Chapter 2529: Little Founder’s Return

After a long moment of silence, Selena suddenly spoke in a calm voice. "Although he may look similar to Tian Chenyu, the resemblance is only on the surface. If you take a closer look, you can see clear differences."

"S-She’s right! The Divine Paragon’s nose is a bit shorter, and his jaws are not as defined!"

"Now that you mention it, the Divine Paragon’s eyes are a bit rounder."

The Demon Sealers began to notice more and more differences between Yuan and the Divine Paragon after Selena’s words. Eventually, it reached the point where they could no longer see the Divine Paragon in Yuan.

Unbeknownst to these Demon Sealers, Yuan had purposefully adjusted the Divine Paragon’s facial features before returning to the Nine Heavens. After learning Bone Manipulation, he could adjust his appearance without any appearance-altering pills, something that would be easily detected by experts.

"It’s unfortunate, but he’s really not the Divine Paragon..."

Yuan frowned and said, "I’ve already said from the beginning that I am not the Divine Paragon. What’s going on? And why do you all look like you’d been to hell and back?"

Yan Hara responded with a question, "Where have you been this entire time?"

"I was in seclusion," Yuan calmly answered. "After coming out, I decided to come here, but the doors were sealed."

Yan Hara sighed and said, "A lot has happened, but I’ll go through them with you, so come with me."

However, Zhou Yanfei suddenly said, "Leader Yan, you can leave such mundane tasks to me or anyone else here. There’s no need for you to—"

"It’s fine. He’s my disciple, after all," Yan Hara quickly interrupted. "I also happen to have some private business with him."

"If Leader Yan insists... We’ll let you deal with him..." Zhou Yanfei said.

"I’m sure you’re all exhausted, both mentally and physically, so take some time to recover. With Senior Selena here, we won’t have to worry about demons—the Forsaken for now. However, we still have to deal with the Demon Worshippers later."

Some time later, Yan Hara brought Selena and Yuan into her private quarters.

The moment she closed the door and ensured the concealment formation inside was working properly, Yan Hara turned to face Yuan, took a deep breath, and shouted angrily, "ARE YOU INSANE?!"

Yuan subconsciously plugged his ears with his fingers and remarked, "Are you trying to blow out my eardrums? Relax a little."

"Relax?! Not only did you kill the Divine Paragon, but you also gave me a heart attack when you used Soul Rupture! How in heaven’s name did you even survive that?! Or was that some sort of trick?!"

"Oh, that was no trick," Yuan reassured her. "I really did blow up my soul using Soul Rupture."

"Then how the hell are you still alive?! Not even a Cultivation God could survive their soul being blown to bits!"

Yuan chuckled, "I have my ways."

"..."

Yan Hara fell silent, but the frown on her face remained.

"Although you managed to fool everyone with the Divine Paragon’s death... at what cost? You never told me there would be real sacrifices. If you had, I would never have agreed to it."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Yuan asked with a genuine puzzled face.

"Are you really playing dumb with me right now? I am talking about all of the people who died! There were tens of thousands of deaths, you know!"

Despite hearing that so many people had died, Yuan somehow managed to smile.

"You—"

"Do you really think I’d go as far as killing random people just for the sake of my little show?" Yuan interrupted Yan Hara just as she opened her mouth.

"I thought you knew me better..." Yuan sighed, shaking his head in disappointment.

"B-But I saw it with my own eyes! Or are you trying to say that you’d somehow managed to fake that many deaths?" Yan Hara exclaimed, puzzled by the whole situation.

"No, those people really died," Yuan then said, bewildering her.

He quickly continued, "However, they were all demons disguised as humans that I planted within the crowd before the banquet even began."

"D-Demons...? Disguised as humans...?"

Yuan nodded and elaborated, "If nobody died during such a chaotic battle, it would have seemed suspicious and far less convincing."

He continued, "There were a few things I wanted to achieve with the play today. First, I wanted the humans of the Nine Heavens to experience the terror and power of the Forsaken firsthand, so they would think twice before acting aggressively toward the demons who may visit in the future."

"Second, I wanted to introduce Selena as their protector and as the ambassador of the Demonic Realm. That way, she could become the voice of both worlds—and hopefully, the bridge that connects the Nine Heavens and the Demonic Realm. She’s also proof that coexisting with demons is possible."

"Third, I wanted the Divine Paragon to disappear for good. At the end of the day, the real Divine Paragon perished long ago and does not belong in this era. Moreover, while the Divine Paragon could try to convince the Nine Heavens to trust the demons, I have a feeling his existence would have the opposite effect and become a roadblock instead."

"Lastly... well, it isn’t related to the Divine Paragon or the Demon Sealing Clan, so I’ll just skip it."

Yan Hara fell backward, kissing the floor with her buttocks after hearing Yuan’s explanation.

"I apologize for keeping many things from you, but I needed it to be as convincing as possible," Yuan apologized a moment later.

"What now...?" Yan Hara asked after a full minute of silence.

"I want you to work with Selena and create a future where both of our worlds can coexist. I know I am asking a lot from you, but you can do it as the Leader of the Demon Sealing Clan and successor of the Divine Paragon, right?"

Yan Hara released a deep sigh and nodded in a defeated manner before responding, "Even though I didn’t sign up for this... I guess it’s better than fighting demons for the rest of my life."

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