Chapter 1606: Return
The black sun shone on the boundless demonic land. All of the mountains, rivers, and trees were shrouded in a layer of dimness as if everything existed behind a black piece of glass.
It was a condensation of the laws of the Demon domain, bestowing a demon heart to all of the demonfolk. From their very essence, every single demon heart was a Black Sun Demon Heart.
The legend would become true sooner or later.
But on this very day, the black sun was instead gilded with a golden edge. The golden light was dim, but it still produced a haze, exposing a smear of dark blue.
The pure land of Sukhāvatī and the wicked land of the Demon domain were both originally part of the Qilin Paradise that the primordial qilin turned into. They had been split apart by the buddha Tathāgata through the use of his boundless powers.
However, with the arrival of the man who possessed the bloodline of the qilin, he took away the pond of lotuses in the Great Thunderclap temple, and the two worlds began to approach and merge together. Their laws wove together as they fused with one another.
The light from the distant Sukhāvatī left countless demonfolk enamoured, forgetting everything that happened around them. Their dark eyes all became gilded with a golden edge.
The Demon domain that had sunk in darkness for billions of years finally welcomed the first ray of light. Those who had never sunken in darkness before would not understand just how precious the light was. It made every single demon’s heart shine.
At that moment, it was trembling joy. They shed tears of joy, unable to control themselves, like they had risen up to paradise.
The demonic land had never been so hopeful, so peaceful. It was basically even more enchanting than the finest wine in the world.
The games that demonfolk liked the most—slaughter, abuse, harassment, betrayal—were absolutely nothing compared to this sense of joy, devoid of meaning.
However, the meaning of existence was downright denied from them as well. A sense of pain that reached down to their very bones erupted hysterically, even more unbearable than any toture.
Within it flowed humiliation, hatred, emptiness, despair… as if they had fallen straight to hell!
“Those who had never seen light will always find it easier to bear with the darkness. If they never had hope, they would not feel despair either,” a woman whispered like a snake’s hiss, cursing and blessing the living creatures. “I hope you like this fate.” She had already made the most bountiful offering up to the demonic heavens, a lone, proud tiger.
She lowered her head again and smiled gently. “I still need to thank you.”
She held an infant in her arms who currently slept soundly, completely uninfluenced by the changes of the outside world. There was no demon heart at all in his body. He was surrounded in a holy glow, such that even the demon qi was unable to approach him, giving off an unbelievable sense of purty.
He was the son of Jiuying, the son of a Heretic God, as well as a son of humanity. He was so feeble that he could not even sustain himself, yet he achieved something that even Demon Gods could not—he made the lone, proud tiger walk up the altar willingly.
Who was the one who had once cried out, “Save the children!”?
A mysterious power protected him, protecting all of the newborns in the Demon domain. They could sleep soundly, freeing them from the fate that demonfolk were born into.
The woman sighed. “What a fortunate child… more fortunate than me.”
At the same time, across the endless Demon domain, countless lives all faced the torment of hellish pain.
When this pain and despair reached the limit, their minds snapped and their demon hearts shattered. A silent rumble that seemed to originate from the depths of hell shook up the entire Demon domain.
Billions of demonfolk went insane, completely demonifying and turning into twisted, vicious demonic beasts, howling viciously at the black sun gilded with gold in the sky, filled with hatred and curses, wanting to tear it apart and devour it.
That was the source of all pain.
At the top of the mountain, the fierce winds whistled, lifting the scarlet hair. A man suddenly opened his eyes and listened closely. Countless translucent snowflakes cut at his face like blades, making him feel deep pain as well.
Why was he here? Why was he alone? No one knew. No one knew what he was searching for at such a tall place.
The small world had ceased to exist, having merged with the entirety of the Demon domain. However, the battle between the demonic and divine in his heart had never stopped even for a moment, becoming more intense instead. At that moment, it had reached a new peak.
The living creatures of the Demon domain were all in his heart. The suffering of the living creatures was also his suffering.
However, he was not some god or buddha from the Nine Heavens who possessed great compassion and benevolence, but the king of the demons. He neither spread things like happiness, hope, joy, and peace, nor did he promise them a paradise and happiness in their future lives. Instead, he spread great pain and despair, only promising destruction and death.
He pursed his lips and his expression immediately became as tough as a rock, gazing into the space there, spreading his arms at the wind and snow.
He was always like this. The more pain he was in, the more determined he became. The more he struggled, the more resolute he was.
However, those frenzied demonic beasts did not attack everything that was alive around them like usual. Instead, they ran off frantically, across the wilderness and plains, like it was a great migration.
Rumble. The myriad beasts surged. The ground shook like a series of raging rivers, except their final destination was not the ocean but the sky.
The beasts chased after sun, day and night, relentlessly, until they perished in exhaustion.
When moths threw themselves at flames, at least they could still burn in the fire, but the sun was beyond reach. They would never be able to reach it. Even burning up was just a fantasy.
The man suddenly let out a sorrowful smile, which rapidly became twisted again. His teeth protruded like a demonic beast’s as he roared at the sky.
“Why? Why do you lust after ‘paradise’ so much that you’d create a demonic land like this!?”
The question passed through the demonic heavens and shook the laws, reaching Sukhāvatī and echoing in every single temple and hall, shaking up the statues of gods and buddhas, but no one answered him.
He did not need an answer either. He needed war, flames that could burn everything, until the demonic land and pure land merged back together. By then, there would not be endless pain. Of course, there would not be eternal happiness either.
Living in the world, life was always supposed to be a mixture of happiness and happiness, was it not?
But why? Why was he unable to feel any joy at all? Didn’t he become a god already? After so much difficulty, he had never been so close to the Nine Heavens. The frog had leapt out of the well and finally become a star.
As he Forged his Soul back into the Void and grasped the laws of the world, his will penetrated the pure land and demonic land.
All of his transformations had reached an unprecedented height. Whether it was the ox demon and tiger demon or the phoenix and spirit turtle, he had all gained a deeper understanding of them, while the Qilin Transformation went even more without saying. It was basically born for this world. Not a single obstacle remained.
Only the Ape Demon lost its spirit, filled with worry and sulking around in depression.
This was originally one of his favorite transformations that he had the happiest time practising, free and unhindered, never to be tied down.
Now, since he had chosen to shoulder the fate, he would probably never be free and at ease again. He could only sit on the top of this mountain alone, listening to the calls of wind and snow, silently accepting the sorrow and suffering of the living creatures of the Demon domain, protecting all of the children of humanity, allowing the pain and hatred accumulated over billions of years to surge through his heart like an ocean.
At this moment, he who always refused to look back could not help but look back.
Qiongzhi, Ru Xin, Yu Zijian… king Milliped, Hua Chengzan, the Great Banyan Tree King…
These nostalgic names, these familiar figures, immediately sprang alive, like they had never lost their colour.
He could not help but form a smile. This sure was a very, very long path, going from the foolish young cowherd in the remote mountain hamlet, following a winding, precipitous path, frequently forced to cut through the brambles, scale cliffs, and leap into mountains. He continued until he reached the top of these mountains, becoming the king of Demon Gods.
Along the way, there were many dangers, but he also saw extremely grand sights. He had never regretted it.
Now, he was welcomed to take a small break and recall the struggles he had faced through the years, letting his heart and mind run free a little.
The stars in outer space twinkled. Every single star was a world. One of them belonged to him.
With the unification of the Demon domain, the structure of the world elevated further, and the flow of time became slower as well.
Even when the World of the Five Continents had grown countless times larger, enough to contain existences of the fifth heavenly tribulation, it still came nowhere close to the Demon domain.
As a result, when he gazed into the World of the Five Continents from the Demon domain, everything unfolded like he had hit the fast forward button.
In an instant, the sun rose and fell. The clouds morphed as the stars revolved in the sky.
If I go to beyond the Nine Heavens, probably the lifetime of a mortal will pass in a single flick of the finger, he thought as he gathered his concentration.
Everything immediately slowed down. The cycle of the sun turned back to normal, and the clouds changed shape slowly. At the same time, thousands of thoughts flashed by. Nothing was faster than his mind.
“Hah, not revisiting home after achieving success in life is like parading around a set of fancy clothes in the middle of the night.” Even if they would be mocked for being out of place, like a monkey trying to pass off as a human by wearing a hat.
The ape demon immediately became reinvigorated, scratching its ears eagerly. Wasn’t he just a great big monkey?
The thoughts broke free from the Demon domain, returning to the World of the Five Continents. That was where it was born.
“My friends, I’ve returned!”
