A man in ancient attire looked in the direction the voice came from. He saw a young man emerge, dressed in red ancient robes that clashed with the surrounding environment.
"Why aren't you guarding your little wife and running here?" the man in red snorted.
The man in ancient attire scoffed, "I thought it was someone else. Turns out it's just Shan Ji."
Hearing the name "Shan Ji," the man in red's face turned extremely unpleasant. "Don't get too smug. You just got a bit of luck and ascended, that's all."
Seeing the man in red's face contorted with anger, the man in ancient attire clicked his tongue. "Alas, it's a pity. You were only a year away, but the path to ascension is already broken."
The man in red clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking. "What's there to be smug about? You were also banished from the heavens."
The man in ancient attire sighed, a smug expression on his face. "Alas, I was indeed banished, but some people didn't even have the chance to ascend."
The aura around the man in red suddenly surged, as if he were about to attack at any moment.
Seeing this, the man in ancient attire sneered, "What, you still haven't had enough of being beaten by me after five hundred years?"
The man in red snorted, "To deal with you, how could I possibly come alone?"
As soon as the man in red finished speaking, a woman and two men emerged from the forest.
The man in ancient attire's brows furrowed, and his expression turned grim as he saw the three people emerge.
"I didn't expect the three of you to come as well," the man in ancient attire said.
The woman, dressed in light green robes, smiled. "This humble one greets the King."
The woman wore a veil, and although her appearance couldn't be clearly seen, her eyes were captivating, stirring a desire in onlookers to possess her.
The two men beside her were one, a muscular man around forty years old with a fierce gaze, and the other, a child-like figure with a perpetual smile.
"You narrowly beat me by three moves back then. Let's have another match," the burly man said.
Five hundred years ago, during the Demon Realm's King Competition, the man in ancient attire, with his own strength, suppressed all rivals and ultimately seized the title of Demon King. The four people before him were his strongest competitors from that time, rare great demons with three thousand years of cultivation.
The man in ancient attire frowned. "I have matters to attend to right now."
The man in ancient attire turned to leave. These four were not to be trifled with; he would avoid fighting them unless absolutely necessary.
"Five hundred years ago was the Demon Realm's King Competition. Someone seized the throne with his own power and also obtained a treasure only the Demon King could use. Everyone thought that with his leadership, the demon race could return to the human world. But unexpectedly, he vanished without a trace with the treasure, leading to the near annihilation of the demon race in that battle," the child-like man explained.
The man in ancient attire stopped, his back to the four. "I told you, I participated in the Demon King Competition for that treasure."
The man in red smirked wickedly. "Hmph, I think you did it for your little wife."
As soon as these words were spoken, the man in ancient attire's face turned instantly grim. He turned around, his eyes fixed on the man in red.
Seeing the man in ancient attire staring at him, the man in red continued to mock, "I remember how miserably he died in that life, besieged by all the gods from the heavens, leaving nothing but ashes. His head was even cut off and hung on the Ascension Stone!"
The man in ancient attire's expression turned ice-cold. The aura around him surged, and he stared at the man in red with murderous intent.
Seeing the man in ancient attire's demeanor, the man in red burst into laughter. "That's right, that's the expression. It's the look that strikes fear into the hearts of so many demons."
"Your mistake was bringing her up!"
As the man in ancient attire finished speaking, he stomped his foot, creating a pit in the ground. In an instant, he was in front of the man in red.
The man in ancient attire struck out with a palm towards the man in red.
The man in red raised his hand to meet the blow.
*Bang!*
The two forces collided, and the surrounding leaves were shaken loose and fell.
The man in red's expression changed, and he retreated.
The man in ancient attire did not hesitate and struck out with another palm towards the man in red.
Seeing this, the burly man beside them flashed in front of the man in red and met the blow.
*Bang!*
Both men retracted their hands. The man in ancient attire's expression was cold. "Are you trying to help him?"
The burly man shook his head. "I don't care about your affairs. I just want to have a good fight with you."
The man in ancient attire's face darkened. "I don't have time to fight you now."
"That is not up to you," the burly man said, charging at the man in ancient attire.
Another palm strike, and the unleashed force scattered, making the very air around them tremble.
The man in red looked at the child and the veiled woman beside him. "Fan Wei, aren't you going to join?"
The child-like Fan Wei shook his head. "No, I just came to watch the fight between them."
The man in red then looked at the veiled woman on his right. "Hu Guizhi, aren't you going to join either?"
Hu Guizhi, the veiled woman, smiled faintly. "As a mere woman, I have no interest in the position of Demon King. I'm just here to join the fun."
Seeing that neither of them would intervene, the man in red snorted. "Have you forgotten that battle?"
Fan Wei chuckled. "Alright, Shao Shan, we all know the inside story of that battle. If any three-thousand-year-old great demon had stepped forward, so many demons wouldn't have died. To put it plainly, it was the powerless and insignificant lesser demons who died."
--
Author's Note:
Updates may be a bit infrequent these few days. My apologies to everyone. (Bows 90 degrees)