Yao Jun appeared in front of the black castle that was the headquarters of the Demon's Gate, his gaze piercing through the walls and sweeping over the members meandering around inside. Some were working on farms to provide some fresh vegetables, some were taking care of the myriad of plants and herbs that Yao Jun had planted inside the God Gate over the years, and others were focusing on their cultivation or combat skills by sparring.

This was supposed to be his sect, but Yao Jun knew that he wasn't suited to be the leader of this sect, he wasn't suited to be the leader of any sect. He was a fighter, a beast of combat who had a bit of talent as a doctor, he most certainly wasn't a leader. That was why he hadn't bothered handling much within the sect, nor did he plan on, it was best left to Sirius and the others who could handle it without running it into the ground.

His gaze continued to sweep through the sect until it landed on a scene that forced an involuntary chuckle out of him. Tang Long was in the midst of training with Lin Shuyen, the two engaging in a sparring match to discover each other's weak points so that they could fix them. But Yao Xuelian was standing a short distance away from them with the sternest expression she could muster, shouting out scoldings whenever they performed a move that she couldn't understand the purpose of.

The two cringed slightly whenever Yao Xuelian called out scoldings or told them what to do, but a quick glance at her wriggling shadow forced both of them to keep quiet and dance to her tune, lest they anger the one hiding in the darkness. Yao Jun's still somewhat cold expression vanished completely as he witnessed the scene, his body remaining still as he just stood there and watched for a while. On his road of cultivation, he had bled and he had lost things, each step forward a painful struggle. But he had also gained things as he moved, things that made him confident to walk the road all over again if he had to.

His gaze moved away from his daughter's antics after a few minutes, landing on the Time-Altering Spire that stretched towards the sky at the centre of the sect. His gaze landed on the ocean-covered fourth floor, on the breathtaking woman that was quietly cultivating on one of the islands. Yao Jun and Guo Luo met at a terrible time, one captured and tortured while the other was considered a worthless clan member barely fit to serve as a lowly maid, some even treating her more like a slave.

Years had passed since then, but he could still taste the stale and mouldy bread she forced into his mouth as he laid there in that cell. She was good to him when he was wondering if he had run out of luck, and as a result, he had taken her away from her home and her family when he got the chance to flee. He had freed her from her life where she was basically a slave and dragged her into his own blood-soaked world, coldly forcing her to kill someone for the first time.

But no matter how bad their start was, no matter how messed up their story probably sounded to others, it had brought them here. It had tied them and their hearts together forever, and their presence forever changed the life of the other, each a burning beacon for the other. And for that beautiful beacon that stole his thoughts and heart, there wasn't a single thing Yao Jun wasn't willing to do.

Guo Luo's senses were clearly a fair bit stronger than Yao Xuelian's, she quickly noticed Yao Jun's gaze and halted her cultivation. Her eyes opened, her pink pupils locking with Yao Jun's grey as a soft and gentle smile surfaced on her face. Yao Jun was a beast of combat, the Nine Heavens Demon God who could strike fear even into foes that should be stronger than him.

But Guo Luo was different, she was like a calming flower that eased the souls of all that looked at her, a sweet dream that could tug at any heart. She seemed to form a stark contrast to Yao Jun, but that didn't mean that she didn't hide her own thorns. She didn't fight that often, but once she entered combat she could be even scarier than Yao Jun.

And the reason behind that was simple, Yao Jun was fairly straightforward, you could see and understand what he did to you. But Guo Luo, when she attacked you wouldn't even know about it until it was too late, your own attacks and defence would simply vanish and she would appear like a persistent nightmare. So while the two seemed to form a stark contrast, they were a perfect match, a king of demons and a queen of nightmares.

Guo Luo waved him over, Yao Jun appearing in front of her with just a quick thought. The fourth floor of the Time-Altering Spire was currently fully deserted, the sect members were more often than not allowed to enter here and Yao Jun's Demonic beasts had all spread out to deal with their own matters, both within and outside the gate. Guo Luo stood up from her seated position and dusted off her emerald green robe, giving a light twirl to show off while smiling radiantly.

"Look, look, it took me a few more years than you but I still managed to catch up! I might not be as strong as you, but I've got a few tricks up my sleeve that I want to show off!"

Guo Luo's Qi swelled up as she twirled around, faint rays of rainbow-coloured Qi dancing around her like small butterflies. They looked like harmless butterflies, but each one contained an immense amount of Qi, an amount that Guo Luo should not have. The intensity and strength of the Qi were at least 50% stronger compared to what she used to be able to put out, which could only mean one thing, Guo Luo had taken advantage of the time where Yao Jun had trained in the laws to reach the middle-stage of the Earthly Deity realm.

Understanding this fact, Yao Jun's eyes lit up with a splendid light. She said that she was a few years slower than him, but Yao Jun knew the truth, she was far more talented than him. Yao Jun could rapidly increase his cultivation by absorbing Demonic beasts, and most of his cultivation increases came from his God Gate and not his own effort.

He reached the Earthly Deity realm by absorbing Xiao Yan's fragment and he reached the middle-stage of the Earthly Deity realm by merging Yun Yantian's God Gate into his own. Compared to him, Guo Luo had a much harder time. She could absorb mental energy to increase her cultivation, but mental energy was rare than Demonic beasts so most of her cultivation increases came from her own hard effort and diligent cultivation.

Yao Jun waded through the blood of his opponents, but Guo Luo waded through her own sweat and blood, all so that she could catch up to Yao Jun and stand beside him. Yao Jun stretched out his arms and cradled Guo Luo's face, leaning in and giving her a soft and gentle kiss, whispering softly before he pulled away again and smiled at her while stepping back casually.

"Congratulations, you must have worked hard. So you want to show me your tricks? Alright, but we'll leave it at three moves, otherwise I fear that Little Lan is going to drive Tang Long and Lin Shuyen insane."

They were inside the Time-Altering Spire so they could easily increase the speed of time to have an all-out fight, Yao Jun was just giving an excuse since Guo Luo was one of the people he had a hard time fighting properly. Guo Luo simply smiled at Yao Jun's feeble excuse and watched as he put some distance between them, her smile turning somewhat sly when he took the sixth step away from her.

"Alright, but you'd best watch yourself. First up is your buttocks."

Guo Luo was clearly enjoying herself, her mood so good that she was even teasing Yao Jun. But the moment she finished speaking, she showed that she had the capability to back up her words. Yao Jun prepared himself for Guo Luo's attack, but she simply vanished in front of his eyes. She didn't leave behind any traces, he couldn't even detect her by using his law of space or his other elemental laws, not even using his connection with his God Gate allowed him to detect her, it was as if she simply didn't exist.

Yao Jun's instincts and vigilance instantly shot into high gear, the situation reminding him of the last time he met with Ren Shuren. Back then he had worn a cloak that looked like it was made from folded space, perfectly shielding him from all of Yao Jun's senses. He had warned Yao Jun back then that he should train his senses more unless he wanted to suffer when he entered a major universe, and from the looks of it, it wasn't just Yao Jun that took the advice to heart.

His pupils shrank until they were the size of pins, his senses focusing as much as they could. His laws and vision were useless right now, he could only rely on his instincts and his senses, using this chance to sharpen them as much as he could. And then he sensed it, a very faint sensation of danger sneaking up on him from behind. He quickly spun around and stretched out his arm, but a soft giggle reached him from behind the moment he turned around.

"Hehe, nope!"

The giggle was accompanied by a soft touch landing on Yao Jun's rump, the touch ending almost as quickly as it started as Guo Luo pulled back so that Yao Jun didn't have the chance to catch her. Yao Jun pulled back his arm and corrected his position, the joyful voice of Guo Luo sounding out all around him.

"Alright, next up is your waist, I'm gonna tickle it."

Guo Luo was clearly ecstatic at this chance to show off her own improvement, the corners of Yao Jun's mouth curling up unintentionally as he continued to sharpen his senses. She had just tricked him using one of her illusions, she was actually capable of creating an illusion of danger to trick his strained senses and catch him off guard. He sharpened his senses further, blocking out everything that was unnecessary, abandoning his vision and hearing as he focused fully on simply sensing his surroundings.

And as he focused his all on his immediate surroundings, he felt a very faint and strange sensation coming from behind him, the more bestial instincts hidden away at the depths of his blood prodding at him. The sensation vanished the moment it popped up, but Yao Jun still grasped onto it and spun around, his forearm brushing over something soft and breaking his concentration, allowing him to hear Guo Luo's giggle again.

"Close, close, but not quite. Take this!"

Her hands reached his waist and quickly tickled it softly, Guo Luo pulling back almost right away again so that Yao Jun didn't catch her. Yao Jun's gaze narrowed slightly, he felt like he had managed to touch onto something just now, something that reminded him of a sensation he once felt in the past. Guo Luo didn't know about the sensation, her giggling voice once again echoing out, but this time Yao Jun responded to it.

"Okay, last one, I'm going for your chest this time."

"Alright, but before you take my chest, I'll take your lips."

Silence descended over the small island, Yao Jun's senses once again focusing as much as they could. But he didn't just sharpen his senses this time, he also allowed his mind to drift back to when he rescued Yang Yuhuan and her brother from the prison cell that the Guo clan had thrown them into. Back then he had sunk his mind into Ba-Shei's body and taken over control, an ability he hadn't used since as it made him uncomfortable to just take over their minds like that.

But when he took over Ba-Shei's minds, he also took over his instincts and his insatiable hunger, all of it feeling as clear as day to him. And the sensation he felt just now was similar to back them, a bestial instinct that didn't rely on logic or reasoning, it focused purely on instincts buried deep within the blood of all beasts.

He once again abandoned his sight and hearing, the two senses would just interfere with the instincts since he couldn't even be said to have an elementary control over the instincts. His senses stretched out to only cover the surrounding five metres, Yao Jun digging deep within himself to rouse the bestial instincts that were rightfully his as the holder of the Demon God's Gate.

A slight sense of danger crept up from behind him, but he once again felt a very faint sensation coming from his front, slowly creeping closer. He spun around as if he was going to grab onto the sense of danger coming from behind her, the faint sensation that was in front of him moving forward at the same time.

But just as the sensation from the front seemed to reach for him, he stopped his spin and corrected his position again. A pair of hands slid past him just as he was standing sideways, Yao Jun's left arm reaching out and wrapping around the sensation he had sensed in front of him, his hand looping around a soft waist. His right arm grabbed hold of one of the hands that had slid past him, Yao Jun's sight and hearing returning to him as he leaned forward and dipped into a bow where Guo Luo was forced into leaning against his arm. He planted a kiss on her lips and then pulled back, a faint grin hanging on his face.

"Told you."

Guo Luo appeared within his grasp, having undone whatever illusion she used to perfectly remove all traces of herself. She didn't look annoyed at losing, her face carrying the gentle smile that always managed to melt away all of Yao Jun's worries and fears. He leaned in again and planted another kiss on her, staying connected together for longer this time.

While the two were sharing a kiss, Yao Jun moved a bit of his focus and Qi onto his back. A wound had appeared on his back when Guo Luo's hand slid past him, but it was an exceedingly strange wound, likely a result of her getting rather spooked from his sudden actions. It wasn't accompanied by any pain, nor was his skin or flesh cut, his robe didn't even have any traces of having blocked an attack. A small part of the flesh on his back had simply disappeared, laying bare a section of his shoulder blades.

But Yao Jun was a body cultivator with an exceedingly strong body, the missing flesh and skin were quickly regrown as if nothing had happened. Yao Jun ended the kiss and pulled back, straightening Guo Luo's body again and gazing softly at her gentle expression that carried a light flush.

The two locked eyes in silence for a few moments before Yao Jun let go of her hand and held his palm up, his Qi gathering within it. A small orb of water appeared above his palm and quickly moulded itself into the shape of a ring before freezing solid. Yao Jun filled the frozen ring with some poison to make it take on emerald green and violet colour, the two colours forming waving patterns as they spun around the ring.

A small black rose then grew on the ring in the position where the diamond would usually be, Yao Jun ending the process by covering the entire ring with a layer of Qi from the Supreme Law of Defence so that it wouldn't be cold when you wore it. Yao Jun let go of Guo Luo's waist and gently held onto her right hand, sliding the ring onto her ring finger.

"It might not be much yet, but I promise you that I'll give you a much better one when Little Thunder and Yun Yantian have returned to us. At that time I'll give you what I should have given you long ago, and I'll proclaim it to the entire universe."

This was the promise of the Demon God, an unbreakable vow reserved for only a single person. Guo Luo looked at the delicate ring, her eyes involuntarily reddening. Her own Qi burst forth and coiled around Yao Jun's right hand's ring finger, gathering together and forming a rainbow-coloured ring topped with a pink crystal. Illusions were reality and reality is nothing but an illusion, Guo Luo was already more than capable of turning such a small illusion into reality, allowing the ring to remain on Yao Jun's finger.

He made his vow and she made hers, a wordless vow the two had exchanged long ago, the rings were no more than a sign for the rest of the universe. The two once again shared a silent kiss, none of them needing to put anything into words.

But while they were sharing their kiss, Yao Jun was incessantly prodding the Bloodwind Code that had merged with him. And his prodding proved fruitful after a few moments, the annoyed voice of Bo Chern once again sounding out in his head. He didn't let her annoyance bother him and immediately used up the five questions he had left, deciding that this was a perfectly worthwhile use of them.

"I want to know about the locations of more Divine Beasts, their races don't matter but their laws do, I need ones suiting five different laws. One for the law of poison, one for the law of death, one for the law of water, one for the law of earth, and one for either dissolving or devouring."

ShiranuiShukumei

On a note unrelated to the chapter, how are people feeling about the hiatus? How's it been to have me focus on just three stories rather than five?