Chapter 53: Gathering of Demons

Realizing that this was likely a conspiracy, Hu Feng was no longer in a hurry to rush on his way and changed his identity again.

He refined the Ghost King Cloak once more, changing its shape into a common pointed large cloak found on the Wasteland; carrying the heavy Giant Demon Sword on his back, putting away the Dark Magic Pen, he disguised himself as an ordinary Demon Hunter. Riding a Tree Demon over five meters tall, he slowly climbed upwards, carefully observing the terrain and situation along the way while moving.

Sure enough, just as expected, he saw more and more Demon Hunters and Undead along the way, but there were very few people from the Divine Court, only some low-level Divine Officials and a small number of ordinary Faith-guarding Knights.

Legend had it that the Dark Heavenly Book was suppressed by the top experts of the Divine Court; there was no reason that the news of the seal being about to break had spread throughout the Wasteland, yet the power ful Divine Court remained motionless. Such obvious abnormality could not be unseen by the Demon Hunters who wandered the Wasteland all year round. Unfortunately, either they believed too much in their own strength, or they were blinded by the legendary wealth; knowing there was danger, they still rushed forward one by one, like moths flying into a flame!

“Little Demon, in this nearby forest, how many Tree Demons and Withered Wood Soldiers are there? How many can you gather in a short time?” Raising his head to look at the boundless primeval forest, Hu Feng asked the Tree Demon beneath him, Stanley.

“This… gathering some towering trees that haven’t cultivated into human form yet is no problem, but for real Tree Demons and Withered Wood Soldiers…” The Tree Demon’s face turned slightly red, looking a bit embarrassed. The strength of the Thirteenth Step peak was enough to overwhelm most Tree Demons and Withered Wood Soldiers, but wanting to call the wind and summon the rain was still far from enough. “Lord, if I break through to the Fourteenth Step, then it definitely won’t be a problem. At that time, all the forests on the Wasteland will become your territory!”

“Nonsense, even if you break through to the Fourteenth Step, what would you use to deal with a Withered Wood General at the peak of the Fourteenth Step? How would you defeat a Fifteenth Step Withered Wood Elder?” Hu Feng knocked on the Tree Demon’s head, then continued, “You’ve lived for ten thousand years, and you don’t even have a single follower! Little Demon, I’m not trying to be mean, but you’ve lived a truly failed life! Don’t just know how to suck other people’s essence all day long. When you meet a pretty female Tree Demon, wouldn’t you just… you know, do that to her? Even if you’re not good at it, over thousands of years, surely you could have produced seven or eight little demons, right? That’s much better than being all alone!”

Not good at it?

Tree Demon Stanley sweated like rain, nodding and bowing, not daring to take a deep breath. If Hu Feng continued to lecture him like this, he was going to collapse, so he quickly sped up his pace.

Heaven knows, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but the female Tree Demons wouldn’t agree!

He wasn’t interested in tree spirits that hadn’t cultivated into human form, and the female Tree Demons with some ability looked down on him. He wanted to force himself on them but didn’t have the skill. The grievances of so many years were too much to mention. Now he had fallen to becoming Hu Feng’s mount, being ordered around as Little Demon all day long. If other Tree Demons saw him, he would die of shame, and he shouldn’t even think about those kinds of things in the future.

“Little Demon, you don’t need to worry, leave this matter to me!” Hu Feng smiled. Relying on the Soul Imprint left in the Tree Demon’s mind, he was clear about his mental fluctuations. “After we get the Dark Heavenly Book and return to the Lich Castle, I will personally pick the strongest female Skeleton for you. If that really doesn’t work, finding you a Skeleton Dragon won’t be a problem either. Although there isn’t much meat left on their bodies, at least they were stunning beauties when they were alive!”

A female Skeleton?

The Tree Demon stumbled, almost petrifying. “Lord, thank you very much! But I once made a poisonous vow that I would absolutely not be distracted before cultivating to the Fifteenth Step. I appreciate your kindness!”

“Good, that’s good! We cultivators don’t distinguish by region or race; reaching the Divine Domain Peak is our true goal, and everything else is secondary. Little Demon, you must work hard!” Looking at the Tree Demon covered in cold sweat, Hu Feng laughed loudly, rode on his shoulder, and sped away, disappearing into the boundless snowy mountains.

…

Saintess Peak was impossibly high to climb; not even a bird could fly over it. The higher one went, the colder the weather became. If you stood there to pee, the water would often freeze into an icicle before hitting the ground. Some Demon Hunters got tired and sat down to rest for a moment, and then never stood up again, turning into lifelike ice sculptures. After being covered by heavy snow, they were buried in unknown corners like that.

The summit of Saintess Peak looked like a giant human head, and right at the neck position, there was a stone grotto hundreds of meters high. Legend had it that the Undead sacred object, the Dark Heavenly Book, was sealed deep within the grotto.

On the hard stone walls were carved massive Angel reliefs; some were praising loudly, some were fighting in all directions, and some were tied to Burning Stakes being sacrificed… Beside them were carved dense tadpole-like characters, as if recording a vast epic. Looking in from the outside, the huge grotto was unfathomably deep, occasionally wafting out bursts of ethereal holy songs. In the Void, vast holy aura could faintly be felt, occasionally mixed with a few heart-trembling screams that didn’t sound like they were made by humans.

When Hu Feng arrived at the summit, the area near the grotto was already crowded with people.

There were burly Demon Hunters with bare upper bodies even in the dead of winter, Wandering Hunters with eight arms, gloomy Dark Knights, and Necromancers who turned into balls of phosphorescent fire drifting around… One by one, they looked at the huge grotto, eager to try. Some in groups of three or five, gritted their teeth and formed teams to charge right in; some paced around the grotto, muttering incantations, as if casting some massive Magic in secret. More people simply stood outside and summoned giant rocks or lightning to smash the grotto not far away, wishing they could smash out the treasure sealed inside!

A gathering of demons!

Once the news came out, all sorts of ghosts and monsters gathered at the remote Saintess Peak. Among them, there was no lack of old monsters who usually didn’t leave their homes for a thousand years. Hu Feng rode on the Tree Demon’s shoulder and hid far to the side, watching coldly. Before long, he spotted several experts whose combat power was at least not below that of Sword Saint Hei Mu. There was an old man who looked out of breath, hunchbacked and bent over, shivering from the cold, squeezing among the many Demon Hunters warming themselves by the fire, looking as if he was trying to keep warm. But watching carefully for a while, one could see the mystery.

The old man never stayed in one place for too long. Every time he got up and walked not far away, a Demon Hunter would follow him from a distance. Their steps were stiff, their expressions wooden, looking as if they were numb from the cold, but that wasn’t the case; they had become puppets controlled by others. Looking closely with concentration, one could discover a hardly discernible black line on their foreheads.

Grand Puppet Technique?

Hu Feng’s expression changed in shock. Not long after, he discovered something wrong with this old man, but he had no idea how the other party made their move, unable to detect any strange Soul Fluctuation. For a Lich skilled in Soul control, this was undoubtedly very bad news, meaning that if he wasn’t careful, even he might suffer a mishap!

“Tsk, tsk, it’s so cold, freezing to death!” The hunchbacked old man spoke while squeezing next to a group of Demon Hunters to warm himself, looking pitiful. Before squeezing in, he intentionally or unintentionally looked back at Hu Feng in the distance, let out a cold cackle, his aura gloomy and ghostly.

“Go!”

Being glared at by the hunchbacked old man, Hu Feng felt uncomfortable, as if ants were crawling on his body. He understood that the other party had discovered that he had seen through his conspiracy. Intending to stay out of each other’s business, just as he was about to leave quickly, he suddenly paused, seeing a familiar figure. The group of Demon Hunters the hunchbacked old man was approaching was none other than the North Wind Team encountered at the foot of the mountain. The evil old fellow was heading straight for the little girl Guli, who was small but clever.

“To save, or not to save?”

That was the question!

Looking at the little girl with a bright smile, happily gnawing on a chicken wing, Hu Feng fell into deep thought.

He didn’t have much friendship with the North Wind Team not far away, couldn’t say he had any good feelings, and didn’t take the small incident in the teahouse to heart. If it were the reckless youth who had just graduated before, he might have still held a grudge against Alastair’s rudeness. But now, as a high and mighty City Lord, why would he keep such a small matter in mind all day?

Inheriting the Soul Imprint of Lich King Ovisis and having seen all kinds of darkness, his heart had also begun to numb. He didn’t want to meddle in affairs that offered no benefit. However, watching a lively little girl less than ten years old die right before his eyes, he truly couldn’t bear it.

I am insidious, I am despicable, I am evil; in that endless Abyss, I look up at Heaven!

Hu Feng sighed secretly, understanding that he still couldn’t become a true Lich! For some reason, at this moment, he thought of Ophelia, who carried him away from the Lich Castle without hesitation; he thought of her thin but straight shoulders, and the faint scent on her spotless white robe.