Having cultivated myself into an immortal, all I want to do is raise female disciples.

"Leave this place to me and Junior Sister Yu Chan. You two go ahead and find the Demon Lord on the mountaintop."

Fan Luo Kui frowned slightly: "Leave it to you?"

"Ah."

Gu Xingzhuo would definitely nod in agreement.

"Don't worry, Junior Sister Yu Chan and I will stop him."

Ye Yuchan: "...Why did you suddenly bring me along...?"

Gu Xingzhuo glanced at the girl who was starting to have wicked thoughts: "What, Junior Sister Yuchan, you don't want to?"

……

Ye Yuchan rolled her eyes, her shoulders slumped in despair, and she let out a long sigh.

"It's not that I'm unwilling, it's just that I feel tired of having to fight again."

"There's nothing we can do about it."

Gu Xingzhu smiled slightly and gave Jiang Shaoguang and Fan Luokui a reassuring look: "You two go up first, we will stop him."

……

Faced with Gu Xingzhuo's resolute words, Fan Luokui and Jiang Shaoguang exchanged a glance.

They didn't have much time to hesitate; the effect of the Blackwater Scales was only temporary, and they had no room for indecisiveness.

"Please be careful."

After saying this, Jiang Shaoguang and Fan Luokui headed towards the summit of the snow-capped mountain.

Erhei, however, had no intention of giving chase.

Gu Xingzhuo looked at Erhei with a puzzled expression and asked, "Aren't we going to chase after them?"

"It's not too late to go after you've resolved this."

Erhei smiled faintly.

Then, as if remembering something, he asked Gu Xingzhuo, "More than that, I'm curious why you chose to stay?"

Gu Xingzhuo made no attempt to hide anything: "Because I've been thinking about a problem."

Erhei narrowed his eyes: "What's the problem?"

"Why did the once renowned literary prodigy, the chief disciple of Hidden Dragon Valley who received the direct transmission of literary arts, fall into the clutches of the Demon Dynasty?"

39. Peers

Gu Xingzhuo's words directly revealed Erhei's identity.

The unassuming, black-haired youth in the Demon Dynasty robe had a glint in his eyes as he stared intently at Gu Xingzhuo's face, which felt completely unfamiliar to him, and inevitably showed a look of confusion.

After a long pause, Erhei finally asked, "You recognize me?"

Gu Xingzhu shook his head: "I don't recognize you, but someone I'm close to knows you."

"who is it?"

"Liu Xunkong".

The three words fell.

Erhei's eyes widened in shock and astonishment as he stared at the white-haired youth from Yuntian Academy, his expression one of utter horror, as if he had seen a ghost.

He hadn't heard the name of the former leader of the Azure Sky Alliance for countless years.

He should have been the leader of the righteous alliance, renowned throughout the three heavenly realms, but he fell into depravity due to some unknown secrets. The twists and turns of this are complex and few people know about them.

As for Erhei... he was an old friend of Liu Xunkong, or more precisely, a fierce general of the Azure Sky Alliance in the past.

He and Liu Xunkong once had a very deep friendship. Although they were of different social status, they addressed each other as brothers, drank wine, discussed philosophy, watched dances, and recited poems, which was truly delightful.

"You recognize him?" Erhei's expression suddenly tightened, and he asked sharply, "Is he still alive?"

"he died."

Gu Xingzhuo replied calmly, "He died a complete death, in the Abyss of Demons, his soul scattered and forever annihilated."

Upon hearing this, the bright light in Erhei's eyes gradually faded, replaced by a long-lasting sense of helplessness and sigh.

Seeing Erhei's appearance, Gu Xingzhuo didn't say anything.

He wouldn't say that he had inherited Liu Xun Kong's memories and past to some extent, nor would he tell the story of the impermanence of life and death in the Twenty-One Extremes. He also wouldn't say a word about the story of Liu Xun Kong and Qu Wen Xue in that secret realm.

What's past is past, and Gu Xingzhuo doesn't think it will have any impact to mention it here.

He just couldn't understand it.

From Liu Xun Kong's memories, he was able to learn a great deal of information about the two black figures in front of him.

The chief of Hidden Dragon Valley, a direct descendant of the literary path, is rumored to have even received guidance from the Literary Emperor, making him a rare literary prodigy in the world.

Once a great general of the Azure Sky Alliance, he was skilled in poetry and prose that could slay demons, and he also possessed a heart that yearned for knowledge and enlightenment.

How could someone with such a bright future have fallen to this state? Becoming a lackey of the Demon Dynasty?

Gu Xingzhuo did not understand.

He pondered for a few seconds, then looked at Erhei and asked in a deep voice, "Liu Xunkong knows your character and your sincere heart, but I don't understand why someone with such a bright future would end up like this?"

That's a good question.

Erhei took a deep breath, snapping out of his grief over the news of Liu Xunkong's death.

Those deep eyes seemed to hold countless stars, but the starlight that should have shone brightly was now dim and obscured by an indescribable helplessness and darkness.

Erhei slowly walked to the stone table that had been overturned by the previous surfing, helped it up, and sat down as if nothing had happened.

His first words after he sat down were like a thunderbolt, shaking everyone to their core:

"Hidden Dragon Valley has been destroyed."

Gu Xingzhuo and Ye Yuchan were taken aback.

However, compared to Gu Xingzhuo, who was genuinely frightened, Ye Yuchan's performance seemed rather deliberate.

—She had absolutely no idea what Hidden Dragon Valley was.

Gu Xingzhuo, however, was different; he knew everything about Hidden Dragon Valley.

Gu Xingzhuo frowned, his voice tinged with coldness: "Who destroyed it?"

"Xiandu".

Gu Xingzhuo suddenly realized and looked directly at Erhei: "So that's why you joined the Demon Dynasty... to avenge Hidden Dragon Valley?"

"Do not."

Erhei shook his head.

He had already guessed that Gu Xingzhuo would think of this.

Indeed, the sect that raised them was slaughtered by the Immortal Capital. Anyone would feel angry and vengeful, wanting to use any power to vent their hatred on the Immortal Capital in blood.

However, Erhei didn't think so.

He suddenly gave a bitter smile, then chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Revenge against Xiandu? I don't have that kind of guts. I'm just simply afraid of dying."

"Do you know? Before I joined the Demon Dynasty, the cultivators of the Immortal Capital were constantly hunting me down in order to eliminate any potential threat."

“I don’t even dare to dream, and I don’t dare to stay in any place for more than three days. Xiandu is always resolute in its actions. They said that if it were the entire Canglong Valley sect, they would not allow me to stay in this world for even one more day.”

"I have neither the ability nor the courage to take revenge. I can only run away, run to the territory of the Demon Dynasty."

"Joining the Demon Dynasty is the only way to survive."

Erhei stared at Gu Xingzhuo, and he could see the complex emotions in the white-haired boy's eyes.

He smiled faintly, tapped the stone table, and said, "Miss saved my life. Those cultivators from the Immortal Capital didn't dare to lay a hand on her. She protected me and gave me a chance to live."

Envious glances swept over Ye Yuchan and Gu Xingzhuo.

Erhei smiled and shook his head, saying, "I'm not like you lucky and courageous guys. Just surviving is already a huge challenge for me... How could I possibly have the ability to pursue so-called revenge and so-called justice?"

"I'm just a coward, a coward who's afraid of death. In order to survive, I joined the Demon Dynasty. If you call this depravity... then I am depravity."

Erhei's words reached Gu Xingzhuo's ears.

He still looked puzzled, staring at Erhei in disbelief:

“You weren’t always this negative.”

"When you're young, you're always full of vigor and arrogance, always thinking that heaven will not let you down... but that's just wishful thinking."

Erhei slowly got up.

The demonic energy within him surged forth, forming several dark rings that floated around him.

The ink, identical to that of Gu Xingzhuo, suddenly appeared from the void, coalescing and rising up like a thick black mist.

“I am not a god, unlike great men like Emperor Wen Xuan Lei and Emperor Wu Gu Tian Ren. I am just a mortal.”

"Mortals who have already done their best just to survive."

"There are many people like me in the Demon Dynasty. Most of them were forced to become demon cultivators because they were pushed to their limits. What you said, Miss, is not wrong."

"That's why I envy you, ignorant yet fearless."

……

……

The demonic forces surged forth.

Ye Yuchan and Gu Xingzhuo's expressions changed simultaneously.

The Demon Lord, a Saint-level being, is a major force in the Demon Dynasty. Ye Yuchan, who had fought against the Demon Lord before, knew his strength all too well.

In a one-on-one situation, even Ye Yuchan would be no match for the Demon Lord.

Although the difference in realm is only one minor realm, the resulting gap is as vast as the difference between heaven and earth.

Silver spiritual arrows taut and solidified on the magical artifact Black Rain, while jet-black ink floated in mid-air, accompanied by the flicking of an ink brush.