The Origins of Huo Guhong

Among the Ten Demon Ancestors, the happiest one was undoubtedly Huo Guhong.

This Tenth Junior Brother, who was usually taciturn and as cold as a sword, still remained expressionless at this moment.

However, deep within his profound eyes, an unconcealable joy clearly flickered.

Because among Gu Changyuan's thirty disciples, he was the youngest in seniority.

His strength was actually not weak; he ranked above average among the Ten Demon Ancestors.

But cultivation was cultivation, and status was status.

The youngest was still the youngest.

When he first joined the sect, his nine senior brothers and sisters took great care of him, and he had grown accustomed to being looked after.

Huo Guhong had an older sister named Huo Yuwen.

The two were not blood relatives.

Huo Guhong had been picked up by Huo Yuwen.

That year, Huo Yuwen was twenty years old, merely a minor cultivator struggling to survive at the bottom of the Demon Realm.

While out searching for resources one day, she found the ten-year-old Huo Guhong in some ruins.

The child was just skin and bones, covered in wounds, curled up in a corner, and on the verge of death.

Huo Yuwen could have just turned a blind eye.

This was how the Demon Realm was—it was hard enough to take care of oneself, so who had the energy to care for others?

But looking at that child, looking into his weak yet stubborn eyes, she squatted down as if possessed.

She carried him home on her back.

That burden lasted for decades.

Although the Demon Realm provided a living space for those with demonic energy in their bodies, this space was filled with slaughter and scheming.

Huo Yuwen's aptitude was not high, nor was her cultivation, so she could only eke out a living at the very bottom.

But even so, she would still give half of the food she had painstakingly found to the child she had picked up.

Huo Guhong grew up day by day in such an environment.

He gradually revealed his talent for cultivation—though higher than Huo Yuwen's, it was still not considered outstanding.

However, he had an almost obsessive love for swords.

In order to survive, Huo Guhong had to show a ruthless side.

In front of outsiders, he was a youth who would draw his sword at the slightest disagreement, never showing mercy, which often resulted in him returning home covered in injuries.

But every time he returned home injured, he would be harshly scolded by Huo Yuwen.

Huo Guhong remained silent, letting her scold him.

He knew she was worried about him.

Later, his cultivation gradually surpassed his sister's. Their roles quietly shifted.

It used to be the older sister protecting him.

Now, it was him protecting his sister.

But talent ultimately shackled them.

Decades passed, and the two still could only struggle at the bottom.

They budgeted carefully every day, rushing about tirelessly for a meager amount of resources.

In order to live, they had to venture into dangerous areas time and time again to find resources they could sell.

Those days had no end in sight.

That was until Gu Changyuan appeared.

That year, the siblings took on a mission—to head into the mountains to find a medicinal herb.

The mission seemed ordinary, and the reward was reasonable, so they accepted it.

Little did they know, it was a trap set by someone else.

A cultivator with a cultivation base far higher than theirs had taken a fancy to Huo Yuwen.

Unwilling to go to any trouble, he chose the simplest method—

Snatching her.

That battle was incredibly tragic.

Huo Guhong fought desperately to protect his sister, but the opponent was too strong.

At the final moment, Huo Yuwen used her body to block a fatal sword strike for him.

That sword pierced right through her chest.

Huo Guhong held her, watching helplessly as the life force drained from her bit by bit.

He erupted.

His demonic comprehension fully awakened at that moment. Like a madman, he slaughtered all the enemies.

But the blood from his sister's wound wouldn't stop.

Holding her, kneeling in a pool of blood, feeling her breathing grow fainter and fainter, he felt what it meant to be powerless for the first time.

Just at his most desperate moment—

A figure appeared before him.

It was a man.

Wearing dark clothes and with ink-black hair, he seemed completely out of place in this bloody world.

He glanced at Huo Yuwen, then at Huo Guhong, and finally spoke in a calm tone:

"I can save her."

Huo Guhong was stunned.

"But there is a condition."

Without the slightest hesitation, Huo Guhong, who had never knelt to beg anyone, fell directly to his knees in affirmation.

"I will agree to any condition, even if it means my death."

Gu Changyuan looked at this youth covered in blood and filth, yet still stubborn, and a flash of satisfaction crossed his eyes.

"You don't need to die. Just take me as your master."

"Disciple Huo Guhong pays his respects to Master."

Huo Guhong didn't even ask, "Who are you?"

As long as his sister could be saved, he would do anything.

Gu Changyuan smiled.

With a wave of his right hand, a stream of spiritual energy fell into Huo Yuwen's body.

Wherever that spiritual energy passed, the wound healed at a visible speed, and vitality once again flowed within her.

With a casual wave, he had pulled Huo Yuwen back from the gates of hell.

Later, Huo Guhong learned that the man who saved his sister was the Sect Master of the Heavenly Demon Sect.

He became Gu Changyuan's disciple.

Afterward, Huo Yuwen was settled in the outer sector of the Heavenly Demon Sect. Her life suddenly became stable and prosperous, and she never had to worry about survival again.

Huo Guhong became Gu Changyuan's disciple, awakened the Formless Demon Seed, and cultivated in the central sector of the Heavenly Demon Sect, his cultivation advancing by leaps and bounds.

Every time he visited, Huo Yuwen would scold him:

"Here again? Instead of cultivating properly, you run to the outer sector all day. Are you doing justice to your Master?"

That was what she said, but her tone was much softer than in the past.

Ever since experiencing that life-and-death separation, although Huo Yuwen remained strict, hidden within that strictness was deep gratitude and cherishment.

Grateful that he was still alive.

Cherishing that they could still meet.

Huo Guhong would verbally reply, "I know, I know," but he would still go the next time.

In the outer sector, he had his sister to take care of him.

Within the sect, he had his senior brothers and sisters to look after him.

He was the youngest, everyone's little brother.

But deep down, he always had a wish—

How wonderful it would be if he could have a junior brother or junior sister for him to take care of as well.

Now, this wish had finally come true.

And two had arrived all at once.

As Huo Guhong looked at Jun Mukong and Jun Anshi, a very faint smile seemed to flash across his cold face.

Seeing that everyone had finished introducing themselves, Gu Changyuan waved his hand, signaling everyone to sit down and chat leisurely.

The disciples took their seats one after another, the atmosphere relaxed and harmonious.

Mo Yingluo was the first to speak, asking the question she cared about most:

"Master, how long will you stay this time after returning to the Heavenly Demon Sect?"

She knew that the Master most likely wouldn't stay long, but she still wanted to ask about his itinerary so she could have an idea in her mind.

Gu Changyuan's gaze swept over the Jun siblings:

"About an afternoon. Tomorrow, I still have to help Xiao Kong and Xiao Shi awaken their physiques.

After that, I need to make a trip to the Outer Realm. The Supreme Elder of the Holy Land there has completed the general deployment, so I will go over to set up a teleportation array."

He paused for a moment:

"There shouldn't be anything else after that."

Hearing the words "Outer Realm," Mo Yingluo and Mo Yingyue rolled their eyes in thought.

The two girls looked at each other, the same gleam flashing in their eyes.

Mo Yingyue immediately spoke up:

"Then can my sister and I go together? We haven't been out for a long time."