Fortunately, cranes have a special ability—when they encounter extreme environments, they gather all their spiritual energy in a certain part of their body for protection, and then enter a state similar to hibernation, consuming only a little spiritual energy to maintain life, until the surrounding environment becomes suitable for their survival and they will awaken.
When Ji Zhao woke up again, he heard a series of loud shouts and battle cries coming from outside the palace. He carefully followed the sound and found that the once impregnable palace of the gods was now surrounded by raging fire, and a dark mass of demons was pouring in from the cracks in the sky and fighting with the gods.
Good heavens! Is another war between gods and demons about to begin?!
Ji Zhao was panicked and running around in all directions when suddenly he was lifted up by a large hand—
"Oh, the gods actually keep such beautiful birds?" A black-faced demon with a fierce expression looked him over with interest and nodded in satisfaction.
—Heavens behold, the Demon Realm was filled with intense resentment back then. The sky was always pitch black, and no one could see anyone else. They fought for territory every day, so no one cared about their appearance. Most of them were just born that way, as long as they could survive. They had no idea what beauty or ugliness meant. Even a bald bird like Ji Zhao, who was disliked, was considered handsome in their eyes.
Thus, the "handsome" Ji Zhao was taken back to the Demon Realm by this demon deputy general and presented to their king as a flying mount.
Ji Zhao had always been nurtured by the spiritual energy of the celestial realm, so he could not withstand the resentment of the demon realm, making cultivation even more difficult.
Several hundred years passed in this way, and Ji Zhao actually managed to cultivate himself into a human form, albeit with many stumbles and setbacks.
His true form is a red-crowned crane, with simple and pure plumage and an elegant and graceful figure. He is often described with adjectives such as noble and elegant, and his human form is naturally elegant and holy. However, it was precisely because of his handsome appearance that he was chosen by the Demon King and forced to become her sixty-sixth "male concubine".
After an unknown period of time, on an ordinary day, the gods, who had been ambushed by the demons and lost face in the Three Realms, suddenly appeared and caught the demons off guard.
This time, Ji Zhao learned his lesson. After realizing something was wrong, he immediately hid in a secluded place known only to himself, and only showed himself after things quieted down outside again.
Last time, the demons were able to launch a sneak attack while the gods were on a group trip to the heavens. This time, the gods came prepared, and the demons were simply unable to resist.
The demon race suffered heavy losses, with corpses scattered everywhere, and the demon king's whereabouts were unknown.
The entire demon realm was plunged into unprecedented chaos.
Upon learning of this, Ji Zhao was immediately moved to tears, and knelt down on the spot, kowtowing several times towards the sky.
Great! I can't stand this awful life anymore!!!
So he rolled up his bundle, took away quite a few of the demons' treasures, and strolled over to the Dark Zone.
Although his cultivation was still outwardly strong but inwardly weak, possessing a thousand-year lifespan but actually being a fragile, easily punctured ball, his hundreds of years in the Demon Realm hadn't been wasted, and the lessons he'd learned weren't for nothing. Ji Zhao, with his keen intellect, used the treasures he brought from the Demon Realm to cultivate himself into a reclusive master of unfathomable strength, quickly attracting the attention of the higher-ups in the Dark Zone...
And so, step by step, he planned for decades and finally took the position of the second leader.
However, as the saying goes: people will always remember the first, not the second.
Having endured humiliation for half his life, Ji Zhao developed an obsession with power; he wanted to be number one and trample everyone under his feet.
However, the only legitimate way to remove the leader of the previous level and replace him is to issue a challenge, and it must be a life-or-death situation.
Ji Zhao doesn't have many treasures left, and he dares not take this risk.
Therefore, he chose Linghu Sheng, the owner of Shixi Tower who had a blood feud with the first leader.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend; in the face of a common enemy, they formed a temporary alliance.
As always, Ji Zhao first used his silver tongue to convince the other party, then displayed his wealth and power to arouse greed, and finally injected a little bit of demonic energy into the other party's dantian, turning him into a complete devil...
The only thing that surprised him was that Linghu Sheng's cultivation technique allowed spiritual energy and demonic energy to coexist harmoniously within his body. He even used the demonic energy to raise his cultivation level to a terrifying degree.
However, Ji Zhao was not worried that Linghu Sheng would turn on him later, because he had added some "ingredients" to his demonic energy, making it addictive like a drug, so that once you tried it, you could never lose it.
Linghu Sheng had unknowingly become a puppet of demonic energy.
Using Ruizhu, who looks exactly like Huo Shaoying, to create negative public opinion against the First Leader and take the opportunity to bring her down was a plan that Ji Zhao had been plotting for a long time.
To ensure the plan could be implemented smoothly, he specifically chose his birthday as the date.
The First Leader had only recently taken office, and it was precisely the time for her to cultivate good relationships with the other eleven leaders. She would not refuse an invitation.
At that time, they will lure the tiger out of the mountain and use a feint to attack from the east and attack from the west... Huo Shaoying will be isolated and helpless, and will only become fish meat on their chopping board!
Thinking of this, Ji Zhao could hardly hide the ferocious and gleeful smile in his eyes. He raised his cup to cover it up with the action of drinking, and when he put it down, he immediately returned to his usual gentle and refined demeanor.
He showed the leader his empty cup and said with a smile, "You are the leader of our eleven. This cup is for you!"
The First Leader could easily tell that he was deliberately trying to sow discord. Although she had become the First Leader, she was still the youngest of the twelve people present. In terms of seniority alone, she had to address everyone as "senior".
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