectedly interfered, Mo Cunzhi’s first destination upon arriving in the demonic realm would have been Yeyuan City. It was the only place within the demonic realm that held even a slight connection to him.
On the way to Yeyuan City, he would have to pass through the Kingdom of Netherbone.
The ruler of Netherbone, King Liu Guang, was one of the few who had narrowly escaped death in front of the Wuyue Immortal Sect.
Liu Guang was a pure-blooded demon and had always looked down on demonic cultivators who weren’t born as demons.
When the former demon lord, Chang Que, had disappeared and the light of his life lamp had dimmed, the palace had been seized by a demonic cultivator with neither legitimacy nor standing. Liu Guang and the other rulers of the four remaining nations had retreated to the north, agreeing to each declare themselves kings and offer mutual support.
Yet, in a short time, several of his allies had died, leaving him with only one unreliable partner. To his frustration, that ally even tried to persuade him to surrender to that young brat, the King of Bliss.
Liu Guang was displeased. The Kingdom of Bliss was attempting to redraw territorial boundaries, but Liu Guang had repeatedly refused, unwilling to cooperate.
Just as he was stewing in his frustrations, having downed several jars of strong liquor, his generals brought him a piece of unexpected news: the new Queen of Kingdom of Bliss had entered his territory alone. Drunk and in a foul mood, King Liu Guang’s temper flared.
“Bring him to me!” he ordered.
*
“Where is he now? He should’ve reached Netherbone’s borders by now. Hasn’t he run into any trouble?” Yu Le asked curiously.
Su Yugou, who had just returned from Netherbone, replied, “He did run into some trouble.”
Yu Le clapped his hands. “Good, then it’s time for me to go back up my Queen.”
“But why haven’t those rebellious demons from Netherbone sent me any updates?” Yu Le’s expression darkened. “Are they trying to play me for a fool?”
Su Yugou coughed lightly. “The trouble was already taken care of by the Queen. When I arrived, I found that the rebellious demons had also been eliminated by the Queen, due to a misunderstanding.”
“…Oh, well then,” Yu Le leaned back into his seat.
His Senior Brother may be stubborn, but when it came to problems, he still handled them for him.
