“You forget yourselves!” he roared.
“I haven’t even finished asking my questions yet!”

Chai A Si began, “Upstairs I have elders, downstairs I have children…”
He immediately shut his mouth.
For he already felt the stifling constraint of the rules, understanding clearly what kind of pressure Xiong San Si had endured before. The rules of this Q&A game were the most formidable; once the questioning began, daring to speak falsely would result in instant strangulation.

Chai A Si himself was a lone drifter, with no elders above or children below to worry about. His first reaction, of course, was to frantically call out to the Great Ancient God in his heart. But this time, he found that his inner voice was completely silent.

Within this Q&A game, external assistance was forbidden!

Chai A Si originally thought he would be utterly lost, immediately prostrating himself and begging for mercy. But strangely, at this moment, his heart wasn’t so nervous. Perhaps it was because the treasure mirror in his chest was still there, the divine seal in his heart still held power, the Great Ancient God was still by his side… or perhaps it was because he, Chai A Si, was no longer the same as before. Xiong San Si had already crossed a river once, why couldn’t he cross it safely too?

“Otherwise, I’ll ask you first,” he changed tack.

He Hua Ting calmly watched him, ignoring his request, and spoke to himself, “Your cultivation is weak, your aptitude ordinary, your demonic signs unremarkable, and your appearance is quite plain. Yet you have such… confidence.”

He began to question, “Where does your confidence come from?”

With every evaluation that left He Hua Ting’s mouth, Chai A Si’s expression darkened a shade. The Q&A game rules forced him to answer as quickly as possible.

He even let out an angry roar: “Because I am not ordinary!”

“You cannot see my extraordinary qualities, you cannot understand my genius, because your eyes are dim, your mind is twisted, and you have already been abandoned by the era!”

“My innate nature is absolutely top-tier, there is no need to doubt it. I am a chosen demon. The Great Ancient God has granted me a path! A divine path! My inherent path! He acknowledges my infinite future!”

“I’ve only practiced the sword for a few months and can already be among the top ten of Moyun Peak, participating in a gathering of heaven’s chosen like Shen Xiao. When I’ve practiced for three or five years, what difficulty will there be in my name appearing on the Heavenly List?”

“Ten years from now, a hundred years from now!”

“One day I will certainly ascend to a divine position, becoming the demon above demons, the honored among the honored! I am the future strong cultivator who will step upon the absolute peak, the Great Emperor of the new generation of demon race!”

His answer was so arrogant, yet it did not elicit disgust from the various demonic talents present. After all, constantly speaking of being the demon race’s Great Emperor was truly somewhat amusing.

But the ripples of the Ancient Spring, which always emanated from the East, began to stir.

This answer, which sounded utterly absurd and completely unlike the truth, was actually the genuine sentiment from the depths of his heart!

Rather than asking what Chai A Si’s confidence was, it was better to say, a young demon who firmly believed himself to be a chosen demon, who would certainly become the demon race’s Great Emperor in the future, what reason did he have not to be confident?

“You speak of the Great Ancient God, who is he?” He Hua Ting keenly grasped the key point. Chai A Si did not want to reveal the details of the Great Ancient God, but the rules compelled him to answer: “The Great Ancient God is the ancient mountain god of Chi Yun Mountain. Because he was harmed by the evil of the Femaiden, his demonic body collapsed. Only his soul escaped, allowing him to avoid crossing the long river of fate, and his Nascent Soul crossed chaos to arrive in our era.”

Only the Eastern half of the Ancient Spring’s ripples stirred slightly, confirming that what he said was true… In the hearts of the many demons, hearing this was like a surging tide.

After the collapse of his demonic body, he could still cross the long river of fate, still cross chaos with his Nascent Soul, and arrive in this era?

Throughout ancient and modern times, few strong cultivators could achieve this feat! Compared to this, He Hua Ting’s ability to intercept a segment of time was simply not worth mentioning.

Looking at the various points of doubt on Chai A Si’s body at this time, including his ability to accurately discover She Guyu’s whereabouts, including the fact that the true secret of the Shen Xiao place actually fell upon him… everything had an explanation. With a strong cultivator of this caliber present, what kind of scene could not be arranged?

Perhaps, as He Hua Ting had detected, Chai A Si’s actual cultivation was quite weak, but his background was strong enough, stronger than everyone else present!

Could it be that this Chai A Si truly was… some kind of heaven-favored demon, who could one day truly become the Great Emperor of the demon race? Even He Hua Ting, in his original state, subconsciously looked up at the sky, as if dreading some external force. But he only looked for this one glance. The words “true” are not necessarily true. This was the attitude Xiong San Si had towards the two stone tablets with the word “true” earlier. Being able to play with the word “true,” how could He Hua Ting not understand this principle? At this moment, although Chai A Si had poured out his heart’s truth, could he truly know what it meant to cross the long river of fate?

If Chai A Si’s hidden secret was merely that he himself was aware of being a heaven-favored demon, merely that he knew of a certain mysterious strong cultivator… this indeed made it difficult for other participants to feel hostility.

What He Hua Ting needed was a freshness, a “hostility” from one living being towards another living being. With this, he could connect to the Dao principles he controlled, further drive the rules of this Q&A game, and then use this to pry open the power of this Shen Xiao world…

And this “hostility” could not be generated by himself towards someone, or by someone towards himself. The complexity of this process was precisely the key to him still being able to control the situation with the last flicker of a candle flame, scaring a group of Demon Kings like quails.

A single point of force could pry open not just a hundred thousand points of force. If he hadn’t once reached the level of the absolute peak, able to contend with other Heavenly Demons, how could he possibly do such a thing in his current state?

But… should he continue to place the questions on Chai A Si’s body? How would Chai A Si ask back?

After thinking for a moment, He Hua Ting asked, “If one day you truly become the Great Emperor of the demon race, how do you plan to treat these heaven’s chosen who compete with you? One by one, they look down on you. At most, when they don’t know your background, they have a few points of fear towards you, but no one truly looks up to you.”

Jiang Wang, in the world within the mirror, naturally heard all of this. He also tried to communicate with Chai A Si in his heart, but he couldn’t. Perhaps only by jumping out of the world within the mirror could he use his real voice to point Chai A Si in the right direction. So he could only watch from the side. But at this moment, he realized that this was an extremely dangerous question! No matter how He Hua Ting hid his original intentions, his purpose was necessarily embodied in his actions. Looking at He Hua Ting’s previous questions, he always asked about difficult-to-reveal hidden secrets. And if there was a certain commonality in the safe answers of Xiong San Si and Chai A Si, a few points could be summarized. “Having no evil thoughts” was one.

He Hua Ting’s current question was precisely designed to easily incite malice. Losing intention leads to depression, gaining intention leads to arrogance; this is naturally common nature. After all, the world is mostly filled with ordinary people, and few are unfazed by honor or disgrace… Moreover, with a thousand thoughts in one heart, if he extravagantly achieved the absolute peak, how could Chai A Si not have some unbearable delusions? This question cannot be answered carelessly! Of course, he had to speak the truth, but he couldn’t exhaust the truth.

With Chai A Si’s wisdom, could he understand this? Jiang Wang really was worried. No matter what level Chai A Si was questioned to, what hidden secrets he answered, or what outcome he encountered, it would not affect him, the ancient god in the mirror. Because he had already stolen the beams and replaced the pillars, he was no longer within the mirror in Chai A Si’s chest. With the divine seal connected, he could also break the connection at any time.

But could he truly stand by and watch, observing Chai A Si live and die on his own?

What Chai A Si had just said was exactly what he had fabricated casually the first time he met Chai A Si in the hundred thousand great mountains. For his casual nonsense, this little demon actually believed it deeply until now… how stupid!

To protect Chai A Si, what should he do? How could he remind him? The spirit of the ancient god in the mirror moved, and he immediately sent a wisp of power into the Red Heart divine seal, controlling the Red Heart divine seal to jump up and down three times, using this to hint to Chai A Si that he should learn from Xiong San Si and think twice before answering.

“Great Ancient God is telling me to speak boldly and confidently! He’s even urging me three times, telling me not to waste time!”

Chai A Si received the hint from the Great Ancient God and immediately opened his mouth—

“If one day I ascend to the throne, of course, I will appoint them all to high positions!”

He Hua Ting’s withered, wrinkled face simply wanted to contort into a knot. He even somewhat doubted the rules he had designed for the game; could it be that the part of the rules that discerned the truth and falsehood of the heart was invalid?

“Could this be the true heart of you, little fellow?”

“As a demon emperor, you don’t think of turning the tables and acting tyrannically, but rather of appointing them to high positions?”

Chai A Si had already continued, “Along the way, I have seen that Master Yang Yu and Master Shu Jialan are both courageous and responsible, daring to fight, daring to strive, and daring to sacrifice; Lu Qilang is extraordinarily talented and exceptionally intelligent; Xiong San Si is firm, reliable, calm, and brave; Miss Lan Ruo is meticulous and decisive; She Guyu is cautious and low-key; the Taiping Ghost Messenger is steady and has a sense of justice; as well as the other several… they are all quite good!”

He gave a good evaluation to many of the heaven’s chosen who had come to the Shen Xiao gathering. He surnamed Chai and finally summarized, “They all have extraordinary abilities and are the pillars of our demon race. As the Great Emperor, I should exhaust their talents and utilize them!”

As soon as these words were spoken, the Great Ancient God in the world within the mirror almost wanted to clap his hands in praise. Indeed, after getting along for so long, they had cultivated a certain level of tacit understanding. Chai A Si understood the meaning behind his words and answered very well!

Yuan Mengji, who had been classified as “other,” was a little annoyed at not being in the spotlight and not benefiting from karma, and also a little displeased at being looked down upon by the smelly little fellow. He now knew that Chai A Si had a strong cultivator supporting him, and had encountered some mountain god of Chi Yun Mountain, and was not just a simple lucky little demon on his own.

“Could this be the true heart of you, little fellow?”

“As a demon emperor, you don’t think of turning the tables and acting tyrannically, but rather of appointing them to high positions?”

Chai A Si had already continued, “Along the way, I have seen that Master Yang Yu and Master Shu Jialan are both courageous and responsible, daring to fight, daring to strive, and daring to sacrifice; Lu Qilang is extraordinarily talented and exceptionally intelligent; Xiong San Si is firm, reliable, calm, and brave; Miss Lan Ruo is meticulous and decisive; She Guyu is cautious and low-key; the Taiping Ghost Messenger is steady and has a sense of justice; as well as the other several… they are all quite good!”

He gave a good evaluation to many of the heaven’s chosen who had come to the Shen Xiao gathering. He surnamed Chai and finally summarized, “They all have extraordinary abilities and are the pillars of our demon race. As the Great Emperor, I should exhaust their talents and utilize them!”… As soon as these words were spoken, the Great Ancient God in the world within the mirror almost wanted to clap his hands in praise. Indeed, after getting along for so long, they had cultivated a certain level of tacit understanding. Chai A Si understood the meaning behind his words and answered very well!

Yuan Mengji, who had been classified as “other,” was a little annoyed at not being in the spotlight and not benefiting from karma, and also a little displeased at being looked down upon by the smelly little fellow. He now knew that Chai A Si had a strong cultivator supporting him, and had encountered some mountain god of Chi Yun Mountain, and was not just a simple lucky little demon on his own.

But what’s so great about seeking refuge under the wings of a strong cultivator? Can you be like me, Yuan Mengji, and rely on yourself with integrity?

As for He Hua Ting, he was a little annoyed. Of course, he no longer had teeth.

Although his cultivation was only at the Demon Soldier level, and his fighting strength barely approached that of a Demon General, this little demon actually truly saw himself as the Great Emperor of the demon race in the future, and his vision was quite grand!

“Now isn’t it my turn to ask?” Seeing He Hua Ting remain silent for a long time, Chai A Si tentatively said.

As the game time extended, it was inevitable that the game rules would be figured out. He Hua Ting had also been young once, and had also been a later wave pushing against the front wave, stepping on the corpses of his predecessors to achieve fame. He did not underestimate the wisdom of young demons. He realized that he perhaps did not have too many opportunities, and must immediately seize a target!

This Chai A Si didn’t seem too smart, but once pulled into the game, he was a bit difficult to deal with… Whom should he ask next, and what should he ask?

It didn’t take much effort to think about these things. He Hua Ting calmly gazed at Chai A Si: “What do you want to ask?”

Chai A Si didn’t completely understand the rules of this game, and didn’t know what question would be most effective. But he understood one thing: earlier, Xiong San Si hadn’t been interrupted by He Hua Ting when he asked! He would just ask this!

“Well, that…” He opened his mouth and said, “I want to know about this game—” A weak, boneless hand suddenly covered his mouth. Fragrant, soft… oh no, I have Little Qing!

Chai A Si suddenly took a step back, glaring angrily at Zhu Lan Ruo, who had suddenly acted disrespectfully: “Miss, please be self-respecting! I had some ideas about you when I was young and ignorant, but that was only in the past!”

Zhu Lan Ruo, however, was not angry. She calmly said, “We all already understand the rules of this game. You don’t need to waste an opportunity to ask. We are still in great danger. As long as He Hua Ting wins once, he can grasp the origin and directly crush us.”

Chai A Si blinked. “We” are who? How do I not understand?

“Then what should I ask?” The Great Emperor still had to humbly accept advice, and Chai A Si followed suit.

“There’s one rule I haven’t reminded you all of,” He Hua Ting already had a bad premonition, and said faintly, “Questions can only be thought of by yourselves, not sought from external sources.”

Zhu Lan Ruo’s eyes, filled with flowing light and illusory dreams, only said, “Do you count that as a rule?”

Having spent many years in her boudoir, her hidden strength was absolutely not inferior to any of the new kings on the Heavenly List. If she wasn’t completely certain, she wouldn’t give He Hua Ting any opportunity. Even the slightest ripple of realization would lead to her boat overturning and her body being destroyed.

She would not have stepped forward at this time. Since she chose to step forward, she naturally already had a plan… With the help of her ancestor, Zhu Yi, her innate divine ability, Misty Dream Illusion, had already developed very maturely. The ability she used most often was to erase the “illusionary reality” and restart the “misty dream.”

This could change a wrong result and regain a beautiful beginning. This was undoubtedly a top-tier divine ability in any game of contention. And at this moment, she was using another direction of the divine ability—marrying another person’s illusionary reality and connecting it with her own misty dream.

Simply put, it was letting a fellow traveler bear the bad parts and taking control of the beautiful parts herself. Chai A Si’s experience of dangerous trials was the “illusionary reality,” and now she would take control of the “misty dream”!

Because the pain and torment had already been endured, now it must be a beautiful beginning. Indeed, He Hua Ting was now extremely weak, and a small game required nine twists and turns to capture him.

At this moment, the killing intent in He Hua Ting’s eyes almost condensed into substance.