Chapter 13: Two Against Three Demons

Ji Ning's powerful divine sense thoroughly probed every corner of the great mountain.

"Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, how is it?" Mu Zishuo immediately asked.

Ji Ning grinned at Mu Zishuo. "Do you even need to ask when your senior apprentice-brother is handling it? This demon mountain does have quite a few demons dwelling on it. Based on their auras, roughly speaking, there should be one Wanxiang great demon, over a dozen Zifu great demons, and some Xiantian demons who can take human form, along with a bunch of lesser demons."

"Only one?" Mu Zishuo curled his lip. "That's really few, and there are two of us."

"So your idea was right. Choosing this mountain, which looks ordinary, means the demons dwelling here aren't that strong either." Ji Ning smiled. "For a demon mountain like this, the two of us could just charge straight through and crush them. But this is still Yushan Great Wasteland, so we should be cautious."

"I'll follow your lead, senior apprentice-brother." Mu Zishuo nodded.

"Let's go. We'll sneak up the mountain." Ji Ning pointed into the distance.

Mu Zishuo worried, "There should be formations, right?"

"Although there are formations on this demon mountain, with my divine sense covering everything, I know it all." Ji Ning was quite knowledgeable about formations. His Uncle Bai was a divine beast, a Whitewater Hound, known for his intelligence and even greater mastery of formations. Ji Ning often discussed formations with Uncle Bai, though it was almost always Uncle Bai instructing him.

Occasionally, Ji Ning's ideas would also inspire Uncle Bai.

"Let's go."

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The two quietly moved through the wild weeds, quickly approaching the great mountain.

...

A dark-faced man was sitting cross-legged on a jade bed, exuding an immortal's bearing.

Suddenly, the dark-faced man opened his eyes, a fierce murderous gleam flashing within them before quickly fading. He looked toward the distant stone door, and with a thought, the stone door rumbled open. A small figure darted in from outside—a scrawny man who knelt down: "Congratulations, Great King, on emerging from seclusion!"

"Hmm." The dark-faced man grunted. "Go, summon my wife and prepare a feast."

"Yes." The scrawny man replied respectfully and quickly withdrew.

The dark-faced man got off the jade bed and strolled out of the main hall of the cave, stepping outside. From there, he could even see the endless scenery of the Great Wasteland in the distance. A hint of killing intent flickered in his eyes. "Humans keep coming in waves to kill in my Yushan Great Wasteland. This is the territory of our demon race. Kill every human who comes... Hmm, it's been a long time since any human came to my place."

The Yushan Great Wasteland was vast beyond measure. Many human cultivators came here, but scattered across the entire wasteland, they were extremely rare. Only occasionally did some great demons encounter human cultivators.

"Over thirty years ago, that human cultivator contributed quite a bit of liquefied elemental essence and magic treasures to me. I traded the treasures for more liquefied elemental essence, saving me two hundred years of cultivation and greatly enhancing my strength by a whole level." The dark-faced man was full of anticipation. "I wonder when another foolish human will come."

Daring to claim a mountain as king in the Yushan Great Wasteland, he had naturally set up numerous traps in his lair, ensuring that any human cultivator who came would never leave.

"Great King!" Suddenly, a soft voice sounded.

The dark-faced man looked over.

A seductive woman in green, with a bewitching air, was holding a jade tray on which rested an intricately carved beast-head wine cup and a perfectly curved, slender wine flask.

"My wife." The dark-faced man smiled.

"Great King, you've been cultivating for months and must be tired. This is a fine wine I brewed myself, 'Moon Spirit Immortal Brew.'" The seductive woman in green walked over and said. Once demons became Xiantian lifeforms, their intelligence was no less than that of humans. This woman was a Zifu great demon, and the dark-faced man was a Wanxiang great demon.

After cultivating for so long, they also knew how to enjoy life and needed companions. Although the demon race had considerable power in this land, the true ruler of the world was the Grand Xia Dynasty, a human dynasty. Many great demonic powers served as officials in the Grand Xia Dynasty.

It was for this reason that the demon race could continue to exist.

However, apart from relative peace at the highest levels, the conflict between ordinary human cultivators and demons was fierce.

...

A lavish feast was brought in, including meat, fruit, and fine wine.

The dark-faced man picked up a piece of meat and gnawed on it, then frowned and shouted outside, "Go, go to the humans penned in the back mountain and bring me a tender one. This meat is tasteless; human flesh is much better."

"Yes!" The demons outside immediately responded loudly.

"Humans eat the flesh of our demon race, and some great power even created methods like the 'Beast Spirit Talisman' to directly enslave us." The dark-faced man said coldly. "Our demon race naturally can eat human flesh, and we should also be able to enslave humans! There's a Beast Spirit Talisman, so why isn't there a 'Slave Human Talisman'?"

The seductive woman in green picked up the wine flask to pour for her king: "Great King, I've heard that beyond this major world, there are great demonic powers who roam the Three Realms and have created methods to enslave humans. But unfortunately, in our major world, the Grand Xia Dynasty is the orthodox power. How could they allow methods to enslave humans to spread?"

"My wife, are there really methods to enslave humans?" The dark-faced man looked at her.

"It's just a legend." The seductive woman shook her head. "How would a little Zifu demon like me know?"

The dark-faced man snorted, "When I become a demon immortal one day, I will definitely... Damn!"

The dark-faced man suddenly stood up and looked toward the stone door.

"Great King?" The seductive woman was startled.

The dark-faced man's expression changed drastically. He slammed the table, which instantly turned to powder with a bang, and roared, "Since you dare to come, why not show yourself?"

"Great King, I've brought a tender human child." A panicked voice came from outside.

"Ah!" A scream.

The panicked voice abruptly stopped.

The seductive woman in the cave knew something was wrong and trembled in fear: "Great King, what's happening? What's going on? Have human cultivators come? With all our layers of formations and restrictions, how could they have sneaked all the way here?"

The dark-faced man stared intently outside.

"They are formation experts." The dark-faced man gritted his teeth.

How could he know...

Ji Ning had bypassed many formations, and some he slipped through without triggering any alarms. Only the final maze formation protecting the cave, which was always active, forced Ji Ning to break it directly, alerting the dark-faced man.

"Don't cry, don't cry. Your big brother here will slaughter that great demon for you in a bit." Three figures walked in. The one in front was a human youth in animal skins, while another youth in white robes was holding a child barely covered by leaves, soothing him.

"Wah, wah, wah." Tears streamed down the child's face. The demon's instant death, reduced to a pool of flesh and blood, still terrified him.

Mu Zishuo was furious and pointed at the dark-faced man: "You demon, your time is up!"

"Haha, it's been a long time since I've met human cultivators. Since you dare come to my lair, today is your day of death." Two black crescent blades appeared before the dark-faced man, and with a roar, "Die!"

Boom!

Above the hall, fist-sized stars appeared, and among the countless stars, a bright moon hung.

"Kill!"

The dark-faced man's face twisted ferociously.

Mu Zishuo roared, "Senior apprentice-brother Ji Ning, leave this demon to me."

Mu Zishuo, who was relatively more naive, was already burning with rage after learning that this child was about to be eaten by the old demon.

"Alright." Ji Ning nodded and stood aside, ready to intervene at any moment.

As Mu Zishuo roared, countless stars appeared above him as well, with both a bright moon and a sun hanging high among them. The sight of the sun and moon together made the Wanxiang great demon's expression change. Such a dharma image indicated a cultivator with a solid foundation.

"Die." Mu Zishuo gritted his teeth.

Swish! Swish!

Two streaks of black light appeared in Mu Zishuo's hands. He released them, and the two black streaks shot out, turning into two enormous serpents in midair.

The dharma images clashed, and the Wanxiang great demon was clearly struggling.

"Bang!" "Bang!"

The two enormous serpents clashed in midair with the two black crescent blades released by the dark-faced man. The sheer power made the seductive woman, who had been hiding nearby, turn pale. She instantly transformed into a white-furred fox and tried to flee. But Mu Zishuo's eyes flashed coldly, and one serpent's tail lashed out, striking the fleeing fox, which was instantly smashed into pulp.

Ji Ning watched and nodded inwardly: "Junior apprentice-brother has the upper hand. No wonder he could enter the Black-White College at fourteen as a genius in the art of puppetry. Impressive."

Entering the Black-White College at fourteen.

He had also comprehended the Black-White Diagram for such a long time... If not for Ji Ning overshadowing him, Mu Zishuo's own brilliance would have been dazzling. It was just that because he specialized in puppetry, many fellow disciples didn't realize how monstrous his talent was.

"Stop!" The dark-faced man shouted. He sensed something was wrong. He had killed a human Wanxiang cultivator before, but this seemingly gentle youth in white was far stronger. Moreover, the youth in animal skins standing nearby gave him an even more dangerous feeling.

"It's too late to regret now!" Mu Zishuo said coldly.

"Why aren't they here yet?" The dark-faced man struggled to hold on. Although transforming into his true form would greatly increase his power, that would mean a fight to the death. He needed to stall for time. "When I slammed the table earlier, I crushed the signal talisman. My third and fifth sworn brothers' mountains are closest to mine. Using escape techniques, they should be here by now."

Suddenly, a hint of joy appeared on the dark-faced man's face.

He sensed...

Although the numerous formations he had set up on the mountain hadn't detected the two humans, the arrival of his two good brothers immediately alerted him.

"Just wait. When my third and fifth brothers attack suddenly, we'll join forces from inside and out... Then both of you will die." The dark-faced man thought to himself while continuing to hold on with all his might.

At that moment, Ji Ning, who had been standing by, changed expression and snorted coldly, "You old demon, you even have reinforcements!"

The dark-faced man's heart skipped a beat. How did this cultivator find out? Had he set up formations around the area and detected his helpers in advance? Without further thought, he let out a great roar: "Third Brother, Fifth Brother, attack together! Kill these two cultivators!"

Mu Zishuo shouted wildly, "Two more? Good, I was just thinking there were too few Wanxiang great demons!"

Ji Ning looked toward the stone door of the cave, a faint sword-light flickering in his eyes.

...