Until the End of Time: The Demon God’s Redemption

The blood-mist had faded, but the silence it left behind was worse.

The ruined halls of the Blood Lotus Sect's inner sanctum stretched endlessly beneath the mountain, walls etched with time-worn runes that pulsed with faint light—like a dying heart still trying to beat. With every step, the stone felt warmer under Lu Xuan's feet, as though it remembered his presence.

He did not walk slowly.

Behind him, Su Xue trailed in silence. Her footsteps never touched his shadow. Her grip remained tight on the pendant at her neck—a seal of time, still pulsing softly with golden light. She didn't look at him. She hadn't, not since the last fight.

Their hatred now felt like gravity—impossible to ignore.

The path descended into darkness until they reached a wide chamber, its walls cracked with age. At its center, a shattered altar stood upon a dais of black jade, vines coiled like veins around its base.

Lu Xuan paused.

Something beneath the stone was breathing.

Then came the voice. Not loud. Not harsh. Just... ancient.

"So you've come again… in another shell."

The ground trembled.

From the cracked altar, mist hissed out. Coiling. Gathering.

And then it rose.

An enormous serpentine figure, obsidian scales glinting in the dim light, uncoiled from the shadows like a living mountain. Its head was crowned with curved horns, its eyes like molten gold—ancient, sad, and utterly still. A long scar ran down one side of its skull, faded with age, yet still crackling faintly with celestial energy.

Su Xue stepped back. "What—?"

Lu Xuan did not flinch.

"Jiao Mu," he said, the name tasting like dust and fire.

The serpent blinked.

"So you remember."

"I remember pieces."

The Ancient Snake lowered its head until its massive eyes met Lu Xuan's. It didn't need to speak loudly—its voice resonated in their bones.

"You once bound me under seven seals. You called me 'Old Brother'… but it was your name the world feared. The skies trembled not when I moved—but when you commanded me."

Su Xue narrowed her eyes. "What… is this thing?"

Jiao Mu turned to her, voice distant. "I slept for centuries under the lake of your Green Lantern Village. They called it cursed ground—claimed the water turned bitter. But it was me… waiting."

Su Xue froze.

"You—what?"

The serpent's gaze grew colder. "The mortals above never saw me. But they built their shrines, burned their incense… and died too young. My presence decayed the land. I did not mean it."

A pause.

"I was waiting for him."

It looked at Lu Xuan again.

"For my master. For the Demon God to rise again."

The chamber's air thickened with silence. Even the flickering torches seemed to dim, unable to compete with the weight of history.

Su Xue's voice cracked through it.

"You caused the sickness in the village. The failing crops. The poisoned wells."

"Unintentionally," the snake replied. "My presence twists the ley lines. The world rejects old beasts."

Lu Xuan's eyes narrowed. "You chose that place for a reason."

The serpent's massive head nodded.

"Because it was once sacred ground—long before the mortals came. A battlefield where your first incarnation shattered the sky. I stayed to protect the last shard of your soul."

Su Xue took another step back, horror in her eyes.

"You corrupted everything."

"No," Lu Xuan said, voice distant. "He waited."

He turned to Su Xue.

"You remember the children in that village?"

"I remember them dying."

"I remember healing one."

"You fed on his sickness," she snapped. "You devoured it."

Lu Xuan's eyes darkened.

"And he lived."

The snake shifted again, its coils tightening. "You have not changed," it murmured. "You still walk between destruction and salvation... and you still don't know which one you are."

Su Xue's voice dropped low. "He's the same monster who burned the sky once."

"Then why are you still following me?"

"Because I have to stop you."

Their eyes locked—both cold, both burning. Hatred between them now burned hotter than ever.

The serpent coiled once more, dragging its massive tail across the stone.

"Enough." Its voice rolled like thunder.

"If you fight now, the temple will collapse. If you turn against each other, the world dies early."

Lu Xuan stepped forward. "Will you serve me?"

The snake didn't answer right away. Then:

"Not as servant. As sword. You forged me once with your blood and breath. I do not kneel again. But I will fight beside you."

A pulse of qi surged outward from Lu Xuan—Core Formation, late stage, flickering as though the next threshold were already near. The air trembled. The old markings on the floor lit up.

A bond was reawakened.

Su Xue watched, disgust and fury etched across her face. "You'll use it. Like you use everything."

"I use what's mine."

"You never learn."

"No," he said bitterly. "I remember."

As she turned to leave the chamber, the Ancient Snake lowered its head beside Lu Xuan's.

"You will need her. Whether she loves you… or kills you."

Chapter 31 End