The Steward Demonic Emperor

Proofreader: Papatonks

“But senior, I’ve seen the same fire when Zhuo Fan died that I see today. Was that senior as well?” Unafraid of this giant’s power, Chu Qingcheng looked up with hope.

The golden balls of fire flashed, “Yes, that was me snapping my fingers.”

[Well crud, if just snapping your fingers turned five hundred miles into a wasteland, then the old guy must be beyond almighty.]

The elders’ heart jerked.

Ye Lin barely held himself from lashing out. He knew what happened the best, since that was actually his doing. The fact that this black guy took credit for it proved…

[This is no Nine Serenities Sovereign, but Zhuo Fan’s high class act!]

[How did he make it so real though? He’s even got three Genesis Stage elders shaking in their boots.]

Glancing at the said elders, Ye Lin snickered inside.

“Then Zhuo Fan…” Chu Qingcheng was still hopeful.

The giant was blunt, “Is dead.”

“Dead?” Chu Qingcheng recoiled from shock, paling.

Zhuo Fan was in pain seeing his lover showing such utter despair. His nails drew blood as they dug into his palms, but his voice was firm, “When I arrived, Zhuo Fan’s soul was gone, his body mauled. In my rage, I removed everyone, down to the last man. I then took his body to bury him on Devil Mountain before coming to handle any resentments.

“Some puny sects of western lands showed some truly outrageous nerve to kill Devil Mountain’s disciple, humph! It’s all thanks to my insights in Dao that tempered my spirit or else the whole of western lands would have burned.”

The elders hung their sweaty heads, fear already prevalent in their terrorized hearts.

[Holy hell! The four sects had poked a god this time. Only fortune has it that his temper got milder and he did not drag down the rest of western lands with them.]

They could practically imagine him changing the world’s landscape three hundred thousand years ago like it was nothing.

[Good the four are done with, lest they troubled western lands further.]

The elders instantly switched tunes, no longer looking into the unfortunate loss of four sects, but actually cursing them for asking for it and getting what they deserved.

[You’d be better off messing with the Invincible Sword than this old freak!]

“Does that mean he’s… truly dead…”

Not registering all of his words, Chu Qingcheng gazed with dead eyes before slumping…

Shui Ruohua rushed over, “Qingcheng! What’s wrong…”

Zhuo Fan wanted to go as well, to hold his wife, but he reined in his impulse, lowering his hand and shaking his head.

His heart was bleeding, but he found no other solution, not when his enemy was just too strong. It was tantamount to suicide, with no idea when he’d appear.

f𝘳𝒆𝑒𝓌𝒆𝗯n𝗼𝘷ℯl. 𝑐𝚘𝘮

He didn’t want to drag her into this and chose to cut off this cherished marriage he had barely formed…

Hum~

The Thunder Ring in Chu Qingcheng’s hand vanished and appeared before the giant’s face.

“Listen up, you brats, Qingcheng is my disciple’s wife and now, a part of Devil Mountain!”

The black giant looked at Chu Qingcheng, “Tell her when she wakes up, that all of Devil Mountain will recognize her ring. To stay calm in the face of trouble, for it will flicker and shine with new hope.”

The giant vanished then, along with his power.

Looking at the remaining inferno around them, the elders stood up at last, only to slump back down, gasping and lamenting their fate.

“Old Du, that was scary as hell. That freak, uh, senior felt worse than when meeting the Exalted.”

“You think? I bet not even facing Invincible Sword would get such a reaction out of me like that… senior. His dreaded aura was just terrifying.”

“Yeah.”

The trio felt like they went through hell, now fortunate the came out alive.

Then they looked at Chu Qingcheng, “Hurry and take her to the sect!”

“Elder Ou, junior sister Qingcheng has fainted from heartache. We can’t disturb her, yet sir wants to return?” Wu Qingqiu sighed.

Elder Ou sputtered, “Cut the crap! Who said anything about dragging her back? I’m telling you to carry this lady carefully and tend to her health! She has to recover!”

Ugh!

Everyone made weird faces.

[What’s with the elder’s mood flipping like that? One minute he snapped when Chu Qingcheng contradicted him and now he…]

Elder Ou rolled his eyes.

“Are you fools, or what? Didn’t you hear senior? Chu Qingcheng is seen as his disciple’s wife and now under Devil Mountain’s protection. If anything happens to her while in Double Dragon Manor, then the ol-,uh, senior, will take it out on us! On the other hand, with the senior backing us, not even Invincible Sword will sound scary.

“That makes the young lady the brightest gem we have that we must nurture.” Elder Ou was firm, with the other elders nodding.

Now they understood and agreed with him.

[These elders are damn practical at least.]

Ye Lin realized why Zhuo Fan assumed the role of Overlord Nine Serenities, to protect Chu Qingcheng.

He witnessed Chu Qingcheng going against the elder and while not able to defend her in person, he used Overlord Nine Serenities to give a pretentious speech and raise her value in the elders’ eyes.

It was the same as looking after her while being worlds apart. He figured that no matter what danger might befall western lands, none would touch Chu Qingcheng.

Ye Lin sighed and said, “Elder, the case of the four sects’ destruction now has a resolution. But there’s still one problem. Overlord Nine Serenities has taken revenge for his disciple, but what about Beast Taming Sect…”

“Let’s just lump it in as well.”

Elder Du waved, “Senior had us so scared there’s no way we’ll still be looking into Beast Taming Sect. Since it and Zhuo Fan have grudges, we’ll say it’s the master looking out for his disciple since we can’t look into it now. That settles it.”

Ye Lin nodded, grinning inside.

[That’ll be a perfect closure.]

They took the unconscious Chu Qingcheng and left the area, with the elders taking the lead, not wanting to stay a moment longer.

After they were gone, Zhuo Fan came out of his space with a pained look.

It was his last goodbye to Chu Qingcheng…

“Elder brother, that was one high class act! You got us soiling ourselves from fear. I even thought Nine Serenities Sovereign was here.”

Zhuo Fan frowned and turned to see Ye Lin coming back.

Zhuo Fan asked, “Why are you here?”

“He-he-he, there’s still some things I don’t get. I had left with the old coots then, but I have come back for elder brother’s wisdom.” Ye Lin bowed.

Zhuo Fan walked away, “Don’t feel like it.”

“How cold, after bringing sister-in-law so you could see her one last time before leaving western lands.”

Zhuo Fan paused and sighed, “What is it then?”

“Just how did you turn into a Demon Emperor and even got those three Genesis Stage experts scared to death?” Ye Lin beamed.

Zhuo Fan spoke, “Easy, a grain of truth in a sea of lies. The figure was an illusion I made, but it’s not enough to scare those three by itself. But since they were wounded and weaker, they couldn’t sense properly. Also, the black giant contained a trace of the destructive thunderflame. But what sold it was the eyes, the remaining two Dragon Breath Pills.”

“Those held the power of dragon ancestor, of unquestionable power. This way, truth mixed with lies to make the fear they felt undoubtedly real.”

“Amazing! You’re one shrewd guy to not only defeat me but achieve this as well.” Ye Lin gave a thumbs up.

Ignoring him, Zhuo Fan left but paused again soon after, “I’m leaving western lands. Make sure that in the Double Dragon Manor, Qingcheng…”

“Don’t worry, with me around, sister-in-law will be safe.” Ye Lin declared.

Zhuo Fan grinned and vanished from the lit up night by the blazing inferno…