"The Greedy Wolf Empire had their own selfish motives and didn't want the Demon Cult to unify, so I took action," Tian He said.
That's right, some branches felt that since they were so prosperous now, why should they return to unification? They might have to be ruled by others then, which they didn't want.
The branches that didn't come this time basically all had this attitude. Even those who came didn't necessarily want to return - they just wanted to see the value of the Underground Demon Palace.
Although the Demon Cult was strong, it had some internal chaos. If one day it unified and a Cult Master appeared, it might sweep across the world.
"Fortunately you're not unified, otherwise it would be troublesome!" Xiaoyao said very directly.
"Even if some parts aren't unified, our current strength is enough to sweep across the world. It's just that we don't want to do this - there's no point. The Demon Cult isn't suited to be rulers. We're a group of cultivators." Hei Xue said lightly.
"That's right. Martial artists can conquer the world, but they can't govern it. Some things still need to rely on those scholars!" Xiaoyao nodded.
"Why are we discussing such profound issues? You just said you'd tell my fortune - tell mine first!" Hei Xue suddenly realized her conversation with Xiaoyao had gone too far off track. She should do serious business first, and what she felt was most urgent was having Xiaoyao see whether she and he had any destiny together.
"Give me your birth date and time!" Xiaoyao sat down and took out a set of tools, very professional.
Sister Hong and the others saw Xiaoyao's behavior and were somewhat curious, secretly sighing in their hearts. This kid actually seemed so professional - could he really know fortune telling and physiognomy?
If Xiaoyao heard these thoughts, he would definitely feel great disdain. He would tell them that he had genuinely set up fortune telling stalls and had even been respectfully called "Master" by people. These tools were also his livelihood tools back then.
"This..." Hei Xue hesitated a bit. She wasn't concerned about Xiaoyao's professionalism, but was troubled about whether to tell Xiaoyao her birth date and time. If she told him, wouldn't that be telling him her age?
"If you don't want to give your birth details, that's fine. I can read your face too, but the accuracy will drop a bit. Don't blame me for being inaccurate then!" Xiaoyao could see Hei Xue's difficulty. Although he didn't know why, he still accommodated her.
However, Xiaoyao then added, "Anyway, you're definitely much older than me, so what's there to keep secret?"
"Get lost! Who's much older than you? I'm only twenty-three, about the same as you."
"Far from it. You're in your twenties, but I'm not even twenty yet!" Xiaoyao said.
"What? You're not even twenty? Impossible! You're lying!!" Hei Xue seemed like her tail had been stepped on, caring very much about this, because this was very hurtful to women.
"I'm not lying. In a few days I'll turn twenty, but right now, I'm indeed not even twenty," Xiaoyao said very seriously, though there was a hint of mirth in his eyes.
"You're infuriating! Wait, is it your birthday in a few days?" Hei Xue said.
"I don't know if it is. I'm an orphan - how would I know my birthday? This birthday was just calculated for me by my former master's family, roughly around these days!" Xiaoyao said unconcernedly.
"..." Everyone fell silent.
"Now you can tell me your birth details." Xiaoyao had long been immune to this and asked.
"Fine, I'll tell you. Anyway, you already know the most important part..." Hei Xue said, soon telling Xiaoyao her birth date and time.
"Stretch out your right hand!" Xiaoyao said.
"Oh!" Regarding this, Hei Xue didn't resist and directly gave her hand to Xiaoyao.
"You really are a female demon head. Your life has been too dark. But regarding marriage, you can indeed find your true love. Strange, this destiny seems to have already appeared." Xiaoyao spoke according to what he read.
"I knew it! You are my destined one!" Hei Xue said.
"Get lost! This destiny doesn't necessarily mean me. According to my birth details, I don't match you very well!" Xiaoyao said. This was a fact, however...
"Are your birth details even useful? You don't even know when you were born." Hei Xue directly exposed Xiaoyao's reality.
"Anyway, that's how it is. I don't care who your destiny is. But I'll give you some advice - you should treasure this destiny, because you only have this one destiny in your life. If you lose it, you'll be an old spinster for life." Xiaoyao continued.
"Don't worry, I'll definitely treasure it!" Hei Xue looked at Xiaoyao and said.
"Hey, the formation outside has already been activated. That means inside has been cleaned up. You should go open your Demon Palace!" Xiaoyao immediately changed the topic.
"Right, let's go!" Hei Xue pulled Xiaoyao.
"I don't need to go. This is your secret, and I'm not from the Demon Cult, so it's not appropriate!" Xiaoyao said very seriously.
"Hei Xue, he's right about this. It's not convenient for him!" Sister Hong spoke up. She was quite satisfied with Xiaoyao's tactfulness.
"He..." Hei Xue was a bit worried.
"Don't worry, he can't run away. The Mountain Guardian Formation has been activated here. Without the formation diagram, who can get out!" Sister Hong said.
"Exactly, I can't run away anyway!" Xiaoyao said with a smile, though inwardly he was thinking: It's just a Mountain Guardian Formation, no matter how difficult, getting out isn't hard - it's getting in that's difficult.
"I feel a bit uneasy. All of you stay here and watch him. Don't let him escape," Hei Xue's unease ruined Xiaoyao's escape plan, because the people left to guard numbered in the hundreds.
Damn, hundreds of people watching us three, and they're all skilled fighters. Escaping would be very difficult.
"Little rascal, I have a question for you. How did you recognize me?" Sister Hong suddenly asked as she was leaving.
"What?! How could I not recognize you, beautiful lady?" Xiaoyao said.
"Don't pretend with me. In the Heavenly Prison, I know you recognized me. Otherwise, why would you run?" Sister Hong said irritably.
That's right, Sister Hong was the person in the Heavenly Prison. At that time, she was disguised as a man, completely different. Even people familiar with Sister Hong couldn't recognize her, but Xiaoyao recognized her at first glance.
"Nothing special. Your aura didn't change at all. I could still recognize it." Xiaoyao casually replied.
"Is that really it?" Sister Hong felt Xiaoyao must have something else, but knowing she couldn't get anything more out of him, she didn't continue.
Soon, Hei Xue and the others left to excavate the Demon Palace entrance. With the detailed location maps in their hands, excavating the Demon Palace was actually quite simple.
Xiaoyao felt Hei Xue should be able to enter the Demon Palace smoothly, and he should have a long time to wait and rest. But what Xiaoyao didn't expect was that Hei Xue and the others would soon be blocked, right at the Demon Palace entrance.
But that would have to wait a while. During this time, Xiaoyao was being watched by the Dongfang sisters. Dongfang Wunian was fine, but Dongfang Wuqing's gaze was somewhat hair-raising.
"Don't look at me like that. This matter really has nothing to do with me. I didn't expect it would turn out this way," Xiaoyao said.
"You don't need to say anything. About this matter, I don't want to say anything more. It's already over. I just want to ask you - do you have a way to let me defeat that Tian He?" Dongfang Wuqing said coldly.
"Why do you think I have a way?" Xiaoyao frowned.
"When that Hei Xue was talking about this just now, she looked at you and said 'unless,' so it should be connected to you." Dongfang Wuqing said.
"What's the point of defeating Tian He? The Demon Cult has more than just one Tian He. I might have a way to let you defeat Tian He, but for others, there's really no way! You should just go cultivate. Perhaps one day you can break through to the highest realm of martial arts. At that time, even the Demon Cult will be trampled under your feet!" Xiaoyao shook his head.
Xiaoyao could use special training methods to let Dongfang Wuqing learn martial techniques targeting Tian He, but that would only work against Tian He alone. When encountering other experts, there would be no way.
Only true martial arts could sweep across the Demon Cult. With Dongfang Wuqing's qualifications, she might become a peerless expert and might trample some Demon Cult strongmen under her feet, but defeating those at the very top of the Demon Cult would still be very difficult, almost impossible.
"Breaking through to the highest realm of martial arts - how easy is that? Even if I could do it, that would be many years from now. Who knows if those people will have already broken through by then!" Dongfang Wuqing said very helplessly.
"Those are all future matters. If you don't do it, you definitely won't have a chance. But if you do it, there's still a chance!!" Xiaoyao smiled.
"As long as you do it, there's a chance..." Dongfang Wuqing muttered blankly. This was a very simple principle, but many times, everyone would be confused and unable to find their direction.
Actually, worldly affairs were sometimes like this. You hesitate on a path, stopping because of its hardships. This only wastes your time and won't help you fly over this difficult road.
What you need to do is actually very simple - just keep walking. Taking one step is one step, and taking one more step gives you a bit more chance. If you don't walk, you'll never have a chance!
"Xiaoyao, do you have a way to take me to see my father? Whether he's alive or dead, I want to see!" Dongfang Wunian said.
"This..." Xiaoyao frowned. He didn't want to cause trouble. At the same time, he knew that given the Demon Cult's way of doing things, Dongfang Bubai was definitely dead. When Dongfang Wunian saw this, she would definitely be very sad.
"No matter what, I still want to see. Please!" Dongfang Wunian pleaded again. She knew that although Xiaoyao didn't belong to the Demon Cult, he still had some say.
(End of Chapter)