A few days later.
Under the high dome of the Winter Spring Valley Council, seven figures sat around a circular table.
Mage Andrew looked at the various documents in his hand with a serious expression.
"Steward Andrew, the coalition forces formed by religious factions such as the Order Church, the Light God Sect, and the Life Council have surrounded the demon-occupied Mithril City and are planning a second major assault. They are requesting that we send more mages for support."
"However, the demons occupying Mithril City this time are extremely powerful, unlike any ordinary demon army, and there are traces of the Abyss Society among them. I feel this was a long-planned attack."
"Still, after several days of investigation, we have gathered a significant amount of information about these demons."
As Andrew listened to the report, his gaze fell on the magical image in the document.
It was a picture of the Demon Lord taken on the night Mithril City was attacked.
"But unfortunately, Steward Andrew, after extensive cross-referencing, we found no historical records of this Demon Lord. He doesn’t seem to be one of the Ten Great Kings of the Abyss either…"
Andrew fell into deep thought.
After a long while, he pondered, "What if it’s the First Demon Lord of the Abyss? Do you think that’s possible?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of all the stewards changed slightly.
The First Demon Lord of the Abyss?
They had naturally heard of this terrifying entity that existed only in legends.
It was said that thousands of years ago, a powerful demon suddenly appeared in a certain plane of the Abyss. With unmatched strength, he slaughtered his way through thousands of Abyssal planes.
Half of the Ten Great Kings were killed by him, and in the end, he even slew the then First Demon Lord, gaining the recognition of the Abyssal Will and taking his place.
But after suddenly emerging and rising to power thousands of years ago, this terrifying being had been lying dormant in the deepest parts of the Abyss, and no one had seen him emerge since.
Thus, in the rumors of the main world, he had always remained a mysterious existence.
"That is indeed a possibility…"
The Second Steward pondered, "The Abyss Society, this heretical organization, worships the First Demon Lord of the Abyss. Their active involvement this time must have a reason."
"But…" another steward frowned, "Don’t you think this is absurd? He’s the First Demon Lord! A being capable of rivaling gods and bringing about destruction. Is a small Order Church really worth his personal intervention?"
Andrew’s expression remained serious.
He gently tapped the table, deep in thought.
"Indeed, but let’s make a hypothesis. If he really is the First Demon Lord and has already descended to the Violet Continent, where would he be now?"
*Clatter—*
A few bits of gravel fell from the dome above.
On a high ladder, Lynn, wearing a mask and holding a shovel and bricks, called down,
"Steward Andrew, could you move aside? I’m going to patch up that hole above you. Be careful of falling debris!"
Andrew smiled and looked up at Lynn on the ladder, saying warmly,
"It’s alright, child. We won’t get hit. Remember to come down for a cup of tea after you’re done. Be careful!"
The other stewards also showed kind expressions.
What a diligent and simple young man.
If it weren’t for his lack of talent, they would have loved to take him from Nanako and mentor him themselves!
Then, their stern gazes fell on Nanako, who was curled up in her chair, hiding her face under the wide brim of her mage’s hat.
Though she was well-covered, the redness on her cheeks was still visible.
It wasn’t a blush of shyness.
But one of shame.
"Nanako, so you *do* feel ashamed!" Andrew scolded mercilessly,
"How many times have I told you! Look forward when you’re flying, look forward, look forward! Why do you never listen? Do you know how many mage towers you’ve crashed into this month?"
Nanako hung her head in shame, her face red as she muttered, "I’m sorry, Grandpa Andrew."
Andrew continued, "Do you think a simple apology will fix this? If it weren’t for your hardworking and capable disciple cleaning up your messes, I’d have your salary docked until the year 2021!"
Nanako buried her face even deeper in her hat, utterly mortified.
After reprimanding Nanako, Andrew placed his hands on the table and said solemnly,
"Let’s return to the previous topic. Based on your experience, where do you think the First Demon Lord of the Abyss would be?"
The stewards pondered.
One of them frowned and said, "A being as destructive as the First Demon Lord wouldn’t be in an ordinary place. In my opinion, he’s likely in the Forbidden Hell to the northwest. That place is always filled with immense shadow energy. For a powerful being like the First Demon Lord, it would be an ideal location!"
**[Indeed, indeed, it’s a great place. I often go there for vacations.]**
Another steward shook his head and said gravely,
"No, if he really is the First Demon Lord, he’s probably hiding in the headquarters of the Abyss Society. He might even be secretly planning his next attack, perhaps on the Life Council or the Light God Sect."
**[True… that should be added to the schedule. And it’s about time I checked on my maidens. Their path has been a bit off lately…]**
Andrew, however, pondered and said slowly,
"No, if he really is the First Demon Lord, do you think he’d need to scheme? He can kill the avatars of gods. Who on this continent could possibly stand against him?!"
He narrowed his eyes and said, "I can only guess that his descent has a deeper meaning. Perhaps he’s planning something that could overturn the entire continent, or maybe he’s extracting the world’s essence from the planet’s core!"
**[Hmm… I’ll just finish patching this wall first…]**
As the stewards debated fervently, Nanako had practically buried her head in the table.
She really wanted to say,
No! You’re all wrong!
The Demon Lord you’re talking about is the one patching the hole in the wall right now!
Nanako’s expression was utterly awkward.
"But no matter what," one steward said with narrowed eyes, "we must take this seriously. The Order Church has already been attacked. It’s very possible that we’re next!"
"Impossible," Nanako blurted out, her eyes wide.
Instantly, all eyes turned to her.
Nanako’s face turned red as she lowered her head and stammered, "Well… we’re all good people in Winter Spring Valley. Surely we wouldn’t be attacked… um… er…"
Andrew took a deep breath and said with a complex expression, "Nanako, you need to understand something. Demons are evil creatures. They don’t distinguish between good and evil. All they know is destruction, slaughter, and chaos!"
**[Agreed, this blue-haired loli is too naive!]**
"Especially a Demon Lord like the First Demon Lord. He’s chaos incarnate, probably the type to casually devour children."
**[Bullshit!]**
"If he really comes, Nanako, not only will Winter Spring Valley be destroyed, but your mage tower, your disciple, and even you yourself will face calamity!"
**[Nonsense! My loli master’s antics are already enough to drive me crazy. Why would I bring more trouble upon myself? Do you know how long it takes me to patch a wall?!]**
Nanako glanced nervously at Lynn, who was standing on the ladder, casually juggling a few bricks.
"I… I understand, Grandpa Andrew. Um… can we change the topic?"
She was really worried her disciple might accidentally drop a brick and kill Grandpa Andrew.
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
ive and Ruthless] Before his transmigration, Ye Xuan was playing a game called "Severing Emotions to Attain the Dao." The game's core wasn't about leveling up by fighting monsters, but about conquering various "bad women" with wicked personalities and cold, fickle natures. There was only one method to conquer them: stay unwaveringly by their side, then die at a critical moment, driving them to madness after losing the protagonist. The higher their level of regret, the higher the player's score. To dominate the server, Ye Xuan conquered all the bad women. In the early stages, he showered them with boundless tenderness, only to choose to sacrifice himself for them later, making them weep bitterly and drown in regret. Among them were: Xia Lengyue, the unfaithful immortal wife who chased after powerful men and discarded her husband like trash. Ye Qingcheng, the Demonic Venerable of the Joyous Union Sect, who appeared pure and innocent but was, in reality, promiscuous. Wu Lingxiao, the Empress of the Great Xia Dynasty, who lusted after men and loved maintaining a harem. Bai Qiangu of the Endless Demonic Sect: a bloodthirsty mass murderer. However, when the protagonist transmigrated into the game world, he made a horrifying discovery. Eight hundred years had already passed. The bad women he had conquered had now each become deities and revered ancestors. Faced with the endless stream of toxic women coming for him, Ye Xuan could only rely on his god-tier acting skills to carve a path of survival through this world of treacherous women.
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
