Chapter 142: Senior Brother is still too much in love
The demon generals of the Kingdom of Bliss clashed with the demon generals guarding the Demon Palace.
As soon as they made contact, it was like the merging of two torrential rivers, intertwining in a brutal fight.
Both sides were fierce and malicious demon cultivators, and the battle was even more cruel and bloody than their last surprise attack on the Wuyue Immortal Sect.
There was no need for the usual formalities of taunting and provoking; without the barrier to separate them, the naturally aggressive demons, once they saw blood, immediately went into a killing frenzy.
In the Demonic Path, there was no such thing as a united front or mutual assistance.
The Kingdom of Bliss forces came on fiercely, outnumbering their opponents. The Demon Palace forces were retreating step by step, with their “Lord of the Demon Palace” having not appeared for a long time.
Some began to hesitate, slowly retreating.
Someone shouted, “Lord, save us!”
With a loud crash, Yu Le opened the roof of the palace where Xie Que was.
Standing on a feathered beast, he mocked from above the palace, “Hiding inside at a time like this, too scared to show your face?”
“If you’re so afraid, why not let me be the Lord of the Demon Palace?”
Suddenly, massive flesh vines shot up from the broken palace, like a forest that had sprouted in an instant.
Without the roof to block the view, and in the bright daylight, the thing inside the hall was clearly exposed to everyone.
Even Xie Que’s demon generals gasped when they saw his current form.
“Xie Que” had long lost most of his human shape, barely retaining a head and half of a torso, while the rest had swelled into countless flesh vines.
A massive, writhing mass like a tangle of snakes filled most of the palace.
Caught off guard, the feathered beast under Yu Le’s feet was pierced by the flesh vines. With a long, mournful cry, it was dragged into the hall.
In just a few moments, the winged beast, over three meters wide, was drained into a shriveled, empty skin.
Yu Le drifted lightly into the mass of flesh vines.
Today, Yu Le was dressed in a white brocade robe, with silver patterns reflecting a faint light in the sun. From a distance, the stark contrast between him and the towering flesh vines made people worry for him.
However, the figure that appeared as fragile as a white feather suddenly erupted with thick demonic energy when it came into contact with the writhing flesh vines.
That demonic energy transformed into countless serpents, entangling and battling the vines.
Any vine wrapped in his demonic energy appeared scorched by flames, turning into blackened charcoal.
A foul burnt smell filled the air.
The severely damaged vines scattered in all directions, flailing like the arms of an octopus, seemingly searching for something to grab hold of.
One of the nearby demons was caught by a vine, screamed, and perished in an instant.
The demon generals, who had been hesitant to approach, immediately moved the battlefield further away, keeping their distance from the two lords locked in combat.
Even the demon generals Yu Le had brought with him merely watched from afar, engaging their opponents half-heartedly, offering no real assistance.
This was the nature of the Demonic Path. Not only would they not help, but if Yu Le were to fall or be gravely injured, unable to hold them in check, they would quickly turn on him.
The Demonic Path had been without a leader for far too long, and within a short time, too many “Lords” had come and gone.
Each “King” would rise after the previous one fell, and their demon generals would swear allegiance to one today, only to switch sides tomorrow.
Although Yu Le seemed to stand tall now, his position was far from secure.
To truly become the Lord of the Demonic Path, he would have to eliminate all his rivals, using absolute power to subjugate the demons and make them genuinely fear and obey him.
Ever since Yu Le had seized the protagonist’s demon core and refined it, his cultivation had soared step by step, and so far, he had yet to encounter a truly formidable opponent.
However, Xie Que, who had transformed himself into this state through the cultivation of dark arts, was more difficult to deal with than any opponent Yu Le had faced before.
Most of the flesh vines were charred black, and the once massive body that had filled the entire palace was now shrinking. The ground was littered with black ash and broken vines.
It was clear that Xie Que had almost completely lost his human consciousness, functioning only on instinct.
Even though Yu Le had the upper hand, he couldn’t avoid injury. His white robe was stained with striking red, intermittently visible amid the swirling demonic energy.
Outside the grand battlefield, a black-clad figure holding a sword stood atop a high wall, watching from a distance.
Seeing Yu Le’s white clothes gradually soaked in blood, the figure’s hand holding the sword twitched slightly, anxiously rubbing the hilt.
Black ash drifted through the sky, falling like snow and passing through the figure’s body, settling outside the palace walls.
No one paid attention to this ash, as the sky was darkened by oppressive demonic energy, thick and heavy like storm clouds, nearly turning day into night.
The clashing demonic energies crackled with purple lightning and thunder. The central palace of the Demon Palace had completely collapsed, and even the nearby buildings had sunk with it.
Mo Cunzhi, standing at a distance, felt as if the figure in the sky met his gaze for a fleeting moment—or perhaps it was just his imagination.
When he saw that figure suddenly fall from the sky and crash into the ruined palace below, Mo Cunzhi’s heart skipped a beat, and he rushed forward instinctively.
Xie Que, in his current state, could no longer think clearly, but his survival instincts remained.
Having lost most of his flesh vines and with his demonic energy weaker than Yu Le’s, Xie Que’s body turned into a fluid-like state, trying to escape into the cracks between the stones.
Yu Le, however, was determined to seize the fake demon core that Xie Que had condensed, so he wasn’t about to let him escape.
The ground behind the palace was completely upheaved, with buildings large and small collapsing as if hit by a massive earthquake.
By this point in the battle, Yu Le’s hair crown had long been knocked loose, and his exposed skin was covered with red marks and wounds.
These injuries were caused by contact with the flesh vines, their leech-like texture and qualities making his expression darken.
Pain and fury surged within him—Yu Le violently overturned the bricks on the ground, and raging flames enveloped everything around him.
“Where do you think you’re going to run?”
The thing on the ground, realizing it had nowhere left to escape, suddenly condensed a head and looked up at him.
It was a surprisingly normal head compared to the rest of its body, even handsome. A look of pain and struggle crossed its face before it froze.
Just as it opened its mouth to speak, Yu Le slammed his palm into the newly formed chest, crushing it.
His hand felt slimy, not the usual sensation of blood and flesh, but more like sinking into a swamp.
“Where’s your demon core? It’s not in your chest, so is it hidden in this head of yours?”
…
When Mo Cunzhi arrived, he immediately saw Yu Le in the deep pit, impaled by several flesh vines, while at the same time crushing the head, finally killing Xie Que.
Mo Cunzhi’s pupils contracted, and before he realized it, he shouted.
“Yu Rui!”
Yu Le turned his head, casting him a subtle look.
He had already said his name was Yu Le now, yet when he called his name, it was wrong. Was his senior brother’s memory that bad?
Mo Cunzhi landed beside him, quickly cutting off the lifeless flesh vines and pulling them out.
His hands felt hot as he pressed them near Yu Le’s wounds, slightly anxious.
When he realized the injuries weren’t as serious as they had appeared, he barely had time to feel relieved before Yu Le collapsed into his arms, panting heavily. The veins on his neck bulged, making him look terrifying.
Mo Cunzhi quickly realized that Yu Le’s body had undergone dramatic changes in such a short time, reaching a dangerously unstable state.
He hadn’t had time to fully assess the situation when Yu Le grasped his hand and said, “We can’t stay here. Take me away.”
As he spoke, blood kept pouring from his mouth.
Yu Le hadn’t anticipated that Xie Que’s fake demon core, like a drop of flowing blood, would burrow into his body the moment he destroyed Xie Que’s head. This forced him to hurriedly absorb it.
Moreover, the power of this fake demon core was stronger than he had expected, and it was now rejecting his body.
Yu Le trusted none of his demon subordinates, not even Su Yugou or Xiao Niang. If he stayed here any longer, there was a high chance that he would be surrounded and attacked by the greedy demons.
“There’s a barrier behind the Demon Palace… Take me there,” Yu Le gripped Mo Cunzhi’s collar tightly.
Without seeing his expression, Yu Le felt himself being lifted up, cradled securely. Mo Cunzhi’s actions were steady and powerful, without the slightest hesitation.
Someone tried to block their way, but with the crisp sound of a sword being drawn, Mo Cunzhi said coldly, “Step aside!”
Cold wind and snow brushed against them, and Yu Le’s fingers clenched in pain, almost digging into Mo Cunzhi’s shoulder.
Mo Cunzhi held him even tighter, shielding him from the wind and snow.
Before long, the outside fell silent.
…
Behind the Demon Palace, there was a cliff that housed a small secret realm protected by a barrier.
It was the place where the previous lineage of Demon Lords had cultivated.
In the original story, the protagonist had also absorbed Xie Que’s fake demon core and stayed here with the heroine during the most chaotic period.
Mo Cunzhi possessed the bloodline of that demon clan, and Yu Le, having the protagonist’s demon core within him, was also easily accepted by the barrier.
Inside the secret realm, towering trees stretched endlessly, their leaves golden, while the ground was covered with a thick layer of white grass.
Mo Cunzhi gently laid Yu Le down, his hand supporting Yu Le’s face, his eyes stung by the sight of the blood.
Yu Le’s long neck arched in pain, and his pale skin cracked, with thin streams of blood flowing out.
Mo Cunzhi bent over him, feeling utterly helpless for a moment, not knowing what to do.
After a brief pause, he finally fumbled through his storage pouch, pulling out various healing pills and medicines.
But before the medicine could even be swallowed, Yu Le spat it out, blood mixed with the remnants.
Mo Cunzhi’s face tightened for an instant, his fingers grasping Yu Le’s soft cheeks as he force-fed him again. This time, he covered Yu Le’s mouth, preventing him from spitting it out. With one hand, he gently pressed Yu Le’s throat, forcing him to swallow the medicine.
In his anxious state, Mo Cunzhi had applied a bit too much pressure, leaving red marks on Yu Le’s face.
Yu Le lay in the midst of white grass and golden fallen leaves, his blood staining everything around him red.
From the moment Mo Cunzhi had known Yu Le, he had never seen him in such a vulnerable state. Every other time, Yu Le had been sly and smug, always escaping unscathed after hurting others.
A mouth full of lies—never to be trusted.
And just when one would hate and feel disappointment toward him, Yu Le would appear behind you with that innocent expression, pulling you in, as if he had done nothing wrong.
Mo Cunzhi had once hated his junior brother’s carefree attitude, that air of indifference toward everything.
But now, he realized he feared seeing that once troublesome junior brother turn silent and still.
He had never found the color of blood so unbearable to look at.
Mo Cunzhi had always resisted using the demonic energy within him, constantly suppressing it.
But now, he willingly drew it out, filling the void left by Yu Le’s draining strength.
The golden-leafed trees, with their roots tangled beneath the earth, began to emit faint strands of demonic energy from their trunks. Drawn by Mo Cunzhi, the energy flowed into his body, only to be transferred to Yu Le.
Yu Le, eyes shut tight, rested against Mo Cunzhi’s chest. Mo Cunzhi quietly pressed his hand over Yu Le’s chest, transferring demonic energy to him, all the while feeling the faint beat of his heart.
When Yu Le’s heartbeat grew weak, Mo Cunzhi clenched his fist, his anxiety rising.
And when that heart beat faster and stronger, he loosened his grip, softly caressing Yu Le’s cheek.
