Demon Lord (4): This is still a child!

A righteous cultivator practicing in the Demon Abyss felt really terrible.

The Demon Abyss simply didn’t have the spiritual energy that righteous cultivators needed; here, there was only an endless expanse of demonic energy everywhere.

If a Qi Refining stage cultivator with an unsteady mind came to the Demon Abyss, a slight misstep could lead to assimilation by the demonic energy, ultimately resulting in demonic transformation.

Fortunately, Gu Juntian was a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, and his storage bag contained a vast amount of spirit stones.

After cultivating for a long time, Gu Juntian stopped and noticed that the little black snake coiled around him had already fallen asleep.

Well, calling the Demon Lord Haotian a “little black snake” wasn’t quite accurate. If he hadn’t shrunk his size, a human cultivator like Gu Juntian would be swallowed in one gulp without even choking.

Gu Juntian no longer wanted to cultivate, but since Demon Lord Haotian was still asleep, he formed a hand seal to ensure his body continued to emit warmth.

The snake’s body coiled around him tightened a bit more.

Gu Juntian’s outer robe had already been torn to shreds, and the smooth scales of the little black snake were now pressed tightly against his skin.

The little black snake was originally cool to the touch, but after coiling around him for so long, it had warmed up and become quite cozy.

Gu Juntian began to reconsider his future.

Demon Lord Haotian was incredibly powerful, just one step away from ascension, and undefeated throughout the Demon Abyss.

Moreover, the Demon Abyss was his home ground.

Although the Dragon King and several elders of the dragon clan were also Tribulation Transcendence stage experts, their strength would be significantly diminished if they came to the Demon Abyss.

On ordinary days, if they were to besiege the Demon Lord in the Demon Abyss, even if the Demon Lord couldn’t defeat them due to their numbers, escaping would still be easy for him.

However, in two months, the Demon Lord would reach adulthood.

Dragons reached adulthood at a thousand years old, and the period before and after adulthood was actually quite uncomfortable.

Before reaching adulthood, young dragons experienced various discomforts, making them highly aggressive.

During the transition to adulthood, they shed their skin and received the ancestral memories of the dragon clan, becoming extremely vulnerable.

After reaching adulthood, they needed time to adapt to their new bodies and adjust themselves.

On Dragon Island, young dragons were closely protected three months before reaching adulthood. Their elders provided them with energy-rich food and soothe their irritable emotions.

When they began to shed their skin and receive the ancestral memories, their family elders protected them even more rigorously, ensuring they were completely safe and informing them of various precautions.

Once the young dragons fully mature and adapt to their new bodies, the adult dragons hold a celebration to commemorate their coming of age.

This entire process lasted about half a year.

Now, the little black snake before him had actually entered the discomfort phase before awakening, but there was no one to take care of him. In the original storyline, during his most painful and difficult time of shedding his skin, he was besieged by his own kin and forced to self-destruct.

Gu Juntian sighed inwardly.

The matter of improving his strength could be put on hold for now. After all, it wasn’t urgent, nor could it be rushed.

His priority was to accompany the Demon Lord before him through his coming of age. Once this Demon Lord matured and could protect himself, Gu Juntian would leave and pursue his own path.

When he became stronger, he could even have a fight with the Demon Lord!

But to ensure the Demon Lord’s safe transition to adulthood, he needed to guard against the Demon Kings of the Demon Abyss and, more importantly, the dragon clan from Dragon Island.

Ideally, he would need the strength to protect the Demon Lord.

This, however, was quite challenging.

Although he was one of the top talents among the younger generation in the cultivation world, he was only a Nascent Soul cultivator. Improving his strength in a short time would be difficult.

As for his true form being a phoenix…

The phoenix had created this new body out of sheer boredom, allowing its main body to slumber while experiencing a completely new life through this vessel.

To better immerse himself in this experience, he had sealed his memories. Only when this new body reached the Tribulation Transcendence stage could his memories awaken, allowing him to sense the existence of his true form and return to it.

Of course, there was another way to return: if this body died, his consciousness would return to the main body.

However, if this body perished, his consciousness would suffer some damage. Upon returning to the phoenix form, he might not wake up immediately and could potentially remain unconscious for several months.

Even if he woke up immediately… His true form was located in the southern volcanic range, which was more than a hundred thousand miles away from the Demon Abyss. Even a Tribulation Transcendence expert, capable of traveling a thousand miles in a day, would find it difficult to return in time to help.

He probably didn’t have the ability to protect the Demon Lord. It would be better to take the Demon Lord and try to avoid all kinds of dangers.

As Gu Juntian thought this, he felt the body of the black snake coiled around him stir.

The black snake pretended to still be asleep, acting as if it hadn’t woken up, but it was clearly already awake.

Gu Juntian didn’t expose him and continued to emit warmth.

Then he noticed the tip of the black snake’s tail wagging happily.

Gu Juntian thought the black snake would “wake up” after pretending to sleep for a while, but the snake showed no signs of doing so. Eventually, he had no choice but to ask, “Are you awake?”

The black snake reluctantly opened its eyes: “What is it?”

Gu Juntian said, “Since you’re awake, let’s get up and reinforce the formation of your Demon Palace.”

It was truly baffling that a perfectly good Demon Palace could be breached by a mere Nascent Soul cultivator like him!

After all, beyond the Nascent Soul stage, there were the Soul Formation, Spirit Severing, and Body Unity stages. Only after passing the Body Unity stage did one reach the Tribulation Transcendence stage.

He and Demon Lord Haotian were several major realms apart, yet he had managed to break into the Demon Lord’s palace and attempt an assassination. It was truly unbelievable.

And yesterday, those five people had even barged into the Demon Lord’s private chambers!

The defensive formation of the Demon Palace had been almost completely destroyed. It’s in shambles and utterly intolerable!

“The formation? I don’t know how to fix it!” The Demon Lord Haotian remained motionless.

“You don’t, but I do. I’ll teach you how to repair it,” Gu Juntian said.

The Demon Lord Haotian’s strength was truly formidable, possibly even surpassing that of the original phoenix host.

That was why, in the original storyline, the power of his self-destruction was so immense.

At that time, the original owner had been by his side, intending to extract his inner core, and was consequently obliterated by the explosion.

The original owner’s soul was far stronger than those of the dragon clan, yet even he couldn’t escape. Fortunately, by then, the original owner had awakened the memories of the phoenix, which brought him significant benefits.

Now, Gu Juntian not only possessed the memories of the original owner but also those of the phoenix. Repairing the Demon Palace’s formation wouldn’t be a problem. However, since the formation was constructed using demonic energy and he lacked such energy, he needed the Demon Lord Haotian to handle the repairs.

“Fine,” the Demon Lord Haotian replied reluctantly. But since his little partner had slept with him and only made such a small request, he felt obliged to agree.

He didn’t want his little partner to leave him out of dissatisfaction.

After a pause, the Demon Lord added, “Human cultivator, let me tell you, I had a wonderful dream last night.”

In the dream, even though he was sick and his inner core was shattered, there were people surrounding him, caring for him and attending to his needs.

The pain from his shattered inner core was bearable, and it didn’t make him feel uncomfortable at all. Instead, he felt nothing but happiness.

Of course, in the dream, he hadn’t felt that way. In the dream, he had been delicate, constantly crying and throwing tantrums.

“That’s great. I hope you can have wonderful dreams every day,” Gu Juntian said with a smile, then added, “By the way, my name is Gu Juntian. You can call me by my name from now on.”

“Gu Juntian!” The Demon Lord Haotian called out, then continued, “My name is Zhou Qinghao.”

“Qinghao” Gu Juntian called out with a smile.

Hearing Gu Juntian say his name, Zhou Qinghao felt his ears itch slightly, and his tail couldn’t help but curl up: “I came up with this name myself. They say ‘Hao’ means the vast sky! I like the color of the sky when it’s blue.”

Where was there a blue sky? The sky in the Demon Abyss was pitch black.

But the name was beautiful, and Zhou Qinghao’s proud expression was quite endearing. Gu Juntian praised, “The name you chose for yourself is very nice.”

Zhou Qinghao added, “Look, ‘Haotian’—my title now includes both our names!”

It really did! Gu Juntian said, “This means we’re fated to be together.”

“Mhm,” the little black snake’s head swayed back and forth, clearly delighted.

“Qinghao, why don’t you take on your human form?” Gu Juntian suggested.

Zhou Qinghao was reluctant: “I don’t like turning into a human.”

If he took on his human form, he wouldn’t be able to coil around Gu Juntian like this, nor could he press his body so closely against Gu Juntian’s.

Gu Juntian said, “Your true form is very private. You can’t let others see it. Only I can see it, understand?”

Zhou Qinghao replied, “Of course, only you can see it.”

In the demon realm, origins and lineage mattered a lot. Many demons and monsters compared themselves to see whose true form was more imposing and whose bloodline was nobler.

His true form was just an ordinary little black snake, far too common, and he never wanted others to know about it.

Now that he was the Demon Lord, his true form couldn’t be just an ordinary black snake.

But since Gu Juntian was his partner, he needed to get used to his true form.

Thinking about how Gu Juntian hadn’t shown the slightest disdain for his true form last night, Zhou Qinghao was overjoyed. The tip of his tail wagged left and right, and at one point even tied itself into a knot.

“You said it yourself—only I can see it,” Gu Juntian said, satisfied with Zhou Qinghao’s promise. “In front of others, don’t transform into your true form.”

“Got it, got it,” Zhou Qinghao replied, shaking his snake head, which had two small bumps, and secretly rubbing against Gu Juntian.

Gu Juntian’s skin was smooth, tender, and warm, making it incredibly comfortable to rub against.

He wanted to stay in Gu Juntian’s arms forever!

Gu Juntian, with a helpless expression, pushed away the snake head that was taking advantage of him and urged Zhou Qinghao again to take on his human form. Reluctantly, Zhou Qinghao finally transformed into a human.

The Demon Lord had black hair and black eyes, his gaze as deep as an abyss yet strikingly clear.

When Gu Juntian first transmigrated here, he was very wary of this Demon Lord, fearing that the other might suddenly attack and kill him.

After all, he was no match for the Demon Lord.

But now, his wariness had completely vanished.

This was just a child! What was there to fear?

After the black snake left his body, Gu Juntian took out a new set of clothes from his storage ring, put them on, and walked out: “Come on, let’s go take a look at the Demon Palace’s formation.”

Zhou Qinghao knew he was the Demon Lord, the ruler of the entire Demon Abyss.

Ever since he took on this human form, he had carried a certain burden, instinctively showing a strong and cold demeanor.

However, facing Gu Juntian, whom he liked very much and who still carried his scent, he couldn’t maintain that coldness. He merely let out a soft hum: “Troublesome.”

Despite finding it troublesome, Zhou Qinghao still led Gu Juntian around the Demon Palace, showing him the sights.

“My cave… my house is big, isn’t it?” Zhou Qinghao’s face was expressionless, but his chin was slightly raised, as if waiting for praise.

The Demon Palace was indeed enormous! He had provided his partner with the finest cave!

“It’s very big and very beautiful,” Gu Juntian said, though he couldn’t help but feel an itch in his hand.