Return to the Heavenly Demon Sect

Su Luo drifted in and out of consciousness, as if caught in a dream where dozens of hands toyed with her. It should have been a terrifying scene, yet it felt oddly pleasant—something she couldn’t quite understand. But since she couldn’t make sense of it, she let it go. Exhausted, all she wanted now was to sleep deeply.

Half a day later, Su Luo slowly opened her eyes.

And then she noticed two people lying beside her, their hands interlaced and resting against her cheeks.

What was going on?

"Su Luo, you’re awake?" Little Yu rubbed her eyes; she’d ended up dozing off unintentionally.

"What are you two doing?"

Little Yu immediately pulled her hand back. "Nothing..."

Yun, however, retracted hers leisurely and changed the subject. "I’m back~"

"Oh."

"So cold. At least show a little concern for me?"

"You’re fine, so it’s fine."

"Hehe."

Su Luo didn’t press further. Where Yun had gone or what she’d done—such things were better left unspoken. Overanalyzing wouldn’t do any of them any good.

"Little Yu." Su Luo called out.

But Little Yu avoided her gaze.

"What’s wrong?" Su Luo shifted slightly, angling herself to meet Little Yu’s eyes again.

Little Yu continued to evade her.

Su Luo was puzzled. She didn’t do anything inappropriate in her sleep, did she?

Indeed, she hadn’t—except for rolling over and pulling Little Yu into her arms, treating her like a hugging pillow. Though Su Luo had quickly shifted back to lying flat, the act had already left Little Yu flustered, and she hadn’t fully recovered yet.

"You really don’t know what you did to her?" Yun fanned the flames from the side.

"What did I do?"

"Nothing, nothing at all!" Little Yu hurried to explain before things got more awkward. Being reminded of it repeatedly only made her more embarrassed.

"Haha, I just wanted to tease Little Yu. She’s too adorable."

"You really... don’t bully her too much."

Little Yu gradually steadied herself. "Su Luo, are you feeling better now?"

"Yeah, much better. Thanks for taking care of me. If you hadn’t been here, I wouldn’t have slept so well."

Hearing Su Luo’s words, Little Yu flushed but managed to reply, "I’m happy to help."

Su Luo sat up, stretching lazily. Her energy had mostly returned.

After resting a little longer, she announced, "Let’s head back to the Shattered Bone Abyss."

Little Yu: "Mm."

Yun: "Yes."

Upon returning to the Heavenly Demon Sect, they found the Left Enforcer in the middle of a meeting, reprimanding the disciples.

This operation had been a complete failure.

The original plan was to raid the Emperor Heaven Sect first, then stir up trouble at the Northern Heavenly Gate.

But they hadn’t even fought the Emperor Heaven Sect for long before Di Haoran returned, cutting their destruction short and leaving them worse off.

And their attack on the Northern Heavenly Gate hadn’t achieved the desired results either.

A scolding was inevitable.

Of course, after the reprimand came the praise—the classic "slap then sugar" approach the Left Enforcer had mastered.

Many took his words to heart, given his standing in the sect.

Repeated failures to grasp the Demon Lord’s orders had gradually pushed her out of the Heavenly Demon Sect’s focus.

And with her absence in recent operations, doubts about her competence had begun to surface.

Unconsciously, the Left Enforcer had become their de facto leader.

Su Luo, of course, treated it all as background noise.

Once dismissed, she returned to her quarters.

After so much busywork, all Su Luo wanted was to lie down. One could never get enough of lying down.

But when she arrived, someone had beaten her to it.

Jiang Ningshu was already reclining on Su Luo’s lounging chair.

"Such an honor, Demon Lord."

Su Luo hadn’t expected the Demon Lord to visit. What was she here for?

Jiang Ningshu seemed to read her thoughts and answered, "I realized that going out for a walk isn’t so bad."

After accompanying Su Luo on her last excursion, Jiang Ningshu had found her own residence too empty, leaving her restless.

So she’d moved into Su Luo’s space instead.

"But that doesn’t explain why you’re here, does it?"

"I don’t know why either. It just feels... nice here."

"Fine."

Su Luo decided to let it slide.

Yun, however, was curious. "Su Luo, are you and the Demon Lord... close?"

Little Yu also edged closer, intrigued.

"Not really. Does this count as close?"

"If this doesn’t, then what does? Are the two of you... involved?"

"Bold words. You’ve got a death wish, huh?" Su Luo found Yun unusually daring today.

She glanced at Jiang Ningshu—at this distance, she’d definitely heard.

But the Demon Lord showed no reaction. Perhaps she didn’t care.

"Well? Are you?" Yun pressed.

"Of course not." Su Luo answered truthfully.

"My apologies, then."

After that, life resumed as usual. There was no reason to act stiff just because the Demon Lord was present.

Su Luo certainly wasn’t going to.

Yun maintained surface-level respect at first, but after a few interactions with no reaction from Jiang Ningshu, she eventually ignored her altogether.

Little Yu simply followed Su Luo’s lead—if Su Luo said to treat the Demon Lord as if she weren’t there, then that’s exactly what she’d do.

Days passed in peaceful routine.

The only one still busy was the Left Enforcer, who refused to concede defeat and continued plotting against the Emperor Heaven Sect.

Having come this far, how could he retreat empty-handed?

But his plans now required more caution. Without the beast army, facing the Emperor Heaven Sect head-on would be costly.

His ambition to replace the Demon Lord grew stronger. A few more successful schemes, and he could overturn her rule—after all, she had no real power now.

Even if others objected, who else was a more suitable candidate?

......

On this particular day, Su Luo lazed under the sun as usual.

Jiang Ningshu lay beside her, equally idle.

"Does lying around like this really mean anything to you?"

Before Su Luo’s return, Jiang Ningshu had been on the verge of recovering to her second-tier strength.

But with Su Luo back, she no longer trained in front of her.

She couldn’t fathom why Su Luo enjoyed this so much.

"Meaning? No. It’s comfortable, so I do it."

Su Luo had long outgrown the age of relentless striving. With the rewards from her diary, she’d rather write a few more entries than grind her cultivation.

"Seems like you’re the only one with nothing to do here," Jiang Ningshu teased.

Yun was training Xiao Pa.

Little Yu was deep in meditation.

"Same goes for you. You’ve been here a while. Does this hold any meaning for you?"

"Hard to say. But staying like this for a little longer isn’t bad."

Jiang Ningshu figured delaying her recovery by a few days was fine. According to Su Luo’s "plot," she was already far ahead of schedule.

"Is that so."

Su Luo didn’t bother guessing the Demon Lord’s motives, but...

"Don’t you think this place is getting a bit crowded?"

Two people had been manageable, but three? It was starting to feel like a crowd.

Originally, Su Luo had planned to quietly clear this world all by herself.