Volume One, Chapter 20: The Demon King’s Custom Back-Stepping Service!

Two days passed in the blink of an eye. That noon, after lunch, Xia Yang stared out the window as usual, lost in thought.

【Ding! Congratulations, host, for achieving the milestone of increasing your contract demon’s mana reserve beyond 50% for the first time. Reward: 10 bags of mana bars!】

【Ding! Reward distribution in progress… 99%】

The familiar system voice echoed once again in Xia Yang’s mind. Startled momentarily, he quickly regained his composure.

He glanced at Yatina and saw that she had already fully digested her lunch.

Xia Yang had long since gotten used to the quirks of this system. And as for these so-called mana bars, they were probably akin to the cat treats in pet systems.

He only hoped this reward didn’t have any addictive properties—he still didn’t know what to do with the nine leftover mana mints from before.

That said, the reason Yatina’s mana reserve had risen to 50% was not only due to the few mana pills Xia Yang fed her but also largely thanks to Su Guodong supplying her with nutritional fluid.

“Must be nice, having a system that delivers meals without any effort every day…” Xia Yang mused inwardly. Suddenly, a thought struck him.

He immediately turned to Sherry beside him and asked, “By the way, I remember Yatina once said she was a demon lord from the demon realm. Is that true, or did she just give herself that title?”

Before Sherry could respond, Yatina’s fur bristled instantly as she sprang up.

“What nonsense! Of course, I’m a demon lord!”

Sherry nodded in agreement, confirming that Yatina was indeed a demon lord.

“And what about you, Sherry?”

“Our clan is probably considered vassals of the demon lord. My father and Yatina’s father are also friends,” Sherry replied.

Xia Yang stroked his chin, nodding thoughtfully, then asked, “Then, was the explosive ghost we fought a few nights ago really that strong?”

“Tch, that weakling is at best mid-to-low level in the demon realm. I can kill three thousand of them with one hand!” Yatina scoffed.

In the past days, she had gleaned most of that night’s details from Sherry’s recounting, and she had severely reprimanded Xia Yang for dragging her out so late, even imposing a special punishment: the demon lord’s exclusive back-stepping service!

“You want to know why we struggled against him despite that, right?” Sherry beat Xia Yang to the punch, guessing his doubt.

Xia Yang nodded. To him, the explosions and shockwaves seemed far more powerful than the demon lord who only caused trouble for his master.

“It mainly comes down to mana,” Sherry explained. “The stronger the magic, the more mana it consumes. Low mana consumption spells don’t pack much punch.”

“That ghost’s attacks were somewhere in the middle.”

“Don’t be fooled by the high damage the explosion caused. It was due to the narrow alley, clutter, and bricks.”

“The ghost itself wasn’t particularly fast, and the blast radius was only a few meters. On an open plain, a human could escape it with a few quick steps. As for the shockwave, on flat ground, it would just feel like a hot gust of wind.”

“Not to mention, in the demon realm, it would have been blasted to bits before getting close.”

“Still, it’s one of the few who profit on Blue Star,” Sherry added with a sigh.

“How so?”

“Here on Blue Star, magic weaker than its attacks can’t defeat such creatures, and spells strong enough to kill it can’t be cast due to the scarce magical energy. So only they can thrive here.”

Xia Yang nodded in understanding. Then he asked the two demons, “As top-tier beings from the demon realm, what was your peak combat power like?”

Sherry and Yatina exchanged a glance before Yatina stepped forward.

Puffing out her chest confidently, Yatina declared, “Of course, I mastered the laws of time!”

“In simple terms, if I had the mana I possessed in the demon realm now, I could freely travel through time—like going back twenty years to slap your four-year-old self!”

Xia Yang was speechless.

He then turned his gaze to Sherry.

After pondering for a moment, she said, “Imagine causing twenty-four consecutive snowstorms over a country’s territory lasting three years, or tearing space apart and flinging enemies into spatial turbulence.”

“Wow, that’s pretty powerful…” Xia Yang admitted, shocked.

“Exactly. If you don’t come to the demon realm, I’m like a frog at the bottom of a well looking at the moon. But if you do come, I’m like a mayfly seeing the vast sky!”

“You call me Yatina here on Blue Star, and I don’t mind. But what should you call me in the demon realm?” she challenged.

Xia Yang was taken aback. “Where did you learn all these phrases?”

Yatina flew to the window, grabbed the phone resting there, and returned excitedly, pointing to an app on the screen. “This thing called Douyin is fascinating. The quotes in it perfectly describe me!”

Xia Yang’s eyes darkened. He never imagined he’d utter such a sentence one day: “The internet really is ruining kids nowadays!”

“But where did you get that phone?” he asked, realizing the question.

“From Sherry.”

“Really? Sherry knows how to use a phone?” Xia Yang turned to Su Yixue working next door and asked.

Su Yixue simply nodded at him before turning back to continue the meeting.

“Hey, you better get me one too! I want my own phone!” Yatina stood before Xia Yang and poked his nose with her tiny hand.

“What benefits do I get if I buy you a phone?”

“You get a phone of your own, your master!”

“Then I won’t buy it.”

Xia Yang turned away.

Yatina wasn’t having it. She immediately threatened, “If you don’t, I’ll… I’ll…”

“I’ll tickle you with my tail!” Without waiting for Xia Yang’s reaction, she quickly slipped under the covers and curled up at his waist.

Her slender, whip-like tail lightly brushed over his ticklish spots. Xia Yang struggled under the covers, unable to catch her, twisting his body to evade.

However, every twist sent sharp stings from the wounds on his back.

After a while, the itching sensation around his waist vanished.

Soon after, Yatina trembled as she crawled out from under the covers.

“Master… how do you… still have poison gas…” she murmured.

Xia Yang felt a bit embarrassed, though he knew she deserved it.