From the beginning of the new era, the entire continent only cared about one matter.
It was not the exiled Pope, not the closing of Holy Maiden Peak, not Wang Po's return to Scholartree Manor.
That matter was more important than all of them combined.
The demons were invading.
In the autumn of the year before last, the Demon Lord had died, Nanke had left, and a new monarch had been installed. The demons were in chaos. Xuelao City was covered in blood and the weather was abnormally cold. Winter had come early, the wind and snow intertwined, and the harvest was abnormally poor. Countless small demon tribes had been forced to leave Xuelao City, and the wolf cavalry that the Demon Palace valued the most was produced less than a third of what it had been in the past.
Anyone could see that the demons were at their weakest. No one could have imagined that the demons would choose this moment to launch a large-scale invasion.
The word 'large-scale' implied madness and disregard of all costs.
Perhaps the crisis of survival brought about by the wind and cold had transformed into the demons' thirst for blood. There was another very important reason. The Demon Crown Prince, Han Qing, had guarded the Mausoleum of Books for more than six hundred years. Finally, he had left the capital, traversed the vast snowy plains, and returned to Xuelao City.
According to his agreement with Shang Xingzhou, White Emperor City had used some secret method to send him to Xuelao City, where he had contacted a few members of the Council of Elders who had always been loyal to him. Through the intelligence from the Demon Palace, he was once more convinced that the true ruler of the demon domain was not the new Demon Lord of the Demon Palace, but the Demon Commander and that mysterious Military Advisor Black Robe.
He believed that although the Demon Commander and Black Robe had worked together to overthrow his father, the Demon Lord who had once dominated the continent, this did not mean that they truly trusted each other. On the contrary, without the shadow in the sky, the trust between the two could evaporate at any moment. They would inevitably be wary of each other, even ready to attack at any moment. As for the young Demon Lord of the Demon Palace, he was just a pitiful puppet, like a blade of grass swaying between two gusts of wind. At any moment, he could be caught in the crossfire and die.
Han Qing wanted to use the tense relationship between the Demon Commander and Black Robe.
For historical reasons, he could not work with Black Robe, so it was only right that he first contacted the Demon Commander.
He knew that the Demon Commander would not completely trust him, but he did not care. The person he truly wanted to work with was the young Demon Lord.
That child was isolated and helpless in the Demon Palace and was presumably in constant fear. If he could obtain the support of the child and the power behind him, he would assuredly be ecstatic.
Moreover, they were blood brothers.
In hindsight, Han Qing's thinking was not wrong. It could even be said that he was absolutely right. The demon race was not the human race. They viewed the world from a different perspective, but there was not much difference between the two in essence. The only things that determined the direction of things were interests, trust, and the innate strength of the relationship between them.
Han Qing had failed because his judgment had been wrong from the start.
There really might be a problem between the Demon Commander and Black Robe, but the young Demon Lord was not the lonely puppet he had imagined. In truth, it was only after his death that the entire continent learned that the main instigator of Xuelao City's rebellion was not the Demon Commander, nor was it Black Robe. It was that young Demon Lord that all the factions pitied or ignored.
He was the real usurper.
The Demon Commander and Black Robe had joined forces to push the once tyrannical Demon Lord into the abyss precisely because of his existence.
The Demon Commander and Black Robe truly did not trust each other, but they both trusted the young Demon Lord and treated him as their closest nephew.
Just how had the young Demon Lord managed to obtain the trust and loyalty of these two?
His father had once been the most terrifying shadow on the continent. Even if Taizong and Zhou Dufu worked together, they would not be able to completely exterminate him, but he had personally killed him.
Just what sort of existence was the young Demon Lord?
To place his hopes of success on a true opponent, to use an opponent that was unimaginably terrifying, Han Qing had completely failed. On the verge of death, even he, who had guarded the Mausoleum of Books for six hundred years and could not be moved by wind and rain, could not help but raise his head and look at the throne.
It was a young and handsome demon. The corners of his lips were slightly raised, perfectly diluting the noble and domineering aura of his demon body.
The young demon was the youngest son of the mighty Demon Lord. He was not much older than Nanke.
The deceased Demon Lord had many children. Han Qing was the strongest of them, Nanke was the most famous, and the names of the others were very difficult to remember.
In comparison, his name was rather well known, as he had once been the young master of the Demon Lord. More importantly, it was because he had once said a few words.
"I very much want Xu Yourong."
It was not that he wanted to see her, but that he wanted her.
When these words spread through the continent, they naturally incited the boundless fury of the humans and demi-humans, as well as much mockery.
Because at the time, he had nothing more to boast about besides his status as the young master of the Demon Lord.
Whether it was his talent in cultivation or the advancement of his demon body, his performance was very ordinary. He was inferior to Nanke, much less Xu Yourong.
In the gatherings of the nobles of Xuelao City and the Lanxi Art Exhibition, he had never received any praise. He was not even as good as Chen Changsheng, much less Qiushan Jun.
Until now.
Outside Xuelao City, the flames of war were everywhere. Within the city, the heads of countless nobles had been severed and their bodies mutilated, their blood flowing to the heavens.
Outside the Demon Palace, wolf cavalry howled through the air. The buildings of the palace were covered in scars of bitter battle.
His legendary elder brother was kneeling in front of him, his body covered in blood.
The Demon Commander and Black Robe quietly stood at his side.
He was at the very front.
He was at the very center.
… …
… …
"Do you really believe that you can always have their loyalty?"
Han Qing asked the young Demon Lord. He was naturally speaking of Black Robe and the Demon Commander.
"Big Brother, all of you have lived for too long. When you think of things, you can only think of loyalty, hot-bloodedness, trust, schemes … these boring old words. I am still very young, so I like some more refreshing new words, like ideals, dreams, sunshine, warmth, spring … the south, and girls."
A moving smile appeared on the young Demon Lord's face. "Their support has nothing to do with loyalty, but because we share a common ideal, a dream."
Han Qing understood what he meant, and his face paled.
The seventh Demon General and the twenty-fourth Demon General stepped forward and dragged him out of the palace. The abyss behind the Demon Palace was waiting for him.
The demon army was about to set out.
The young Demon Lord walked out of the hall. As he gazed at the dense mass of wolf cavalry and the roaring demon soldiers, he suddenly fell silent.
He seemed to be thinking of something, and his mind wandered. After a long time, he came to his senses and gave a self-deprecating chuckle.
Then, he said something that would become famous in the future.
"The sunshine in the south is better, warmer, and the spring is longer. The south also has many girls, so let's go south."
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