When Destiny Brings the Demon

Sima Jiao looked at Liao Tingyan in his arms, who was on the verge of death. A thin line of blood trailed from the corner of her mouth, her entire body trembling, her usually rosy cheeks now pale as snow.

He pressed a hand against Liao Tingyan’s abdomen, carefully assessing her condition, his brows gradually furrowing. He knew what this was—he had saved her once before. Back then, he thought the issue had been completely resolved, but apparently, it hadn’t been. Normally, his blood should have been enough to suppress it. Even if it wasn’t, the Moonlight Epiphyllum she had consumed later should have neutralized any poison. Unless the thing inside her wasn’t the demonic toxin he had assumed it to be.

The methods of the Demon Realm were more formidable than he had imagined. But then again, wasn’t she supposed to be a spy from the Demon Realm? Why was she suffering from its backlash again and again?

Sima Jiao lifted her and stepped out of the pool. Once placed on the ground, Liao Tingyan curled into a ball in agony, only for Sima Jiao to forcibly straighten her body. She couldn’t open her eyes, feeling as if she were about to die from the pain.

Crash—

Sima Jiao shattered the nearby glass lamp beside him. As the transparent shards scattered, the pale yellow glow within instantly transformed into countless fireflies, fluttering around the hall. Paying no mind to this, Sima Jiao pressed his hand against the broken glass, letting his blood seep out before pressing his bleeding palm against Liao Tingyan’s mouth.

If a little blood couldn’t suppress it, then he’d give her more. The flesh and blood of the Fengshan Clan were, after all, the most potent Spirit Medicine in the world—especially for someone like him, who nurtured the Spirit Mountain Fire within his veins. His blood, tempered day and night by the spirit fire, was so pure it could hardly be called “blood” anymore—it was more like medicine. Even back when the Fengshan Clan had been numerous, his blood would have been considered the most precious of all.

In the past, before he had gained his formidable power and couldn’t protect himself, countless people had coveted his blood. But he would rather spill it on the ground for some ordinary little snake than give it to them. Now, here he was, freely offering it to Liao Tingyan—not just a drop or two. If Shi Qianlv, the sect leader who had long coveted it, knew of this “generosity,” he’d probably be beside himself with envy.

Liao Tingyan clenched her teeth tightly in pain, making it impossible for Sima Jiao to feed her his blood. The faintly golden liquid trickled from the corner of her lips down her neck.

Sima Jiao simply reached out and pinched her jaw, forcing her mouth open with sheer strength. What frustrated him most was that he couldn’t use too much force—if he didn’t restrain himself, he could easily tear her jaw clean off. In all his life, he had only ever killed people. The few times he had saved someone, it had been for her. Even he found it strange.

After finally prying her mouth open, he tried to slip his fingers inside, but the moment he loosened his grip, she began struggling again. Sima Jiao had little patience for this. Instead, he bit into the wound on his own wrist, took a mouthful of blood, and pressed his lips to hers, forcing it all down her throat. After several mouthfuls—perhaps too many—her deathly pale complexion quickly turned rosy, then overly flushed, as if she had been scalded in boiling water.

Sima Jiao: “…” Saving someone was far harder than killing them.

He rummaged through Liao Tingyan’s brocade pouch, pulled out a few petals of Fengshan’s Blood Clot Flower, and stuffed them into her mouth, tilting her chin to make her swallow.

If his blood was too much for her to handle, he’d simply boost her cultivation—that should stabilize her naturally.Sima Jiao's rough and straightforward actions not only completely extinguished the Bone-Corroding Poison in Liao Tingyan's body but also caused her cultivation to skyrocket from the lowest Qi Refining Stage, directly bypassing Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul, all the way to the Transformation Stage. She was now a full major realm and six minor realms above her master, Dongyang Zhenren. A Transformation Stage cultivator—even in a place like Gengchen Immortal Mansion—could qualify as a minor sect leader of a branch lineage.

While others took three to four thousand years to reach this level, she had done it in just three hours. In all the years since Gengchen Immortal Mansion was established, there had been no more than a handful of lucky individuals like her. After all, people as willful and unrestrained as Sima Jiao were rare.

#Every time I wake up after passing out, I find the progress bar has jumped ahead by a huge margin#

Liao Tingyan sat up from the couch, utterly dazed. She discovered a small red flower in her consciousness, resembling that red lotus. Centered around this flower, an unusually vast space had opened within her body. Tilting her head slightly, she realized her consciousness could pierce through the hall and walls, seeing the scenery outside. She could sense the movements of countless living beings around her—as if she had suddenly gained the eyes of a clairvoyant and the ears of a wind-listener. Not only was she brimming with energy, her body felt light, and she even believed she could fly, accomplish countless feats, and move mountains or fill seas with just a flick of her hand.

How did I become so overpowered all of a sudden? Liao Tingyan thought, scratching her head before glancing down at the person lying beside her.

Sima Jiao lay next to her, his face still pale, but his lips were no longer red. His lips were usually crimson—except for that one time when he had bled into the pond to nurture the lotus, causing their color to fade. Now, he looked much like he had then, likely a sign of anemia.

He seemed uncomfortable, one hand resting on her stomach. Liao Tingyan noticed the wounds on that hand and instinctively licked her lips. Last night, she had nearly died from the pain, yet she hadn’t completely blacked out. What had happened felt hazy in her memory. It seemed Sima Jiao had saved her, and now all these strange sensations in her body were his doing.

Liao Tingyan remained silent for a long time, her emotions tangled. She had inexplicably arrived in this world and had always lived day by day, treating herself as nothing more than a traveler passing through. No matter how magnificent or vast this world was, it wasn’t her home—not even this body or identity felt like hers. She had considered herself here on a vacation, barely surviving, certain she would return to her own world sooner or later. That was why, despite being in this cultivation world for so long, she had never seriously practiced cultivation. Even when given those flowers from Sima Jiao that boosted cultivation, she hadn’t tried consuming them.

But now, with her cultivation skyrocketing, she finally felt the reality of truly being in this fantastical world.

She had jokingly treated Sima Jiao as her boss, obediently staying by his side. But if given a choice, she wouldn’t have followed him—he was a dangerous man, and after witnessing him kill so many, her attitude toward him had always been passive. By modern societal standards, he would be considered a villain. Yet in this world, it was this villain who had saved her, time and time again.Liao Tingyan touched the icy hand resting on her stomach. The wound there was untreated, left to its own devices. For most cultivators, such an injury would heal quickly, but on Sima Jiao, it showed no signs of improvement.

"In this world, few can harm me. But my constitution is special—wounds don’t heal easily," Sima Jiao said, having woken at some point.

Liao Tingyan: "..." Why are you telling me your weakness?

The pressure suddenly felt overwhelming, as if she had fully stepped into the villain’s camp.

Sima Jiao: "Do you know how much of my blood you drank?"

Liao Tingyan covered her mouth. She hadn’t thought about it before, but now that he mentioned it—she really had drunk human blood. Ugh—

Sima Jiao: "If you vomit, I’ll kill you."

Liao Tingyan: Gulp —

Her face paled. She couldn’t understand why, in this fantasy world, human blood could act as medicine to heal and save lives. According to modern science, drinking blood directly was useless. But the great demon of this fantasy world wasn’t about to debate modern science with her. He sat up and leaned in, pressing his injured hand against her chin.

"Your cultivation has reached the Transformation Stage. So, do you want to kill me now?"

Truth Buff, activated.

Liao Tingyan: "No."

Sima Jiao: "Do you still want to increase your cultivation?"

Liao Tingyan: "No." Honestly, suddenly becoming such a powerful cultivator was like being handed an advanced machine without knowing how to use it—she could only fumble around cautiously, feeling oddly timid.

Sima Jiao: "Do you want to leave me?"

Liao Tingyan: "No."

A triple "no."

Wait, hold on—why was the last answer "no"? Liao Tingyan stared at Sima Jiao in shock, startled by her own response. Had she really been corrupted by this decadent lifestyle to such an extent?

Sima Jiao also froze for a moment before releasing her chin and leaning back against the pillow, his expression strange. "Are you here to seduce me with a beauty trap?"

Liao Tingyan answered bluntly: "No!"

Good, she had cleared her name. But what had she done to give him that impression? Liao Tingyan searched her conscience—she truly had no intention of sleeping with him.

Sima Jiao: "Good."

With that, he grabbed her, pulling her close as if she were a soft, warm pillow, and closed his eyes to rest.

Wait, hold on—ancestor, if you’re just going to drag me into bed after confirming I’m not trying to seduce you, then what was the point of asking?

The point was: if she had harbored any intention of sleeping with him, Sima Jiao would have chosen to crush her to death. Since she didn’t, he would use her as a body pillow.

Liao Tingyan couldn’t sleep. Her mind was alarmingly clear. Being held like a pillow, her thoughts began to wander. For an ordinary person, daydreaming was just daydreaming—but for a cultivator at the Transformation Stage, wandering thoughts meant her consciousness could roam freely.

It was a novel experience. Liao Tingyan could see the entire White Deer Cliff—its buildings, flowers, trees—everything in vivid detail. Spotting a crane in the sky, she willed herself closer, as if standing right beside it, feeling the wind. In the next blink, she was at the waterfall below White Deer Cliff, observing the orchids growing in the crevices, the rainbow in the mist, and the droplets sparkling in the sunlight.She saw puppet servants moving along the palace corridors and the massive Black Snake coiled around a pillar outside the hall, fast asleep. The pillar was slippery, and as it slept, it kept sliding downward. Upon reaching the bottom, it would wake up and climb back up—clearly not the brightest creature.

Liao Tingyan felt like she'd been given a new toy, her consciousness darting up and down White Deer Cliff in excitement. After watching for a while, she grew curious about the outside world, and her consciousness began to spread outward like mist.

Suddenly, she felt a chill against her cheek and snapped her eyes open. All her scattered consciousness came rushing back like wind.

Sima Jiao's icy hand was pressed against her face. His eyes remained closed as he said, "Don't go wandering outside. Only because I'm here at White Deer Cliff do others dare not probe with their divine senses, allowing you to roam freely. Beyond these cliffs, countless hostile consciousnesses lie in wait. With your current weak state, encountering even one would turn you into an idiot instantly."

Divine sense? Was that what she'd been using just now? Liao Tingyan obediently murmured an acknowledgment.

Since this particular skill was off-limits, she turned her attention elsewhere. Lying still, she noticed a floating glass lantern nearby. With a blink, the lantern drifted over as she willed it. Catching it with one hand, she thought excitedly—now she could summon anything she wanted while lying in bed without having to get up! Just a thought, and objects would come to her!

Glancing at Sima Jiao beside her and seeing no reaction, she pulled out her brocade pouch to retrieve some snacks. She'd stocked it with various treats prepared by the puppet servants. Though not hungry, she wanted to test her new lazy technique.

A cluster of grape-like fruits, each the size of a fingernail, hovered in the air. Liao Tingyan willed them to pluck themselves from the stem one by one and float toward her mouth. Like a baby bird, she waited with open mouth for the fruits to drop in—until one suddenly veered sideways toward Sima Jiao's lips.

Startled by this interception, Liao Tingyan was puzzled—didn't this ancestor never eat?

Chewing the small fruit, Sima Jiao cracked one eye open to look at her. "You're a fake Transformation Stage cultivator, aren't you? I intercepted that with zero effort."