Gu Chengyin’s brows drew together slightly.
He had no idea what a Fate Demon was, but the combination of “essence blood” and “Fate Demon” alone revealed a great deal.
Essence blood was no ordinary blood. It was a highly condensed form of one’s vital essence, spirit, and energy—the most precious source of power a cultivator possessed.
And the word “fate” carried even greater weight. Anything tied to one’s fate was never a trivial matter.
Still, if he wanted to know what this Fate Demon truly was, he would have to let Gu Xiaoli explain it herself.
By then, Gu Xiaoli had regained her senses as well.
What had she just said?
It was over.
Everything was over.
Her carefully laid plan, her flawless acting, her step-by-step manipulation—it had all fallen apart.
But it wasn’t entirely her fault.
Her brother’s hand was simply too wicked.
If he had only spanked her, she would not have passed out like that.
But after spanking her, he had not stopped.
Instead, he had begun to soothe her, his hand gradually straying farther and farther.
And somehow, in the end...
It had found the place that was least able to withstand teasing.
And then...
Then...
How was she supposed to stay conscious in that state?
Gu Xiaoli did not dare think any further.
Because just recalling it was enough to make that strange warmth inside her begin to stir again.
“Since you’ve already let it slip, Xiaoli, you should just come clean with your brother.”
Gu Chengyin searched through his memories once more for anything related to Fate Demons, but still came up empty.
Rather than waste any more effort, he decided to get straight to the point.
Gu Xiaoli had surely realized that she had accidentally revealed something. Given how clever this catgirl was, she ought to know that continuing the act would be pointless.
It would be better to tell him outright and save them both the trouble.
And indeed, Gu Xiaoli had no desire to keep pretending.
It was just that her attention was not on that matter at all.
Gu Xiaoli bit down on her lower lip. Her lovely eyes darted upward in a furtive glance.
The moment they met Gu Chengyin’s gaze, she quickly looked away again, evasive as a startled deer.
Her voice was as soft as a mosquito’s buzz, carrying a cautious mixture of pleading and ingratiation.
“O-Okay... but, Brother, could you... could you take your hand out first...?”
Since the catgirl had agreed to confess, Gu Chengyin withdrew his hand.
The skin of his previously dry hand was now wrinkled and pruned.
Once that foreign sensation finally disappeared, Gu Xiaoli’s tightly tensed body at last relaxed.
She slumped limply across Gu Chengyin’s lap, as though she had just been pulled from the water.
Seeing this, Gu Chengyin simply scooped her up and shifted her around so that she rested against his chest rather than lying across him.
Gu Xiaoli’s little head hung weakly in the hollow of his shoulder, while her spirit-powered cat tail drooped listlessly at her side.
Every so often, the tip of her tail gave a faint, feeble twitch, proving that the catgirl was still conscious.
Gu Chengyin raised his wrinkled fingers before Gu Xiaoli’s eyes and waved them lightly.
“Are you still going to keep putting on an act with your brother?”
The instant Gu Xiaoli saw those wrinkled fingers before her, her pupils widened sharply.
Every crease on them vividly reminded her of what had just happened.
Gu Xiaoli raised both hands and, with a smack, covered her face.
She pressed herself deeper into Gu Chengyin’s embrace, wishing she could somehow squeeze her entire body into his robes and hide there.
“I’m not pretending anymore! Xiaoli swears I’ll never pretend in front of Big Brother again!”
Her voice came muffled through the gaps between her fingers, tinged with sobs and the docility of someone who had just been taught a lesson.
Gu Chengyin understood perfectly.
Sure enough, dealing with Gu Xiaoli required the same approach as dealing with the other women.
Once she had neither the strength nor the inclination to put on an act, she would naturally become obedient and honest.
On this point, the women were all astonishingly alike.
As long as they were disciplined properly, they would become the gentlest beauties beneath the heavens.
“Then tell Big Brother—what exactly is a fated demon?”
Now that things had come to this, Gu Xiaoli could only explain everything honestly.
She sorted through her somewhat muddled thoughts, thrown into disarray by embarrassment, and began to speak.
Gu Chengyin listened in silence. By the time Gu Xiaoli had finished explaining, he finally understood what a fated demon was.
Put simply, it was a form of acknowledging a master.
But this acknowledgment was entirely different from the ordinary master-servant bond.
In ancient times, the relationship between the demon race and humanity had been far more complicated than it was now.
Back then, the demon race had not yet vanished from the world alongside the ancient immortals. Great demons who had lived for a thousand years could be seen everywhere beneath the heavens.
Humans and demons had fought and cooperated with one another. More than that, there had been an extremely special relationship between them: the fated demon.
A demon could use a human’s vital essence and blood to perform a master-recognition ritual, willingly becoming that particular human’s exclusive fated demon.
Once the acknowledgment succeeded, the fated demon and its master would form a soul bond that transcended space and time.
No matter how far apart they were, they could sense each other’s existence. No matter what kind of peril one of them faced, the other could arrive at the first possible moment.
And the greatest function of a fated demon—the one that had driven all the great human cultivators of ancient times to pursue them frenziedly—was this:
It granted its master a second life.
No matter what injuries the master suffered, the fated demon would bear them all in his place, until the fated demon died.
Furthermore, this was not an active ability, but a passive one.
However, obtaining a fated demon required one condition above all others: absolute willingness.
No crooked method could force the acknowledgment. No threats or inducements could fool the ritual. No contract formation could bypass the prerequisite of genuine consent.
The demon had to become a fated demon from the bottom of its heart—without reservation and entirely of its own free will—for the ritual to succeed.
In addition, the demon’s cultivation realm could not be lower than that of the human.
Thus, in ancient times, the usual way to obtain a fated demon was to raise one from childhood.
People would begin carefully caring for a demon cub while it was still very young, cultivating a deep bond with it.
Their cultivation realms would grow together, and after decades or even centuries spent side by side—
only when the demon truly recognized the human from the bottom of its heart would it become a fated demon.
Even so, successful cases remained exceedingly rare.
Gu Chengyin fell silent.
He needed some time to digest all this information.
The purpose of a fated demon was to provide a second life.
That meant Gu Xiaoli wanted to become his fated demon so that, should he ever encounter danger, she could bear it in his place.
And in the course of Gu Xiaoli’s explanation, Gu Chengyin had also caught an extremely crucial piece of information.
Gu Xiaoli was not Empress Lin’s fated demon.
A demon could acknowledge a master only once in its entire life. Once that bond was formed, it could never be changed.
That was the unbreakable law of fated demons.
If Gu Xiaoli had once been Empress Lin’s life-bound demon, then she could no longer acknowledge Gu Chengyin as her master.
Gu Chengyin’s mind raced.
There had to be a trigger for Xiaoli’s sudden decision.
Becoming a life-bound demon was not a choice one made on a whim. It meant pledging one’s very life to protect another.
So what had made Xiaoli suddenly feel that this was necessary?
Gu Chengyin rapidly reviewed everything that had happened recently, then settled on one answer.
The Battle of Taihe.
for mindless slaughter, this isn't for you.] My name is Ye Shu, and I'm a transmigrator. It seems I'm supposed to be the protagonist, but that feels pretty unlikely. This world has been invaded by a system. The antagonists on the other side have suddenly become pure, flawless saints. The female leads have been force-fed the so-called "original plot," making them think they've been reborn. Now, everyone thinks I'm scum. Including the old lady in my ring. And here I am, in the Monster Beast Mountain Range, braising pork. To put my situation in perspective— It's as if, the moment Xiao Yan stepped into the Monster Beast Mountain Range, the Soul Emperor already knew he would become the Flame Emperor, and Yao Lao had been turned to the enemy's side. I have nothing right now. Oh wait, that's not true. I do have a white-haired loli child-bride who's the Heavenly Dao, and her only skill is acting cute. So, tell me guys... what are my chances of making it to the end?
s + Rent Collection Wealth】 At the start, he inherited a rundown house in the urban village from his grandfather. The house had no tenants, but the moment he was diagnosed with a terminal illness, a self-proclaimed empress from the Tianxuan Continent arrived as his first tenant. Ye Chuan soon discovered that with every new tenant moving in, not only did he receive massive daily payments, but he also obtained unique items related to their backgrounds. 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Tiger Strength Pill—dramatically enhances physical power!】 【Acquired Bai Qianshuang’s related item: Deer Blood Pill—significantly boosts vitality!】 …… From that day on, all sorts of bizarre tenants began appearing in the house: the empress from Tianxuan Continent, an apocalyptic sorceress from the Magic Realm, a mysterious scientific girl who fell through a spacetime rift… Every single day, he received strange, powerful items and endless money. Then one day, he suddenly realized—he had become invincible. Enough, enough! Stop giving me more!
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
nce】【Lighthearted Comedy】【Ultimate Gentleman's Novel】【Viewer Discretion Advised for Under 16】 The mightiest human hero, Sharen Morian, is resurrected after a thousand years by his wife—the Demon King. This is not your typical hero-vs-demon-king tale.
