Chapter 58 is the most powerful.
Since the silent reconciliation that night, the atmosphere in the palace has gradually warmed up.
Tang Lu no longer deliberately avoids Chi Li. Although she doesn't rush into Chi Li's arms and act coquettishly like she did at first, she will sit quietly next to Chi Li and read books, and will obediently accept the snacks when Chi Li hands her.
When falling asleep at night, that little hand would naturally rest in Chi Li's palm.
More importantly, that ability of soul resonance allows Tang Lu to constantly sense the tenderness and caution surging beneath Chi Li's emotions.
This feeling silently nourished her and dispelled her last unease.
However, Tang Lu, having learned about Chi Li's style of doing things, also quietly planted a seed in her heart.
She could "hear" Chi Li's merciless judgments of potential threats and her almost instinctive destructive tendencies towards those who dared to offend her when she handled government affairs.
The pity and reluctance for "the loss of life" that arose from the Qing Linze incident has not disappeared; on the contrary, it has become clearer in the resonance.
That day, Chi Li was listening to a report from a secret guard about a border dispute.
Several minor demon tribes clashed over a newly discovered spiritual spring. One tribe was particularly ruthless, injuring many of its opponents and even threatening to exterminate the entire opposing tribe.
As Chi Li listened, her eyes grew cold, and her fingertips tapped lightly on the armrest. Those who knew her well knew that this was a sign of her impatience and her intention to punish.
"...A mere clown dares to commit murder. Since he is restless, he has no reason to exist."
A cold and resolute thought was clearly conveyed to Tang Lu's heart.
Tang Lu was fiddling with a glass leaf with clearly defined veins when she suddenly stopped.
She raised her head and looked at Chi Li's cold profile, a hint of panic flashing in her amber eyes.
She wasn't trying to stop Lili from maintaining order; she knew that wrongdoing would be punished.
But... "No need for existence"? Does that mean... the entire tribe should "disappear"?
Like Qing Linze before?
The thought of that utter, cold annihilation made Tang Lu's heart clench.
Just before Chi Li was about to give the order, Tang Lu suddenly put down the leaf in her hand, stood up, and ran to Chi Li's throne.
This was the first time in many days that she had taken the initiative to approach the area where political discussions were taking place.
Chi Li noticed her approaching, paused the command she was about to give, and looked at her with a questioning gaze.
The guards immediately held their breath and lowered their heads.
"Lili," Tang Lu looked up, her voice soft but serious, and gently tugged at Chi Li's sleeve, "Could you... not let them 'disappear'?"
Chi Li was slightly taken aback.
Tang Lu looked at her, struggling to organize her thoughts and express the vague feelings in her heart:
"They...they did something wrong, they bullied other demons, they should be punished."
Could we... could we punish them with a board? Or... or lock them up?
Let them realize their mistake, okay?
She paused, her small hands unconsciously clenching Chi Li's sleeve, her eyes pleading.
This was the first time Tang Lu had so clearly made a "request" to Chi Li, a request concerning her code of conduct.
Chi Li looked at the little tree spirit in front of her.
She remained as innocent and harmless as ever, trying to restrain Chi Li in her own way, and to fight for a chance of survival for those beings who were unrelated to her and might even have malicious intentions.
The guards lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to breathe, their hearts filled with horror.
No one has ever dared to question the Demon King's decisions, let alone make such a direct "demand".
Chi Li fell silent.
Looking into Tang Lu's eyes, she felt the unwavering determination and the instinctive resistance and pity for the passing of life that resonated with her.
She thought of Qing Linze, and of the sadness and alienation that followed Tang Lu.
Destruction is simple, it can happen in the blink of an eye.
But what followed was the fear in Tang Lu's eyes, and the insurmountable chasm between her and herself.
At this moment, her tree spirit is approaching her, trying to pull her out of that bloody swamp in a gentle way.
After a long silence, under Tang Lu's increasingly anxious gaze, Chi Li raised her hand and spoke calmly to the guards below:
"Order: Those who led the trouble and caused harm to others shall have their cultivation stripped and be expelled from the demon realm."
The remaining participants will be imprisoned and forced to reflect on their actions according to the law. The ownership of the Spirit Spring will be decided separately by the Hall of State Affairs.
The orders remained stern and authoritative, but no longer aimed at annihilation.
The guard was startled and immediately obeyed: "Yes, Your Majesty!"
Silence returned to the hall.
Chi Li then lowered her head and looked at Tang Lu, who was still tugging at her sleeve, her voice revealing neither joy nor anger: "Why are you pleading for them?"
Tang Lu blinked and said softly but clearly:
"Because... once it's gone, it's gone forever."
Just like with the previous 'green' color, Tang Lu felt sad.
She pointed to her chest, "And... Lili felt uncomfortable here too, when she decided to 'eliminate' them. Tang Lu felt it."
Chi Li was shaken to her core.
She was actually able to perceive the stagnation of life's very essence, which she had almost forgotten, hidden beneath layers of killing and power.
Tang Lu tilted her head back, looking at the silent Chi Li, and gently tugged at her sleeve, her tone a mix of coquettishness and expectation: "Li Li promised Tang Lu, didn't she?"
Looking into those pure eyes, Chi Li finally nodded.
"Um."
A simple syllable, yet it carries a heavy promise.
She may never fully understand Tang Lu's compassion for all living things, but she is beginning to be willing to restrain her claws and try a... less absolute solution in order to protect the purity in Tang Lu's eyes.
This was simply because it was the first time her tree spirit had made a request of her.
Simply because she didn't want to see her saddened by her "death," nor did she want her to "hear" the "discomfort" she felt in her heart caused by the killing.
When Tang Lu saw her nod, a big smile instantly bloomed on her face, and the tender leaves at the ends of her hair also stretched out happily.
This is the last time I've seen Akari look like this.
"Lili is the best!"
She finally released her grip on her sleeve and instead stretched out her small vines, which, as she had done countless times before, wrapped around Chi Li's wrist with complete trust.
Since Tang Lu made the request to "not be ruthless," Chi Li's methods have visibly softened when dealing with matters that do not touch upon absolute bottom lines.
She remained decisive and clear about rewards and punishments, but "canceling cultivation," "imprisonment," and "exile" gradually replaced the more common "annihilation of body and soul."
At first, the court was filled with doubt and uncertainty, but seeing that the Demon King's majesty remained undiminished and the order was still strict, they gradually got used to the change and assumed that His Majesty's state of mind had changed.
Only Chi Li herself knows the source of this change.
At this moment, she was watching Tang Lu, who was lying across from her desk, pointing at a map of the demon realm.
"Lili, why is this area red?" Tang Lu asked curiously, pointing to an area marked as the Crimson Flame Mountains on the map.
"Because the earth is full of fire, the rocks are all red." Chi Li patiently explained, her eyes sweeping across the map, and information about several restless fire-type demons in that area, as well as several alternative plans for suppression, naturally came to mind.
But the moment the thought arose, she almost subconsciously eliminated those overly bloody options and instead considered how to strengthen control and guidance.
This almost instinctive "filtering" surprised even Chi Li herself.
The little tree spirit beside her seemed to have become an invisible rule, silently correcting her deeply ingrained behavioral patterns.
Tang Lu naturally "heard" the thoughts in Chi Li's mind that were quickly weighing options and ultimately leaning towards "restraint" rather than "destruction".
She looked up and gave Chi Li a sweet smile, a tiny golden flower even blooming from the tip of her hair.
Chi Li's heart softened at her smile, and the slight discomfort caused by the change in habits vanished instantly.
At this moment, an imperial attendant delivered an urgent report.
It concerns the discovery of a small, wicked cultivation den deep within a dark forest in the western border region, where cultivators devour the essences of other demons to cultivate, and which has already caused several deaths.
Chi Li unfolded the report, her eyes instantly turning cold.
In her view, such behavior is always met with immediate and swift execution.
*...Evil spirits and heretics are useless to keep alive; they shall all be exterminated.*
A chilling killing intent rose in her heart.
Almost simultaneously, she felt the emerald green vine that had been lazily twining around her wrist tighten slightly.
Chi Li raised her eyes and looked at Tang Lu opposite her.
Tang Lu was also looking at her, her little hands unconsciously clutching the hem of her clothes. The fear in her amber eyes was gone, replaced by a clear worry and...reminder.
She didn't speak, but her eyes clearly said, "Lili, you promised."
Chi Li stared at her, the killing intent in her heart clashing fiercely with the promise she had made to Tang Lu.
Heretical practices are extremely harmful, and if they are not completely eradicated, they will have endless consequences.
This is a rational judgment. But...
Looking at the determination in Tang Lu's eyes, she recalled Tang Lu's tearful figure because of Qing Linze, and her earnest little face when she made her request.
Finally, Chi Li took a deep breath, suppressing her surging anger, and said in a deep voice to the eunuch awaiting orders:
"Send a team of elite secret guards, led by a Nascent Soul cultivator, to wipe them out."
The ringleader and his core henchmen were killed on the spot.
Those who were misled or coerced into following the orders were captured and handed over to the Ministry of Justice for trial and sentencing. Those who did not personally commit the murders and whose crimes did not warrant death were stripped of their evil deeds and imprisoned or exiled.
The orders remained ruthless and decisive, yet they precisely defined different levels of severity, leaving room for "non-death" outcomes.
The eunuch received the order and left.
Chi Li put down the report and looked at Tang Lu.
Tang Lu immediately walked around from the desk, snuggled up to her, reached out her little hand to hug her arm, pressed her little face against it, and said softly, "Lili is so nice."
Chi Li felt the warmth and dependence coming from her arm, and the slight stagnation in her heart caused by the failure to completely eliminate the hidden danger was soothed by this intimacy.
She discovered that accepting this constraint didn't seem... so unpleasant.
Especially when this restraint was met with her unreserved closeness and smiles.
“Not all evil deeds deserve forgiveness.” Chi Li raised his hand and gently brushed the small yellow flower in her hair, his tone both admonishing and explanatory, “I know what I’m doing.”
"Tang Lu knows." Tang Lu nodded vigorously. "Li Li is the best! She knows when to be strong and when... she can be a little less strong."
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