The demons of Black Wind Mountain had suffered greatly from their king’s peculiar character.
Of course, You Er was unaware of this. Desperate to survive, he paid no heed to such matters and immediately forced a drop of essence blood from his forehead onto the compass.
The next moment, the compass let out a resonant hum.
Instantly, a brilliant golden light flared, and the countless intricate symbols on the compass seemed to come alive, projecting into the air above, dancing as if animated.
“Do you recognise these characters?” Mo Fan suddenly asked Fang Ru, who was standing nearby.
“No, but I’ve seen some in ancient texts. They seem to be a form of ancient script,” Fang Ru replied, shaking her head uncertainly.
Ancient script?
Mo Fan’s eyes flashed with surprise, but he said no more, turning his attention back to the compass.
The compass was now spinning rapidly, with red and green lights emerging.
“Please, Lord Demon King, provide a drop of blood,” You Er said gravely.
Mo Fan hesitated briefly but then forced a drop of blood from his fingertip into the compass.
He was eager to see if You Er’s divination skills were as impressive as claimed.
“Roar!”
However, with a sound like a dragon’s cry, the rapidly spinning compass abruptly stopped, and the red and green lights vanished without a trace.
“Pfft!” You Er spat out a mouthful of blood, staring at Mo Fan and muttering, “How could this be…”
With that, he collapsed into a faint.
As You Er lost consciousness, the golden compass in his hand turned into a wisp of golden light and merged back into his forehead, as if it had never appeared.
This sudden turn of events left the demons exchanging bewildered glances.
Mo Fan gave You Er a thoughtful look, pondered briefly, then commanded, “Take this deceitful human cultivator away and keep him under strict guard!”
“Yes!” Several lesser demons stepped forward, dragging the unconscious You Er away.
“I thought he was some great immortal, but he’s just a fraud!”
“Damn it, this swindler’s got some nerve, tricking his way onto our Black Wind Mountain!”
“Great King, since he’s a fraud, why waste food keeping him? Just wash him and make a feast for the brothers!”
The demon commanders spoke up, filled with righteous indignation, as if ready to tear You Er apart.
“Enough! Have you all forgotten what I just said?” Mo Fan raised an eyebrow, scolding the demons. “Teacher Fang is human too. Watch your words in her presence! No more talk of skinning, disembowelling, or eating human flesh! We Black Wind Mountain demons are civilised, not like those newly transformed wild demons with no manners!”
The demons exchanged glances, and Er Ha said with a bitter expression, “Great King, we’re demons. Eating humans is only natural. Besides, those demon hunters eat us too!”
“Exactly! Just because Teacher Fang is human, do we have to go vegetarian now?” Chirp grumbled unhappily.
“You talkative fools!” Mo Fan cursed, exasperated. “If Teacher Fang weren’t here, I’d skin you myself! I only said not to mention this in front of her, not that you can’t do it behind her back! You hopeless idiots, you’re driving this king mad!”
The commanders scratched their heads sheepishly, realising they had misunderstood their king.
Fang Ru, speechless, said after a pause, “You could explain that when I’m not around next time.”
“Cough… These demon brats are stubborn and foolish, acting without thinking. You’ll get used to it,” Mo Fan said, smiling awkwardly.
Fang Ru nodded, then asked directly, “Since you brought me here to teach these demons, when do we start, and where?”
“In two or three days. I need to make some preparations first,” Mo Fan replied with a smile, then instructed White Yao Yao to settle Fang Ru while he flew back to Spring Pool Cave.
Back in his cave, Mo Fan pondered briefly, spat out Black Robe and White Robe, and said, “I need to retreat to refine a treasure. While I’m gone, watch over these children.”
With that, he released the hundred-plus children from his storage bag.
The children appeared, curiously inspecting the cave before turning their gazes to Mo Fan.
“Big Brother, where are we?” a young boy, clutching another child’s hand, asked Mo Fan.
“This is Spring Pool Cave,” Mo Fan replied, recognising the boy as “Little Gatekeeper.” He added, “A very safe place.”
Little Gatekeeper nodded, and other children, emboldened by his example, asked, “Big Brother, where’s Teacher Fang?”
“Teacher Fang is busy. Rest here for a bit, and you’ll see her soon,” Mo Fan said, smiling at the children. He then headed deeper into the cave, leaving Black Robe and White Robe to guard them in the main hall.
Spring Pool Cave, expanded dozens of times during Mo Fan’s cultivation, was no longer just a simple three-room setup but a vast complex with a secluded cultivation chamber at its core.
In the chamber, Mo Fan spat out several small flags, the “Spirit Gathering Array” he had bought for thirty thousand low-grade spirit stones at the Broken Temple Market.
His retreat’s purpose was simple: to refine this array and deploy it to enhance the spiritual energy, increasing the chances of enlightening the mountain’s wild beasts.
Mo Fan was well-versed in refining arrays, but unlike ordinary artifacts, arrays required more spiritual imprints.
The process took two days.
When Mo Fan emerged, pushing open the stone door, he was greeted by White Yao Yao’s stunning face.
“Finally done playing hands-off leader?” White Yao Yao teased, smirking at Mo Fan.
Mo Fan rolled his eyes. “I had important business. You make it sound like I neglect Black Wind Mountain’s affairs.”
“Don’t you?” White Yao Yao winked, pouting. “Someone went to the Southern Border, brought back a human beauty, then immediately ignored everything and retreated. Good thing Fang Ru was with me, or how would the mountain’s demons see you? Think they’d wonder if their toad king is a second Red Eyes?”
“They wouldn’t dare!” Mo Fan retorted, half-laughing. “I’m the grand Black Wind Mountain Demon King. How can I be compared to that sneaky rabbit Red Eyes? At the very least, my chant goes beyond one-two-three!”
Mo Fan laughed, then turned serious. “By the way, I brought back something good this time.”
“What is it?”
“You’ll see soon. Let’s go meet Teacher Fang first.”
…
