The Cold and Aloof Palace Master's Daily Demon-Slaying Life

The wind howled in my ears, and my vision was quickly swallowed by darkness.

Only the excruciating pain, like being slowly sliced ​​to death, emanating from all parts of her body reminded Xia Zhu that she was still alive.

Why...

Why is this happening...?

I clearly... already possess power three times greater than that of an ordinary Great Perfection of the Purple Mansion realm...

I clearly... already tried so hard...

Why... why... it still doesn't work...

Is the True Lord really... that powerful?

So powerful that it inspires despair...

So powerful... that it even spurs upon people to abandon the thought of catching up...

Master... I'm sorry...

Zhu'er... seems to be breaking her promise...

Before her consciousness completely sank into darkness, in a daze, she seemed to see a pure, untouched white expanse.

-

It was a scene from many, many years ago, long since blurred, yet deeply etched in my memory.

He was a middle-aged man dressed in simple white clothes, with a gentle smile, refined demeanor, but whose eyes held a deep weariness and vicissitude.

He squatted down in front of the dirty little girl who was huddled in the corner, shivering. His figure was backlit by the light streaming in from outside the door. He stretched out his hand, holding a clean, still steaming steamed bun in his palm.

"Are you hungry? Eat up." His voice was soft and pleasant.

The little girl looked at him timidly, then at the steamed bun, and dared not take it.

"Don't be afraid, I'm not a bad person." The man smiled and pushed the steamed bun forward a little further. "From now on, you'll stay with me. With me here, no one will dare to bully you again."

Later she learned that the middle-aged man who saved her, took her in, and had a refined demeanor like a private school teacher was actually the sect leader of the powerful demonic sect, Di Luo Sect, a "great demon" whom everyone outside feared and dreaded.

But in her eyes, he was just her master.

He was the master who would patiently teach her to write her first word...

He was the master who would clap his hands and chuckle when she first began to cultivate her inner energy...

He's the master who would tuck her in during a thunderstorm...

He was also the master who would tap her palm with a ruler, not too hard, when she slacked off during her training...

It was he who painted color into the gray world, showing her what warmth and "home" meant.

The scene shifts, and the warm, gentle time is suddenly tinged with twilight.

It was still the same man in white, only his face had aged considerably, and his hair was completely white, like frost and snow.

He lay on the bed, his breath faint, holding her hand, his eyes still gentle, yet filled with deep guilt and reluctance.

"Zhu'er... Master... I'm afraid... he won't make it..."

"No! Master! You won't die! I'll go find you the supreme medicine! I'll go..." she sobbed uncontrollably.

"Silly child..." The man shook his head weakly, interrupting her, "Master knows his own body... He's already exhausted and beyond saving..."

He looked at her, a last glimmer of light remaining in his cloudy eyes—a kind of obsession.

"Zhu'er...promise your master...one thing...okay...?"

"Master, you have spoken! Your disciple will certainly do it!"

"Protect... the Diluo Sect..." The man held her hand tightly, his knuckles white. "This is... the culmination of my master's life's work... and... your home... Promise me... protect it... no matter... what happens..."

"I promise! Master! I promise you! I will definitely protect the Diluo Sect! I swear on my Dao heart!" She cried and nodded vigorously, making her vow.

"Okay...okay..." The man seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, a relieved smile appearing on his face, but his eyes began to glaze over. "Then...pinky promise..."

He struggled to raise his other hand, extended his little finger, and made a hook gesture.

The movements were somewhat childish, but incredibly earnest.

She paused for a moment, looking at her master's pale, slightly trembling little finger, and her tears flowed even more profusely.

She also reached out her hand, extended her little finger, and carefully hooked it with her master's little finger.

"Pinky promise...hanging...for a hundred years...never to change..." The man was already barely breathing, but he insisted on reciting the childlike vow.

"For a hundred years...a thousand years...ten thousand years...it will never change." She cried, gripping tightly.

"Okay... Master... I believe you..."

The man's hand fell limply to his side.

Eyes slowly closed.

A serene smile lingered at the corners of his mouth, as if he had finally fulfilled his greatest wish.

Master has passed away.

The only light went out.

At that moment, the world before her eyes collapsed from color into silent black and white.

She fell in a black and white world.

It felt like sinking into the deep sea, the pain was suffocating.

-

In a daze, the white-clad phantom that had long since vanished into the river of time seemed to reappear before her fall, with a gentle smile, reaching out to her from high above once more.

It's that familiar pinky promise gesture.

Just like when we first met, just like when we parted ways on my sickbed.

As Xia Zhu lay dying, her consciousness blurred. Almost instinctively, she reached out her hand towards the illusory phantom and made a pinky promise.

The next moment, her little finger crossed the river of time, crossed the boundary between illusion and reality, and hooked with the white-clad figure.

Tears, like a river bursting its banks, silently streamed down her face, instantly covering her beautiful face.

Master...

Everyone calls you a demon...

But you are the only light in my dark world...

You gave me this life...

You built this "home"...

The sole purpose of my existence at this moment is to fulfill your final request.

What was promised...

Even if my body transforms into an Asura and my soul is condemned to the deepest hell, I will still do it!

This is my promise.

My promise, Xia Zhu!

"Don't underestimate me—"

"—The determination to keep your promise—!!!"

"So what if you're a True Lord! Even an ant can kill a dragon!"

A fierce and resolute roar tore through the gale and shook the void.

At the same time, with the last shred of her conscious will, she reached into her bosom and pulled something out.

It was a piece of flesh about the size of an egg, dark red all over, seemingly still wriggling slightly, exuding the most primitive, ancient, and evil aura.

It seemed as if countless tiny tentacles were stretching and contracting on its surface, and a low, chaotic murmur was emanating from the depths of its flesh. Just one glance was enough to unsettle one's soul and stir up demonic thoughts.

This is a piece of flesh and blood that has survived from the era of gods and demons to the present day, spanning hundreds of billions of years, and remains immortal and indestructible.

It is the flesh and blood of an ancient, innate demon.

It is also the most dangerous and forbidden item that the Diluo Sect keeps hidden away.

Swallowing it grants unimaginable power instantly.

However, the body and spirit will also suffer irreversible pollution, deforming towards the abyss of chaos and distortion.

That's a more terrible ending than death.

Looking at the writhing, evil thing in her palm, Xia Zhu's tear-streaked face slowly blossomed into an incredibly calm, even gentle, smile.

That smile held farewell, resolve, and unwavering acceptance.

Then, without hesitation, she put it in her mouth, tilted her head back, and swallowed it!

"Gulp."

The flesh and blood entered the throat, and like a living thing, slid directly into the stomach.

next moment--

"boom!"

An indescribable, chaotic, violent, and extremely twisted terrifying energy, seemingly from the very beginning of creation, exploded from her abdomen like billions of volcanoes erupting simultaneously within her body.

"Disciple Xia Zhu——"

"May this crippled body turn to ashes, may this evil spirit become firewood—"

"Please, Master, come with me—"

"—Zhu Xian!!!"

Xia Zhu tasted the most intense pain in the world, and with the strongest belief of her life, she roared to the sky, as if that departed figure would really come back.

He will come back, stroke her head, wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes, and whisper to her:

"Little Bamboo, be good, don't cry."