Zanxing (Retranslated)

Chapter 251 - Heishi City (2)

Demons and humans were different. For mortal women, giving birth required ten months of pregnancy, with a life-and-death ordeal at the gates of hell during childbirth. During these months, the abdomen swells, making it impossible to hide. However, for demons, it was different. Demons conceived through the essence and blood to nurture the primal soul, invisible to others. After ten months, the baby was born. There were no symptoms like morning sickness, and unless announced, no one would know.

When Bu Jian was pregnant, Gui Diaotang had just obtained the Xiao Yuan Pearl and was already showing signs of being bewitched by the demon pearl. Cautiously, the Demon Queen did not make this matter public, only trusted confidants knew. Later, during the war between humans and demons, the sects were eager to annihilate the demon clan. Not long after Bu Jian secretly gave birth, Gui Diaotang perished at the ruins of the Golden Gate. Initially, she planned to hide the baby girl in Heishi City, but after Gui Diaotang’s death, some demons harbored ill intentions, while the outside cultivation world watched with hostility. Left with no choice, Bu Jian used the demon seal to seal the baby girl’s Demon King bloodline and sent her to the human world.

Afterward, Bu Jian fought off the sects’ pursuits while stabilizing the fragmented Demon Realm. Over a decade passed, and of the confidants who knew about the baby girl, only Xiao Shuang remained.

Thus, when Bu Jian mentioned her pregnancy, the demon cultivators were astonished.

The more astute among them connected this to Zanxing’s identity, their gazes toward her becoming excited.

Bu Jian’s gaze swept over the crowd: “All these years, Zanxing was hidden in the human world until she awakened the Demon King bloodline in the Abyss of Extreme Ice.”

As she finished speaking, Zanxing released her primordial power suppression. A vigorous stream of light surged through her body, converging at her forehead where a cyan begonia quietly bloomed.

“The Demon King Seal! It’s the Demon King Seal!”

“She is of the Lord’s bloodline!”

After a brief moment of shock, the crowd erupted in excitement.

“She is the daughter of the Demon King and me,” Bu Jian said calmly. “The pure Heavenly Demon bloodline in this world.”

The Heavenly Demon bloodline—now, besides Bu Jian, only Zanxing possessed it in the entire Demon Realm. Gui Yansheng claimed to be the son of the Demon King, but his Demon King Seal was not the pure cyan color. He was a half-demon, while the one before them was the true Heavenly Demon bloodline, the daughter of the Demon King.

The demon cultivators’ gazes toward Zanxing immediately changed. A daughter of the Demon King who could emerge from the Abyss of Extreme Ice must possess formidable strength. It might be because of her arrival that the long-dried spiritual veins began to flow again. Years ago, the Demon King Gui Diaotang single-handedly changed the fate of the demons, although ultimately unsuccessful. Perhaps this young girl could become the second Gui Yansheng, leading the remaining demons to avenge their past humiliation and return to their peak.

Xiao Shuang lifted the corner of his robe and knelt down, respectfully saying, “Welcome back to the city, Young Mistress—”

Inside and outside the hall, countless demon cultivators knelt down in unison, respectfully echoing, “Welcome back to the city, Young Mistress!”

The withered crows outside Heishi City seemed startled by the thunderous shout, flapping their wings and flying away. The beauty in the red robe smiled slightly, looked at Zanxing, and softly said, “Welcome home, Zanxing.”

*

The night rain pattered down, falling into the rivers of Heishi City.

The rivers of Heishi City were red.

Those winding, blood-red streams wriggled through the pitch-black mountains like long, scarlet worms, rushing toward the distant end of the Demon Realm.

Zanxing sat in the grand hall, with Mimi quietly lying at her feet.

The grand hall seemed neglected for years, or perhaps it was always this decrepit. The entire hall was dark and dim, exuding a musty, decayed air. The walls appeared to have splatters of brownish blood, which had darkened over time. Overall, the place was gloomy, cold, and oppressively stifling.

A beauty in a red robe walked in from outside, her footsteps pausing beside the brown bloodstains. Immediately, her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance, and she complained, “That madman turned this splendid hall into such a ghastly place. Truly a madman.”

Zanxing looked up at Bu Jian and asked, “It wasn’t always like this?” She had assumed it had always been this way.

“Of course not.” Bu Jian found a comfortable couch and sat down. “Among the entire Demon Realm, your father was the most elegant. The former Chaos Hall was more magnificent than any celestial palace in the cultivation world, but…” She sighed, “Never mind that. What are your plans now?”

Zanxing replied, “I want to go to Gufeng Mountain to rescue my friends.” Gu Baiying and Hong Su were still at the sect, especially Gu Baiying, who had let her escape in front of everyone. She didn’t know how the sect would treat him. Now that she had emerged from the Abyss of Extreme Ice, she felt obligated to go up the mountain to find him.

“Here you go again. I already told you, he’s the son of Qinghua, with exceptional cultivation talent. Even if it costs the entire Taiyan Sect, Shaoyang Zhenren wouldn’t let anything happen to him. Besides, demon cultivators in the human world have reported back. Recently, there’s been no news of any sect punishing disciples.”

“Maybe they’re punishing him in secret,” Zanxing retorted.

Bu Jian smiled, “If a sect truly wanted to punish someone connected to demons, they would do so publicly to set an example and prevent other disciples from following suit. If they were to punish the Taiyan Sect’s head disciple, it would be known throughout the three realms. The fact that there’s no news means they’ve downplayed the issue. If you were to storm Gufeng Mountain now, it would only confirm your close ties with them, which would be counterproductive and unnecessary.”

“Yes, but…”

“No buts. Even if you’re determined to go up the mountain, do you really think you can come back unscathed when all the sects are united against you?”

Zanxing remained silent.

The ‘Peerless Heart Sutra’ she practiced sought the Dao through a path that was neither demonic nor celestial. Although she had been cultivating it, she had not yet achieved true mastery. Her leap out of the Abyss of Extreme Ice was aided by Mimi devouring the tribulation clouds, allowing her to break through. The Qinchong seeds had not yet been fully absorbed. To recover to her best state was impossible at this moment. The sects were replete with powerful artifacts and formations. To say nothing of the Ten Thousand Killing Formation, she wasn’t confident she could survive a second encounter with it.

“I would love to accompany you in storming the cultivation world,” Bu Jian said softly, “but after what happened to your father, the Demon Realm has been severely weakened. Gui Yansheng is currently missing and may return at any moment. I cannot gamble the lives of the demons with you. Zanxing,” she looked into Zanxing’s eyes, “in this world, the strong rule. The sects forced you into the formation, and Gui Yansheng made you fall into the icy abyss because you weren’t strong enough. Now, with the cultivation world rallying an demon extermination army and Gui Yansheng in possession of the Xiao Yuan Pearl, we are besieged on all sides. The remnants of the Demon Realm can barely protect themselves. Why not focus on your cultivation?”

“Cultivation?”

“Only by becoming strong yourself can you have the power to choose. Now that you’ve returned to the Demon Realm as the daughter of the Demon King, people have high expectations of you. If you are not strong enough, there will always be challengers. To command respect, you must have the strength to back it up. I can help you gather information about the sect, but before that, you need to think carefully about your path forward.”

“Do you want me to focus on my cultivation and revive the Demon Clan?” Zanxing asked. She was merely an outsider who had stumbled into this situation. Shouldering the fate of an entire clan seemed rash.

“Not for the Demon Clan, but for yourself.”

“You are proud and refuse to accept fate. Otherwise, you would have become just another name in the Abyss of Extreme Ice. Your father also refused to accept fate back then and fought to the death, though he ultimately failed.”

“If you want to change the rules and alter fate, you must have the qualifications to contend with the heavens. If the Demon Clan is destined to produce a genius, I hope that person is you.”

She looked at Zanxing with a gaze full of acceptance and tenderness.

Zanxing remained silent, her mind racing through countless thoughts in an instant.

She recalled her struggles in the Black Marsh of Gu Feng Mountain, her fall into the demon-slaying formation in the Li’er Country. She remembered her encounters with Fairy Qinghua and the Snake Shaman in Wufan City. The memory of finding the Wuyou Sword in the treasure trove, obtaining the Sacred Tree’s fruit, being framed by Gui Yansheng and condemned by thousands, struggling in the Ten Thousand Killing formation, and ultimately being captured by the Asura Umbrella and cast into the Abyss of Extreme Ice.

Countless times, she thought she was about to die, and each time, a miracle happened at the last moment.

The Qinchong seed she found on Gufeng Mountain saved her life when she was at death’s door. The kitten she picked up on a night filled with fierce beasts would later carry her out of the desolate abyss.

The seemingly coincidental fate might not be a trap set by the heavens. Miracles, though delayed, never truly failed to appear.

What should she do? What was she supposed to do?

Zanxing lowered her gaze to her palm.

The floral pattern that had grown on her palm disappeared the moment the Xiao Yuan Pearl left her body, and along with it, seemed to vanish the fate controlled by the heavens. In the Ten Thousand Killing formation, the golden core within her had been scorched and melted by divine fire, taking with it her past identity and former self.

From the moment she lost the Xiao Yuan Pearl, she had become free.

The current “Zanxing” was no longer the young lady of the Yang family. She had become the daughter of the Demon King, the little princess of the Demon Clan, awakening the power of the Demon King. Now, what was she to do next?

Zanxing had never considered what she should do after breaking free from the fate the heavens had set for her. All along, she had thought she might return one day. But now, with the disappearance of the pattern on her palm, she had become just one of countless cultivators in the Duzhou Continent. Here, she had friends and family, and she had to admit a fact: perhaps she would never go back.

“What do you plan to do?” Bu Jiang asked her again.

Mimi lay at Zanxing’s feet, its massive body occupying most of the palace. The ancient divine beast naturally instilled fear in the demon cultivators, who kept their distance. The Silver Moon Lion, still unable to retract and change its form freely, lay here like a giant guardian of its master, both gentle and dangerous.

Zanxing thought for a moment and asked, “When will Gui Yansheng return?”

“I guess after he refines the Xiao Yuan Pearl.”

Zanxing smiled and patted Mimi’s fluffy head.

One moment she was a promising junior disciple of the sect, the next she had become the infamous daughter of the Demon King. Given a role of a villain that could destroy the world, she was instead taking on the heroic deeds of saving it. Her life had seen dramatic highs and lows, a thrilling ride with an unpredictable future, which might indeed be the most interesting part.

She took a deep breath, stood up, and said, “In that case, let me be the genius of the demon clan.”

Bu Jiang was momentarily stunned.

Zanxing looked at her, her lips curving into a bright smile like the stars.

“Mother,” she said, “I’m going into seclusion.”