As Shu Da stood up, dozens more figures among the mouse demons rose to their feet one after another, including Shu Er, who was lame in one leg and leaning on a crutch.
Hong Lao San glanced over and recognized that it was the entire Mouse Family.
In an instant, he understood: the problem was in the wine.
A few days ago, a large batch of wine had just been bought in the mountains, meant to be stored in the warehouse for future use.
This batch of wine had been handled and transported into storage under the responsibility of Shu Da and his people.
He must have tampered with the wine during the transport!
Luoyun Cave was spacious inside, with many branching tunnels, and required a lot of manpower for cleaning, repairing, and maintenance.
These odd jobs were usually shared between the Mouse Family and the Tu Family, both clans of mouse demons.
Shu Da had always been steady in character, not one for idle talk, and was tall and imposing—making him stand out among the hunched and sneaky mouse demons.
It was for this reason that decades ago, Hong Lao San had noticed him and made him the head in charge of managing all the cave’s chores.
For years, Shu Da had always been diligent and responsible, hardly ever making mistakes, and Hong Lao San had always been quite satisfied with him.
He never imagined that tonight, Shu Da would bring his entire Mouse Family, dozens of people, and actually drug the wine to render over a thousand monsters on the mountain unconscious, giving Hong Lao San a massive “surprise.”
Hong Lao San glared at Shu Da, his eyes nearly spitting fire.
His first thought was that this mouse demon had colluded with human cultivators to help humans seize Xixia Mountain.
After all, Shu Da was just a minor mouse demon in the Body Tempering stage; even if he drugged the wine and incapacitated all the monsters on the mountain, what else could he do?
He couldn’t possibly be trying to kill Hong Lao San and his daughter to take the mountain throne for himself, could he?
How could a little Body Tempering demon possibly suppress all the monsters on the mountain?
Even if he could handle the lesser monsters, without a great demon to guard the mountain, it would be a masterless land—surely, the surrounding great demons would never let slip this chance to expand their territory, and they’d come to snatch it away.
He, a little demon, could never hold that seat.
All things considered, the only explanation that made sense was that he had indeed colluded with the Xichuan Yang Clan.
Hong Lao San shouted angrily, “Shu Da! You damned lackey, ungrateful traitor—have you colluded with the Xichuan Yang Clan and become a traitor to our demon race?”
The representatives from the other mountains below were all filled with shock and suspicion.
If this mouse demon really had colluded with human cultivators to attack Xixia Mountain, then wasn’t their arrival tonight for condolences a case of walking right into the trap?
All the monsters in the hall grew nervous.
The Xichuan Demon-Slaying Bureau had more than two hundred officers.
Adding the Beast Taming Sect, and other various sects and clans, there were several hundred human cultivators—enough to wipe them all out in one fell swoop.
For a while, terror covered the faces of all the monsters both on and off the stage.
Shu Da stood up without saying a word and simply turned to walk outside the cave.
A member of the Mouse Family pulled a storage pouch from his chest and took out a stack of broadswords, handing them out to dozens of family members.
Each of the Mouse Family’s little demons was now armed with a shining, razor-edged broadsword.
They spread out, each patrolling several long tables and keeping an eye on the helpless, sprawled monsters all over the floor.
Shu Er leaned on his crutch, looked up at the panicked monsters on the stage, sneered coldly, and loudly proclaimed: “Colluded with human cultivators? Let me tell you—my brother and I reached the peak of Body Tempering ages ago! My big brother is about to form his Jindan and ascend as a great demon!”
“The throne of Xixia Mountain, if the Hong Family can have it, so can the Mouse Family!”
“From now on, Luoyun Cave will change its surname to Mouse!”
As he spoke, he undid the spell Shu Da had taught him to hide his demon aura.
In an instant, the aura of a peak Body Tempering demon radiated out.
Demons in the Jindan stage and above had keen senses and could see the spiritual or demonic energy around others.
By the thickness of that aura, they could roughly judge the other’s cultivation.
Hong Lao San heard Shu Er’s words and saw that Shu Er’s cultivation had indeed reached the peak of Body Tempering. He was shocked, his face turning grim.
In the demon territory, it was not easy to ascend as a great demon.
Demons originated from beasts and still carried some of their wild instincts.
Among beasts, the strong prey on the weak. The strongest within the group fight to determine the leader, who enjoys the best food, mates, and all privileges.
The leader’s position is constantly challenged by other growing strong members, and is never truly secure.
When beasts become demons, it’s much the same. The mountain lord must accept challenges from the other demons under him.
The winner becomes king, ensuring the leader is always the strongest.
But demons have intelligence and their own schemes.
Some mountain lords, for the sake of stability, would control the cultivation progress of their subordinates, tilting resources toward their own descendants, ensuring that all Jindan great demons were their own offspring.
But the aptitude of demon offspring varied.
Some born from a great demon and a mountain fairy were just ordinary beasts, unable to cultivate, or so untalented that even mountains of spiritual medicine couldn’t help.
The old king could only watch himself age and be overtaken by new, talented demons, who would take everything he’d fought for all his life.
Later, some demons realized: the closer the couple’s cultivations, the more likely they were to produce talented offspring.
In this world, demon marriages could produce children between different species, and the offspring would inherit the species of either parent at random.
So later, all the mountain lords tried to choose mates whose cultivation was close to their own.
For instance, Hong Lao San himself had married the daughter of another mountain lord—a fox demon also at the Jindan stage.
Together they’d had Hong Yanzhi and Hong Huzhi, a son and daughter.
With his careful guidance, Hong Yanzhi had successfully formed her Jindan last month, and with the help of many spiritual medicines and fruits, Hong Huzhi had also reached the peak of Body Tempering.
Hong Lao San had wanted to marry off Hong Yanzhi quickly to receive a generous bride price.
Once his son Hong Huzhi also formed his Jindan and became a great demon, he could marry a wife of the same level, and soon hold a grandson in his arms—thus ensuring the Hong Family’s legacy on Xixia Mountain would continue.
Thus, one could say, demon society had become stagnant. Great demons were usually only produced among the current mountain lords’ offspring.
At this stage, it was rare for an ordinary little demon to rise up and become a great demon.
If a young demon had amazing talent and cultivated quickly, there were only two outcomes.
One: the mountain lord would recruit him early, making him a son-in-law or daughter-in-law, thus a family member.
Two: he’d be killed off with some excuse, to prevent any threat to the lord’s position.
Even if a little demon managed to figure out how to hide his cultivation, growing quietly to the peak of Body Tempering without being discovered, when he tried to form his Jindan, he would have to face the Lightning Tribulation alone.
With no one to protect him, he would be attacked and killed by other great demons drawn by the thunder while still weak.
Hong Lao San never expected that Shu Da and Shu Er had actually reached the peak of Body Tempering right under his nose.
And tonight, Shu Da was actually going to form his Jindan, endure the Lightning Tribulation, and attempt to ascend as a great demon.
No wonder the Mouse Family had drugged all the wine on the mountain—this was to keep Hong Lao San from stopping Shu Da’s advancement.
The Mouse Family had been planning this for a long time, waiting for this very day.
Hong Lao San’s face was ashen.
Hong Yanzhi was even paler.
She recalled all she had done to Shu Da and Shu Er earlier today.
She knew that if Shu Da succeeded in surviving the Lightning Tribulation and became a great demon, he would surely humiliate her bitterly in revenge for all the insults she had inflicted on him before.
In her heart, she desperately hoped Shu Da would fail the tribulation and perish in the heavenly thunder, body and soul destroyed.
……
Shu Da walked outside the cave.
Dark clouds veiled the moon overhead, a few sparse stars dotting the night sky.
He looked up, taking a deep breath.
Tonight was the night he would form his demon core, ascend as a great demon, and seize this mountain.
Success or failure would be decided here.
Though there had been a minor mishap and his brother couldn’t ascend with him to intimidate the other great demons who’d come for the wake, it didn’t matter much.
Everything was still within his grasp.
Shu Da closed his eyes, extended his right hand, and began to circulate his demon power, activating the “Wan Shu Chao Yuan” technique.
This art had been taught to him fifty years ago by a severely wounded Jindan-stage mouse demon on the verge of death.
That mouse demon was not native to Xixia Mountain, but a yellow mouse that had cultivated into a spirit in a nearby forest.
This yellow mouse, blessed by heaven and earth, had accidentally comprehended a method to control mouse swarms and draw spiritual energy from surrounding mice.
The yellow mouse named it “Wan Shu Chao Yuan.”
By using this art, the yellow mouse’s cultivation had soared, reaching the peak of Body Tempering and beginning to form a Jindan.
To form a demon core and ascend, demons must endure the Lightning Tribulation.
The yellow mouse had barely survived the tribulation and successfully become a great demon, but was ambushed by Hong Lao San, who had long noticed the phenomenon and lay in wait.
Weakened after the tribulation, the yellow mouse was nearly killed on the spot.
In a desperate struggle, he bit Hong Lao San on the arm.
His body secreted a potent poison. Hong Lao San, fighting the toxin, was careless and let the yellow mouse escape.
In panic, the yellow mouse fled into Xixia Mountain and hid in Shu Da’s cave.
Shu Da discovered the yellow mouse but didn’t hand him over for a reward. Instead, he hid and cared for him in secret.
Moved by gratitude and aware that his life was fading, the yellow mouse taught him “Wan Shu Chao Yuan,” hoping this little mouse demon would one day avenge him.
Fifty years later, today, Shu Da had finally lived up to the yellow mouse’s trust and was about to succeed in forming his Jindan and becoming the new great demon.
Hong Lao San would die by his hand.
Shu Da would become the new master of Xixia Mountain.
Even as steady as he was, at this moment, Shu Da’s heart was surging with excitement, hard to calm.
He forced down his excitement, did his best to steady himself, and focused on circulating “Wan Shu Chao Yuan.”
Invisible ripples spread from him in all directions.
Soon, mice of all sizes from all directions gathered toward him.
These mice, all with red eyes and dull faces, stood still around him.
Green points of light drifted from their bodies, gathering at Shu Da’s right hand.
……
In the dungeon, Zhang Zongnian cradled a bowl, eating carefully, picking out any food he didn’t like with his chopsticks and tossing it to the ground.
At his feet, a mouse was hungrily devouring the food he threw down.
After returning to the dungeon these past few days, Zhang Zongnian had gradually become friends with this mouse.
The dog demon Laifu would sometimes come by to chat, but most of the time, Zhang Zongnian faced the cold, dark cell alone.
With this little companion, the cell felt a little more alive.
The mouse was no longer afraid of him, often coming out to gnaw or play in the cell.
At mealtimes, it always showed up on time, waiting for Zhang Zongnian to feed it.
Zhang Zongnian looked at its thin body and felt a bit sorry for it. He picked up a piece of fatty meat and tossed it down.
But he found that the little mouse didn’t pounce on it as usual. Instead, it suddenly froze in place, motionless.
Its eyes gradually turned red, and then it turned and ran straight out of the dungeon.
At the same time, in the cells across from him, several other mice crawled out, their eyes turning red as well, all running in the same direction.
Zhang Zongnian watched the mice in shock, not knowing what was happening.