Jian Lin scrambled to her feet, turned, and sat up, looking at the Demon Lord. A single thought echoed in her mind: this wasn't how it was supposed to be.
The Demon Lord stood against the light, the morning clouds a vibrant tapestry behind him, painting stray wisps in shades of orange and pink, much like the color of burgeoning affection.
Jian Lin's eyes widened. She hadn't paid attention to the Demon Lord's affection points for a long time, but now, it clearly displayed "01."
She couldn't comprehend what was happening, including why the Demon Lord would feel affection, or the trigger for it.
She tripped and fell face-first, and he felt affection? What kind of strange preference was this!
All her previous efforts – batting her eyelashes, asking for hugs, acting cute and compliant – had been useless. Yet, a fall had earned his affection?
As she stood there in a daze, the door of a nearby shop creaked open, revealing a yawning shop assistant. He froze upon seeing someone sitting by the entrance, staring curiously at Jian Lin.
Jian Lin immediately sprang up, offering an embarrassed smile. She bolted, but after a few steps, she turned back, grabbed the Demon Lord's wrist, and pulled him along.
Though she had been angry and wanted to give the Demon Lord the cold shoulder, the affection points had completely drained her energy to stay mad. Forget it, they should leave first.
They sped out of the small town and onto a quiet path. Jian Lin was unusually silent, still engrossed in an internal debate about why the Demon Lord was acting this way.
The Demon Lord walked beside her with his hands behind his back, silent. Now that he had calmed down, he felt their earlier argument was utterly pointless and embarrassing.
With their minds occupied, they walked in silence for a good part of the day. The Demon Lord suddenly stopped, asking with a hint of confusion, "Wait, where are you going?"
Jian Lin turned back, puzzled. "What?"
They stared at each other. Jian Lin was the first to react. "Ah, no, I was just walking forward. If I went the wrong way, why didn't you tell me?"
The Demon Lord cleared his throat, sounding a little uncomfortable. "You were angry, how would I dare to speak?"
"You!" Jian Lin's temper flared again. Whether he felt affection or not made no difference. "Then shut up, don't talk to me, and don't follow me!"
With that, Jian Lin strode forward, heading into the depths of the dense forest, her mind in utter chaos and frustration, craving solitude.
They were in a mountainous area, with many small hills and dense forests. Jian Lin ran straight in and quickly disappeared from view.
The Demon Lord watched her retreating figure, sighed softly, and walked to the shade of a nearby tree. He found a clean spot, sat down, and gazed at the clouds, lost in thought as he waited for Jian Lin to return.
Jian Lin ran a long distance without regard for anything else, panting as she leaned on her knees. Suddenly, she realized she had run into a place where no one ever went.
She casually sat on a dead log, raised her hand, and slapped her forehead, cursing herself for being so weak.
She wasn't a teenage girl anymore; why was she arguing with someone and acting so irrationally? It was truly shameful!
She meticulously considered the reasons, ultimately blaming the Demon Lord. It was his sudden affection that had startled her, preventing her from thinking and judging rationally.
"Jian Lin, Jian Lin, this is the retribution for being single. You don't know how to handle intimate relationships. The Demon Lord likes you; arguing with him won't solve anything!" Jian Lin muttered to herself, taking deep breaths to calm down and seriously contemplate the matter, asking herself several important questions. 138 Reading Network
Should she part ways with the Demon Lord? No, traveling with him to Guanlan Sect was more beneficial than detrimental to her.
She couldn't stand the Demon Lord getting angry at her, was that it? Yes, she wasn't a real slave. Before, her pleasing the Demon Lord was her only goal, but now she had no demands. She only wanted an equal and friendly relationship.
Did she hate the Demon Lord? No, she didn't. She knew clearly that the Demon Lord wasn't a bad person; he was just arrogant and ill-tempered.
Although he often bullied her, he was also good to her, like when he obtained the golden core vessel for her. In that regard, he had practically shown her great kindness.
So, how should this matter be resolved? They needed an adult conversation, to clear everything up and fight for her due rights.
Jian Lin prepared her speech and suddenly stood up, wanting to turn back to find the Demon Lord. But when she looked, she suddenly felt a bit flustered.
Ah, this... from which direction did she run in?
The surrounding area was all dense forest, and at a glance, it all looked the same. When she ran in, she was so irrational and furious that she hadn't noticed any distinctive landmarks.
What should she do?
Jian Lin grinned, picked a direction at random, and tentatively walked forward. She ended up at a dead end and looked up to see a cliff.
She must have gone the wrong way. Jian Lin turned around and walked straight back, confident she would find her way out.
However, after walking for a long time, it was still forest.
Jian Lin wasn't tired. Even with her low cultivation, she wasn't an ordinary person. Walking a bit further didn't bother her; she was afraid of wasting time.
As the sun climbed higher, Jian Lin couldn't stand it. She reached into her Qiankun bag, took out the Twin Bamboo, and with a determined heart, sent a message to Xie Jin.
She asked him to help inform the Demon Lord to come find her in the forest.
Xie Jin quickly replied, informing her that he had notified the Demon Lord and anxiously asked if she had encountered any danger and if she was alright.
Jian Lin felt ashamed and a little guilty. Everyone was busy with important matters, and she, after arguing with the Demon Lord, was troubling him to relay messages. She was simply too inconsiderate.
She immediately replied that she was fine, just accidentally separated.
After reassuring Xie Jin, Jian Lin sat down to reflect, vowing never to let such a thing happen again.
She suddenly remembered that the last time she couldn't find the Demon Lord, she had discussed "Qian Xiang Yin" with the system. At that time, she didn't have many points and was reluctant to exchange for it. Now that she had so many points, she might as well exchange for one to prevent any future unexpected situations where she couldn't find the Demon Lord.
While waiting for the Demon Lord, Jian Lin exchanged with the system and then checked her point balance.
She was shocked when she saw it; she actually had over ten thousand points.
She had to admit, the Demon Lord's affection points were incredible. For every +1 in his affection, she gained 5000 points. Back then, when she first started, a day of diligent cultivation only gave her 10 points. It truly wasn't fair.
The system patiently explained, "Host, please understand that the system is designed for the mission of conquest, so affection points are the most cost-effective."
"Then if he reaches 100 affection, I'll have 500,000 points?" Jian Lin asked incredulously. "By the way, what's the most expensive item in the system? How many points does it cost?"
"The He Yi Sword, 200,000 points," the system displayed in her mind. "An ancient divine artifact, possessing immense divine power, invincible. With a single swing, it can cleave all things, unifying the world, hence its name, He Yi Sword."
Jian Lin closed her eyes. The image of the divine sword in her mind was incredibly clear. She looked at the blood-red jade-like sword and couldn't help but exclaim, this sword looked so dazzling and expensive.
"If I had this sword, wouldn't any Demon Emperor or Ghost Emperor die with just one swing from me?" Jian Lin asked.
The system officially replied, "Host, it depends on your own cultivation. At your current level, you wouldn't even be able to wield the He Yi Sword."
"Oh," Jian Lin said with waning interest. "Alright, that's normal, I understand. Give me the Qian Xiang Yin."
Before the Demon Lord arrived, Jian Lin diligently studied the usage of the Qian Xiang Yin.
It was actually very simple. The Qian Xiang Yin was a colorless and odorless liquid. As long as the Demon Lord came into contact with it, he would retain a specific scent.
Inside the small gilded镂空 (lòu kōng - hollowed-out) ball was a metal insect resembling a bee. Once Jian Lin released the small insect, it would automatically guide her to the Demon Lord.
Not bad, not bad. The principle was simple, easy to operate, and highly cost-effective.
Jian Lin was closing her eyes and sighing with emotion when suddenly her vision went black, and she smelled a familiar scent.
She had only remembered the Demon Lord's scent and never delved into what it was. Now, smelling it carefully, it was like a blend of pine wood and leather, with a sharp hint of mint, which perfectly matched the Demon Lord's personality.
The Demon Lord stood before her. Seeing that she wasn't speaking, he also remained silent. Without opening her eyes, she knew he must be staring at her with that chilling, murderous gaze.
Upon opening her eyes, she found that indeed, he was.
"Yo, you're here. Why did it take so long?" Jian Lin began the conversation casually.
Because it was difficult to find her, in the Demon Realm, he could previously locate her by the demonic energy in Jian Lin's demon tail, and later by the residual poison on her wrist.
Now, neither of those were available. Jian Lin wouldn't call out to him, so he had to search through the dense forest one by one, which had taken considerable effort.
Now, with Jian Lin asking so carelessly, the Demon Lord had only one thought: he needed to leave some kind of mark on her. What method would be good this time?
"Because there was no rush," the Demon Lord turned and sat beside her, looking straight ahead, not giving her a glance. "I don't like arguing with people. I wanted you to calm down."
"That's great, I don't like arguing either," Jian Lin turned, propped her chin on her hand, and looked at the Demon Lord. "Let's talk, Lord Demon Lord."
"Call me Chong Yuan," the Demon Lord said faintly. "Don't call me Master. I don't want to be your Master."
"Chong Yuan?" Jian Lin exclaimed, "What a grand name! Weren't you called Mo Yan?"
"My given name is Yan, and my courtesy name is Chong Yuan," the Demon Lord explained faintly. "You are the same."
Jian Lin remembered that her original body had both a given name and a courtesy name. People in this world loved to have a string of titles.
"Chong Yuan," Jian Lin said delightedly, "That's wonderful. Then let's start with names. From today onwards, call me Lin Jian."
Since she couldn't use a name related to Jian, she decided to reverse it and pick a casual name.
"Alright, Lin Jian," the Demon Lord glanced at her. "What do you want to talk about?"
"Let's talk about our relationship and how we should interact," Jian Lin asked with a serious tone. "Chong Yuan, I want to know, in your eyes, what exactly am I?"
The Demon Lord silently turned his head, his gaze fixed on Jian Lin. "What do you mean by that?"
"Literally," Jian Lin's gaze didn't falter. "Am I your servant? A dancer? A little pet? Or your friend?"
The Demon Lord's eyes flickered, and for a moment, he was confused. He actually didn't know the answer.
She was a mysterious girl with too many secrets. She was a traitor to Guanlan Sect, and he had once wanted to use her to find out some things.
But after their trip to the Demon Realm, he felt it was no longer necessary to know.
"A friend, perhaps," the Demon Lord replied slowly. "We can barely be considered that."