Half-Demon

...Right answer?

Xu Xian rubbed his chin, pondering for a moment before saying a single word.

"Fine!"

Tu Kongkong pouted, her voice trembling as she sobbed, "Waaah, you hesitated. You definitely want to kill me."

Xu Xian felt a massive headache coming on. He snapped, "Are you stupid?"

Tu Kongkong gathered her courage and took a small step forward. She raised a small hand stained with tears and extended her pinky finger.

Xu Xian asked, "What are you doing?"

Tu Kongkong replied, "Pinky swear."

Xu Xian muttered, "Childish!"

Tu Kongkong bit her lip, and the tears began to flow again...

Xu Xian rolled his eyes and gave in.

"Alright, alright, I give up. Come on, let's swear."

Small hand met large hand, and they shook them back and forth.

"There, happy now?"

Tu Kongkong wiped her tears and stopped crying.

"Go ahead and ask."

Xu Xian steadied his thoughts and asked, "What did you come here for?"

"I want to cultivate."

"Then why come to Wendao Sword Sect?"

"Because Wendao Sword Sect is the most powerful."

"Who told you that?"

"Wendao Sword Sect just is the most powerful."

"Then do you know that Wendao Sword Sect doesn't accept demons?"

"I know."

"You know, yet you still came?"

Tu Kongkong gave an irrelevant answer: "I'm not bad."

Xu Xian was speechless. Was this a matter of being 'bad' or not?

As the questions and answers continued, Xu Xian felt even more exasperated. He felt like he was talking to a wall.

"Are you truly stupid, or just acting?"

Tu Kongkong’s gaze suddenly changed, becoming exceptionally stubborn. "I'm really not stupid."

Xu Xian was amused and laughed. "Silly child."

Tu Kongkong’s expression shifted again, looking a bit angry.

A tiny bit fierce.

Xu Xian shook his head and said earnestly, "You are a demon, not a human. Demons have their own methods of cultivation. By coming to Wendao Sword Sect, aren't you asking a chicken to teach a duck how to swim? Do you think that's right?"

Tu Kongkong lowered her eyes slightly and said weakly, "I know. But from the moment I was born, I was missing three beast meridians. I can't cultivate using the demon race's methods. I was destined to be just an ordinary little demon for my whole life. I heard that humans don't have beast meridians; as long as they have a spirit root, they can cultivate. So, I came."

There was a story here?

He asked, "Where did you come from?"

Tu Kongkong replied, "The North Sea."

Xu Xian asked, "Who accompanied you?"

Tu Kongkong said, "I came by myself."

Xu Xian knit his brows, questioning her. "The North Sea is a hundred thousand miles away from our Wendao Sword Sect, separated by the Hundred-Thousand-Mile Ice Field. You came here alone?"

Tu Kongkong said seriously, "Yes. I set out when I was six and walked for five whole years to get here. It was very far."

Xu Xian scanned her up and down.

His eyes said only two words: 'Don't believe.'

It felt like she was bragging beyond all reason.

Her bone age was eleven this year. Four years ago, she was only seven. Even if the demon race was naturally strong and had great survival instincts, a seven-year-old cub with no cultivation level crossing the Hundred-Thousand-Mile Ice Field alone to reach Wendao Sword Sect...

How could he possibly believe that?

It was too absurd.

If it were true, then this kid was a real talent—no, a demon talent.

And her fortune must be incredibly strong!

Sensing the doubt in Xu Xian's eyes, Tu Kongkong hurriedly explained, "What I said is true. I can swear to the heavens."

Xu Xian slowly stood up, lost in deep thought.

His logic told him the little thing was bragging.

His intuition told him the little thing wasn't lying.

He was momentarily uncertain.

He took a moment to communicate with the little book spirit on his head via divine sense, asking about the matter of beast meridians. Shuer told him the truth.

It said:

Humans are born with acupoints, qi manors, and meridians...

Demons are born with twelve beast meridians, corresponding to the Twelve Constellations in the sky.

Humans need a spirit root to cultivate.

Demons need beast meridians to cultivate; lacking even one won't work.

Born incomplete.

Severed from the demon Dao.

It also said that normally, this situation wasn't that rare.

Many beasts, birds, fish, and insects lacked beast meridians, but the fact that she could shape-shift was very special.

It added that there was only one explanation for this.

The little girl's parents must have powerful bloodlines and had already attained their goals, shape-shifting into humans. Only then could she be born looking human.

And she shape-shifted into a human despite lacking beast meridians.

Setting her father aside, her mother was at least a demon god.

To this, Xu Xian wasn't particularly surprised. After all, the child had a concealment restriction spell on her. The technique was sophisticated and definitely not something an ordinary demon emperor or demon sovereign could manage.

However, the fact that she lacked beast meridians but had a spirit root was truly difficult to understand.

Although one could say everything that exists is reasonable...

There were simply too many unreasonable things about her.

Shape-shifting despite missing three beast meridians.

Having a spirit root inside her body.

A child crossing the Hundred-Thousand-Mile Ice Field.

The child of a North Sea demon god running to Wendao Sword Sect to cultivate.

And so on...

He couldn't even count them all on one hand.

If he believed it all, he wouldn't even be able to convince himself. Yet, she was so sincere.

'Incomplete beast meridians, yet possessing a spirit root... fate truly plays tricks on people,' Xu Xian lamented in his heart.

The little book spirit didn't care at all and said casually, "It's not that strange. A child born of a human and a demon would have both beast meridians and a spirit root."

Xu Xian's eyes lit up. "Hmm?"

Shuer laughed. "A half-demon. Although they're hard to produce, it's not impossible. This little thing is a half-demon."

Xu Xian couldn't help but look at Tu Kongkong a few more times. There really was a story.

A romance between human and demon?

"Tsk tsk!"

Fine.

It was logical.

Fox spirits, after all—men liked them, women liked them, even human kings would love them to death.

Things were starting to get interesting.

Xu Xian spoke up, being blunt. "I kept you here to save you. This bridge is called the Longevity Bridge, and this gorge is One Sword Gorge. Three swords are hidden beneath it. One of them is called the Demon-Slaying Sword. Whenever a demon crosses the Longevity Bridge, the sword emerges and the demon dies. If you were to walk across, the Demon-Slaying Sword would surely strike, and you would surely die. Do you understand?"

Tu Kongkong nodded heavily.

"I know!"

"Aren't you afraid of death?"

"I am!"

"Then why did you still come?"

Tu Kongkong’s teary eyes moved, and she said very seriously, "I wanted to take a gamble."

"Take a gamble?"

"Yes." Tu Kongkong nodded heavily.

Xu Xian chuckled. "Gambling with your life? What makes you think you can win?"

Tu Kongkong suddenly analyzed very seriously, "The Sword Ancestor was a good person, so his Demon-Slaying Sword is a good sword. I think a good sword won't kill a good person. I am a good person, so it won't kill me."

Well-reasoned and logically clear.

But...

Xu Xian narrowed his eyes slightly and said, "But you forgot, you aren't a person."

Tu Kongkong froze for a long time. Her eyes went from confused to clear, and finally, she had a realization.

She was speechless for a long while.

Right.

A good sword doesn't kill good people.

But she wasn't a person.

She grew anxious again, but not like before. She swallowed hard and said, "Then what should I do? Does that mean I can't cultivate?"

Xu Xian changed the subject and asked a seemingly random question, "Last question. Who are your parents?"

Tu Kongkong was startled and answered, "I don't have a father."

So it was a fox spirit then.

"What about your mother?"

Tu Kongkong thought for a moment and said hesitantly, "I'm afraid if I say it, it will scare you."

"Hmm?"

Xu Xian's curiosity was completely piqued.

Tu Kongkong looked around sneakily, moved two steps closer, tugged at the corner of Xu Xian's robe, and said mysteriously, "Crouch down."

Xu Xian leaned his body down slightly.

Tu Kongkong stood on her tiptoes as hard as she could.

In the youth's ear, she whispered word by word, "The Lord of Qingqiu, the Tushan demon immortal, Tu Sisi."

Xu Xian sucked in a breath of cold air. "Hiss..." He stared at the young girl in disbelief.

Tu Kongkong stepped back and nodded affirmatively.

Xu Xian whispered, "The Nine-Tailed..."

Tu Kongkong gestured, "Shh..."

Xu Xian fell into a brief silence. He swallowed and asked, "You want to cultivate?"

Tu Kongkong found it strange but still nodded. "I do!"

Xu Xian said, "..."

Xu Xian continued, "Beg me."

Tu Kongkong said, "..."

Tu Kongkong said, "I beg you."