Shrill cries and all sorts of sounds familiar to Zhang Yuanqing emanated from the speaker. He had listened to similar recordings many times before. Were all of Demon Lord's women shameless wildcats? Screaming so loudly—weren't they worried about disturbing the neighbors? Who was the female lead this time...? Zhang Yuanqing was no longer a greenhorn; he had gained a bit of experience.
Back when he used to listen to Demon Lord's audio recordings, he hadn't thought much of the women's screams, because the actresses in Japanese instructional films all screamed like that.
Only now did he realize that the women Demon Lord slept with were, without exception, wanton wildcats.
Guan Ya was subtle, delicate, and demure.
On second thought, could it have nothing to do with the women and simply be that Demon Lord was too formidable?
No, considering Demon Lord's obsession with female beauty, it was definitely due to overusing the spray. Zhang Yuanqing recalled the divine artifact resting in his inventory; in a certain sense, that item truly was a treasure every man dreamed of.
In the past, listening to Demon Lord's recordings had often dragged on for ages, requiring him to constantly exit night roving and enter it again.
Mind you, that was for a single round.
Having experienced it firsthand, Zhang Yuanqing could assert with confidence that while a Night Walker possessed immense recovery power, there was no bonus to stamina.
—If pushed, they were only slightly more enduring than ordinary people.
Even so, it had already been enough to make Guan Ya cry out, *Brother, spare me!*
Thinking of it this way, Demon Lord being a Night Walker and having the spray's assistance explained why he could gallivant so unrestrainedly with countless female confidantes.
Zhang Yuanqing suddenly felt a twinge of temptation, itching to try the item out, but its cost of addiction gave him pause.
Demon Lord could bed women without scruples, but he couldn't. He didn't want Sister Guan Ya to feel she had entrusted herself to the wrong man.
While his thoughts drifted, the ecstasy in the audio showed no signs of stopping. Demon Lord's raspy chuckle came through:
"Auntie, Teng'er told me that ever since your husband returned to the Spirit Realm, you haven't taken another lover. I didn't believe it before, but now I do."
*Auntie? So it's Teng'er's mother.* Zhang Yuanqing had a sudden revelation.
The woman sounded slightly displeased. "Don't bring up Teng... Teng'er at a time like this..."
"Why not? You're clearly the one who took advantage when Teng'er and I broke up."
"Keep talking like that and I'll get angry..." The woman gritted her teeth. "I should have killed you back then. If not for your glib tongue and using Teng'er as leverage, I wouldn't have gone soft and fallen into your trap."
Demon Lord chuckled slyly. "You say you love your daughter, yet you still couldn't resist this Demon Lord's charm."
Demon Lord's tone was laced with smugness; evidently, this was something he took immense pride in.
Zhang Yuanqing couldn't help recalling an audio snippet he had heard before. Demon Lord had been pursued by Miao Teng'er's mother, gravely injured, and had muttered while clutching the Elvis speaker: *Sooner or later, I'm going to sleep with her.*
Turning a former enemy into an intimate lover made Demon Lord's smugness understandable.
"I'll tear your mouth off..." the mature, sultry woman snapped in annoyance.
The sound of brief scuffling came through the audio, but it quickly subsided under Demon Lord's gentle whispers.
After a while, Demon Lord asked in a deep voice, "Did you find out what I asked you to look into?"
"...After clearing the Saint stage killing trial, the first Dominator-stage dungeon will appear in one to three months at most... After completing her first Dominator dungeon, the female Grand Marshal submitted—submitted an application to headquarters for the trial to wield the Tiger Tally. The Tiger Tally is an exclusive item of the Grand Marshal; one must complete the faction trial to obtain it." The woman paused for breath before continuing:
"A year later, she slaughtered her way through the White Tiger Guards' faction dungeon, successfully advancing to demigod and becoming the new Grand Marshal. So far, that is the only path to rapid advancement.
"If—if you want to replicate her path, you have to join a faction. But you are under the Deceitful Eye Judge's control, so joining the official organization is impossible."
Demon Lord said, "After becoming a Dominator, dungeons open too infrequently. I can't bide my time for over a decade. Since life is already worse than death, I might as well take a gamble. I'll think more about the faction dungeon... Ah, what a shame I never got my own faction token."
The woman steadied her ragged breathing and continued, "As for the second matter: the Taiyi Sect Master specializes in Stars. As far as I know, the Sect Master has fully mastered the Star origin. You can only choose between Taiyin and the Sun."
Demon Lord pondered for a moment, then asked, "Among the three powers of origin, Taiyin symbolizes negativity and secrecy, while the Stars symbolize destiny and the evolution of all things. Strong as both are, neither compares to the Sun.
"Why didn't the Sect Master choose the Sun?"
The woman replied intermittently, "I... I heard from my father that no one has ever been able to find the Sun origin. From the emergence of the very first Night Walkers until now, the Sun origin has never appeared..."
*The Sun origin has never appeared? Then where did the ten Golden Crows go? I recall Demon Lord found a little sun later on.* Zhang Yuanqing furrowed his brows as he listened.
"Auntie, Teng'er told me she also has an elder aunt," Demon Lord chuckled. "It seems she married the Taiyi Sect Master."
"That wretched girl Teng'er tells you everything," the woman huffed unhappily.
Demon Lord's voice was heavy with exertion. "The Taiyi Sect Master has countless wives and concubines. Your father was willing to marry his daughter to him?"
At the mention of Lingjun's mother, Zhang Yuanqing's heart stirred. His expression turned solemn, and he focused intently on listening.
As though unpleasant memories were stirred, the woman sighed.
"My elder sister was the Taiyi Sect Master's wife. She returned to the Spirit Realm just the year after giving birth. The Taiyi Sect publicly announced that she died in the Spirit Realm, but I don't believe her death was that simple."
"How so?" Demon Lord asked while thrusting with vigor.
"My sister was exceptionally gifted, a born Wood Demon. Otherwise, she wouldn't have caught the Taiyi Sect Master's eye. It was true that she was due to enter the Spirit Realm around that time, but... but on the eve of entering the Spirit Realm, she called me." Recalling this past event, the woman's tone grew much more composed. "She said she had discovered a terrifying secret... I could hear the sheer terror in her voice, but she didn't tell me what the secret was. She only urged me that if anything ever happened to her in the future, I must raise Lingjun well.
"Not long after, I heard that she died in a Spirit Realm dungeon."
Demon Lord pursued, "Why didn't you tell your father about this?"
"I was afraid it involved the Taiyi Sect Master," she sighed.
Demon Lord gave a questioning grunt. "What is there to fear? Your father is one of the most powerful figures in the Five Elements Alliance, and behind him stands the President of Baihui. Even the Taiyi Sect Master would have to think twice."
The woman offered a bitter laugh.
"The Taiyi Sect Master is of a higher level than the five Alliance Masters. He is not only the strongest Night Walker in this era, but also the strongest lawful class in the country. Before the Five Elements Alliance was founded, the Alliance Masters held their own separate domains rather than congregating in the Capital City.
"Prior to that, it was the Taiyi Sect Master who guarded the Capital City and kept Asura in the northwest at bay. What's more, the Sect Master and the President of Baihui are cousins."
*The Taiyi Sect Master and the President of Baihui are cousins? Holy shit, no wonder Baihui and the Taiyi Sect are so close...* Zhang Yuanqing was quite surprised.
Demon Lord's conversation with Teng'er's mother ended there. Zhang Yuanqing listened for another half an hour, exiting night roving several times along the way, until Demon Lord injected a massive quantity of life fluid into Auntie's body. The audio finally concluded amid the static sizzle of the Elvis speaker.
*That was a massive amount of information. Demon Lord's recordings really are great—you get both an erotic show and intel...*
Under the moonlight, Zhang Yuanqing stood on the rooftop terrace, looking down at the quiet villa compound. He summarized tonight's intelligence and extracted several key terms:
*Strongest lawful class, cousins, complete Star origin, the never-before-seen Sun origin, faction dungeons are the path to rapid late-stage advancement, the phone call before Lingjun's mother's death, Auntie is very juicy...*
His bedroom was occupied by the Commandery Princess, and Sister Guan Ya needed rest and recuperation. Zhang Yuanqing simply lay down near the edge of the terrace, staring blankly at the pitch-black night sky.
As a Night Walker, this was precisely when his spirits were at their highest.
*Come to think of it, my faction members are already full, so I can open the first faction dungeon. A faction dungeon might just be what allows me to overtake Demon Lord and thrash the Grand Marshal.*
*The next dungeon is a competitive one. If I perform well enough, I can obtain a faction token.*
*Demon Lord must have joined some faction later on, or he couldn't have come within a single step of the supreme realm.*
*Auntie said the Sun origin never appeared, yet Demon Lord later controlled a little sun, which means he did find the Sun origin. Tsk, Demon Lord truly was a peerless figure of his era.*
*The death of Lingjun's mother was unusual, but I can't tell Lingjun because I have no way to explain the source of the information.*
Auntie had kept this secret hidden all along and likely had only ever told Demon Lord. If this leaked, it would practically cement the fact that he was the Demon Lord's successor.
He could disclose it under an alias, but it couldn't come from Yuanshi Tianzun.
The full moon hung high.
Chilly radiance shone down upon a quiet valley.
Lush green grass and vibrant flowers grew across the valley, plants puffing out pollen and spores time and again, drifting hazily into the distance.
Insects crawled densely among the flora, laying batches of eggs over and over.
Everywhere teemed with the vigorous burst of life.
Yet looking closely revealed a multitude of chilling sights:
Flower blossoms bore the faces of little girls, eyes closed in slumber, expressions steeped in gloom.
Blades of grass sprouted mouth-like slits, gnashing unconsciously with crisp crunching sounds.
Insects laid eggs over and over until their life force was utterly spent and they perished, while the newly hatched larvae grew at an unnatural speed, laid eggs, and repeated the cycle endlessly.
A gentle breeze swept past. The "little girls" snapped their eyes open and broke into neurotic laughter:
"The vengeance for exterminating my clan cannot be shared under the same sky! Kill them! Kill them all...!"
Then they burst into broken, wailing sobs, utterly heartbroken.
In the center of this valley stood a mound of flesh and blood, towering like a miniature volcano. Standing three meters tall in total, the crater at its summit spanned one meter in diameter.
The entire mound of flesh expanded and contracted by turns, like a beating heart.
Inside the "crater," golden magma bubbled and roiled, wherein a figure in red bobbed gently, submerged as if in deep slumber.
After an unknown span of time, the entire "volcano" jolted. Golden, gleaming light erupted from the crater, shooting straight into the clouds.
A magnificent yet gentle golden luminescence, brimming with an intense aura of life, soared skyward before collapsing high above into a gale of pale gold that swept across the entire valley.
Twisted, bizarre plants rustled and swayed in the golden gale. The faces of little girls widened their eyes and let out terrified, shrill shrieks.
Moments later, they closed their eyes once more within the pale-golden gale, their expressions serene as though granted release.
The grass sealed its slits, never to open again. The insects ceased laying eggs, no longer burning through their lifespans, and hopped merrily through the foliage.
At the crater, shrouded in pale-golden radiance, a graceful young woman drifted upward. Leaning lazily against the rim of the bathtub-like crater, she let out a contented sigh.
"Congratulations, congratulations! You've finally cured your brain."
A man wearing a silver mask had appeared in the valley at some point.
Holding a bottle of whiskey and two glasses, he said with a beaming smile, "A fine scene on a fine night, coupled with a happy occasion—I say we have a drink."
The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter rested languidly on the crater rim. Her hair hung wet and limp, and her red dress was soaked in golden liquid, radiating a faint gold-and-crimson sheen that lent her an ethereal, fairy-like air.
She stretched lazily and said with a lovely smile, "Indeed. I can finally live a normal life without having to painfully suppress the madness in my heart. Mmh, the first thing I'll do now that I'm out of seclusion is slaughter Guan Ya."
The masked man froze, eyeing her suspiciously. "You don't sound normal at all. Did you get even crazier?"
He suspended the glasses in midair, poured the clear, golden liquor into them, and said, "Now that you don't have to worry about soul damage, let me set a small goal for you: advance to Peak Dominator within a year, or that kid will overtake you.
"We must gather three demigods before the prophecy of the Compass of Light comes to pass. Otherwise, surviving the great calamity will be difficult enough, let alone taking control of it."
Catching the glass that floated toward her, the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter puffed her cheeks. "Got it. You talk too much."
Good Music Hotel.
In the spacious suite, a tall, lithe figure in a red dress materialized out of thin air.
The sky was a dim, pre-dawn blue; it was five in the morning.
In high spirits, the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter hummed a tune as she beckoned with her hand, summoning the phone from the desk. Unlocking the screen, she saw two messages from Yuanshi Tianzun.
Ignoring the first message, she replied:
"This Palace Master still saved a bit of bathwater. Tonight, the usual place. This Palace Master bestows her bathwater upon you."
At seven in the morning, Zhang Yuanqing opened his eyes on the terrace. The sun had already risen, and the early autumn morning breeze was crisp and cool.
Having napped lightly for an hour, he unlocked his phone to check the time and discovered the Palace Master's reply.
*There's still leftover life fluid?* Zhang Yuanqing was overjoyed.
Putting away his phone, he sprang to his feet. Just as he was about to use stellar escape to leave, he suddenly saw a motorcade of black vehicles drive into Fujia Bay, following the main thoroughfare before pulling up outside Fu Qingyang's mansion.
At the same time, he caught sight of Fu Qingyang, clad in white, making a rare appearance outside the mansion as he walked into the courtyard, seemingly preparing to welcome the visitors.
*Ding-dong!*
A notification chimed on his phone.
Zhang Yuanqing looked down. Guan Ya had sent him a message:
"My mom is here. Ready to execute your mother-in-law? (doge)"
Chapter 462