I forgot a key detail: the MC was a general for the empire, and his mission was to find an immortal core to cure the emperor’s illness. He remembered the snake he’d helped when he was 16, so he tracked down where the ML lived and approached him with the clear intent to steal his core.
His orders were basically: find the ML, earn his trust, take the core, and bring it back to the capital. If he succeeded, the emperor would reward him and his whole family/clan would get the honor and glory of saving the emperor.
Like I mentioned before, the MC grew up under a ton of pressure and expectations. He had half-brothers, and his dad basically told him that if he wasn’t useful, he’d just pick another heir. His mother used him as a tool to keep her hold on the father and her power. (All of that comes from those convoluted text dumps, it’s never actually shown, just dumped on us.)
The story never really shows how their friendship or feelings develop. We just jump to the ML asking the MC to hide the core in a temple, since temples are sacred/divine places and the tribulations couldn’t reach him there. I don’t remember the exact wording, but I think the MC asks if the ML trusts him, and the ML basically says he knows exactly what kind of person the MC is… and he still wants to trust him anyway. Like, he fully knows the MC is deceitful.
So the ML willingly hands over the core, but his actual plan was for the MC to hide it in that temple so the tribulations (which would kill him since he was a demon who couldn’t ascend) couldn’t reach him. The MC takes the core and heads back to the capital, feeling a little conflicted because he knows the ML is going to die without it.
Then the emperor eats the core. And in Chinese lore, the emperor’s body is basically a divine place (that whole “dragon’s body” thing), so heavenly tribulations can’t just mess with it freely. Turns out the emperor’s body was the safest possible hiding spot from the tribulations.
And after that… everything I described in the other comment happens.
I forgot a key detail: the MC was a general for the empire, and his mission was to find an immortal core to cure the emperor’s illness. He remembered the snake he’d helped when he was 16, so he tracked down where the ML lived and approached him with the clear intent to steal his core.
His orders were basically: find the ML, earn his trust, take the core, and bring it back to the capital. If he succeeded, the emperor would reward him and his whole family/clan would get the honor and glory of saving the emperor.
Like I mentioned before, the MC grew up under a ton of pressure and expectations. He had half-brothers, and his dad basically told him that if he wasn’t useful, he’d just pick another heir. His mother used him as a tool to keep her hold on the father and her power. (All of that comes from those convoluted text dumps, it’s never actually shown, just dumped on us.)
The story never really shows how their friendship or feelings develop. We just jump to the ML asking the MC to hide the core in a temple, since temples are sacred/divine places and the tribulations couldn’t reach him there. I don’t remember the exact wording, but I think the MC asks if the ML trusts him, and the ML basically says he knows exactly what kind of person the MC is… and he still wants to trust him anyway. Like, he fully knows the MC is deceitful.
So the ML willingly hands over the core, but his actual plan was for the MC to hide it in that temple so the tribulations (which would kill him since he was a demon who couldn’t ascend) couldn’t reach him. The MC takes the core and heads back to the capital, feeling a little conflicted because he knows the ML is going to die without it.
Then the emperor eats the core. And in Chinese lore, the emperor’s body is basically a divine place (that whole “dragon’s body” thing), so heavenly tribulations can’t just mess with it freely. Turns out the emperor’s body was the safest possible hiding spot from the tribulations.
And after that… everything I described in the other comment happens.