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

Unlike Ara, Shuten-dōji didn't have a backdrop of rotating stars. Instead, wisps of black and white demonic energy slowly swirled around his body. Notably, Shuten-dōji swelled up, and his large gourd also expanded. Already possessing sharp teeth, he looked incredibly ferocious after this expansion.

If Ara possesses the aura of a god descending to earth, then Shuten-dōji is an unparalleled demon king.

Both sides had reached their peak, and a battle could break out at any moment.

Just as the atmosphere had reached this point, a soft, melodious voice came from inside the pavilion.

“If you want to fight, go outside. If you damage my yard, you two will have to restore it to its original state. You can eat only when it's restored, otherwise you can never come into my yard again.”

"Also, whoever causes the most damage will get a spanking."

Inside the pavilion, Bai Qingyu turned a page of a medical book, not even looking up at the two brats' fight, and calmly spoke.

It was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over it, and the atmosphere that had just been building up immediately weakened.

"Understood, Aunt!" Shuten shouted, then quickly disappeared into the courtyard and rushed outside.

Ara was no less formidable than him. He followed Shuten-dōji's figure and disappeared, leaving only the words, "Auntie, I'll be back in a bit."

Shaking his head helplessly, Bai Qingyu felt a slight headache.

Zhen Tian stood behind Bai Qingyu, gently massaging her shoulders and neck. Seeing that the two children had gone out to fight, she looked worried. "Sister, will they be alright?"

"No, their strengths are about the same, nothing unexpected will happen."

"Besides, if we don't fight today, we'll fight sooner or later. It's good to have a fight; it can strengthen our relationship."

"To foster a relationship?" Zhen Tian asked, puzzled.

"Yes, it will foster a closer relationship. There's a saying among humans: 'No fight, no friendship.' Even if they fight now, after a few more rounds, if they encounter an enemy in the future, they will definitely be able to join forces without any psychological pressure."

Bai Qingyu thought this was a good thing. Anyway, they were both her children, and the infighting wouldn't really cause any real conflict. On the contrary, it could help them hone their skills. Both of them were so talented, and they would be able to look after each other when they went out to make their own way in the world.

Unlike Dongqing and Changsheng, one is a righteous sword immortal and the other is a villainous demon swordsman.

"I do miss them a little. I wonder how they are doing."

Bai Qingyu closed the medical book and sighed.

She hadn't seen her two boys for more than half a year, and it would be a lie to say she wasn't worried. Dongqing and Changsheng were the most special boys to her because she had raised them from infancy. From their first words to their stumbling steps, their first "Mama" and their first steps were all so memorable.

“Zhentian, do you know, back then I couldn’t transform yet, I was still in my original form. When I first found Dongqing, she was just a tiny little child.” Bai Qingyu smiled as she gestured with her wings to show how big Dongqing was back then.

"When I rescued her, I put her in my nest. The temperature had dropped by then, so I covered her with my down."

"Not half a day later, I smelled something strange, and then I suddenly realized that the baby needed a diaper change."

“I went to her parents’ bodies, tore off a few pieces of cloth from their bodies and used them as diapers to change Dongqing’s clothes, then took the old diapers to the river to wash them.”

"How did your sister feed her back then?" Zhen Tian asked softly.

Bird demons are not mammals. Even if they were to transform, they still wouldn't produce milk.

“I use deer milk. I caught a doe and have been feeding her that every day.”

"My sister is so smart!"

Amidst the laughter and conversation, Zhen joined in. No one knew where she had caught a poor little snake, gutted it, washed it, and was happily munching on it like a spicy snack.

Since Zhen had grown up eating snakes, Bai Qingyu couldn't say anything to her.

Parasites can't parasitize demons, so let her do whatever she wants.

·

At the same time, Dongqing was practicing swordsmanship at Tianyang Palace.

Her daily routine consisted of sword practice and cultivation, day after day, year after year.

With a professional master to teach her, compared to the time she spent with Bai Qingyu, it can be said that her cultivation level has increased at a rocket-like speed in recent days, a straight and linear improvement.

If Bai Qingyu saw this scene, she would be very gratified. She took the initiative to let go of her two children just to see this.

After finishing his sword practice, Dongqing sat on a swing by the cliff, cupping his face in his hands and gazing at the scenery below.

"Sigh, what is Auntie doing now? Has she adopted any other children? Is she lonely...?"

"I wonder where that idiot Changsheng is, and whether he's keeping his aunt company."

"My aunt probably won't adopt a child now, it's only been half a year..."

"I really wish time could pass quickly so I could go down the mountain to be with my aunt and she wouldn't be so lonely."

In Dongqing's mind, Bai Qingyu was sitting alone in the courtyard, sighing, like a lonely old woman. Her only companion, Sister Zhentian, didn't like to talk much.

"So pitiful."

·

At the same time, Liu Changsheng wiped the blood off the demonic sword.

There were many corpses lying around him, some from the demonic sects and some from righteous sects. Among these dead people were Golden Core experts, but without exception, they all died by his sword.

In terms of growth alone, Dongqing is far inferior to Changsheng. Their strength and cultivation levels may be similar, but the difference is that Changsheng's cultivation level was achieved by fighting his way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

"You can go now, it's safe here."

After saying this, Changsheng left with his sword on his back.

Not far away, a beautiful young woman with wine-red hair stared blankly at Changsheng's departing figure, wanting to raise her hand to stop him, but she was too badly injured.

He quickly took the recovery pill given to him by Changsheng and swallowed it. After recovering, he got up and chased after him, only to find that Changsheng had disappeared.

The girl clutched the porcelain bottle tightly to her chest, her eyes glazed over, her mind filled with Changsheng's image, murmuring to herself, "I will find you..."

This young woman has a high status; to be precise, she is the Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Sect, the number one demonic sect. It is worth mentioning that she also has an ordinary father—the leader of the Heavenly Sect.

Changsheng was unaware that he had caught the eye of the sect leader's own daughter; at that moment, he was listening to the Demon Sword's ramblings.

"Although you killed those people, your move just now was slightly flawed, you know that? You need to correct it!"

"However, you have done very well, far more talented than any of my previous hosts."

"Don't get me wrong, this isn't a compliment, it's just... I just hope you can become even stronger!"

He kept talking nonstop.

The Demon Sword's voice was still that of a young girl, sounding very similar to Bai Qingyu's voice, though it was a bit more "childish" than Bai Qingyu's.

"And another thing, why didn't you kill that woman just now!"

"She doesn't look like a good person at all!"

"Shut up!" Changsheng wrapped the last bit of cloth around the demon sword and carried it on his back.

·

Shuten-dōji and Ara returned from their fight, both bearing minor injuries, nothing serious.

Judging from their equally defiant expressions, they probably ended in a draw.

"Finished fighting?" Bai Qingyu's face showed an expression, and seeing this expression, Shuten subconsciously felt something was wrong.

"Now that the battle is over, I have a task for you two."

"You two team up and catch me a big fish, the one we ate yesterday, the fastest one."

Bai Qingyu was talking about a fish that she herself didn't know the name of. Maybe it was a tuna. In any case, this kind of fish swims very fast. It's impossible for one person to catch it without real strength. If Shuten and Ara want to catch this fish intact, they need to work together.

It wasn't until midday that the two boys finally brought the fish, grumbling and complaining.

After lunch, in the afternoon, Bai Qingyu was reading a medical book when he suddenly remembered something. He snapped the book shut and said to Shuten, who was practicing martial arts in the courtyard, "Shuten, come with me to the mountains. I'm going to gather some herbs and also check on that peach blossom demon you mentioned."

"Shall we go now?"

"Correct."

With nothing much to do in the afternoon, Bai Qingyu and Shuten set off together, asking Zhen Tian to look after the house and promising to be back before dark.

The mountain where the Black Wolf Demon and his companions lived was called Black Mountain. There was no Black Mountain Demon, only a group of demons striving for their ideals. Bai Qingyu had been studying medical books lately and had often gone up the mountain to bother these lesser demons, gathering herbs and giving them pointers on their cultivation.

Bai Qingyu thought that if there was a chance, she could introduce them to Changsheng. Staying in the mountains all the time meant that he was destined not to achieve anything great. The little demons could not follow him, but the black wolf demon could keep Changsheng company.

Bai Qingyu had Shuten carry the basket and walked into the mountains.

"How has your boxing practice been going lately?"

When the topic of boxing came up, Shuten-dōji immediately perked up, exclaiming, "It's excellent, much smoother than before!"

"Then you must keep up the good work! I look forward to the day you become the Demon King."

"Hahaha, don't worry, Auntie. Once I become the Demon King, you will be the highest-ranking demon in the entire world. I... I said it!"

Bai Qingyu chuckled, "Forget it, I still prefer taking care of children."

Speaking of the Demon King, Bai Qingyu was reminded of the fox from the Immortal Tower State.

After such a long time, the demon king suddenly became docile and stopped visiting her dreams. No one knew whether he had lost the power of rebirth after successfully being reborn or had been killed by someone.

Looking at Shuten-dōji beside him, and then thinking of the demon king, Bai Qingyu felt a sense of anticipation. If he could really adopt that fox as well, he wondered what it would be like when the two demon kings met.

"In this world, demons have the lowest status. You are not the same kind of demon as most people know you, but in their eyes you are a demon. Unless you live in seclusion in the deep mountains, countless cultivators will come to attack you if you become a demon king."

"Attack me? Hmph, I'll kill them one by one, and make sure they never leave alive."

"But the other side has a large number of people and is powerful. No matter how strong you are, you are only yourself."

"That's because I'm not strong enough."

Bai Qingyu didn't say much, and went into the mountains, picking some herbs along the way and putting them into the bamboo basket that Shuten was carrying.

Black Mountain isn't a big mountain; people from other villages and towns around it would come to collect herbs. They didn't collect many herbs along the way before arriving at the small valley that Shuten had mentioned.

I didn't see any demons, and the Black Wolf Demon's camp wasn't in this area either.

"It's just ahead," Shuten-dōji said, pointing the way to Haku Qingyu.

He was very familiar with the area; he used to live here, sleeping on the ground and under the sky, and finding a cave to wait for the rain to pass when it rained.

Upon entering the valley, Bai Qingyu didn't see the Peach Blossom Fairy, but instead saw a villager carrying a basket, clinging to the cliff face, trying to pick a medicinal herb of considerable age. He had no rope, only a vine attached to him.

Bai Qingyu and Shuten were both looking up at this guy. Sure enough, he lost his footing and the vines tied around his waist snapped on the spot. The young villager cried out and fell from mid-air.

The height is at least ten meters; a fall from that height would leave one half-dead, if not dead. In this mountain forest, losing the ability to move is no different from death.

Bai Qingyu raised his hand, and a surge of demonic power precisely caught the man, gently setting him down.

The young villager stood on the ground and quickly touched his body to make sure he hadn't been smashed to pieces.