Grace Cooper thought for a moment, clapped her hands lightly, and her eyes lit up: "My lord, I understand your meaning now. What I need to do is use a pitiful and delicate appearance to tempt the future pillar of the righteous path, to turn hard steel into soft fingers, to make him believe I am a kind-hearted girl from the demonic sect who yearns for the light, to make him obsessed with me, addicted to my beauty, addicted to the power I bring him. In this way, when one day I ask him to save me, he will surely reveal some sect information he thinks is unimportant to me. If he becomes the sect leader in the future, even better. I will lure him into the demonic path bit by bit, until he is deeply trapped and unable to extricate himself."

The more Grace Cooper spoke, the more excited she became. She was ready to go down the mountain and play the role of a weak girl—casting a long line to catch a big fish was the right way!

Edward Morgan: "..."

He only wanted Lily Harris to see clearly that William Carter was willingly with Grace Cooper, which was why he let Grace Cooper hook William Carter. Who would have thought Grace Cooper would take it even further, elevating the matter from a trivial affair between men and women to a major event in the righteous-versus-demonic war.

His right protector was truly an ambitious woman; in the past, Edward Morgan had been completely unaware.

"Your plan is feasible, but remember two things: first, do not harm Lily Harris; second, do not let yourself fall into love," Edward Morgan instructed.

"My lord is truly farsighted. Keeping Lily Harris around and letting her make trouble will only push William Carter closer to obedient me. Keeping her is more useful than getting rid of her," Grace Cooper agreed. "As for William Carter, rest assured, my lord. I have been through countless battles and have long since seen through all the hypocrites in this world."

With that, Grace Cooper turned and left the council hall, leaving her slender figure to the two silent men.

"Mr. Walker," after a long while, Edward Morgan finally spoke, "I am far inferior to the right protector."

He was referring to himself in the book.

James Walker said, "You, my lord, are the wisest person in the world. The right protector cannot compare to you in the slightest."

"You..." Edward Morgan shook his head, then changed the subject, "Come down the mountain with me. I want to meet these young disciples of the Shangqing Sect."

He wanted to see, this time, since Grace Cooper hadn't drained William Carter, how William Carter would explain himself to Lily Harris, and whether the heroine would forgive William Carter as in the original book.

The Demon Lord was truly curious.

Author's note:

Left and right protectors: My lord is right!

Chapter 3: So That's How It Is

Cultivators borrow the power of heaven and earth, able to travel a thousand miles in an instant. In just half a day, the group arrived at a small town near the Shangqing Sect. This was even with Edward Morgan slowing down to wait for James Walker; if he were alone, he could have arrived in a quarter of an hour.

In this world, the cultivation realms are, in order: Qi Induction, Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Soul Transformation, Integration, Void, and Great Ascension—nine major levels, each with nine minor stages. Upon breaking through the ninth stage of Great Ascension, the heavenly tribulation descends, and one ascends to the Immortal Realm. It is said that the Immortal Realm has further ranks: Loose Immortal, Celestial Immortal, Golden Immortal, Da Luo Golden Immortal, Immortal Lord, Immortal Emperor, and so on. Breaking through Immortal Emperor leads to ascension to the Divine Realm. The Divine Realm also has countless levels, but no matter how much a postnatal god cultivates, it is absolutely impossible to surpass an innate deity. Innate deities are born with heaven and earth; no matter how strong a postnatal cultivator becomes, they are only borrowing the power of heaven and earth. The former treat the world as their home, the latter are merely tenants—there is always a vast difference.

The Demon Lord Edward Morgan is already recognized as the number one in the demonic path, yet he is only at the sixth stage of Great Ascension. The heroine, in her previous life, was countless times stronger than anyone in this book, yet for William Carter she willingly gave up her divinity. No wonder Edward Morgan thought she was out of her mind.

He even suspected that William Carter had used some evil technique to control the heroine's soul, but in the cultivation world, no matter how powerful the evil arts, once Lily Harris fused with her divinity, they would be rendered useless. It's like a drop of poison in the ocean, a wisp of toxic smoke in a hurricane—in the face of absolute power, all evil arts are meaningless.

Edward Morgan sat on the second floor of a teahouse, took a sip of tea brought by James Walker, and frowned in deep thought.

"My skills are weak and I have delayed your time, my lord," James Walker said, not sitting down, standing behind Edward Morgan.

"No matter," Edward Morgan pointed to the seat beside him, "Sit."

James Walker obediently sat next to Edward Morgan. If the lord did not give the order, he would not sit; if the lord did, he would not hypocritically say, "I dare not." Under Edward Morgan's command, even if he dared not, James Walker would still do it.

"Act natural, restrain your aura. Right now, we are just martial artists with some skill," Edward Morgan said, noticing James Walker's stiff posture.

One command, one action—James Walker's straight back relaxed, though his muscles were still tense.

James Walker rarely met Edward Morgan's gaze, almost never looked up, holding a teacup in his hand, staring at the faintly fragrant tea, but not taking a sip.

Like a puppet on strings, without thoughts of his own—Edward Morgan spoke, he moved.

James Walker's cultivation was only at the first stage of Integration, yet in Xuanyuan Sect he was second only to one. Of the four altar masters, the weakest, Mr. Turner, was at the ninth stage of Integration, and the other three were at the peak of Void. The right protector Grace Cooper was at the sixth stage of Void. Among the six people directly under Edward Morgan, James Walker was the weakest.

By rights, he should never have become the left protector. The reason he held such a high position was because Edward Morgan trusted him, and because of his loyalty to Edward Morgan.