When the Tsundere Rival Turns Into a Cat - Chapter 32

Neither Li Xingcan nor Jiang Qingyue understood the situation regarding the demon race, let alone what this meant. Moreover, they could do nothing but watch helplessly.

The mist-like green hue grew increasingly dense, slowly descending. Jiang Qingyue’s nose twitched slightly, and her eyes sharpened—she realized what this was.

The familiar, rich spiritual energy was identical to the condensed spiritual bead her mother had given her for cultivation. And the source of that bead’s energy was none other than the demon core.

“You’re trying to steal the demon core?!”

She stared incredulously at Ding Pei and Zheng Wenbai. Jiang Qingyue knew that any treasure capable of reviving the dead, which they had gone to such lengths to obtain, must be invaluable. But she never imagined their audacity would stretch this far.

“Figured it out? No matter. We’re about to succeed anyway.” Zheng Wenbai remained unperturbed, even smiling at Jiang Qingyue.

Jiang Qingyue looked at Zheng Wenbai in disbelief. “Do you have any idea that this demon core is the primary source of spiritual energy for the entire demon race? Every demon’s cultivation depends on this meager supply of energy. If you take it, the entire demon race could cease to exist—their spiritual energy vanishing, reverting to their original forms, and dying like ordinary animals!”

“The demon race’s cultivation has always defied the natural order. Returning to nature isn’t such a bad thing.”

Zheng Wenbai remained unmoved, speaking coldly.

“And what about Yu’er? Was she defying nature too? Why not let her follow the natural course?”

Jiang Qingyue grew frantic. She stepped forward and grabbed Ding Pei. “Snap out of it! If Yu’er knew you were sacrificing the entire demon race just to revive her, she would never forgive you, even if she came back to life!”

“I’m perfectly clear-headed,” Ding Pei replied, his expression serene. “I told you—I don’t care about anything else anymore. As long as Yu’er can live again, nothing else matters. Now that I’ve stepped onto this altar, I have no intention of leaving alive.”

Jiang Qingyue recoiled in shock, releasing her grip. She looked up at the descending green mist. What had once felt refreshing to breathe now grew so thick that standing on solid ground felt like drowning—oppressive and suffocating.

“Are we being sacrificed just to see the demon core? Why does this core feel so sinister?”

Li Xingcan finally pieced together what was happening. She stomped on the altar beneath her feet and muttered in confusion at the dense green mist.

“Demons can be good or evil. This demon core is the lifeline of the demon race—it may seem selfless and noble, but in truth, it never had a choice.”

With his life nearing its end, Ding Pei decided to enlighten Li Xingcan, who had stumbled into this death trap by accident, about the origin of the demon core.

“Thousands of years ago, during the era of divine wars, spiritual energy was abundant, and countless races flourished. Immortals walked the earth, and mighty demons were as common as dogs, wielding earth-shaking power. But all of that was exhausted in a great war, ushering in an age of dwindling spiritual energy and advancing technology.”

“Humanity prospered, dominating all others. The remaining races were forced into secluded corners, barely surviving. The demon race was no exception. They led their remaining kin to the territory of the tree demons, who had preserved the most strength—the very owner of this demon core.”

The green mist grew increasingly dense as Ding Pei looked up at the faint circular object emerging within it and continued speaking.

“But this tree demon was no benevolent being. It gained power by growing in a mass burial ground, absorbing countless corpses to awaken its sentience. During the great war, it survived by cowering instead of fighting. Now, with demons flocking to it for refuge, its intention isn’t to help them through hardship—it wants to devour them all as nourishment.”

Cannibalism among their own kind wasn’t uncommon in the demon world, where the strong preyed on the weak. But the tree demon, arrogant in its superior cultivation and deep reserves of power, celebrated too soon—it was ambushed and killed by a coalition of other demons.

“Why has this demon core remained so perfectly preserved, still radiating spiritual energy after thousands of years? Because when the tree demon was slain, a special method was used—imprisonment, refinement, and sealing—trapping its soul, body, and core together to forge this treasure capable of sustaining the demon race for millennia.”

Ding Pei gazed at the circular object becoming clearer in the green mist and went on, “But that alone wasn’t enough. If it only expended energy without replenishing, the core would have long been depleted. So it also has a way to absorb—every demon reaching the end of their life must offer themselves in sacrifice. Moreover, whenever large-scale deaths occur in the human world, the core travels to the sites of piled corpses, just as it once did as a tree demon, to absorb nourishment.”

This was why Ding Pei could summon the demon core by sacrificing himself.

“This… is a bit…” Li Xingcan now found the green mist before her somewhat horrifying.

“The demon core hasn’t visited the human world in many years, and it’s no longer at its peak. But it still has more than enough power to revive Yu’er.”

Ding Pei’s voice carried an eerie excitement through the mist. As the circular object began descending, the green fog grew so thick that Li Xingcan could barely see those around her. She quickly reached out to grab Jiang Qingyue’s hand, fearing something might go wrong.

Jiang Qingyue had only just begun cultivating. The overwhelming spiritual energy was harmful to her, and though she tried to resist absorbing it, her efforts were futile—her meridians ached from the strain. She clenched Li Xingcan’s hand tightly, gritting her teeth to endure.

Sensing Jiang Qingyue’s distress, Li Xingcan knew that if this continued, she would be the first to be sacrificed. They couldn’t just wait passively.

Amid the dense green mist, Li Xingcan spotted a faint glimmer in Ding Pei’s direction—undoubtedly related to their plan to steal the demon core.

Just as she debated whether to intervene, a weak green light also flickered within the flowerpot she was holding.

Her eyes lit up instantly. Inside the pot was a remnant of the magnolia flower demon—weak, but still inherently capable of absorbing spiritual energy.

Watching the sapling grow at a visible rate, Li Xingcan loosened the soil around its roots, lifted it slightly above Jiang Qingyue’s head, and guided it toward the denser spiritual energy.

As she expected, the magnolia sprout, also a tree demon, thrived in this nourishing energy, greedily absorbing the green mist and growing wildly.

The surroundings suddenly became much clearer, and Jiang Qingyue finally managed to catch her breath. Together with Li Xingcan, she lifted the increasingly heavy flowerpot. Looking at the magnolia tree that had grown as thick as an arm with lush branches and leaves in such a short time, it was hard to imagine the limits of what it could absorb.

The commotion naturally caught the attention of Ding Pei and Zheng Wenbai. The two looked up at the magnolia tree, now taller than a person, unable to hide their shock.

“What are you doing?! Don’t you know this will kill Yu’er?!”

Ding Pei rushed over in agitation. Just then, Li Xingcan and Jiang Qingyue could no longer hold the weight and let go. The flowerpot shattered on the ground, while the wildly growing magnolia tree stood firmly rooted.

The tree stretched desperately upward, drawn by the denser spiritual energy higher up. Its flourishing branches and leaves gradually covered the entire altar’s sky, and its thickening trunk began to encroach on the altar’s space.

Li Xingcan and Jiang Qingyue retreated, pressing against the wall-like white radiance surrounding them. She admitted she had acted impulsively—if this plan failed, all four of them would be crushed into pulp by the expanding tree.

Above them, dense branches blocked their view. Whatever was happening now, they could only leave it to fate.

Li Xingcan and Jiang Qingyue exchanged glances, their hands tightly clasped. In contrast, Ding Pei and Zheng Wenbai were far from calm. Ding Pei frantically tried to climb the tree but failed, while Zheng Wenbai held up a strange object, desperately raising it high as if searching for a signal.

Leaning against the white radiance like a wall, Li Xingcan looked up at the towering magnolia tree. “Never thought we’d die together in the end.”

“The clan leader should be here soon,” Jiang Qingyue said, unconvinced that she and Li Xingcan would remain trapped forever. Her instincts told her this wasn’t their end.

“Quite the confidence…” Li Xingcan smirked, watching as the magnolia tree closed in. In less than a minute, they’d be flattened.

Before she could finish, the support behind her suddenly vanished. Caught off guard, she stumbled backward. “Huh?!”

As she fell, Jiang Qingyue tightened her grip and yanked her forward.

The two staggered but managed to stay upright. When Li Xingcan steadied herself and looked back, she realized they had escaped the altar—and were now surrounded by a crowd of various demon clans.

The demon clan leader had indeed arrived with reinforcements!

Ding Pei and Zheng Wenbai didn’t even spare them a glance. They stared upward as the towering magnolia tree spread its branches. The green mist dissipated, and the green demon core soared higher and farther, vanishing toward the demon clan’s central city.

Their plan to lure and capture the demon core had failed completely. Zheng Wenbai hurled the now-empty special containment box to the ground in frustration.

Ding Pei, however, remained eerily calm. He gazed at the magnolia tree, which had completely swallowed the altar and rooted itself deep into the earth. Gently stroking its rough bark, tears streamed down his weathered face.

“Yu’er, is that you? Have you really returned?!”

But the response wasn’t Yu’er’s voice. Instead, the once-lush magnolia tree withered in an instant. A gust of wind sent its leaves rustling to the ground.

A flower bud the size of a calligraphy brush tip fell at Li Xingcan’s feet. It seemed the rapid spiritual force-induced maturation had disrupted the magnolia tree’s natural cycle, dooming it to perish.

Ding Pei completely broke down at this all-too-familiar sight, his eyes bloodshot as he desperately tried to gather the withered leaves scattered across the ground.

The demon clan’s elder stepped forward. Having known Ding Pei for years, he could only shake his head. “Ding Pei, let yourself go.”

“No! Yu’er is still waiting for me—waiting for me to bring her back! I promised her, and I must keep that promise!”

Ding Pei’s disheveled white hair was strewn with dead leaves.

The elder sighed and glanced at the attendants behind him. “Take them back to the human realm. And check on Elder Xuan while you’re at it.”

“Yes,” a bull demon grunted in response before hoisting up the deranged Ding Pei and the despondent Zheng Wenbai. He then turned to Li Xingcan and Jiang Qingyue.

Li Xingcan spoke first, “Elder, what about us?”

“Has Elder Xuan finished his business in the human realm? If so, his daughter stays. You may return.”

Li Xingcan immediately objected, grabbing Jiang Qingyue’s hand and dashing toward the open portal to the demon realm. “No, no! Elder Xuan’s business isn’t done yet—she has to come back with me! We’ll be going now, farewell, Elder!”

Afraid the elder might change his mind, Li Xingcan yanked Jiang Qingyue through the portal.

Back in the human realm, they found themselves once again at the demon clan’s liaison office—apparently, the portal always led to the same location.

The group took a taxi to Ding Pei’s home to first neutralize the effects of the drug on Xuan Yu and the others, finally resolving this mess.

Sitting in Ding Pei’s living room, Xuan Yu’s expression was icy. She never expected to fall for such a simple trap.

“Ding Pei, do you have anything left to say?”

“I have nothing to say.” Ding Pei’s eyes were vacant, his mind consumed by the magnolia tree’s rapid bloom and withering before his eyes—a nightmare from decades ago repeating itself, shattering his soul.

Xuan Yu then turned to Zheng Wenbai. “I’ve looked into your records. You were personally involved in the sea demon incident. For some reason, your memories weren’t erased afterward. Later, you met Ding Pei, who recommended you as a communicator to eventually take his place.”

“So what? What are you going to do now?”

Zheng Wenbai struggled, glaring at Xuan Yu with hatred. “Kill me like you did that sea demon? I was raised by that demon—does that make me guilty too?”

Xuan Yu frowned slightly. “Did you know the sea demon who raised you was a fugitive from the demon clan?”

“What does that matter?”

Zheng Wenbai shouted defiantly.

Xuan Yu raised a hand. “Enough. Erasing her memories will correct the oversight from back then.”

“Don’t touch me!”

Zheng Wenbai thrashed violently, while Ding Pei, who had been resigned to his fate, now looked up in horror. “If you’re going to wipe my memories too, I’d rather die!”

“We don’t have the authority to sentence you to death. Don’t worry—once your memories are gone, all your current suffering will disappear as well.”

Xuan Yu stood up as the white crane and ox demon restrained Zheng Wenbai. With a single touch of Xuan Yu’s fingertip to Zheng Wenbai’s forehead, it was all over.