Seeing You, It's Probably Nothing Good

Back in his room, Su Luo opened his diary and started writing.

【The Demon Lord actually met with the Heavenly Demon Seven today, which he never did before.】

【And considering the Demon Lord has lost his power, he should show himself less often, not more.】

【Strange, very strange.】

【But no need to panic. As long as the Demon Lord remains powerless, he can't turn the tides.】

【And recovering his strength isn't a simple task. It requires three steps, one after the other. You can't just bounce back immediately, especially not with the tribulations waiting.】

【First step... No, why am I writing this? The story hasn't reached that point yet.】

【Anyway, I just hope the Demon Lord doesn't mess around and stick to the script. That's what's best for me.】

【Let's write about the upcoming plot instead—Xu Wuliang's unlucky moment.】

【It's Xu Wuliang's turn now. Strength is his pride, but Lin Xuan will defeat him in that very domain.】

【The story takes place in the Gravel Forest, where Lin Xuan accompanies Gu Anxin to find ore for refining weapons.】

【There happens to be a faction there called the Thousand-Pound Gate, which sells these ores.】

【Gu Anxin is very satisfied with one particular ore and is about to purchase it when Xu Wuliang shows up.】

【A dispute ensues, and the Thousand-Pound Gate proposes a contest: whoever can shatter the Demon Steel Rock the fastest gets the purchasing rights for the ore.】

【Demon Steel Rock is extremely tough; shattering it is no easy feat.】

【Lin Xuan and Xu Wuliang then compete in a test of strength to break the massive Demon Steel Rock.】

【At first, Xu Wuliang is far ahead, with the rock visibly crumbling under his assault. Everyone thinks Lin Xuan stands no chance. But then, Lin Xuan catches up and wins.】

【Having lost the purchasing rights, Xu Wuliang resorts to a "zero-yuan shopping" raid.】

【That's more like it. The Heavenly Demon Sect not stealing would be shameful.】

【...】

【In the end, Lin Xuan's newly-understood Super Eight Extremes Collapse overwhelms Xu Wuliang.】

【In a single instant, Lin Xuan crushes Xu Wuliang's strength, completing a dramatic reversal of fortune.】

【Xu Wuliang doesn't die, though. He's rescued, but he harbors a grudge against Lin Xuan, mixed with a bit of appreciation. It's been a long time since someone has outmatched him in power at the same cultivation level.】

【Now, three of the Seven, including me, Situ Ye, and Xu Wuliang, bear a grudge against Lin Xuan.】

Su Luo closed his diary. He hadn't written much, as the plot was fairly short. Of course, the rewards weren't much either—just some attribute points. After closing the diary, Su Luo went back to his usual routine.

There won't be much happening for a while. No plot involving him, no missions from the Heavenly Demon Sect, so he can continue his leisure life in the sect...

...

Meanwhile, in the Heavenly Demon Palace, Jiang Ningshu was closely monitoring the diary, eager for an update.

She couldn't wait to see how Su Luo reacted to the Demon Lord summoning the Seven.

While there was a possibility that Su Luo hadn't reacted or hadn't included it in his diary, she still needed to act and test the waters.

Seeing the first sentence, Jiang Ningshu felt reassured—he had written about her!

Though it was only a line or two.

But there were useful tidbits.

Three steps.

What are the three steps?

Ugh, why stop at just half the information!

However, Jiang Ningshu quickly calmed down. At least the action had paid off.

Her goal was to appear in front of Su Luo, making him remember her, thus increasing the chance of being mentioned in the diary.

And it seems to have worked.

As long as she's written about in the diary, Jiang Ningshu felt satisfied. She began to plan for her next meeting, hoping to interact more with Su Luo and see how he would write about her in the diary.

That way, she could extract even more information.

But there was one thing Jiang Ningshu noticed: Su Luo hoped everyone would stick to the script.

Although she didn't know why he wanted this, she decided to go along with it for now, to avoid arousing Su Luo's suspicion.

Jiang Ningshu knew that Su Luo didn't want her to recover her strength too soon, so her goal of recovering her power needed to be kept hidden.

She couldn't let Su Luo know that she could read the diary.

Jiang Ningshu planned to make more minor disruptions, mainly by appearing in front of Su Luo more often.

She would subtly probe and confuse Su Luo, making him write about the steps to recover her strength in the diary.

This was her initial plan.

Of course, it might not work.

But where there's hope, there's a reason to try.

Although the diary suggested she would recover eventually, Jiang Ningshu didn't want to wait any longer.

Having a sword but not using it is different from having no sword at all.

Without the diary, Jiang Ningshu would have been left to flail aimlessly, trying anything at random.

But with the diary, at least there was a direction.

Thinking of this, Jiang Ningshu felt a bit better, with the anxiety of losing her power easing slightly.

Su Luo, you'll have to write more about me in your diary in the future.

Jiang Ningshu began to think about her next move.

...

The weather was clear.

Su Luo sat in a recliner, holding Little Pa and basking in the sun.

Little Pa, who originally wanted to play, decided to stay with Su Luo since he was in a rare mood for leisure.

"Su Demon Prince, is this really okay? Just resting like this?" Yun asked, standing beside him.

"What do you want to do?"

"No missions? The underlings are starting to complain, especially since Xu Wuliang has already taken his people out."

"What does it have to do with us? He does his own thing."

Xu Wuliang's going is going to end with him getting humiliated.

"I don't mind, but after witnessing your lightning strike, your underlings are walking around full of confidence, claiming you're the strongest of the Seven. They're eager to prove it."

Su Luo: ...

Why do these underlings feel like they're attracting trouble for him?

It's not a big deal if they're just making enemies, but inviting trouble isn't great.

"Well, since that's the case, I have a few missions for them."

That's right, all of them are suicide missions; might as well clean house.

At that moment, Yin Youming showed up again.

"Whenever I see you, something usually goes wrong," Su Luo said to Yin Youming.

"You're wrong this time. It's good news. The Demon Lord wants to see you."

"That's not necessarily good news."

Su Luo sighed. What is the Demon Lord thinking?

Once again arriving at the Heavenly Demon Palace, Su Luo was, as usual, the last to arrive.

But unlike the previous time, Xu Wuliang wasn't present, as he had already left on his mission.

If the Demon Lord had insisted on meeting Xu Wuliang, Yin Youming would have brought him back.

However, the Demon Lord said no, so it remained as is.

Cui Baiquan feigned a sigh: "Xu Wuliang is quite unfortunate, leaving at such a time."

In truth, he was delighted. While he didn't know what the Demon Lord wanted, missing out on Xu Wuliang was already a win for Cui Baiquan.

Liao Duci suggested: "Should we call him back?"

Qing Bukuang replied: "No need. The Demon Lord said not to, so there's no point in doing extra work."

Su Luo felt the same way. If they called Xu Wuliang back, it would only delay his inevitable face-slap.

The Left Envoy was still observing from the side, trying to figure out what the Demon Lord wanted.

But this time was different from the last. This time, it was a private meeting.

Following the order of arrival at the palace, each of them was summoned to meet the Demon Lord individually.

The Demon Lord had arranged a special room, designed to effectively prevent any spying or sneaking glances.

Even the Left Envoy had no idea what was being said or done inside.