Linjiang Prefecture.

With Old General Chen Qiankun back, and with the prefecture having grown nearly impossible to find a single demon menace worth the name, Shen Yi no longer had any reason to linger.

After finishing dinner and staying the night, he began thinking about setting out.

“Where are you planning to go?”

Lin Baixi, having heard about everything that had happened in the prefecture lately, looked over with sudden anticipation. “Actually, I’m quite good at tracking down demons.”

Condensate-realm demons were beyond her, but Shen Yi apparently wasn’t even letting Jade Liquid ones slip by.

Just then, Jiang Qiulan walked into the room holding a letter. “The General wants us back. He says there’s an urgent matter to discuss.”

The General. An urgent matter?

Shen Yi raised his eyes slightly, already guessing at part of it.

Last time, he’d handed over the Junior Demon King’s blood-qi sample to the War Temple for free, and after all these days, the results should be in by now.

“It shouldn’t be bad news.” Jiang Qiulan had already read it through once — a certain mildness ran through the lines, a tone that the Martial Immortal presiding over Qingzhou rarely showed.

Lin Baixi couldn’t follow what the two of them were talking about, but she knew this was a matter she had no part in, so she sat quietly off to the side.

“Let’s go.”

Shen Yi stood and gave the girl a small nod.

He’d been meaning to discuss something with the General himself anyway. These past days spent dealing with nothing but minor demons had left even Shen Yi, accustomed as he was to bountiful harvests, feeling somewhat out of sorts.

The same single punch thrown down might yield a thousand years of demon lifespan from one creature, and a mere few decades from another.

If the Howling Moon Demon King was enough to keep the General on constant guard, then surely the General leaving Qingzhou should provoke some kind of response from it.

If it was willing to take a risk…

His path infant needed just one final kick to shatter its inner core, and it was in urgent need of demon cores to nourish it. At his current strength he might not be able to kill the Howling Moon outright, but the pack of Core-Nurturing demons under its command was more than enough to make Shen Yi’s mouth water.

“Mm.”

Lin Baixi rose as well, asking nothing further, and simply walked him all the way out to the gate of the residence.

She’d traveled all this way following Grandpa Chen to Linjiang Prefecture, only to share a single meal and a few words of small talk before having to watch Shen Yi leave again.

And yet she showed no trace of disappointment.

Shen Yi had more important things to attend to. She had her own affairs to see to as well.

Chen Qiankun simply lent his mount to Jiang Qiulan.

Given the state Linjiang Prefecture was in now, the old general figured he had little use for the fine steed anyway.

Watching the two of them vanish at the edge of sight, he drew his gaze back and looked to Lin Baixi. “Don’t worry. Next time I see him, I’ll let you know.”

Outside Qingzhou, the Demon King’s cave estate.

Two girls in white robes stood quietly outside — one cradling a sword, the other holding an umbrella.

Both had pale, demure faces, but their expressions were indifferent, their voices utterly devoid of feeling. “Where is the demon king of this place?”

Inside the cave estate, all twelve demon lords rose at once and came out to receive them.

The elephant demon walked at the front, cupping its fists respectfully. “Might I ask which immortal honors us with a visit?”

The sword-bearing girl looked over flatly. “The Thousand Demon Den. The Blood-Transmuting Demon Emperor.”

At those words, the elephant demon’s massive body froze in place, cold sweat beading down its back, its heart already crying out in dismay.

What exactly was Great Qian’s court even doing, letting a demon emperor stroll in so brazenly?

Taking in the demons’ expressions, the sword-bearing girl wore a cold smile. “Bring your demon king out. Now.”

“The demon king… the demon king isn’t in the estate.”

The demons exchanged glances, then stepped aside as one, revealing the empty cave estate behind them. “Please, don’t be hasty — we’ll go report to the demon king at once.”

Report, my foot! Ever since the dog demon had left, the Howling Moon Demon King hadn’t returned to the estate once — who knew where it had gone.

The two girls exchanged a glance, then turned and looked off into the distance.

By a distant stream stood a figure in a black cloak, who slowly drew back her hood to reveal a face of striking, mature beauty — dark hair swept up into an opulent coil, brows and eyes like a painting, red lips pressed thin. She was, without question, ravishing.

Beneath the cloak, her figure was lush and supple, every curve alluring, full and seductive.

If not for the two small horns nestled in her hair, no one would have guessed she was a demon at all.

The rims of her long, narrow eyes were flushed red, lending her cold expression a touch of grief. “I don’t care where it is. If it doesn’t show itself in Qingzhou within two hours, I’ll have its life.”

It was only once she drew back her hood that the demon lords suddenly sensed her presence.

Another demon king — and her bearing was even more overwhelming than the Howling Moon’s.

Shing—

The sword-bearing girl drew her blade halfway from its sheath, sweeping a cold glance back over them.

A pack of backwater demons, with no idea how high the heavens were, daring to look the Lady in the eye.

“We understand!”

The demons bowed hastily, and however much their curiosity itched, none dared steal another glance.

The woman closed her eyes, then drew the hood back up over her head.

Her husband and the rest of their followers were tied down by some butcher from Wutong Mountain; her coming to Great Qian alone like this was an enormous risk.

If this face were recognized, there was no telling how many would rush to sell word of her to the immortal sects for a reward.

But how could she not come.

He was her only son!

Only by taking the lives of an entire province could she settle the hatred in her heart.

Strike fast, end it fast!

The woman took a small step, and her figure vanished from where she stood.

The two girls followed after her at once.

“Where in the world are we supposed to look for it now?”

The demons exchanged baffled looks. After some unknown stretch of time, an old wolf finally came ambling unhurriedly into view from the distance.

The Howling Moon Demon King walked with its paws clasped behind its back, sensing that the essence-blood it had planted earlier had gone utterly still. It clicked its tongue with a touch of admiration. “Ruthless, that one.”

It had thought the old dog had decent strength, and stupidly enough, had let it plant essence-blood inside itself and seize control of its mind — figuring that once this whole business was settled, recruiting it as a vanguard wouldn’t have been bad at all. Who’d have guessed it would just go and die like that.

A smile spread across the Howling Moon Demon King’s face.

It had originally had its weak point seized by the Junior Demon King, who’d leaned on being needed right now to make it sacrifice its own subordinates’ lives playing at some “fair duel,” and who’d called it “old thing” every other breath, no less.

Even if it had taken Qingzhou, with that bizarre method of devouring living beings to turn them into demon blood, it wouldn’t have left so much as broth for anyone else, let alone meat.

By the time it had finished devouring all twelve prefecture cities, the Howling Moon Demon King doubted it would have had any say left in this territory at all.

Now, at last, it had managed to extract itself from the whole affair.

The Thousand Demon Den against the Demon Suppression Division… tsk, tsk.

Given the attitude that woman had just shown, there was probably no point even thinking about forging any connection there.

A flicker of greed crossed the old wolf’s eyes. Devour Qingzhou first, then wait for the two sides to clash — best case, they’d wear each other down to nothing, and then, depending on how things shook out, it could swallow up both this demon king and Jiang Yuanhua. The sky would be wide and the sea boundless, free for the fish to roam.

Give it another few hundred, few thousand years, and the Howling Moon Demon King would have to be renamed Demon Emperor — the Thousand Demon Den would have to come politely invite it in.

“All of you, get yourselves ready. Once Qingzhou descends into chaos, we strike in and take our chance.”

The Howling Moon Demon King waved a lazy paw, a flicker of mockery crossing its eyes.

Want this king’s life?

This king didn’t so much as blink when its own wife died, and you think losing a son entitles you to come at me like this?

It shook its head and ambled, unhurried, toward Qingzhou.

(End of Chapter)