I Haven't Been the Demon Lord for Years

Hua Jin was a powerful figure, a Demon Venerable who made every member of the righteous sects tremble with fear.

Her life had gone smoothly, and she'd rarely met a worthy opponent. The one thing that bothered her was Lu Zhixuan, a righteous cultivator who kept sticking his nose into her business and provoking her. His lofty, condescending manner was irritating, to say the least.

Their grudge grew and grew until, at last, the two of them decided to settle things once and for all.

Their battle darkened the sky and dimmed the sun. They fought for ten days and nights, and the sheer scale of their power tore open space. Exhausted, they both fell into an unknown world.

The other world was full of dangers. To find a way back, the two reluctantly formed an alliance and searched for a path home.

Time passed in the blink of an eye. By the time the two of them fought their way back to their own world, everything had changed.

In a teahouse, the two of them, looking disheveled, listened as the storyteller onstage recounted their tale.

Suddenly, someone in the audience complained impatiently, "What kind of old, worn-out story is this? Those two are probably long since reduced to dust. Instead of talking about those two has-been big shots, why not tell us something new?"

Has-been. Big shots.

Hua Jin crushed the cup in her hand.

The aloof beauty remained calm. "They're nobodies. Why bother arguing with people like that?"

The young man continued, "And then there's the recent story about Lu Bing, the leader of the righteous sects, joining the Demon Cult. Everyone's dying to hear about that."

Lu Bing was Lu Zhixuan's young disciple.

Joining the Demon Cult.

With a crack, the cup in the aloof beauty's hand shattered too.

Hua Jin watched in silence and suddenly found she wasn't angry anymore.

She put on a false, sympathetic smile. "So what if he defected? Why get so worked up about it? Hahahahahaha!"

Later, they discovered that during the years they'd been missing, the cultivation world had become a place they barely recognized.

"So what?" Hua Jin sneered. "I haven't been a Demon Venerable for years. They'd better hope I'm still happy with retirement."

Theme: Love and peace.