Chapter 366: Baji Must Rise

Chapter 366 – Baji Must Rise

【King! Kill the Ascenders! You must destroy the Ascenders!】

【Eliminate the being behind the Ascenders…】

【King, you’ve become a human’s pet? We are… disappointed.】

【King… come to the Demon-Locking Tower… We will help you… become the true King…】

…

“Who are you?! Why are you in this king’s mind?!”

Baji looked around the surrounding darkness.

Countless twisted black shadows surged within it.

Some had human faces with snake bodies, their whole form blazing red like fire; others resembled leopards with a single horn and crimson scales, bearing five tails behind them. There were even giant apes with white hair, red feet, exposed fangs, and tiger stripes…

There was no doubt—they were demons.

Baji felt a strange familiarity with them, as though he knew all of them.

But his mind held no memories of these creatures.

To his roar and interrogation, the demons only returned hollow, pained stares.

“Say something, dammit!”

Baji gritted his teeth and charged toward the demons.

Originally, he was simply undergoing evolution as his demon power grew stronger.

It should’ve just been a matter of sleeping through the change—but he hadn’t expected to encounter something this bizarre.

No matter how fast he ran, though, he couldn’t reach them.

There was always a distance he couldn’t cross.

【King… come to the Demon-Locking Tower…】

【You must… come to the Demon-Locking Tower!】

The black fog gradually faded.

Accompanied by the intermittent wailing of demons and the dragging of chains—

All returned to silence.

…

Baji felt his control over his body return.

He slowly opened his eyes—and was met with a curious pair of eyes staring at him.

“Not bad, Baji. You grew that big in an instant?”

A hand stroked his head—it smelled familiar. Out of reflex, Baji leaned into it.

It was an instinctive response from the time he had humbled himself and played the house pet.

That hand used to be able to cover his entire head—but today… something felt off.

Baji realized—it wasn’t that the hand had shrunk.

It was him. He had grown!

He stood up, gave his fur a shake, and looked down at Chen Huaian from high above.

Chen Huaian tilted his head up at Baji, who now towered above like a black-furred lion twice the size of an elephant. His face twitched, and he raised a foot to kick Baji’s foreleg: “Why are you standing so tall? Get down on the ground for This Venerable One!”

Baji thought—he had evolved!

He was massive now. His power and demon energy were multiplied countless times over. How could he still keep his head down like before?

He was just about to let out a mighty raaawr and show this human that he wasn’t to be bullied anymore—

And then Chen Huaian pulled out… a cat teaser wand.

Ding-a-ling~

The bell jingled as a few feathers danced in the air.

Baji froze, body stiff.

Driven by a primal urge, he instinctively crouched down and tried to paw at the teaser stick.

Seeing this, Chen Huaian pulled out a cat treat stick and ripped it open.

Baji hesitated for a second. His crimson eyes gradually cleared, the narrow vertical pupils dilated until they became round golden “glass bead” eyes. He stuck out a big tongue and gingerly licked the cat treat.

“No matter how big you get, you’re still a cat. You think This Venerable One can’t control you?”

Chen Huaian sneered—but inside, he was just as shocked.

He hadn’t gotten much out of Little Qing, so he snapped a photo of Baji and asked Li Qingran.

Li Qingran, after showing it to Mo Shumei and Dan Bai, came to a conclusion—this demon beast was evolving.

Evolution? Great!

Look at Little Qing—she evolved a pair of beautiful legs.

Sure, her upper half still looked like a fat-headed fish, but cover that part up and she was totally usable.

Worst case, slap on a character-themed body pillow to cover her torso—improved experience guaranteed.

He’d been eagerly waiting to see what Baji would evolve into. Sure enough, Baji’s body expanded like a balloon as he absorbed the black mist around him. He grew larger and larger, gradually losing all resemblance to a cat—becoming more like a savage beast.

He looked like a lion, but with curled horns like a Tibetan ram on either side of his skull.

And his head was narrow and elongated—not broad like a lion or tiger. Actually… kind of dragon-like?

Upload that to the internet, and the top online cryptid bloggers' brains would overheat trying to analyze it.

And then there was the matter of power.

If he wasn’t mistaken, Baji was now stronger than him.

Likely already in the Demon Core Stage?

But so what?

Chen Huaian looked at the now playfully chasing the teaser stick Baji, and a wicked smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

He had tamed Baji a long time ago.

Even if the guy turned into a Demon King, Demon Emperor, or Demon Immortal in the future…

As long as he pulled out that teaser stick, Baji would be running in circles like a good boy. Hehehehe!

Still, Baji was now a Demon Core-level monster.

Even if he showed obedience to Chen Huaian, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t show malice toward others.

And Containment Unit 0’s defenses definitely couldn’t keep him trapped now. He had to find a way to reinforce it.

After a moment’s thought, Chen Huaian came up with a plan.

He hung the teaser stick from the ceiling in auto-play mode, then returned to his room.

…

Chen Huaian wasted no time.

He pulled out his Sect Summoning Token.

He wasn’t planning to summon Su Qinian—he could only stay in the real world for one minute and wasn’t good at formation setup.

This time, he was summoning Elder Liu.

…

Cangyun Realm.

Liu Yuanqing was tending to his Spiritual Herb Field. These days, life at the Sword Pavilion was getting better and better, and now he could even irrigate his little field with Spiritual Liquid. Just thinking about watering his plants with concentrated Spiritual Liquid every day filled him with joy.

After spreading some Spirit Seeds, in just three to five days he’d have fresh herbs growing again.

Leaning on his cane, Liu Yuanqing gazed at the morning sun and felt utterly at peace with the world.

The next second—

A spatial rift opened in front of him and sucked him in—cane and all.

…

In the living room—

Baji stared at the now broken teaser wand, lost in deep thought.

【This king is a Taotie! This king is not some lowly species like a cat!】

【This king must not be addicted to cat treats! Must not be seduced by teaser sticks!】

【Wise and mighty as the ancient beast this king is, how could he be beguiled by a human like this?!】

The teaser wand was broken.

The cat treat was eaten.

Baji once again entered sage mode.

He stood up and cast his majestic gaze toward Chen Huaian’s bedroom.

He wasn’t planning to fight him.

First of all, Chen Huaian had raised him for so long—biting the hand that feeds you wasn’t cool.

Second, Chen Huaian’s identity, background, and strength were all shrouded in mystery. He didn’t want to die.

But now that he had power, he should at least demand some respect. He couldn’t keep getting treated like a dumb cat.

He had to rise up!

He had to stand tall!

He was going to negotiate with the boss!

The bedroom door wasn’t shut. Baji took a deep breath and pushed it open.

And saw… not one person inside, but two.

Not only was the boss there, but so was a terrifying presence—a white-haired old man leaning on a cane, glaring at him fiercely.

…

…