Strange rocks and lava were to be found all over the place. The sky overhead was grey and gloomy.

For the first time in history, the demonic realm was faced with the threat of being completely wiped. There was a flash of green which broke through the darkness in the demonic realm. It possessed an unbeatable strength as it progressed through the demonic realm, defeating every single demon in its wake. Before the demons could even make out what this flash of green was, they were reduced to dust. From the gate, the green figure travelled first toward the east, then straight down toward the west. When it reached the end, it headed north and lastly south. Then, it went back southward… then north…

Er… She was lost!

-_-

She had walked between the south and north of the demonic realm more than ten times. She entered a pit that was a few hundred metres deep to ask the little nightmarish demon for directions. Then, finally, she headed in the right direction toward the Demon King's palace in the middle of the realm.

Thus… ten minutes later.

The demonic Qi was surging within the palace, where tens of thousands of demons usually gathered. The dust cleared, and there were demonic bones scattered all over the city. All of the demons who survived had the same question in mind at that exact moment.

The demons on the streets: Why did it hit me? I was just pa.s.sing by.

The demons guarding the door: Why did it hit me? I was just guarding the door.

The demon army: Why did it hit me? I was just standing guard.

The demon generals: Why did it hit me? I just came to work

…

n.o.body knew the reason.

The demon king that they had always looked up to for being high and mighty, and for never losing a single battle, was now reduced to a mess of tears and mucus on the floor.

"Great… Great Immortal, please stop hitting me… If you keep hitting me, I will dissipate… I know my mistake, I will not dare to do it again… Please let me live!"

"Talk, where is the child?" Shen Ying asked as she pushed down harder on the Demon King's chest with her foot.

"What… what child?" The Demon King's face was twisted in pain. It had not recovered from the ma.s.sive blow it suffered in the head. n.o.body had ever beat it up that badly before; it was practically rolling around in agony.

It had initially come in the capacity of the king of the demonic realm, to put up a fight for the sake of the entire realm. But it was not able to put up a fight at all! It even thought about asking for the help of all the demons around; that was why it suddenly decided to inform ten other Skyfiends to come to its aid…

The ten Skyfiends appeared relatively quickly, then…

They were all destroyed!

All it took was one slap before they collapsed in heaps on the ground. It looked much easier for her than killing mosquitoes. They were still unconscious and the Demon King wondered if they were even alive!

It was so… so scary! Hard to believe that someone scarier than the demons existed in the universe. Up till that moment, the Demon King was still unsure what the other party was looking for.

"The child who just entered the demonic realm a minute ago."

"I… I don't know! Great Immortal!" It had been sleeping soundly in the palace when she suddenly crashed in and began beating him without saying a word. How was he supposed to know about any children? "Great… Great Immortal, just take whatever you want. I really don't know what child you're talking about."

"You really didn't see him?" Shen Ying asked.

"I really did not, Great Immortal!" The Demon King began to cry again. If you were searching for someone, you could have said so earlier! I didn't say I wouldn't help!

"Where did he go?" He clearly entered the realm.

How was it supposed to know? "I could gather all of the demons and help you search for the child?"

"That works too!" Shen Ying said after she pondered the suggestion. Then, she removed her foot from its chest. Remembering what she came here for, she asked, "Will you dare to do this again?"

"No, no, no!" The Demon King shook its head profusely and promised. It still did not dare to get to its feet. Instead, it got to its knees, took in a deep breath and asked fearfully, "Well, Great Immortal, can you please advise me what I did wrong?"

"You plotted to open the gates of the demonic realm and enter the immortal realm. Do you still need me to remind you of this?"

The Demon King looked up in surprise. "The gates of the demonic realm are open?"

"Yes!" Shen Ying nodded. "You didn't know?"

"I didn't!"

Shen Ying: "…"

The Demon King: "…"

Did I… beat the wrong demon up?

(⊙_⊙)

The scene was extremely awkward…

"Heh, well…" Shen Ying cleared her throat. "Let's talk about the child instead.

"…" You're changing the topic, right?

o(╯□╰)o

"He's about this tall and he looks like an eight-year-old. He was wearing blue and white robes." Shen Ying held out her hand around her waist. "I asked the blackies in the area. They said you have the most authority around here and you call the shots. That was why I came to look for you."

What are blackies? Did she meet other demons? They were obviously threatened by her; that was why they directed her to it. They wanted the Demon King to kill her for them. If it found out who directed her to the Demon King's palace, it would definitely not let them off.

"Well, Great Immortal, may I please ask how the child entered the demonic realm? Did he disappear from somewhere?"

"Oh, he got hit by a salted fish that I threw at him."

"…" What the h.e.l.l? "Where's the fish?

"Of course the fish is still…" Shen Ying trailed off. Could it be that the stupid child was still unconscious and lying under the fish? Speaking of which, the fish seemed to be moving slightly when she walked past it after entering the demonic realm.

Her face fell and she immediately disappeared from the palace. Before the demon king could let out a sigh of relief, she suddenly ran back in.

"Great… Great Immortal?" Why did she come back?

"I don't know my way back. You have to bring me there."

"…" Can I say no?

——————

When Ning Zi'an regained his consciousness, he discovered that the air around him was filled with demonic Qi. His body felt like it was being injected all over. There was a maniacal excitement written all over his face that did not befit someone of his age.

"The demonic realm? This is the demonic realm!" Ning Zi'an turned around, eyes widening as he grinned. "Hahaha… this is great! It's really open! There will be a demon invasion, and then…"

He paused mid-sentence, his face suddenly twisting. There was some kind of struggle in his eyes. The demonic scars disappeared from his face, which had a different expression now. His eyes were filled with worry as he looked toward the gates. As if deciding something, he began to wring his hands together.

"Chen Ge, what do you want to do? Stop!" His expression turned ferocious once more, like there was someone else inside of his body that was trying to s.n.a.t.c.h something from himself. "The gates of the demonic realm are open. You cannot close it anymore!"

"This problem arose because of me," he said with a lowered voice "Of course I should end it."

"You're crazy!" Another voice shouted in a panic. "I am you. Killing me will not do any good to you. Don't you want to become stronger? If we become demons, we will become stronger. We will be even stronger than Celestial Emperors. You will be the strongest person in the three realms."

"It was my mistake. I should have gotten rid of you sooner.," the other voice answered. His hands moved even quicker than before.

There was a burst of light, and then everything became dark again. "Hmph! You think that we're still in the immortal realm? You can't control me anymore. The demonic Qi here is more than sufficient - you may not even be my match!"

"I would rather die than become a demon."

"Try and stop me then."

"Hey…" Shen Ying could not help but pat the child who had been speaking to himself the entire time. "You're getting pretty high on your own!" You're so young and you're already so conflicted?

"Who are you?" Ning Zi'an jumped. Shen Ying could not tell which voice was speaking to her now. Ning Zi'an stepped backward and looked up at Shen Ying, confused. Then, she recognised her. "It's you! You're Shen… Shen…"

"…" Was her name so difficult to remember?

-_-