"If you have any doubts about whether this corpse is Zhang Fei or not, I think we should continue searching for him to confirm the truth."

"Let Mo Yewei and the others continue searching for him." Mo Shentian destroyed the corpse as he rose to his feet. "With Nalan Wangzi and Shang Xueli in our hands, we already have control over the Asura Demon Race and the Soul-Devouring Race. Unfortunately, we still don’t have the keys to controlling the other demon races, so we must accelerate our plans, and we must use force if necessary."

"Have you decided to go see Dong Xuanyin again?"

"I went straight to Dong Xuanyin’s place after I met Wu Mian a few days ago, but she didn’t give me any response, so we can forget about asking her for help." Mo Shentian looked at his two daughters. "Yousha and Anqi, I want you two to move against the Heavenly Fiend Demon Race, and one of you must succeed in getting Sha Huo’s heart. Whichever of you two succeeds in getting him as your husband, I will give you the best reward."

"Yes, Father."

"Leave now."

After Mo Yousha and Mo Anqi left, Mo Zainan asked Mo Shentian. "What about Ku Shenzu and his Torture Demon Race?"

"I still haven’t found a way to control him." Mo Shentian replied with a soft sigh. "That man doesn’t have any children, and his hobby of torturing people is too horrible. If I send our daughters to him, I’m sure he will torture them cruelly, so I prefer sending them to Sha Huo."

Mo Zainan smiled and hugged Mo Shentian’s arm. "I’m glad you still care about our children, husband. I always thought you didn’t care about them and that you always treated them as your tools, but it turned out I was wrong."

"Defective tools will no longer be useful, right?" Mo Shentian pushed Mo Zainan’s hands down and walked away, leaving her speechless.

Mo Zainan massaged her forehead as she looked at her husband; Mo Shentian’s attitude made her truly helpless. "Sigh! What actually happened to him? He wasn’t like this in the past, but his character changed completely after he completed his final evolution and became our demon god, and he’s always treated us all as his tools since then."

"Mother." Mo Zainan was startled when Mo Tianqi hugged her from behind, and she looked at him directly. "Do you think there is a possibility that my father will return to his old self?"

Mo Zainan pushed Mo Tianqi back before answering him. "I’ve always harbored hopes that he’ll return to his old self, but I don’t know if my hopes will ever come true. We can’t do anything to change him, and we can only follow his wishes, or he will punish us."

"Honestly, I’m tired of this situation, Mom." Mo Zainan frowned at Tianqi. "He wasn’t like that before, and he treated us fairly, but he changed after he became a demon god. He gave Shang Xueli to my eldest brother, even though he knew I wanted her. I’m angry about it, but I know I can’t fight him, and he might kill me even though I’m his son. I’m not inferior to my two brothers, but he always treats me like a burden."

"I understand your feelings, but we can’t do anything, so you have to accept the situation. If you go against your father, he will definitely kill you." Mo Tianqi hung his head down, making Mo Zainan feel guilty towards him. She stepped forward, hugged him, and coaxed him. "Be patient, okay? I’m sure your father will return to his old self one day, and we just need to wait for the time to come."

"I hope so, Mother." Mo Tianqi hugged Mo Zainan back, took out an item, and slipped it to the back of her dress. "I’ll go back to my room, Mother."

"Yeah." Mo Zainan watched her third son leave with a heavy heart, especially since her husband continued to treat him unfairly. "I’m sorry, Tianqi. If only I were stronger, I could have protected you all from your father. Unfortunately, I haven’t evolved to my final form, and he is much stronger than me even though our strengths are equal."

After that, Mo Zainan walked out of the throne room, unaware of the item that Mo Tianqi had tucked behind her dress earlier.

.

.

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[Congratulations! The host’s cultivation broke through to the 3-Sun Celestial Lord Realm.]

’Sigh! The seven supreme demon ranks are indeed troublesome, and increasing them is much harder than increasing my cultivation. I’ve absorbed quite a bit of his demon power, but my demon rank still hasn’t risen to the Demon Overlord Rank.’ Zhang Fei looked up at the sky, but there was no sign that his lightning tribulations were about to descend. "It seems that your previous guess was correct, and the heavens deliberately held back my lightning tribulations."

Feng Yao nodded at Zhang Fei. "Stabilize your cultivation first before you continue to absorb his cultivation."

"Yeah." Zhang Fei swallowed true foundation pills, as cultivation in the Five Celestial Realms was more difficult to stabilize. "Is there a foundation pill that is better than my true foundation pill?"

"Here." Feng Yao took out a pill bottle and gave it to Zhang Fei. "Your True Foundation Pill can indeed help you stabilize your cultivation, but you need to take several pills at once with your current cultivation. This Flame Consolidation Pill has a much better effect than your pill, and you only need to take one pill to break through three times."

"Hmm?" Zhang Fei peeked directly at the bottle and discovered three pills inside it. "Do you still have the ingredients to concoct this pill?"

Feng Yao immediately explained. "The ingredients for concocting the pill don’t exist in this Paradise Realm, but you can find them in the Ancient Realm. Unfortunately, I don’t have much in stock, and they are remnants I left for my subordinates in the past."

"It’s okay." Zhang Fei stored the bottle in his inventory. "I won’t be breaking through multiple stages at once after this, so these pills are enough for now."

"Yes." Feng Yao nodded slightly.

Zhang Fei looked at Jiu Moze again. "A cultivator of the 3-Sun Celestial Venerable is indeed extraordinary; he hasn’t experienced the slightest change, even though I have absorbed so much of his qi."

"Hehe." Feng Yao chuckled. "You know how difficult it is to break through one minor stage at your level, so you should be aware that the qi you absorbed previously was less than 1% of his total qi." Once you break through to the Celestial King Realm, you will increasingly understand how difficult it is to break through each stage."

"Yeah." Zhang Fei agreed with that.

After waiting for a few hours and his cultivation had completely stabilized, Zhang Fei began to absorb Jiu Moze’s qi and demon power again. He did it for several full hours until his cultivation reached his target, and his demon rank also rose to the next stage.

[Congratulations! The host’s cultivation has broken through to the 3-Sun Celestial King Realm.]

[Congratulations! The host’s demon rank has been upgraded to Demon Overlord Rank.]

After two notifications appeared, Zhang Fei immediately stopped absorbing Jiu Moze’s qi and demon power. He was astonished by the condition of the old demon because he still looked fresh, even though he had absorbed so much of his qi and demon power.

When he was still living in the Three Mortal Realms in the past, Zhang Fei had often absorbed the qi and demon power of many cultivators and demons, and they would immediately die from it, but Jiu Moze was on a whole different level when compared to those weak cultivators.

Afterwards, Zhang Fei activated his soul domain and forced Jiu Moze’s soul out of his body using his soul manipulation ability. However, he and the two women frowned when they saw his soul, especially since it was pitch-black.

"Have you ever seen the soul of a living creature this pitch-black?" Luo Yunxiao asked Feng Yao.

"No." Feng Yao tried to touch Jiu Moze’s soul, but something inside tried to absorb her soul power, forcing her to pull her hand back. "Zhang Fei, you must not replicate his soul, let alone merge it with yours. This darkness is not an ordinary one, and it comes from something sinister. If you do that, this darkness will affect your cursed demon heart, and it will also strengthen Hu Tianlang’s evil soul. If that happens, his evil soul will take over your soul, and you will turn truly evil because of the influence of your cursed demon heart."

Zhang Fei looked at Feng Yao. "Where did the darkness in his soul come from?"

"The darkness comes from the Lotus Limbo World." Feng Yao’s answer shocked Zhang Fei and Luo Yunxiao. "I don’t have an answer about how the darkness from that place came to be in his soul, but I’m sure that he’s never died before. If my guess is correct, he met someone who had entered that place and managed to get out safely, but I’ve never heard of such a person before."

Zhang Fei felt that there was something odd about that. "Didn’t you say before that the Lotus Limbo World is a prison for cultivators who defy the wheel of reincarnation? How could that person enter there and then come back out again? Is it possible that he or she is a reincarnator like you?"

-To Be Continued -