Mo Fan’s words made One-Eye narrow his eyes slightly. At that moment, Rattlesnake charged over, seething with anger and brimming with demonic energy, ready to pounce on Mo Fan. But One-Eye backhanded him with a slap!
*Smack!*
Rattlesnake, who had been charging aggressively, was sent flying once again.
One-Eye ignored Rattlesnake and looked calmly at Mo Fan. “Laibao Dingmu, right? The lesser demon lacks manners and deserves punishment. But yesterday, I misjudged. I didn’t expect you to take Scorpion Demon’s place.”
Mo Fan glanced at the sprawled Rattlesnake before returning his gaze to One-Eye, smiling. “Does Dingmu One-Eye have more questions for me?”
“Laibao Dingmu, you’re a clever demon indeed. Has Scorpion Demon returned to the mountain?” One-Eye asked.
“Didn’t I already say yesterday? Dingmu Blackie has been gone for half a month. Of course he hasn’t returned.”
Mo Fan shrugged, then added, “If there’s nothing else, Dingmu One-Eye, please step aside. Grandpa King announced the importance of cultivation yesterday, and now you’re blocking our path to the mountaintop for training. If you delay our cultivation time, I’ll have to ask Grandpa King to judge this matter!”
Hearing this, One-Eye’s face darkened instantly. “You really dare to go to Grandpa King for judgment? Killing a fellow Dingmu is a grave crime!”
“Dingmu One-Eye, saying such things makes me nervous. Don’t spread baseless accusations, or I won’t mind charging you with slander. Or do you really want to go to Grandpa King for judgment?” Mo Fan looked at One-Eye, winking playfully.
One-Eye frowned, his gaze sweeping over the group of lesser demons behind Mo Fan. Noticing their slightly uneasy expressions, he understood something and smiled. “No such thing. I came today because I heard a lesser demon under Third General was promoted to Dingmu, so I came to congratulate. I didn’t expect it to be you.
But some things can be taken, while others aren’t suitable for you. I hope Dingmu Laibao doesn’t make a mistake.
That item isn’t something small Dingmu like us can meddle with. If I were you, I’d hand it over soon, or there’ll be no place for you in all of Black Wind Mountain!”
“Let’s go!”
One-Eye came quickly and left just as fast, but his final words carried a heavy threat that Mo Fan felt deeply.
“Is he trying to pressure me with Fourth General?”
Mo Fan sneered inwardly, recalling what he’d learned from Dog Demon Laifu about Black Wind Mountain’s rules, which seemed to include a prohibition on随意 killing among demons.
Besides, he was no longer a mere lesser demon but a stronger Dingmu now!
“Scorpion Demon wasn’t intimidated by your threats back then, let alone me!”
After some thought, Mo Fan didn’t take the matter to heart.
Though Black Wind Mountain was a demon lair, it had its own rules. Challenging those rules was tantamount to defying the Black Wind Demon King.
Would Fourth General Poison Fang dare to defy the Demon King’s rules?
Of course, while Mo Fan didn’t take One-Eye’s threat seriously, he further realised the importance of the contents on that human-skin map, something even demon generals coveted. He knew he needed to decipher its secrets as soon as possible.
What Mo Fan didn’t know was that this small incident had left the lesser demons around him in awe of him.
After all, Mo Fan had just sent One-Eye’s underling Rattlesnake flying right in front of him, effectively slapping One-Eye’s face in public, yet One-Eye could do nothing about it.
Despite his aggressive arrival, One-Eye had come out on the losing end in this confrontation.
The rest of the journey was free of troublemakers. At the mountaintop, Mo Fan met Crane Flying again, and they sat down to chat idly.
Mo Fan felt a pang of satisfaction. The banquet yesterday hadn’t been for nothing; he’d built some rapport with a personal attendant Dingmu.
Though this connection was far from friendship, in Mo Fan’s view, it was already significant progress.
As for Deer Greedy, Mo Fan didn’t see him, guessing he was avoiding him, likely because of that IOU.
Indeed, Deer Greedy was fuming. Waking up from his drunken stupor to find an IOU in his hand would sour anyone’s mood.
The clever demon quickly deduced it was Mo Fan’s doing, a trick played while he was drunk, leaving his right thumb still red from the mark.
Though the IOU only had some stone patterns, Deer Greedy instantly recognised them as the fifty spirit stones he’d taken from Mo Fan.
“Damn it!”
“This Dingmu hunts geese all day, yet today a goose pecked out my eye!”
“That ugly Laibao is truly despicable, knowing I can’t argue with him!”
At the mountaintop, Deer Greedy wrapped his face in cloth, completely covering it, and blended into another familiar Dingmu’s group with his two deer demons, unnoticed by Mo Fan.
Soon, with the arrival of the Black Wind Demon King and the three demon generals, the cultivation assembly began.
Mo Fan looked up to see a full moon gradually emerging in the sky, the perfect time for cultivation.
Without hesitation, he sat cross-legged, recalling the previous scene and slowly clearing his mind.
Soon, the world in his eyes transformed. Radiant silver moonlight poured from the sky, bathing Black Wind Mountain in a silvery glow.
Endless moonlight cascaded down, taking various forms—hazy like starlight, soft like silk, or dazzling like a waterfall…
This was Mo Fan’s second time seeing such a world, and he couldn’t help but feel a touch of enchantment.
But he knew his goal and didn’t linger in the vibrant moonlight too long, beginning to absorb it to refine his demonic energy.
With prior experience, Mo Fan faced no obstacles this time, actively guiding his internal spiritual energy to merge with the moonlight, refining true demonic energy.
It was a long process. As he cultivated earnestly, a gentle force enveloped him, so comfortable it made him lose track of time.
After an unknown period, the demonic energy vortex in Mo Fan’s mind quivered, seeming to grow larger, as if breaking through a bottleneck, so satisfying he wanted to let out a long howl.
But he restrained himself. He didn’t dare make a sound here; disturbing the Demon King’s cultivation would mean his hundred pounds of frog meat wouldn’t be enough to pay the price.
Mo Fan wasn’t surprised by this breakthrough. He’d already touched this bottleneck before; his demonic energy had just been slightly lacking.
Now, after refining demonic energy for most of the night, he’d finally broken through to the mid-Dingmu realm.
His breakthrough caught Crane Flying’s attention as she cultivated nearby. She opened her beautiful eyes, looking at him in surprise.
“Your cultivation speed is that fast?!”
“Maybe the Moon God favors me.”
Mo Fan just chuckled, then sighed, “Though I broke through, I’m still far behind you and that greedy deer demon.”
Crane Flying smiled and closed her eyes again.
Mo Fan breathed a sigh of relief.
He’d been worried this female demon would pry further. Whether his secrets would stay hidden was one thing, but being exposed publicly didn’t align with his “stay low” philosophy.
He also roughly gauged Crane Flying’s cultivation—at least late-Dingmu, possibly peak!
That’s why, though surprised by his breakthrough, she didn’t dwell on it.
Time flew, and the night passed. Though Mo Fan refined more demonic energy, breaking through to late-Dingmu remained a distant goal.
As the cultivation assembly ended, Mo Fan planned to return to his cave for a rest, but he saw One-Eye approaching with a few demons.
“What a persistent pest!”
“Coming to trouble me again and again, does he really think he’s got me cornered?!”
Gazing at the approaching figure, Mo Fan’s eyes turned icy.
