Invincible Dad

"Yes." Xu Lai didn't hide it. "It's already done."

"My sister will look beautiful in it." Ruan Lan imagined her sister in the wedding gown, and for a moment, she actually felt a longing for marriage.

She couldn't help but whisper, "Brother-in-law, what if! What if one day I get married and have to move out of Haitang Court? Would you be sad?"

As she spoke, Ruan Lan sneaked a glance at Xu Lai. For some reason, her heart began to pound after asking the question.

"I would definitely be very sad," Xu Lai said earnestly.

Ruan Lan's lips curled. Stinky brother-in-law. So he *is* still thinking about his beautiful little sister-in-law. But what a pity, I'm the woman he's fated never to have!

After a pause, she heard Xu Lai continue, "But I would be laughing out loud under the covers at night, finally rid of the annoying third wheel."

"???"

Ruan Lan couldn't help but bite Xu Lai again. This time she cried out in genuine pain, "WAAH! My teeth hurt so much they're going to fall out!"

Xu Lai chuckled. "Don't worry, I'll find you a good boyfriend."

By then, they had reached the shore.

Ruan Lan jumped off Xu Lai's back, ran a few steps onto the beach, then suddenly spun around and made a face at him. "No way! I'm going to leech off you and my sister for the rest of my life! Nyah nyah nyah!"

"Keep dreaming," Xu Lai sighed. "I'm a man you can never have."

Ruan Lan froze mid-step. Her expression couldn't be seen, but an indignant voice floated back, "I'm going to tell my sister you flirted with me!"

"So you want to learn that essential fairy skill, 'Treading Water Without a Trace,' right? Everything is negotiable." Xu Lai said in a deep voice, "Ruan Lan, as a fairy, how can you not know this?!"

"Hmph. Men."

And so, Xu Lai decided to teach his sister-in-law a cultivation technique he had created, his self-created Emperor Scripture, the 'Qingfeng Scripture'.

In the entire Immortal Domain, the only ones qualified to cultivate this Emperor Scripture, aside from Ruan Lan, were Yiyi and Ruan Tang.

An Emperor Realm cultivation technique. In the Immortal Domain, it was the kind of thing that could incite countless bloody wars and lead to the extermination of entire clans.

But Xu Lai bestowed it with a simple tap of his finger on Ruan Lan's forehead.

In an instant, a vast sea of scripture flooded her mind. Ruan Lan couldn't handle the influx and fainted on the spot.

Xu Lai carried his sister-in-law back to the hotel.

Seeing this, Ruan Tang asked anxiously, "What happened to her? Did she drown?"

"Her brain is flooded."

"...Huh?" Ruan Tang was confused.

Ruan Lan was placed on the bed, where she mumbled in her sleep, "Xu Lai, if you dare bully my sister, I'll bite you to death... I'm super fierce..."

The voice of the "super fierce" Ruan Lan was soft and mushy, lacking any hint of a threat.

* * *

Night fell.

A torrential downpour began in Siya City. The rain fell in sheets, pattering against the banana leaves in the courtyard. The sound was deep, yet strangely pleasant.

Having learned that Xu Lai was cooking tonight, Luo Chu and Qian Song brought Qian Xiao over to freeload.

Tonight was destined to be a sleepless night.

Under the cover of the rain, bizarre-looking Sea Demons began to emerge one by one from the deserted coastline, completely unnoticed.

It wasn't until the Immortal Court Hotel was surrounded by the sea demons hidden in the downpour that Qian Song and Luo Chu vaguely sensed something was wrong.

The color drained from their faces.

Luo Chu forced a smile. "Qian Song and I have something to attend to. You all go ahead and eat first." As she was leaving, she looked at Xu Lai with a complicated expression. "Please take care of Qian Xiao for us."

"Can the two of you handle it?" Xu Lai asked indifferently as he stirred a pot of porridge. "Remember to catch a couple of abalones on your way back. They'll add a lot of flavor to the porridge."

Luo Chu was speechless. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. My god, our survival is in question, and he's still thinking about food.

Qian Song, however, was no longer so tense. He laughed heartily. "Alright!"

* * *

「Within the temple atop the Nameless Mountain.」

Upon seeing the dense swarm of Sea Demons at Fragrance Bay, Yu Ren bellowed in a rage, "All of you, stop this instant!"

The Sea Demons turned their heads in unison, their gazes fixed on the unfamiliar yet familiar silhouette on the mountain peak.

Two thousand years was a long time, long enough for seas to turn into mulberry fields. In the Sea City that Yu Ren governed, all the Sea Demons who had known their king was imprisoned had long since succumbed to the erosion of time. These were their descendants.

They all shared one conviction: to rescue the Demon King from his cage. It was a wish passed down through generations!

"My King!"

The Sea Demons knelt on one knee, bowing their heads in a display of reverence. The two deputy city lords of Sea City, Xu Bachong and Xu Qitian, were no exception.

"Xu Qitian," Yu Ren spoke icily. "You plotted the death of that middle-aged man in the fishing village. I didn't expose you because I knew that man was involved in a murder case from his youth. I left you your dignity."

"Today, you intend to rebel!"

"My King, this is not a rebellion," Xu Qitian said solemnly. "We are here to break the seal with the blood of six hundred thousand humans and respectfully welcome you, our King, back to Sea City!"

"Insolence!" Yu Ren's voice turned frosty. "All of you, get back to the sea now! Otherwise, when I get out of here, I will throw you all into the Sea Abyss."

Sea City was a forbidden land for the Human Race, but the Sea Abyss was an even more dangerous forbidden zone for all of the Sea Clan. Even a Demon King Realm expert who set foot in the Sea Abyss would face certain death.

Yet, not a single Sea Demon stood or flinched. Their voices were unified, ringing with tragic determination: "We are willing to die for our King's freedom!"

"You—!" Yu Ren was seething with fury.

He tried to charge down the mountain that had imprisoned him, but each attempt was thwarted by a terrifying sealing force that threw him back.

He could only watch helplessly as his subordinates attacked the island he had guarded for two thousand years. Yu Ren knew this was a reminder from his two deputy city lords, a cruel and bloody one. He was a demon, not a human!

Yu Ren collapsed to the ground. Even when Emperor Qin had imprisoned him here and announced his spirit pearl would be harvested for alchemy, he had never felt such despair.

These humans are innocent... just as I was, all those years ago. Just as innocent.

"Your disposition isn't bad."

A familiar voice suddenly reached Yu Ren's ear, though for a moment he couldn't recall where he had heard it.

The Demon King, a Ling Yu, stared blankly at his own hands. He felt as though the chains of his prison had simply dissolved.

Half in disbelief, Yu Ren walked to the edge of the mountain peak. He had expected the restrictive seal to slam him back as it always did, but this time... he had truly walked off the mountain!

"The seal... it's really gone..."

Yu Ren's pupils contracted. He had no time to wonder which great power had secretly helped him. He shot into the air and roared, "All of you, return to the sea at once!"

"The Demon King?"

The Sea Demons were stunned. Isn't the Demon King imprisoned? How did he get out...?

Xu Bachong and Xu Qitian were especially dumbfounded. That seal had been cast by the most formidable Qi Practitioner of the Qin Dynasty. In that era, the world had not yet changed, and the most powerful experts of the Human Race were far stronger than those of the Demon Race. The fact that the seal had only loosened slightly after more than two thousand years was a testament to its power. Their plan to use the blood of six hundred thousand humans to break it was truly an act of desperation.

At that moment, Luo Chu and Qian Song stepped out of the hotel.

Seeing the countless Sea Demons swarming the beach, their scalps tingling with dread. Still, Qian Song suppressed his fear and shouted, "You demons dare set foot on an island inhabited by humans? Are you seeking war with the Human Race?!"

The Sea Demons merely stared back in silence.