Then he raised his head again, a burning desire igniting in his eyes.

"To create a new world, to cultivate saints and heroes, to build an ideal land where all people can live happily! I am willing to turn myself into a trial, guiding you to defeat the various Demon Kings of this world!"

"The Hermes Society has long since rotted! The old kings of the mages have already abandoned this world!"

"You are a solitary warrior who carries the burden of a hopeless family destiny, escaping a cursed bloodline, yet still fighting all the way here, slaying demons and monsters, even defeating three Demon Kings! — Such a hero is precisely the new king suited for our great ideal cause!"

Ugh…

Qi Xing frowned for a moment, barely holding himself back from making a sarcastic remark, and just continued to ask, "Then what exactly is this great ideal of yours?"

"A redundant question, Master Leipu."

Spina replied passionately, "It is, of course — to open up the future for the world!"

Volume 5: Welcome to the █ █ █ Paradise!: 207: The Way of the Demon King

Every time he saw someone with a passionate face, claiming to harbor the great ideal of "creating a beautiful new world," …Qi Xing always found it hard to keep a straight face.

Although he would also say "I want to change the world" and wants to establish a "new world," it seemed he had no right to criticize others — however, when Qi Xing said these things, he generally wasn't too passionate, didn't talk about grand greatness, and wasn't doing it to trick others into investing or getting on board.

What was so great or grand about changing the world? It was just something he wanted to do himself.

But this time, Qi Xing held back, not immediately making a sarcastic remark.

Vittorio Spina's passionate speech actually made him think of something else.

"Xue Ning, I've heard you talk about saving this incomplete, flawed world as well,"

Qi Xing looked at this vassal he had just acquired and asked thoughtfully, "What exactly is the specific goal of your faction, the Peacock Disciples, in this regard?"

Xue Ning glanced at Elaine beside her, then looked at this president of the Exorcism Association and church acolyte. After hesitating for a moment, she finally spoke truthfully:

"Our sage master teaches us — the 'status quo' of this world has been wrong from the very beginning."

This remark actually made Qi Xing pause: "What?"

— Wasn't this exactly the thought he often kept in his own mind?

"Ever since the Black God, Christ, descended from beyond the heavens two thousand years ago and defeated our true creator, the White God…"

Perhaps because Elaine was right beside her, Xue Ning's tone was slightly awkward. She shifted her body and continued to explain:

"The rules of the current world were determined by the Black God, not the White God. It is the will of the Black God that dictates the causal trends of this world today. Precisely because the rules of the universe were twisted by the Black God, this world has become so cruel and fragmented."

"If not for the Black God's invasion and tampering, this world should have been more beautiful, more gentle, and filled with more love."

"Therefore, the goal of us Peacock Disciples is to correct the order tampered with by the Black God, Christ, and repair this incomplete world."

Ugh…

Ugh…

"…Xue Ning, do you still believe in this set of theories now?"

Qi Xing covered his forehead and asked with some headache.

"I'm not entirely sure, especially after talking to the White God this time."

Xue Ning sighed, "But I still don't think the theory is entirely wrong. This universe was indeed invaded by the Black God, Christ, and the laws of the universe were modified by him — as long as one delves into magic to the extreme and observes the laws that constitute the world, one can perceive it to some extent."

"This doesn't mean we are pure retro-futurists; at the very least, we still support technological development itself. But eliminating the influence of the Black God and allowing the world to return to a purer, more complete state — I don't see what is wrong with that."

Ugh.

Qi Xing had many counterarguments he could make.

Although Elaine frowned slightly, she didn't say anything.

Instead, it was Vittorio Spina, tied up with chains nearby, who let out a contemptuous sneer at this moment: "Look, Master Leipu — this is the Peacock Disciples. The typical face of reactionaries."

"In the world today, no one truly envisions the future anymore. There is only the stagnation of maintaining the status quo, and reactionaries who want to put the car in reverse!"

As Spina spoke, his tone grew increasingly high-pitched, "The Global Supernatural Council only knows how to maintain stability, like a group of old men afraid of death, clutching power and refusing to let go."

"The magic research of the Hermes Society has long since turned into dogma, research has devolved into rituals, a group of living fossils feeding off the past."

"Not to mention the secular countries. They can't even manage the economy for the next quarter, so who dares to vigorously talk about a new world, a new era, a new system, or a new social model for the future?"

"Space exploration, world peace… these dreams that should have belonged to all of humanity have now all become jokes, turning into illusions that no one is willing to seriously believe in!"

"In this era, when 'future' is mentioned, what do people think of?"

"It's fucking cyberpunk!"

"All ideals, hopes, and utopias have been trampled into worthlessness by reality. Everyone has accepted that there is no hopeful future development to be seen, and they can't even imagine what a perfect world should look like!"

At this point, he lowered his head again, expressing praise to Qi Xing in a gesture bordering on reverence:

"Precisely because the current world is full of such garbage, we need a new king like you even more to lead the era forward and head toward the true future!"

But Qi Xing just frowned slightly, with not a hint of happiness on his face.

It was funny to say, but the philosophy of Xue Ning — and the Peacock Disciples — was indeed built on a certain degree of fact.

After all, Sasa was indeed the creator of this universe.

After all, Christ did indeed descend upon this universe and beat Sasa half to death, and then… he might have indeed modified a part of the universe's laws? Qi Xing wasn't too sure about this last part; Sasa had never told him about it.

But regardless, resurrecting Sasa, clearing away all the influence left by Brother Jesus, and then the world would become beautiful — this line of thinking, no matter how one looked at it, was destined to be absurd.

"I will talk to you again about the Black God and White God later, Xue Ning — let's talk when we both have time."

Qi Xing sighed, "As for now…"

Spina, who kept praising Qi Xing, saying he could create the future, sounded very pleasant and nice at first glance, seemingly a reformer or a progressive.

But it was precisely because this person spoke so beautifully that Qi Xing felt even more suspicious.

What exactly did he want to get from Qi Xing's side?

No, that's not right. Let's consider it from another angle — what did Qi Xing need him to provide?

Thinking about it this way made it much simpler.

Did Qi Xing want to form an alliance with other ancient Demon Kings? If there was a truly suitable opportunity and reason, it wasn't impossible. But Qi Xing had no intention of being the one to actively beg others.

Who speaks first is very important; it must be the other Demon Kings who come to beg him, Master Leipu. This logic is easy to understand, right?

So before that, Qi Xing didn't need to worry about so many unnecessary trade-offs.

Want a silver coin? Just go and snatch it.

"Spina, I don't care what you are planning, and I don't care."

Therefore, Master Leipu said, his tone calm yet unquestionable, "But you seem to be a glib lobbyist and a well-informed middleman."

"Since you keep saying you hope I can open up a better new world, then go do something practical — tell me where I can find the next silver coin."

Upon hearing this, Spina immediately lowered his head respectfully: "I will have the next piece of intelligence ready as soon as possible, Master Leipu."

A satisfied smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

Leaving this treacherous man of unpredictable motives behind, Qi Xing turned his head and looked at Xue Ning again.

"Xue Ning, can you summon a Giant Spirit again?"

"Theoretically, yes."

Xue Ning hesitated slightly, her tone carrying obvious uncertainty, "But in reality, it is almost impossible to replicate."

"To summon a Giant Spirit, one must rely on a special land ley line that completely resonates with its attributes."

"The greater difficulty is the need for a 'sacrifice' sufficient to induce its manifestation."

"The reason I was able to summon Hera was because the island had the ruins of human experiments from the Nazi era, filled with a history of pain and tragedy, which gave this land the spirituality to resonate with the Earth Mother Goddess. The dead of the past are themselves the most suitable sacrifices."

"As for Yaobikuni… I'm not too sure how she managed it, but we all use techniques taught by the sages, so the principles shouldn't be too different."

"You couldn't possibly agree to carry out such a sacrificial ritual again. Honestly, I wouldn't want to do it a second time either."

Tsk, this is a very realistic problem.

It is said that to achieve great things, one must not be bound by means, but even though he had realized the principles of being a Demon King, Qi Xing couldn't possibly truly slaughter and blood-sacrifice to summon a Giant Spirit for combat power.

He could understand the way the world operated, and could sympathize with its cruelty and distortion, but he could absolutely not distort his own bottom line for the sake of a goal. The path of summoning a Giant Spirit was probably a dead end.

However…

(…Anyway, it's not necessary. Mahamayuri is still sealed in Aomori; we can just dig it out and use it when the time comes.)

If one Giant Spirit wasn't enough, he would think of other ways when the time came.

Having sorted out the matters at hand, Qi Xing made an excuse that he was tired from the fight and wanted to rest, had Xue Ning find a hotel room that hadn't been affected by the battle, and ducked inside.

As soon as the door closed, Sasa popped out from the shadows, happily saying: [How was it, little fool? Using two silver coins together, the combat form of a combined mythological image, wasn't it satisfying?]

"Not bad." Qi Xing said coldly.

Then, before Sasa could react, he reached out with lightning speed and pinched Sasa's face!

[Waaahhh?! Why are you pinching me?!]

"You still have the nerve to ask?" Qi Xing was already annoyed, "That theory of the Peacock Disciples about returning to the old world was something you instilled in them, right! You really do know their so-called sage prophet, don't you!"

[Gwaaahhh, that was all from the 11th century, how was I supposed to know that just blowing some hot air would develop into this later—]

A thousand years ago, someone had obtained the Dominator silver coin, and then was coaxed by Sasa to become the founding prophet of the Peacock Disciples.

Although it was unclear what happened later, this person lost the Dominator silver coin again — perhaps they were defeated by another Demon King once, but just defeated, not killed?

Anyway, the Dominator silver coin continued to flow into the human world and changed hands again.

But the sage prophet of the Peacock Disciples remained obsessed with returning to a world "without the influence of the Black God," and as a result, brought endless chaos and suffering to the world.

Thinking of this, Qi Xing felt exceptionally annoyed, and he increased the force in his hand, pinching Sasa's face hard!

However, a devil is a devil after all. In an instant, Sasa actually perceived the thoughts in Qi Xing's mind and opened her eyes in surprise: [Eh? Are you jealous?]

"Huh?!"

What kind of joke was that? How could Qi Xing be jealous because Sasa had been partners with other people?

Besides, those so-called partners looked like nothing more than victims she had swindled. For example, the likes of Professor Van Stra.

Qi Xing certainly wouldn't be jealous.

"You actually never told me you knew the leader of the Peacock Disciples!"

His anger unabated, Qi Xing simply pinched with both hands!

[Waaah, waaah, I only realized it after chatting with Xue Ning these past two days!]

Sasa was more afraid of pain than humans, and quickly begged for mercy, [Back then, it was rare for someone to find the Dominator silver coin and ask me why the world was the way it was, so I just told her!]

"Isn't that just lying to people with the truth? Does half of the evil caused by these Peacock Disciples over the past thousand years count on your head?!"

[Wouldn't half of the good things they did also be credited to me?!]

Angry as he was, it was useless to be angry now that things had come to this. After pinching Sasa's face, Qi Xing also knew that in the long span of who knows how many years, this world had already accumulated too much historical disorder and intricate causality.

"Sasa, I am not a prophet, but the sins you have left in this world, the people you have deceived and toyed with, will come back to bite you one day."

Driven by a feeling of worry, Qi Xing said.