Pill Master's Depraved Underling 10 Testing Testing

"Ma!"

The twin boys chorused the cry of distressed to their mother, who was visible shaken by being brought without any warning to the fox clan, it had never happened to her before, usually she was the one that led her children back to her home in a different realm.

"I see, it is people like you that end up with wives that have no substance!"

"You are missing the point, I have nothing against Feng Yueming, I just don't want Xu Hui to be spoken to in such way."

Mou Hairong stared at the cultivator with a guarded look in her eyes, seeing the archenemy of her people in her home.

"Why did you bring a cultivator with you?! Don't you know who they are?! Why Xuequi?! Why?!"

"Aunt Hairong, he was the one that brought them back! Do you even know where he found them?! At Xuekejiu town! They flew to a town thirty minutes from us! What if he wasn't in that town? It would have taken all night if not days to finally find them and by then who knows what would have happened to them! I know grandfather says that cultivators are bad people, but are they really all bad?! Can't you look away just this once and be thankful towards him for finding your children for you?!"

Mou Hairong had a stubborn look on her face while looking at her niece whose face held frustration and anger. Mou Yaxin held the hands of his children while looking at the man that was the cause of the fight between his wife and in-law. He felt at ease while looking at the man, nothing about him struck him as someone that could be dangerous, he had a solid built and carriage that held self-a.s.surance.

Mou Yaxin left the side of his wife and walked with his children to where Lin Cheng and Yan Xiequi stood, "Yidan and Zimu, I want you both to show your grat.i.tude to Lin Cheng of the BaoXu sect."

The twins looked at their father and nodded in unison, right there the three gave a deep bow to Lin Cheng who also gave a salute back in respect.

"Thank you for rescuing my sons and bringing them home. My family and I will always be in your debt."

After this, the twins and their father raised their head up and walked back to where Mou Hairong stood bristling with anger.

"Mou Yaxin! How dare you shame me in front of my children!"

"Hairong, let's not do this. I don't know the feud that your family has with him, but you cannot because of that not show his any appreciation for bringing us our children. What if we never saw them again?! I'm not trying to disrespect you, but you need to show grat.i.tude where it is due."

Mou Yaxin tried not to let his voice show the anger that he felt within, but to him, his wife was being unreasonable. He wanted her to set aside whatever past differences that her family may have had with the man and be thankful what what he did for them despite the ongoing feud.

"I'm not going to stay and listen to this!"

Mou Hairong stormed into the house, leaving her husband and children staring after her in aghast.

"I will be taking my leave."

Lin Cheng bowed once again to the Mou family before taking to the air, the twins and their father were still dumbfounded by what Mou Hairong did. Although, Yan Xuequi was also shocked by her Aunt's behavior, she didn't let it tie her down from running after Lin Cheng.

Taking to the air, Yan Xuequi pursued Lin Cheng, and soon caught up with him.

"I'm sorry for the way my Aunt spoke to you."

"It's alright, I'm sure she has her reasons."

The two flew side by side

Yan Xuequi stood in front of in front of her grandfather, who slowly rose from where he sat to look at his granddaughter from all sides.

The princess mother silently watched from where she sat, waiting for her father to bring up the reason for their visit. After a while, as though satisfied with what he saw, the fox king eventually freed his granddaughter from his inspection.

"It seems your time at the mortal realm was very pleasing."

"Yes it was."

"How was your Aunt and her family?"

"Princess Aunt Hairong, Mou Yaxin, Prince Yidan and Prince Zimu were all in good health. They hope to visit the fox clan some day."

Yan Xuequi was purposely vague in her reply, if she had told her grandfather that his grandchildren didn't want to step foot into the fox clan, it would only create more misery for him. Which was why she made it sound that they would be coming by in the nearest future.

"Have you given consideration about your marriage?"

The out of the blue question made the fox princess almost show the surprise she felt within, but since she was in the presence of her grandfather, she had to comport herself in a manner befitting a princess.

"I was about to bring it up at a more suitable time, I'm pleased that you brought it up in my stead."

The fox princess remained serene while looking at the sharp gaze of her grandfather's, who was watching her face very closely.

"Meifang what do you thing of a wedding in a month's time?"

Yan Xuequi felt the air leave her body, "A wedding in a month's time? Why? Is anyone dying? Grandfather may look frail, but it is self-inflicted, I don't think he is dying anytime soon!"

"I'll abide by your decision."

The fox princess wasn't too surprised by her mother's response, she knew that the princess mother didn't want to risk offending her father in the name of respecting her daughter's wishes.

Yan Xuequi was now left the choice of either following her grandfather's plan or decide for herself on when she wanted to get married.

The mother of the twins gave each of them a slap to the back and held them in her arms as though she didn't want anyone to steal them from her, the boys swallowed the sting of pain that came from the beating, not shedding a single tear. To them they saw it as their due punishment for running away from home. Their father, Mou Yaxin took turns to hold them in his arms, as he too couldn't contain the tears of joy that was streaming from his eyes. Soon after the parents separated from their children and turned to face Yan Xuequi and Lin Cheng, who were still looking at each other.

"Xuequi! Who is the man with you?!"

"Ma! He was the one that found us!"

"Be quiet Yidan! I wasn't talking to you!"

The boy stiffen on hearing the sharp chastis.e.m.e.nt of his mother, he had to stay still, since he just got out of trouble not too long ago. The voice of Mou Hairong broke the two from the spell they were under, quickly turning to face the mother of the twins.

another with happiness at seeing the granddaughter of their king walk through the market place which was at the lower region of the fortress that led to various realms. This was where anyone that left the fox clan would usually pa.s.s through when they came back.

Yan Xuequi walked through the mist of her people, bowing slightly while heading for the center of the fortress. Her people wore simple robes, their fox features very much in display,, unlike those in the mortal realm that kept to appearing as human as possible.

Not bothering to open the door carved from the rocky mountain, the fox princess sent a string of fox fire which pushed the door open. What she saw on the other end of the door took her by surprise, for in there sat her mother and her grandfather. The fox princess bowed in greeting to them.

"Greetings Fox King! Greetings Princess Mother!"

In the presence of her grandfather, the fox princess had to refer to him by his t.i.tle, the same applied to that of her mother. She couldn't call either of them grandfather or mother whenever her grandfather was around, because he was a stickler for the royal tradition.

"Princess Xuequi. Come, let me take a closer look at your face."

The fox princess noticed that he sounded very frail, which wasn't surprising because he was using half of his powers to keep the fortress the way it was and a quarter of his powers to suppress his fox features to appear almost like that of a human. It was when her mother explained the reason for her grandfather's behavior did she finally understand why he chose to appear as though he was human. The woman he loved was from the mortal realm during his youthful days while moving from one realm to the other, but feared exposing his true nature to her, when he eventually found the courage to do so, she had already gotten married to a fellow human in her town. Heart broken, he married one from the royal bloodline whom he had no affection for, resulting in two princesses Yan Meifang and Yan Hairong.

The then Queen Mother Yan Luanfei eventually found out the reason for her husband being cold to her and acting out of character with what a person from the fox clan would do. It was after she found out that his heart already belonged to a mortal, Yan Luanfei went to the mortal realm and carved out her beating heart and burned it with her blue fox fire, right in the presence of her husband and newborn child. In anger, the fox king sealed his wife in a coc.o.o.n made from fire and lightening buried deep within the fox fortress, the only one whose powers surpa.s.sed his from youth could open the prison of fire.

It has been several hundreds of years since then, the mortal woman's family had long since been gone from the face of the earth, but the fox king still refused to release his wife, as the bitterness in his heart from years ago never found a way to heal.

The disciple kept smiling at his teacher who was fuming with anger at been treated with no respect from his student.

"I'm still young and at times I can hardly hold myself from going to the tea house to see all those beauties in there."

As Jin Tieguai spoke his eyes brimmed with a smile of mischief, he loved teasing his teacher who he saw as a prude. When he saw that his words weren't get to his student, Jin Caihe weakened body suddenly regained strength from the lack of remorse on the face of the junior disciple, for putting him in such a pitiful state.

"You are an animal! You hear me! An animal!"

"I seem to recall you calling me before you and I became one."

"Hehn?! What nonsense are you sprouting from your mouth?! I don't remember anything! This never happened! You hear me?! It never happened!"

"Keep on fooling yourself, do you think that just by pretending that what happened between us, didn't take place?!"

"Shut your mouth! And know your place!"

"Know my place?! You still have time to bring in position?! Caihe..."

"Stop right there! You will address me properly as head teacher!"

"Alright if that is what you want Head teacher Jin, but that isn't going to erase what took place in this room!"

While Jin Tieguai was speaking with Jin Caihe, his eyes began roaming the delicate pale body of his teacher, which was covered in kiss marks left by him while their body was pa.s.sionate intertwined.

Unable to hold himself from carrying out the thought in his mind, Jin Tieguai lowered his head to place a kiss at the center of Jin Caihe's belly. The moist feathery touch from the lips of his student made his "dragon" stand erect.

"St..op..."

"You don't want me to continue?"

"No! Go away!"

With the last remaining strength in him, Jin Caihe pushed Jin Tieguai away from him, causing the member of the other to come out without any warning and with that came excruciating pain to the body of Jin Caihe. Unable to control himself, Jin Caihe shouted in pain.

"ARGHHHHH!!!!!!!"

Although Jin Caihe felt the stickiness from the lower part of his body, nothing prepared him for the sight of blood and male essence that stained the cover of the bed. One second he was looking at the smiling face of his student and the next it as if everywhere was spinning, it was then that the head teacher of the GuBaiJin sect knew he was about to lose consciousness.

Yan Xuequi flew all the way to Xuekejiu town, while holding onto the cloak of Lin Cheng which he had forgotten to return back to him. The bracelet she gave to him wasn't just a jewelry, but it was also an extension of her power. This way she could keep track of him from wherever she was, without the other knowing.

She soon arrived in front of the of Zenhaitao inn, which was a three layer establishment made from brown timber. Forgoing coming in through the entrance, the fox princess went to the last floor, while moving at speed beyond what the human eyes could see, through several rooms down the corridor. Eight doors later, she went through the door not wanting to wake Lin Cheng in the event he was still asleep.

The sound of water pouring made the fox princess stop at mid air, a quick turn of her head and she was face to face with Lin Cheng taking a tub bath in his room.

Not expecting to meet him in such a state of undress, the shock caused Yan Xuequi to lose her balance and fall to the ground.

"Ha!"

The noise from her fall made Lin Cheng become alert to the intruder that was in his room, were it not for the screen that separated the wooden tub and the rest of the room, the fox princess would have been looking at a naked Lin Cheng!

"Who is there?!"

The disciple cultivator had not heard anyone come in through the door, which made him very uneasy when he heard the dull thud that came from someone falling down.

"It is I....Princess Yan Xuequi!"

"Princess Yan Xuequi? What are you doing in my room?"

"I came to return your cloak, before leaving for the fox clan."

"Oh?!"

"I'll lay it down by the bed."

As she spoke, Lin Cheng pulled the robe that hung from the translucent screen, as he got out of the tub, the fox princess could make out his lines of his body, causing her cheeks to burn a bright pink. No sooner had the image registered into her mind, did she turn around to face the other way, almost forgetting to place the cloak on the bed as she had told Lin Cheng.

Stepping from behind the screen to make his way to Yan Xuequi, he saw she had her back against him. Not wanting to startle her, he gave a soft cough to let her know that he was now out of the tub.

"I'm sorry for not using the door, I thought you would be asleep....I only wanted to give your cloak back to you."

Yan Xuequi still had her back turned to him, while taking a soft breath to steady her racing heart.

"It must be because I'm getting older! Once I get back to the fox fortress I'll start looking into a potential groom for my marriage."

Choosing to believe that the cause of her raging body was due to her body aging and possible need for procreation.

"How did you get in?"

"I'm from the fox bloodline, I have the ability to pa.s.s through things."

"That explains why I didn't know when you came in. You've had your back turned to me for some time now, if you don't mind, but can I see your face?"

With great difficulty, the fox princess turned to face the disciple cultivator.

"When you leave for the fox clan, are you returning anytime soon?"

Yan Xuequi didn't want to get her hopes up when Lin Cheng asked about her possible return to the mortal realm.

"I promised my Aunt and her family to return soon, after I have settled the affairs of my clan. As the next in line, since my grandfather had no sons except for my mother and Aunt Hairong. Grandfather's power is not as they were, this is why I may need to take over from him as the next ruler of the fox clan."

"What happened to your mother?"

"Mother's powers is not strong enough to bear the responsibility as the next ruler should grandfather decide to step down or pa.s.s the thorn to one that has the attributes that is needed to rule the clan."

"Your parents, are they living with you at the fox clan fortress?"

"Mother and father have a separate lodging away from the Yan royal family, they live at the far end of the fortress where there is less activity and it is more peaceful, away from the fox people. While, I as a member of the royal family stay at the center of the fortress. We all know our place and none that isn't royal dare venture to the core of the fortress."

"Do they visit you often?"

"Father isn't of royal blood which is why he can't visit me with mother, but I go to see them, at times mother visits me alone."

"When you leave here you will be going back to resume your duties as princess of the fox clan."

It wasn't posed as a question, but was meant to find out if she had other things planned.

"Yes and I'll be there until when grandfather doesn't have need of me."

"I bid you farewell, Princess Yan Xuequi."

"Farewell Lin Cheng."

Lin Cheng noticed that she didn't make reference to his sect, unlike when they first met. That made him think that she was now seeing him in a better light.

Just like that, she went out through the same way she came in, although she already told him that she can pa.s.s through things, it still make the disciple cultivator very surprised when he saw her go through his door.

When he felt within him that she was probably gone for good, did he finally allow himself to relieve the emotion that dwelt within. His hand formed into a tight fist behind his back, as the smile he held while she was there fell flat.

"She's only the fox princess and would never be anything more!"

Lin Cheng tried to convince himself that the feelings he was slowly developing for Yan Xuequi would never be anything but that, he didn't want to accept that she held a special place in his heart.

------------------

Yan Xuequi's spiritual energy opened the endless portal into the alternate world of the fox clan. Cold tall mountains stared back at the fox princess from where she stood.

"I'm finally back!"

The fox princess shouted into the empty air with her hands spread wide, as she savored the air around the fortress which was filled with dense spirit energy.

One after another, she began removing the restraint she had kept on herself while in the mortal realm, with her hand in a seal clasped tightly together, she began tapping at several pressure points on her chest, releasing her full power. This sent shock waves round the fortress.

"The fox princess is back!"

"Princess Yan Xuequi is finally back!"

"It's Princess Yan Xuequi!"

The people of the fox clan shouted to one

"Call General Hei!"

The merciless lilac blue eyes followed the movement of the guards stationed inside his palace. A moment later, the general walked into the throne room. Full body armor that looked like they were carved out of dark hard rocks. From the demon lord to his subjects, everyone of them was dressed in black. There was no emotion in the golden eyes of the general, the eye color of everyone was how they were ranked and judged. The pure blood from the royal family were lilac blue that looked as though they were blue flames. They both exchanged greeting, after which the demon lord told his general what he wanted to do.

"Before we leave for WuYangChen sect, I need to pay a visit to YuanLi sect."

"If I may ask, why Demon Lord Zhurong?!"

The general looked baffled by the unusual way the demon lord was acting, they were about to lay siege on a sect and here he was trying to gallivant to another sect.

"I need to see for myself the person that is parading to be the young mistress of YuanLi sect."

Hearing the explanation of his leader did not come as a surprise to the general. He knew that the demon lord was only going there to fulfill his curiosity.

"As long as he makes it back on time and not throw the plan behind, he can do whatever he wants. Even if I say he shouldn't go, he does look to be in the mood to listen to anything!"

The general kept a close look at the demon lord, who wasn't looking any different, but being that the general had been around him for a long time, he could tell that something was amiss.

One of the guards was fidgeting when the two were conversing with each other, being short tempered, demon lord Zhurong didn't move an inch of his body nor did he turn his neck to pin point the guard, from where he sat looking at his general, a subtle fast movement of his hand was followed by a cracking sound that came from a bone being snapped into two.

General Hei didn't allow his face to reflect any of the things that was going through his mind. He was already used to the demon lord's brutality. To him it was just another day in the demon realm. When the rest of them saw what had happened to their comrade, they became more alert.

"Clean up that place."

When the guard fell to the ground after his death, his body became that of tarry ash which lay scattered on the dark floor. Hearing the command of the demon lord drove the men into action and in no time, the floor was cleaned by them.

"If she pleases me, I'll bring her back to the demon realm as my pet."

"I thought you already have plenty of them."

"It is never enough, there is always the draw to something new. Moreover, I haven't had one from a cultivation sect!"

The two eventually parted ways with the demon lord leaving his kingdom in search of the YuanLi sect.

The Queen mother had a demure look, not wishing to have a say in the talk regarding her daughter's impending marriage.

"Who do at the GuBaiJin sect do you want me to get married to?"

Not that she was concerned about the person that her grandfather was going to be tying her with, it was just unsettling for the fox princess to suddenly realize that she would be entering a union with a cultivator. As the thought of marriage came up, her mind strayed to a particular cultivator in the mortal realm, Lin Cheng!

"I wonder how he is doing, is he still travelling from town to town? Would he eventually return to his sect?"

The fox clan was a closed realm, that is they rarely kept in touch with what was happening with other realms unless they saw the need to, which hardly ever happened. Therefore, Yan Xuequi did not know that the BaoXu sect was no more, neither did Lin Cheng, his was more understandable since he was in the mortal realm, but the fox clan just never kept close touch with other realms. This made it easy not to know something as horrifying as several sects being wiped off completely.

"I sent a letter to their sect, we should hear back very soon."

Deep within her heart, Yan Xuequi didn't want the GuBaiJin sect to reply her grandfather nor find someone that would meet the standard of the fox clan royals. Although it was merely wishful thinking, the fox princess couldn't help giving in to her heart desire.

"Sect Leader Li, we never know when we'll hear back from GuBaiJin sect. I'll ask some of the disciples from the ShenJiangShi sect to see you back, to avoid keeping you here for long."

Li Guoliang looked at the young master of the ShenJiangShi sect with eyes that spoke volumes of the annoyance he was feeling within him. The proud sect leader saw the young master of the ShenJiangShi sect as a nuisance and not befitting the position of the young master that he was, his eyes could hardly contain the disdain he felt for Shi Yunxu. He thought that he wasn't properly brought up and could never fill the role of sect leader in his father's place.

"Young master Shi, I am not complaining of having to wait to hear back from GuBaiJin sect, it seems that you are the one that feels uneasy with having me at your sect."

Shi Yunxu looked at the older cultivator with eyes that reflected one of friendliness. Almost from birth children of sect leader are taught to etiquette of that came with the position of being born into such a high status. Unless the young master of the ShenJiangShi sect chose to do otherwise, it was almost second nature to converse with ease and maintain the air of courteousness when talking with other cultivators.

"I'm sorry it came across that way to you, Sect Leader Li. I merely thought of your health and knowing that danger exist around, I didn't think you would want to stay outside your sect for too long."

"Humph!"

The YuanLi sect leader turned his head the other way, this was to let the young master of the ShenJiangShi sect know that he didn't take what he said well.

"I'm sorry Sect Leader Li."

The other cultivator gave no reply to the apology of Shi Yunxu, while the servants inside the room looked on from the side.

"Can someone get us some tea?"

Shi Yunxu could not ask for wine, because of how grave the situation was, on hearing their young master ask to be served tea, some of them ran out to bring what he asked.

"Sect Leader Li, I forgot to ask you, but would you like to drink the tea that would be served?"

Shi Yunxu didn't like Li Guoliang, he was only putting a show of politeness around him. Of course the YuanLi sect leader already saw through the farce of civility.

"You already asked for tea to be brought in, why are you now asking me if I want to drink out of it?"

"Sect Leader Li, you may not like what we serve here at ShenJiangShi sect, that is why I am asking."

"It would be best if you said nothing and pretend to know how to act like a sect leader. The future of ShenJiangShi sect looks very grim indeed! Tsk! Tsk! Tsk!"

"I will engrave your words into my heart, Sect Leader Li."

Although, the young master Shi Yunxu smiled, his eyes looked like those of an arctic frost.

Demon Lord Zhurong drank from the shadow goblet in his hand, on the outside it looked like thick dark smoke, but it was more than that, the goblet was an heirloom of the royal house of Hei. None could touch the goblet unless they had the Hei bloodline in them. He wore a dark robe that had silver linings on them, a diadem of dark silver rested on his head from where tendrils of long dark hair shimmered.

"Demon Lord Zhurong what would you have us do?"

The one that was referred to as the demon lord, was a man whom without his mask was the most good looking in all the realm. Contrary to what everyone thought about the demon realm, the demon army and the people from the demon realm had an unearthly beauty to them.

"Is there anyone that I need to be weary of when we get to WuYangChen sect?"

"The sect leader is Chen Yueming, he was formerly a disciple of the BaoXu sect, after his marriage to the young mistress of WuYangChen sect, his family name was changed to 'Chen' in accordance to the rules of the WuYangChen sect. Unlike the other sects that we have defeated, Sect Leader Chen is quite different because he knows techniques from two sects, in the past suspicion fell on him for killing a fellow female disciple, but it was soon dispelled after his marriage. Of all the sect leaders, his actions are very difficult to predict. For many years, he has been going about acquiring the core of magical beasts under the guise of night hunting with his servants. But, there is something else..."

"What is it?"

Seeing the hesitant look from the general of his army made the demon lord straighten up from where he sat on the throne.

"One of the spies saw the young mistress from the YuanLi sect at the BaoXu sect after we had annihilated them."

"How is that relevant to the discussion?!"

"Cultivators that are highly skilled can suppress their spiritual energy to become undetectable, we from the demon realm cannot do such a thing."

"Where are you getting with this?! Hurry up and say what is on your mind!"

"The spy heard Lady Li refer to herself as the dead female disciple that Chen Yueming was suspected in the past to have killed. Xu Hui of the BaoXu sect, those were the words he heard her say."

That drew the demon lord's full attention, his lilac blue eyes flashed with interest at what his general was telling him.

"If it is really true that she reincarnated, which is not uncommon among people from the heavenly realm, then we have to deprive Lady Li the satisfaction of exacting revenge on a sect leader, then after that, YuanLi sect would be next. We leave at nightfall for WuYangChen sect!"

"As you wish, Demon Lord Zhurong!"

The general of the Hei royal army, gave a salute to his ruler, who sat in a high chair forged from his demon energy and the molten lava that flowed from underneath of the demon realm.

"I want go inside and rest, when father returns let him know of this, I don't want to my sleep to be disturbed by anyone."

Xu Hui was met at the front of her bedchambers by the attending maids of Li Jiao, since they didn't know that it wasn't their mistress they were serving, but someone else entirely, they took care of the disciple of the BaoXu sect just like they did for the dead young mistress of the YuanLi sect.

The BaoXu sect disciple's body was taken over with the urge to empty her insides, but on the outside none of the maids could see the discomfort that was taking place within the person they took to be Li Jiao.

"Yes Young miss Li, we would let Sect Leader Li know that you are sleeping and wouldn't like to be woken up for any reason."

"You may now leave."

After bowing to Xu Hui, they discretely left the same way they came, one after the other. It was after she saw they had gone, that was when the BaoXu sect disciple opened the door to her room. On getting inside, she had her back against the door to keep her feet from giving way.

"I can't die yet, whatever it takes, even if I have become mere bones! I must and I will kill everyone that has caused me pain! My life..."

Xu Hui's words were halted by the blood that suddenly poured from her mouth and noise, although she held a hand to her mouth, she wasn't quick enough to stop it from staining the floor of her room. It wasn't the only place that the crimson tide flowed from, her eyes dripped blood.

"It seems I don't have much time."

The blood flail technique was not forbidden for a reason, it drew power from consuming the spiritual energy of its host until they were left with none and it didn't stop there at all. It would destroy the body from the inside out, turning it into mere dust with nothing left to bury. That was how scary the technique was, causing spirit fragmentation.

Too tired to look for a wash rag and some water, Xu Hui performed the hand seal from the blood flail technique to absorb the blood on her feet and forming tiny b.a.l.l.s which began floating around her.

"What would be the best place to keep this?"

The BaoXu sect disciple walked to the dressing table and pulled out a purple embroidery pouch from her box of jewelry to empty its contents out and place the hardened blood infused with infernal energy, placing it with the rest of her jewelry. On the outside, they looked like stones, only those with a keen spirit sense would be able to see beyond their appearance.

"That Fu Zian should be thankful that I have other things that weighs heavily on my mind. If not!"

The last thought came with her eyes turning to the color of crimson. Only time would tell if the reincarnated BaoXu sect disciple would kill the YuanLi senior disciple.

Jin Tieguai saw the moment when his teacher pa.s.sed, he began checking to see if the other was breathing, when he saw that Jin Caihe was only worn out and still breathing. He hurriedly threw on his robes and ran out to get him some herbs and a tub bath of warm water.

To Jin Tieguai everyone saw him as the bane of the GuBaiJin sect, the not so serious one, which was why he used his smile as a mask to hide his thought from others. His heart broke when he saw the way his teacher was, he began cursing at himself for not being gentle with him.

Never in a lifetime would he have thought that the highly respected Jin Caihe would fall into his hands, nor had he ever thought that his first experience would be with a man of all people!

In the past he had envisioned himself as having his first time with the most beautiful flower that the tea house had to offer. The junior disciple was beyond shattered by the knowledge that he had taken his teacher and if permitted he would willing do the act again and again. The thought made the youthful boy's face redden.

Inside the DainShu after changing the bed covers, Jin Tieguai carried the naked body of Jin Caihe, while biting his inner cheek to control his raging body, which fought to take the head teacher of the GuBaiJin sect again.

"I have to be strong! For Head teacher Jin!"

Carefully laying the other cultivator into the steamy water filled with medicinal herbs, Jin Tieguai used his hands to cleanse the body of Jin Caihe, washing every nook and cranny of his body. Although, it was a very tortuous for Jin Tieguai to be touching the body of his teacher, the junior disciple persevered while gritting his teeth to reign his turbulent thought.

"I'm sorry, it was never supposed to be this way. Please forgive me."

There was no response from the other cultivator whose eyes remained closed, as though he was asleep.

"I promise I wouldn't come near you, until you have forgiven me. If ever at anytime I break my word to you, I'll take Xicong and plunge its blade into my heart!"

That was how determined Jin Tieguai was to protect Jin Caihe from him. He and the head teacher first met when he took part in a compet.i.tion at the age of nine to join the GuBaiJin sect, which was known to select only the best among the contestants. He never knew they would pick him, since he thought he wasn't all that different from the rest, but the sect leader saw something during the compet.i.tion that made him ask for Li Tieguai to be added as the new disciple of the sect. After he joined was his family name then changed to Jin in accordance to the sect's rules.

Jin Tieguai bent to place a light kiss on the forehead of Jin Caihe and then whispered the words to him, "This doesn't count."

Soon after he carried the head teacher to the bed to begin dressing him in a new robe, not minding the numerous turns to get him clothed. Only when he was done taking care of Jin Caihe did the junior disciple tuck a stray strand of his hair behind his ears, after this he stood up to leave the DianShu, taking one last look at the sleeping face of his lover. Facing forward with a sad smile on his face, Jin Tieguai closed the door behind him, as Jin Caihe cracked an eye open to see the door closing behind those of his student.

During their intense coupling, Jin Caihe bit his student on the shoulder, so hard that it left a deep reddish-purple mark on the pale skin of Jin Tieguai. Although, Jin Tieguai felt the sharp pain that came with the bite, the pleasure from his member entering those of his teacher made the pain lessen.

It was already evening, when the junior disciple eventually pulled out from the moist entrance of his teacher, whose face looked very worn out from the prolonged intimate union of their bodies which was drenched in sweat, blood and milky sap.

"Ha! Don't move, It's so painful!"

Jin Tieguai was so consumed by the need to take over the body of Jin Caihe that it was only after his body began cooling down did he really take a good look at the face of his teacher. He was shocked to see how haggard they looked as though his strength had been sucked out. The junior disciple saw him lift up his hand weakly to halt his movement within his body.

"I have to come out, so that you wouldn't start to stink."

Although he meant well, they seem to rub Jin Caihe the wrong way, who looked at the other with eyes filled with hatred.

"When I told you to stop, you didn't listen, but did as you pleased and now you are concerned about if I smell or not!"

"In what way?! Tell me!"

"Everybody calm down! The person that you are all talking about has left already!"

"Some of you are trying to paint Xu Hui as a temptress and that isn't who she is, it is Feng Yueming that we need to be weary of!"

"Tsk! What do you expect from a weak minded person!"

"If being weak minded means that I have to say what is right, then so be it!"

"This is not getting us anywhere, it is not any of our concern who among them is being improper."

"Let's stop talking about them, it is only creating division among us!"

The cultivators slowly resumed their meal, after engaging in a pa.s.sionate discussion about the two disciples from their sect.

-------

Feng Yueming kept walking through the courtyard that led to the area of the forbidden library which he guessed that Xu Hui was at. None of the junior disciples were able to unlock the shelve where the ancient writing was kept. Never once did the female disciple question how she was able to open the shelve and look through the ancient scroll in secret. Her ears suddenly picked up the sound of approaching feet, making her to dash across the library to return the scroll that she took back to the shelve.

The dark energy that dwelt within her, although it had lain dormant, it was still able to resonate with the special spells that were put on the shelves to safeguard the ancient writings, breaking the spell on them, so deceptive was the powers that she had, that not even the people that created the spells knew that it had been tampered with and restored to its original state.

Each time Xu Hui went in, she always thought it was either the shelve wasn't properly secured or her cla.s.smates were not as intelligent as she was in getting to read the forbidden scrolls.

"I finally found you junior disciple sister!"

"Feng Yueming! What are you doing at the library?!"

The forbidden library was open to all disciple, for viewing the design of the structure, none ever thought to keep strict watch over the place, because they felt confident in their level of spell use. Little did they know that someone from the sect was stealing in to read the writings in the locked compartment.

"I'm just looking around, isn't it beautiful?"

"Yes, very beautiful."

Meanwhile, Feng Yueming wasn't referring to the beauty of the library, instead the beauty in question was Xu Hui, who wasn't aware that she was the object of his interest.

"Have you finished looking around?"

"Yes, I'm ready to leave."

The two of them walked out of the library, greeting the disciples that stood guard at the entrance into the library.

"Where are we going?"

"To watch the flowers."

"I want to see if they would bloom as brightly as they did yesterday."

Feng Yueming took Xu Hui to see the snow pink flowers which swayed to the pa.s.sing wind.

"I could never get tired of looking at them."

Xu Hui smiled brightly as she looked at the tree that Feng Yueming brought her to see.

"I also."

It was a peaceful silence as the two of them stared at the tree each in a world of their own. After some time, Feng Yueming asked, "Junior disciple sister, if one of us propose to you, would you accept?"

"Brother Feng, what do you mean?"

Xu Hui looked at the disciple cultivator not knowing what to make of his remark.

"If you one of us walk up to you and says he likes you, would you accept him?"

Feng Yueming was scared to ask Xu Hui directly, instead he chose an indirect approach to learn the true state of her heart.

"I'm not ready to consider anyone as of yet."

"When will you be ready?"

Feng Yueming waited with bated breath for the female disciple to give him a positive answer.

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know junior sister disciple?!"

"It is as I said, I'm not sure when I will be ready."

"What if the person decides to wait until when you are ready."

Xu Hui laughed when she heard what Feng Yueming said, to her it was foolishness to wait on someone when you never know when they would be prepared.

"Is what I said very funny?"

For some reason, Feng Yueming felt slightly offended that Xu Hui was not taking his words seriously.

"I'm sorry Brother Feng, I wasn't trying to make a mock you."

"It's okay, I'm not angry."

Although Feng Yueming said he wasn't angry, his face had a rigid look to them.

"If it were someone like me."

It was spoken to softly that Xu Hui almost that she misheard him.

"Brother Feng is my senior whom I respect, you deserve the best among all women! Don't forget to invite me when you decide to get married."

"I deserve the best, you say?"

"Yes, Brother Feng. I don't see myself getting to meet someone in your rank as possible. I treasure every disciple of the sect both male and female, they are like my flesh and blood. In as much as I cherish them as my brother and sister, I do not want to wreck the bond that we have by placing the strain of marriage into it."

Feng Yueming saw through the response of Xu Hui, which was that she would never marry anyone from the BaoXu sect and that included him. He didn't want to cause further embarra.s.sment to himself by coming clean and letting her know he was the one they were speaking about. What good would it do if she knew that he liked her, she wan't going to see him as anything more than a brother to her. The thought made the disciple cringe inside, he didn't want to be her brother, instead he wanted to confess his feelings to her. Now that she came clean and told him where he stood in regards to her heart, Feng Yueming made the decision to get rid of Xu Hui. If he couldn't have her, then no one else would.

"I understand what you mean junior sister disciple, your words are wise indeed. It is best not to spoil the bond of friendship with the heartache of marriage. I have learned something from you today."

It wasn't that Feng Yueming was happy with what Xu Hui said nor did he go along with it on a good mind. Rather, he was putting together everything that she said and using them to fan the embers of his hatred towards her.

Undeterred, she tried to manipulated the blood inside of whom she thought to be from the fox clan, but unknown to her, she was going by the little she knew of the fox clan. Not knowing that he was a demon and not of the fox bloodline.

They could hardly contain themselves from the thing that was making them very frightened.

"Sect Leader Jin, it is the fox king!"

"What does he have to say, speak up and stop wasting my time!"

The delay in reply was beginning to raise the ire of the sect leader, whose brows were already twitching in impatience.

"The message that was sent from the fox clan was transcribed."

"Go on!"

Sect leader Jin lost his composure at this point, by barking at the disciple to hasten what he had to tell.

"Fox King Yan wants GuBaiJin sect to answer back to the marriage edict of the fox princess!"

"What has her marriage have to do with us at GuBaiJin sect?! Where is the letter?!"

The sect leader was helped up by his servants back to his chair by the mistress of the sect. One of the disciples bowed as he pa.s.sed the letter to his sect leader, who almost s.n.a.t.c.hed it out of his hand to look at the details of the writing.

"We haven't finished dealing with the possibility that demons would be attacking at any time, now I am receiving a letter from a clan that hates the pugilistic world! What else could go wrong?!"

Not long after he made the statement, some other disciples rushed in to let their sect leader know that Jin Tieguai was causing trouble again.

"Sect Leader Jin! Jin Tieguai was seen in the room of head teacher Jin and hasn't been back since then!"

"I'm sure the head teacher can handle the good for nothing sluggard! I regret bringing him to the sect! He is the mistake I'll carry to my grave!"

"We fear he may have done something to head teacher Jin!"

"Is Jin Caihe a child?! If he cannot handle someone like Jin Tieguai, he needs to give up the position of head teacher and become a farmer instead!"

The disciples that reported the occurrence, shriveled up from the harsh words from their sect leader.

"We are sorry for provoking sect leader."

"Now to the matter at hand! Who among the disciples of GuBaiJin sect is fit to be the future king of the fox clan?!"

Jin Ruimin knew that when it came to choosing an husband for the princess of the fox clan, that person had to be someone that was outstanding in everything, the only one that seemed to meet the requirement was the head teacher of the sect, Jin Caihe.

"How about head teacher Jin?"

Jin Huiyan wasn't the type to talk much unless it was absolutely necessary, both she and her husband did not want to offend the fox king, because they could prove to be a worthy ally in the coming future.

"Xuequi sit down, there is something else I and your mother would like to talk with you about."

The fox princess looked at her grandfather for a prolonged period, before fashioning a seat for herself from her fox fire.

"Yes, Fox King."

When they saw that she gave them her full attention, that was when her grandfather began speaking.

"GuBaiJin sect is one of the most respectable sect in the heavenly realm."

When Yan Xuequi heard what her grandfather said, she had to take a closer look at him to be sure that he was the one speaking and not someone else.

"I grew up hearing that all cultivators are bad, why are you bringing up the GuBaiJin sect?"

Yan Shuchang fed his children and grandchildren the poisonous fruit of hatred towards those that came from the pugilistic world. To secure the future of his powerful grandchild and the fox clan, he wanted an alliance with the most prominent sect in the heavenly realm.

"My time to step down as the leader of the fox clan is drawing near and among my children and grandchildren, your power almost rivals mine from my youth. In as much as I abhor all cultivators and what they practice, I want you to have an anchor that you can fall back on. This can only be possible through marrying into a strong sect."

Yan Xuequi looked at her grandfather through eyes that held confusion and mistrust, "How could she trust his words, when he made her believe that cultivators were bad people?! If they were that evil, was he saying that he was going to marry her off to them, in spite of that?"

Past...

"My nephew, please.... take go...od care of.... our Xu... Hui."

The uncle of the sect leader of the BaoXu sect coughed while speaking to his nephew. The young man nodded solemnly as he took the basket that held his baby cousin in one hand. The parents of the child were very sickly, according to the priest, their illness was as a result of the strong energy that was inside their daughter and it was only by being among other cultivators and walking the path of cultivation could the dark energy within her subside.

"Yes Uncle, I promise to look after cousin Xu Hui."

Both couples dressed in simple robes of blue, the strange illness had taken over their body giving them a somewhat skeletal appearance.

"Promise us that you would never tell her the truth of her birth."

The mother of the newborn begged her nephew in-law, her eyes were about to release the tears that were behind them.

"Yes, I promise not to reveal the secret if her birth to her."

"If anyone asks you can claim her as your own. Just don't let her know that she is the reason that we are dying."

"Uncle! How can I, an unmarried man claim my cousin to be my child, are you trying to ruin my chances of getting a wife?!"

The sect leader spoke in a voice of mock indignation, he knew that his uncle was only trying to look out for his daughter.

"I'm sorry for placing such a huge burden on you."
Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

"It is okay uncle, I will look after my cousin as you and aunt would have wanted."

"It is getting late, we would leave our child to your hands."

"My daughter Xu Hui, my baby..."

The mother of the child started to cry, as her husband held her in his arms. The two began walking out of the sect doors to the nearest town they could find.

"You have destroyed the lives of your parents, my only wish is that you remain unseen, do nothing, speak nothing and merely go your way without leaving a trace of your presence to be felt by others. Live in darkness and die alone in darkness, do not reach for what isn't yours, stay hidden."

The young man words were spoken out of bitterness, because of seeing his beloved uncle waste away from the child he had. The sect leader didn't know that the words he uttered that afternoon was the catalyst to the destruction of his niece and clan.

------------

Xu Hui grew year after year and began practicing martial arts and several sword skills of the sect. Along the way she met Feng Yueming, he was one of the numerous people that had applied to be taken into the BaoXu sect as a disciple. They both practiced sword skills together with other cultivators from their cla.s.s and alone in secret. With time the two of them became somewhat close, because of Xu Hui's bright personality, Feng Yueming was drawn to her. In spite of the stern looks her cousin sent her way, that did not deter the female disciple from mixing with other disciples both male and female and gathering knowledge from them.

"Has anyone seen Xu Hui?"

It was Feng Yueming asking his fellow disciples of the whereabouts of the female disciple that had caught his eyes.

"Someone saw her go to the library."

"Are you sure she is there?"

"Feng Yueming, stop asking us! Go and find her yourself! We already told you what we know!"

The disciple that was called Feng Yueming was a youthful disciple with decent looks, he glared at the person that spoke not happy with the response from the disciple cultivator. It was after morning lessons and they were all gathered at the table to eat.

"There is no need to give you the evil look, just go to the library and see if she is there!"

They all nodded in unison at the sage words of the disciple that spoke.

"I'm leaving, there is no need to shout!"

"Who is shouting?!"

Feng Yueming ignored the disciple and left for the library to look for Xu Hui.

"That Feng Yueming, what is with him and Xu Hui?!"

"So you also noticed!"

"One has to be blind not to see the way those two go about almost holding hands!"

"I tell you! It is best to stay away from females of any kind!"

"You don't have to tell me! With the way Feng Yueming is going, nothing good would come out of it."

"Don't blame Feng Yueming! It is Xue Hui! She is the one that his misleading him!"

"We are all back to the same point! Females are to be shunned at all cost unless it is time to get married!"

"There is a reason why we don't have lessons together, it is because of things like this!"

"Let me speak my mind, I think that Feng Yueming is as much to blame as Xu Hui."

"Whose side are you on?!"

"I'm not trying to chose sides, it is just that Xu Hui has never come looking for Feng Yueming, it is always the other way round."

Try as she may she couldn't crush his heart that she was aiming for, the BaoXu sect disciple wasn't able to reach inside the body of the demon lord. Unlike the time at the hall of the YuanLi sect, his powers were suppressed almost close to those from the mortal realm. Therefore she found it easy to get through his body defenses and injury him. Unlike the body of a cultivator that was relatively easy to manipulate because of their body wasn't formed like those of demons, who were born from the lava that flowed from the underworld. Although their skin may look on the outside like any immortal or human, they were not the same as those two. What could penetrate the tough exterior was a magical tool that was refined from the fires of the underworld.

The demon kingdom sat on the underworld, drawing from their strength and battle prowess from its dark energy.

"Xu Hui give up, you can never reach Chen Yueming!"

"I would rather die a thousand times than let go of the hatred that I have for him!"

"Since you want to die so badly I will fulfill your request!"

The demon lord raised his hand which formed a small dark smoke that sizzled with the energy that it was infused with, sending it to Xu Hui, who looked on as though she had given up on her life.

Not expecting the demon lord to appear right in front of her to take the hit. In terms of speed she wasn't fast, but her eyes were, which was what she used in compensating for not being able to move as fast as Fu Zian. The demon lord from what she her eyes saw, appeared to be of a different level entirely, her eyes could hardly keep up with him. She almost didn't know when he was in front of her.

When Xu Hui saw that another chance to strike the demon lord at appeared, she latched onto his feet from where she was on the floor, sending a wave of her spirit energy into his skin. The result of it left only a scratch on the skin of the demon lord. Although, the force of it took off that part of his robes, he only came out with hardly a tear to his skin.

"Just when I had my back to you."

Sprawled on the floor in the spatial s.p.a.ce in a pool of her blood was Xu Hui, the fight had left her drained of her spiritual energy. The demon lord looked at the BaoXu sect disciple, a funny sensation went down his body when looking at the defenseless cultivator in front of him. Turning around and getting on his knees, Hei Zhurong picked Xu Hui from the floor and sent her back to the demon realm. The servants back at YuanLi sect didn't know that the ones that sat at the hall were only a replica of the demon lord and their mistress, their real body was in a different place.

"Where am I?"

Xu Hui woke of later in a strange bed that she had never slept on, the man that said he was the fox prince sat in a chair from her bed.

"I was beginning to think that you were going to sleep forever!"

Xu Hui stared at the man with dislike in her eye, she could hardly remember what had transpired between them when she was at YuanLi sect. She saw that the robes she wore were no longer the purple of the the YuanLi sect, but white, this made her frown not knowing who could have changed her robes while she was asleep.

"How long was I asleep?"

"You were asleep for eleven days."

"Eleven days?! What?!!!"

"I had to take your robes off and wash you at the stream outside my chambers."

The look of horrified surprise changed to one of mortification. Xu Hui couldn't believe that a man took off her clothes while she was unconscious. This made her sit up in bed.

"He should just have left me in my dirty robes! He has to be a pervert or is this the way of life of the fox clan?!"

From thinking that he was a pervert to suddenly jumping to the conclusion that the fox clan may be an unusual type of people.

"You have a very beautiful, hmmm..."

"What?!!"

All this while Hei Zhurong was trying to hold himself from laughing at Xu Hui's show of modesty. He knew that the cultivation world was strict about a man being in the same room as an unmarried woman, but if neither of them said a thing, who would tell?

The demon lord coughed in a suggestive way to let Xu Hui think that he had seen her nakedness.

"You!!! You have to take responsibility!"

"I'm willing to, but are you also open to sharing me with other women?"

"Ha!"

The sound of surprise from Xu Hui made the demon lord laugh uncontrollably.

"Do you think that I will remain with just one woman?!"

"You people from the fox clan, so shameless!"

"Shameless? But at least I told you what to expect before preparing to offer gifts to the sect leader. Since I can't call him your father enough, at least sect leader would suffice."

The look of daggers that Xu Hui sent the way of the demon lord was enough to roast a lesser man, but Hei Zhurong was no ordinary man, he was the ruler of the demon realm!

"Looking at me that way, is not going to change what has happened."

"This was your plan?! To take me away from the protection of the YuanLi sect!"

"Not at first."

"Then what changed?!"

"I can't tell you yet, until I'm sure of what led to it."

"I don't care anymore, whether you choose to tell me or not. I know that the YuanLi sect leader would do everything to get his daughter back!"

"But you are not is daughter."

The words of the demon lord stung Xu Hui, which made her almost fly out of the bed to hit him.

"Did you really take off my robes or was it someone else?!"

"I wanted to protect your chast.i.ty, but..."

The demon lord shrugged his shoulders as his words trailed off, that seemed to incite Xu Hui into another fit of anger.

"Are you trying to damage my reputation! I thought you were only teasing at first, but if that is really what you did, I'll.."

"You will do what?!"

The demon lord was spoiling for a fight with the BaoXu disciple, who was red in the face from a combination of anger and humiliation.

"I'll kill you! No matter what it takes!"

"Are you ready to face the harem I'll be leaving behind?! If you manage to kill me, that is if! If you actually do, just be prepared for some angry women to come after you."

"Let them come! Who says I'm scared!"

The demon lord went into another round of laughter, within a single day Xu Hui had made him laughed more than the many years he had lived in the demon realm. She was very headstrong, even though she knew that nothing would come out of what she was doing, yet she would keep at it.

"You didn't ask how I brought you here?"

Once consumed by anger, Hei Zhurong noticed that the BaoXu sect disciple was hardly able to maintain rational thought, she would remain fixed on that one thing for a while.

"You must have poisoned everyone or killed everyone there, is that what you were going to tell me!"

"Xu Hui why do you think so poorly of me?"

"How am I supposed to see you beyond anything, but pure evil!"

"Alright! I will not tell you."

That was when Xu Hui's eyes narrowed in distrust at the man that said he was the fox prince.

"I need to speak to your father! I'm sure he doesn't know the evil that is son is doing right under his nose!"

"I'm afraid you will not be able to speak to my father, he has been sleeping for a very long time."

What Demon Lord Zhurong was trying to say by stretching the truth was that, his father was dead, but he said it as though he was in a long slumber.

"Who can I speak to?! How about your mother?!"

"There is nothing that my mother can do."

The demon queen had pa.s.sed away many years before her husband, the males from the demon realm lived longer than their females.

"Why?!"

"My mother no longer exists in this world."

Hearing the solemn way that the demon lord mentioned his mother, made the anger that surged within Xu Hui to fade away.

"I'm sorry for bringing up your mother, Fox Prince Rong."

Xu Hui felt ashamed for making the "fox prince" talk about a sensitive and probably painful part of his life. There was a look of sadness reflected in her midnight dark eyes, while looking at the luminiscent ones of the demon lord.

"How did the fox king and your mother meet?"

This was where Hei Zhurong had to stick to the story that he told the guards at the gate of the YuanLi sect.

"She was his chamber maid. You haven't eaten since I brought you here, let me get someone to bring us some food."

The demon lord change subject so quickly, it was almost as if he felt a sense of guilt for leading Xu Hui on.

"For the first time, I will know what the food at the fox clan tastes like."

Although, she sensed when he shifted the direction of the conversation, Xu Hui went on with it, thinking that he had not yet overcome the pain from his past.

"While we are waiting for the food to come in, I'm going to tell you how we got here."

The BaoXu sect disciple looked at the demon lord with rapt attention.

"I had to create a replica of ourselves and leave them at the hall we were."

Hearing the "fox prince" speak of such a high level of magic, made Xu Hui wonder what type of person she had in the room. Meanwhile, they were in a separate world within the demon realm, which was heavily guarded by men specially chosen by the demon lord to keep watch over the woman that he brought from the YuanLi sect.

"That is a very high level of magic, to do such a thing is beyond the imagination of an ordinary disciple cultivator. A sect leader could perform such level of magic and that is if he was from one of the top ranking sects."

"You can now see why I said you cannot beat Chen Yueming."

"Stop! I don't want to hear this again!"

Xu Hui placed her hand to her ears, wanting to block the words of "fox prince" despite something from within that was telling her that the words he spoke rang true.

There was only one person that was capable of such blatant display of power, the Fox King Yan ShuChang!

The children held onto the folds of their mother's robes in fear, they never liked to visit the fox clan and it was even more scary for them to be led away from the usual comfort of the mortal realm.

They were back at the centerpiece of the fox clan, where only the royals could venture into. Mou Hairong saw her older sister sit by the side of their father. The fox king's hair had grown whiter and looked like a sixty year old mortal.

"Yidan! Zimu! Go and pay your greetings to grandfather!"

"Ma! I don't want to, I'm scared!"

"Yidan!"

The older twin dragged his brother to where their grandfather sat with their cousin Xuequi and Aunt Meifang. The older princess gave her sister a slight nod, while glancing in the general direction of her nephews. Meanwhile, Princess Xuequi sat tight lipped facing her grandfather and mother. She saw her cousins walk towards their grandfather, but she couldn't call out a greeting to them as this would unleash the anger of her grandfather on the both of them.

"Greetings Fox King!"

They both spoke timidly while looking at the stern man that sat in front of them, to the little boys he was very intimidating.

"Come here, let me see how much you've grown."

The fox king didn't need to raise his voice to send the twins closer to him, he patted both in the head, before letting them go back to their mother.

"Greetings Fox King. Why did you send for us?"

Mou Hairong didn't want to show the resentment that was buried deep in her heart towards her father, to her the fox king was more like a ruler than a father. The only thing he gave them free reign on was their marriage, which in a sense was more like a lack of concern than anything else.

"I brought you hear so that you could talk some sense to her niece and also see my grandchild."

"What is it, that is troubling father?"

Mou Hairong had to play the part of a doting daughter to her father from a very young age.

"I sent a letter to GuBaiJin sect asking for to send us the best of their disciple to form an alliance with the fox clan through Xuequi's marriage."

Mou Hairong almost snorted in disbelief, "How could her father lower himself to be seeking a marriage prospect for a princess from a strong clan like theirs?!"

Looking at the way her niece sat on the chair, Mou Hairong knew that it will take a lot to convince her of marrying into a sect, when her grandfather, mother and aunt had already warned her against keeping close acquaintance with anyone that came from the heavenly realm. The Princess Aunt had to muster up courage to speak to her niece about her impending marriage to a powerful sect. Meanwhile, the twins kept looking at the faces of the people that were in the room, they wanted to run over to greet Yan Xuequi, but the presence of their grandfather made them decide against i

Demon Lord Zhurong on his way out of his kingdom changed his robes from their usual dark color to one of red. He was curious to see the the female cultivator that was pretending to be the daughter of a sect leader. After a while, he soon arrived at the forest that led to the YuanLi sect, choosing to walk the rest of the way to the front entrance of the sect.

From the outside, he looked like a handsome man from one of the cultivation sects. His crown was disguised to those of a gold and ruby, this way none would be able to tell that he was from the demon realm. He had no weapon on him, not even something as simple as a dagger, as he made his way to the gate of the YuanLi sect. Th only thing he brought with him was the mirror of yao, the magical tool that masked the spiritual energy of the one that wields it.

Demon Lord Zhurong greeted the men at the gate, "Greetings, I am Rong from the fox clan. I wish to have an audience with Lady Li."

The disciples that stood guard stared at the man claimed to be from the fox clan, never had they seen anyone from there, he had an strange beauty to him that made them look with discomfort at him, how were they supposed to confirm that he was who he said he was?

Every sect in the heavenly realm knew that the fox clan kept to themselves and chose not to a.s.sociate with those from the heavenly realm. On the other hand they could neither discredit his words, because looking at him made them think of the things they had read from the books at the library about them. To the disciples, people from the fox clan were beautiful beyond what the eyes had ever seen, their youthful look remained with them for thousands of years, before eventually growing hold and reverting to their true form of a fox. Sadly, the ancient books didn't tell of the people from the demon realm, because they hid their faces behind a mask, history recorded them as devious and h.e.l.lish monsters, but in reality they were as beautiful if not more beautiful than the people from the fox clan.

"We have never heard of you, do you have any relations with the fox king?"

One of the YuanLi disciples presumably the leader, asked the man that stood in front of his sect's gate. To him, only those that were related to the royal house of the fox clan could be shown to their mistress, anyone that wasn't in such a high position would either be told to wait until the sect leader came or be shamefully sent away.

Demon Lord Zhurong smiled at the men, he knew where they were going with the question, to them, their mistress was too good to see just anyone that showed up their gate.

"I'm Fox Prince Rong, an illegitimate child of Fox King Yan. I was conceived from the union with one of his chamber maid."

This time the men looked very uncomfortable, it was no laughing matter, but the man who claimed to be the fox prince smiled as those he was talking about the weather or some little subject. There was no trace of shame in his voice, it was as though he felt proud of himself for being an illegitimate child. Who gets proud for being born out of wedlock?

Neither of them voiced out their inner thought, but the demon lord could read their expression for what it was, almost breaking into a full blown laughter.

"What should we do? We can't possibly leave him standing here, what would people say if they knew that we didn't let the fox prince in?"

One of them asked the person that was probably the leader, "His ident.i.ty hasn't been confirmed, we can't just let anyone that claims to be from the fox clan in! What if it is someone from the demon realm?! I heard they have begun killing people from other sects! If sect leader Li knew that we let anyone near his daughter, we would all be beaten to death!"

Demon Lord Zhurong was no fool, there was no way that a disciple cultivator would believe the words of a stranger without any proof, which was why he pulled out a glowing necklace which the fox king had given his mother during his visit to the demon realm, as a gift to show no ill will to the demon kingdom.

It was forged from the fox fire of Fox King Yan, the gift could pa.s.s for one that a royalty would give to their spouse or lover.

"Father gave it to mother as a token of the love he had for her and when I was born it was pa.s.sed onto me."

Demon Lord Zhurong lied without any shame, he saw the shift in their expression, it was no longer one of suspicion, but one of confusion and guilt, probably from not believing his words at first.

"That is fox fire! Who else can use fox fire if not someone from the fox clan! The necklace is glowing with blue flames within them. I heard it is eternal, the fire never goes out unless the one that owns it dies!"

Who knew the necklace would become useful for what he had in mind, within him demon lord zhurong was thankful that the fox king gave his mother the then demon queen such a magnanimous gift.

"Can I have my necklace back?"

The leader pa.s.sed the glowing jewelry back to the demon lord, who placed it back on his neck.

"Fox Prince Rong, please follow me inside."

This time around, they all gave demon lord zhurong a deep bow, although he was supposedly illegitimate, he was still considered the prince of the fox clan, who may possibly take over and become the fox king in his "father's" stead. Therefore, the disciples of YuanLi sect did not want to offend the future fox king.

The demon lord walked behind the leader of the guards, as he was shown into an hall that was made elaborately made. He took a seat on one of the finely crafted chairs, while the disciple that showed him in bowed to the "fox prince" again, before taking his leave.

"I can't wait to see their faces when they discover who they let into their grounds. Ha!"

The demon lord was feeling delighted at the thought of seeing the YuanLi sect disciples misery when they finally find out that it was demon lord zhurong that walked into their sect.

--------

"Please can you let Young Miss Li know that Fox Prince Rong is here to see her?"

The guard asked the chamber maids that waited by the entrance that led to the door of LI Jiao's chambers.

"But our young miss said that she doesn't want anyone to disturb her sleep!"

"What do we do?!"

"For some time now, Young Miss Li, has been in a bad mood. I fear losing my head if we go in and wake her up!"

"So are we going to leave a fox prince waiting?!"

The guard was beginning to get frustrated by the situation, he didn't understand why the young mistress of the YuanLi sect was beginning to get very difficult, even when she was ill, she was still as easy going and open to everyone. He heard of what took place at the banquet held in her honor and how blood was almost shed on that day. The guard kept wondering how one person could change that fast in a single day. Had the water damaged her senses?

Although the thought sounded ridiculous, the guard just wanted to find a reason for the strange behavior of the daughter of their sect leader.

"Please, we can't keep the fox prince waiting, it would cause the sect to lose face. I know that Young Miss Li would not want that!"

The maids looked from one to the other, they suddenly feared their mistress, whom in the past they never had any reason to, there was just something about her that made them shiver in fear. How could they tell the sect leader of something the could not put a name to, if they went up to him and sprouting such nonsense about his daughter having an air of evil around her. They knew where that would lead, not only would they be beaten to death, their bodies would never be found and given a decent burial!

Taking a deep breath, the women that served Li Jiao during the time she was alive, tentatively knocked at the door of her bedchambers to announce themselves.

"Young Miss Li, we are hear to get you dressed to see your visitor, the fox prince!"

There was no voice that came from inside after one of them spoke.

"Young Miss Li?!"

The knock became a little louder, probably they thought that she was deep asleep and didn't hear them.

"Young Miss Li!"

Inside the bedchambers of Li Jiao, Xu Hui was not really sleeping, she hadn't been able to sleep after she came back from her sect, her eyes were merely closed with her mind wandering from place to place.

When she heard the knock on her door, Xu Hui was not happy that she had to be disturbed even though she wasn't even sleeping.

"They say the fox prince wants to see me, but when did the demon king have a son? Was it after my death? Why does he want to see me? I thought that their clan never came out of their mountains to see anyone from a cultivation sect!"

Xu Hui pondered on what could be the reason for the visit of a fox prince to the YuanLi sect with a frown that formed on her forehead causing them to crease. After some time, Xu Hui asked for her maids to come inside.

"Come in!"

The door was slowly pushed to the side, as several women walked into the room of Li Jiao.

"Greetings, Young Miss Li. We are sorry to disturb you when you had already ordered for us not to wake you up."

The bedchamber attendants of the young mistress of the YuanLi sect, bowed again in respect to the person that they took to be Li Jiao.

"Has he been here for long?"

"No, Young Miss Li. One of the guards came in as soon as he was shown in."

"Did he say what the visit was about?"

"I'm sorry, Young Miss Li, but the guard never told us what the fox prince wanted to see you about."

"I see, What a rude fellow!"

The women were already uncomfortable being around Xu Hui, now that she raised her voice which she hardly ever did and called the fox royalty a distasteful name, that made them uneasy.

"Are you going to keep standing there? Or would you rather I stand up and get myself dressed?!"

"No, Young Miss Li. Please forgive your ignorant servants!

The women scrambled to begin setting the robe and other item of clothing for the young mistress of the YuanLi sect, a few of them ran out to get the wooden tub and washcloths for her, her hair pin and earrings were carefully looked at to pick the one that would give her the presence of a respectable young miss.

While all this was going on, Xu Hui still laid on the bed, rather than getting up, probably waiting to be helped out of the bed by the maids. It didn't take them long to set everything that she would need for her meeting with the fox prince out.

"Young Miss Li, it is time for your bath."

Four of them a.s.sisted Xu Hui out of the bed and walked with her to the s.p.a.ce within the room where a big wooden tub was waiting to be used. One by one, they took off her clothing, to place her gently into the steamy hot tub.

After a while, Xu Hui was ready to meet with the fox prince that waited for her at the hall of the YuanLi sect.

Accompanied by her chambermaids, the young mistress of the YuanLi sect, was announced into the hall where the fox prince sat.

"Greetings Fox Prince! I am Li Jiao, daughter of Sect Leader Li"

Xu Hui curtsied to the man that rose up on his feet when she walked into the hall, the demon lord held his composure, while looking at the woman that portrayed herself as the young mistress of the sect. He smiled amicable and returned her greeting likewise.

"Greetings Young Mistress of the YuanLi sect, I'm Prince Rong from the fox clan."

After exchanging greetings the two sat across from each other.

"Bring some wine for the fox prince!"

Demon lord Zhurong carefully watched the movement of the woman that sat in front of him. He only had the painting of the sect leader's daughter, but had never met her in person. Looking at her face, he saw the gentle beauty and gracefulness displayed by the woman that was masquerading as Li Jiao. That made me wonder who the "real" Li Jiao was, while waiting on the wine to be served.

"Forgive my manners fox prince, I hope you like drinking wine or there is always tea. I have never been to the fox clan, therefore I know next to nothing about what the people of your clan eat or drink."

"Wine is okay, I don't like to eat when I leave the fox clan. I have a weak const.i.tution for food that are not made from my clan, but I can tolerate any kind of wine."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Fox Prince Rong. I was about to ask the kitchen to prepare us some food."

It wasn't that the demon lord couldn't eat outside food, but the impurities which were in the form of the spiritual energy that came from being around anyone that had spiritual energy for cultivation was usually highest in foods unlike wine. Wine had some spiritual energy in them from their indirect contact with anyone that possessed that form of energy, but the demon lord knew from experience that he wasn't going to eat anything that came out of the heavenly realm, due to their spiritual energy which was like a poison to him.

The mirror of Yao was suppressing his demon energy, which made him less susceptible to the poisonous environment that he was in, the mask that would have prevented him from breathing in the poison was tucked away inside the layers of the robe he was wearing.

"Fox Prince Rong, could you tell me what brings you to my humble sect?"

The way Xu Hui spoke anyone would have taken her to be the young mistress of the sect, she sat with such dignity and poise. The epitome of gracefulness!

"Young Miss Li, why don't we wait on the wine to be brought in, before I talk about the reason for coming to the YuanLi sect?"

Xu Hui could see that the fox prince was going to prove difficult to handle, although he looked very calm and easygoing.

There was one thing the BaoXu sect disciple couldn't stand, being kept waiting, now that she had been reborn, it was as if her patience was almost nonexistent. She could kill anyone that kept her waiting for too long. Although, it was only a short time since the servants had gone in to get the wine for their mistress, to Xu Hui they weren't as fast enough for her.

She was already boiling inside from the mannerless fox prince, and having to sit by him for how long was making her shifting in her seat with discomfort.

"Is your seat not to your liking? Or is it that you don't want to sit and would rather take a walk around?"

The BaoXu sect disciple thought she had hidden it well from the fox prince, her growing irritation, but for him to point it out to her, made Xu Hui realize that he was not an easy man to deal with.

"Thank you for your concern Fox Prince Rong, but I am quite comfortable from where I'm sitting."

Xu Hui had to bite her tongue from lashing out at the annoying fox royalty. She saw the knowing smile he sent her way, this made her wish like slapping the smile off his face!

They soon heard an approaching tinkling sound and knew that the wine was about to be brought inside. One after the other, the maids set the tray bearing the porcelain green kettle and small cup on the table in front of their mistress and the fox prince.

"Thank you! You may all wait by the door!"

Demon Lord Zhurong, smiled and gave a nod at the women, before facing the one that he left his kingdom to see.

Xu Hui poured the pale colored wine from the kettle into her cup, while the demon lord did the same. After lifting the cup to take a sip of the wine, did the demon lord finally open up to discuss the purpose of his visit to the YuanLi sect.

"Young Miss Li, I heard you paid a visit to the BaoXu sect, should someone as sickly as you be going to such a dangerous place alone?"

The BaoXu sect disciple looked at the man across from her, his had a cordial smile that brightened his already handsome face. Xu Hui did not know why his presence made her uneasy, he was smiling and yet there was just something that was not quite right while looking at him.

"News really travel fast to the fox clan! Who would have thought the little walk to another sect would become a fodder of gossip in another realm. You must have a lot of time on your hands to be paying attention to things like that!"

The demon lord heard the bite in her voice, while silently laughing inside him.

"Young Miss Li, if my father does not show much interest in what is going on in other realms. I, Prince Rong, have to do so, for the future of the fox clan! Show such interest no matter how insignificant would let me ensure the protection of my people."

"But there was something that I heard and I silenced others from spreading the news. Is it true that you are Xu Hui?!"

The demon lord dropped the cadence of his tone to almost that of a whisper. When the words left his mouth, the cup that Xu Hui held fell to the floor with a clatter.

"Young Miss Li, are you alright?!"

The servants heard the sound of broken cup and left where they were to see if their mistress was hurt.

"I'm..okay."

Xu Hui looked very rattled by what the "fox prince" said, "How did anyone find out that I am not Li Jiao, but Xu Hui of the BaoXu sect?! I never told anyone except Fu Zian. After I saved his life, he chose to betray me?!!!"

The BaoXu sect disciple thought that the one that betrayed her to the fox clan was Fu Zian, not knowing that the demon lord had spies about. If the demon lord already knew of her duplicity, then the GuBaiJin sect may not be too far behind on the deception, because the sect leader also had spies too in other sects.

"Leave us alone!"

"But what about the broken cup, Young Miss Li?!"

"You can return later and have them cleaned up! Can't you see that I'm having a discussion with the fox prince?!"

Xu Hui ordered the servants to return back to their post, although they did as commanded, the look of worry for their young mistress was evident in their eyes.

"You need to treat your servants better Young Miss Li?"

The mask of gentility that Xu Hui had worn for some days now, finally shattered under the influence of the "fox prince" who she didn't know of his existence until today.

"You're right! I am Xu Hui of the BaoXu sect that reincarnated into the body of the sect leader's daughter of YuanLi sect!"

"How does it feel to know that the one that killed you is walking about and actually married to the young mistress of the WuYangChen sect."

"Brother Feng is now the sect leader of WuYangChen sect?!"

"You still give him so much respect, it seems that you can take a pig out of the swine, but you can never get rid of its ugly nature."

"Who is the pig?!!!"

Xu Hui hated the man that had discovered who she was, knowing that her murderer was living a good life, while she was dying from walking the path of infernal cultivation. The bitterness taht was in her heart rose up once again, she though he had died from the ma.s.sacre at her sect, only to be told that he now had a higher position and was living well.

Overcome by the emotion within her, the eyes of Xu Hui flashed to the color of crimson, which was only possible if she was either about to use the blood flail technique or was enraged.

"Xu Hui, be careful! You don't want to be thrown out so soon after waking up in your new body."

Wanting to get back at the fox prince for putting her in such a tight predicament, the BaoXu sect disciple, discretely held her hand under the table and formed them a fist with it. Instantly, the demon lord felt as if his insides were being squeezed so tight.

He began coughing blood on the table that was set in front of him, staining the robes he wore and the floor. Holding on to his belly, Demon Lord Zhurong faced Xu Hui with eyes full of pain.

"Is this something that your sect taught you?!"

Xu Hui's face reflected the confusion that was in her heart and guilt coupled with pain, she was practicing a technique that was frowned upon by her sect and hearing the "fox prince" ask made her remember how much she had strayed away from the right path.

"It is a forbidden technique."

Just that simple statement made Xu Hui shut her eyes in silent affirmation of what the demon lord said to her.

"I would do what it takes to exact my revenge on Feng Yueming!"

"You can keep looking for him all you want, but there is no one that goes by the name Feng Yueming anymore."

The demon lord wiped at his mouth with the sleeves of his robes, while speaking to the BaoXu sect disciple.

"What do you mean that there is no one that goes by that name?! Didn't you just tell me that Brother Feng isn't dead and is the sect leader?!"

"There is no longer a cultivator with the name Feng Yueming, but there is one that goes by the name Chen Yueming and he is married to the daughter of the former sect leader."

Since Xu Hui was so upset, she wasn't thinking right when the demon lord first told her that Feng Yueming was now the sect leader, even if he had changed names, his position was still the same, so as long as she knew he was the sect leader, it shouldn't matter if he wasn't going by the name she knew him as while they were at BaoXu sect.

"Being reborn as made you quite ignorant. Are you sure you would be able face him?"

The demon lord smiled at the obvious foolishness that Xu Hui was displaying in the face of hearing about her archenemy.

"I have already killed him a million times in my head, I just need to see him in person to put my thought into action!"

"I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but you would never be able to kill Sect Leader Chen the way you are now!"

Xu Hui looked at her visitor with the look that read, "What is he even talking about?!"

Demon Lord Zhurong kept watching Xu Hui from the corner of his eyes, the BaoXu sect disciple was still looking at the sect brother that she knew from the past as possessing the same strength or probably grown just a little.

"Do you know what it takes to take up the position as sect leader?!"

He saw her look of unconcern on hearing what he was asking.

"The person must be someone that possesses great strength, wisdom and a good example to his followers."

"The Feng Yueming from that time, do you think that he would still be the same weakling that he was or now a sect leader that everyone looks up to?"

The demon lord was only there to hear her thoughts, he didn't have the mind to let her have the satisfaction of killing Chen Yueming.

"You must have thought wrong! I know that he isn't going to be the same person that her knew from our sect days, that is why I already perfected the blood flail technique!"

Hei Zhurong couldn't help but laugh at her stupidity, going up against a sect leader that had spent years acquiring the core of magical beast and absorbing their spiritual energy to enhance those of his, he wondered how he could explain to her in such a way that would not end up crushing her spirit.

"Knowing a forbidden technique or two is good to face the sect leader of a low ranking sect, but going against a sect leader whose rank is falsely determined is not a good choice to make."

"What do you mean?! Isn't YuanLi sect higher than WuYangchen sect?!"

"I repeat, being reborn has made you more foolish, I took a look at the BaoXu sect, weren't you the highest in your cla.s.s?"

Xu Hui didn't want to recount her days at the BaoXu sect under the circ.u.mstances that the "fox prince" was bringing them up.

"I am not dull if that is what you are implying!"

"If you aren't dull then why would you not find out what you know about your enemy before you attack them?!"

"I already know enough and I have enough power to crush Brother Feng! What more do I need!"

"You are very foolish!"

"Don't call me that! Fox Prince Rong because I would not be able to guarantee you walking out of my sect alive, even if I have to answer to your father the fox king! You will give me the respect that is due!"

"Who told you that I am really the fox king's son?!"

"If you are not his son then how did they let you in?!"

"That is why I said you are foolish! You believe everything your eyes see!"

"What is it to you whether I am acting foolish or not!"

Xu Hui had already lost her patience with the demon lord, to her the man was impossible and there was no way she could make him see reason.

"Whether I am the fox prince or not, you need to be aware of something else."

"And what would that be?!"

"Your brother Feng has been gathering the cores of magical beasts and using them to increase his spiritual energy. At his current level he is higher than that of sect leader Jin, who is supposedly meant to be the chief cultivator of all the sects in the heavenly realm."

When Xu Hui heard what Hei Zhurong said, the look of absolute disbelief was clear in her eyes.

"I don't believe you! Do you know what it takes to subdue a magical beast and steal their core? At BaoXu sect we always night hunted together with many senior disciples with us, and that was to catch a magical beast and not more than one at a time. You are telling me that those dangerous creatures were able to be captured by a sect that was lower than even the ShenJiangShi sect?! Hmpf!"

"You will have to die a second time to understand the meaning behind my words."

Xu Hui thought the man in front of her was a very prideful person, everything he said did not make any sense to her, to think he came all the way from the fox clan to talk nonsensical things. It was not a good time for the BaoXu sect disciple.

Although, the mirror of Yao was suppressing his aura, the demon lord wanted to see the level that Xu Hui was boasting of and to do that, he had to take them to a separate place. The magical tool wasn't only to subdue a person's spiritual energy, in which case it was his demon energy it was keeping under wraps. The other purpose was to create an alternate world of a kind within itself.

Demon Lord Zhurong got up from where he was and walked over to where Xu Hui sat, on the way to her, he wondered why he cared about whether she could defeat the sect leader from the WuYangChen sect or not.

"Stand up and follow me!"

When Hei Zhurong spoke to her, to was as Demon Lord Zhurong and not Fox Prince Rong.

"Why should I?"

"Do you want me to drag you or would you like to stand up by yourself?!"

Xu Hui looked at the "fox prince" as if he had gone raving mad, "How dare you tell me to go with him to a place that I don't know! He must be crazy to think I will do as he says!"

The young miss of the YuanLi sect sat where she was, not moving an inch from where she sat, but the demon lord wasn't in the mood to deal with her obstinacy. Grabbing onto her arms, he pulled her from her seat, almost causing her to fall on the broken pieces of the cup from earlier.

The next thing she knew, before she could utter a word to alert her servants was that they were both sucked into a swirling portal of nothingness.

"Where are we?! Where is this place?!"

Demon Lord Zhurong tucked back the mirror of yao back to where it was underneath the sleeves of his robes. The place where they were was like a wall of green water all around them, they looked like water, but they were only an illusion of it.

"This is a spatial s.p.a.ce, you can not get out, unless I release you out of it."

"Why did you bring me here!"

"If you beat me, I will release you, but if I win, you will stay here until I am done with my plans."

"What plans?!"

"You will know in due time, for now why don't you try and see if you can defeat me?!"

"You think I cannot defeat you?! Ha!"

The alternate world since it was the one created by the mirror of yao, was able to let the demon lord use his powers as he pleased.

Xu Hui formed the blood beads using her blood and sent them straight at the demon lord. Hei Zhurong was prepared for the attack and side stepped it.

"Is that your best?"

He hadn't even released a tiny fraction of his power and yet she was not even close to getting him to use it.

Without any warning, the demon lord aimed for her ankle using the illusion of the mirror to mask the dark aura of his demon energy. The force sliced her skin making a deep cut close her bones, almost taking that part of the limb off. Xu Hui fell down, screaming in agony.

"Now you have enough blood to give me a real fight."

Dragging her self up, the BaoXu sect disciple ran towards the demon lord, but she barely made it mid way, before he sent her flying back.

Right there, she began to cough out blood from her mouth with some trickling from her nose.

"You can't even fight me, how do you think you will be able to come within touching distance of your brother Feng?!"

"It..not..over!"

With the new burst of energy within her and eyes flashing with determination, Xu Hui ran towards the demon lord again, but he wasn't going to let her make it as far as she did the last time. Instead he aimed for one of her hand lashing at it. Blood dripped on the floor of the spatial s.p.a.ce dying it to the color of red.

Abandoning the plan to get closer to him, Xu Hui fashioned a weapon out of her blood, shaped in the form of tiny needles and hardening them by infusing her spirit energy into it. Sending them flying towards the demon lord, who dispelled them with a single flick of his wrist.