Hei-Pi raised his brows after hearing Lin Xue’s explanation, clearly surprised.
Guo Shan Feng also shot Lin Xue a shocked look.
The dozens of demon soldiers guarding the area were all stunned when they heard this.
‘There’s actually a cultivation method that can let lesser beasts like us gain cultivation quickly, even advance into Grand Demons?’
‘Is that real?’
‘This demoness has to be bragging.’
They looked at one another, doubt filling their eyes.
Hei-Pi, the Demon King, turned his head and asked the woman kneeling on the ground, “Poison Lady, is what she said true?”
Poison Lady was still kneeling there, completely dumbfounded after witnessing Bao Lie being killed moments ago.
She had never imagined that Bao Lie and Hei-Feng would both die at Hei-Pi’s hands.
Hearing Hei-Pi question her now, she snapped out of her daze as if waking from a dream and hurriedly replied, “Reporting to Your Majesty, it is indeed true. Those seven demonesses all successfully condensed their cores with the help of Miss Lin Xue and underwent their tribulation inside the secret realm, advancing into Grand Demons.”
With Poison Lady confirming Lin Xue’s words, the demon soldiers could no longer stay calm.
They all looked toward Lin Xue, their eyes brimming with excitement and anticipation.
This demoness really could help other lesser beasts advance into Grand Demons.
Which lesser beast had never dreamed of becoming a Grand Demon?
Once you advanced, your entire demon life would be turned upside down.
At this moment, Lin Xue looked like a celestial being descended from the heavens in their eyes.
If Hei-Pi were not standing right there, they would have already rushed over, kneeling and begging her to help them improve.
Hei-Pi nodded and said, “Very good. Since you have such ability, when there is time, you can demonstrate it for me. If it is truly as you say, I can appoint you as a Transmission Elder to help raise the cultivation of the lesser beasts in the mountain.”
Lin Xue let out a quiet sigh of relief. ‘The stone in my heart has finally fallen.’
As long as Hei-Pi was interested in this ability of hers, she would have room to negotiate.
She believed that no mountain lord who had seen the heaven-defying effects of the Beast Refinement Codex could resist the temptation to greatly enhance the strength of the demon troops under his command.
She said, “If Your Majesty wishes to see it, this humble one can demonstrate it right now. I only need one Body Tempering Stage demon core and any mountain brother at the Body Tempering Stage.”
The surrounding demon soldiers grew even more excited, all but bursting with eagerness. They squeezed their brows and winked furiously at Lin Xue, practically writing ‘pick me’ on their faces.
Hei-Pi, however, waved his hand and said indifferently, “I am weary. We will not watch today.”
The lesser beasts immediately looked crestfallen.
Lin Xue was momentarily stunned.
She had planned to demonstrate the Beast Refinement Codex, spark Hei-Pi’s interest, and then use the technique to bargain for her and Hong Yanzhi’s freedom, sparing them from being used as life-extension tools.
But Hei-Pi seemed utterly uninterested.
She felt disappointed and lowered her head. “Yes.”
Just then, Guo Shan Feng cried out in alarm, “Your Majesty, the Yang energy in your body is already insufficient. You must harvest as soon as possible!”
Lin Xue looked up at Hei-Pi and only then noticed how severe the ashen pallor on his face had become. The demon aura around him was wildly unstable, making his condition look extremely dire.
‘So that’s it.’ She suddenly understood. ‘No wonder this old monster has no interest in my technique. He’s practically dying already. How could he care about improving the strength of the lesser beasts?’
Hei-Pi remained calm and said, “It’s fine. I won’t die in the next short while.”
As he spoke, Hei-Pi reached out with his huge hand and grabbed Poison Lady from the ground, sneering. “Since you absorbed so much Yang energy in the secret realm, you might as well contribute it to me now.”
Poison Lady’s face changed drastically as she was seized by Hei-Pi’s palm.
For a demoness, being harvested meant losing cultivation.
She had only just reached the Core Condensation Middle Stage. If Hei-Pi harvested her now, she would likely fall back to Early Core Condensation, or possibly even drop all the way back to a Body Tempering lesser beast.
Moreover, she had tampered with Hei-Pi’s life-extension plan. That was touching his reverse scale, something that would explode at the slightest provocation. She had no idea how he would deal with her after finishing.
Her face turned deathly pale. She neither dared to beg nor resist, frozen in Hei-Pi’s grasp.
Holding Poison Lady, Hei-Pi asked Guo Shan Feng, “Last time you reported that you secretly captured a group of young Human Cultivators. Where are they being held now?”
Guo Shan Feng replied, “Reporting to Your Majesty, to avoid alerting Zong-Lie, this subordinate did not bring them back to Erlong Mountain. They are imprisoned at Tiger Jaw, dozens of li away. They are fed and cared for daily, just waiting for their Yang energy to be used.”
Hei-Pi nodded in satisfaction and pointed at Lin Xue and the others. “Good. Take these eight with you to Tiger Jaw. Let them absorb enough Yang energy there for my later use.”
Guo Shan Feng answered, “Yes!”
Lin Xue’s expression changed.
She had wanted to propose trading the Beast Refinement Codex for their freedom, but it was clear now that the timing was wrong.
Hei-Pi’s Yang energy was nearly exhausted. All he cared about now was how to keep himself alive.
He had no attention to spare for things like the Beast Refinement Codex.
Bringing it up now would only invite humiliation.
She wisely chose to stay silent.
However, from Guo Shan Feng and Hei-Pi’s conversation, Lin Xue caught an important detail: Guo Shan Feng was about to take the eight of them to Tiger Jaw, dozens of li outside Erlong Mountain, where Human Cultivators were imprisoned.
The protective array around Erlong Mountain only covered about ten li.
Tiger Jaw was far away, clearly outside the array.
‘We can leave the array!’
And without the array’s restriction, she could use her teleportation spell to escape.
Lin Xue checked the cooldown time of the teleportation spell on her ring. Three hours remained.
Her heart surged with excitement.
Hei-Pi carried Poison Lady straight toward the main house, kicked the door open, and walked into the inner room.
From inside came the sound of clothes tearing, followed by rhythmic slapping noises, Hei-Pi’s heavy panting, the creaking of the bed, and Poison Lady’s shrill cries: “Ah… Your Majesty, slower… this servant can’t take it… ah… ah…”
Lin Xue silently mourned Poison Lady for a few seconds.
The lesser beasts listened to the sounds from the room, their expressions varied and vivid.
Some even looked full of longing, clearly suppressed for far too long.
Guo Shan Feng, newly promoted to Chief and now second only to one demon in the mountain and above all others, was brimming with vigor.
He began issuing orders, arranging for several lesser beasts to remain at the entrance of Qian Si Garden to await Hei-Pi’s summons, while the rest were dismissed back to their barracks.
Before leaving, the lesser beasts all looked back at Lin Xue with reluctance.
Such a beautiful demoness who could also rapidly help them advance in cultivation was not someone they wanted to miss.
This might be the closest they would ever come in their lives to becoming Grand Demons.
But Hei-Pi was busy enjoying demonesses to extend his life and had no attention to spare for small fry like them. They could only feel helpless.
Gradually, the lesser beasts dispersed.
Inside the room, Poison Lady was still begging for mercy beneath Hei-Pi.
Guo Shan Feng turned to Lin Xue and the others, snorted coldly, and said, “You all heard His Majesty’s order. I am to take you to Tiger Jaw to absorb Yang energy. If you are ready, then follow me.”
As he spoke, a mass of black clouds rose beneath his feet, wrapping Lin Xue, Hong Yanzhi, Hua Yingying, and the other demonesses within it.
They lifted off from the spot and flew out of the mountain.
Hua Yingying, Xiao Mili, and the others all kept their lips tightly pressed together, their faces tense.
They had realized that even though they had advanced into Grand Demons, in Hei-Pi’s eyes they were still just furnaces to be harvested. Disappointment filled their hearts.
Hearing Poison Lady’s desperate cries earlier only deepened their fear of what awaited them.
Only Hong Yanzhi moved closer to Lin Xue excitedly and tugged at her hand.
Hong Yanzhi knew that Lin Xue had a teleportation spell, but it could not be used inside Erlong Mountain’s array.
Now that Guo Shan Feng was taking them beyond the array, she immediately understood.
‘Our chance to escape has come.’
Once Lin Xue’s teleportation cooldown ended, they could vanish on the spot and break free from Guo Shan Feng and Hei-Pi’s control.
Then she could go with Lin Xue to the Meishan Secret Realm and send Lin Xue inside to inherit her family’s Demon King Legacy.
Once Lin Xue became a Demon King, the barely surviving Hei-Pi would no longer be able to do anything to them.
She could then take these sisters back to Xixia Mountain and run their territory together with Lang Buping, living a happy life.
Thinking of all this, Hong Yanzhi’s eyes filled with longing.
Lang Buping’s not-so-tall figure grew increasingly dear in her heart.
Lin Xue held Hong Yanzhi’s hand, recalling the scene of Zong-Lie’s death earlier, and sighed inwardly. ‘The old really are the craftiest.’
Back when Guo Shan Feng served under Zong-Lie, he had already been bought by Hei-Pi and, following Hei-Pi’s instructions, had set up secret outposts to capture young, able-bodied men for him, waiting for the day Zong-Lie died so he could take over the task of collecting demonesses.
Hei-Pi had suppressed the nearly advancing Hei-Feng and used the discontented Zong-Lie to extend his own life, all while guarding against Zong-Lie.
When the time was ripe, he decisively eliminated both Hei-Feng and Zong-Lie, two figures who might rebel at any moment, and then promoted Guo Shan Feng, who was only at the Late Core Condensation Stage and posed no threat to him.
With Guo Shan Feng’s own cultivation limited to the Late Core Condensation Stage, he could not overpower the other demon generals of the same level on his own.
His authority depended entirely on Hei-Pi, so he would naturally obey Hei-Pi without question and exhaust every means to keep him alive.
From then on, Hei-Pi could rest easy, watching Guo Shan Feng run around for him, doing everything possible to extend his life and continue clinging to existence.
‘What a calculation.’
Guo Shan Feng sped along with the demonesses and soon reached the boundary of the Mountain Protection Array.
He flicked his hand and released a spell seal.
The air rippled.
The black cloud passed through the boundary and continued forward.
Lin Xue felt as though she had passed through an invisible barrier.
Erlong Mountain slowly receded behind her.
Having finally left the array, Lin Xue immediately felt lighter all over.
She checked the ring again. The teleportation cooldown still had a little over two hours remaining.
Tiger Jaw was only dozens of li from Erlong Mountain and would be reached soon.
Once they arrived, Guo Shan Feng would force them to engage with male cultivators to drain Yang energy.
Lin Xue remained outwardly calm, secretly assessing Guo Shan Feng and evaluating the likelihood of killing him.
After thinking it through, she felt that confronting him directly was too risky.
Among Grand Demons at the Core Condensation Stage, even a single minor realm of difference meant a huge gap in strength.
Guo Shan Feng was not a fool like Zong Biao who could be killed across realms.
Moreover, he carried the divine weapon Hei-Pi had bestowed upon him, Lieyun.
Lin Xue felt that Guo Shan Feng would not even need to strike himself.
Just throwing that sword would be enough to overwhelm her.
‘Looks like I can only play along and delay for time, until the teleportation cooldown ends.’
She frowned, thinking carefully about how to stall for those remaining hours.