Becoming the Demon Lord: Taming the Demon Queen Begins

"Ninefold Underworld?"

The name made Timothy pause for a moment.

He hadn't heard of it before.

But after going through countless books in the Arcane Library about otherworldly realms, he had come across scattered references to the Ninefold Underworld in many of them.

So, it seemed highly likely that this Ninefold Underworld, which governed numerous Underworld factions and sat at the very center of the Underworld, was real.

There were even mentions of the eight Holy Maidens of the Underworld and the existence of the King of the Underworld.

But still...

"If that's the case, why didn't the Ninefold Underworld do anything when chaos broke out in the Netherworld?" Timothy frowned slightly, sensing something off.

The space between different star regions was incredibly difficult to tear through, and information about the Ninefold Underworld was scarce, with few people knowing much about it.

The countless books in the library emitted a faint golden glow as time slowly passed while Timothy was lost in thought.

Night faded, the sun rose, and the horizon in the distance began to glow with the pale light of dawn.

Accompanied by the chirping of birds, a new day had arrived.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Timothy realized that while he had been pondering, an entire night had passed.

He put down the book in his hands, took a deep breath, and finally stepped out of the Arcane Library.

In the early morning, the birds' songs were especially melodious, and a cool mist still lingered around the peak of Sky Sanctuary.

But unlike usual, a group of male disciples was already standing in the open space in front of the goddess statue, waiting for Timothy to arrive.

Aside from wanting to improve their strength through training, they were even more eager to see if the goddess would actually bring Timothy lemon tea again today.

"No way. Even if the goddess comes to inspect today, the lemon tea will definitely go to someone else. There's no way she'll give it to Timothy again!"

"Exactly! I believe in the goddess!"

With this belief in their hearts, the disciples all had a look of anticipation on their faces.

At that moment, they noticed Timothy approaching from a distance.

Seeing the varied expressions on the disciples' faces, Timothy's lips curled into a subtle smile. "Didn't expect you all to be up so early. Well then, let's start with a little warm-up."

He paused, then added, "Hmm... as a warm-up, let's have everyone run six miles at full speed."

"Six miles?!"

The disciples were instantly dumbfounded.

Running two miles yesterday had already been ridiculous.

Even though they were practitioners, many of them had been sore all night and hadn't fully recovered.

They never expected Timothy to start off with six miles today.

"Timothy, are you just taking revenge on us?!"

"Damn it, Timothy, have mercy! This isn't a warm-up at all!"

Cries of complaint filled the air, but they didn't seem to sway Timothy in the slightest.

With resigned expressions, the group had no choice but to begin their six-mile run.

"One, two, three, four!"

Before long, the invigorating sound of their chants echoed once again through the Sky Sanctuary.

But despite the loud chants, the disciples had lost the fiery enthusiasm they had yesterday.

The pain from that bowl of lemon tea had left a deep mark on everyone's hearts.

"Damn it, yesterday must've been a fluke. If the goddess comes today, maybe she'll give it to me!"

Who knows how many of them were silently shouting this in their hearts as they ran, drenched in sweat.

"Strange, why do these kids look so determined today? It's like they're preparing for a life-or-death battle."

Even Elder Turner, who had just been woken up by their chanting, was startled.
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But six miles, while easy to say, was no walk in the park—even for trained practitioners.

As the morning light broke through the horizon, by the time they had run just two miles, many of the disciples were already drenched in sweat, panting heavily.

It seemed the warm-up was working quite well.

While the male disciples were running, a figure slowly approached, watching the scene unfold.

It was a short-haired woman.

Her jet-black hair fell just to her shoulders, and she looked to be around twenty years old. She wore a simple, pale yellow robe, with a dagger hanging from her waist. Her appearance was rather striking.

But as she watched the disciples, gasping for breath during their training, a mocking smirk appeared on her face.

"Hmph, I've heard for a long time that the disciples of Sky Sanctuary are geniuses, handpicked from all corners of the world. Not only are they exceptionally talented, but their comprehension is supposed to be unmatched.

I thought with such brilliant minds, the disciples of Sky Sanctuary would have come up with some impressive training methods. But to my surprise, they're just... running? Ha! Practitioners wasting their time on exercises fit for mere mortals? How laughable.

So this is the so-called genius of Sky Sanctuary? Is this really the extent of their insight?"

Her mocking voice echoed through the air, causing several disciples to stop in their tracks.

The disdain in her tone was unmistakable to anyone listening.

But when they saw who it was, many of the disciples looked shocked. The anger that had been building in their eyes from her taunts quickly faded.

If anyone else had dared to say something like that in front of the disciples, it would've sparked outrage.

But this woman's identity was... special.

Vivian.

She was the woman who, many years ago, had been betrothed to Holy Emperor Luminis, with the agreement that they would marry after several centuries.

Back then, the parents of Holy Emperor Luminis and Vivian had sealed the engagement with a toast, and even the two children had been pleased with the arrangement.

However, as the years passed, while Holy Emperor Luminis rapidly grew in strength and was eventually revered as the Holy Emperor, he was unable to consummate the marriage due to the side effects of mastering the Realm of a Thousand Blades, which forced him to remain celibate.

As a result, the marriage that had been promised never came to pass.

Yet, despite this, Vivian had stayed by Holy Emperor Luminis' side, waiting for the day when he would break through his limitations and finally be able to marry her.

Years turned into decades, and Vivian had now served Holy Emperor Luminis for over a century, earning considerable merit in the process.

Although Holy Emperor Luminis had yet to overcome the restrictions of his celibacy, Vivian's unique status had granted her a position of high esteem.

After all, while she wasn't his wife yet, the moment Holy Emperor Luminis broke through, she would become his consort.

This special status meant that, despite her relatively modest strength, Vivian was treated with a great deal of respect.

After all, no one dared to provoke the future wife of a Holy Emperor-level figure.

This unique position had made Vivian arrogant, and she looked down on others, feeling untouchable.

After all, how many people in the world could claim to be worthy of becoming the wife of a Holy Emperor, if not her?

"Oh? And what exactly do you mean by that, Miss?"

As Vivian's smug expression lingered, Timothy turned to her, his gaze cold.