Fox Demon: Why did your brother beat you up every day at the beginning of the month?

Rongrong and Haoyang saw the old Poison Emperor out of the palace gate. During this time, the group discussed whether the Southern Kingdom should submit to the emperor or surrender. Of course, the result was the same for both.

Haoyang and Rongrong both knew that neither of these options was possible. The Southern Poison King only said that to keep the current behemoth, Tushan, in check.

Having been the Poison King for ten thousand years, a leader of a region, even if he knew that the other party was invincible, he would not easily hand over the entire Southern Kingdom. Once you are tainted by power, it is very difficult to give it up.

Just like when you go from being the master of a household to an outsider, once you relinquish power, you become nothing and subject to others. The ministers are not so badly affected, but the rulers of the Southern Kingdom suffer the most.

"Hahaha, then there's no need to see me off, Master Dao and Third Master. I'll personally deal with the culprit when the time comes!"

The Poison King's old face was full of smiles as he clasped his hands in a bow.

"Then it's up to the Poison King. If all else fails, I'll step in..."

"Haha, never mind..."

The Poison King wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, his lips twitched violently, and he looked down at the hall below with his hands behind his back.

"Five Poison Protectors, hurry up and pay your respects to this Taoist master from Tushan!"

The Poison King looked at the five people standing dumbfounded below the hall—Poison Child, Poison Old Man, Poison Old Woman, Poison Lady, and Poison Young Master—and quickly shouted in a cold voice. He was now convinced of Dongfang Haoyang's terrifying strength.

He initially thought the other party was only at the level of a Great Demon Emperor, and that his reputation was all hype. But to be honest, seeing is believing. Upon meeting him, he was absolutely certain that the other party's strength was definitely on par with, or even higher than, that of the Third Young Master.

The Poison King dared not neglect Dongfang Haoyang in the slightest, fearing that the latter might casually annihilate the Southern Kingdom if he was in a bad mood...

"Greetings, Daoist Tushan!"

The five people knelt on one knee and bowed in unison, while Old Madam Gai bowed slightly with her hands clasped in a gesture of respect.

The Poison Child next to the Poisonous Lady, wearing a centipede mask on his forehead, had a flash of golden light in his eyes. He scratched his cheek restlessly and grinned at Dongfang Haoyang.

Dongfang Haoyang nodded slightly, raised his hand in a fist salute in return, and after his gaze swept over the five people, his pupils suddenly dilated and his eyes fixed on the Poison Child who was grinning at him.

"Um, Daoist, what's wrong?"

"It's alright. That Poison Child is quite experienced. I'd like to give him a few pointers. You may all leave now."

Upon hearing this, the Poisonous Lady's expression tightened, and the bright red veil on her head fluttered slightly, revealing her beautiful face. She couldn't help but grip the Poisonous Boy's sleeve tightly.

Panda-like Old Lady quickly grabbed Poisonous Lady's hand, signaling her to let go.

After a moment of daze, Poison Lady noticed the dangerous gazes of Poison King and the others, and only then did she come to her senses and reluctantly let go of their hands.

Her husband, the Poison Master, was sealed away by the mysterious Masked Sword Immortal (Wang Quan Ba ​​Ye) many years ago, and the Poison Child is the spiritual support she picked up.

Her subconscious action just now was out of fear that Dongfang Haoyang would harm her last emotional support.

"Well then, we old folks will take our leave... But young master, please keep things separate and don't take your anger out on others."

"Are you teaching me how to do things?"

"No, I wouldn't dare!"

Seeing the cold look in Dongfang Haoyang's golden eyes, the Poison King broke out in a cold sweat.

The Five Poisons Protector and Old Lady Gai also sensed the chilling killing intent emanating from Dongfang Haoyang! Instantly, they were stunned into place, not daring to even breathe.

Fearing that Dongfang Haoyang would unleash a massacre and blame them, the people of the South could only sacrifice themselves to protect their leader. They dared not plead for mercy and followed the Tiger Might Army slowly down the mountain.

"Don't worry, I'm just asking a couple of questions, I won't do anything to him."

Hearing the voice behind her, Poison Lady breathed a sigh of relief. She knew that the Daoist Master of Tushan, Dongfang Haoyang, was known for his benevolence and righteousness and placed great importance on keeping his promises. If he said that, then Poison Boy was basically safe...

"What's wrong, Haoyang? Why are you so angry?"

Tu Shan Rongrong gently took Dongfang Haoyang's hand, tilted her head slightly, and her emerald green eyes were full of great doubt.

She knew that with Haoyang's temperament, even if he was angry, he would never be so rude as to disrespect her. So there was only one possibility left: the other party had crossed a line...

Dongfang Haoyang met the worried gaze and smiled slightly.

"Rongrong, I need to discuss some things with that person later. Please wait for me inside the palace."

"OK."

Rongrong nodded in the end, then ran into the main hall and ordered Chu Batian to lead all the Tiger Might Army soldiers into the palace, forbidding anyone from coming out.

Because Rongrong had already sensed something when Haoyang sent her away. Under normal circumstances, even if it was a top secret matter, Haoyang would never have let her leave.

Letting her leave would mean either fighting or doing something else dangerous.

"As expected of Rongrong, she's as clever as ever..."

After sighing that Rongrong understood him best, Dongfang Haoyang stood with his hands behind his back. Strange phenomena began to appear in the sky. The entire Tushan, no, the space of this world, began to gradually appear to flow.

Dongfang Haoyang's aura also suddenly rose to the peak of the Void Realm.

He glanced at the dazed-looking Poison Child below the stage and sneered.

"These demons from the Southern Kingdom... Ah well, their cultivation isn't high enough. Even if it were, they might not be able to see through your subtle techniques..."

"Third Young Master!"

"Huh? Who's the Third Young Master? But judging from the name, he must be very handsome..."

Swish!

The Purple Heaven Divine Lightning, which blotted out the sky and connected heaven and earth, struck down fiercely, but was then caught by Dongfang Haoyang. He drew out the purple lightning sword and pointed it at the Poison Child below. Haoyang's aura further increased, reaching the half-step Mahayana realm!

"That's not a funny joke. Explain your purpose! Otherwise, I'll erase your clone again!"

"Hey! I'm not here to fight!"

Seeing several bolts of purple lightning descend from the sky, blasting large, dark holes into the ground around him, Poison Child's lips twitched violently a few times. He quickly raised his hands to indicate that he posed no threat.

"My powerful clone has already been defeated by you, and my main body has fallen into a deep sleep. This clone of mine is at most at the Nascent Soul stage."

"You, an old monster in the early stage of Mahayana, can't possibly be unable to tolerate my mere Nascent Soul stage avatar, can you?"

After the Poison Child finished speaking, his eyes gleamed with golden light. He shrugged, a relaxed smile on his face, and sat cross-legged on the ground.

"What's more, I also heard from my sister who loves to slack off that she and your wife, even that green-haired fox demon, signed a life-or-death oath with the Heavenly Dao."

"If I were to take action now, the first person to die would be my only sister. Are you still not at ease?"

Upon hearing this, Dongfang Haoyang coughed lightly twice, his face slightly flushed, and turned his face away.

"I understand... and she's not... my wife yet... we haven't had our wedding ceremony..."

"Hey! That's not the point! It's that I can't bring myself to harm the creatures of Tushan!"

Poison Child (Third Young Master) is speechless. Was this guy even listening to him?! Is it really necessary to be so bothered by a title?!

"The point is, I'm harmless now, completely harmless. With so many restrictions, you don't need to be so wary of me."

Dongfang Haoyang narrowed his eyes as he looked at the Poison Child (Third Young Master). After confirming that the other party was not lying, he walked over and sat down cross-legged.

He sensed that the other party's strength was only at the early stage of the Great Demon Emperor realm, and that there was no hostility whatsoever.

Dongfang Haoyang watched as the Third Young Master transformed into a child, dressed in southern attire, and recalled the scene of the Poisonous Lady protecting him...

Haoyang heard that Poisonous Lady's husband had apparently been killed, and that's why the Third Young Master had turned out like this...

"When did you start liking widows?"

Dongfang Haoyang looked at the Third Young Master with a puzzled expression.

"Damn it! You're the one who likes to sleep with widows!"

Swish! A sharp sword made of purple lightning was placed against the Poison Child's neck. He was certain that the sword's owner would kill him in 0.001 seconds...

Cough cough, of course that's just a fantasy.

"Hey! Aren't you supposed to be the most reasonable person? Why did you resort to violence without warning? I only have this one clone left, and there are still many things I haven't told you yet. You'd better think it over."

Cold sweat immediately broke out on the forehead of the Third Young Master inside the Poison Child's body; this was the last clone he had left outside.

He quickly tried to dissuade him and attempted to use Haoyang's ability to reason to buy himself a chance to survive.

Hahahahaha.

Unexpectedly, Dongfang Haoyang laughed loudly, almost to the point of tears, and plunged the Purple Thunder Sword into the ground.

Now he was certain that the Third Young Master hadn't secretly pulled any tricks. Given his personality, if he could win, he certainly wouldn't have shown such an embarrassing state. What he was laughing at was that the once strongest man in the world was actually afraid of death!

To protect this clone, he lowered himself so much, trying to appease him with words, even though he didn't even blink when killing other obstacles. His double standards are extreme.

"So you're afraid of death too, Third Young Master. I thought you never regretted destroying everything."

The Third Young Master stared at the ground in silence for a moment, then stopped hiding and the Poison Child's body collapsed limply to the ground.

Upon closer inspection, Haoyang discovered it was actually a wooden puppet.

Golden light appeared, and the Oscar statuette materialized. Then, the statuette plopped down on the ground, looked up at the sky, and slowly sighed.

"Oh dear... how could I not regret it, but there's nothing I can do about it..."

The third young master's voice also changed from a childish tone to a vibrato similar to that of a system.

Dongfang Haoyang sat cross-legged. He really wanted to learn some secrets and history about this world from the Third Young Master, and to collect some information that could be used. So he did not interrupt the Third Young Master.

"The Dragon Clan once, the Dongfang Family once, failure after failure—I'm long tired of it!"

"Tens of thousands of years later, and then tens of thousands of years later, in the end I can only destroy again and again in order to find a new breakthrough and resist the enemy in the cave in the future."

"Heh, without guidance, how do you know if the countless lives you've killed include the breakthrough you speak of?"

"Weren't you also beaten down by me, the so-called 'failure,' to the point that you could only try to calm me down through conversation?"

It's like how AI can never create Li Bai's absolutely beautiful poem: "There will be a time when the wind will break the waves, and I will set sail straight to the vast sea."

Life itself is full of romantic uncertainty; no one knows what the other person's future will be like.

We can only guide them; if we forcibly intervene, although we may make up for their innate deficiencies, we will also stifle their unlimited future.

The third young master didn't reply, but simply held his head and looked up at the azure sky. His golden eyes stared at the white clouds drifting in the wind, and trembled slightly.

His silence seemed to indicate his agreement with Dongfang Haoyang's words.

Originally, they were just insignificant ants they looked down upon, but in such a short time, they've grown into people to whom even they have to rely on this kind of communication to protect Aolai Kingdom and that last piece of pure land that belongs to them...

If we had spoken to this kid on equal terms from the beginning, would things have turned out differently...?

After thinking for a moment, the third young master shook his head. That was simply impossible…

At that moment, someone nudged the Third Young Master's shoulder.

"Why."

"Why!"

"What are you doing! You're right! Okay, I regret it too, but I'm trying to protect this world in my own way. At worst, we'll have a one-on-one duel when my main body comes out of seclusion! I'll accept dying at your hands then!"

Dongfang Haoyang looked at the hysterical Oscar statuette, scratched his cheek, and wondered if this guy was really that repressed. But judging from the words he said under his furious appearance, he could indeed detect a bit of humanity in him.

The third young master stared blankly at the golden wine cup handed to him. The warm wine inside the cup had a wonderful aroma that wafted into his nostrils.

"This is the wine from Ya'er's wine jug. She forbids me from giving it to anyone else, but I want to use it to fight for a better future for this world, for the people I love, and for those who love me..."

"However, the premise is that I will never forgive the heinous crimes you have committed, and I believe the countless innocent people who died at your hands will also not forgive you. When the time comes to judge you, I will show no mercy!"

"But until then, let's join forces."