Chapter 1 The Atmosphere Freezes

The Sun Lord's casual words plunged the meeting room into an icy silence.

The Nine Elders looked at each other, finding their expressions stiff, and a sense of fear brewing in their hearts.

They had already learned from Tianfa (Heavenly Punishment) that the Sun Lord had been born and descended into reality, awakening the sanity of the Wind and Thunder Gods.

And this newly promoted Sun Lord was none other than the Five Elements Alliance's abandoned son, Yuan Shi Tianzun!

A bolt from the blue!

Only these four words could describe their feelings when they heard the news.

The level of shock was comparable to a dog being elected president of the Free Federation.

The young man whose flamboyant personality they disliked and found difficult to control had finally stepped onto the highest position, becoming the most powerful demigod of this era.

Ling Tuo didn't obtain the Sun Origin, which was encouraging for the Lawful faction, but the fact that Yuan Shi Tianzun became the Sun Lord made the Nine Elders feel apprehensive!

They had all suppressed this thorny genius to varying degrees, and had been permissive and tacit about Cai Qinhe's actions.

Seeing the stiff expressions of the Nine Elders, Zhang Yuanqing's majestic face revealed a smile: "Don't be so nervous. I'm not that petty. What's past is past.

"I've gathered you here today to announce two things. First, the battle for the Sun Origin is over, but the Lawful faction did not win.

"As you should know, the Lawful demigods have not returned."

The Great Elder Di Hong exhaled softly, "We hope you can tell us!"

Tianfa only conveyed the information about the Sun Lord, without mentioning the situation inside the Sun dungeon.

Zhang Yuanqing said, "The Star Lord betrayed the Lawful faction. He had long colluded with the Evil faction, summoning the Night Emperor during the battle for the Sun Origin and plunging the five Alliance Leaders and a group of Lawful demigods into slumber.

"Of the Lawful faction's demigods, only Void, the Goddess of Beauty, the Xie family's Old Ancestor, and I remain.

"Soon, the Star Lord and I will have our final showdown in the Lingjing (Spirit Realm), which will determine the fate of the world."

At this point, he paused, giving the Nine Elders time to digest the information.

Sure enough, the expressions of the Nine Elders changed visibly, their eyes filled with shock, astonishment, and panic.

After more than ten seconds, the Great Elder of the Red Fire Gang said in a deep voice, "I don't believe it! The Star Lord has no reason to betray the Lawful faction. If he were a Fallen, the five Alliance Leaders couldn't have failed to notice. Even if Alliance Leader Jiang didn't notice, the other four Alliance Leaders would have seen through it. At the very least, the Marshal couldn't have been kept in the dark."

The Sword Pavilion Elder nodded slightly, "Even if the Star Lord's ability to plot was unparalleled, the Marshal wouldn't have been kept in the dark all along."

Fu Qingxuan's Insight skill already possessed the power of rules.

No one could accept this truth.

Zhang Yuanqing said indifferently, "The Star Lord is not a Fallen. He simply agrees with the Evil faction's philosophy, believing that destruction is order."

Why did His Majesty betray the country? The Nine Elders looked at each other again, greatly shocked.

Zhang Yuanqing continued, "All things in the universe have two sides, yin and yang. Where there is life, there is death. The end of the universe is destruction, and that is the order he recognizes. The reasons and mysteries behind this involve the Sun, Moon, Stars, and the truth of the Lingjing. At your level, you are not qualified to know.

"Even I can't say he's wrong. However, if he wins, the Earth will be destroyed, which is something I cannot tolerate. Therefore, I can only ask him to die."

The Nine Elders stared at Yuan Shi Tianzun's young face, sensing from it a sense of uprightness and majesty, and they unconsciously believed his words...

This was the power of persuasion that came with the Sun Origin.

Zhang Yuanqing said, "Your only remaining use is to inform the government of the truth that the world is about to be destroyed and prepare for stability maintenance. I'm worried that the Evil faction will spread doomsday messages, create panic, and cause social unrest."

The Nine Elders nodded with grave expressions.

Zhang Yuanqing suddenly curled the corners of his mouth: "The second thing is, I want to borrow your rule-based items! With the world about to be destroyed, as the Lawful faction's peak ruler, as the official power holders, you should all contribute to world peace.

"Let me make it clear in advance, this is not settling old scores, but gathering resources and strength to fight the Evil faction to the death, all for the sake of humanity and order.

"Anyone who disagrees is a Fallen, and I will purify them in my capacity as the Sun Lord!"

The Nine Elders' hearts sank, knowing that the revenge that was due had finally arrived. They couldn't avoid it after all.

This newly promoted Sun Lord, although extreme in personality, was no less skillful than Fu Qingyang, or rather, he was well-taught by Fu Qingyang.

The Sword Pavilion Elder sized up the situation and sighed, "This is only right! I am willing to contribute to humanity and order."

Thinking from a rational point of view, with the situation developing to this point, their usefulness was actually not great. If the Sun Lord was defeated, humanity would be destroyed. If the Sun Lord won, humanity would survive. Whether they were there or not was irrelevant to the overall situation.

Since it was irrelevant to the overall situation, the Sun Lord would definitely dare to strike ruthlessly.

From a personal point of view, Yuan Shi Tianzun dared to fight Cai Qinhe as a Saint, so he would be even less merciful now.

With the Sword Pavilion Elder expressing his position, the other eight elders could only lower their heads and helplessly agree to hand over the level nine rule-based items that guaranteed their status and power.

Zhang Yuanqing nodded with satisfaction and finally looked at Miao Zhanglao, smiling: "I forgot to tell you all a little thing, I am the Demon Lord!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the snakes on Miao Zhanglao's head hissed in unison, opening their mouths one by one, and the roots under his robe swelled up, twisting wildly as if out of control.

The next second, he disappeared into the projection beam.

In the meeting room, the Eight Elders lost their expressions. The impact of this news was no less than that of the Taiyi Sect Leader betraying the Lawful faction.

…

Villa.

The King of the Forest frowned, "What's so good about a small character like Yuan Shi Tianzun? Sect Leader Chunyang, you're really old, you can't see the situation clearly anymore."

He picked up a glass of whiskey, took a sip, and spoke eloquently: "As long as the Leader obtains the Sun Origin, the entire Lawful faction will be wiped out, let alone Yuan Shi Tianzun. What we need to do now is to lie low and wait for the Leader's good news.

"Don't always think about causing trouble. Our Freedom faction doesn't like causing trouble either. It's easy to get yourself killed."

Sect Leader Chunyang stared at him, the madness in his eyes intensifying little by little, his voice becoming cold: "I know that you Dark Night Rose Protectors have an emergency contact method. Are you going to help me contact them voluntarily, or are you waiting to be devoured by me?"

He was a madman, and a madman's obsession was difficult for ordinary people to understand.

Zhao Youqing was hiding in the Lingjing. In reality, the only person he could retaliate against was Yuan Shi Tianzun. Whoever stood in his way, he would kill!

The King of the Forest fell silent, staring blankly at Sect Leader Chunyang.

Just as the latter's patience was about to run out, the Spring God shrugged: "Alright, you're a madman. I can't be bothered to argue with you."

He looked towards the side hall and said, "Bring me my spare phone!"

A dozen seconds later, a tabby cat came running with a phone in its mouth, placing it on the coffee table.

The King of the Forest picked up the phone and dialed Shanhe Yongcun's spare number...

The "beep beep" sound rang for a long time, but no one answered.

The King of the Forest frowned, then dialed the phone numbers of the other Protectors. After a round, he found that Shanhe Yongcun, Surgeon, and Shaman were missing, but the other Protectors could be contacted.

Sect Leader Chunyang "heh"ed, "It seems they've already been killed!"

The King of the Forest's expression changed slightly.

All the demigods had entered the Sun dungeon. With the disappearance of the Dark Night Rose's Great Protectors, if he wanted to retaliate against Yuan Shi Tianzun, he had to find high-ranking rulers from other forces.

He couldn't contact the Nihility Church, as they regarded him as a mortal enemy. He wasn't familiar with the Spiritual Energy Society, so that only left the Soldiers Church. Sect Leader Chunyang thought to himself.

The Soldiers Church and the Dark Night Rose had close ties, making them the easiest to contact.

Moreover, the Soldiers Church's Heavenly Kings were strong enough. If the Soldiers Church's Heavenly Kings could then contact the high-ranking rulers of the Spiritual Energy Society and the Nihility Church, Yuan Shi Tianzun would surely die.

Having made up his mind, Sect Leader Chunyang said, "Help me contact someone from the Soldiers Church. I want to see their Heavenly King, except for that Devil Eye Heavenly King!"

Not long after nightfall, Sun Miaomiao and Zhao Chenghuang were summoned to the courtyard house by their respective grandfathers and great-grandfathers, from whom they learned the news of Yuan Shi Tianzun's promotion to Sun Lord.

They thought that this information was explosive enough, but the second piece of news shattered Sun Miaomiao and Zhao Chenghuang's worldviews.

Yuan Shi Tianzun was the Demon Lord!

How could Yuan Shi Tianzun be the Demon Lord? Zhao Chenghuang couldn't figure it out no matter what.

Filled with confusion, he left his great-grandfather's courtyard house, took out his phone, and hesitated whether to contact his former comrade-in-arms, now the Sun Lord.

Just past the corner of the alley, he saw Sun Miaomiao standing at the entrance of Elder Sun's courtyard house, holding her phone, with a bad expression on her face.

Zhao Chenghuang immediately understood his little partner's feelings, silently walked forward, and sighed: "It's also hard for me to accept this fact, but since Great-Grandfather said so, it can't be wrong. There must be some inside story that we don't know. Since Yuan Shi didn't say it, there's no need for us to ask.

"Miaomiao, ah. Actually…"

Sun Miaomiao took a deep breath, put her phone back in her pocket, and forced a smile:

"Actually, I don't like Yuan Shi Tianzun that much either."

Zhao Chenghuang was stunned, "What I wanted to say was, actually, Yuan Shi Tianzun has lovers all over the world, so having one more of you wouldn't make much of a difference."

Sun Miaomiao instantly broke down, crying, "Don't even think about it."

Zhao Chenghuang fell silent. Comforting people was really not his strong suit.

At this time, the two saw another dispirited man walking around the corner—Ling Jun!

Ling Jun's eyes were dull, his steps faltering, like a gambler who had just come out of a casino, having lost everything.

Zhao Chenghuang sighed secretly. The most painful thing in the world was to become close friends with a man who had slept with your cousin and aunt.

So he stepped forward and said, "Ling Jun, things are unpredictable. No one thought that Yuan Shi Tianzun would be the Demon Lord. It's not your fault!

He stopped talking. Ling Jun instantly broke down, his face twisted: "I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill him right now!!"

Zhao Chenghuang held his shoulders, his face serious, and earnestly said: "Calm down. He is the Sun Lord now. Don't say such angry words. Think about it from another angle. Your most hated father is really a Fallen. Don't you feel better?"

Ling Jun stared blankly at him. After a long while, he trembled with anger:

"Did I fucking offend you?"

Sun Miaomiao looked at Ling Jun with pity, feeling much more balanced in her heart.