Chapter 475: Death and Resurrection to Block the Demon Lord

"No! Tumi! Don't go!"

The roar of Demon Lord Boyan resounded through Yinxu Hall, and even the spreading flames trembled because of it.

But Tumi and Lingxiao had long since vanished without a trace; no matter how heart-rendingly Boyan screamed, it was of no use.

Boyan lifted the Painting Scroll from the ground, which now lacked all Spirit Qi; his hands shook like a sieve, his eye sockets were blood-red, and even the flickering firelight could not reflect in his eyes, which were like a pool of stagnant water.

Although he was heartless, for some reason, Boyan's chest felt as if it were being torn apart, as if he had completely died at this very moment.

A very, very long time ago, back when Boyan was still a child, long before the time Boyan could even remember.

At that time, the Demon Realm was still peaceful, and the Demon Lord on the throne was still Boyan's grandfather.

The old Demon Lord could not be called a kind person, but he ruled with benevolence and loved his people, and was deeply beloved by the subjects of the Demon Realm.

Although they were not tolerated by the Three Realms and would occasionally have small skirmishes, they never once resorted to major conflict.

The Demon Race at that time could be considered to be living and working in peace.

The one who taught Boyan back then was the Grand Minister of Justice, who served as the Crown Prince Tutor at the time; under the instruction of the old Demon Lord, although he did not teach Boyan to be particularly outstanding, he did ensure he had a "sound demonic character."

After all, in a hundred years, the old Demon Lord had only gained two grandsons, Ciyan and Boyan.

And Ciyan had long since been enfeoffed as a Lord, serving in the imperial court.

The old Demon Lord actually had more than two sons, but for some reason, none of them had any offspring, and even when they finally had children, they would inexplicably die young.

It was for this reason that Boyan was so deeply favored by the old Demon Lord.

Regaining control of the Human Realm had always been the long-cherished wish of the entire Demon Realm; such an obsession had never wavered for over a thousand years.

However, the old Demon Lord preferred to stay in his corner, saying only that as long as the Demon Race people were stable, there was no need to be overly greedy for anything else.

The Human Realm was already a settled matter, so why be so persistent? Living well in the present was the right path.

Many high-ranking officials were very dissatisfied with the old Demon Lord's governing philosophy; there were constant undercurrents in the court, and factions were clearly divided.

Several princes harbored their own ulterior motives, and secret infighting was constant; every time there was a court session, there was all manner of sarcasm and mockery in Yinxu Hall, and the old Demon Lord was weary of it.

Yet, no matter how chaotic the fighting became, the old Demon Lord never intervened, only watching coldly from the sidelines.

It was not until the old Demon Lord was on his deathbed that the princes no longer had any scruples.

The palace flowed with blood, the imperial family collapsed overnight, and Boyan's father became the final winner.

As soon as Boyan's father took the throne, he heavily employed Qingmian Hu, who later called himself Bai Wuchang, and following his advice, killed all the royals to eliminate future trouble.

Nanshan Jun Ciyan's father was born of the same mother as Boyan's father, and having died on the battlefield long ago, the family was thus spared from the disaster.

After the old Demon Lord passed away, the Former Demon Venerable set about a series of actions to regain control of the Human Realm, the most heinous of which was the elimination of the weak.

Under the rule of the old Demon Lord, the population of the Demon Race had reached an unprecedented peak, among whom were many who were naturally weak; a life of ease also caused many demons to be content with pleasure and neglect their cultivation.

The Demon Race was born to take back the Human Realm, but to return to the Human Realm, they had to fight the Heavenly Court; if they formed an army with such quality, they would be defeated before the battle even began.

By then, let alone the Heavenly Court, even the mere human race would likely not be a match.

For this reason, the Former Demon Venerable overturned all of the old Demon Lord's policies; to reduce useless people, tyranny was constant, and the people lived in misery.

Boyan saw everything; he had been close to his grandfather since childhood and was influenced by him, and although he did not understand the "way of benevolent governance" his grandfather spoke of, he felt everything was as it should be.

His father's tyranny, however, shattered Boyan's perception; he could not accept such changes.

And it was not just that.

When his grandfather was alive, Boyan lived a life that, while not exactly comfortable, was at least a routine royal life, which gave him an inexplicable sense of pleasure; although he could not understand this feeling, it was actually quite good.

But after his father sat on the throne, he broke everything, not only demanding that Boyan cultivate the Supreme Demon Art but also forcibly feeding him abducted civilians.

He did not know how long such days lasted, until the mutiny of Nanshan Jun Ciyan, when Boyan finally took the opportunity to escape with the help of the Tutor.

The journey of escape was extremely dangerous; he had to hide from the people of Fengdu and guard against the rebels, but Boyan still followed the Tutor's words and fled all the way to the Ruoshui Source.

But he was still caught; the one who caught him was his childhood playmate, Boyan's nephew Wumin Jun.

Boyan had thought he would surely die, but he did not expect Wumin Jun to let him go and even escort him all the way to the Human Realm while he was severely injured.

He did not know how long he had been unconscious, but in a daze, he only gradually woke up when he heard the two of them arguing.

"What is your name?"

A pleasant voice brushed past his ears, and Boyan looked in the direction of the sound to see a human woman.

Under normal circumstances, for such rudeness, Boyan would definitely have slashed her with a blade, but he was currently severely injured and could not muster even a shred of strength.

Beside the woman was a child who looked ugly, and from what he heard, it seemed to be the woman's disciple.

In a few words, the two decided Boyan's life and death; he was like a piece of fish on a chopping block, and could only let the woman do as she pleased.

What he did not expect was that the woman, in order to save him, actually exhausted her own cultivation, and she really did save him.

This was the first meeting between Boyan and Tumi.

Under the constant fussing of Tumi and Chiyanzi, Boyan gradually recovered, but Tumi had no intention of driving him away, and Boyan also naturally settled down.

He worked at sunrise and rested at sunset, occasionally following Tumi to practice medicine and give alms.

The plain life made Boyan yearn for the future; if he could always be like this, always be with Tumi, this human world would not be a bad place to stay.

But everything was shattered by the arrival of Qingmian Hu.

At this time, Qingmian Hu had taken the alias Bai Wuchang, wearing a human skin and pretending to be a refined person, yet he still did not escape Tumi's discerning eyes.

Tumi had always greeted people with a smile, but as soon as she saw Bai Wuchang, she wore an expression that said "strangers keep away."

To tell the truth, Boyan did not like this Bai Wuchang either; if it weren't for him bewitching his father the King, the Demon Realm would not have fallen into turmoil.

Bai Wuchang had come specifically to ask Boyan to recover the Demon Realm and regain the royal power.

But Boyan refused Bai Wuchang, without giving any reason.

Seeing the way Boyan looked at Tumi, how could Bai Wuchang not understand? But if the Demon Realm were in the hands of Nanshan Jun, there would be no room for him to maneuver.

For this reason, Bai Wuchang released the ancient great demon Zhuyan, which had been suppressed for a thousand years; after the various Daoist Sects worked together to perform the Demon Sealing Technique, he then revealed the matter of Fairy Tumi to the Yuanqing Sect.

At that time, the Yuanqing Sect Leader was Lingxiao, who was on the verge of death due to severe injuries from the demon sealing, but fortunately, he was treated by Tumi and recovered as before.

The two spent their days together and developed feelings for each other; Bai Wuchang told Boyan about this, and in a fit of rage, Boyan wanted to force himself upon Tumi, but fortunately, Chiyanzi appeared in time and interrupted Boyan, allowing Tumi to escape.

After this incident, Tumi could no longer care about her agreement with Wumin Jun, and she made a clean break with Bao Yan.

Bao Yan was heartbroken, while Bai Wuchang incited him from the side, saying that as long as he seized back the human world and the Human King returned to his throne, everything under heaven would be within his grasp.

Thus, Bao Yan killed Nanshan Jun, but after seizing back the Demon Realm, he missed Tumi every moment, which led to the later Yuanqing Calamity.

Since Tumi could not accept him, he would become the person Tumi loved deeply!

Never had he imagined that Tumi would actually die!

All his painstaking efforts had turned into a vanity! How could Bao Yan not be utterly devastated?

Bai Wuchang used honeyed words to speak of a method for Tumi to return from the dead, which finally gave Bao Yan hope.

Yet after waiting bitterly for over ten years, everything had become empty once again!

A light cough came, waking the distracted Demon Lord; he turned his head to look at Lingxiang, his blood-red eyes filled with fury.

"It's you!"

The Demon Lord charged toward Lingxiang with a ferocious momentum, as if he wanted to swallow Lingxiang alive.

Just as the Demon Lord drew near, his wrist was tightly gripped, blocking the hand he had aimed at Lingxiang's throat.

It was Long Qi!

He had actually returned from the dead!