"Father, I..." Yu Xinyi was heartbroken, not expecting to be separated from her parents so soon.
"Xinyi, you are now ready to become a demon lord who rules the demon realm. Go ahead and do it, don't disappoint your mother." The demon lord smiled kindly. "I will watch over you with your mother in the forbidden area. We haven't left, we just won't see each other again."
The Demon Lord smiled as he spoke, "Being able to stay with your mother like this is my happiness, Xinyi, what do you say?"
Yu Xinyi nodded with difficulty: "Father, I understand. I will definitely protect the demon realm."
"Good son!" The Demon Lord nodded with a smile, carried the unconscious Yu Lijing away, and returned to the Demon Realm.
They didn't even enter the royal city, but went straight into the forbidden area.
In the forbidden area, he placed Yu Lijing on a flat stone slab, looked at her for a long time, and then directly reached out and grasped Yu Lijing's pulse.
After a while, Yu Lijing groaned and opened her eyes.
The scene before me was both familiar and strange. After looking at it for a while, I suddenly realized that this was a forbidden area.
Wasn't she just outside the demon realm?
Also, she seems to be injured.
Yu Lijing suddenly sat up, only to find that her injuries had almost completely healed. How could this be?
Turning his head, he saw the demon lord sitting cross-legged beside him, but his expression was extremely unpleasant.
"What's wrong with you?"
The Demon Lord looked at her and spoke, his voice hoarse and unpleasant, but he didn't care at all. He said in that hoarse voice, "The Lord will not come to destroy the Demon Realm, but as a condition, you must not step out of the forbidden area."
"What?" Yu Lijin exclaimed in surprise, "He..."
After thinking for a moment, Yu Lijing immediately understood and stared at the Demon Lord: "What deal did you make with him? With his temper, he will definitely not let me, the culprit, go."
"The conditions have already been stated: you are not allowed to leave the forbidden area," the Demon Lord said hoarsely.
“I…I won’t leave…” Yu Lijing’s gaze darkened. Knowing that he was still alive, she would rather see him once than endure this longing for him year after year.
“You will leave,” the Demon Lord said with certainty. “You will be unable to resist going to see him, and then he will kill you. Then Xinyi will have no mother.”
Upon hearing Xin Yi's name, Yu Lijing stiffened and murmured, "I won't..."
"You will," the Demon Lord said firmly, his voice hoarse, so it wasn't loud but very clear. "I can't let Xinyi lose his father and then his mother. Even if he can't see you in the future, he can still come to the forbidden area to talk to you."
"Wait a minute, what do you mean by 'no father'?" Yu Lijing looked up at the Demon Lord in surprise, and exclaimed as she recalled some things, "My injuries... you transferred your demonic power to me?"
The Demon Lord ignored Yu Lijing and continued, "Being the Demon Lord is very stressful. Xinyi may sometimes be unable to bear it. If he comes to you, just talk to him."
"Wait a minute, what exactly do you mean?" Yu Lijing panicked, not understanding what the Demon Lord was trying to do.
The Demon Lord finally looked Yu Lijin in the eye: "I promised you, you must stay in the forbidden area, only then can your life be saved."
With a bitter laugh, the Demon Lord said, "Yu Lijin, after all these years, let me be selfish just this once, for the sake of my son, and forcibly keep your life."
“You…” Yu Lijing had never looked at the Demon Lord so seriously before.
She only remembered that the Demon Lord used to be the number one among the younger generation of the Demon Realm. She had been using the Demon Lord all along, but now, looking at this person seriously, she discovered many different things.
Something soft in her heart seemed to be touched, giving her a different feeling.
The Demon Lord ignored Yu Lijing's words and dispersed his power.
"What are you doing? I haven't finished speaking!" Yu Lijin immediately sensed something was wrong. The power the Demon Lord was using was...
"How can you use soul power? Do you want your soul to be destroyed?" Yu Lijin exclaimed in shock. "No, stop!"
"Only in this way can you be imprisoned in this forbidden area and prevented from leaving. This way, Xinyi can have you to protect him and find some comfort." The Demon Lord's hoarse voice was tinged with pain. Burning one's soul like this, how could the pain be easy?
"Wait a minute, listen to me!" Yu Lijing was anxious, but she was injured and had no way to activate her demonic power to stop the demon lord.
"I've heard this for a thousand years, long enough," the Demon Lord said with a bitter smile. "This time, let me make my own decision. Yu Lijin, forgive my selfishness. I don't want my son to be alone... you die..."
The demon lord's body had begun to slowly fade away, and it looked as if it was about to dissipate.
"You...you stop!" Yu Lijin shouted. "Stop! Don't do this! I won't leave. Let's stay here together, okay? Let's stay with our son!"
The Demon Lord smiled slowly, a sense of relief in his eyes: "Yu Lijin, it's too late..."
Especially when a person's heart is completely broken, it's really too late.
"You, you..." Yu Lijing watched helplessly as the Demon Lord's body turned into specks of light and dissipated, yet she couldn't even recall the Demon Lord's name. "At least tell me your name!"
Upon hearing Yu Lijing's words, the Demon Lord laughed, a relaxed laugh without the slightest burden: "No need. Since I've never remembered it, there's no need to remember it."
"Because... it's meaningless..." the Demon Lord said slowly with a smile, his hoarse voice disappearing into the wind.
The person completely disappeared and merged into the forbidden area.
He used his soul power to completely seal the forbidden area, merging with it.
"No—" Yu Lijing cried out in anguish.
She regretted it.
I really regret it!
It was only at this moment that she realized there was someone by her side who treated her wholeheartedly.
Why didn't she discover it even after a thousand years?
Even at the very end, he still thought of her, their son, and the demon realm.
Because these were things she cared about, he tried his best to preserve them.
Tears streamed down her face, and Yu Lijing cried uncontrollably.
But that person will never hear her cries again, will never worry about her tears again, and will never strive for her wishes...
That's all...
It turns out that while she was chasing an illusion, she missed out on the most precious emotions.
In the darkness, within the forbidden area, a cold wind howled, carrying with it Yu Lijing's painful, miserable, and regretful cries...
Outside the demon realm, as the demon lord carried Yu Lijin away, only the demon emperor and Mo Yun remained in the air.
The Demon Emperor calmly said, "I still have the ability to stand on my own."
He was very uncomfortable being controlled, even though the control allowed him to stand in mid-air without having to exert any effort.
Mo Yun smiled slightly and readily withdrew his own power.
The Demon Emperor activated the demonic power within his body, and a sharp pain immediately shot through his internal organs, forcing him to suppress the blood welling up in his mouth.
Even though it hurts, and even though activating his power in this way will worsen his injuries, the Demon Emperor still insists on standing on his own.
Even though his strength was so vastly different from that of the demon god, it did not diminish his pride as a man.
"What has the Lord been waiting for all these thousand years?" The Demon Emperor had some questions for Mo Yun. Even if he were to die, he wanted to die knowing why.
"A war between the three realms," Mo Yun said without hesitation.
In return, the Demon Emperor shook his head, saying with absolute certainty, "At this point, is it still necessary for Your Excellency to act against your conscience?"
"I am acting against my will?" Mo Yun looked at the Demon Emperor with amusement. "Demon Emperor, you are too confident."
"If you truly intend to destroy the Three Realms and plunge them into chaos, why would you do this?" The Demon Emperor pointed to the Demon Realm not far away, raising an eyebrow as he asked, "Why does the barrier of the Demon Realm still exist? Wasn't the Lord worried that the battle just now would destroy the Demon Realm?"
"Why not destroy the immortal soul of the Celestial Venerable and kill the Confucian Venerable? As for the Demon Realm... it's not far from the Demon Realm, why doesn't the Venerable Lord just go and destroy it directly?"
The Demon Emperor looked intently into Mo Yun's eyes and asked clearly, word by word, "With the Venerable Lord's strength, destroying the Demon Realm wouldn't be a difficult task, would it?"
Mo Yun did not answer the Demon Emperor's question, but simply smiled gently.
"It seems I can guess what kind of agreement the Lord reached with those people back then." The Demon Emperor seemed thoughtful, but in fact, he already had an answer in his heart, he just wanted to verify it with Mo Yun.
"Does this mean that if the immortal and demon realms don't provoke the demon realm, the war between the three realms won't happen?" The Demon Emperor stared intently into Mo Yun's eyes as he said this, not missing even the slightest fluctuation of emotion within them.
Unfortunately, the Demon Emperor saw nothing.
After thinking it over, the Demon Emperor felt relieved.
Would someone who has emerged from the realm of despair be emotionally affected by such a trivial matter?
"No matter what, the great war of the three realms will eventually happen." At this moment, the Demon Emperor no longer seemed to be communicating with Mo Yun, but rather seemed to be talking to himself.
"The Demon Realm is indeed a piece of fat meat that everyone wants to fight for, and the Demon Realm has no reason to give up the Demon Realm. Moreover, a thousand years ago, the Immortal Realm and the Demon Realm took advantage of the Demon Realm, and the Demon Realm has no reason not to seek justice from them."
The Demon Emperor's words were reasonable. Because of Liu Lanyan's matter, he cooperated with the Immortal Realm, but in the end, the Venerable One, who couldn't understand the situation, sent troops to attack him.
How could he possibly swallow this insult?
That's why the Three Realms War happened. As for this current turmoil in the Three Realms, besides the abundant spiritual energy of the demon realm, the more important reason is that he wants to take the opportunity to deplete the strength of the immortal and demon realms.
"After a thousand years, what Your Majesty probably wants most is to wait for Miss Liu's reincarnation. And to deal with the 'culprit' from back then, right?" Although the Demon Emperor said it was a question, he was already quite certain of the answer in his heart.
The Demon Emperor looked down at the devastated battlefield at his feet and shook his head helplessly: "This great war originated from the selfishness of our three realms, coupled with our greed for the benefits of the demon realm, which has destroyed so many soldiers..."
"However, as a demon, I have long since stopped caring about life and death in order to cultivate, so it's not a loss. At least I've brought along so many people from the immortal and demon realms."
No matter what the Demon Emperor said, Mo Yun did not react.
The Demon Emperor had already guessed what he wanted, so there was no need for him to explain.
"Since you want to find the 'culprit,' my life can be exchanged for the peace of the Demon Realm, right?" The Demon Emperor said this without the slightest trace of sorrow, as casually as if he were discussing the weather.
"Aren't you afraid of chaos in the Demon Realm?" Mo Yun finally spoke. The Immortal Realm still had the Heavenly Venerable, and the Demon Realm had Yu Xinyi, but what about the Demon Realm?
"Isn't there still King Qi?" the Demon Emperor said casually. "Isn't he the spy that the Lord planted in the Demon Realm?"
Mo Yun smiled but remained silent, saying nothing.
The Demon Emperor had not forgotten that King Qi had been trying his best to stop them from attacking the Demon Realm, knowing back then that an attack would not end well.
"It was a momentary lapse in judgment, but I haven't completely lost," the Demon Emperor said casually.
The Demon Emperor had no regrets about attacking the Demon Realm.
As the Demon Emperor, it is his responsibility to secure the best place for cultivation, and the Demon Realm is precisely the best location.
We cannot give up this delicious piece of meat—the demon realm—just because of his conjecture.
As for the Demon Realm, isn't there still King Qi?
Unless he is 100% certain that the demon realm is a trap, he should try to seize any glimmer of hope.
"Mo Yun, congratulations." The Demon Emperor stared intently at Mo Yun, without addressing him by any honorific title.
He was genuinely congratulating Mo Yun.