In an anonymous inner courtyard, the High and Small Priests were in the Listening Rain Pavilion, flipping through the primordial demon art that Qingmu had just delivered.
The Small Priest's reaction was identical to that of most demon gods: agitation, excitement, and wonder.
Only one thought filled her mind: it was actually real.
In contrast, the High Priest remained indifferent, showing neither joy nor sorrow. Perhaps it was simply her nature, or perhaps she had believed from the start that Bai Mang could do it.
To her, it was merely the expected outcome.
"Sister, do you think if I master this 'Light-Encountering Art', I could break through the demon god stage and become a tenth-rank demon immortal?"
The High Priest kept her eyes fixed on the book in her hands as she gave a perfunctory reply. "Perhaps."
The Small Priest didn't mind the dismissal, continuing to herself, "Sister was right after all. He really does know the ancient demon script. The demon arts practiced by our ancestors are truly profound; it's as if they were tailor-made for our demon race."
Watching her sister as excited as a child, Jin Qing sighed inwardly. Translating it was one thing, but whether one could actually practice it was another.
Furthermore, whether the translation was accurate remained to be seen; these things required time to verify.
In her view, it was far too early to be this happy.
Jin Yu stood up, preparing to leave. "Sister, I'm going back to try it out."
Jin Qing finally pulled her gaze from the manual and looked up, calling her back. "Sit down."
"What is it?"
Jin Qing said unhurriedly, "There's no rush for this."
"Hmm?"
Jin Qing explained patiently, "Let's wait a while. We'll wait until others have practiced it and proved there are no issues before we start. There's no need to hurry right now."
Jin Yu was confused. Looking at the translated manuscript in her hand, she knit her slender brows and asked tentatively, "Sister, are you afraid that Bai Mang is tricking us? That he made this manual up?"
Jin Qing said leisurely, "He probably doesn't have the skill to invent it entirely, but with his abilities, he could certainly manage to make slight alterations within it."
Jin Yu didn't deny it. Her sister's concern wasn't without merit; being cautious was only natural. But...
She swallowed hard and asked, "Would he... dare?"
Bai Mang was currently trapped with no way out, his life held in their hands. If he really dared to mess around, wasn't he afraid of retaliation?
Jin Qing burst into a short laugh. "Heh... would he dare? That's because you don't understand him."
Jin Qing could never forget how Bai Mang had tested her back then.
He had used his foot to step on her head, made her drink his saliva, and had flagrantly swindled five thousand jars of God-Demon Drunk from her.
And those were just the tip of the iceberg.
Take the moment he realized his identity was exposed. A normal person's first reaction would be to run.
But him? He deliberately revealed that he knew the ancient demon script, toyed with the various divine sons while acting as if he had nothing to fear.
Inside the Demon God Hall, facing twelve demon gods with only a sixth stage cultivation, he wasn't just unafraid—he actually had the audacity to set conditions and snatch away the Shadow Soul Stone left behind by the Demon Lord.
Especially that story he made up. Anyone with eyes could tell it was fabricated—and a lazy fabrication at that.
What was it again? His entire tribe was wiped out, he was hunted by enemies, fell off a cliff, met an immortal, survived against all odds, and learned divine arts? That was it?
Nonsense!
Such stories in the world outside, in the realm of the humans, were a dime a dozen. There must be at least eight or ten thousand versions of that same tired cliché.
Yet he said it with a straight face, without so much as a blush or a skipped heartbeat.
She never denied that Bai Mang must be hiding a formidable secret, and he certainly possessed a level of fortune and opportunity that commoners couldn't describe.
But it definitely wasn't what he claimed it was.
With a character like that, what was there that he wouldn't dare to do?
Jin Qing didn't believe for a second that someone with Bai Mang's personality would truly translate everything honestly and submit to them.
If that were the case, one might as well expect to see the sun rising in the Demon Abyss.
Jin Yu remained silent, offering no rebuttal.
Although her understanding of Bai Mang wasn't as deep as her sister's, she knew enough about his deeds—like toying with the divine sons and demanding that square table.
This person's courage was indeed immense; at the very least, she would never have dared to speak up in his place.
She just didn't understand what he hoped to gain. Did he really not want to live?
"What is he after?" the Small Priest murmured under her breath.
The High Priest said calmly, "I'm not saying he definitely did it, just that I feel he isn't that simple. It's always better to be careful."
The Small Priest stopped insisting. She tucked the primordial demon art into her storage ring and smiled. "Fine, I'll listen to you, Sister."
Jin Qing smiled back with relief and continued flipping through another translated volume of the primordial demon art.
The Small Priest leaned in closer and asked curiously, "Sister, do you think that boy Bai Mang has really seen the Supreme Demon Lord?"
Without looking up, Jin Qing countered with a question, "Do you believe him?"
The Small Priest thought for a moment and said weakly, "Well, don't laugh at me, Sister, but I believe him just a little bit."
"Then just treat it as the truth," Jin Qing said with a smile.
The Small Priest's emerald eyes darted around as she continued to probe, "I heard he's practicing the Nether Fire Secret Art..."
The High Priest pursed her lips. "Heard?" It had long since spread throughout the circles of the heavenly demon race. Her sister had some wits, but not many.
"Do you think he can learn it?"
"I don't know!" Jin Qing replied.
The Small Priest persisted, "But what if he actually does learn it?"
Jin Qing's eyes narrowed, her gaze shifting through shadows. After a moment, she asked back with interest, "Tell me, if our Demon Abyss were like the Wendao Sword Sect and produced someone like their Little Grand-Uncle, Xu Xian... what would happen?"
The Small Priest pretended not to understand, putting on a bewildered look. "What do you mean?"
"Hmm... calling him a Little Grand-Uncle wouldn't be appropriate. But we could call him a demon son. Yes, what do you think of 'demon son'?" After a pause, she said each word deliberately:
"A son of the demon race. Below the Demon Lord, but above the demon sovereign."
The Small Priest understood perfectly but continued to feign ignorance, even while agreeing, "That sounds very impressive!"
Jin Qing smiled without saying a word.
"Hehe!"
She also thought it would be very impressive.
"Sister, you were just joking, right?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Are you serious?"
"Mm-hmm?"
The Small Priest gave a light scoff. "Tsk tsk. If a mortal demon became a demon son, the sky of the heavenly demon race would surely collapse."
The High Priest: "......"
——————
On the other side, in the residence where Xu Xian lived, the group of demon god descendants had returned once again.
They were all well aware of each other's motives, yet they didn't miss a chance to mock one another.
Huang Xiao, in particular, became the target of everyone's scorn.
"Oho, Young Master Xiao, why are you back? Is your skin really that thick?"
Huang Xiao gave a cold glare and snapped, "This is my home!"
As the little book spirit synchronized the news, Xu Xian, who was currently forging the Shadow Soul Stone, was exasperated. "They really are like lingering ghosts..."
"Whatever. Let them be."
In the days that followed, the demon gods continued to test the feasibility of the translations.
Meanwhile, the demon god descendants began to perform acts of unasked-for kindness. Even Huang Xiao had changed his tune, acting with extreme flattery toward Xu Xian.
They visited one after another, like concubines in a harem competing for favor, giving Xu Xian a massive headache as he struggled to deal with them all.
Fortunately, they knew their boundaries and didn't try to force their way through his door, so they didn't discover the secret of his forging.
Standing by the window in the rain, bathed in the glow of the nether water, Xu Xian felt a deep melancholy. "Being excellent is truly its own kind of burden, isn't it?"
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