Under Hei Pi Yao Wang’s rule on Erlong Mountain, there were two major lieutenants.
The chief lieutenant was a wolf demon named Hei-Feng.
The second lieutenant belonged to the same clan as Hei Pi Yao Wang—a wild boar demon named Zong-Lie.
Among all those on Erlong Mountain, Hei-Pi had the highest cultivation. He had formed a Demon Pill and reached the Demon King Realm.
Below him was the chief lieutenant, Hei-Feng, who had already reached Condensing Core Peak, just one step away from forming his Jiedan.
However, two tigers cannot share one mountain; within a territory, there can only be one Demon King.
Hei-Feng had been suppressing his own cultivation, not daring to advance, for fear that a breakthrough might alert Hei-Pi and get him killed.
Now, Hei-Pi’s end was near. He was about to return to the heavens.
Hei-Feng had been waiting patiently for Hei-Pi to die.
He was always prepared—once Hei-Pi died, he would immediately, under the protection of his own Demon Generals, condense his Demon Pill, ascend to Demon King, and inherit the Treasure Throne.
The second lieutenant, Zong-Lie, was slightly inferior in cultivation to Hei-Feng, but was also about to reach Condensing Core Peak.
He was doing his utmost to catch up with Hei-Feng, and also set his sights on the Demon King’s Treasure Throne.
But since his realm was just a bit behind, to prevent Hei-Feng from seizing the chance before him, he had to catch up in cultivation before Hei Pi Yao Wang died.
Because of this, Zong-Lie ordered his subordinates to find a copy of the “Yin-Yang Dual Cultivation Life-Extension Grand Method” and presented it to Hei-Pi.
This cultivation method required dual cultivation and could absorb the yang energy from a partner, extending the life of someone near death.
Jing-Lie hoped this would allow Hei-Pi to hang onto life a few more years, giving him time to catch up in cultivation so that, in the future, he could at least form his Demon Pill at the same time as Hei-Feng and ascend during the tribulation.
After obtaining this life-extension method, Hei Pi Yao Wang, overjoyed in his pig-faced delight, immediately became sworn brothers with Jing-Lie and ordered him to select Yao-Fei for him, so he could absorb yang energy and prolong his life, hoping to survive a few more years.
Each lieutenant had several Demon Generals under their command.
This Bin-Biao Demon General was Jing-Lie’s son and also one of his demon generals.
After Jing-Lie and Hei Pi Yao Wang became sworn brothers, Bin-Biao began to call himself the nephew of Hei Pi Yao Wang.
Under his father’s arrangements, he traveled to various mountains to select suitable female demons for Hei Pi Yao Wang, delivering them to the mountain for his use.
Bin-Biao was Jing-Lie’s only son. If his father succeeded in ascending to Demon King and inheriting Hei-Pi’s Treasure Throne, then Bin-Biao would become the son of the Demon King.
The cultivation resources he would receive would be worlds apart from what he received as a lieutenant’s son, and his cultivation would improve by leaps and bounds—perhaps, in the future, he might become the next Demon King.
Because of this, Bin-Biao paid particular attention to the matter of selecting concubines.
He was especially concerned about Hei Pi Yao Wang’s health, fearing that the Demon King might breathe his last before his father reached Condensing Core Peak, letting that Hei-Feng snatch the chance to ascend as Demon King first.
If that happened, the father-and-son’s dream of becoming Demon King would be completely dashed.
Bin-Biao had originally planned to come next month to inspect the ten female demons of Xixia Mountain, but Hei Pi Yao Wang’s condition had suddenly worsened in the past few days.
The previous Yao-Fei had nearly all been used up, and he was in urgent need of new ones.
Thus, Bin-Biao hurried over ahead of schedule, intending to take the new batch of female demons back right away.
Unexpectedly, Hong Yanzhi now told him that there were only six Body Tempering Middle Stage, human-formed female demons prepared in Luoyun Cave—nearly half short of the required ten.
Bin-Biao Demon General’s face darkened immediately.
His face was covered with frost, and his tone was as cold as if it came from an ice cellar: “Do you people from Xixia Mountain take my words as nothing but hot air? Hm? If you delay the Demon King’s matters, can you two bear the consequences?!”
At once, his three pig demon attendants put on menacing faces. Each drew the waist blade hanging at their side, glaring at Lang Buping and Hong Yanzhi.
The tall, thin man hugged a longsword in his arms, his expression blank, as if he cared about nothing.
Lang Buping, being a great demon with spiritual vision, could see that though Bin-Biao Demon General’s demon aura was unstable and seemed about the same as his own, his cultivation had already reached Condensing Core Middle Stage, though mostly built from Ling Yao and Spiritual Herb.
The aura of the tall, thin man holding the longsword, however, was exceedingly dense—his cultivation had reached Condensing Core Late Stage.
With that man’s strength, he could easily kill Lang Buping, Hong Yanzhi, and Lin Xue all by himself.
Seeing Bin-Biao Demon General enraged, Lang Buping’s legs went weak.
By habit, he wanted to ask his father for help, but this was Xixia Mountain, not Yellow Wind Mountain. His father was not here.
He was at a loss, unable to decide what to say, his face full of panic, unable to utter a word.
Hong Yanzhi’s face turned pale, but she still insisted: “Yao-Jiang Daren, your previous message said we were to have the female demons ready by next month. There’s still time before then. Please grant us a few more days, Yao-Jiang Daren. Next month, I will certainly gather ten Body Tempering Middle Stage female demons myself and deliver them to you.”
Bin-Biao Demon General sneered, stepping forward as he asked, “So you mean the Demon King must wait for you?”
Hong Yanzhi stepped back and lowered her head: “I wouldn’t dare. But our mountain truly has very few female demons. We’ve already gathered six for Luoyun Cave, which is our limit. How about this—Yao-Jiang Daren, today you take these six female demons back first. I will gather the remaining four within two days and personally deliver them to you, along with a generous gift to thank you for looking after Xixia Mountain. Would that suffice?”
Bin-Biao Demon General stared at her, his greedy gaze roaming over her proud, curvaceous body.
The frost on his face suddenly melted. He nodded and smiled: “Fine. Bring those six female demons here for me to inspect and accept.”
Hong Yanzhi breathed a sigh of relief and ordered a little demon to notify the six female demons where they resided.
The little demon dashed off into the cave to fetch them.
Bin-Biao Demon General looked at Hong Yanzhi, then turned to Lin Xue, who sat on the side with eyes closed, still meditating inwardly.
As he beheld Lin Xue’s alluring, enchanting face and slender, graceful figure, Bin-Biao Demon General’s gaze burned with desire.
He pointed at Lin Xue and asked, “Is this female demon one of your six Yao-Fei candidates?”
Hong Yanzhi saw that the boar’s attention had turned to Lin Xue again.
Her expression changed, and she hesitated a moment before saying, “This elder sister is just passing through. She’s temporarily using this place to cultivate; she’s not a demon of Xixia Mountain.”
She feared that if she claimed Lin Xue as a mountain demon, Bin-Biao Demon General would forcibly seize her as a Yao-Fei for the dying Hei Pi Yao Wang.
So she lied, saying Lin Xue was only passing through.
Upon hearing this, Bin-Biao Demon General’s porky face twitched.
He asked, “Passing through? What mountain is she from, then? Why has she come to Hei Pi Dawang’s territory? Did you interrogate her properly?”
Hong Yanzhi hurriedly answered, “This elder sister is from Unicorn Mountain. She came here looking for a friend.”
But Lang Buping said, “This snake demon is from Xiong Er Mountain. She came to look for Ling Yao today…”
The two spoke at once, but gave different answers.
They quickly fell silent, exchanging flustered looks.
Upon hearing Lang Buping say Lin Xue was a snake demon, Bin-Biao Demon General’s eyes immediately lit up.
He had a personal fondness for snake demons—of his dozens of concubines, the majority were snake demons.
Now, hearing that Lin Xue was a snake demon, he grew even more interested, his gaze on Lin Xue burning hotter.
He sneered, “Well, it seems this female demon hasn’t told either of you the truth. That means her identity is unclear. Since I’ve encountered her, I’ll have to interrogate her properly!”
He strode toward Lin Xue.
Hong Yanzhi grew anxious, hurrying to block him. “Yao-Jiang Daren, this elder sister is cultivating right now. Please wait a moment so she’s not disturbed!”
But Bin-Biao Demon General paid her no heed.
He shoved Hong Yanzhi aside, squatted down beside Lin Xue, and stared at her exquisitely beautiful face with greedy eyes full of lust.
“Tsk tsk, what a fine transformation. Such a lovely face, really rare.”
“Pretending to sleep after seeing me? Still not waking up to answer my questions?”
“Keep pretending, and I won’t be polite!”
As he spoke, Bin-Biao Demon General stretched out his giant fan-like hand, his face leering as he reached out to touch Lin Xue.
Hong Yanzhi panicked and rushed forward to block him from disturbing Lin Xue, but the three pig demon attendants immediately drew their blades and blocked her way.
Just as Bin-Biao Demon General’s hand was about to touch Lin Xue, his vision suddenly blurred—the alluring female demon vanished from where she sat.
In the next instant, he felt the back of his neck gripped by a hand, followed by a whirl of dizziness as immense force slammed him over the shoulder and hurled him to the ground.
The entire ground trembled, sending up a cloud of dust.
Before Bin-Biao Demon General could even scream, a heavy foot stomped on him, and something cold pressed against his neck—a blood-red short blade.
“Who are you?” A cold, melodious female voice asked.