I am Guhuoniao, not an umbrella demon, please do not disturb me.

"But sister, don't overthink it. The matter has been resolved. Once Kiyohime arrives in Tongzhou, we'll have plenty of time to change her. What you said earlier reminded me that if we want Kiyohime to be less miserable, we can let her experience what it's like to be at home."

Bai Qingyu yawned, draped his arm over Zhentian, and said, "After Qingji arrives, we'll continue with your plan, but in the process, we'll help her integrate into our family."

"Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore. Fortunately, nothing like that happened to me. My Zhentian is so well-behaved and obedient; she doesn't play any tricks."

Bai Qingyu glanced at Zhen Tian with a smile, feeling quite emotional.

"Does Sister want me to write her a letter on a paper kite every day to express my feelings?" Zhen Tian wasn't embarrassed by Bai Qingyu's words; instead, she turned the tables on Bai Qingyu.

"Forget it, you didn't see it. The words Anzhen wrote on the kite to Kiyohime were so cheesy. It gave me goosebumps. I don't know where this guy gets so many love words to write. He writes one every day. Doesn't he worry that Kiyohime will get tired of it?"

Bai Qingyu hugged Zhen Tian's slender waist from behind, rested her chin on Zhen Tian's shoulder, gazed at the distant scenery, and even slowed down the speed of their flight.

Today's outing was no different from a vacation; it was still just the two of us, Zhentian and I.

"Speaking of which, Makoto, what exactly do you mean by the Styx Flower that Aoandon mentioned? Is it the Red Spider Lily?"

"I don't know either. Did my sister sense something?"

"Yes, I had a vague feeling when I heard the name, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it."

"Then go and have a look."

"Yes, I'll go in a while. Right now, I just want to go back and be with the children."

"The view below is really nice." Zhen Tian's eyes lit up as he looked at the towering tower that reached into the clouds in Xiantazhou.

"You're looking at that tower? It's said that a great demon is suppressed inside, but I didn't sense anything. It's just an ordinary tower."

"Is human power capable of achieving this?"

"Ordinary humans definitely can't do it, but cultivators can."

There was no one on the Demon Tower. After looking around, I realized that there was no entrance to the Demon Tower at all. However, there was an ancient town below, which looked quite charming from a distance. I might visit it sometime.

They strolled leisurely along the way, taking a full hour to finally reach Tongzhou.

Flying over Tongzhou, Bai Qingyu surveyed the surroundings.

Tongzhou has changed a lot in the past year or so, especially with the arrival of the demons from Nanshan and the surrounding demons, which has revitalized this somewhat desolate city. Demons can be seen everywhere on the streets, and these demons get along very well with humans because they are supervised by the Nanshan clan, who are the demons under Shuten-dōji's command.

Not all demons are ferocious. The idea that demons are savage and bloodthirsty is a stereotype.

There's no way around it. Most demons are born from wild beasts in the mountains, and a small portion are from demon families. Because they are used to the life of wild beasts in the mountains, they find it difficult to adapt to the human world after they are born. At the same time, they have not received any education, so they are simple-minded and physically strong. They don't even know what they have done when they make mistakes.

And there's also the most important reason.

In human society, demons are free from constraints and shackles. In their eyes, how could a group of weak humans possibly control them?

The reason why Tongzhou is so harmonious now is because a demon security team has been added to the human security team, and with the demon king Shuten-dōji speaking out and issuing warnings, the demons in Tongzhou are all more obedient than the last.

Over the past year, the demon race has begun to fully integrate, and Bai Qingyu has seen more than one pair of female demons and scholars walking together on the streets.

At first, a rumor spread from who-knows-where that the Divine Phoenix Goddess was in Tongzhou, and that anyone who came to Tongzhou could receive her protection. As a result, many little monsters came over, only to find that Tongzhou was not quite what they had imagined.

Gradually, in addition to her reputation as the Divine Phoenix Goddess, the slogan of a peaceful world in Tongzhou also spread. Humans and demons coexisted, and there was no need to worry about being killed on the road or about food. As long as they were willing to work and not harm people, and had no karmic burdens, demons of all sizes could come to Tongzhou and gain the recognition of heaven and earth.

Upon hearing that it could gain the approval of heaven and earth, another group of monsters were attracted.

Many monsters also yearn for peace, but the world is too cruel, leaving them with no other choice. Tongzhou thus becomes their only chance.

"Whether humans and demons can coexist, Tianyang Palace is playing a very big game."

Bai Qingyu suddenly sighed, drawing Zhen Tian's attention.

"What's wrong, sister?"

"I suddenly realized that Tongzhou is the testing ground of Tianyang Palace. Those old Taoist priests are using my reputation to attract all the demons in the world, just to see if Tongzhou can achieve coexistence between humans and demons."

Bai Qingyu could see through Tianyang Palace's little tricks, and of course, Tianyang Palace didn't try to hide them at all.

"Never mind, let them be."

Bai Qingyu didn't want to get involved and led Zhen Tian into the courtyard.

At home, the children were still playing happily. Bai Qingyu did not restrict them from going out, but they themselves did not want to go out.

"aunt!"

Upon seeing Bai Qingyu return, Shuten, who was sitting at the table drinking, quickly stood up.

"Oh, you're back. Have you finished dealing with things in Nanshan?" Bai Qingyu looked at the giant demon who was almost two heads taller than her.

She is nearly 1.7 meters tall, while Shuten-dōji is at least 1.9 meters tall, if not 2 meters. In particular, his explosive muscles make a great visual impact.

"It's all taken care of. Nothing much has happened in Nanshan lately." Shuten scratched the back of his head. "By the way, Aunt, I've found some clues about the demon named Onikiri that you asked me to find."

Upon hearing the name Onikiri, Bai Qingyu immediately became interested. "Oh? Where is it?"

“My subordinate said that a demon saw him in Shangchuan Prefecture. I’m not sure if it’s him or not, but he looks very much like the one my aunt described, especially those three knives. There’s no mistake.”

“Shangchuan Prefecture…” Bai Qingyu pondered for a moment.

If I remember correctly, when Aobozu left, she was also told to go to Shangchuan Prefecture to take a look, where the so-called Styx Flower is located.

"Besides Onikiri, are there any other clues in Kamikawa Prefecture? For example, a flower that has become a spirit."

Shuten looked puzzled upon hearing this. He thought about it carefully for a moment, then shook his head.

"No, I've never heard of any flower that has become a spirit. However, Shangchuan Prefecture has indeed been in chaos lately. A righteous sect and a demonic sect are fighting over there for some unknown reason, and the situation is becoming increasingly complicated."

After finishing speaking, Shuten asked, "Does Aunt want to go to Kamikawa Prefecture? I can gather information."

"I'll probably be going to Shangchuan Prefecture. I'll definitely need to trouble you with some intelligence."

"It's alright, it's alright. I have demons from all over the country under my command. I can just ask around for information about Shangchuan Prefecture."

"Alright, thank you for your help. Now, do me one more thing: send a female demon to the largest courtyard on the east side of Shannan Village in Xianta Prefecture and have her deliver food to the people inside regularly. Remember, the owner of that courtyard is named Kiyohime."

"Okay, I'll make arrangements when I get back."

"Kiyohime is practically your sister now. I'll bring her back in six months. She's a pitiful child."

As she spoke, Bai Qingyu came to Xiao Yao and Yu Zhuan Jin's side and saw them playing with two foxes. Xiao Yao had the pitiful Tamamo-no-Mae in her hands, while Yu Zhuan Jin had her own spirit fox named Xiao Li.

Two little girls were putting makeup on the fox. It was one of Miketsu's little tanuki, who was always a punching bag. When she grew up, she might become Miketsu's mount. But what surprised Bai Qingyu was Tamamo-no-Mae.

Given his temperament, it's astonishing that he could tolerate two little girls drawing on his face and tying five big bows to his tail.

Tamamo-no-Mae was, after all, a former demon king. Even after being reborn, she retained some of her memories; she was still the same person.

She's so aloof to her aunt; I never expected her to have this side to her.

Tamamo-no-Mae and Bai Qingyu locked eyes. Bai Qingyu's big, curved eyes seemed to see through everything. Instantly, a layer of demonic fire ignited on his body. When the demonic fire disappeared, his makeup and the bow on his tail had vanished. He even coughed, pretending that nothing had happened.

Just as Bai Qingyu's smile remained unchanged, Tamamo-no-Mae spoke up, "Aunt, take a look at what Xiaoyao and the others are holding."

After saying that, he moved with extreme agility, flipping onto a tree branch and flicking his five demon tails to the rooftop.

When Bai Qingyu saw what Xiao Yao and Yu Zhuan Jin were holding, her smile froze and her expression became rigid.

Xiao Yao and Yu Zhuan Jin lowered their heads as if remembering something, and quickly hid what they were holding behind their backs, their small faces full of ingratiating smiles, "Hehehe."

The things they were holding were rouge and powder from Bai Qingyu's room, which were used to apply makeup to Tamamo-no-Mae and Kotanuki.

Bai Qingyu doesn't usually use rouge or face powder; aside from her lips, she rarely applies these things to her face.

However, just because we don't use these things regularly doesn't mean we'll never need them.

Most importantly, she made all of these herself, not those inferior products sold outside. All the materials used were of the highest grade. To prevent spoilage, she even solidified her spiritual energy and ground it into powder before adding it to the products.

Leaving aside the spiritual powder, even the ordinary ingredients were the rarest medicinal herbs she found in the mountains.

"Bai Yaoyao! Imperial Cuisine!"

A moment later, the two little monsters were facing the wall in repentance, their little mouths pouting, looking extremely aggrieved.

Facing the wall was just one of the punishments; they had each been spanked ten times on the buttocks earlier.

·

Ten days later.

No more trouble came knocking. Bai Qingyu went out every day to teach the children in the private school. The spiritual power brought by teaching these children, along with the doubled incense offerings in the city, made her strength improve incredibly quickly. She hardly needed to cultivate, and her cultivation level advanced by leaps and bounds every day.

This gave Bai Qingyu a completely new understanding of the power of mortals.

Mortals are not the weakest beings. When their will is united, they can slay Buddhas and gods, and vanquish demons and monsters.

Bai Qingyu had wondered before whether the so-called Heavenly Dao really existed.

Or could the essence of this thing be the will of countless people in the world?

This also explains why Heaven favors humanity, because it is inherently in the will of humanity. As for the tribulation lightning, that probably belongs to the category of "rules," similar to karma and merit.

Karmic obstacles and merits have always existed. These two terms are said to have originated from Buddhism and eventually spread throughout the world, where everyone uses them.

Bai Qingyu stood in the courtyard, dressed in a white outfit and with her hair tied in a neat single ponytail, looking dashing and heroic.

Without using the power of Xizhou, she possesses the strength of the Refining Void stage, which is just above the Integration and Mahayana stages, essentially placing her at the top of this world. With the power of Xizhou, her strength is conservatively estimated to reach the late Integration and early Mahayana stages; with such power, she would no longer need to fear anyone in the world.

"Tamamo-no-Mae, let's go, let's go to Kamikawa Prefecture."

As soon as she finished speaking, Tamamo-no-Mae jumped down from the roof, shrunk her body, and landed on Bai Qingyu's shoulder.

He is actually capable of transforming into human form now, but he is unwilling to do so for some reason.

He has a story, and it's not simple. You can tell from his personality. He's usually aloof and cold, but he's infinitely tolerant of children. This kind of feeling is different from the feelings he has for children.

He could often be seen looking up at the full moon in the sky. Bai Qingyu wondered if he had once had a beloved wife and lovely children.

Therefore, something happened during the process that caused him to lose his family, which led to the demon fire burning down the capital.

Bai Qingyu didn't ask any more questions about this matter, worried that it might touch on Tamamo-no-Mae's emotional wounds.

"Shōten, Shuten, I'll leave the house to you for now. I'll be back before dark."

Bai Qingyu greeted them, then leaped into the sky and disappeared from the children's sight. This time, she wasn't worried at all about leaving. With Shuten-dōji at home, nothing unexpected would happen; Shuten-dōji was stronger than her.

In the sky, Bai Qingyu took a step that covered hundreds of meters, and the scenery beneath her feet rushed past.

This time, she went to Shangchuan Prefecture for the matter of Onikiri, and also to see what the so-called Styx Flower really was.

If it's a spider lily, then that's interesting.

"Tamamo-no-Mae, do you think reincarnation and the underworld really exist in this world?"

The Demon Book clearly states that the Red Spider Lily is a creature of the underworld, a flower of life and death that blooms on the banks of the River of Oblivion.