Martial Cultivator

“The Eldest Royal Princess has actually lived very reclusively these past years, and she is not as bloodthirsty as outsiders claim. Those demon race members who died at Her Highness’s hands were all courting death themselves, and there is no one else to blame.”

“As for this form of address, it is the Eldest Royal Princess’s only request, that the servants of the residence all address her this way. I do not know why. But as for saying that the Eldest Royal Princess intends to side with the human race, that is absolutely impossible. With royal blood in her veins, how could she betray her own people?”

“Moreover, Mister Jing is actually the only outsider the Eldest Royal Princess has seen in these years. It seems Mister Jing’s identity must certainly be extraordinary.”

The man spoke as he walked, but from the looks of it, he likely did not know the High Priest’s identity. Otherwise, he would not have said these things.

The High Priest smiled without speaking. After entering the residence, the man led the High Priest to a study, then took his leave.

The High Priest took a deep breath and stepped into the study.

The study was not large, just enough space for a wooden desk and two rows of bookshelves. A woman in a red dress stood with her head lowered, writing something at the desk. Just from looking at her like this, one could already tell that the woman was anything but ordinary, whether in appearance or bearing.

Indeed, as the demon race’s sole Eldest Royal Princess, how could she be an ordinary person.

After a moment, the woman in the red dress raised her head. She first blinked, then seemed somewhat unable to believe her eyes and rubbed them, asking, “Jing Zhu, is it really you?”

Already exceedingly beautiful, the woman now appeared to possess an added, uniquely playful charm.

The High Priest was somewhat helpless. “If it were not me, why would Eldest Royal Princess have invited me?”

“In the Southern Frontier City, I know who comes and who goes. Earlier I did notice your arrival, but then I thought that you, the High Priest, must be exceedingly busy these days and would not come to my sesame-seed-sized little place.”

The woman in the red dress spoke with a smile, her happiness clearly heartfelt. “I did not expect that in the end, it truly would be you who came.”

Just as the High Priest was about to speak, the woman in the red dress shook her head and said, “Jing Zhu, can we not speak of these matters a little later?”

When she spoke, she seemed somewhat aggrieved, looking pitiful, utterly unlike the decisive, iron-handed Eldest Royal Princess of the rumors.

The High Priest truly fell silent for a moment, then nodded and said, “Alright.”

The woman in the red dress nodded happily and said with a smile, “Jing Zhu, shall I take you for a walk around Southern Frontier City, eat some good food, and see some things you have not seen before?”

The High Priest nodded and once again said, “Alright.”

After that, he truly left the residence together with this Eldest Royal Princess, whose cultivation was high and whose temperament was not necessarily gentle, to go out and see Southern Frontier City.

The two left the residence together and wandered casually through the fairly large Southern Frontier City. Along the way, the Eldest Royal Princess spoke quite a lot, and the High Priest’s responses were… not few either.

“Jing Zhu, you know many things about the human race. Do you know what the process of marriage is like on the human side?”

Redsleeve suddenly spoke, her voice carrying a hint of anticipation.

The High Priest thought for a moment and asked, “Do you mean cultivators becoming Dao companions, or... those human commoners?”

Redsleeve said irritably, “Of course the latter.”

“If it is the latter, then the process is rather complicated. At the beginning there must first be a matchmaker. What they call the parents’ command and the matchmaker’s words, that is it. After that...”

The High Priest patiently spoke about the marriage process on the human side, his pace unhurried, making sure that every sentence could be clearly heard by the Eldest Royal Princess opposite him.

After finishing all this, the High Priest looked at Redsleeve and, rather rarely, teased her, asking, “Could it be that the Eldest Royal Princess truly has thoughts of turning your back on the demon realm and going to the human race?”

Redsleeve did not answer this question. She only spoke to herself, saying, “After leaving the royal city, I spent a great deal of time learning about the human race, and I very much like their customs. Later I thought that if I had never been a demon race member at all, but a human instead, that would be good. And if not a cultivator, then just an ordinary commoner, living for several decades, seeking nothing more than the four seasons and three meals a day, that would be enough.”

The High Priest said, “Those commoners had very difficult lives in the past. Demon race members who wandered into Great Liang would eat people, and those foreign cultivators would casually slaughter them as well.”

What he meant was simple enough: the Eldest Royal Princess was looking at things somewhat too simply at this moment.

Redsleeve said, “Great Liang has been established for over two hundred years. Hasn’t this sort of thing become less and less common? Especially by now.”

The High Priest fell silent. For ordinary commoners, the emperors and officials above them now were the best they had ever had in history.

“So you people want to destroy such a Great Liang, I am not very happy about that.”

Redsleeve looked at the High Priest and said calmly, “But this thought of mine is very selfish, because I know they would definitely want to destroy us.”

The High Priest nodded and said, “Peaceful coexistence might be possible if there were no old grudges, but old grudges have always existed, and they are the kind neither side can resolve. In that case, peaceful coexistence is impossible.”

Redsleeve nodded and said, “I understand all of this.”

The High Priest thought for a moment and said, “Your Highness, my purpose in coming, Your Highness should already know.”

Redsleeve said, “How could I not know? If my nephew were not asking for help, would he send someone to see me? If it were not a matter of great importance, how could he have sent you?”

The High Priest remained silent.

“Back then, my nephew truly harbored killing intent. If not for your single sentence, he would not have let me go south. I owe you for that. But Jing Zhu, these past years I have always had a question I wanted to ask you. You never came to Southern Frontier City, so I thought about it again and again. By now my thoughts may have grown more and more outrageous, but I still want an answer.”

Redsleeve looked at the High Priest. After thinking for a moment, she even stuck out her tongue, making it clear that something from years past had indeed changed the temperament of this demon race Eldest Royal Princess.

The High Priest glanced into the distance. They had only walked through a small portion of Southern Frontier City. After thinking for a moment, he said, “How about we finish the walk first, then talk?”

”No.”

Redsleeve decisively rejected the High Priest.

The High Priest said helplessly, “Why? Didn’t you say earlier we would finish seeing Southern Frontier City before talking? Why change your mind now?”

”Are you stupid or am I dumb?”

Redsleeve said smugly, “Before, I was afraid that once you spoke of your purpose, you would leave. Now it is obvious you are trying to stall for time. I am not going to foolishly wait.”

The High Priest thought for a moment and said, “Then what is your question?”

Redsleeve frowned and said, “Stop dodging it!”

The High Priest smiled, then the corners of his mouth twitched, “There is indeed affection, but it is only affection.”

Redsleeve was confused. “Why?”

The High Priest looked at Redsleeve and said calmly, “Because His Majesty would never call me Uncle.”[If the High Priest married Redsleeve, the Demon Emperor would have to call him Uncle.]