The Blackwind Demon King was dead, and only before his demise did Mo Fan learn his true name—Zhu Xianfeng.
Mo Fan didn’t know who gave him that name, but it sounded imposing and fitting for a demon as bold and reckless as a battlefield vanguard.
Of course, this boldness and recklessness ultimately cost Zhu Xianfeng his life.
The Demon King’s death made Mo Fan even more cautious. He stayed hidden in the bushes, lying low from night until sunrise, yet saw no sign of the Second General, White Demon, escaping Blackwind Mountain.
“It seems Blackwind Mountain has truly fallen…” Mo Fan took a deep breath, feeling a pang of sorrow akin to a fox mourning a fallen rabbit. But the feeling came and went quickly.
He hadn’t been at Blackwind Mountain long enough to form deep attachments.
Though he hadn’t seen the First General, Golden Armor, he guessed the demon was likely dead too. Otherwise, why would Zhu Xianfeng have fled with only White Demon?
“Even reaching Demon King Realm doesn’t grant freedom. Life and death still hang on someone else’s whim. What a wretched demon’s life,” Mo Fan murmured, feeling a mix of sympathy and resignation.
This was the reality for demons on Jiuzhou Continent.
As long as the demon race’s status remained unchanged, no demon could claim true freedom.
Even the lofty Saint Kings likely lived in fear, or they wouldn’t all be hiding in the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
By noon, Mo Fan saw ripples on Blackwind Mountain’s surface as the concealment barrier dissipated, revealing its true state.
He focused and saw a massive bird beast’s corpse nailed to a giant boulder at the mountain’s base.
The creature had vibrant five-colored feathers, a scarlet crest on its head, a large, sharp beak, and long, patterned tail feathers, strikingly beautiful like a legendary phoenix.
Its wings, spread wide, spanned ten meters, but it was pinned to the rock by spears like nails, resembling an artistic specimen.
Despite the distance, Mo Fan felt the immense demonic aura emanating from the corpse.
This was a demon general’s body.
Blackwind Mountain had only so many generals, and only one resembled a bird beast.
The Third General, Shan Feng.
Mo Fan took a deep breath, stunned that his first sight of this general was in such a state.
Shifting his gaze upward, he saw numerous Foundation Establishment cultivators flying on swords between the mountain’s peaks. His eyes then landed on a massive airship hovering above the summit.
Even from afar, Mo Fan didn’t dare move, fearing he’d attract the human cultivators’ attention.
Time passed slowly as he waited.
Soon, several figures shot into the sky from Blackwind Mountain, landing on the airship’s deck.
“An opportunity?” Mo Fan’s heart stirred with excitement upon seeing them.
The group included Bixiao Sect’s Fang Yunxian and Lu Zhiqiu, Great River Sect’s Qin Changsheng, Venom Fang, and an unfamiliar middle-aged scholar.
Mo Fan hadn’t seen the scholar before, but since Qin Changsheng bowed to him, he was likely the Golden Core cultivator hidden in Blackwind Mountain.
Shortly after they boarded, the airship began to move, departing Blackwind Mountain.
Mo Fan sighed in relief. Only when the airship vanished into the clouds did he dare pick up the unconscious He Feifei and flee.
In that moment, on the airship, Fang Yunxian, dressed in white, suddenly frowned.
“Fairy Fang, what’s wrong?” the Great River Sect’s Golden Core cultivator asked.
“Nothing, just a small fish that slipped the net,” Fang Yunxian replied, turning to Lu Zhiqiu. “Junior Niece Lu, take care of it.”
Lu Zhiqiu was about to nod when Qin Changsheng smiled. “Uncle Fang, it’s just a small fry. Why send Senior Sister Lu?”
“There are plenty of our Book and Sword Alliance brothers in Blackwind Mountain, including many Foundation Establishment experts. Let them handle it.”
“…Very well,” Fang Yunxian paused, then nodded.
“In that case, I’ll issue a demon-hunting order to our brothers in the mountain to deal with that demon,” Qin Changsheng said with a smile, pulling a yellow talisman from his storage bag. He turned to Fang Yunxian. “Uncle Fang, do you know what kind of demon it is?”
“It’s likely a toad demon, and its cultivation isn’t weak. Tell everyone to be cautious,” Fang Yunxian said before drifting into the ship’s cabin, clearly uninterested in further involvement.
A toad demon?
Qin Changsheng paused, exchanging a glance with Venom Fang, both thinking of “Treasure.”
“Whoever it is, they’re dead this time,” Qin Changsheng thought coldly, writing on the talisman with spiritual energy and infusing it with information before releasing it.
The yellow talisman spun in the air, then shot off as a streak of light, vanishing into the horizon.
Mo Fan, unaware of this, fled for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn before halting.
In the dense forest ahead, a figure had appeared.
A young scholar, holding a bamboo slip, smiled at him as if he’d been waiting.
“How did you find me?” Mo Fan asked gravely, instantly knowing the scholar was targeting him.
“You do have a technique to hide your aura, but how could a demon like you comprehend the depths of our Great River Sect?” the scholar said, smiling faintly before sneering. “Our disciples cultivate Confucian arts, following the path of calligraphy. Each disciple masters a different character, and I happen to master the ‘Clarity’ formula. Under it, no demon’s trail can hide.”
So that’s it.
Mo Fan nodded, understanding.
His aura-concealing technique hid his presence, but to avoid detection while fleeing, he hadn’t dared fly with mist, leaving tracks on the ground.
To ordinary people, these might be meaningless, but to Great River Sect scholars with their unique abilities, they were glaringly obvious.
“Are you alone to kill me?” Mo Fan asked calmly, his gaze steady.
He could sense the scholar was also at Foundation Establishment, and his aura didn’t seem much stronger than Mo Fan’s.
“I alone am enough to slay a demon like you,” the scholar sneered, tossing out his bamboo slip.
“Kill.”
As the slip glowed brightly, Mo Fan’s body flickered, vanishing into a blur.
