Oh. My. Fate?! (BL, Volume 12, Part 2)

300 Return Their Glory to Them

"Well ..." Ye Yang didn't rush to actually explain. When it came to this kind of occasion, he needed as many eyes on him as possible. Many had already gathered for the counting of the votes and even more were interested in hearing what the final reward for winning this competition would be. Still, he wasn't satisfied yet. The bigger the scene, the better.

Thankfully, if demons were one thing, then it was fast. He saw a few people further away flash, clearly grabbing someone to see this as well. Even if the connections between relatives were shallow and true friendships hardly existed at all, mutual benefits still dictated that you would grab your confidants for this kind of occasion to make sure you heard and remembered every word so you could analyze it later. He depended on his people's intention to do so.

Seeing that the rest of the square had filled and even the side streets and buildings were getting crowded, he finally showed a faint smile with a trace of cunning. "These years, what have we done?" His expression turned solemn as he asked this question, the smile gone so suddenly that some might wonder if it had ever been there in the first place.

"We have fought against the dragons, dragging the war against them out for millennia ... for what?" His gaze wandered over the faces of the demons that had gathered as if expecting each of them to provide a response. In fact, he did want them to do so. Not out loud but in their hearts. He wanted them to think about it, to come up with an explanation. Then, he could shatter it.

"To subjugate them? A race that already differs from us so much that they have not only lost the one common characteristic of all demon tribes but were also hit with an entirely different curse by the Supreme Sovereign?" Ye Yang's expression showed that he didn't think that worthwhile but he knew that many wouldn't accept just this. They still considered the dragons to be beneath them, not out of any logical reason but due to the past. Some of them simply desired to hold onto that, likely due to their pride.

"Many of you might not agree but I consider this war pointless. Think about it: After we have won, what will we have truly gained? Command over a people that resent us and the name of being tyrants in the eyes of the gods, our infamy in the human realm spreading even further than it already has. Is that truly what you desire?"

His gaze once again brushed over the crowd, this time a lot sharper than before. "Rather than this, don't you desire to see our own people thrive and become an existence that can't be ignored and can't be looked down at? Because that is the future I envision for us and it is a future I know we can achieve!"

He raised his chin, more than just a trace of arrogance seeping into his expression. To be honest, he didn't have to act this part. The demons had no love. Tian had robbed them of it. It might seem like a little thing but, actually, love was an emotion that encompassed many things. There was not just the love between spouses but also that between family and friends and also the love for the things you did. None of that had been left for them, taking a great deal of joy from them and making them destined to define their identities in other ways. Pride had been an easy way to forge ahead and he, admittedly, held a great deal of it. He wouldn't refuse to admit that.

"I am old enough to remember the stories from the previous generations, how they told of a time when our race was respected and looked up to. Back then, when the scholars of the two realms gathered, those from our demon realm could discuss any topic for just as long and in just as much depth as those of the Nine Heavens could.

"When the dragon realm had been founded and we acquiesced to the markets in the border region, didn't both dragons and gods come in droves to seek the crafts created in our realm because everyone was aware that whether it was jewelry or fabric, there were tribes specialized in them, creating the finest objects you could find anywhere in the immortal realms?"

He laughed when he brought up the last point, thinking of the last one to prove just how true this was. "Our own royal family's Huan Ying is still hailed as the greatest weapon smith of all time even more than two hundred thousand years after his death, with everyone being able to tell you at least one story about the twin daggers he forged."

Ye Yang's expression suddenly chilled. "Those were the days of our glory but with the curse and with the fall of our royal family, the things we could pride ourselves in were lost one after the other. Now, which talented craftsman of our people can you name? Which warrior's name will resound even in the dragon realm? And which of our scholars can debate even the most casual of clerks in the Nine Heavens' Tower of Wisdom?"

Ye Yang lowered his eyelids and his voice softened. "I am afraid that by now, even if those people exist, their names remain unknown and will do so forever." He paused before raising his gaze again but still gave it a few more moments until he spoke again. "That is, unless we ensure that they become known and that is what I will do: Return to our people the glory they deserve by finding those among us who are exceptional and making their names resound everywhere in the immortal realms."