Chapter 176: Zi Chen’s End

Zi Chen seemed to understand everything. She closed her eyes and took a long, steady breath. When she opened them again, the softness that had lingered there was gone—her gaze sharpened, regal and commanding. The aura radiating from her body carried the unmistakable authority of a sovereign—heavier, deeper, even than the demon king’s beside her.

Her eyes swept once more across the devastated land before she spoke.

“Sheng Heng, do you still remember the vow I made the day I became the Demon King? I swore to devote all my strength to protecting the peace of the demon realm, that all our kin might live free and unharmed, without fear of slaughter by the other realms. For that, I endured the taint of demonic energy, bore betrayal without resentment, and did all I could to shield my people.”

“…” Sheng Heng lowered his head.

“I believe I fulfilled that vow,” she said quietly, sorrow seeping into her voice. “I died without regret. Yet now, because of me, thousands of demon souls have been sacrificed to pave my road back to life, while the demon realm suffers under this miasma. Tell me—after all this—am I still worthy to be called King?”

“Your Majesty…” Sheng Heng’s head jerked up, panic twisting his face. He shook his head violently. “No! This was all me—it has nothing to do with you!”

“Sheng Heng,” Zi Chen said softly, “you were my closest aide—the one I trusted most. What you have done is no different from what I would have done myself.”

She smiled faintly, but it was a smile filled not with joy, only with grief. A flash of green light appeared in her palm, and a pulsing demon core shimmered between her fingers. “I almost wish I had never awakened.”

“What are you doing?!” Sheng Heng’s face went ashen. Abandoning all decorum, he rushed toward her in terror. “Don’t—!”

Zi Chen only whispered one final blessing.

“May my demon realm flourish for all eternity.”

With that, she clenched her hand—and shattered her own core.

“NO!” Sheng Heng screamed, sprinting up the altar.

“Your Majesty—!” the demon king also surged forward, but it was already too late.

Sheng Heng barely managed to catch her as her body went limp.

A tremendous wave of demon power burst outward. The ground itself glowed as a massive sealing array unfurled beneath them, pressing the escaping demonic miasma back into the earth. The cracks across the land sealed shut once more.

Moments later, countless translucent shadows began rising from the ground—so many that the air grew thick with them, each one trailing faint traces of yin energy.

“They’re… spirits!” the old man gasped.

“They must be the souls devoured by the Sky-Swallowing Beast,” Yuan Jiang said, astonished, but his hands moved without hesitation. He began chanting the Reincarnation Mantra, sending the freed souls into the underworld before they could disperse—and pulled the old man in to help him.

Meanwhile Yun Jiao tilted her head back. In her eyes, a beam of golden light had just descended from the sky, carrying with it a faint celestial hymn. Strangely, no one else seemed to notice. She tugged at the sleeve of the man beside her. “Ancestor, what’s that?”

“Merit light,” Ye Yuan replied casually. Clearly, he could see it too.

Yun Jiao blinked. Merit?

Ye Yuan looked up at the heavens, his brow tightening. “At the moment of her death, that woman traded away all her accumulated merit to restore those lost souls.”

Yun Jiao finally understood. No wonder—the Sky-Swallowing Beast had devoured an entire city’s worth of spirits to reach its mountain-sized form. Even after they’d defeated it, many of the souls had already been consumed beyond recovery. But now… they’d all returned.

She looked back toward the altar. Sheng Heng had completely broken down, clutching Zi Chen’s body in his arms, eyes vacant, muttering over and over,

“Was I wrong? … Was I wrong…?”

Yun Jiao could only sigh. The person he’d schemed his whole life to resurrect had come back only to die again—by his own doing. Few hearts could withstand such a blow.

In a way, Sheng Heng hadn’t been wrong—Zi Chen truly was the rightful First Demon King. Everything she did was for the demon realm. Even upon resurrection, the first and only thing she thought of was her people. That was why she hadn’t hesitated to die a second time—to restore the seal and save them all.

Sheng Heng’s mistake was believing she would choose to live. He assumed she would care about life, about staying beside him. He was trapped in the past, willing to destroy everything she cherished just to bring her back, forgetting to ask if she wanted to return.

Zi Chen had indeed resented the betrayal of the demon clans—but not as deeply as Sheng Heng imagined. What she truly cared about was the realm itself; all demons were her children. Yet Sheng Heng, to revive her, had fed thousands of souls to the beast and unleashed the demonic miasma upon the land. For someone like Zi Chen, who had lived and died for her realm, such acts were unforgivable.

So she chose to die again.

“Father King?” A faint voice broke the silence. Ji Li opened her eyes, staring blankly up at the demon king.

“Li’er!” The demon king’s eyes widened with relief. He checked her pulse anxiously, then turned toward Yun Jiao. “Divine Healer Yun!”

Yun Jiao crouched beside the girl without hesitation. Just as she reached for Ji Li’s wrist, the young demoness’ eyes lit up and she blurted out, “Mother—!”

Yun Jiao clapped a hand over her mouth. “Have some sense—don’t say that out loud!” she hissed. Your father’s heart couldn’t survive another blow from my ancestor.

After a careful examination, she finally spoke. “She’s fine.”

It seemed Zi Chen’s soul had returned to its proper place—now Ji Li was simply Ji Li again. Yun Jiao recalled that golden light from the heavens. Zi Chen’s final act of resealing the Abyss had earned her immeasurable merit, which had fallen as the golden glow. Those who reincarnated with such heavenly merit were said to live blessed lives, safeguarded by fate itself.

But judging from Ji Li’s usual misfortunes, it seemed Zi Chen had already spent every last bit of her merit to save the others—leaving not even a scrap behind.

Heaven really does keep its accounts balanced, Yun Jiao thought wryly.

“Father King… what happened? Why are we here?” Ji Li asked, clearly bewildered.

“It’s over now. I’ll explain later,” the demon king said softly. He didn’t intend to tell her the truth. Zi Chen might have been her former self, but now they were two different beings entirely.

“Oh.” Ji Li nodded obediently, though her eyes gleamed with curiosity as she peeked up at Yun Jiao.

“Little niece,” Yuan Jiang called, having finished guiding every soul into the underworld. He glanced toward the altar, where Sheng Heng sat motionless, and asked hesitantly, “What should we do with him?”

“Hand him over to the Spirit-King,” Yun Jiao said after a pause. “He owes the Spirit Domain an explanation—and reparation.”

“Agreed.” Yuan Jiang nodded, then looked around at the now-quiet forest. “There’s still one more matter, though… I’m afraid it’ll trouble you, little niece.”

“You want me to reinforce the Crimson Abyss seal,” Yun Jiao said without missing a beat.

Yuan Jiang chuckled. “Sharp as ever! The Abyss still holds demonic energy. Even though the First King resealed it with her life, it’s better we add a few more layers of protection. I thought of calling some array experts from the upper realm—but honestly, after seeing the formations you carved into that alchemy furnace, I think they’d only embarrass themselves.”

“Fine,” Yun Jiao said. “I was planning to anyway. But, Uncle—you’ll have to help a bit.”

“Huh? Help how?” Yuan Jiang blinked.

“Just feed some celestial energy into the formation to activate it,” she said matter-of-factly. “I’m out of power again.”

“…”

Sigh.

Just another day in their usual routine—

Or was she just ignoring him again?

(End of chapter)