Is the Demon Lord Still Alive Today?

The declining sect of Yuming Mountain has produced a medicine cultivator, a once-in-a-century genius.

Lu Ling could identify a hundred herbs at seven, make pills at nine, and brew top-grade elixirs at sixteen, winning the championship and dazzling everyone.

The great clans competed to recruit him, and the immortal sect academies opened their doors to him. After bidding farewell to his master and packing his bags, Lu Ling was about to set out on the path to immortality.

And then

He was captured by the Demon Venerable.

Yan Yuan, the Demon Venerable, was infamous for his cruelty and feared in both realms. Rumor had it that he cultivated with poison, and his cultivation was so unfathomable that he was comparable to a true immortal.

On the day he abducted Lu Ling and brought him back to the Demon Palace, Yan Yuan ordered him to brew poison every day for his cultivation, threatening to take his life if it wasn't potent enough.

Held captive at the Demon Venerable's side, Lu Ling said, "...Heh. Just you wait."

-

After being captured, Lu Ling diligently researched the world's most unusual poisons every day, rising earlier than a rooster and going to bed later than a demon.

He eagerly put everything he'd learned into practice, waiting for the day Yan Yuan would be poisoned so badly he'd drop dead.

After each daily poison test, Lu Ling would sidle up to Yan Yuan and ask after his health.

"Is the Demon Venerable feeling well today?"

Are you feeling unwell? Is your heart wracked with pain, your blood flowing backward, your organs all dissolving?

Yan Yuan dabbed at the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief, looking satisfied. "This poison of yours is a little sweet. I like it."

Lu Ling: "?"

I want you to experience its effects, not review the flavor!

-

After much painful reflection, Lu Ling decided he'd gone too easy on Yan Yuan and that the poison wasn't potent enough.

He crossed mountains and valleys in search of poisonous herbs, then bathed, burned incense, and devoted himself to brewing poison, painstakingly refining it for eighty-one days.

He tried every kind of strange poison he could think of, dreaming day and night of seeing Yan Yuan poisoned.

Who could have guessed that not only would Yan Yuan feel refreshed and grow more powerful, but he'd also develop improper feelings for Lu Ling?

One day, Yan Yuan held a white jade bottle and gazed at him meaningfully after tasting its contents. "You've made me another powerful Ninefold Heartbreak Powder. It's complicated and time-consuming to brew, yet you put so much care into it every day..."

"Could it be that you really have feelings for me?"

Lu Ling: "...?"

May I ask:

Why hasn't the Demon Venerable died from poison yet?

[Reading Guide]

1. A tenacious little-weed medicine cultivator who is clever and resourceful, paired with a beautiful, powerful Demon Venerable who keeps convincing himself he's loved.

2. The more poison the male lead takes, the more energized he gets. His life is never in danger, and the poison causes all sorts of amusing reactions. (Shh.)

2025.2.25

Theme: A healer's compassion.