"Well? Cloud, my boy, did you figure out what's going on?" Chin Gentsai asked anxiously.
"Yeah, I did." Cloud withdrew his hand and nodded.
"This kid isn't sick."
"He's..."
Cloud looked at the assembled group and slowly revealed an answer that left them all slack-jawed.
"—He's the reincarnation of the Demon King."
"Wh-what?! The... the Demon King?!"
Athena's face went pale with fright.
Sie Kensou tumbled straight off his chair, nearly giving everyone a live demonstration of "dropping dead on the spot."
The former psychic's eyes rolled back in his head. The Demon King?! What kind of joke is this?! My junior disciple—that snot-nosed brat who follows me around begging for meat buns, looking like a complete simpleton—is actually the Demon King reincarnated?!
Isn't this plot a little too "web novel protagonist" for real life?!
Only Chin Gentsai, after his initial shock, let out a bitter laugh of resignation, as if his suspicions had just been confirmed.
"Ah, it seems this old man underestimated just how dangerous this evil star really was." He sighed heavily, his normally bleary eyes filled with helplessness and self-reproach.
"Master! What... what's going on?!" Athena asked frantically. "How can Bao be the Demon King? Is he in danger? And Kensou—can his powers be restored?"
She was utterly lost, clinging to Cloud's sleeve like a drowning person clutching a life raft. Her wide, glistening eyes were full of hope and dependence, as if this man's presence alone could solve any problem.
Cloud looked at her pitiful expression—like an abandoned kitten—and smiled.
He reached out and once again pinched her elastic, wonderfully soft cheek with perfect accuracy.
"Don't worry." His voice was quiet but carried an inexplicably reassuring power. "I'm here."
"Some half-awake Demon King who only knows how to steal kids' lollipops—I mean, Dragon Spirit—isn't going to cause any real trouble."
With that, he turned and walked back to the bed where the feverish, red-faced boy lay.
"Cloud, my boy, what are you planning to do?" Chin Gentsai asked nervously. "The demonic energy inside this child is extremely aggressive and possesses powerful devouring properties! If you handle this wrong, not only will you fail to save him, you might get consumed yourself!"
"Consume me?" Cloud laughed, his smile radiating an absolute confidence that none of those present could comprehend.
"Old man, I think you might have the wrong idea about me. I don't have many hobbies, but treating various ghosts and spirits for their ailments is definitely one of them—especially the kind that deliver themselves right to my doorstep like walking experience points."
He pressed his hand against Bao's forehead once more.
But this time, his expression changed. It became cold, detached—like a god on high, looking down at an ant that didn't know when to quit.
"System!"
[Ding! Right here, dear!]
"Activate the [Plunder] function! Target—the Demon King remnant soul inside Bao!"
[Received! Activating [Plunder] function... Plunder mode selected: Forceful Absorption!]
[Warning! Warning! This energy possesses extremely high corruption properties! Forceful absorption may cause irreversible damage to the Host's spirit and bloodline! Continue?!]
"Continue!" Cloud didn't hesitate for a second.
Are you kidding me? My Chaos Divine Bloodline is essentially chaos itself—the origin of all things, the source that contains everything!
You want to talk to me about "corruption"? That's like telling the ocean, "Don't let this little stream pollute you!" Ridiculous!
"—Now, absorb!!!"
At Cloud's command, a devouring force more terrifying and domineering than a black hole erupted from his palm!
"—ROAARRR!!!" Inside Bao's body, the slumbering Demon King remnant soul sensed the mortal threat and instantly awakened!
A horrifying will saturated with "destruction," "chaos," and "evil" roared and thrashed in resistance!
It tried to devour Cloud the same way it had devoured the Dragon Spirit—treating him as just another meal!
The entire room was instantly engulfed in black demonic energy. Ghostly winds howled; spectral wails echoed!
Under this terrifying pressure, Athena and Sie Kensou's legs buckled, sending them collapsing to the floor, barely able to breathe!
Even Chin Gentsai, the hidden master himself, had to circulate all his Daoist true energy just to protect his mind!
Yet this demonic aura—powerful enough to change the color of heaven and earth, enough to make ghosts and spirits tremble—became as docile as a kitten being scruffed by its owner when faced with Cloud's Chaos Divine Power.
No matter how it struggled or roared, it couldn't shake off the absolute suppression that came from bloodline and existential hierarchy!
"No... impossible... This... what is this power?!" An ancient, terror-filled consciousness echoed through Cloud's mind.
"This is... Daddy's power." Cloud replied coldly in his thoughts.
Then, the [Plunder] function operated at full capacity!
Visible streams of black demonic energy poured frantically from Bao's seven orifices like rivers returning to the sea—only to be absorbed completely through Cloud's hand on the boy's forehead!
The entire process took less than ten seconds.
When the last wisp of black mist vanished into Cloud's body, the room instantly returned to calm, as if the terrifying scene of "dancing demons" had been nothing more than an illusion.
On the bed, young Bao's flushed complexion faded, and his rapid breathing became steady and peaceful.
He slept deeply, soundly.
...
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