I want to give everything I have, just to find a path that leads to you.

---

A hundred years—he searched for that person for a full century, and every day was torment.

The endless emptiness and yearning were driving him mad. Finding that man had become his life’s obsession. He trained tirelessly, dedicating every moment he wasn’t searching to cultivation. After a hundred years, he finally reached the rank of Holy Beast. Now, with a 5,000-year lifespan, he paused his training, thinking that five millennia would surely be enough to find him.

At least, that’s what he told himself.

His cultivation speed had earned him the title of genius among geniuses, a monster in the eyes of the world.

During this time, he caused plenty of trouble. Whenever other races discovered he was a demon, they banded together to try and exterminate him. Why? He only wanted to survive—to live so he could find that man.

Since they wouldn’t let him live, why should he spare them? Anyone who got in the way of his search deserved to die.

Gradually, the outside world began to call him the God of Slaughter.

His reputation spread far and wide. Perhaps that person would hear of him too?

Immersed in a world of killing, he suddenly snapped back to reality. He couldn’t go on like this. Even if he had to kill, he’d do it discreetly, or let his subordinates handle it. If he continued like this, he’d only drift further from that pure and untouchable person. If they met again, would that person despise him?

That couldn’t happen. He couldn’t let that person know. Never.

So, he focused all his energy on expanding his influence, slowly infiltrating every plane and continent, endlessly searching and being endlessly disappointed. He sifted through every likely candidate from the Light faction, but none of them were him. How could those hypocrites even compare to the man he sought?

Could it be that he had died? No, impossible. When they last met, that man had already been a Holy Mage with a lifespan of 800 years. Unless… unless he had been killed.

As time passed, the memory of that man’s face and voice only grew sharper in his mind. He started to cherish dreams, for only when he slept could he dream of that man—even though, as a Holy Beast, he no longer needed sleep.

Then, as always, news came to him through his subordinates. A dark-element mage had spent nearly a century breaking through both Heavenly Mage and Emperor Rank Warrior. This young human genius, named Long Ming, was known as the Dragon Emperor, and bore some resemblance to the man he was searching for.

Fueled by near-maniacal hope, he set out once more.

The misty drizzle mingled with a warm breeze, wetting his robes as he walked. He remembered the day he had met that person—the weather had been just as clear and bright after a rain. The restless turmoil in his heart began to calm.

Suddenly, a figure dressed in black appeared in his sight.

He didn’t dare get closer. Instead, he found a place from afar to observe. That tall, slender figure standing atop the city wall, facing the wind and rain—he would recognize that silhouette even if it turned to dust.

It’s him!

It really was him!

All the pain, the despair, the yearning, condensed into a moment of uncontrollable joy. The noise of the world disappeared; there was only that cold, distant figure in his eyes.

It seemed that in that person’s eyes, everything else was filthy.

Of course. That person had always been so high above, so pure that even gazing at him felt like it would stain him.

In all of Grimm Space, only that person could ignite all of his emotions.

The heart that had lain dormant for a hundred years began to beat again.

He didn’t dare blink, afraid that if he did, that person would disappear.

The infamous God of Slaughter, who had shown no fear for a century, suddenly found himself at a loss. How should he greet that person? What expression should he wear? Maybe a smile would help—but he had never smiled before. Would it scare him?

He feared nothing except the possibility of seeing even a trace of disgust in that person’s eyes.

Now that the longed-for moment was so close, he hesitated.

What if barging in like this left a bad impression on him? What should he do?

For the first time, he felt nervous and terrified. His heart raced so fast it felt like it would explode, and his breathing became erratic.

He’s leaving!

No, he couldn’t let him go again!

The pain, the longing, turned to fear in that instant.

Before he even realized it, he had already grabbed the man’s wrist.

The man turned, startled by the sudden grasp.

He saw me!

After a century, this was the first time they had seen each other again, and the man hadn’t changed at all—still so soul-stirringly beautiful.

He was nervous. This was their first meeting in a hundred years. Would the man remember him? Would he be frightened by his abrupt move?

“Who are you?” the man asked, his face showing complete unfamiliarity.

He didn’t recognize him. The rage bubbling beneath his surface almost erupted.

Seeing a slight displeasure in the man’s eyes, he forcibly suppressed the twisted pain inside and loosened his grip slightly. Softly, he asked, “You don’t remember me?”

The man looked puzzled. His cold expression, combined with that slight confusion, made him appear unexpectedly… endearing.

The rage within him subsided, calmed by that look.

This man could stir every emotion in him with the slightest expression. He lowered his voice even further. “Do you remember, a hundred years ago, you saved a young demon boy?”

Perhaps he had saved too many people to remember. The man seemed to think for a long moment but didn’t recall any demon boy.

“It’s fine if you don’t remember. My name is You Ji.” I would give everything, just for a way to get close to you.

Long Ming never allowed anyone close to him, not even those who had become his close friends over time.

For the next thousand years, You Ji stayed by Long Ming’s side in secret, never leaving. He only revealed himself when Long Ming was in danger. As a result, he became the only person who could approach Long Ming.

During those thousand years, You Ji’s title evolved from God of Slaughter to Demon Emperor.

The Demon Emperor, ruler of the demons.

Thanks to his more restrained behavior in recent years, the reputation of the demon race had gradually improved. Although they were still considered the lowest of the races, the hatred toward them wasn’t as deep as before.

You Ji didn’t care about any of that. His only focus was Long Ming.

As Long Ming broke through to the double Holy Domain, it became harder to keep his presence hidden.

If Long Ming discovered him, he would lose even the right to stay by his side! The urgency forced You Ji to retreat for a while.

Leaving his subordinates to continue protecting Long Ming, You Ji marked him with his own aura before entering seclusion to break through to the God Transformation stage.

However, in his haste to ascend, he failed. The backlash left him severely weakened, and his cultivation level regressed to the ninth rank.

When he emerged from seclusion, the first news he heard was that Long Ming had been caught up in the War of the Gods.

That cold, indifferent man… How could he know that some people would resort to any means to kill him? Using the aura he had marked, You Ji instantly teleported to Long Ming’s side.

And what he saw tore his heart apart.

Long Ming’s black robes were slashed open by magic and martial energy, revealing deep wounds that exposed bone. His blood bloomed like coral across his body. The face You Ji had never dared look at too long had turned deathly pale, streaked with unnatural purples and grays, his once-bright eyes now dulled as if the light had left them.

The man You Ji had treated so carefully, never even daring to touch his hair—how could they do this to him?! How dare they?!

You Ji’s heart exploded with pain. His pupils turned crimson as blood-red tears streamed down his face, burning hot as they fell.

Without a second thought, he threw himself in the path of the killing blow.

He could feel his life slipping away, his vision blurring. Through the haze, he saw Long Ming’s ever-calm eyes staring at him, filled with disbelief.

You Ji smiled…

Long Ming, I spent a thousand years just to see you show that expression for me.

There’s enough time left for your body to self-destruct, for your soul to tear through the void and enter the future!

(Arrival point: within ten thousand years)

No matter how many times you are reborn, I will find you!

He burned all his divine soul power to buy himself ten reincarnations. It was a forbidden technique, and the cost was that after ten lives, his soul would be forever erased from existence.

But he didn’t care. As long as he could meet Long Ming’s reincarnation, what did it matter?

Each reincarnation would last 1,000 years. With each new life, his memory of his first life would fade until, by the final life, he would forget it entirely.

At first, he was confident he would never forget Long Ming. Like in his first life, he relentlessly searched for Long Ming’s reincarnation, continuously extending his lifespan. Every day, he searched for him.

But all he found was disappointment, time after time. He kept telling himself that he would find Long Ming, that he would surely appear at some future point on some plane.

In every life, he searched every continent. Each time, hope flared, only to be extinguished.

Emptiness and sorrow consumed his heart.

He couldn’t give up!

He couldn’t abandon Long Ming.

He had to find him before anyone else. He had to live long enough to see him again.

In one life, he even reached the Divine Domain, gaining an endless lifespan. But when the thousand-year mark came, he still perished.

In every life, he rose from a lowly demon beast, enduring endless pain and loneliness, only to have his soul dissipate again and begin the cycle anew.

Nine thousand years of madness. Nine thousand years of obsession. Nine thousand years of torment. Nine thousand years of solitude. By the ninth life, he was nearing complete despair.

Only one life remained.

After nine lives, Long Ming’s image had grown blurry in his mind, his face hard to remember. All that was left was his name and the deep-seated desire to find him, etched into You Ji’s very soul.

But despite nine lives of searching, he had never found him.

There was only one possibility: Long Ming’s rebirth point wasn’t within these nine thousand years.

This was it…

His final hope…

In this last life, he would completely forget Long Ming. How could he search for him then?

The Demon Emperor shed his second pair of blood-red tears.

As his body faded into the wind, he awaited his final reincarnation.