Chapter 504 - Demonic Illusion

Seeing how sad her mother was, Liu Yiyi started to cry too. She carefully stroked her mother’s arm. “No, Mother, I don’t blame you. I know that we were always the weakest and you always felt bad because of the bet. I’m so sorry for being weak. I’m only at the Seventh Passage Stage, so I can’t win against them. I’m so sorry ...”

The two apologized to each other without end.

The Clear Shallows King had never really taken notice of Long Chen. When she discovered his strength and wanted to nurture him, Long Chen was shocked to hear that she wanted him to kill her direct disciple. That made him think that she was cruel, but she had her sad side as well. She loved her daughter, and that was why she had tried to dig out every single bit of potential Long Chen had in him so that he could represent her pavilion.

Long Chen slowly forgave what the Clear Shallows King had done. It was already hard to survive as a woman in this male-dominated world, especially when it came to maintaining an entire pavilion by herself.

When the mother and daughter duo stopped apologizing to themselves, the Clear Shallows King recalled something and looked at Long Chen with excitement. “Jiang Cheng, Liu Yiyi is not strong enough to fight against Ying Shaotian yet. Do you think you can beat him if you train for another month? Yiyi’s happiness is in your hands.”

Long Chen thought about it. “I have confidence when it comes to increased my cultivation level, but Ying Shaotian is the Red Ghost King’s number one disciple, so he definitely has more martial techniques than me. I think I’m lacking a good martial technique to win.”

He had been trying to come up with a way to request the Demonic Illusion technique, and the opportunity had finally presented itself.

“What do you need?” The Clear Shallows King was more than happy to give him any techniques he wanted for the sake of Liu Yiyi. She was initially suspicious of Long Chen, but his performance today had convinced her of both his conviction and potential. Long Chen was a top fighter, but the Red Ghost King was too blind to see that.

Long Chen looked at Liu Yiyi and smiled. “The King-tier combat technique, Demonic Illusion.”

Both she and the Clear Shallows King were slightly taken back. The Clear Shallows King laughed bitterly. “Did you see Yiyi use it? You have good taste. I will let you learn the King-tier combat technique Demonic Illusion, but can you learn it in one month? This is a King-tier we are talking about!”

Long Chen nodded. “Don’t worry, I know my limits. As long as you give it to me, I can solve your problem.”

He had made a daring claim, but both the Clear Shallows King and Liu Yiyi saw the conviction in his eyes and trusted him. “Alright, let’s do as you’ve said. The Demonic Illusion is a technique taught to others through words. Since you and Liu Yiyi will be joining the assessment, you should just live with her so that she can teach you the technique.”

“Uh ...” Both Long Chen and Liu Yiyi felt awkward about that arrangement since they were technically single.

The Clear Shallows King glared at Long Chen. “Jiang Cheng, I need to warn you not to do anything to my daughter, or I will kill you.”

She was being serious.

Long Chen was somewhat at a loss of words. “Don’t worry. Even though your daughter is beautiful, not every man values appearances, right?”

Liu Yiyi was still in a daze when she remembered that Long Chen had called her “flat.” Her face blushed with embarrassment and indignation.

“In that case, I will leave now. I want to enter the third layer of the Demon World. Could you send word to them to let me in?” Long Chen had heard that as long as their masters agreed, direct disciples could enter the third layer.

“You may do so, but why do you want to go there? It’s filled with Category Seven Heaven-tier beasts. Many of them are stronger than Yiyi too. Are you sure you want to go there?”

“Yes, and it won’t take long. I will come back and train with Yiyi once I’m done with my own stuff.” Long Chen only had one reason to go there. Even though his strength had increased a lot, Xiaolang’s cultivation was stuck. He had always been Long Chen’s strongest ally, so Long Chen wanted to increase Xiaolang’s strength too. There were sure to be strong fire-attribute monsters in the third layer, so going there now was a good choice. Xiaolang was only at the Category Four Heaven-tier, so there was not much he could help with right now.

Once Xiaolang became stronger, Long Chen could focus on cultivating the Demonic Illusion until the assessment to obtain the Emperor Flame Pearl.

Long Chen had always been mysterious, but the Clear Shallows King knew that he would never go overboard. She nodded and gave him a letter to enter the third layer of the Demon World. She even gave him a new identity token that signified his new position as her direct disciple.

Once that was done, Long Chen left the pavilion.

Both the Clear Shallows King and Liu Yiyi stood there motionlessly.

“Yiyi, what do you think about Jiang Cheng?” the Clear Shallows King asked after she calmed down.

“I think he’s strong yet mysterious, just like a cloud of fog that we cannot see through. He sometimes surpasses our expectations, and it is difficult to grasp his character.”

The Clear Shallows King nodded. “Do you know what I think of him?”

“Mother, what do you think of him?”

“I think he’s very dangerous. He is covered in thorns, and he only retracts them around the people he cares about the most. If you are together with him, and you can’t control him, you will find yourself hurt by those thorns. Do you understand? Try not to do anything to him, though it seems that you already have a budding idea in your heart ...”

“Huh?” Liu Yiyi was speechless. “Mother, what are you saying? I just got to know him recently. You are thinking too much.”

“Is that so? Hehe, maybe. Just don’t interact with him too much when you teach him the Demonic Illusion.”

“Why don’t you teach him, then?” Liu Yiyi was confused.

“He’s even more guarded against me. If I teach him, there’s a chance everything would fall apart. I need him to save you, but you are different. Your kindness will make him stay, and he will not fight against you.”

𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

“Oh. I think I understand what you mean. You want me to make him like me, but I cannot like him?” Liu Yiyi finally understood what her mother was trying to say.

The Clear Shallows King nodded, her eyes slightly sad. “You are still young and haven’t experienced much of the world, so you don’t know what love is. Those who have their heart moved by love end up suffering the most. They are inflicted with countless wounds.”

“What are you talking about?” Liu Yiyi was slightly unnerved by her mother today.

“You don’t understand? Look at me. Do you not see what’s wrong? Why does everyone have a father but you don’t? Why does no one talk about your father? That’s because no one knows who your father is, and I lost terribly in love.”

The Clear Shallows King sighed and gently pushed Liu Yiyi away from her. “Remember my words. Let him stay for a little longer. You can ignore him once the assessment is over ...”

The Clear Shallows King left the pavilion, leaving only Liu Yiyi staring at her mother’s back.

“My ... father?”

***

Long Chen felt a shiver when he exited the Clear Shallows Pavilion. Someone was staring at him from the left. He used the Soul Swallowing Gaze and immediately saw who it was. He walked over and found Demon General Strongman.

Demon General Strongman was surprised by how easily he had been spotted.

His eyes were filled with hatred as he glared at Long Chen. The Clear Shallows King's actions to protect Long Chen made him feel indignant and frustrated. To think that he, one of the twenty-eight Demon Generals, and one of the four strongest Demon Generals of the Clear Shallows Pavilion, was nowhere near as important as Long Chen!

“How brazen of you to approach me,” Demon General Strongman growled.

“You leaked the news to the Red Ghost King, right?” Long Chen was calm in front of Demon General Strongman.

“And so what if I did? To think that even the Red Ghost King could not kill you. It seems that the Clear Shallows King has decided to coddle you.” Demon General Strongman chuckled.

He had said “coddle” rather than “look after.” Those two had a different meaning altogether. Demon General Strongman was insinuating that the Clear Shallows King loved Long Chen and would do everything to protect him.

I’ve been here for a long time, yet I’ve never heard of anyone mentioning her husband. Is she a widow? But why would Demon General Strongman say it in such a way?

He looked up at Demon General Strongman. “Do you think I’m afraid of telling the Clear Shallows King what you’ve just said?”

Demon General Strongman chuckled. “And so what if she finds out? She was the one who did it in the first place, and now she wants to silence me? Only the Demon Emperor can pass judgment on a Demon General. She never loved herself and gave birth to a baby even before she was married. We don’t even know who impregnated her, and now you want me to stop talking about it? You can tell her whatever you want, but I doubt she would kill me after I’ve worked so hard for the Clear Shallows Pavilion.”

Demon General Strongman was losing it ...