When Destiny Brings the Demon

The Fengshan Clan of the Sima lineage was once the race closest to divinity on the continent in ancient times. However, as the gods dissipated from heaven and earth, the power of all races waned, and the Fengshan Clan was no exception. The deity they served perished, and to prolong their strength, they began pursuing bloodline purity. This indeed produced many extraordinarily talented geniuses, but the number of Sima descendants dwindled.

In the extensive history of Gengchen Immortal Mansion, the glory of the Sima lineage once occupied nearly half. Yet with the passage of time, this once-mighty race rapidly declined. Meanwhile, the Shi Clan that served them and other families of Gengchen Immortal Mansion grew stronger with each generation, their numbers far surpassing the Sima descendants. After the reversal of power, the former masters became "Caged Birds."

Over the past several millennia, the few remaining powerful cultivators of the Sima lineage perished due to various accidents, leaving only young children who had yet to mature. No matter how exceptional their talents, they needed time to grow. Under the "care" of the Shi Clan, they gradually lost their freedom.

Driven by greed and ambition, the Shi Clan betrayed their former masters. Exploiting the Sima lineage's trust, they controlled the young Sima descendants, denying them the chance to grow strong, reducing them to puppets isolated on Three Sage Mountain.

Of course, in the eyes of the world, the Sima lineage remained transcendent in status—even ordinary disciples of Gengchen Immortal Mansion believed so. Who knew they were carefully raised like precious exotic beasts in a "Golden Cage"?

Until the Sima descendants grew fewer, and the last pure-blooded daughter of the lineage, Sima E, made her final stand with her life. She bought time for the last remnants of the Sima bloodline to grow.

Enduring immense pain, she purified the Spirit Mountain Fire with her flesh, blood, and spirit bones, compelling this sentient flame to willingly undergo nirvana and rebirth as a nascent spirit fire. She then implanted this purified newborn flame into her child, binding his life inextricably to the Fengshan Spirit Fire.

At the time, Sima Jiao was merely a child himself, enduring tremendous agony to fully accept this weakened newborn spirit fire.

The spirit fire was the most treasured artifact of the Fengshan Clan and the foundation of Gengchen Immortal Mansion—its vital root. Without it, the lands of Gengchen would lose all spiritual energy, transforming from an immortal mansion into barren wasteland, and their fortunes would decline.

Over the years, though countless Sima descendants like Sima E had nurtured the spirit fire, Sima Jiao was different. He became one with the flame, sharing life and death, making it impossible for anyone else to inherit—nor were there any remaining Sima descendants left who could.

Empowered by the spirit fire, Sima Jiao's cultivation advanced rapidly. The Shi Clan and other families of Gengchen Immortal Mansion, wary of the flame's power, attempted to coax and recruit him instead. Yet Sima Jiao possessed the Oath of Truth—a peculiar ability to see into others' hearts. Even when they smiled at him most tenderly, all he sensed were terrifying desires surrounding him.

All he could perceive was deception, greed, fear, and malice in all its forms.He was wary of everyone and inherently ruthless, unlike his naturally kind-hearted mother. Even at such a young age, he could kill without hesitation—to enhance his cultivation, he had absorbed the spiritual energy of several members of the Shi family.

His "caretakers" had never seen such a cultivation method before—ferocious, bordering on demonic, yet not quite demonic. Demon cultivators were different; the flow of spiritual energy within their bodies was entirely opposite to that of immortal cultivators. Sima Jiao showed no signs of demonic possession. He simply killed without remorse, devouring their cultivation. After he drained the elite disciples of the entire Three Sage Mountain, they dared not send anyone else.

"If he cannot be used by us and cannot be controlled, he will become a threat to the entire Gengchen Immortal Mansion!" The families within the Gengchen Immortal Mansion, who had been leeching off the Sima clan, began to panic. So they took many actions.

Each attempt failed. Not only did they fail to control Sima Jiao, but he also seized every opportunity to grow stronger. In the end, they had no choice but to sacrifice many disciples to trap him for several hundred years.

...

Liao Tingyan woke up, flew onto the cushion on the table, and leisurely washed her face with her paws, smoothing her fur and whiskers. She sat by the plate, picked up a soft, snow-white pastry, and began nibbling on it.

After taking a couple of bites of the sweet floral cake, she glanced to the side.

Sima Jiao was leaning there, eyes closed. The sleeve draped over his thigh was crumpled into a messy heap—a result of Liao Tingyan sleeping on it. Ever since she had turned into an otter, she had grown accustomed to being scooped up and petted by Sima Jiao while she slept. She had spent so much time napping on him that it felt natural.

Usually, when she woke up, Sima Jiao would open his eyes too. But this time, there was no movement.

Could he actually be asleep? No, that flame had mentioned it—Sima Jiao hadn’t slept in years.

She eyed his motionless form, took another bite of the cake, and finished one. He remained just like that, leaning there, as if truly asleep.

A tiny drop of water leaped from the teacup and, guided by Liao Tingyan’s paw, splashed onto Sima Jiao’s face. His eyelashes fluttered, and his eyes opened just as the droplet landed on his eyelid. With that blink, the droplet slid down his cheek like a tear.

Sima Jiao looked at her.

Liao Tingyan’s fur stood on end.

Expressionless, Sima Jiao picked her up and wiped his face with her fur, drying the moisture.

Liao Tingyan: "..."

She smoothed down her ruffled fur and reached for some sunflower seeds to crack open.

"I had a dream just now," Sima Jiao suddenly said.

Liao Tingyan was so startled she dropped the seed. The probability of this ancestor sleeping and dreaming? About as likely as a meteor shower once every five hundred years. She turned to look at him, waiting for him to continue. She was genuinely curious—what kind of dream would someone who hadn’t slept for centuries and had worn himself so thin even have?

But Sima Jiao didn’t elaborate. He lowered his gaze, staring idly out the window.

Liao Tingyan: People who leave their sentences hanging like this would get beaten up in modern society.Sima Jiao dreamed of his childhood, a stormy night when his mother, Sima E, came to his bedside, startling him awake from his sleep, and tried to strangle him. This was something that had truly happened. If Shi Yongyou hadn’t discovered and stopped it, he probably would have been strangled to death.

The most absurd part was that he could sense intense malice from those who protected and cared for him, yet when his mother tried to kill him, what she conveyed was nothing but tender love and affection.

Thinking of this, Sima Jiao glanced at Liao Tingyan again. She had already flown onto the table, lying there while nibbling on a Five-Colored Round Cake, taking a bite of each color as if comparing which one tasted best.

This person was the strangest he had ever met. Others who saw him usually held one of two emotions—either fear and disgust or admiration and flattery—but she was different. She felt nothing. No deep aversion, nor much fondness. She treated him like the flowers, trees, or grass by the roadside, and this faint indifference gave Sima Jiao a sense of peace. Despite being weak and having experienced many hardships, she still managed to arrange her life comfortably.

Sima Jiao thought she was smarter than most people he had met before. Truly intelligent people could live well no matter where they were.

Liao Tingyan levitated the cake to her mouth while trying to control the tea beside her. Distracted, the cake dropped and smeared all over her face, crumbs scattering everywhere.

Sima Jiao: Take back what I just said about her being smart.

"Senior," Yan Laoye called from outside the door. "The guide who will take us to Hundred Phoenix Mountain has arrived."

They had stayed here for two days and were finally preparing to leave. Seeing Sima Jiao stand up, Liao Tingyan patted her paws, shook her fur, and flew toward him, ready to continue being his accessory.

But Sima Jiao blocked her with one hand and flicked her away— biu —sending her tumbling into a soft cushion.

"You stay here."

Liao Tingyan: What? Not taking me? Is there such a good thing?

She had just sat up, but upon hearing this, she immediately lay back down. Truthfully, she really didn’t want to go. If she did, she’d probably stumble upon some big secret or witness a bunch of bloody murder scenes. She didn’t want to know too much or spectate a horror show.

Sima Jiao took two steps forward, then reached out and summoned a tiny flame, flicking it toward Liao Tingyan. "Hold onto this."

With that, he left decisively.

The small flame was encased in a transparent spherical barrier and landed beside Liao Tingyan’s tail. She leaned over to look, and the little flame immediately started shouting, "What are you looking at, you stinky gray furball!"

Liao Tingyan pulled the sphere closer. "How’d you get so tiny?"

"Haven’t you heard of splitting one’s spirit?! This is just a tiny flame separated from my main body! It’s here to keep an eye on you!"

Liao Tingyan: "Oh."

With the boss away on business, of course the employee would slack off. Liao Tingyan, an otter, sprawled lazily across the entire large bed, stretching comfortably. The flame was noisy, so she added a soundproof barrier around it.

The flame really was like a bratty, lonely child—no one to play with, often locked up, and the moment it saw someone, it wouldn’t stop talking. It couldn’t hold a normal conversation and only knew how to curse. Suddenly, Liao Tingyan thought of something and removed the barrier to chat with it."You mentioned before that when the Ancestor Master dreams, you also dream. Does that mean you can see his dreams?"

The flame had been furious earlier, but now that she asked this, it was so proud that even a flicker of fire could radiate an overwhelming sense of arrogance. It said, "Of course! I know all his little secrets, and I can see his dreams too."

Liao Tingyan was still curious. "The venerable one just fell asleep and dreamed. What did you see?"

The flame immediately burst into loud mockery: "He dreamed of his mother, hahaha! That milk-faced brat who hasn’t even been weaned yet!" It started fabricating and slandering as it went on, "In the dream, he was bawling and crying for his mother! Even had snot running down his nose!"

Liao Tingyan: Yeah, right. Like I’d believe that.

"Rumormongering might be fun in the moment, but if he finds out you said this, he might beat you until you’re the one bawling."

The flame faltered. "I—you think I’m actually scared of him?!"

"Yeah, I really think you are." Liao Tingyan finished speaking and instantly covered the soundproof barrier, cutting off the flame’s curses in one swift move.

Sima Jiao, disguised as Yan Gongzi, followed behind Yan Laoye and met a Nascent Soul cultivator who had come to fetch them. The cultivator had an ordinary appearance and was taciturn, with a boat-shaped flying artifact. After glancing at the infant girl in Yan Laoye’s arms, he motioned for them to board the artifact.

"Before, it was just you going alone. This time, there’s an extra person." The Nascent Soul cultivator tilted his chin toward Sima Jiao.

Yan Laoye gave an ingratiating smile. "This is… my son. In the future, he’ll inherit my family’s affairs and be the one to deliver the children, so I’m taking him along to see how it’s done first." As he spoke, he handed over a pouch of spirit stones.

The Nascent Soul cultivator accepted the stones and said nothing more, allowing Sima Jiao to board the flying artifact as well.

Yan Laoye exhaled slightly in relief and tightened his grip on the sleeping infant girl in his arms. This girl was born to one of Yan Gongzi’s concubines. Among all the children his women had borne him, only this infant girl had inherited the bloodline. If she could stay at Hundred Phoenix Mountain, their Yan family could continue to prosper for another two hundred years.

But… Yan Laoye stole another glance at the mysterious cultivator beside him, his heart uneasy. He felt something big might happen on this trip.