Seriously, acting up in the middle of the night every single time... Can't a guy get some sleep? Zhang Yuanqing kicked back the quilt, slid open his desk drawer, retrieved the Cat King speaker, and entered the Night Roaming state. He performed the entire sequence with his eyes closed, his practiced ease pitifully refined.
*Bzz, bzz—*
Through the static, the Cat King speaker's cone emitted a woman's soft moans, a man's ragged panting, and the rhythmic slapping of flesh against flesh...
*Classic you—an iron Demon Lord, a rotating cast of women...* Zhang Yuanqing grumbled inwardly, doing his best to keep his mind as still as water and not let carnal thoughts sway him.
Yet fantasies still inevitably bubbled up.
*Who is the Demon Lord sleeping with this time? She's definitely gorgeous. If she had a pig tail on her ass, she'd be top-tier...*
*—?!*
Zhang Yuanqing's thoughts derailed, his face abruptly freezing.
In that exact moment, he felt a desperate urge to bury his face in his hands and weep.
*I need to find a chance to sell that straw doll. I can't use that damn thing anymore. If this keeps up, I'm going to end up broken just like Zhu Rong.*
Without a doubt, this was the price of using the straw doll. During the arena tournament, backed into a corner, he had used it a few more times. As a result, the curse of the pig tail had resurfaced.
The straw doll's corruption was irreversible, impervious even to purification abilities.
Previously, when he tossed the doll into his storage, the "pig tail" symptoms had eased, proving that the corruption hadn't reached the point of completely altering his species preferences.
Yet after relying on it several times in the ring, the curse had returned even though he put it back into the faction warehouse.
It was clear the corruption was digging deeper.
*Leaving it in the faction warehouse won't work either. With an item that powerful, I definitely won't be able to resist using it if I'm in danger.*
After some thought, Zhang Yuanqing decided to find an opportunity to sell it to Mr. Bill.
Before he realized it, amid the crackle of static, the audio skipped past the shameless coupling. He heard the Demon Lord chuckle between heavy breaths.
"Good sister, does it feel good?"
The woman let out a soft "Mmh..."
"Does it feel good? Say it!" the Demon Lord teased.
"Stop it!" the woman scolded flirtatiously.
*This woman seems a bit different—modest, shy. Not like the loose vixens from the earlier recordings,* Zhang Yuanqing mused.
As an inexperienced college student, he naturally harbored affection for modest girls and felt repulsed by wanton decadence.
The audio suddenly went quiet, followed by faint gasps. The two seemed to be kissing.
After a moment, the Demon Lord whispered, "I liked hearing you call me 'brother' just now. Quick, say it again."
The woman stayed silent.
Only after the Demon Lord's relentless pestering did she shyly utter, "Good brother."
The Demon Lord was overjoyed. "Good sister!"
*Fuck, that's sickeningly cheesy. I'm getting goosebumps all over.* Zhang Yuanqing thought, *Could you two consider your audience for once? Good thing you died young, Demon Lord. Otherwise, this Celestial Master would've made sure you died of social humiliation on the spot.*
The woman chided, "You rascal, you're clearly so much younger than me, yet you love hearing me call you brother. We can't stay here too long. Elder Hongying will track us down soon."
The Demon Lord said irritably, "That old hag clings like a lingering ghost. Once I ascend to Dominator, she's the first one I'll slaughter."
"She is my superior, like a mother and teacher to me... Sigh, who told you to have such a notorious reputation? Naturally, she could never let us be together."
Hearing this, Zhang Yuanqing's head buzzed. He instantly knew who the female lead was.
Taiyi Sect, Yin Ji!
Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help recalling Yin Ji's appearance. Although she had worn a veil during the arena tournament, concealing her features, true beauties could be recognized by their silhouette and demeanor alone.
Without question, Yin Ji was a top-tier beauty.
*Lucky bastard Demon Lord...* Zhang Yuanqing thought indignantly.
The conversation in the recording continued. Yin Ji said, "Let's not talk about her. Good brother, you're level six now. I suggest you skip the year-end killing trial. Spend another year or so polishing yourself in the Saint stage. Master the power of the stars, or reconsolidate your Taiyin power. In short, don't rush to ascend to Dominator."
The Demon Lord asked in surprise, "Why?"
"Elder Hongying once told me that the Night Wanderer class is very special. Beyond the Dominator stage, if you want to climb higher, you must specialize in a specific power—Taiyin, Stars, or the Sun. It's a choice between the three. But once you reach the Dominator stage, your only choice left will be the Sun. Whatever you do, do not choose the Sun."
"...This is the first time I've heard of this. Well, why can't one choose the Sun?"
"Elder Hongying didn't say."
"Then what did the Taiyi Sect Master specialize in?"
"Did you forget his title?"
"'Gazing upon the stars, looking down upon mountains and rivers, all-knowing'? I understand..."
Static replaced the conversation. Zhang Yuanqing exited the Night Roaming state and sat by his desk, lost in thought.
*Must specialize in Taiyin, Stars, or the Sun? And this choice affects the stage beyond Dominator?*
*Now I understand why Zhao Chenghuang intentionally stayed at the Transcendent stage. He chose to specialize in Taiyin... That means I need to think about which one to specialize in as well. From what Yin Ji said, as long as I decide before the Dominator stage, it basically comes down to Taiyin or Stars. I'll ascend to Saint first and see what abilities a Star Official has.*
*Then I'll weigh whether to pick Taiyin or Stars. Speaking of which, what did the Demon Lord end up choosing?*
*Why couldn't one choose the Sun? The character for 'sun'—which also means 'screwing'—seemed quite fitting for the Demon Lord, though...*
*Gazing upon the stars, looking down upon mountains and rivers... So the Taiyi Sect Master specializes in Stars.*
Just then, the Demon Lord's voice emerged from the Cat King speaker once more. This time it wasn't a conversation, but a personal diary entry:
"I met a girl, a girl who makes me willing to abandon the entire forest. Her name is Yin Ji."
"Even though she knows I am the Deceitful Eye Judge's slave, even though she knows I'm corrupted by the Fallen Holy Grail, she's still willing to follow me and stay by my side. But how could someone like me ever deserve her?"
"Starting today, I will listen to the audio logs from my early Transcendent days every single day to recover my kind self and fight the corruption of the Fallen Holy Grail. At the same time, I must cut ties with all those other women."
"God bless... You never gave me anything, so please don't take her away from me, too."
*The Demon Lord really did treat Yin Ji differently. I remember in earlier recordings, even after reaching the Saint stage, he kept throwing around terms like 'little slut' when sleeping with women, showing zero respect.*
*Yet at that same Saint stage, his attitude toward Yin Ji was like a man head over heels in love, calling her 'good sister' with such sickening affection.*
*It shows he truly loved her.*
*What a pity...* Zhang Yuanqing sighed. Unfortunately, the past couldn't be altered; otherwise, he might have offered up a prayer for them.
Later on, Yin Ji was still brought back to the Taiyi Sect by Elder Hongying. The two parted ways, becoming strangers with no further contact.
The Demon Lord fell completely into corruption, abandoning himself to despair.
Even so, the Demon Lord never killed Elder Hongying later on. With the power he attained down the road, killing her wouldn't have been difficult. The reason he held back was probably because of what Yin Ji had said that day.
*Bzz, bzz—*
Static hummed, and then a low singing voice drifted from the speaker:
"After a lover departs, they never return / Sitting alone in silence, looking beyond the mortal world / Though flowers wither, they will bloom again / The love of a lifetime lingers faintly beyond the white clouds..."
"In the sea of bitterness, love and hatred churn / In this mortal world, there is no escaping destiny..."
"You're getting emotional now, you bastard?" Zhang Yuanqing slapped the Cat King speaker.
*Bzz—*
The speaker crackled with static, cutting off the song before falling silent.
Zhang Yuanqing waited a moment. Seeing that no more audio played, he put the Cat King speaker back into the drawer, crawled beneath his air-conditioning quilt, and drifted off into a deep sleep.
***
The next morning, Zhang Yuanqing woke up early. Sitting at the dining table enjoying breakfast, he habitually opened the official forum.
The posts boasting about him yesterday were still there, but they were no longer pinned at the top. Taking their place was:
#Saint Stage Arena Tournament Begins at 2:00 PM#
Today was June 10th, and the killing trial was in late June, leaving the officials at most one week.
The tournament had to finish within that week, so the gap between the Transcendent and Saint matches wouldn't be very long.
*I can watch the Saint stage matches this afternoon.* Zhang Yuanqing felt quite excited just thinking about it. Saint-stage battles weren't something one could see every day.
Watching them would help him better understand the traits of Lawful Saints. If he had to fight them in the future, knowing his enemies would ensure his survival.
After freshening up, he slung on his backpack, pretending to head to school, and hailed a taxi outside his residential complex toward Fujia Bay.
Today, he needed to head to Fujia Bay to retrieve his yin corpse and collect the Houtu Boots.
He didn't need to attend classes anymore. Thanks to Heavenly King Demonic Eye, Elder Luoshen of the Water God Palace knew his real identity. She had promised to resolve his attendance issues and guaranteed he would graduate smoothly.
It was morning rush hour, and traffic was jammed. The taxi crawled forward in fits and starts. Having set out at eight, it was nine-thirty by the time he arrived at Fujia Bay.
Fortunately, he wasn't short on money now; otherwise, the hundred-and-fifty-yuan fare would have pained him so much he could barely breathe.
Arriving at Fu Qingyang's villa, he was led to the study by a bunny girl.
The first thing he saw was Corpse No. 1 lying on the study rug, writhing incessantly. Madness and brutality gleamed in its pupils, as if it wanted to tear Fu Qingyang—the only living person in the room—into a thousand pieces.
Yet it couldn't.
*Oh, I forgot to cancel the order...* With a shift of his thought, Zhang Yuanqing communicated with the yin corpse through the imprint deep in his consciousness, soothing its agitation.
Stepping forward, he drew the Bloodthirsty Blade and sliced through the vines binding the corpse.
Only after finishing this did he look toward the two Fu Qingyangs at the end of the red carpet—one hanging on the wall, the other seated behind the desk.
"Thank you, Centurion, for retrieving my yin corpse."
Zhang Yuanqing commanded the yin corpse to perform a curtsy.
The sight instantly brought back Fu Qingyang's memories from yesterday. He said flatly, "Had you left even a step later yesterday, the Taiyi Sect's Night Wanderers would have gang-beaten you."
Without wasting words, he continued, "The tournament rewards have been tallied. Your prize is the Houtu Boots and Grade-C merit."
With that, he retrieved a pair of high-top boots from his inventory.
Zhang Yuanqing's eyes lit up, and his gaze shifted toward the boots. They resembled ancient official boots—high-topped with thick soles, woven from earth-yellow silk and embroidered with exquisite cloud patterns.
They seemed extraordinarily heavy. Fu Qingyang held them with both hands, his arms trembling faintly.
"They're yours," Fu Qingyang said.
Zhang Yuanqing hurried forward and excitedly took the boots.
*Bang!*
Zhang Yuanqing slammed flat against the floor, both arms pinned firmly to the ground, accompanied by the distinct sound of his arm bones snapping.
Chapter 216