Lin Xue saw that Hong Yanzhi had successfully promoted to a Grand Demon and that her body had completely recovered, and she felt happy for her in her heart.
The two of them embraced.
At this time, the several female demons, led by Hua Yingying, walked over together.
They stood before Lin Xue and then knelt down in unison, saying to her with one voice, “We beg Sister Lin Xue to save us!”
Seeing that Hong Yanzhi, who was also at the Late Body Tempering stage, had actually been promoted to a Grand Demon again with Lin Xue’s help, the six of them were extremely envious.
One must understand that for Hong Yanzhi, this was rising back to the rank of Grand Demon after her cultivation realm had fallen; this was much more difficult than the promotion of Lesser Beasts like them who had never been promoted before.
Since Lin Xue could help Hong Yanzhi promote to a Grand Demon, she could naturally help them as well.
Having been sent to Erlong Mountain this time, through their experiences over these past few days, they already knew that their situation was grim and feared they would not be able to return to Xixia Mountain alive.
But if they could promote to Grand Demons, it would at least increase their self-protection abilities and provide more opportunities for survival.
After all, no matter where they were, a Grand Demon was considered a relatively rare talent.
No matter how excessive the Hei Pi Yao Wang was, as the lord of a Demon territory, he probably would not make things too difficult for them for the sake of their status as newly promoted Grand Demons.
Even if this Yao Wang still wanted to subject them to Yin-Yang Harvesting, after they promoted to Grand Demons, their bodies would be stronger and better able to withstand the Yao Wang’s ravaging.
They would not end up like the Yaojing they had seen that day, who was harvested to death by the Yao Wang.
They were certain that their current hope for survival rested solely on Lin Xue.
Through these past few days of spending time with Lin Xue, they also knew that Lin Xue was a very easygoing, gentle, and kind person who was easy to get along with.
Therefore, led by Hua Yingying, they gathered their courage to come and beg Lin Xue for help.
Seeing them like this, Lin Xue felt a bit flustered and said, “Sisters, what are you doing? Please, get up quickly.”
After arriving at Erlong Mountain, she had always felt that she could hardly protect herself, so how could she have the ability to protect others?
Moreover, she did not know how many people the Chuanyin Fashu on her ring could transport at once.
Thus, she tried her best to maintain a distance from these six female demons, not wanting to get involved with them to avoid feeling guilty if she couldn’t take them with her when it was time to escape.
But Hua Yingying and the other five female demons had finally found a life-saving straw; how could they be willing to let go? Every one of them remained kneeling.
Hua Yingying cried, “Once the doors to the Secret Realm open, if we Lesser Beasts go out like this, there will certainly be no way to survive. If Sister Lin does not want to help us, then it would be better to just let us die here. At least we can die with our bodies pure and clean.”
Lin Xue could not help but feel a headache coming on.
Looking at these sacrifices chosen by her own father, Hong Yanzhi felt quite guilty toward them in her heart.
She could not bear to watch them walk toward a dead end, so she leaned in and persuaded Lin Xue, “Xue’er Elder Sister, they are ultimately sisters from my Xixia Mountain. If we simply ignore them, they will have no way to live once they go out.”
“Sister, why don’t you simply take them in as Yao Nu, and then use that Gongfa to help them promote? I still have seven or eight Serpent Cores saved here, which should be enough for them to promote. Once they become Grand Demons, they will have some self-protection ability and won’t just be waiting for death. And having so many Grand Demons—isn’t that also a great help to you, sister? Xue’er Elder Sister, please agree to their request.”
Hearing Hong Yanzhi say she had enough Serpent Cores to use the Beast Refinement Codex to promote Hua Yingying and the other five female demons to Grand Demons, Lin Xue’s heart stirred.
If she could have six more Grand Demons as helpers, it would indeed be a massive boost.
Adding to that the six Yaojing kneeling in a row before her, looking as though they would not get up if she did not agree, Lin Xue spoke, “Fine then. Everyone, get up. I agree, and we will do as Miss Yan Zhi suggested.”
She first had to take these six female demons as Yao Nu.
The Beast Refinement Codex was originally a set of techniques meant for use on one’s own Yao Nu.
Only by taking them as Yao Nu could Lin Xue exert the maximum effectiveness of this technique, ensuring that each person only needed to consume one Serpent Core to reach the Condensed Core Realm directly from the Late Body Tempering stage with her assistance.
Seeing that Lin Xue had agreed, Hua Yingying and the other five Yaojing thanked Lin Xue with great joy and stood up.
Under Hong Yanzhi’s guidance, each of the six female demons surrendered a drop of their Spirit Blood and offered it to Lin Xue.
Lin Xue took each of their blood droplets, which were fused with the power of their Soul, and merged them with her own Essence Blood.
Following the methods in the Heart Sutra of Beast Taming, she took them in one by one as Yao Nu.
Watching this scene, Du Niangzi finally understood how she had been taken as a servant by Lin Xue.
By now, she no longer dared to have any thoughts of rebellion against Lin Xue. She could only lower her head and stand silently to the side, looking aggrieved.
She did not even dare to ask about that piece of Obsidian.
After taking Hua Yingying and the other five female demons as Yao Nu, Lin Xue felt a heavy weight in her heart.
Before, her life belonged only to her; now, her life and death were tied to eight other lives.
If she died, these eight demon servants would lose their lives along with her.
She suddenly felt as if an invisible burden had been placed on her shoulders.
Hong Yanzhi had already produced six Serpent Cores from her teeth and gave one to each of the six female demons, including Hua Yingying.
Lin Xue came before Hua Yingying and had her swallow the Serpent Core.
Then, she sat cross-legged opposite her and placed a finger on her brow, helping her decompose and digest the Serpent Core.
Half an hour later, the sky above the Secret Realm was once again filled with dark clouds.
……
In the side hall, Zong Lie felt extremely uneasy.
A day had passed, and there was still no movement from the Secret Realm side.
Something had definitely gone wrong inside.
Even if those Yaojing were unskilled in the Double Cultivation Art, it had been a day; they should have been able to absorb enough Yang Energy no matter what.
As soon as they were finished, Zong Biao would open the Secret Realm and send them out.
But still, no news had come.
Zong Lie knew he could not wait any longer.
He turned his gaze toward the direction of Hei Feng’s residence.
It must be that old wolf who was unwilling to wait for death and had used some means to play tricks under his nose, interfering with the Double Cultivation in the Secret Realm.
It seemed it was time for him to take action as well.
Zong Lie knew clearly in his heart that as the Second Leader whose Cultivation ranked third on Erlong Mountain, the only current obstacle and threat to him becoming the Yao Wang was the Great Chief, Hei Feng.
The Hei Pi Yao Wang’s time was almost up, and he was only lingering on with Zong Lie’s help.
Furthermore, Zong Lie had already prepared a fallback plan, so the king was not a concern.
As long as he got rid of the old wolf Hei Feng, the Yao Wang Treasure Throne would be within Zong Lie’s reach.
Zong Lie decided to take the initiative and strike.
As the saying goes, the wind leaves a trace; since Hei Feng had made a move, there would definitely be tracks left behind.
As long as he could find evidence that Hei Feng had interfered to obstruct the Hei Pi Yao Wang’s Yin-Yang Harvesting for Life-Extension and present it to Hei Pi, Hei Pi would surely fly into a rage and execute Hei Feng immediately.
Once Hei Feng was dead, Zong Lie could rest easy.
Thinking of this, Zong Lie took a very ordinary-looking green Jade Pendant from his sleeve.
This was a Transmission Jade, produced in pairs. When two people held one piece each, they could speak over long distances.
However, the craftsmanship of this Transmission Jade was complex and the price was expensive.
The Spiritual Power contained within was not much, the number of times one could communicate was extremely limited, and the effective distance was not very far.
If the distance between the two pieces exceeded ten miles, the sound would start to become blurred; any further, and it would be impossible to hear what the other side was saying.
Therefore, it was not very practical, few people used it, and it was not widely circulated in the Xiuxianjie.
To monitor Hei Feng, Zong Lie had arranged for a subordinate to be in his residence and had given that subordinate a piece of the Transmission Jade so that he could be informed of any developments in time.
Hei Feng was very suspicious and cautious. The subordinate Zong Lie sent had not been able to get close to Hei Feng and only worked as a small errand boy doing cleaning and chores in the outer courtyard.
That subordinate usually did not activate the Transmission Jade and would only come out every few days to meet with the person Zong Lie arranged to pass on any potentially useful information.
Right now, in order to catch Hei Feng’s handle as quickly as possible, Zong Lie could not wait that long and took the initiative to contact the subordinate.
He tapped three times on the Jade Pendant with his finger and then waited.
A moment later, the Jade Pendant trembled slightly three times. This was the subordinate indicating it was currently safe to speak.
Zong Lie input Demon Power to activate the Jade Pendant, held it to his ear, and asked, “Has there been any unusual movement from that old wolf in the past two days?”
The other side replied, “To the Chief, that old wolf has been at home these past few days and hasn’t gone out much.”
Zong Lie could not help but feel a bit disappointed.
But then, the subordinate’s next reply made his spirits lift.
The subordinate said, “But the old wolf just released a Letter Crow. Looking at its direction, it seems to be flying toward the Human Territory to the east. Shao De was just preparing to report this to you, Chief.”
A few days ago, this subordinate had passed along a very useful piece of information: on the night before the Cultivators from the Demon-Slaying Bureau came to invade the Beast Territory, Hei Feng had released a Letter Crow.
the Letter Crow returned two hours later. Judging by its flight speed and direction, it seemed to be heading toward the nearby human territory of Yecheng Prefecture.
The next day, the Demon-Slaying Bureau of Yecheng Prefecture, led by a Jindan Cultivator, set out to harass the lands under Erlong Mountain’s jurisdiction and capture members of the Human Clan.
Zong Lie strongly suspected that the Demon-Slaying Bureau of Yecheng Prefecture had been summoned by Hei Feng’s letter.
That day, the Jindan Cultivator did not seem to want to escalate things; he just caused a commotion, pillaged some demon citizens, and went back.
But the Hei Pi Yao Wang had gone out to face the enemy and consumed some of his life force, resulting in an urgent need for Yin-Yang Harvesting from female demons to extend his life.
If that Jindan Cultivator came a few more times, the Hei Pi Yao Wang might really meet his end prematurely.
The more Zong Lie thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed.
He nodded and said, “Very well. Once that old wolf’s Letter Crow returns, tell me immediately.”
The connection was cut on both sides.
Two hours later, the Transmission Jade trembled twice.
This indicated that Hei Feng’s Letter Crow had returned.
Zong Lie immediately stood up, took several Sui Cong, and strode directly toward the Great Chief’s residence outside the Yao Wang Palace.