You've Been Promoted

A serious expression sat upon Xu Xian's handsome face, revealing neither joy nor anger.

As a demon son, he had to maintain the dignity of one.

With his hands behind his back, his gaze fell upon the blue-haired heavenly demon man who had been the first to bow to him.

"You... what is your name?"

The man was somewhat terrified and responded respectfully, "In response to the Young Lord, my name is Lan Zhan."

Xu Xian scanned him up and down several times, his scrutiny remaining intense as if he were appreciative, then he said in a deep voice, "Lan Zhan, you are quite good."

Lan Zhan was completely confused.

Chi Ji was also stunned.

Xu Xian's voice grew louder. "You've been promoted."

"Huh?"

Xu Xian continued, "From now on, you shall lead the heavenly demon race. Everyone here is under your command."

"Thank you..." the man responded respectfully, but then he realized something was wrong. He jerked his head up in disbelief. "Ah?"

The surrounding demons were also in a daze, as if they had fallen into a thick fog.

What was going on?

Promoted?

Under his command?

Who even was he?

Their instinctive reaction was that they had misheard, and even Lan Zhan himself thought so.

However...

Xu Xian had no intention of discussing it with the crowd, and spoke with an authority that brooked no argument.

"What's with the 'ah'? Do you not understand my words?"

Feeling Xu Xian's sharp gaze, the man hurriedly snapped back to his senses. Overwhelmed by the unexpected favor, he bowed ninety degrees in a deep salute.

"Lan Zhan obeys your will."

Xu Xian looked elsewhere, his eyes filled with an unquestionable chill.

Chi Ji, being close by, was the first to react and lowered her head. "Obeying your will."

The others naturally followed suit, responding one after another.

"Obeying your will!"

"Obeying your will!!"

Xu Xian was satisfied and gave a slight nod. "Very well. You may all rise."

The crowd stood up, still in a trance and not knowing why, occasionally stealing glances at this demon son.

Dominant.

Overbearing.

Arrogant.

He had changed; he had definitely changed. Compared to the previous demon son, he was like a completely different person.

Xu Xian ignored them and gave instructions to his newly appointed second-in-command. "My first command is for you to lead these people in defending this place and gathering any scattered demons. Do not take the initiative to attack and do not leave until I return."

Lan Zhan accepted the command.

"As you command!"

"Alright, get to work."

Lan Zhan asked on a whim, "I wonder where you are going, Young Lord?"

The corner of Xu Xian's mouth curled up, radiating wild arrogance. "To kill people, naturally."

After saying that, he strode away with his hands behind his back. Chi Ji followed at a jog, occasionally looking back to observe the reactions of the demons.

Their expressions were truly a sight to behold.

She felt a strange sense of secret satisfaction.

And so, as the night grew cold, Xu Xian led Chi Ji out of the territory and into the vast darkness, deep into the burial ground.

The demons watched them until they vanished from sight.

They stood there, still somewhat at a loss.

Everything that had just happened was too sudden, so sudden that it caught everyone off guard.

Lan Zhan was especially stunned, feeling as if he were in a dream.

"I'm the leader now?"

"It feels like a dream."

However, to be valued by the demon son meant he had finally made something of himself.

Around him, the demons looked at each other and whispered in small groups.

"What's the situation?"

"What is the demon son trying to do?"

"Who knows? All I know is that someone got promoted and we all have to listen to him now."

Their gazes met, filled with envy, scrutiny, and teasing. As Lan Zhan heard this, his body shook and he unnaturally straightened his chest.

In that moment, there seemed to be a light in his eyes.

He had transformed from a mere heavenly demon into... a heavenly demon with a purpose.

He walked to the front of the crowd to deliver a speech.

"I, Lan Zhan, am not particularly talented, but thanks to the demon son's trust, I will lead this place. I hope everyone will cooperate..."

The speech was a collection of clichés, which felt somewhat out of place in such a setting.

Some people cheered to flatter him.

Friends supported him, rallying the crowd.

Naturally, there were also those with eyes full of disdain who didn't care at all, cursing him as a petty man who had achieved success and was now showing off.

Others were simply planning to find an opportunity to leave and strike out on their own...

Everyone had different thoughts.

However, some rumors and wild speculations began to quietly spread among the heavenly demon group.

The world was like that; when a group of people gathered, there were bound to be fools and clever ones.

Many people didn't just suspect that Xu Xian had changed; they had also noticed some clues.

For instance...

"Has the demon son been replaced?"

"How do you know?"

"Then you tell me, where did Chi Ji come from?"

"Are you saying..."

"Shh, keep your voice down."

And another one...

"Hey, did you notice? There's a story between the demon son and the Crimson Demon's daughter."

"How so?"

"The demon son just went over there and stayed for so long before coming out. He even changed his clothes afterward. What does that prove?"

"What does it prove?"

"Are you stupid? It proves they did... that..."

"Hiss... brother, you're so observant of the details."

"Of course, I'm not just a little detailed..."

There was more than one such voice.

Some people actually guessed correctly, speculating that Chi Ji had been playing the role of the demon son before, while the real demon son had gone elsewhere and had just returned.

Others said that the demon son had been playing the pig to eat the tiger during the day and was only now starting to get serious.

There were also those who were so bored they talked about the demon son and Chi Ji doing... whatever...

A few heavenly demons who kept quiet had inadvertently seen the number on the demon son's hand.

They had even bolder speculations.

But they didn't dare speak them aloud, because such guesses were too preposterous. If they were true, saying them might lead to a fatal disaster.

Sometimes, being occasionally confused was not a bad thing.

On the other side.

After Xu Xian left with Chi Ji, he headed straight toward the Eight-Direction Platforms. His goal was clear: to collect the loot.

Now that the roles were swapped back, the first task was finished.

It was time for the second task. Time waited for no one, but things had to be done one by one...

Chi Ji asked Xu Xian, "Demon son, are we just leaving like this?"

Xu Xian feigned ignorance. "What else?"

Chi Ji bit her lip and asked again, "What are we going to do?"

Xu Xian said indifferently, "Don't ask what you shouldn't ask."

Chi Ji fell silent, but still plucked up the courage to ask, "Are we really not going to look after them anymore?"

Xu Xian clicked his tongue and asked back, "Look after them? How? With what? Can you even manage all of them?"

"But?"

Chi Ji still wanted to argue.

But she was directly interrupted by Xu Xian. "Enough. As long as they listen to me and don't run around, they will be fine. If they do run around, we can't control that. Everyone has their own choices; you just need to look after yourself."

Chi Ji let out an 'oh' and chose to shut her mouth.

His words were blunt but true.

He was Bai Mang, not Xu Xian.

He couldn't be like Xu Xian and take care of everything...

She was only of average strength and was already a burden; she had no right to tell Bai Mang what to do.

Seeing that Chi Ji wasn't speaking, Xu Xian didn't continue the topic.

He didn't really care about the life and death of the demon race.

However...

He wasn't ignoring them entirely.

As long as they listened to him, they would be fine because next, he would make this burial ground descend into panic.

He would deal with any experts who could threaten the heavenly demon race.

In doing so, he was indirectly protecting both the Wendao Sword Sect and the group of demons.

Although that camp wasn't as secure as the Wendao Sword Sect's position, it was still easy to defend and hard to attack as long as they didn't leave without permission.

Nothing major would happen.

If they didn't listen to him, then so be it; he couldn't be bothered to care.

For Xu Xian...

In the Demon Abyss, only Chi Ji's life was worth his concern. For the others, the fact that he wasn't killing them was already his greatest mercy.

That was all.

That was why he had kept Chi Ji by his side.