Demon Lord (29): “Do you know that Demon Lord Haotian is a five-clawed dragon?”

The phoenix held many legends within the cultivation world.

In these tales, it was depicted as powerful and enigmatic.

However, having not appeared in the cultivation world for nearly ten thousand years, some believe that the phoenix did not exist at all, or that it had long since perished.

Yet, the powerful beings of the cultivation world were aware that the phoenix truly existed and had not died.

If such a powerful entity were to die, they would certainly sense it.

When Zhou Qinghao informed the corpulent demonic cultivator that the phoenix resided within this mountain, his entire entourage heard it, and their expressions towards the mountain changed upon hearing this.

Could it be that this seemingly unremarkable mountain was the dwelling place of the phoenix?

With all the commotion they had made arriving nearby, might the phoenix suddenly emerge and devour them like shrimp, one by one?

Zhou Qinghao couldn’t be bothered to concern himself with the thoughts of these people. He issued orders to those who had signed a soul contract with him, commanding them to guard the mountain well and not allow anyone to approach. He also relayed the same instructions to those in his team who had not signed a soul contract with him.

After settling these individuals, he returned to his carriage, picked up Gu Juntian, and departed.

Throughout the journey, Gu Juntian had not left the carriage, and it was only at this moment that the demons of the Demon Abyss saw Gu Juntian again.

This righteous cultivator had been well cared for by Demon Lord Haotian, his skin fair and tender.

Now that he was so weak, he was completely unable to satisfy the Demon Lord Haotian, yet Demon Lord Haotian remained utterly devoted to him, even to the extent that Demon Lord Haotian’s quest for the phoenix might also be for his sake.

Demon Lord Haotian’s love for him was genuine.

Meanwhile, the powerful righteous cultivators also caught a glimpse of Gu Juntian when Zhou Qinghao carried him out of the carriage and flew with him towards the mountain.

Demon Lord Haotian did not drive away the righteous cultivators who were following him, so they kept a close watch.

Today, seeing the demons of the Demon Abyss halt, they too stopped nearby.

Some sat down to meditate, others took out house-shaped magical artifacts to cultivate inside, and some were tasked with monitoring the Demon Lord’s party, each attending to their own tasks.

It was at this moment that the Demon Lord carried his Taoist partner out from his flying artifact.

This was the first time the Demon Lord’s Taoist partner had appeared before the eyes of the cultivation world.

The moment they saw the person, the people of the cultivation world were dumbfounded.

The person being carried by Demon Lord Haotian was none other than Gu Juntian.

The righteous cultivators following Demon Lord Haotian’s party were at least at the Nascent Soul stage, and many of them had seen Gu Juntian, this rising star.

Even those cultivators who had not seen Gu Juntian had, during this period of his disappearance, viewed his image through jade slips.

Who else could this person being carried by Demon Lord Haotian be if not Gu Juntian?

In the largest house-shaped magical artifact at the cultivation world’s encampment, the Tribulation Transcendence stage experts, apart from the leader of the Qingyun Sect, all turned their gaze towards the Qingyun Sect’s leader.

Previously, the Vast Sea Sword Master had suggested that the Demon Lord’s Taoist partner might be Gu Juntian, and now it seemed to be true!

“The Taoist partner’s Taoist partner is actually your disciple.”

“I never expected your disciple to enjoy those little trinkets.”

“Did you not give him toys to play with when he was a child?”

…

The Qingyun Sect leader remained silent for a moment before suddenly saying, “His cultivation seems to have encountered a problem. What does the Demon Lord intend to do with him?”

Gu Juntian had been well cared for, with no external injuries on his body.

But for a Nascent Soul stage cultivator to be carried by the Demon Lord was one thing; the Demon Lord had also protected him with formations and magical artifacts.

His cultivation must definitely have a problem!

The Vast Sea Sword Master suddenly spoke up, “Could it be that the Demon Lord has brought Gu Juntian all this way to seek healing from the phoenix?”

Everyone looked at each other, and finally, the Qingyun Sect leader stood up, “I’ll go ask those dragons.”

Previously, although Demon Lord Haotian did not mind their spying, he forbade the demonic cultivators and dragons around him from communicating with them.

Now that Demon Lord Haotian had left, could they inquire about the specifics from the dragons in his entourage?

The leader of the Qingyun Sect acted immediately and directly approached the Dragon King.

However, the Dragon King was unable to speak.

Ao Hong said, “If there’s anything you want to know, you can ask me.”

The leader of the Qingyun Sect promptly asked, “What’s going on with my disciple?”

Ao Hong replied, “The situation is like this…”

Ao Hong recounted all of his previous experiences and, after finishing, took out a letter written by Gu Juntian for the leader of the Qingyun Sect: “This is a letter Gu Juntian wrote for you.”

The leader of the Qingyun Sect opened the letter and saw his disciple’s handwriting. In the letter, his disciple said that everything was fine.

The leader of the Qingyun Sect knew that it was impossible for his disciple to be completely fine, and that this letter was just to reassure him.

Under the current circumstances, all he could do was wait.

The leader of the Qingyun Sect returned to the place where the righteous cultivators were stationed and relayed the information he had gathered.

“Demon Lord Haotian is actually the young dragon that the Dragon King discarded a thousand years ago?”

“Previously, the Dragon King went to find Demon Lord Haotian because he discovered that Demon Lord Haotian was about to come of age and wanted to dig out Demon Lord Haotian’s inner core to feed it to Ao Jin, but ended up injuring Gu Juntian?”

“I never expected Demon Lord Haotian to be a five-clawed dragon… No wonder those dragons following him show no reluctance.”

“If he is a dragon, there’s no need for us to conflict with him; we can discuss any matters properly.”

“It seems he has no ambitions of expansion…”

…

Many righteous cultivators in the cultivation world had enmities with the demonic cultivators of the Demon Abyss.

But Demon Lord Haotian was leaving the Demon Abyss for the first time; previously, he had never caused any slaughter in the cultivation world.

This meant that Demon Lord Haotian and the people of the cultivation world have no grievances.

Such a powerful Demon Lord, they also did not wish to make an enemy of him.

If they could befriend him, it would be quite good.

Everyone’s thoughts were in turmoil, and at this moment, someone came to report that someone from Dragon Island had arrived.

The remaining Tribulation Transcendence stage elder from Dragon Island had brought all the dragons from Dragon Island to the far south.

Before Ao Jin came of age, the incident involving the Dragon King and the three Tribulation Transcendence stage elders was concealed by the Dragon Queen and the Fourth Elder, and the other dragons on Dragon Island were unaware of it.

However, when Ao Jin came of age, the Dragon King and the others had not returned, which was clearly abnormal. The dragons of Dragon Island then confronted the Fourth Elder and the Dragon Queen, demanding an explanation.

It must be known that the dragons who had not returned to Dragon Island were not just the Dragon King and the three elders, but also included Ao Hong and thirty other dragons.

The dragons of Dragon Island were all related, and these dragons who had not returned to Dragon Island were more or less related by blood to those who stayed on Dragon Island.

The dragons of Dragon Island could not allow their relatives and friends to disappear without a trace.

The Dragon Queen and the Fourth Elder knew that under the current circumstances, there was no need to continue hiding the truth, so they had to reveal the news about the Dragon King and the other dragons.

Those dragons had actually been captured by Demon Lord Haotian, and the Dragon King and the three elders were pulling carts for Demon Lord Haotian!

The dragons of Dragon Island were outraged and expressed their intention to rescue the Dragon King and the other dragons.

The dragon clan had always been protective of their own; they could not accept their clansmen being enslaved.

The Dragon Queen and the Fourth Elder could not stop them, and since they also wanted to know the situation of the Dragon King and the other dragons, they led the dragons of Dragon Island away from the island.

They knew that although the Dragon King and the other dragons were enslaved, they were not dead. Fearing that they might also be captured by Demon Lord Haotian, they kept their distance and did not dare to approach.

This time, when Demon Lord Haotian’s party stopped to set up camp and Demon Lord Haotian left, they dared to approach and make contact with the righteous cultivators of the cultivation world.

These dragons selected a few representatives to speak with the leader of the Qingyun Sect, and as soon as they saw him, they said, “Everyone, if you help us rescue the Dragon King and the other dragons from Demon Lord Haotian, we will be greatly indebted to you!”

In the past, the dragons of Dragon Island would have been very arrogant towards the people of the cultivation world. They would have directly ordered the people of the cultivation world to do things for them without even mentioning any significant gratitude.

But this time, their attitude was much better.

However, the expressions of the people from the cultivation world were strange.

The Fourth Elder of the dragon clan gritted his teeth and said, “Everyone, feel free to make any requests!”

The leader of the Qingyun Sect asked, “Do you know that Demon Lord Haotian is a five-clawed dragon?”

The Fourth Elder of the dragon clan was stunned.

Only four dragons had come to meet with the leader of the Qingyun Sect; the remaining dragons stayed outside.

They stood at the place where the righteous cultivators were stationed, looking sorrowfully at the flying artifact that Demon Lord Haotian was riding on not far away.

On that flying artifact, many dragon horns and dragon scales were used as decorations.

To outsiders, the horns of dragons all look the same, but to the dragons themselves, each dragon’s horns are unique!

They could recognize that these horns belonged to some of the elders from Dragon Island.

“That’s the horn of Ao Hong’s father. Ao Hong said that even if someone beat him to death, he would not give his horn to anyone. Now that horn is decorating the Demon Lord’s carriage; Ao Hong must have been controlled.”

“I saw my brother’s prized possession being used as decoration on that carriage, and I don’t know how my brother is doing now.”

“Demon Lord Haotian is too despicable!”

“I should have stopped them back then.”

…

The dragons were overwhelmed with sorrow, and some even shed tears.

It was at this moment that Ao Hong and the other dragons saw these dragons.

Led by Ao Hong, the thirty-one dragons joyfully flew towards these dragons: “You’ve come too? Do you know? Our dragon clan has a five-clawed dragon now!”

The dragons who were wiping away their tears stopped their movements.

After exchanging information, they finally understood what had really happened.

Demon Lord Haotian was a dragon, and a five-clawed dragon at that!

He made the Dragon King and the others pull the cart because they wanted to dig out his inner core!

“He has just come of age and is still a young dragon. He used to live in the Demon Abyss, and his life was particularly miserable; he couldn’t even eat his fill. You wouldn’t believe it, but along the way, he has been relishing human food and is curious about everything he sees…” Ao Hong chattered on.

He had a lot of affection for Zhou Qinghao, the dragon he had watched grow up.

The newly arrived dragons on Dragon Island felt a pang of sorrow upon hearing these words.

“Now he’s gone to find the Phoenix, and who knows if he’ll encounter any danger…” Ao Hong spoke, his voice tinged with worry. “He should have taken the Dragon King and the others with him; it would have been safer.”

The Fourth Elder and other dragons, who had just finished speaking with the Qingyun Sect Leader, emerged from the house and overheard this conversation. They were momentarily at a loss for words.

Ao Hong clearly didn’t hold the Dragon King and his entourage in high regard!

At this moment, Ao Hong also noticed the Fourth Elder and the others, including Ao Jin, who stood beside the Fourth Elder and the Dragon Queen. “Fourth Elder, you’ve gone too far! For the sake of Ao Jin, you would actually consider digging out another dragon’s inner core!”

The Fourth Elder’s face flushed red as he struggled to respond, “This was the Dragon King’s decision.”

Although Zhou Qinghao and Gu Juntian had mentioned the act of extracting an inner core, and Ao Hong and the other dragons had believed them, there had been no concrete evidence before. After all, the Demon Lord Haotian had always been hostile towards the Dragon King and his followers, never allowing them to speak.

But now, with the Fourth Elder’s admission, it was clear that this was indeed the truth.

Ao Hong and the other dragons exclaimed in unison, “How could you do such a thing!”

“You abandoned him at birth, and now that he’s grown, you want to dig out his inner core!”

“He’s still just a child!”

……

Ao Hong and the thirty other dragons had once been captured by the four demon kings of the Demon Abyss.

For a long time, they believed they would die.

But they didn’t. Zhou Qinghao successfully matured into a five-clawed black dragon and saved them!

They felt that the hardships they had endured were all because of the Dragon King, while Zhou Qinghao was their savior.

Moreover, they naturally felt closer to dragons with pure bloodlines. At this moment, in their hearts, Zhou Qinghao was far more important than the Dragon King and his followers.

The Fourth Elder’s face turned red with embarrassment, and he couldn’t help but retort, “Do you think that Demon Lord Haotian is a good person? He brought you here, perhaps as a favor to the Phoenix, hoping to exchange you for Phoenix blood to save his partner!”

The Fourth Elder also knew that Phoenix blood could grant someone rebirth through nirvana.

“If he really were as you say, he should have taken us to find the Phoenix. But he didn’t—he took Gu Juntian instead!” Ao Hong argued.

The dragons around Ao Hong all nodded in agreement.

Finally, Ao Jin couldn’t hold back any longer and spoke up, “What does it matter if you’re loyal to that guy? He went to find the Phoenix, and he’ll definitely be eaten by it!”

That Zhou Qinghao would surely die at the hands of the Phoenix, and then Dragon Island would return to how it used to be!

He would eventually inherit Dragon Island, and when that time came, he would drive Ao Hong and the others out!

Zhou Qinghao had no idea that others thought he would soon meet his end.

At this moment, he and Gu Juntian were busy breaking through the layers of formations surrounding the Phoenix.

During this, Zhou Qinghao asked Gu Juntian, “Gu Juntian, will your master be angry when he finds out you’re my partner?”

“He won’t” Gu Juntian replied with a smile.

Earlier, he had intentionally let the righteous cultivators see him.

He had also asked Ao Hong to deliver a message to his master.

This way, the righteous cultivators wouldn’t clash with the Demon Abyss forces, allowing the two of them to quietly continue their search for the Phoenix in the mountains.