Chapter Text
Shen Yuan can't say he expected, or wanted, to transmigrate into his (least!!) favorite novel when he died.
At least he was an overpowered Heavenly Demon in this world though, the peak of civilization in Proud Immortal Way.
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Shen Yuan was born as a Heavenly Demon, head of demon civilization, from the Central Plains in the Demon Realm. His family was head of the Demon Realm, having ruled it for generations, with each cousin and sibling in line for the throne, only strength being the deciding factor for the ruler, no matter if they were unskilled for politics or even if they were generally corrupt rulers, if they were stronger than everyone else in the family and could prove it, they could rule.
He became conscious of his situation after his birth, because while demons could become conscious in the womb, it was generally very difficult, and they wouldn't remember it much anyway. While Shen Yuan still had the brain of an adult, he didn't understand what was happening until he was born and he had the features (claws and fangs!!) of no human. He didn't even get a system to explain anything, which might have been in his favor because he couldn't go against canon if he didn't know who he was to affect it!
Shen Yuan didn't have a new name, (or no one at least calls him a new name), so demon culture must not name their children, probably he couldn't remember very many demon generals or characters having names beside Luo Binghe and Mobei-jun, since most of them were mob characters, and the wives did have names but they were all mostly clan heads or royalty.
He should definitely look into demon culture, considering he was technically royalty and in line for the throne, but he didn't want to rule! Shen Yuan would be fine with fucking off into the Demon Realm to explore and learn about this world, considering the world building was his favorite part of this whole novel!
He had almost no immediate family, none of the servants ever tried to properly communicate with him, but his mom was pretty nice to him and tried to care for him until she got pregnant again, and then she was always dead-tired. His sister was born when he was three, and his mother died straight after her birth, (oh great!) And his father was apparently extremely busy with ruling the realm, considering he only saw him once after his birth, which was for five seconds where he looked at Shen Yuan’s tiny little three year old demon body and handed him his baby sister for him to take care of (or kill), and she was so small, he loved her as soon as he first held her.
But there was a problem, they had no mother and no milk for a little baby, luckily there was a nice old demon servant lady who helped him get milk for his sister, so she wouldn't starve to death before his family could (try! They wouldn't get her over his dead body!) kill her.
His sister's health was stabilized, and he started taking care of her more, with playing with her with toys he made in their rooms, while hers was a nursery with a small bed for him shoved in a corner so he could grab her in the middle of the night if she started crying, his room had only a small book shelf, small desks for learning, and crafting tables and materials for toys and clothes she needed, since their dead beat father would pay for clothing for her when they went out to the tiny market they could find of human goods in the Demon Realm.
In his spare time not caring for his sister, he looked for small stores and markets he could find human materials in, mostly to gain as many learning materials, such as books or silk for her, as he could while in the Demon Realm (he was banned from the human realm because his father worried he would quote on quote, “sneak off and never return,” which is pretty rude thank you! He would only do that if his sister would come with him, which would never happen considering how watched she was) which was shockingly (probably should not have been that shocking), hard.
After searching everywhere he could while still technically being in the central plains, the small bookshelf in his room was completely filled with all the books he could find about human culture, parenting, what was common for children tk learn in this world, calligraphy, and sword work. He prowled through the palace library picking up every book he could find about demon culture and history in the clans and Demon Realm.
Shen Yuan would need all the information he could get if he were to teach her, she constantly asked questions about their history, random demon families in each of the major clans, and how to do a random human craft from 30 years ago, if he didn't know better, he would have thought she was a demonic history teacher, not an over enthusiastic demon child.
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He was also training a lot in his break times, mostly because his father would randomly grab him while he was teaching his sister, and throw him into an arena with all of his cousins to prove who was best fit for the throne. He didn't even want to rule the Demon Realm! He's pretty sure he said that already! That sounds like a whole lot of work and he probably wouldn't even have any time to explore the Demon Realm and create a bestiary!
He was mostly surviving right now in the arena because of all of the little tricks he developed from reading and the information he had from PIDW, like the blood manipulation, which he poured into his cousins drinks at dinner to manipulate their bodies during battle. It technically only worked once, since his cousins and father caught on after only one round but it at least saved his hide for one day.
The use of Heavenly Demon blood as torture devices was practically unheard of in this era apparently, and most Heavenly Demons, not to mention regular demons, could barely sense if there were blood mites in their food or even in their body! +1 for Shen Yuan!
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The next thing on his list was to figure out what time period he was in. The sky was not bright red, and his father was not named Luo Binghe with a harem in the hundreds, so Shen Yuan could at least guess that was before the glorious emperor’s time. He must be at least in his family, maybe one of Shen Yuan's cousins or maybe even himself could even be one of his ancestors! That would be so cool if his descendant was his favorite blorbo!
Though he thought he remembered in the novel that Luo Binghe had no more Heavenly Demon relatives, hopefully Shen Yuan and his sister could survive whatever happened to them, or the disaster not even affecting them in this era, and Heavenly Demons were practically immortal so could he survive until the merge at least?
He wasn't allowed to leave the Demon Realm until he defeated all of his family members except his father, so he couldn't check who were the Cang Qiong peak lords, but he would likely not even recognize the current generation since the hack author never expanded on Cang Qiong history!
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Shen Yuan was finally, actually becoming good in battle! He figured out he could use all kinds of spiritual cultivation tricks like the Plucked Leaves Flying Flowers (used by Scum Villain Shen Qingqiu) by manipulating his demonic cultivation to behave like spiritual cultivation, and he could manipulate his blood to create animals and beasts. Even Luo Binghe didn't use this ability in the novels, so he created it all by himself. His knowledge of different demonic beasts and PIDW was coming in quite handy, because he could recreate all kinds of abilities and monsters now!
He started using a fan in battle to make it much easier to control his abilities, like Plucked Leaves but sadly only a paper fan because metal weapons were forbidden in the family arena. That hasn't stopped some people from pulling a dagger on one another though.
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In the palace library, Shen Yuan found a book informing him about the demonic clans, cultures, and the naming conventions in every main clan. The book was old and worn, with yellowing pages and suspicious stains similar to blood. Shen Yuan was worried that the book might not even be accurate, it looked so aged. Only five chapters about each ruling family in each of the main directions and territories.
“The Northern Desert is controlled and owned by the Mobei clan, the main family being either ice demons or ice fairy descendants,” it read, “surnamed Mo with no title, the head of the clan being Mobei-jun.”
With no descriptions of the families’ abilities or the past generations, Shen Yuan was disappointed but happy for any information at all. There was a small map at the end of the chapter with the amount of territory and borders on the Demon Realm map, even filled with notes about the main castle and the most important villages for trading and importance.
The next chapter started with the Southern Savanna, “Owned by the Sha clan, populated by incubi and succubi demons, surnamed Sha without a title, and ruling title being Hongsha-jun. Containing the Borderlands, related to the Meng Dream Demons. Half breed demons popular in the villages near the border.”
“Western Rainforests, with giant bugs and acid rain, controlled by the Chong clan, head Kunchong-jun, surnamed Chong, with Insect demons being the majority considering only they and the Heavenly Demons could survive the toxic weather common in the Tropical Rainforest.” Shen Yuan could guess that the Demon clan must have strong exoskeletons or some kind of defensive material, which would be so interesting to study, but the book didn't expand on it at all, it was just, “They survive. I dunno how though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.” So infuriating, and it mentioned technically he would survive in the forest, if he was allowed to leave the Central Plains!
“The Eastern Taiga Forests, lead by beast demons and populated by half breed demons and beasts. The current major family being the Dongshou clan, strongest demonic beasts and beast demons being wolves, lynxes, and bears. Family name Dong, with Dongshou-jun being the head of the clan.”
Finally, the final chapter was about the strongest demons, the rulers and Emperor class of the Demon Realm, the Heavenly Demons, “The most powerful Demon bloodline, ruling the Demonic Realm and leading the Central Plains, every Heavenly Demon has a claim to the throne, with only the strongest becoming Junshang, every demon from this clan has no name until they become powerful enough to earn a title with an accomplishment, every ruler has a different title.” Shen Yuan is so disappointed, every other clan has actual names, except his! No wonder no one called him any name, he hasn’t ‘deserved it’ yet!
He must get his sister to call him something though, just calling her “mei” is getting slightly irritating, it's like if she doesn't have a separate identity from being his sister, and the servants and family are even worse for him!
The servants don't even look him in the eye, not even mentioning saying a single word to him! He knows his family is prone to killing random servants who even speak a word to them, but he’s not like that, he swears! His family just calls him “you” or “him”, his father only calls him “Erzi!” He’s not that damn bastard’s son.
Maybe the siblings could start calling each other nicknames, instead of just brother or sister! He certainly has some ideas. Considering how he embroiders bamboo on her numerous flowy skirts he makes for her, bamboo would be a good name for his sister, he just hopes she takes well to it.
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"If you get to have a nickname for me, I want to have one for you Ge!" Newly named Zhujing demanded, hand pointing at him, foot stomping on the floor, with a smile twitching at her mouth showing she wasn’t seriously being bratty.
"Yes, yes meimei, alright, make sure to give me a name matching my significant charm!" He laughed, hands on his hips, chin facing upward like a real cartoon villain with a bright smile on his face.
She rubbed her hand over her chin, caressing a non-existent beard, "How about, Luhui-ge, Ge?"
"Why is my name green?" He asked, confused, hands dropping to his sides, losing the act.
"Because that's the color of all of your robes, jewelry, and fans Ge!" She rolled her eyes.
"Obviously!" she scoffed, ‘We will also always be together!’ she thought privately, ‘green and bamboo go together.’
"Such a spoiled attitude meimei, I must have severely rottened you with my coddling if that's what you are acting like to me!" Shen Yuan taunted, "Maybe I should send you to the arena early!"
Zhujing immediately stopped her bratty act and looked up at him with fake watery puppy dog eyes, “Please no Ge! I’m already working hard on my studies, and you promised.”
'She reminds me so much of my old meimei my heart hurts,' he thought, slightly saddened, 'but they have so many differences, I'm glad they aren't exactly alike.'
'It will never be the same family, but I love her as much as I loved my old meimei.'
“Yes, yes, you’re right.” Right away the tears in her eyes disappeared.
"Wait, what about our surname?"
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Shen Yuan was using some of his (smuggled) books from the human realm to embroider some bamboo on some of his meimei's robes when his father strode into his room and grabbed him by the neck of his robes, threw him over his shoulder, and walked out, carrying him along with him.
He was brought to the family arena, with every single one of his past battle partners and obscure family members he hadn't seen a day in his life all lined up facing the throne where his father usually sat.
“To decide who will be the next ruler of the Demon Realm, you all will try to defeat my son, and whoever comes out on top will take the throne when they manage to kill this lord.” He announced to the crowd.
Everyone slowly glanced at each other, then at Shen Yuan, and then multiple claws went slashing down on his flowing robes, barely missing his face when he stumbled back. Technically in theory, his Heavenly Demon blood and fast regeneration could heal those wounds if they happened, but it would still hurt like a bitch.
He scrambled to get away from the large mob of attackers, slashing along the side of his own wrist to create several blood demons to protect him, struggling to grab his paper fan out of his belt to better use his abilities.
Most of the group backed away from the creatures, remembering the first time he created them and when they were brutally mauled. 'Dammit! I wasn't prepared for this at all!' He bitterly grumbled in his head, 'I would have worn my more durable robes, and actually brought my war fan!'
One of his braver family members managed to cut down his blood wolf with his claws, and rushed to attack Shen Yuan but was impaled in all of his major organs with thin spikes of blood before he could hit the prince.
Shen Yuan was still distracted though, and another one of his relatives clawed deep gashes along his back and side.
But his wounds weren't instantly healing, 'Fuck! I didn't know that the blood mites can’t heal wounds from other Heavenly Demons! This wasn’t mentioned in the novel!’ he thought, grinding his teeth, silently cursing that hack author.
He creates a lion from the blood dripping down his back and kills the attacker, then looks around and finds everyone around him is cautiously walking around him like he's in a bubble, or is engaged with one of his beasts in battle.
Someone dove and grabbed his neck, choking him and cutting off the air and blood to his head.
Shen Yuan started hyperventilating, aggressively clawing at the offending hands and kicking with short stubby human-like nails, not thinking of extending them with a small amount of Demonic Qi, until he reached a point where he had barely any air to his brain and he leaned as far back as he could go and slammed his head forward into the demon’s forehead where he loosened his grip and Shen Yuan bit down hard on his neck, crushing it like a grape.
There was a breathy, broken gasp when Shen Yuan’s face finally regained some color and he stepped down on his opponent's neck, finally killing him.
He finally grabbed his fan, and created little leaves out of blood and Demonic Qi, then sent them all shooting out in a spiral, hitting most of his enemies in the throat, instantly incapacitated (read: dead.) His claws elongate, and he makes sure all of his family members are dead by stabbing through their hearts like it's on a skewer before looking up at his father. He made sure to claw though their faces so they were undistinguishable, so he wouldn’t waste time on unknown relationships.
"Is this good enough, father?" He sneers, heavily sweating, covered in blood, his green robes stained.
"This lord will send a healer to your rooms," he doesn't even bother replying to the mocking comment with a response, "you will now join this lord in weekly meetings with the heads of the Clans, and will start to take lessons for becoming the next Junshang."
"What abou-"
"No visits to the human realm." He interrupted, and then swiftly sat up from his throne and disappeared into the dark hallway leading out of the arena.
Guards came by and grabbed him, dragging him to his rooms, which he was quite thankful for, because now that the battle was over and his adrenaline was gone, he likely could barely stand up.
When they reached his rooms he immediately laid down and passed out, and was instantly harshly woken up by his little sister trying to shake him awake.
"Ge?! GE!" She roughly shaked him, worry clouding her gaze, "Are you alright?"
He didn't see much else, considering he passed out again soon after.
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The healer informed him that he woke up several hours later, his wounds healed from both the combined efforts of his blood mites and the healing salve the healer spread on his back, he had red bruises of finger indents along his throat, which haven't completely healed yet.
"Junshang has commanded this one to inform you about your new roles, as heir to the crown, and political advisor." He droned, handing him some papers informing him of his new status.
"Now this one must take his leave, good day Crown Prince."
His back was stinging like crazy, even with all the medicinal salves on it, healers and healing were not all that advanced in the Demon Realm, or were not used enough to be proficient. He reasoned that most demons were in a mostly walk-it-off type society, either it healed on its own or you died from weakness, that's just how it works in the Demon Realm.
Shen Yuan started looking over the paperwork in more detail, he had to attend every single meeting with the demonic clans? He had to take daily political classes? He didn't even want to be Junshang! What is this?
'I would much rather be some no name NPC than deal with all of this!' He thought.
If he wasn't a Heavenly Demon then he couldn't study all sorts of beasts, now he gets more political information of the Demon Realm than would ever be found in one of Airplane's shifty stallion novels, and he would likely immediately die if he ever stepped foot into any single Demonic Forest.
He still would rather be an NPC though!
The door to his room slammed open, interrupted his thoughts, a jarring bang jolting him upright. His sister was standing in the doorway huffing and panting, as if she ran all the way from her quarters to his'.
"That stupid doctor! I told him to call for me the moment you woke up!" She grumbled, trying to hide how bothered she was by crossing her arms while sitting on his bed,"I mean, you could have been in danger and only this glorious Zhujing-mei would be able to save you!"
"Shhh, it's fine now meimei, I'm fine I swear," He softly smiled, rubbing circles into her back, from where he could reach from his lying down position.
She slowly started to sniff and tear up, and lunged over and trapped him in a bone-crushing hug,"I was really worried for you when I didn't see you in your room, and when I heard about the battle for the crown."
She hid her crying face in his bandaged torso while he kept rubbing her back. Together they started reading the information their father sent for them. The papers stated that the Crown Prince must attend all future meetings with the Demon Clans or status will be ripped from him, must attend behavior and elegance lessons to become the future emperor, and must defeat their current relative in charge of the crown to become Emperor of the Demon Realm.
"Ge, for the next meeting you and father have, can I attend as well?" She looked up at him with stars in her eyes, "Please? I wasn't able to see you two at the arena because I wasn't allowed to participate! It would be so fun to see you both in your prime!"
'She still thinks of and treats Junshang like a father, does she not notice how he doesn't care about us and I had to raise her?’
“All right, I’ll take you to my meeting next week, but in the meantime, I need to sleep.” he yawned, his eyelids drooping, “Can you finish transcripting the cultivator books as homework while I recover?”
“Yes sir!” Zhujing laughed.
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It was finally time for Shen Yuan’s first meeting with the heads of the demon realm as the future Emperor, and he had a plan. He is going to study all of the most powerful demons, and try to build connections with the younger demons as they were likely to be next in line for their clans when he would be crowned as well.
He and his sister peaked around the large doorway, studying how few eyes were on them and how not many people had arrived yet, when he felt a cold stare watching them from behind, like ice sliding down his spine, goose bumps all throughout his body. Shen Yuan turned around and saw an ancient looking ice demon, with a dark look in his eye.
The demon had a white beard that reached his belt, thick blue robes with fur inside the collar, and wrinkly pale skin that would suggest he would be quite weak.
‘He seems as powerful as my father, he must be the current Mobei-jun!’ Shen Yuan thought, curiosity shining in his eyes, ‘I wonder if he has the same portal genetic ability of Mobei-jun from PIDW..’
The demon bypassed the siblings and sat down at the front of the table, near Shen Yuan’s father, with two equally old ice demons sitting beside him, and two younger demons, a taller demon with white hair, and a shorter ice demon with black hair standing behind them.
‘They must be the next generation! I must talk to them at least once before they leave today.’
Shen Yuan and his sister sat down right across from each other at the long table, right next to their father’s throne. His father sent him a dirty look for bringing his sister on their first conference together, but truthfully, Shen Yuan could not care less what bothered that guy.
Next to Shen Yuan sat one Incubus Demon, likely the Southern Demon Lord Hongsha-jun, who had tan skin, long black braided hair, and an outfit made entirely of transparent red ribbons and bells showing his chest, and a laid back demeanor. Behind him was a young incubus with a similar appearance, and another demon that didn't quite look like a succubus or part of the Sha Clan, as he had pale skin and robes in shades of grey.
The next group of demons to come through the giant doorway was a group of Insect Demons, their bodies resembling some insects Shen Yuan remembers from the internet back in his old life, the strongest demon seemed to be half Hercules Beetle, and the shorter demon behind them seemed to be a Titan Beetle.
They sat down next to the Southern group, and Kunchong-jun and Hongsha-jun greeted each other warmly, if not slightly stilted.
'The book did state that there was tension between the West and the South, but they seem slightly more amicable than I would have guessed.' Thought Shen Yuan, fluttering his fan.
Finally, the last group of Demons, besides the Heavenly Demon councilors, arrived, the Beasts from the West were there.
The Demon that must have been Dongshou-jun was remarkably powerful, but his Qi was one of the weakest between the Demon Lords and the group inside the meeting room. He seemed to be a Bear Demon, with his thick fur and ears. Dongshou-jun just resembled a bear standing on his hind legs.
His party of demons behind him were all either wolves or lynxes, with only one fox demon standing out beside all of the others in the group, considering he was the only 'weaker' animal and the fact that his Qi was second only to Dongshou-jun.
The meeting finally started with a quick word from his father, "Today you all will meet this lord's son, who is next in line for the throne! After the meeting today each of you will meet him personally!"
He clapped Shen Yuan on the back harshly and started conversing with the advisors and Clan Heads with the food situation in the small villages in different territories, specifically near the Endless Abyss and the Borderlands, but Shen Yuan could feel the stares on him of all kinds of demons.
Come on guys, Shen Yuan knows he's pretty lean and thin for a demon, but he's just as strong as the rest of you! He literally beat all of his family, he might like fans, embroidering, and books but he's still a killer!
Shen Yuan and his sister were taking notes on the food situations and what disputes between territories were settled and what needed the Emperor to interfere on, when he felt a particularly menacing stare come from across the table.
Shen Yuan felt all sticky and gross whenever the old ice demon looked at him or his sister, but he wasn't the only demon staring, the white haired demon behind him was also staring at Shen Yuan, while the black haired demon was taking notes.
Shen Yuan and the younger ice demon made eye contact and the black haired demon quickly looked away with a confusing expression.
After discussing the monthly budget between the separate territories, the Emperor stood up and announced, "Council meeting adjourned, now two members from each Clan will meet the Crown Prince in the throne room, decide amongst yourselves then come."
Shen Yuan looked at his sister with a panicked expression, as he wasn't prepared to build connections and prepare alliances with each of the Clans yet! He thought he would at least have another hour! His sister looked amused at his predicament and rolled her eyes at his panicking, which was only revealed behind his fan so only she and their father could see it.
His father dragged him out of his seat and into the hallway that led to the throne room, passing by the library.
'Damn I wish I was being dragged over there right now instead of being possibly threatened and making political alliances that will likely last my whole term as Junshang.' Shen Yuan thought wistfully.
They reached the golden doorway leading to the throne room, and Shen Yuan was thrown into the smaller throne on the side of his father's, and the Emperor slammed the door shut and threw several Silencing Talismans on the door for good measure.
He walked up to Shen Yuan and put both of his arms over his head, caging him in, and said, "You will stay here, create alliances, and make this lord proud, do you get that Erzi?"
Shen Yuan gulped and nodded his head, "Good."
The Emperor nodded, satisfied, then walked away and opened and slammed the door shut again, while Shen Yuan released the breath he was holding.
'What am I going to do... ...I don't even know which people I am going to try to make alliances with!' Shen Yuan slouched in his seat and ran his fingers through his hair, squirming as he tried to think of a plan.
'I've got it!' He slammed his fist onto his palm, 'I'll just try to create connections with whoever comes in! Nothing can go wrong with that plan, right?'
A loud BANG interrupted his thoughts and made him jump out of his seat, to see the two younger ice demons fighting and elbowing each other in the stomach to reach the throne first.
The white haired demon ended up reaching the throne first and clasped Shen Yuan's hands to his heart and announced, "My Crown Prince, let this Linguang-jun serve you as the Northern Desert representative!"
The shorter demon elbowed Linguang-jun out of the way and replaced his hands on Shen Yuan with his own and said, "No my lord, don't listen to him, let this Mo Beizing serve you!"
"No, this lowly one will serve him!"
"No, this one will!"
A second scuffle broke out between two of the most important demons in the Northern Desert, and Shen Yuan just blinked out of his surprised stupor and watched the siblings fight with amusement.
He cleared his throat and the brothers broke up their fight immediately, standing right next to each other and bowing to the Crown Prince, "excuse us Taizi Dianxia, we both, and the Northern Desert will choose to support you towards your endeavor for the crown."
"Thank you for your support, this one will prioritize your territories and both of your missions towards becoming Clan Head if either of you choose to do so. I accept your proposal."
All three of them worked out the terms of their alliance, then both of the brothers left, fighting and kicking each other along the way.
The next group that arrived to petition before the prince was the South, who had the younger Incubus and the grey robed demon as representatives.
They properly bowed, and the Incubus grinned at Shen Yuan before introducing himself, "My title is Jiuchong-jun, Taizi Dianxia."
The other demon glared at him and introduced himself as well, "This lowly one is Meng Mo, your highness."
Shen Yuan didn't recognize the first name, but he definitely recognized Meng Mo! The peerless teacher of Luo Binghe, the master of dream manipulation, the original dream demon! Wasn't he a spirit, and that's why he got stuck in Binghe? Shen Yuan must be in the timeline before he was struck by divine punishment and his physical body was destroyed! Another hint for where he is in the timeline, +1 for Shen Yuan!
Now that he thinks about it, Jiuchong-jun and Linguang-jun seem pretty familiar to him too, he should definitely go through his memory after he's done with all of his meetings!
"You may rise," did that sound royal enough? Was Shen Yuan being too pretentious?
The Southern representatives were sent to negotiate Shen Yuan's guidance and help with the problems between villages in the Southeast and near the Borderlands, as they aren't getting enough food and fights are breaking out between territories.
Shen Yuan promised he would help with that if the South promised to support his ascent to Emperor-hood, which they agreed to.
Two out of four groups, Shen Yuan has got this!
The next group was the Insectoids, and their only representative was the Titan Beetle demon, who introduced himself as the next Clan Elder of the East, Chong Taitan.
Their only request in exchange for loyalty was a promise to help with the situation with the South, and more funds for acid rain protective material for housing and the weaker Insect Demons, which Shen Yuan easily agreed to.
The demon was gruff and harsh with his speech, but he was always respectful to Shen Yuan when communicating with him. In his memory, Titan Beetles were supposedly some of the strongest insects, so it would be good to get Chong Taitan (the hack author's names still affect his life!) on his side.
The final group of demons finally arrived, the Beast Demon envoy turned out to be the half fox demon Shen Yuan saw earlier when the Western territories joined the meeting. The demon’s body was mostly humanoid, but with digigrade legs, a fox head and tail.
The demon didn't even bother bowing before getting straight to business, he stated, “My name is Dong Hulizi, I come for the alliance with the crown prince.”
“Why do you and your territory specifically need my help, or any help in general, why won’t your Clan Head appeal to my father?”
“Taizi Dianxia, our lands are starving, we don't have any money or support from the crown to sustain our people, our lord is doing nothing to stop this, he is just lining his own pockets while we cry out, but you haven't done anything like this yet, so we will choose to support you if you choose to assist us.”
Shen Yuan blinked in surprise. Wow, he certainly did not suspect his father to be corrupt, he knew he was a shit father but he didn't know he was a shitty leader too. This problem with the South and the West, scratch that practically all of the territories, will definitely come back to bite his father in the ass if he continues to embezzle funds and generally fuck up other people’s lives.
Shen Yuan agreed to help with the supplies situation in the West, through supporting them when he gets the throne and sending them evidence and supplies now as Crown Prince. In exchange they will constantly support him and Hulizi will personally petition for him as Clan Head.
The furry demon then left the throne room, and Shen Yuan was left to cope with his political decisions and what his life could have been if he wasn’t crown prince. All in all, Shen Yuan personally thinks he did a great job at this politics thing, good thing he doesn’t have anymore meetings today, right?
The door to the throne room suddenly started slowly creaking open, Shen Yuan looked up and saw the creepy ancient ice demon from the meeting.
“Apologises, but Junshang said only two demons from each territory could come today.” said Shen Yuan apologetically, waving his fan.
“But I have some useful information for our young lord,” the old demon stated, still in the doorway.
“Oh?” Shen Yuan's interest peaked, “do you have any meaningful information for me?”
“Why yes, Nianqing Taizi Dianxia, this lowly servant does have some information to share,” he finally walked into the throne room before the Prince, “the day before your royal fight between you and your father, you must come to the Northern Desert with your sister, or you both will die.”
“What? How will we die? I don’t even have a specific day for my coronation yet, how will you be sure I will die then?”
Somehow, the demon was already gone when Shem Yuan looked up to ask his questions, not a trace of him to be found.