DILEMMA

Su Ying sighed as all the disciples of Lotus sect gathered in the main hall. Meetings like these always took time and she never liked it. But she couldn't help but feel bad for her sister, Jiu Bao. Su Ying knew Jiu Bao was in big trouble this time with their master since she witnessed the commotion earlier.

Finally, after what looked like ages, Master Bai Lian finally entered the hall. Judging by the look on her face, she was definitely not in a good mood.

"Greetings Master." The disciples said.

"What happened today is a shame. Two demons attacked the Lotus sect and they almost destroyed the sect. It means that all of you are not well trained. It really disappoints me. We are the great Lotus sect" Bai Lian said

"Sorry master. Its all my fault. I didn't teach the other disciples well." Jiu Bao said

"Yes. You are guilty. But not for the reason you are admitting to. All of you may leave" Master Bai Lian said

Su Ying smiled at her master's words sneaking past their master with the junior disciples when Master Bai Lian looks at her.

"The four senior disciples should stay." Bai Lian said shaking her head as she looked at Su Ying.

Su Ying was the youngest disciples of her four disciples. In the past, she had high hopes for that brat. But each day when she saw her, she lost every little hope she had.

"The four of you are senior disciples. After seeing the performance of the junior disciples, I feel very disappointed." Master Bai Lian said

"Its my fault Master." Su Ying said out if courtesy.

"Forget about it. If I left the training of the junior disciples, they will never level up. You are still a Martial Expert. How can you train the junior disciples?" Master Bai Lian asked making the rest disciples laugh.

"Master...., I just said it out of courtesy. No need to make jest of me." Su Ying said whining.

"Enough. Tell me. Jiu Bao, why did that demon come here to make a commotion for your sake? What is your relationship with that man?" Master Bai Lian asked

"Master please forgive me. That demon,....." Jiu Bao started making Su Ying's heart skip a beat.

Jiu Bao was in love with Tingzhe just as Su Ying knew that Tingzhe shared the same affection. Its just that the wall separating them was very high and thick.

"I don't know him. We just met by chance and he has been very unruly. I don't even know how he got to know I was a senior disciple." Jiu Bao said making all the disciples sigh in disappointment.

Jiu Bao had just denied Tingzhe in front of their master. It was really such a shame.

Tingzhe stood giving instructions as the demons practiced. He was the elder demon disciple. They have surely improved. Master Chaos came out checking the practice too. She was very pleased with what she saw.

"Good. All of you have done well these past few days. And I can see that your powers have leveled up. As I always said, the fastest way to cultivation is to do bad things. Killing, stealing. These things help cultivation. But be careful not to overdo it." Lord Chaos said.

"Yes master!" The demons answered happily.

After Lord Chaos left, Tingzhe looked and saw the happy faces of the disciples. Demons loved following shortcuts. That's why it was hard to see a very powerful demon.

"Don't be like that. Although it is true that you can easily level up, you should not always use this method. Sometime, it can backfire." Tingzhe said seeing their faces go down.

"Brother Tingzhe, why isn't brother Feng Yu not here? I haven't seen him for some days now." Yingtai said causing the demon disciples to be rallied up.

"Yes. Yes. Its true. I haven't seen him" The disciples said murmuring among themselves.

"Stop bickering. Feng Yu has gone back to the dark realm to oversee some matters. He will be back later." Tingzhe said causing the noise to die down.

Just as he was about to return back to his room, Tingzhe is stopped by Lord Sly. Among all the three lords, he was the one that freaked him the most. Master Sly was a king at illusion spells and war tactics but he was ambitious. Too ambitious.

"Greetings Lord Sly." Tingzhe said bowing his head.

In the dark realm, younger demons weren't allowed to look at older demons eye to eye. That, was considered disrespect and you could almost be killed for it.

"The dark king wants to speak with you." Lord Sly said

Tingzhe followed Lord Sly as they headed towards his mother's hall. Dark miasma covered the whole place making it almost impossible for him to see his way. The door opened immediately they arrived and the both of them went in.

"Greetings Dark king" Tingzhe said kneeling down.

Unlike the past dark kings of the dark realm, Jiayi's father was different. He truly cared about the demons and wasn't power hungry like the past dark kings. In fact he always told them that power wasn't what made a powerful demon, it was his cultivation. Dark magic was always tainted which made it easy for demons to become corrupted ( ie having a backlash causing you to lose control of yourself). Many demons encountered that problem.

"Rise. Tingzhe, do you know your wrong?" The dark king asked and Tingzhe automatically knew what he was referring to.

"Yes. I know my wrongs." Tingzhe said

"How could you allow the crown prince of the heavenly realm to get beaten by the whip used by the shadow beasts? And you, Lord Chaos. What was he even doing there in the first place? How could you even punish him in the first place? You want to kill me, right? That is your plan." The dark king said rubbing his temples.

The one time he turns his head and allows his junior siblings to take over, they almost destroy everything. He must have been mad when he sent Lord Chaos to handle such an important post. But how would he take it back from her? Lord Chaos was very eccentric. He didn't know how she would react if he dared it since she was used to bring pampered.

"Elder brother, I didn't send him a be punished. I sent him. How would have known that the two of them became sworn brothers? To share life and death." Lord Chaos said looking at Tingzhe in anger.

"What? You are sworn brothers with the heavenly crown prince? Tingzhe!" The dark king said leaning against the table trying to support himself. Now he felt dizzy. Dizzy from the shock they were giving him.

"I didn't mean to spoil any if our plans. I just thought it would help us in knowing why he was here." Tingzhe said quickly.

"You fool! Bowing to heaven and earth. You became sworn brothers but you don't plan on treating him sincerely?" The dark king asked almost spitting out blood in anger.

This nephew of his was exactly like his father so wasn't saying anything. Instead, he just kept on looking at his son's face as if he was some sort of alien.

"Lord Pain, this is your son. What do you have to say about this? The heavenly king must be thinking of ways to capitalize on this incident. Plus if the ice god comes here, what do we do?" The dark king asked but the three lords said nothing. This frustrated him even the more.

"Good. Can you see? All of you are quiet. But you are experts in bringing the trouble, right? You fools!" The dark king shouted coughing and all the three lords rushed to him.

"Dark king! Please sit down. Don't get angry." Lord Chaos said as they helped him sit down.

"Don't get angry? How can I not?" The dark king asked coughing.

"Elder brother, stop making a fuss. The crown prince didn't die. Plus I bet they won't make a fuss either. Or else they will have to explain what the crown prince was doing here. Simple" Lord Pain said talking for the first time as he walked around.

"Smart Lord Pain. You are right. The heavenly king knows this can blow up out of proportion. He wouldn't want that. Plus he doesn't even like the crown prince" Lord Chaos said looking up to Lord Pain in admiration which angered Lord Sly.

" Lord Pain, seems you have forgotten. The heavenly king is unpredictable. He wouldn't pass up the chance to get even with us. What if he makes a formal complain to the Nature Guardian? Our elder brother will have a fight with his wife again." Lord Sly said

"What are you aiming for? Do you want Lord Chaos to be punished? Or do you want my son to be punished? I have a better idea. Why don't we calk the shadow beasts and punish them since they are the ones that harmed the crown prince?" Lord Pain asked

"That's not what I mean...."

"Then just shut up. Cause you are not helping anybody. Not even the dark king." Lord Pain said.

Lord Sly kept quiet observing the room. That's why he hated Lord Pain. He always found a way to humiliate him. Groaning in anger, Lord Sly walked out of the room.

"Did you have to be like that? Lord Sly is our junior. His the youngest." The dark king said

"He always has a hidden agenda. Be careful of him. Don't say I didn't warn you" Lord Pain said taking his seat as the room became quiet.