Lu Qingyu held his daughter with one hand, his icy armor slowly melting away. He squinted slightly, “Sad? That word doesn’t exist in This Venerable’s dictionary.”
Lu Yaoyao didn’t believe it. In her eyes, her Daddy was always tough on the outside but soft at heart. She guessed, “Did you have a fight with Father and lose?”
Lu Qingyu’s face darkened instantly, “You think that hypocritical human is stronger than your Daddy?”
Lu Yaoyao blinked. Sure enough, Daddy’s mood was bad because of Father. He even talked badly about humans! Sighing inside, she deployed her usual sweet tongue, “How could that be? In my heart, Father and Daddy are both the strongest!”
Lu Qingyu’s gaze softened, “This Venerable’s much stronger than him.”
Lu Yaoyao coaxed, “Of course, Daddy is the strongest, the number one in the Yuanqi Continent! Unbeatable in the whole world! Daddy is the most powerful person Yaoyao has ever seen…”
“Hmph!” Lu Qingyu, appeased by the flattery, chuckled, “You have good taste.”
“Daddy, if something’s bothering you, you can tell me! It’s not good to keep things bottled up, it could lead to psychological issues.”
Lu Qingyu flicked her forehead, “You dare badmouthing your Daddy now?”
Lu Yaoyao rubbed her forehead, “I’m not badmouthing. If something bothered your mind, share it with your little cotton-padded jacket. I won’t tell anyone.”
“You?” Lu Qingyu looked at her disdainfully, “You call yourself a cotton-padded jacket? More like a drafty jacket.”
Lu Yaoyao stood up on the bed, hands on her hips, “Where am I drafty? Daddy, you mustn’t speak bad about your only daughter.”
“Everywhere. The cotton-padded jacket’s so drafty it’s not warm at all.”
Lu Yaoyao pouted, “You are speaking bad about me now. Do you no longer want your daughter?”
“Will you be a good girl, then?”
“I’m always a good girl.” Lu Yaoyao saw her Daddy beating around the bush and suddenly smacked her forehead, “Daddy, you’re not planning to find me a stepmother, are you?” Remembering rumors about the Devil Venerable having more than a hundred beautiful concubines, she blurted out, “I can accept a stepmother, but only one!”
Realizing her mistake, she quickly corrected, “Two, actually.”
One for Father and one for Daddy. No more than that.
Lu Qingyu: “…”
After speaking, Lu Yaoyao felt sour and distressed, “Daddy, will you treat me badly after marrying a stepmother? If you have other children, will I become a poor little cabbage?” They said when you have stepmothers, fathers become stepfathers. When Lu Yaoyao imagined her Father and Daddy having another family and forgetting about her, she suddenly wanted to cry. That’s too sad! Too miserable!
Lu Qingyu tapped her forehead again, sounding annoyed, “What nonsense are you talking about?”
Lu Yaoyao covered her forehead, her mouth pouting, “I’m not talking nonsense. You and Father have been single for over a thousand years. Won’t you eventually meet someone you like? It’s not like you’ll stay single for another thousand years, right?”
Cultivators in the Great Ascension stage virtually had the same lifespan as the earth itself. Unless they met an untimely accident, Yao Jiuxiao and Lu Qingyu would have many more millennia ahead of them, and their lifespans would extend even further if they ascended. Both of them were currently over a thousand years old, but given their cultivation levels, they were actually still pretty young.
“Dealing with one little debt collector like you is troublesome enough. Having another would probably shorten my lifespan,” Lu Qingyu scoffed. He had no intention of having another child or any desire for one.
Devils inherently lacked a deep concept of emotions. When he and Yao Jiuxiao initially had Lu Yaoyao, he saw her as valuable and fought fiercely for her, particularly because her other bloodline came from his arch-enemy. Had the child been born from someone else, he probably wouldn’t have been so invested.
However, having watched the little girl grow from a tiny bawling baby to her current self, raising her day by day with his own hands, Lu Qingyu grew increasingly fond of her, and his original calculations dissipated as he found himself couldn’t help but dote and protect her.
“Where have I been troublesome?” Lu Yaoyao huffed in dissatisfaction. She’s a well-behaved cub!
Thinking she was the mature one here, Lu Yaoyao decided to forgive Lu Qingyu’s transgression and continued, “I’m not a little kid anymore. You don’t have to worry; I won’t stop you from finding me a stepmother. Just one thing, she must be generous enough to accept me and not kick me out after marrying.”
Her Daddy was quite popular with women back when they still lived in Cangshan. Father was a bit less popular, but unexpectedly, he had a lot of admirers and fans here in the Cultivation Realm. Even the number one beauty was in love with Father. However…
Lu Yaoyao wrinkled her nose. She wasn’t very fond of that number one beauty. Although admittedly beautiful, there was something about her that Lu Yaoyao didn’t like. She heard that even after staying in the sect for a long time, the beauty hadn’t managed to meet Father, suggesting he didn’t like her either.
She felt she was overthinking things, but now that the thought had occurred to her, she felt it best to prepare for the possibility. After all, if it became a reality, she would be dealing with not one, but two stepmothers.
The future might be uncertain, but Lu Yaoyao didn’t want her Father and Daddy to be alone forever, so she turned to Lu Qingyu and said, “Being single for a thousand years is enough. Do you really want to be alone for tens of thousands of years? Then you’ll end up as lonely old people. But don’t worry, even if you stay single forever, I’ll take care of you in your old age, so you won’t be lonely.”
Lu Qingyu was speechless. The more she talked, the more outlandish it was. What’s wrong with being single? Isn’t cultivating more enjoyable? Who needs a Dao companion?
Lu Yaoyao’s rambling had calmed Lu Qingyu’s roiling emotions, and the blood color in his pupils faded, returning to a deep black.
Lu Qingyu didn’t want to continue the conversation. If he did, she might even start imagining more younger siblings. He pointed a finger, pushing Lu Yaoyao back onto the bed and pulling the covers over her, “Go to sleep,” he said.
Lu Yaoyao wanted to keep talking, but pinned down, she could only puff her cheeks in annoyance. Daddy’s big baddie! He was the one who woke her up, and now he was stopping her from speaking!
Lu Yaoyao still grumbled for a while, but soon couldn’t resist the call of sleep. Not long after she touched the bed, she fell asleep.
Lu Qingyu gazed at her for a long time, gently pressing his fingertip against her chubby cheek.
“Don’t disappoint me…” he murmured softly.
…
The next day, Lu Yaoyao woke up to find Lu Qingyu already gone. She was preoccupied with his unusual behavior from the previous night and was absent-minded during her classes.
Wen Zixing and Chao Muxue were still excitedly discussing their outing, especially about Lu Yaoyao’s handsome father. They hadn’t said much in front of the person himself yesterday, but now had endless things to say.
“Yaoyao, is your dad the head or an elder of some major clan? His looks, stature, and demeanor, I’ve never seen anyone more impressive,” speculated Wen Zixing. It couldn’t be from a sect, as the children of a sect leader and elders were usually raised within their own sect.
Lu Yaoyao felt proud, “Thanks for the compliment.”
Chao Muxue asked, “Did your father come to Tianyan City just to see you? Will he stay here for a while?”
Lu Yaoyao nodded and then shook her head, “He definitely came to see me, but I don’t know if he’ll stay long. I didn’t ask.”
Given Daddy’s temperament, he wouldn’t leave soon, but who knew about the long term? Maybe one day he would take her back to the Devil Realm?
“What’s your father’s name?” Wen Zixing was curious. Such a person couldn’t be unknown.
Lu Yaoyao tilted her head, “Lu Qingyu.”
Wen Zixing pondered for a moment, failing to recall the name from the book. However, the surname was Lu, and Yaoyao had previously mentioned being from a sect, although she later contradicted herself… Could there be a hidden story behind their identity, possibly related to the Lu surname in the Guiyuan Sect?
Wen Zixing sighed. This is what he got from reading a plothole-ridden novel. There were endless questions, but apart from what appeared in the narrative, he knew nothing else.
Chao Muxue changed the topic, “Senior Brother has gone down the mountain.”
“Where to?”
“He’s investigating reports of devil activity in Tiangu Valley. He needs to check it out. Plus, the Jitian Secret Realm is about to open. Once he’s done with the boundary barrier, he’ll head there directly.”
Wen Zixing perked up his ears. Being isolated in the sect, he wasn’t up to date with the development of the plot. The key terms ‘Tiangu Valley’ and ‘Jitian Secret Realm’ reminded him of the ongoing plot.
The sect had received messages from smaller sects about the traces of devil’s activity in Tiangu Valley. Lu Junyang was assigned to investigate, and by the time he arrived, several disciples from the smaller sects had been killed. This was the beginning of friction between the Cultivation Realm and the Devil Realm. The crime scene indicated devils were responsible, and it was assumed they were the culprits.
In truth, it was a setup by the Demon Race, part of their grand scheme. Once the Jitian Secret Realm opened, more devils infiltrated, causing carnage, leading to significant losses for the major sects, including several inner disciples of the Guiyuan Sect. Not long after, disciples from the Guiyuan Sect were ambushed while on excursions, with all signs pointing to devils…
The devils, not ones to bother explaining, were assumed guilty. This marked the beginning of a gradual dissolution of the peace treaty, leading to the ultimate trap set by the demon race.
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T/N:
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Since it’s a plot by demons, I’m assuming it was actually the demons who infiltrated the Jitian Secret Realm rather than the devils; probably a typo by the author. If not, then the devils took advantage of any opportunity to start mayhem, so it wasn’t necessarily false to assume it was their doing for the previous actions.
Thanks for the chapter! 😀