Demon Lord (23): Gu Juntian actually took advantage of his adulthood and fell into a coma to secretly sign a Taoist partner contract with him!

Although it was a bit strange for Gu Juntian to be concerned about what his tongue looked like at such a time, Zhou Qinghao instinctively opened his mouth to show it to him.

Then, his tongue was kissed.

The newly molted, still very weak black dragon stared in shock at Gu Juntian standing right in front of him, his eyes crossing slightly.

“What? You can kiss me, but I can’t kiss you?” Gu Juntian kissed him again.

Zhou Qinghao suddenly felt a warmth spreading through his entire body. For a moment, he couldn’t think clearly, his mind turning to mush.

Yet, even so, he didn’t pull his tongue back. Instead, he secretly hoped Gu Juntian would kiss him a few more times.

Gu Juntian didn’t disappoint. He kissed him several more times, only stopping when Zhou Qinghao, dizzy and dazed, fell into a deep sleep.

Of course, Gu Juntian knew what a dragon’s tongue looked like.

Not only did he have memories from his original body, but the original owner of this body had also seen Ao Jin’s tongue.

A dragon’s tongue is somewhat similar to a snake’s forked tongue, with a split at the tip, but it’s not as slender and elongated as a snake’s.

Snakes use their tongues to gather information about their surroundings, sensing the environment and detecting prey. For many snakes, their tongues function almost like eyes.

This was why Zhou Qinghao had always used his tongue to touch him before.

For ordinary people, the flickering tongue of a large snake might be terrifying, but for some reason, Gu Juntian wasn’t afraid of Zhou Qinghao at all. The snake’s tongue only brought him waves of tingling sensations.

During those past days, he had been “tormented” by Zhou Qinghao’s tongue more times than he could count. That tongue was something he both loved and hated.

Now, it was time for him to get his “revenge”!

Zhou Qinghao used his tongue to gather information, which was why he liked to touch Gu Juntian with it. This also meant that Zhou Qinghao’s tongue was highly sensitive.

Being kissed on the tongue—it was easy to imagine how Zhou Qinghao must be feeling right now!

Gu Juntian looked with satisfaction at Zhou Qinghao, who had been “kissed unconscious.”

With Zhou Qinghao in a deep sleep, he wouldn’t notice the surrounding situation and wouldn’t worry too much about him.

After confirming that Zhou Qinghao had lost consciousness, Gu Juntian coughed up another mouthful of blood and then shoved a handful of pills into his mouth.

He still had plenty of pills left, but with all this strain, his body was reaching its limit.

Fortunately, he didn’t just have this one body—he still had his original form.

Gu Juntian stopped controlling the formations above ground and began meditating to regulate his breathing.

On the surface of the Demon Palace, the Dragon King and the elders noticed that the changes in the formations around them had significantly decreased.

This proved that these formations were no longer being controlled.

“The Demon Lord Haotian has stopped controlling the formations,” the Grand Elder said.

The Dragon King nodded, his brow furrowed. “Why would he do that?”

The hot-tempered Third Elder snapped, “This guy has been hiding and avoiding a direct confrontation with us. It’s likely that something’s wrong with his body, and now he’s definitely reached his limit!”

The Dragon King and the Grand Elder exchanged a glance, and then the Dragon King looked at the Third Elder. “You’re absolutely right!”

When they first entered the Demon Palace, they had been wary of Demon Lord Haotian, proceeding with caution.

But now, thinking about it, Haotian had separated them but hadn’t taken the opportunity to pick them off one by one. It seemed likely that something had gone wrong with his cultivation, leaving him unable to act.

No wonder Haotian, who usually relied on brute force in battles, had suddenly resorted to using formations!

“He’s keeping that black dragon and has already offended us, yet he hasn’t come to kill us… His cultivation must be in trouble.”

“These demonic cultivators use all sorts of bizarre and unnatural methods to cultivate. It’s no surprise that something went wrong.”

“Is he refusing to release the little dragon because he wants to use it to restore his cultivation?”

…

After a brief discussion, the dragon experts increased their speed in breaking the formations.

They couldn’t let that little black dragon be devoured by the Demon Lord!

That little black dragon’s core belonged to Ao Jin!

The formations in the Demon Palace were personally set up by Zhou Qinghao, and they were indeed powerful, but the Dragon King and the others were not humans—they were dragons.

Their bodies were as tough as steel, and ordinary attacks couldn’t even scratch their scales!

On top of that, they also had numerous magical artifacts and an endless supply of pills.

At this point, although they had all sustained minor injuries, those injuries were nothing to them.

They had plenty of strength left to fight Demon Lord Haotian!

“We’re almost at the center of the Demon Palace,” the Grand Elder said, looking around with some satisfaction.

Ahead of them was the central area of the Demon Palace, where the Demon Lord’s chambers were said to be located.

The Third Elder declared, “I’ll tear that Demon Lord Haotian to pieces!”

With that, he charged toward the Demon Lord’s chambers without a second thought and instantly burst inside.

The other dragons, fearing something might happen to him, quickly followed.

Then, an ear-splitting explosion suddenly erupted!

Much of the Demon Palace’s surface was blown apart, but even in this chaos, the outermost formation designed to block prying eyes remained completely intact.

The people outside the Demon Palace had no idea what was happening inside.

“That’s quite a commotion…” said a demon king surrounded by numerous beauties.

Another demon king, seated on his flying treasure and having a few chefs prepare a meal for him, remarked, “Who knows if that commotion was caused by Haotian or those dragons.”

A third demon king, teasing a young and vigorous male dragon, giggled and said, “It must have been Haotian. I even heard the dragons screaming. That guy is pretty strong, but unfortunately, he’s got no charm.”

These demon kings appeared relaxed and carefree, but only they knew how vigilant they were, ready to flee at any moment.

When the explosion had sounded earlier, they had almost bolted.

In fact, one of the demon kings had actually run away.

Now, the fourth demon king, who had fled when the explosion occurred, returned. He rubbed his head and chuckled awkwardly, “I was just a bit too quick to react, that’s all.”

The three who hadn’t run away sneered.

“Quick to react”? More like quick to run because he was scared!

But this guy really was fast! The reason they couldn’t kill this weakest among them was precisely because he was so quick to flee.

The demon kings turned their attention back to the Demon Palace, waiting to see who would emerge victorious.

At this moment, in the Demon Palace’s inner chamber, the four dragons, now in their true forms, were all injured, their bodies bloodied and scales missing.

The dragons roared in fury.

They had charged in expecting a direct confrontation with the Demon Lord. Who could have guessed it was a trap?

Haotian, as the Demon Lord, had actually used such underhanded tactics against them—it was utterly disgraceful!

“Haotian! Come out and face us!”

“Haotian, I will never rest until you’re dead!”

The Third Elder of the dragon clan, looking at his severed tail, let out a thunderous roar.

The Dragon King was also injured. He glanced at the surrounding ruins, then took out another drop of his heart’s blood to begin divining the black dragon’s condition.

Over the past two days, their ability to sense the black dragon had grown weaker. Now, they had no idea where the black dragon was or what condition it was in.

“They’re underground!”

The black dragon was still alive, in good condition, and hiding underground!

The Dragon King breathed a sigh of relief and, along with the Grand Elder, who was less severely injured, began searching for a passage to the underground.

Gu Juntian withdrew the divine sense he had used to gather information, finally understanding how these dragon experts had managed to find their way to the Demon Palace.

The Dragon King and Zhou Qinghao were connected by blood, allowing the Dragon King to detect Zhou Qinghao’s location.

This was bad news!

If these four dragon Tribulation Transcendence experts went all out, it would be extremely difficult for him to hold out for another two days.

Unless he took pills that would forcibly unlock his body’s potential.

Gu Juntian felt a sense of relief that, despite not knowing whether the dragon experts would come, he had still prepared thoroughly.

However, taking pills that forcibly unlocked his body’s potential would cause irreversible damage. At best, his Nascent Soul would shatter, rendering him a cripple on the spot.

At worst, he might lose his life.

This body wasn’t his original one, so dying wouldn’t be a big deal—it might even be a good thing. After death, he could return to his original body and regain his full strength!

But if he died, Zhou Qinghao wouldn’t be able to handle it.

This black dragon was a bit of a romantic and extremely attached to him. If he saw Gu Juntian die, he might even follow him in death, self-destructing his core just like in the original plot.

If that happened, all his efforts over this period would have been in vain.

Of course, there was a way to deal with this.

He could form a soul contract with Zhou Qinghao. That way, even if this body died, Zhou Qinghao would know that his soul still existed and that he hadn’t truly perished.

In the cultivation world, soul contracts could be broadly divided into two types.

One type was a master-servant contract, where one party dominated and controlled the soul of the other. The other type was an equal contract, where both parties were on equal footing.

The former was widely used. When cultivators tamed spirit beasts, demonic cultivators subdued demonic servants, or ghost cultivators enslaved ghost servants, they often used master-servant contracts. This allowed them to control the other party’s soul and ensure their loyalty.

The latter, the equal contract, was rarely used.

With a master-servant contract, if the spirit beast or demonic servant died, the cultivator remained unaffected. However, with an equal contract, if one party’s soul was damaged, the other party would also suffer severe consequences.

Moreover, when it came to souls… after signing an equal contract and merging their souls, the two parties could sense each other’s thoughts!

Most people could not accept the idea of someone else knowing their innermost thoughts.

Therefore, equal contracts were rare and were usually only signed between deeply affectionate Taoist partners, which was why they were also known as Taoist partner contracts.

Gu Juntian: “…”

He couldn’t possibly sign a master-servant contract with Zhou Qinghao. Once a master-servant contract was signed, the servant’s life was entirely in the hands of the master! Of course, there were occasional cases of servants rebelling, but overall, the two parties were inevitably in opposition.

But if he were to sign an equal contract…

He had already taken advantage of Zhou Qinghao’s unconscious state to kiss him. Wouldn’t it be even worse to take advantage of his unconsciousness to sign a Taoist partner contract with him?

Then again, it wasn’t entirely inappropriate. After all, Zhou Qinghao himself had said that he had taken him captive to make him his Taoist partner!

Those four dragons could launch a full-scale attack at any moment, and by then, he wouldn’t have time to mess around with a Taoist partner contract—no, an equal contract!

Gu Juntian first extracted a drop of his own blood.

Then he circled around Zhou Qinghao, steeled his heart, and made a small cut on Zhou Qinghao’s newly formed skin, also taking a drop of his blood.

Zhou Qinghao, startled awake by the pain, noticed Gu Juntian applying medicine to his wound.

Gu Juntian had taken his blood? Why?

While Zhou Qinghao was still puzzled, he saw Gu Juntian begin to draw a formation on his head.

As the formation started to take shape, Zhou Qinghao was gripped by extreme fear.

When he was young, he had once been captured by a demonic cultivator who tried to force a master-servant contract on him in the same way.

Was Gu Juntian going to make him sign a master-servant contract?

But soon, Zhou Qinghao dismissed that thought.

Gu Juntian cared for him so much—he would never force a master-servant contract on him.

Gu Juntian would never do that to him.

Just as he was thinking this, he realized that the contract Gu Juntian was drawing wasn’t a master-servant contract at all.

So what was Gu Juntian trying to do?

Why was he trying to sign a contract with him while he was asleep?

Just as Zhou Qinghao was pondering this, he suddenly realized that the contract Gu Juntian was drawing was a Taoist partner contract.

In the past, he wouldn’t have known what a Taoist partner contract was, but now, having inherited the dragon clan’s ancestral memories, he recognized it. The dragon clan’s memories contained detailed descriptions of Taoist partner contracts and even warned young dragons like him not to casually sign such contracts with others.

Gu Juntian was actually taking advantage of his unconscious state during his transition to adulthood to secretly sign a Taoist partner contract with him!

There was no need for this! Even if he were awake, he would have been willing to sign a Taoist partner contract with Gu Juntian!

Zhou Qinghao suddenly remembered how, in the past, he had called Gu Juntian “little partner” but Gu Juntian had refused, saying they weren’t partners yet.

At the time, he had thought Gu Juntian said that because he didn’t like him, but looking back now, Gu Juntian might have said it because they hadn’t signed a Taoist partner contract.

His little partner might have wanted to sign a Taoist partner contract with him all along, but back then, he hadn’t understood and hadn’t given Gu Juntian the response he deserved.

In the end, it was his own fault!

Zhou Qinghao felt an overwhelming sweetness in his heart and couldn’t wait to open his eyes.

Gu Juntian: “…” Caught red-handed again!

Being caught red-handed wasn’t a big deal—he just needed to stay calm.

Gu Juntian looked into Zhou Qinghao’s clear eyes and spoke with confidence, “Qinghao, this is an equal contract. With this contract, you’ll be able to sense where I am. If you ever can’t find me in the future, you can use this contract to locate me. And if we’re ever separated, I can also use it to find you.”

Zhou Qinghao hummed happily in his heart.

Gu Juntian was lying to him—this wasn’t just an equal contract; it was a Taoist partner contract!

The formation was complete, and Zhou Qinghao didn’t resist at all.

Gu Juntian certainly wasn’t going to resist either, so the Taoist partner contract was successfully signed.

Zhou Qinghao could now feel Gu Juntian’s presence and even sense the affection Gu Juntian felt for him through the contract.

Gu Juntian truly loved him—so much!

Just thinking about this fact filled him with joy.

However, Zhou Qinghao’s happiness didn’t last long before Gu Juntian fed him some pills.

After taking the pills, he fell into a deep sleep once again.

He didn’t want to sleep; in fact, he felt a bit uneasy.

When he had woken up earlier, he had tried to use his divine sense to check on the Dragon King and the others, but he hadn’t been able to see anything.

Had Gu Juntian set up a formation in this room to block divine sense?

Seeing Zhou Qinghao fall unconscious, Gu Juntian first set up an illusion formation around him. Then, he took out defensive treasures he had found among Zhou Qinghao’s collection and began placing them on Zhou Qinghao’s body.

He even used a large bell to completely cover Zhou Qinghao, ensuring his safety.

Of course, he also took great care to protect himself.

Gu Juntian similarly adorned himself with numerous defensive treasures and draped a thick black cloak over his shoulders.

Now, his attire resembled Zhou Qinghao’s from before.

However, while Zhou Qinghao used to show his face, Gu Juntian covered his with a mask.

The four dragons from the dragon clan had already found the passage to the underground palace. The next step would be a fierce battle between him and them.

By now, the upper part of the Demon Palace had been almost completely destroyed. In the upcoming battle, the underground part of the palace would likely be ruined as well.

Zhou Qinghao had treated the Demon Palace as his nest. When he woke up and found his nest completely destroyed, who knew if he would throw a tantrum?

Even if he did, it wouldn’t matter. They had already signed a Taoist partner contract—Zhou Qinghao couldn’t run away.

Gu Juntian was in high spirits.

In his unconscious state, Zhou Qinghao could faintly sense the joy and affection emanating from the other person.

Filled with happiness, he felt completely at ease.

At the same time, he couldn’t wait to reach adulthood.

Once he was an adult, he would make Gu Juntian do this and that—he would become Gu Juntian’s true Taoist partner!

After a long while, Zhou Qinghao woke up again.

And then he discovered that Gu Juntian was standing in front of him, kissing him again!

In the past, Gu Juntian wouldn’t let him kiss him much, but now that he couldn’t move, Gu Juntian kept kissing him!

“Sleep,” Gu Juntian murmured, gently stroking Zhou Qinghao’s head.

Zhou Qinghao, feeling drowsy, fell asleep once more.

Outside, Gu Juntian habitually spat out a mouthful of blood.

The illusion formation had been triggered, so he knew Zhou Qinghao had woken up.

Fortunately, this little dragon was easy to fool and had quickly fallen back asleep.

In just one more day, Zhou Qinghao would reach adulthood. He only needed to hold out for one more day.

At the same time, the Dragon King and the others were growing desperate. “There’s only one day left. In one day, that black dragon will reach adulthood. If Demon Lord Haotian devours the dragon core, his power will surely increase dramatically!”

“Those demonic cultivators are cunning and deceitful. He might even use the black dragon against us.”

“We can’t hold back any longer. We must give it our all!”

…

The four dragon experts brought out their most powerful techniques.

No matter how many formations were set up underground in the Demon Palace, they couldn’t withstand the onslaught of four Tribulation Transcendence experts. Finally, they reached the last door.

The Third Elder, who had lost his tail in the explosion, had learned his lesson this time and didn’t rush forward. Instead, he looked to the Dragon King, who was in the best condition, waiting for his next move.

The Dragon King stood by the door. Being so close to the black dragon, he could clearly sense that the black dragon was on the verge of reaching adulthood.

He didn’t dare delay and prepared to attack the door in front of him.

“I spared you once, but you just won’t let it go. Since that’s the case, you’ll all stay here!”

Just as the Dragon King was about to strike, the voice of Demon Lord Haotian rang out again. At the same time, an overwhelming, boundless divine sense pressed down on them.

This divine sense was far stronger than theirs, and under its pressure, they were completely powerless.

Was Demon Lord Haotian really this powerful?

At this moment, fear welled up in the hearts of the four dragons from Dragon Island. They hesitated, wanting to flee.

Judging by the divine sense, Demon Lord Haotian was incredibly strong—they couldn’t defeat him.

Their earlier advantage might have been because Haotian hadn’t taken them seriously and had let them struggle.

At that moment, the door in front of them opened on its own.

They looked up and saw that behind the door was a spacious room. In the center of the room, a massive bell protected something. Without a doubt, lying inside was the little black dragon they had been searching for.

Beside the bell stood a figure clad in black robes.

The black-robed figure was completely covered, making it impossible to see their face, but the overwhelming divine sense emanated from them.

This person had to be Demon Lord Haotian.

If Haotian had told them to leave, the four dragons from Dragon Island would have charged forward without hesitation. But Haotian had opened the door, seemingly unafraid of them.

Their hearts filled with unease, and for a moment, they didn’t dare to step forward, fearing it might be another trap.

Gu Juntian had anticipated this reaction, which was why he had opened the door to let them in.

From the beginning, his goal hadn’t been to kill them but to buy time.

With this in mind, Gu Juntian let out a soft laugh. “You are the family of my little black dragon. I didn’t want to kill you, but why do you insist on coming here to seek death?”

The Dragon King and the others were startled.

The formations in the Demon Palace were incredibly powerful. The four of them had suffered significant injuries just getting here, and their strength was only half of what it had been.

Meanwhile, Demon Lord Haotian hadn’t lifted a finger, conserving his energy, and his cultivation level was unfathomable.

They couldn’t defeat Demon Lord Haotian.

However, judging from Demon Lord Haotian’s words, it seemed he wasn’t planning to eat the black dragon. In fact, he seemed to value the black dragon highly?

The Dragon King quickly spoke up, “Demon Lord Haotian, we mean no harm. We only came because our young dragon is here, and we want to protect it…”

“Protect? Wasn’t it you who threw him into the Demon Abyss in the first place? Isn’t it a bit ridiculous to talk about protection now?” Gu Juntian retorted.

The Dragon King was deeply shaken.

Gu Juntian continued, “Did you really come here to protect him, or was it to dig out his dragon core to cure your precious Dragon Prince?”

The Dragon King and the elders were stunned. They hadn’t expected Demon Lord Haotian to know about this.

The Dragon King, now desperate to save his own life, instinctively replied, “That’s absolutely not true! Where did Your Excellency hear such a thing?”

“People outside say I only became the Demon Lord by sheer luck, that I don’t know anything… Did you think the same?” Gu Juntian chuckled lightly. “I know far more than you think.”

Gu Juntian carried himself with the demeanor of a true master, appearing calm and composed.

In reality, he had taken pills to forcibly unlock his body’s potential, allowing him to use his full divine sense.

When he had crossed over to this world, he had been given a golden finger—his divine sense was even stronger than that of the original owner of this body, the phoenix.

But such immense power was far beyond what his current body could handle.

Gu Juntian could feel his Nascent Soul cracking inch by inch.

His Nascent Soul was definitely beyond saving, and without it, there was no point in keeping this body.

Once his Nascent Soul shattered, he would become an ordinary person, unable to withstand the harsh environment of the Demon Abyss and incapable of being intimate with Zhou Qinghao.

So, once Zhou Qinghao reached adulthood, he would abandon this body and return to his original form.

After that, he would wait for Zhou Qinghao to find him through the Taoist partner contract.

Gu Juntian had a way out, so his mindset was particularly calm.

Zhou Qinghao, sensing Gu Juntian’s condition through the Taoist partner contract, didn’t notice anything amiss.

He could feel that Gu Juntian was happy and even fantasizing about what he would do to him once he reached adulthood.

If they hadn’t signed the Taoist partner contract, he would never have known Gu Juntian was like this!

However, even though he didn’t sense any danger, Zhou Qinghao still wanted to reach adulthood as quickly as possible.

Once he was an adult, he could do all sorts of things with Gu Juntian!

At that moment, the little black dragon, protected by formations and numerous magical artifacts, finally reached adulthood!

Gu Juntian sensed this and breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, his Nascent Soul completely shattered.

With the Nascent Soul gone, his body was flooded with a surge of immense spiritual energy.

Knowing that his shattered Nascent Soul would soon expose his true state, he didn’t hesitate. He channeled the spiritual energy and divine sense within him, launching a fierce attack against the four dragons from Dragon Island.

The four dragons, in their true forms, were instantly sent flying by Gu Juntian’s attack, crashing into the already precarious formation outside the Demon Palace.

The formation couldn’t hold any longer and completely shattered.

The ravaged Demon Palace was now exposed to everyone outside.