Chapter 1

"Great King has sent me to patrol the mountains, patrolling the northern and southern mountains.

Patrolling the western mountains to snatch beautiful maidens, patrolling the eastern mountains to offer to the Great King."

The wolf demon, wearing only a tiger-skin skirt, held a broken copper gong, singing and patrolling along the Black Wind Mountain range, finally stopping in front of a courtyard at the foot of the mountain.

The courtyard didn't look large, with only a few rooms and a central hall, and a plaque hanging above it with three characters: Qingyun Sect.

Other sects were usually built in blessed lands or famous mountains with abundant spiritual energy, but the Qingyun Sect was built at the foot of the mountain, which could be described as extremely shabby.

"Open the door, open the door, it's time to pay the tribute!"

The wolf demon impatiently knocked on the gate.

*Creak*

The gate was pushed open from the inside, and a young man in his early twenties, dressed in black, walked out.

The young man in black looked handsome, but at that moment, he wore a cautious and humble smile, his face full of flattery: "It's the Wolf Vanguard, you're here early today."

The wolf demon, who was just a low-ranking patrolman, usually called and ordered around by others, was instantly delighted by the young man calling him "Vanguard," his mouth almost reaching his ears.

"Of course, this Vanguard is known for being diligent and responsible.

Li Xuanzong, has your Qingyun Sect paid the tribute for this month?"

This time, the wolf demon's tone was much gentler.

The young man in black, Li Xuanzong, sighed: "Sigh, you know the situation with our Qingyun Sect. My master just passed away, and my ungrateful senior and junior brothers have run off with all the assets. We really can't afford to pay the spiritual stones as tribute."

The wolf demon's expression changed slightly, but then he saw Li Xuanzong secretly slip a spiritual stone into his hand.

"Our Qingyun Sect is just a low-ranking sect at the foot of the mountain, and the amount of tribute is pitifully small. Even if we don't pay for a year, no one would notice. Vanguard, please be lenient, and we'll make up for it when we have the spiritual stones in the future."

The wolf demon hesitated for a moment, and then Li Xuanzong slipped another spiritual stone into his hand, making a pained expression: "That's all I have. The higher-ups won't appreciate your efforts in collecting the tribute."

Li Xuanzong was deliberately acting this way. He had planned to bribe the wolf demon with two spiritual stones, but one shouldn't overfeed a person or a demon.

Seeing Li Xuanzong's expression and thinking about how he could only earn one spiritual stone after a month of patrolling, the wolf demon quietly tucked the spiritual stones into his tiger-skin skirt and nodded: "Not again."

With that, the wolf demon started beating the gong and singing, heading towards another mountain peak.

After the wolf demon was out of sight, the cautious and humble smile on Li Xuanzong's face instantly disappeared, leaving only a calm and cold expression, with a hint of沧桑 (cang桑) in his eyes.

"A tiger in the plains is bullied by dogs."

Shaking his head lightly, Li Xuanzong touched a seemingly ordinary silver ring on his finger, sighing to himself: "Who would have thought that I, the once mighty Evil King who roamed the world, would come to this."

Li Xuanzong was a穿越者 (chuān yuè zhě) (time traveler), but unlike other time travelers, he had traveled through time twice.

In his previous life, he had traveled to a world of intermediate martial arts, and at that time, he had this ring on his hand.

Of course, there was no old man in the ring. This seemingly ordinary silver ring had only one effect: to upgrade martial arts techniques, which Li Xuanzong named the Xuanfa Ring.

As long as a technique was enlightened by the Xuanfa Ring, it could be upgraded. For example, an ordinary Iron Sand Palm could become a Dragon Seizing Hand, or even the Buddha's Palm.

As the Xuanfa Ring enlightened more techniques, the color of the ring would change, accumulating energy to enlighten even stronger techniques.

In his previous life, Li Xuanzong had relied on the Xuanfa Ring's enlightenment effect to rapidly advance in cultivation, becoming the strongest martial artist in the world, known as the Evil King due to his tyrannical and unrestrained behavior.

However, his previous life was in a world of intermediate martial arts, where the peak of martial power was at the level of *Heavenly Dragon* and *Shooting the Eagle*.

Li Xuanzong had used the Xuanfa Ring to reach the peak of martial power in that world in just a few decades, but he could only live for a little over a hundred years.

He was unwilling to remain a mortal for life, and his mindset had changed after becoming the strongest in the world, becoming arrogant and reckless.

He began to疯狂 (fēng kuáng) (madly) collect techniques from various sects to enlighten and accumulate power, aiming to ultimately create a technique that surpassed the world's limits to transcend the physical realm and reach the pinnacle of martial arts.

However, Li Xuanzong's actions offended the entire martial world. Although he was the strongest, he was not invincible.

Moreover, after reaching the peak of martial power, he had become somewhat arrogant and underestimated his opponents.

As a result, just as Li Xuanzong had collected countless techniques and was about to enlighten them with the Xuanfa Ring at its peak power, he was attacked by a horde of powerful martial artists, forcing him to self-destruct and die with his attackers.

He thought he was doomed, but unexpectedly, he traveled through time again, and the Xuanfa Ring came with him.

This time, the world Li Xuanzong traveled to was as he wished, with a higher level, even exceeding his expectations, directly transitioning from martial arts to cultivation.

The world he traveled to had five continents: Central Spirit Continent, Eastern Spirit Continent, Northern Cold Continent, Western Holy Sand Continent, and Southern Fire Continent.

Within these five continents, countless cultivation sects and powerful demons coexisted, transcending the mundane.

Some countries worshipped immortal sects, establishing them as state religions and dedicating national resources to their support.

Other countries worshipped powerful demons as national teachers or even deities, offering sacrifices and incense.

The relationship between cultivation sects and demons was not one of mutual destruction. They attacked and oppressed each other, driven by the pursuit of interests.

Thus, some cultivation sects would secretly ally with demons, even worshipping them, while some powerful demons had many cultivation sects under their command.

The Qingyun Sect, where Li Xuanzong was, was a typical example of a sect that relied on demons for survival.

The Qingyun Sect was located in the easternmost part of the Eastern Spirit Continent, in the Hai Dong Prefecture, near the East Sea, most of which belonged to the 'Sea Covering Demon Saint' Ao Zheng, one of the seven demon saints and thirty-six demon kings.

The Qingyun Sect relied on a powerful demon named Black Mountain Old Demon, who resided in the Black Wind Mountain's Xuan Guang Cave, under Ao Zheng's command.

For a small sect like the Qingyun Sect, larger cultivation sects wouldn't even look at them. Only by submitting to a demon like the Black Mountain Old Demon, who accepted all comers, could they gain techniques and elixirs in exchange for their service.

Therefore, the reputation of such sects in the cultivation world was the worst, despised by both proper cultivators and demons.

Li Xuanzong's situation was even worse. His master, Qingyun Zhenren, had died unexpectedly while on a mission, and no one knew who had killed him.

The cultivation world was so dangerous that without power, both humans and demons were as insignificant as ants.

Cultivators could be killed and their treasures stolen, their bodies destroyed and traces erased. Demons could be slain for their bones and elixirs.

Unless you were powerful or had a powerful demon king as a backer, you wouldn't even know how you died.

With the death of Qingyun Zhenren, the Qingyun Sect fell apart, and his dozen or so senior and junior brothers fled.

Li Xuanzong had arrived unexpectedly at this time.

Although his current starting point wasn't high and he had a pile of troubles ahead, he was already very satisfied, even feeling a hint of excitement.

In his previous life, Li Xuanzong had desperately sought to transcend the limits of martial arts and break free from the mortal shackles, but he had failed.

Reborn once more, although he was still far from the peak of this world, he at least had the chance to reach the top.

What was the point of being a king in a chicken coop? Only when a fish enters the sea does it have the chance to become a dragon.

In his previous life, although he stood out among mortals, he couldn't leave the chicken coop. Now, he had entered the sea, which was more dangerous but also offered countless opportunities to become a dragon.

………………

Back in the courtyard of the Qingyun Sect, a low sobbing sound came from the yard. Three beautiful young girls, tied together, were clearly the source.

Li Xuanzong sighed: "Don't cry, there are too many people and eyes at Black Wind Mountain during the day. I'll send you back tonight."

The three girls still looked terrified, unsure if the 'villain' in front of them was telling the truth.

Li Xuanzong shook his head, not bothering to explain, only sighing in his heart: "What a sin."

These three girls had been secretly captured by his deceased master before his death, intended to be offered to the peak master Zhu Sanlie under the Black Mountain Old Demon in exchange for cultivation elixirs.

Zhu Sanlie was a wild boar demon with over a hundred subordinates, all tough and thick-skinned pig demons, forming a significant force under the Black Mountain Old Demon.

The Qingyun Sect could only establish itself at the foot of Black Wind Mountain, while Zhu Sanlie had a cave on a branch of the mountain, clearly showing the difference in status.

Not all demons ate humans. Cultivators faced thunder tribulations, and demons faced both thunder and fire tribulations, which could destroy both body and soul if not careful.

Accumulating karma also affected cultivation, leading to one's complete descent into madness.

It was said that in ancient times, if a demon wantonly slaughtered living beings, a thunder tribulation would immediately descend, regardless of whether they were human or demon. Once karma accumulated to a certain level, they would face thunder punishment.

After the great calamity of ancient times, the thunder punishment disappeared, leaving only the thunder and fire tribulations during the transcendence.

Therefore, some demons who wanted to cultivate and become immortals would not wantonly slaughter humans, paying attention to their karma, while short-sighted demons acted without restraint.

Zhu Sanlie was clearly such a short-sighted and unrestrained demon, cruel and lustful, and these three beautiful girls could fetch a good price from him.

The entire Qingyun Sect didn't find anything wrong with Qingyun Zhenren's actions.

They were cultivators, already a different race from mortals. Exchanging a few mortals for demon elixirs was at most considered enduring humiliation for a greater cause.

But Li Xuanzong couldn't tolerate such actions.

In his previous life, although the martial artists in the world he traveled to were powerful and could influence the court and the world, they were still human.

Li Xuanzong could accept killing for profit, but he couldn't accept sending his fellow humans to be food for demons.

He was the Evil King in his previous life, not a heartless demon king.

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