For the demon soldiers, betraying their factions risked pursuit and death, but the dire situation forced them to compromise.
They clung to a faint hope, thinking they could agree now and later betray this wicked toad demon to their demon kings, who would surely deal with him.
However, their calculations overlooked one crucial detail: Mo Fan was no ordinary demon general.
He had means to control them.
Seeing their agreement, Mo Fan grinned and summoned poison beads from his skin, demonic weapons that split into eleven poison pills, each bestowed upon the eleven demon soldiers before him.
“These toxic pills, formed from my demonic weapon, place your lives under my control. Betray me, and you will beg for death but find no release!” Mo Fan said, his smile growing more sinister as he watched the trembling demons.
“Of course, you may choose not to swallow them. I am a reasonable demon, after all,” he added.
“Can we truly refuse?” one demon soldier ventured, looking up at Mo Fan.
“Absolutely, my word is my bond!” Mo Fan nodded, then abruptly added, “But if you don’t take the pill, I’ll devour you instead! The choice is yours.”
Blast it! the demon soldiers cursed inwardly. This toad demon was a devil in their eyes.
What choice was this?
Soon, all eleven swallowed the poison pills.
To ensure their submission, Mo Fan briefly activated the pills, causing excruciating pain. When he ceased, they fully believed his words.
“Pay respects to the master!” the eleven demon soldiers knelt, trembling with fear.
“That’s more like it. Why fight to the death when we can get along?” Mo Fan said, beaming. “I despise fighting. If words suffice, why use fists?”
Satisfied, Mo Fan hadn’t expected this trip to bolster Black Wind Mountain’s forces. Not a wasted journey!
From their earlier words, if demon kings led the groups, there must be several demon generals too.
His eyes gleamed at the thought.
Demon generals! Perhaps Black Wind Mountain’s general hall could grow stronger after this trip.
Next, Mo Fan questioned the eleven about their three factions.
To prevent deception, he used his bewitching eyes, uncovering one liar who concealed vital information.
This demon soldier from Proud Peak claimed only one demon king existed there, but under Mo Fan’s bewitching gaze, he revealed Proud Peak had three, the strongest nearing demon ancestor level.
The weakest, a sparrow demon king, led this expedition to Crimson Flame Peak.
“You dared hide the truth, planning to ambush me at a critical moment?” Mo Fan sneered, swallowing the liar without hesitation.
His methods thoroughly subdued the remaining ten demon soldiers.
They hadn’t expected this toad demon to be so powerful and cunning, secretly relieved they hadn’t lied, or more would have perished.
After learning about the three factions, Mo Fan kept one Proud Peak demon soldier and ordered the other nine to leave Crimson Flame Peak, waiting a hundred miles east.
With his demonstrated power, he wasn’t worried they’d flee. If they did, the poison pills would erupt, incurable without a demon king’s intervention.
The retained demon, named Cuckoo, was a cuckoo bird demon.
Mo Fan kept him to identify the factions and because, in his original form, Cuckoo was as small as a chirping bird, easy to carry discreetly.
As Cuckoo, now palm-sized, landed on Mo Fan’s shoulder, he froze, sensing danger.
Glancing down, he saw a golden head poke from Mo Fan’s collar, snapping at him!
Startled, Cuckoo flew upward.
“What foolish bird dares steal my spot?” a tiny voice squeaked. “Fly down again, and I, Yingying, will eat you! Yingyingying, roar!”
Yingying Monster climbed onto Mo Fan’s shoulder, threatening the terrified Cuckoo.
Speechless, Mo Fan realized Yingying was jealous, claiming territorial rights.
Since Yingying disliked Cuckoo on his shoulder, Mo Fan let Cuckoo fly above.
The trio soon reached the passage’s end.
A vast space opened before them.
Mo Fan found himself on a cliff wall.
Feeling waves of heat from below, he looked down to see endless crimson magma, bubbling like boiling water, with a magnificent giant lotus growing within!
The lotus, ten feet wide, was half-bloomed, its unopened petals glowing with a faint golden halo, clearly extraordinary.
Mo Fan also noticed a massive shadow, dozens of feet long, swimming in the magma pool below the lotus, resembling a dragon but obscured by the magma.
He spotted other cave openings on the surrounding walls, like viewing platforms, closer to the Earth Vein Fire Lotus than his position.
Looking up, he saw a hollow space with a faint light barrier at the top, adorned with intricate human runes, mysterious and flowing.
Beyond the barrier, the ceiling was unclear.
Observing, Mo Fan realized he was inside Crimson Flame Peak, a dormant volcano with a hollow interior, unsurprising.
He then focused on the demon cultivators in the other cave openings.
After scrutiny, he counted over ten openings, five emitting auras that made his heart race, belonging to demon kings!
The rest housed demon generals.
Five demon kings, over ten demon generals…
Mo Fan took a deep breath, feeling intense pressure but also a thrill of excitement.
“The Fire Lotus is blooming!” someone shouted suddenly.
The cry unleashed chaos, as figures from all openings surged toward the magma pool below!
“Kill!” they roared.
Boom!
The magma pool erupted, a massive, ferocious head breaking through, lunging at the Earth Vein Fire Lotus!
“Beast!” “Courting death!” “Scoundrel!” the demon cultivators above roared, itching to slay the creature.
Boom!
An invisible force slammed the beast back into the magma, and the descending demons shuddered, as if crushed by a mountain.
A majestic pressure filled Crimson Flame Peak’s interior.
“Everyone, your manners are appalling,” a voice chided. “Are you trying to take Phoenix Cry Mountain’s share as well?”
