By the time Duan Chenhui reached the Milky Way, He Qing had already fallen, but the tribulation clouds were still looming. He immediately transformed into his dragon form and flew straight into the storm.

“Duan Chenhui!” Taibai called from behind.

“This is my responsibility,” Duan Chenhui said as he rushed into the heart of the Nine Heavens’ lightning tribulation.

“Don’t go after him!” Qinglong grabbed Taibai. “If we get involved, the tribulation will become even more intense!”

“… What a mess.” Taibai could only watch as Duan Chenhui disappeared into the depths of the lightning storm. He turned and glared at the Bodhisattva. “Did you know this would happen all along?”

The Bodhisattva opened his eyes slightly. “He is the King of the Ten Thousand Demons. His presence will trigger calamity…”

Taibai shook off Qinglong’s hand, pointing at the Bodhisattva. “That’s just your personal prophecy! So what if he’s the King of the Ten Thousand Demons? Does that automatically make him a world-ending demon?”

The Bodhisattva turned his gaze back to Taibai, calm as ever. “He will become Duan Chenhui’s greatest adversary.”

“And what now?” Taibai frowned. “You’ve meddled in the fates of not just two people, but three. Weren’t you also the one who persuaded Duan Chenhui to face the Demon King before?”

The Bodhisattva nodded. “Yes.” Then, with a faint smile, he added, “So… farewell.”

Both Taibai and Qinglong were stunned as the Bodhisattva began to disappear into golden light, gradually fading. “Perhaps I miscalculated something… no matter…”

“What?” Taibai grabbed his hand. “Explain yourself before you die! Who cares what you got wrong!” But before the Bodhisattva could say anything more, he completely vanished.

Taibai pressed his fingers to his temples. “Even gods of prophecy can be wrong! Is he insane, or am I? How dare he mess with other people’s destinies!” The most important thing was that both Duan Chenhui and He Qing were far from ordinary. The consequences would be severe.

Qinglong pondered for a moment and said, “We don’t actually know He Qing’s origins, and he still lacks a defined nature. Besides, as a treasure himself, he’s bound to attract many…” He trailed off.

Taibai was silent for a moment before muttering, “… He’s just a bit greedy, that’s all. No way he’ll turn evil.”

—

He Qing was being battered by waves, struck by the tribulation lightning, caught between water and fire. Even though his shell was hard, it couldn’t withstand much longer. He looked around, but there was no sign of Sun Tu.

“Sun Tu, where are you?” He Qing tried to fly, but the lightning knocked him back into the boundless ocean. He struggled repeatedly, unable to escape the feeling of powerlessness. His whole body ached—he had never experienced such pain before. He was on the verge of tears.

“General, where are you… Boo hoo.” He Qing bounced back to the surface, only to be slapped underwater again. Below him, fierce beasts of the deep eyed him hungrily.

The lotus seed, now the size of an egg, was rolling along the ocean floor. His energy was depleting, and he was shrinking, quickly becoming the size of a normal lotus seed.

He Qing looked up at the tribulation clouds, feeling a wave of sadness. He was about to die, and he would never see the General again.

Just then, a black dragon pierced through the lightning clouds, diving straight into the ocean and snatching He Qing up in its jaws.

He Qing stared at Duan Chenhui’s enormous dragon head and teeth, blurting out inappropriately, “General, I’m not even big enough to get stuck between your teeth… Are we going to die? If we’re both going to die, you can eat me.”

“…” Duan Chenhui was silent for a moment. In this tense moment, He Qing’s thoughts were particularly odd. Duan Chenhui looked up at the Ninth Heaven’s lightning and threw his golden talisman skyward to block it. “Don’t worry. We won’t die. Are you scared?”

He Qing remained silent, clutching onto Duan Chenhui’s teeth without moving.

Duan Chenhui glanced at him. He Qing had shrunk into an even tinier lotus seed, looking pitiful and small, indeed not even big enough for his teeth.

The tribulation above was still raging. Duan Chenhui flew as fast as he could, but the lightning followed closely. He reached a place near the edge of the heavens and saw the old pine tree still standing tall.

“He Qing, you’ll wait for me back in the Ten Thousand Demons Valley.”

“General?” He Qing’s eyes widened as he suddenly found himself encased in a golden sphere. Duan Chenhui’s tail swept over, and the golden light carried He Qing toward the edge of the heavens.

“General, what are you doing?! Let me go!”

Duan Chenhui shouted toward the old pine, “Take him back to the Ten Thousand Demons Valley!”

Old Pine had already noticed what was happening with He Qing and quickly caught him with his branches. “Alright! Take care of yourself!”

“General!!” He Qing clung to the golden sphere, watching as the lightning rained down. The golden talisman protecting Duan Chenhui suddenly shattered.

He Qing froze. “General…” He suddenly understood, and tears began to fall uncontrollably. The golden talisman was Duan Chenhui’s life token… imprinted with his birth details.

He wanted to help Duan Chenhui, but the next moment, he was sent back to the Ten Thousand Demons Valley.

—

Inside the isolated Ten Thousand Demons Valley, the lightning tribulation had long since subsided outside.

Old Pine returned and found He Qing by a small pool, looking down at the tiny lotus seed. A small leaf had sprouted from the seed’s shell. “He’ll come back for you,” Old Pine reassured him.

“He’s a liar. I won’t believe him anymore.” He Qing turned his back, and another drop of water fell into the small pool beneath him.

Old Pine glanced at the pool, then called over the little demons to collect He Qing’s tears into bottles. It would be a shame to waste them… Ahem.

A little white rabbit, while gathering tears, said, “Isn’t he a god? He must have lots of magical artifacts. Maybe he’s just hiding somewhere.”

He Qing replied, “I’ve been looking for him for so long. If he’s hiding, why won’t he come see me?”

A fox stomped on the rabbit’s foot. “He’s probably busy with work up in the heavens. Maybe he’s off fighting monsters again. He’ll come back when it’s done.”

He Qing glared at them. “And you still have time to collect my tears.”

Old Pine comforted him. “Actually, the fox is right. He’s a god, after all, with plenty of life-saving treasures.”

He Qing lowered his head, but he couldn’t forget the sight of Duan Chenhui’s golden talisman breaking. Just thinking about it made him want to cry again.

Suddenly, a bright idea struck the squirrel spirit. “We can solve this easily! You’re the King of the Ten Thousand Demons! Why don’t you divine his whereabouts? You can find anything in the heavens or the earth with your divination!”

Everyone turned to look at him: When did the squirrel spirit get so smart?

The squirrel puffed up. “We’re all very clever! What’s with those looks?”

He Qing thought it made sense and perked up. “How do we divine?”

The little demons exchanged glances and started making things up. “We need to set up an altar, get some wine and incense, maybe draw a yin-yang symbol or something!”

“Yeah, yeah, that’s it!”

Old Pine: Should I remind them that divination isn’t this complicated? But he didn’t want to spoil their enthusiasm.

He Qing nodded. “Alright, prepare everything for me.”

“Got it!” The little demons ran back to their nests, bringing all sorts of items, and together they built a small offering platform.

Old Pine stood in front of the tiny altar, which was about the size of his dining table… But for He Qing, it was quite large.

He stroked his beard and said, “Let’s start with the simplest form of divination, using coins. Heads for good fortune, tails for bad.” He placed a book of spells next to He Qing. “First, recite the incantation.”

He Qing nodded and read the spell aloud. Then he hopped in front of the coin, flipped it high into the sky, and everyone looked up as the coin flew higher and higher, not coming down for a long time.

The little rabbit whispered, “Did he flip it too hard?”

The squirrel said, “Let’s wait a bit.”

After a while, the coin finally fell back down, landing on the altar. He Qing quickly jumped over to look—it was heads.

His heart skipped a beat. The General was probably still alive, but he didn’t know where.

“Does that mean he’s okay?” The squirrel grabbed the coin. “Heads up!”

“That’s great,” said the fox, secretly disappointed.

“It seems he’s alright,” Old Pine mused. He wasn’t familiar with divination, but He Qing’s attempt was likely not wrong.

The little rabbit, seeing how happy everyone was, quietly tucked away his book. He knew that divination done by someone close was usually the least reliable… In a few decades, He Qing would forget about Duan Chenhui anyway. It was all Duan Chenhui’s fault for bringing He Qing to the celestial realm.

As the little rabbit suspected, He Qing would forget many things after a long sleep.

After a few thousand years, He Qing had begun using his roots as legs and arms. Standing on the edge of the heavens, he watched the sunset. “I feel like I remember a black dragon here once. He was very handsome.”

Old Pine immediately said, “No such thing.”

“There haven’t been dragons in this world for a long time, Boss. Let’s go visit the demon realm,” said the white rabbit, who had since grown into a thousand-year-old demon. “I heard there’s a new Demon Lord, very handsome. We should go meet him.”

The now nine-tailed fox grinned. “If the Demon Lord’s as handsome as they say, I’ll make him my servant!”

The squirrel glanced at him and picked He Qing up. “You’ve got nine tails now. Shouldn’t you just dual-cultivate and drain his energy? What do you need a servant for?”

The nine-tailed fox stroked his tails. “I haven’t cultivated dual techniques yet, but I have a manual.”

He Qing’s interest was piqued. “What’s it like? Let me see.”

The fox sneakily pulled out the book and chuckled. “It’s exciting, but don’t tell Old Pine. He’ll say I’m corrupting you.”

The little rabbit immediately squeezed over to take a look. “So old-fashioned. We’re all adults now. What’s wrong with looking?”

He Qing jumped onto the book, wide-eyed at the illustrations of two people. “Is this pollination?”

“Uh… you could say that,” the nine-tailed fox said, thoroughly enjoying the read. “When you bloom, Boss, we’ll catch the most handsome man in the entire cultivation world to help you through your mating season.”

He Qing touched the single, sad leaf on his head. “I don’t know when I’ll ever bloom.”

Everyone looked at him, puzzled. Why had they all grown up, but He Qing was still so small? It was strange.

The little rabbit comforted him. “Maybe after another nap, you’ll grow.”

“True.” He Qing nodded, not pushing himself.

The nine-tailed fox transformed into a dashing young man, holding a folding fan. “Let’s all transform into human form, then head to the demon realm.”

The little rabbit turned into a burly man, while the squirrel became a scholar.

The nine-tailed fox glanced at the little rabbit, finding it hard to look at him. The rabbit was still in denial about his actual delicate appearance. He then turned to He Qing, who also transformed into a young man, about eighteen years old—the age he had been in the mortal world.

The fox couldn’t help but exclaim, “Boss is indeed the most handsome man in all three realms! Here, take this fan and charm the Demon Lord till he’s head over heels!”

“Why do I need to charm the Demon Lord?” He Qing had no interest in the Demon Lord.

The little rabbit handed him the fan. “Because we’re demons! That’s what demons do.”

“Don’t spout nonsense! Who said that?” Suddenly, Old Pine appeared behind them. “Don’t learn bad habits from other demons. We’re proper demons.”

“… Yes,” the group immediately deflated.

Old Pine glanced at He Qing and was still quite satisfied with his appearance. “You can visit the demon realm, but come back after you’re done playing. And don’t bring anyone back with you!”

Old Pine roared. Over the past few thousand years, He Qing and the others had brought back many people! The Ten Thousand Demons Valley had gained a reputation for being increasingly evil! So much so that even righteous and demonic cultivators wanted to exterminate them!

“Got it!” The nine-tailed fox turned and led He Qing into the clouds.

Old Pine stood at the edge of the heavens and shook his head. He looked out toward the boundless ocean. Thousands of years had passed… That Duan Chenhui was probably gone by now. Fortunately, He Qing had taken another long nap and didn’t remember much.