Chapter Twenty-Four: Why Haven’t You Thanked His Majesty Yet?

"Can we really keep playing it this safe? If I have to wait until I reach the fifth rank to become a Great Demon, who knows how long that will take!"

"When you reach the mountain, there will be a way. At worst, I can just enter the Constant Domain from another region!"

Sitting beside the defensive formation, Jiang Xuan muttered to himself. If he hadn't had the presence of mind earlier to employ the most heaven-defying of the Thirty-Six Stratagems—the art of running away—he would be nothing but a corpse right now.

Jiang Xuan had no desire to keep living so timidly. That single breath of spiritual energy he had inhaled when he first neared the Constant Domain had felt like a rush from head to toe. If he wanted to grow his strength quickly, he had to reach the Constant Domain as soon as possible!

"Cough, cough."

"Where is this? And my injuries..."

Suddenly, the Empress woke up, curled up on the ground.

"Awake, are you? You really don't make it easy for your big brother. If I hadn't arrived in time, your little life would have been gone!" Jiang Xuan grumbled, flapping his wings to dissipate the defensive formation.

Given her sixth-rank cultivation, the Empress's strength in defeating a seventh-rank peacock demon was self-evident. Yet, in the life of a bird, how could things always go smoothly? Sometimes one must learn to yield; if you can run, why not run?

"You big fat bird, did you save me?"

"This seventh-rank demon belongs to me!"

After asking in a daze, the Empress immediately began to devour the meat ravenously. Her snowy feathers became visibly stained red with the peacock’s blood, but at the same time, her aura began to grow and fill out.

"No one is fighting you for it, and you couldn't finish it anyway. In the end, won't it just benefit me?"

The seventh-rank peacock demon’s body was as large as an ox; even after plucking the feathers, it was still the size of a calf. With the Empress's small frame, how could she possibly finish it all?

After a while, the Empress let out a satisfied burp.

"I grant you the rest as a reward for saving my life!" she declared. "But you should understand, saving me is your honor."

Two legs and a rump were tossed in front of Jiang Xuan. The Empress's tone was truly infuriating.

"Well, then, I thank you!" Jiang Xuan retorted sarcastically, beginning to feast.

Watching Jiang Xuan eat, a trace of gratitude stirred in the Empress's heart. Only now did she feel a lingering fear. After all, if life were gone, everything would truly be gone.

Jiang Xuan had saved her and hadn't even claimed the spoils of war for himself, which couldn't help but make the Empress feel a bit more favorably toward him.

"Wait, you... you big fat bird! You’ve actually reached the ninth-rank demon cultivation!"

"Impossible! How could you be so fast!"

"I had such an opportunity on this trip, and just now, just now... scoundrel!"

The aura of a ninth-rank demon sent a shock through the Empress's delicate body, followed immediately by a surge of resentment from the bottom of her heart. The old saying held true: comparing birds only makes a bird angry. Jiang Xuan’s progress was genuinely shaking the Empress's resolve.

"Stop acting so surprised. As your big brother, if I weren't a bit stronger than you all, how could I protect you?" Jiang Xuan said, smiling, as he flapped his wings and shook his body.

Although there wasn't much meat left on the seventh-rank peacock, Jiang Xuan could clearly sense his internal spiritual power surging significantly after the meal.

The sunset spread lazily across the horizon, casting a red glow over the entire demon forest. Under the red sun, two hawk demons—one black, one white, one large, one small—soared past.

Jiang Xuan intentionally slowed his pace. The Empress had not yet fully recovered, and given her lower cultivation, she would certainly not be able to keep up with him.

"This... this is my reward to you."

Suddenly, a soft voice reached Jiang Xuan’s ears. Tilting his head, he saw the Empress carrying a dark storage ring in her beak!

The ring was about three inches wide and engraved with a "Middle" character pattern unique to five-directional profound iron, radiating an incredibly subtle power of spatial laws! At a single glance, Jiang Xuan’s eyes widened. It wasn't that he hadn't thought about it; he just felt he didn't need one yet. Good heavens, the Empress was actually giving him this storage ring?

"Did you spend the whole day refining this ring just to give it to me?"

"Scoundrel! Don't you dare misunderstand! I just wanted more resources!" The Empress snapped, tossing the ring to Jiang Xuan and turning her head away.

Although the ring was only first-rank, Jiang Xuan loved it instantly and wore it on his talon. The moment he put it on, the ring seemed to vanish, turning invisible! As expected of an item imbued with the power of spatial laws, it was truly wondrous!

"Aren't you going to thank me yet?" the Empress’s cold voice rang out as Jiang Xuan marveled at the ring.

"Well, not bad. In the future, I'll give you a larger share of the resources, little sister."

"You found a unique path; you are quite clever indeed."

"Shut up! When did I ever ask for praise from a lowly bird like you? I told you to thank me!"

"Are you getting ahead of yourself? Thank you? In front of your big brother, even a dragon has to coil up!"

"You!"

...

Several days passed quietly. In the nest, thanks to Jiang Xuan's feeding, the strength of the dozen or so other birds also grew rapidly.

Before the sun rose, the two teams led by the Empress and the Demon Lord would go out to forage for resources. Jiang Xuan, however, slept until the afternoon before heading out to hunt demons. During this time, the young hawks got along well—except, of course, for the Empress and the Demon Lord, who were born with rebellious spirits.

Unknowingly, Jiang Xuan had reached the first major hurdle on the path to enlightenment.

"I am going into seclusion to break through my cultivation. You all go out and guard the perimeter for me."

"Big Brother! Are you already going to break through to the Great Demon realm?"

"As expected of Big Brother! This speed of cultivation is something we can only look up to!"

"Our backing is truly solid! Once we head to the Constant Domain in the future, we won't have to worry about resources and can cultivate without a care!"

Amidst the chorus of flattery, the voices of the Demon Lord and the Empress were notably different. They were currently only at the eighth-rank, and that was only achieved through desperate, life-risking effort. Yet Jiang Xuan was on the verge of breaking through to the Great Demon realm with such ease; it was only natural that they felt unbalanced. After all, they had hatched earlier than he had!

"So be it. I am convinced," the Empress thought. "This fat bird has saved my life repeatedly and provided me with many resources. Looking at it from another angle, isn't he just preparing the way for me?" Recalling how she had nearly lost her life in the battle against the seventh-rank peacock, only to be saved by Jiang Xuan, she ceased to harbor resentment over his faster progress.

The Demon Lord, however, did not think the same.

"Hurry up and get out there. I need at least an hour. I will keep your contributions in mind. Once I become a Great Demon, I can take you all to the Constant Domain. Your cultivation speeds will be incomparable to what they are now."

"Yes, Big Brother! We will surely perform our duties faithfully and never let any other demon get close!"

"Don't worry, Big Brother. Just focus on your breakthrough. If even half a mosquito flies in, then we aren't hawks!"

Jiang Xuan felt there was something strange about that statement. Soon, the young hawks flew out of the nest one after another, leaving Jiang Xuan alone...