She looked at Li Yuan, then turned to Hui, her brow furrowing slightly.
“What is that?”
Li Yuan had expected her to ask, though he hadn't anticipated that this would be her primary concern. After a brief pause, he pointed to a spot beside the low table.
“Take a seat first.”
Setis sat down at the low table as instructed, while Hui lay down beside her, her tails spreading across the ground. Li Yuan sat opposite her and poured her a cup of spiritual spring water.
“You can simply understand it as this: the demon race is a class of living beings on the Kyushu Continent.”
Setis held the cup with both hands, listening intently.
Li Yuan continued to explain:
“In Kyushu, all things have spirit. Rocks, plants, birds, and beasts—if they are fortunate enough to encounter an opportunity, they can absorb the spiritual qi of heaven and earth to awaken their intelligence. Then, after a long period of cultivation, they can transform into demons.”
“They do not belong to the human race, but they are not the magical beasts recorded in your encyclopedias either. The demon race has its own heritage, its own methods of cultivation, and its own rules and even laws.”
Setis nodded, only half-understanding.
“So, the demon race is basically equivalent to... a type of magical beast that can cultivate spells?”
Li Yuan thought about it and shook his head.
“If it's just for the sake of easy understanding, you could say that. But in reality, there is a vast difference between the two. Magical beasts mostly rely on bloodline instinct and mana to grow, whereas the demon race emphasizes sentience, Daoist arts, cultivation, and transformation.”
“Transformation?”
Setis's eyes lit up, her interest piqued.
“Does that mean they can turn into humans?”
“Exactly.”
Hui, lying to the side, let out a soft snort upon hearing this.
“Don't compare those low-level little demons to me.”
Setis immediately turned to look at her. Hui lazily lifted her eyelids, her expression completely natural.
“The demon race is also divided by rank and strength. Ordinary little demons have to endure many years before they can achieve transformation, and those with poor talent might never manage it in their entire lives. But powerful demons are born with a bone structure that far surpasses ordinary people, allowing them to cultivate very quickly. They are the true darlings of heaven and earth.”
Setis looked down at her own body.
She still looked like herself; her hands, arms, skin, and bones hadn't changed. If she hadn't heard Hui's words just now, she wouldn't even have felt any difference in this body compared to before.
Yet when she focused on her senses again, she could indeed feel something strange.
It wasn't mana.
When mana flowed through the body, it would gather at the staff or palm along fixed mana circuits, then convert into magic through incantations and magic circles.
But now, the thing she felt was lighter and much more natural.
It was like an invisible current that naturally existed in the air. As long as she quieted her mind, she could faintly perceive it drifting all around her, omnipresent.
Setis's breath hitched slightly. She suddenly looked up, her eyes gleaming.
“Then... does that mean I can also learn those spells?”
Li Yuan was taken aback.
“Spells?”
Setis nodded eagerly, her speaking speed unconsciously quickening.
“The ones written in the 《Chronicles of Kyushu》! Sword-riding, talismans, formations, and the techniques that let you shoot fire from your hands. Didn't you say before that I couldn't learn them because I didn't have a spiritual root?”
The more she spoke, the more excited she became, even leaning forward slightly.
“Now that I'm considered a Half-Demon, can I learn them?”
Li Yuan looked at her eyes, which were shining so brightly they could hardly hide her excitement. He fell silent for a moment before finally nodding.
“Yes.”
Setis froze for a second.
As if afraid she had misheard, she confirmed once more:
“Really?”
Li Yuan smiled.
“Really. You should already be able to sense spiritual qi. If you're willing, once your body has fully adapted, I can teach you starting from the absolute basics.”
Setis suddenly stood up, the joy on her face nearly impossible to suppress.
“That's wonderful!”
She took a couple of paces in place, as if unable to release the sheer excitement in her heart. Had she not been mindful of Li Yuan's presence, she would have probably run laps around the yard.
Looking at her like this, Li Yuan's feelings were somewhat complicated for a moment.
Reasonably speaking, when someone woke up to find their body completely altered and even their original magic system entirely gone, they should at least ask what had happened first.
At the very least, they should ask why it had turned out this way, whether there would be any issues in the future, and how to explain it to their family.
Yet Setis's attention right now was clearly focused entirely on the fact that she could “learn spells.”
The corner of Li Yuan's mouth twitched slightly, and he couldn't help but speak up:
“Setis.”
“Hmm?”
Setis turned her head, her face still wearing that incredibly excited grin.
With a hint of helplessness in his voice, Li Yuan said:
“Aren't you at all curious about why your body became like this?”
Setis blinked.
“I am curious.”
“Then why didn't you ask?”
Setis looked at him as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Don't I have you here?”
Li Yuan was momentarily at a loss for words.
Setis sat back down by the low table, her hands resting on the edge of the table, her tone becoming much lighter.
“I'm not stupid. When I woke up, you were here, I had no pain or injuries, and I had even turned into some kind of Half-Demon. Anyone could guess that you saved me, and then, due to some special reason, my body underwent this change, right?”
After speaking, she slightly raised her chin, as if quite proud of her own deduction.
Li Yuan stared at her for a moment, unable to find any point to refute.
Broadly speaking, that was indeed the case.
It was just that this omitted many extremely important details—such as how she had nearly died, how Hui had sacrificed one of her tails, and what a Demon Emperor Body truly signified to the demon race of Kyushu.
But if one only looked at the outcome, her judgment wasn't wrong.
Li Yuan sighed softly.
“You're being a bit too lacking in vigilance.”
Setis brushed it off.
“If it were anyone else, of course I would be vigilant. But you're not an outsider.”
After saying this, she didn't feel anything was amiss.
Li Yuan, however, paused slightly, his fingers twitching.
Hui, watching clearly from the side, suddenly let out a low chuckle.
The laugh was crisp, carrying a hint of amusement at the spectacle.
“Interesting.”
Li Yuan glanced sideways at her.
Hui raised her head, her golden eyes full of teasing.
“This little girl is quite interesting. Li Yuan, you're going to be busy in the days to come. She doesn't look like she's going to make things easy for you.”
Hearing that she was talking about her, Setis immediately turned her head.
She looked at the tails behind Hui, then at those eyes that looked nothing like a magical beast's, and hesitantly asked Li Yuan:
“Is she also a type of demon?”
Just as Li Yuan was about to speak, Hui beat him to it, raising her chin.
“Of course I am.”
Her tone suddenly became exceptionally solemn, and she even straightened her posture slightly from her lying position.
“Not only am I of the demon race, but I am also the King of the Demon Race—the king of all demons across the myriad worlds.”
Setis was taken aback.
She didn't quite understand what “myriad worlds” meant, nor did she know just how powerful the King of the Demon Race was. But simply hearing the title made her feel that she must be incredibly formidable.
Consequently, the look she gave Hui was suddenly filled with a few more degrees of astonishment.
“So... you're really powerful?”
Hui seemed reasonably satisfied with this reaction.
Rate on N.U.
