I was born a god, the son of the Demon Lord.

Shen Jiuyuan opened the thick book next to him, "Chronicles of the Proliferation of the Demon Race".

My gaze followed the ancient text line by line downwards.

The written record is extremely detailed, and even includes illustrations.

[For a female beast to give birth to her cubs requires dismemberment and the skeletal structure of her body, consuming a vast amount of her essence and cultivation. On the day she gives birth, her cultivation level will plummet.]

Shen Jiuyuan pressed his slender fingers on the edge of the book page, applying slight pressure with his knuckles, causing a crease to appear on the paper.

Xu Nanyi and Xiaolongzai were born from his own womb.

During her pregnancy, she lost countless souls and spiritual energy, and her life was drastically altered, causing her to plummet from the late stage of the Tribulation Transcending Realm to the late stage of the Mahayana Realm. No one knew the extent of her suffering better than she did.

Logically speaking, he should feel resentment.

The image of Xu Yuan's bright and flamboyant face uncontrollably surfaced in Shen Jiuyuan's mind.

What if it were her?

If it had been a wish to nurture these two eggs, his cultivation level would have dropped directly from the late stage of the Tribulation Transcending Realm to the late stage of the Mahayana Realm.

Can someone like her, who has been proud to the core since childhood and always strives to excel in everything, really withstand this kind of change?

Absolutely not.

Shen Jiuyuan's thoughts drifted far away, and deep within his consciousness, the figure of a young girl inexplicably appeared.

Her dazzling golden hair, bathed in sunlight, cast a shimmering golden glow upon her.

Despite the endless darkness all around her, she stood there, radiating light.

Proud, strong-willed, and never bowing down.

She stands atop the mountains, overlooking all things, not because of anyone else, but simply because she is herself.

Shen Jiuyuan rubbed his temples, his brows furrowing unconsciously.

Very strange.

This person clearly resembles Xu Yuan, but... he can't remember the scene of his first meeting with Xu Yuan at all.

That memory was shrouded in a thick layer of dust, seemingly from an extremely long time ago.

So long ago that even the outlines of time have become blurred.

A barely audible sigh echoed in the empty library.

Shen Jiuyuan ran his fingertips along the pages as he continued to turn the pages.

[The Demon Realm operates on a law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak. Female beasts are weak after giving birth and must immediately go into seclusion. For the first few months after birth, the cubs are raised by the male beast or the mother beast's clan to prevent them from being coveted by external enemies.]

Which of those ancient demons lurking in the shadows, possessing cultivation levels in the early or even mid-stages of the Tribulation Transcending Realm, isn't eyeing us covetously?

Shen Jiuyuan leaned back in the wide chair and looked up.

If he had known five months ago that Xu Yuan's cultivation level had plummeted, what would he have done?

Even knowing that the other party was pregnant with a cub, even knowing that the cub carried his blood, he would still mercilessly lead his army south and take the opportunity to flatten the entire demon realm.

The demon race has always survived by taking advantage of others' misfortunes and trampling on their corpses.

But Xu Yuan didn't. She could have led the demon army to wipe out the demon realm when he fell to the late Mahayana stage and was extremely weak.

But she didn't even...

Upon careful consideration, she realized that she had never done anything so despicable as taking advantage of someone in distress.

Looking at the intricate array patterns on the dome of the library, Shen Jiuyuan felt a surge of indescribable emotions.

He actually felt fortunate, fortunate that he was the one who carried those two eggs back then.

...The father of the little phoenix and the dragon cub is himself.

That vile and despicable demon, wallowing in mud and blood, seems to have finally found a home.

Home... wasn't a bloody slaughterhouse... there were no cold-blooded executioners, but a protective umbrella that sheltered us from the wind and rain.

For the first time, someone shielded me from their presence; for the first time, I felt a shameful longing for this warm relationship.

The moment Xu Nanyi was injured and fainted in the Asura Demon Sea, the words "life and death" and "loss" transformed into tangible blades that pierced his heart.

So he thought...

Even if he's clumsy or ridiculous, he wants to learn how to run this family.

He wanted the little phoenix and the little dragon cub to grow up safely under this umbrella.

but.

My gaze returned to the sheet of rice paper covered with writing.

The two cubs seemed to have no affection for him whatsoever.

Even when avoiding him, guarding against him, and being wary of him, Shen Xizhou would rather play around with Shen Jing than let him touch the dragon horn.

At that moment, he even wondered if he had committed too many murders in the first half of his life, thus incurring the wrath of heaven and the resentment of the people.

Heaven deliberately let him see the most beautiful thing in the world.

Then they take it away without any mercy.

Let him fall back into boundless loneliness, with nothing left.

In front of the water mirror.

Xu Yuan sat cross-legged on the soft couch, resting her chin on her hand, looking at the image in the mirror.

The Demon Lord in the library was still holding that wolf-hair brush.

Immediately afterwards, a drop of clear liquid hit the cinnabar writing, spreading out a blurry red color.

Then came the second drop.

The third drop.

Shen Jiuyuan, who once crushed the head of a great demon with his bare hands, was now lying on the large jade table, silently shedding tears.

Water droplets soaked the rice paper, turning the phrase "How to make a child happy?" into a red stain.

"Mother."

Shen Xizhou grabbed Xu Yuan's sleeve with his chubby little hand, leaned closer, and pointed at the man in the water mirror who was crying with his shoulders shaking.

Why did he suddenly burst into tears?

Shen Xizhou tilted his head, looking completely puzzled.

In his past life, he had only ever seen Shen Jiuyuan with a fierce and murderous aura. He had never seen him so vulnerable.

In his memory, that person was always cold, even his blood was cold.

Xu Yuan did not answer immediately, his gaze lingering on the water mirror.

Memories travel back hundreds of years.

At that time, she was not yet the Demon Queen, and Shen Jiuyuan was not yet the Demon Lord.

She secretly slipped into the Demon Cave and saw the boy who had crawled out of the mountain of corpses and sea of ​​blood for the first time.

His body was covered in wounds; there wasn't a single piece of healthy flesh left.

He dug his fingers into the hard rock, his nails curling and bleeding, but he still gritted his teeth and climbed up silently.

That was a person who was branded as an "evil spirit" from birth.

Xu Yuan snapped out of her thoughts, reached out, and gently rubbed the pair of soft horns on the little dragon's head that hadn't yet shrunk.

"Because he's thinking about whether he did something to wrong Xiaozhou in the past, and he feels sorry for you."

Shen Xizhou pursed his lips, neither agreeing nor disagreeing, and buried his face in his knees.

Xu Yuan held the little guy in her arms, resting her chin on the top of his head.

"Xiaozhou..."

Her voice was very soft, carrying a strange, soothing power.

"When someone who has never received love suddenly receives it, the sadness in their heart is magnified infinitely."

"You won't cry if you're not loved; you'll cry if you're loved."

"So it's not shameful to shed tears."

Shen Xizhou blinked, seemingly understanding but not quite, feeling the steady heartbeat there.

Looking at Shen Jiuyuan, who was still unable to calm his emotions in the water mirror, Xu Yuan sighed softly.

The creatures of the Demon Realm live in a romantic and inclusive matriarchal society.

They are extremely sensitive to emotions and can capture the most subtle changes in mood.

That's why they understand better how to love someone.

That inclusiveness is like a boundless ocean.

It can accept all wounds and hardships, and wash away the deep-seated inferiority and fear.

Shen Jiuyuan had spent too long in the Demon Realm, that cannibalistic place, so long that he believed all relationships needed to be maintained through killing.

Now, suddenly falling into such a nurturing and comforting pool, one would naturally feel helpless and anxious.