After lying down for five minutes, I got out of bed and did two squats. My muscles were still a bit sore, but much better. I put on my clothes and went to the main hall. I smelled the aroma coming from the kitchen and went to check. Chen Ke and the others were cooking. There were many wild beasts laid out on the chopping board, brought back by the demons from their hunts.
However, I had overdone my practice and lost my appetite, so I decided to eat later. I went up to the third floor, intending to chat with Yao Yao. I unexpectedly discovered another staircase leading further up. I ascended it and found it led to a small path that went all the way to the mountain top.
Reaching the summit, I looked back and down. The entire bay unfolded before my eyes. I thought about the great naval battle of the past. The enemy's commander must have stood here, holding a spyglass, watching countless enemy warships approach from the distant sea. What a spectacular sight it must have been.
"What are you doing?" Diana also followed me up and sat beside me.
I offered her a cigarette. "Appreciating the sea view, reflecting on history, and looking to the future."
Diana lit the cigarette and took a puff. It felt like she was breathing, not smoking, neither good nor bad. After all, for a giant whale, the smoke from a single cigarette wouldn't even fill a single alveolus.
"The future? The future is long. What are your plans?" Diana asked.
"I'm not sure, anyway..." I activated my clairvoyance, saw that there was no one or demon nearby, and then said, "Anyway, I'm not Bai Ze. The conflict between the two great demon tribes should be decided by the real Bai Ze."
"Bai Ze is only one side. Don't you want to hear Shan Hai's opinion?" Diana asked with a smile.
"I don't know Shan Hai. Who knows where he is now? Haven't Mo He and Chi You found Shan Hai's reincarnation yet?"
"But I have," Diana said with a smile.
"Oh?" I turned to look at her. "Where?"
"Nearby."
I shivered in shock. "Where? Are they here to ambush us?"
Diana leaned her head close, resting it on my shoulder. "I genuinely envy you."
"...You can envy me later, but first tell me, where is Shan Hai!" I said seriously.
"The part I envy about you is that you can simultaneously have the two great demon leaders, Shan Hai and Bai Ze. It's much better than Liu Huangshu having the Sleeping Dragon and the Young Phoenix."
"...I have Shan Hai? Don't joke. Unless... Could it be! You are Shan Hai!" I became even more scared and quickly pushed Diana away.
"How could I possibly be Shan Hai?" Diana rolled her eyes at me. "Forget it, heavenly secrets cannot be revealed. Anyway, this is your advantage. Make good use of it, and perhaps you can change the grand pattern of conflict between the two tribes over thousands of years."
After speaking, Diana got up, patted the dust off her leather drum, walked a few steps away, and then turned back.
"Are you going to tell me the truth?" I quickly got up and asked.
Diana shook her head, turned her back to me, and leaned forward slightly.
"What are you doing?" I asked, confused.
"Returning the demon core to you."
... I reluctantly accepted the demon core. It felt a bit unfamiliar. It wasn't Diana's presence that felt strange, but rather the demon core after it entered my body. After all, this was a body I had come back to life in. After Diana left, I tried to mobilize the aura of the demon core. At first, it was disobedient. After several rounds of "training," it finally acted like a disobedient puppy being forced, reluctantly following my commands and providing some true qi.
However, its reluctance was more than enough for me. I combined Chu Qi's leg techniques with the true qi of the demon core, using the true qi to power a whip kick while simultaneously protecting my leg. Guided by Chu Qi's muscle power, I directly shattered a protruding rock on the mountain top, a stone as big as a watermelon!
Even I was somewhat surprised. If this kick landed on someone's head...
My foot, however, hurt a lot!
Limping back to the castle, I found Chu Qi again and told her I had injured myself kicking the stone and asked for treatment with the little healing potion. I took off my shoes and socks. The top of my foot was already swollen like a bun. Chu Qi said resentfully that I shouldn't train blindly without her instruction, and that we weren't at the stage of breaking bricks and shattering stones with our feet yet!
All I could do was say yes, and that I would listen to my master from now on.
After sunset, the castle was very quiet because there were almost no lights on the outer perimeter. The demons spoke in low voices. Yao Yao and I were in the room, doing something we hadn't done in a long time. Afterwards, I quietly asked Yao Yao, "Where do you think Shan Hai's reincarnation is now?"
"How would I know?" Yao Yao said lazily.
"Is it possible that he's far away, yet right before our eyes?" I tested.