ARLQLCC chapter 33

On the arena , Yun Xicheng stood with his sword in hand. Opposite him was a disciple from Zhehua Valley. The two bowed to each other, and as soon as the signal to begin was given, they moved at once.

Most of the disciples watching were in the early Golden Core stage. Some disciples who had not drawn a match that morning had also gotten up early just to watch Yun Xicheng’s first battle.

As one of the top disciples among those in the Golden Core realm, Yun Xicheng was only one step away from shattering his Golden Core and forming a Nascent Soul. His matches were highly instructive for many disciples of the same realm, and both the arena and spectator stands were packed.

Yun Xicheng moved quickly. Although he liked to zone out during classes on formations and talismans, every step he had taken on the path of the sword was steady and solid. The spirit sword in his hand had been forged by the Artifact Refining Elder using the Yunxian Sect’s treasured Deep-Sea Silver Mother, personally entrusted by Sect Master Yun, and refined for forty-nine full days before it was completed.

The disciple from Zhehua Valley was one minor realm lower than Yun Xicheng. Perhaps he also knew he was unlikely to win, so he approached the fight entirely as a sparring match. The two exchanged blows back and forth, sword light flashing sharply wherever they went.

Both cultivators on stage were outstanding among those of the same realm. Although they stopped short of truly injuring each other, their movements were so fast that afterimages blurred in the air, leaving many lower-realm disciples dazzled.

Yan Shao and Yue He, sitting beside Su Ji, watched intently, afraid to miss even a single move.

Su Ji was already in the middle stage of Soul Transformation. In his eyes, a Golden Core battle was like watching something in slow motion. Every movement was crystal clear. He knew Yun Xicheng’s opponent was no match for him, so he watched quite casually. He even took out a handful of melon seeds from his storage artifact and cracked them while watching.

The sound of cracking melon seeds was not loud, but Chu Zhaoye, who had been asleep, heard it clearly.

Still drowsy, he raised his head. The first thing he saw was Su Ji’s delicate, well-defined jawline, and a melon seed shell that looked like it was about to fall onto his head before being whisked away by a spatial talisman at the last moment.

Did this Demon King fall asleep again?

Chu Zhaoye lay back down. Looking at Yun Xicheng, who had been eating breakfast just moments ago and was now already fighting, he realized he had no memory at all of the journey to the martial arena.

The spiritual energy contained in ten Spirit-Replenishing Pills was simply too abundant. His internal injuries had suddenly been flooded with so much spiritual energy that his true body had fallen into sleep, allowing his dantian to devote more energy to healing.

Ordinarily, one night of deep sleep would have been enough for Chu Zhaoye. But after breakfast, once the food made by Su Ji entered his stomach, the mysterious power it carried began further aiding the healing of his injuries. Not long after breakfast, Chu Zhaoye had fallen deeply asleep again.

Although he still felt somewhat drowsy after waking up, he could not keep sleeping forever.

He let out a listless yawn, which immediately attracted Su Ji’s attention.

The battle on stage was nearing its end. As expected, Yun Xicheng defeated the disciple from Zhehua Valley and stepped down from the stage, beaming amid the cheers.

The next Golden Core match was Yun Che’s. Su Ji looked toward the preparation area and called out, “Good luck!” He then saw Yun Che talking to Yun Xicheng, who had just finished his match.

He stopped eating melon seeds and lifted Chu Zhaoye to his chest. Looking at the kitten’s sleepy eyes, he asked worriedly, “Ma Tuan, were you frightened yesterday? Why are you still sleepy after sleeping so long?”

Seeing the concern on his face, Chu Zhaoye felt rather guilty. He could not admit that he had absorbed ten Spirit-Replenishing Pills at once, so he wrote in Su Ji’s palm:

When our demon race is growing, we get sleepy.

“…” Su Ji looked suspiciously at the kitten in his arms. “Really…?”

Chu Zhaoye felt even guiltier and hurriedly nodded several times. Pretending to focus on the battle on arena, he quickly turned his head away.

At the very moment he turned his head, a string of hushed gasps sounded from behind them, followed by several gazes turning toward Su Ji.

As a Soul Transformation cultivator, Su Ji’s senses were sharp. He turned and saw Tu Yan wearing his highly recognizable mask as he skillfully and naturally sat down beside him.

Completely treating himself as one of their own.

The moment Tu Yan sat down, he quickly glanced at Chu Zhaoye, who was being lectured by Su Ji. One look at the guilt on his face and Tu Yan immediately understood the cause, nearly failing to hold back his laughter.

Su Ji turned in confusion and noticed that the doors of the arena hall had opened. Tu Yan had entered from there and made his way to the spectator stands.

He arrived openly and sat right beside Su Ji in full view of all the disciples, as if telling everyone that he and Su Ji were acquainted.

This action invisibly gave everyone the impression that Su Ji was under the protection of the demon race. For a time, disciples from every sect had different thoughts and became even more wary of Su Ji’s mysterious background, and their respect for him increasing further.

He was close to the two young sect masters, carefully looked after by the direct disciple of Sword Venerable, and now even the Demon Venerable had personally appeared, confirming the rumors that Su Ji had ties to the demon race.

Some people even speculated that the demon race had realized the cooks of the cultivation world were embarrassingly bad, and had deliberately established the Linggu Mountain cafeteria as a new business venture to make money.

The Demon Venerable escorting Su Ji back to his room last night and being the last to leave was, in their eyes, proof that they had been discussing how much money the dining hall had earned.

All kinds of absurd theories emerged endlessly, but no one actually dared to ask Su Ji directly.

Once Tu Yan arrived, the entire arena quieted down. On the surface, everyone seemed to be watching the match, but out of the corners of their eyes, they kept glancing toward Su Ji.

Su Ji did not care much about other people’s speculation. What he cared about was why the highly esteemed Demon Venerable, after meeting him only once, regarded him differently.

He was even willing to let the entire cultivation world speculate that Su Ji had truly received the demon race’s protection.

Facing the Demon Venerable whom everyone revered and even feared, Su Ji asked straightforwardly, “Demon Lord Tu, why are you here again?”

Tu Yan: “…”

The eavesdropping disciples: “…”

Wow, just from that question, you can tell they’re close!

Under the burning gaze of his boss, Tu Yan said, “Th-this… I was worried your injuries hadn’t fully healed, so I came to check on you.”

The eavesdropping disciples: Wow! Oh!

Su Ji said, “…The pill worked very well. I’ve fully recovered. Thank you for your concern.”

The eavesdropping disciples: He even gave him pills! That confirms it!

As they spoke, the probing gazes around them grew even bolder. Tu Yan glanced around, and within a second, everyone’s eyes snapped away.

He set up a soundproof barrier, and only then did the two resume talking.

Su Ji finally asked the question that had been buried in his heart all along—

“Demon Lord Tu, why do you keep staring at my cat?”

Tu Yan: “…”

Tu Yan laughed awkwardly. “I… I just… it’s my first time seeing such a… such a round cat. It’s… it’s quite cute, haha… hahaha…”

The look in Su Ji’s eyes instantly turned strange.

He had never expected that a mighty Demon Venerable who could destroy heaven and earth with a wave of his hand would actually like cute things.

Tu Yan could practically guess what Su Ji was thinking about him, but in order to defend his boss’s dignity, sacrificing his own image was nothing!

Silence hung between them for a moment. Then Su Ji seemed to remember something. He lifted Chu Zhaoye higher, and that round cat face appeared directly in front of Tu Yan.

One man and one cat locked eyes.

Tu Yan nearly burst into tears.

Help! Being caught sneaking glances was bad enough, but staring directly into the boss’s handsome cat face might actually get him killed!

His heart was in turmoil, but outwardly he maintained a composed appearance. At least, the part of his mouth not covered by the mask remained perfectly still, and Su Ji noticed nothing unusual.

Holding the kitten under its forelegs, Su Ji stretched the round cat into a long cat and asked with concern, “Demon Lord Tu, Ma Tuan has been unusually sleepy since this morning. I just asked if he was feeling unwell, and he said that when the demon race is growing, this happens. You’re also from the demon race—is that true? Does he need to see a physician?”

The moment those words fell, Chu Zhaoye closed his eyes in despair.

If Tu Yan had not suddenly appeared, this topic would already have been forgotten.

Now his lifelong reputation was being utterly ruined right in front of his trusted subordinate.

A several-thousand-year-old Tribulation-realm great demon, who secretly ate pills and then guiltily lied that he was still growing.

If this got out, it would become a joke across the continent for a hundred years.

For example, Tu Yan could not hold it in and let out a “pfft” under Chu Zhaoye’s mortified glare.

Several thousand years old and still growing—he had never heard anything so absurd.

After laughing once, he did not dare laugh again. Though he was already dying of amusement inside, he still had to pretend he had heard nothing.

Under Chu Zhaoye’s death stare, Tu Yan answered in a serious and solemn tone.

“Yes. When our demon race is growing, we really do sleep every day.”

Author’s Note:

Tu Yan: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!

Chu Zhaoye: Sharpening the knife and preparing to silence witnesses.

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