Chapter 990: They've Even Learned to Be Clever

The Haotu Shijie before their eyes was completely different from what the demons had heard in legend.

What the hell, this is no paradise at all—it's outright hell.

They had just walked out of the Demon Cave, hadn't even caught their breath, when they were suddenly surrounded for no reason.

Moreover, the human cultivators were no strangers to the demons, and they employed all kinds of methods, one after another.

Almost at first contact, the demons already showed signs of defeat.

As time went on, the demons found it increasingly hard to resist; not only that, even their retreat routes were blocked.

They wanted to use the Demon Cave to flee back to the Demon Realm, but as soon as they turned around, many demons fell into despair.

On the human side, they were completely caught up in a frenzy—so much food material, they'd struck it rich this time.

The battlefield was in utter chaos, with talisman seals and formation disks flying about wildly.

The demons roared again and again, but it changed nothing at all.

Seeing the scene before them, the ten Demonic Cultivators bound five‑fold were dumbstruck, unable to believe what they were seeing.

Back outside Tianhong Guan, the demons had lost too, but at least it hadn't been this embarrassing.

This time was even more exaggerated—they were beaten to the point of having no strength left to fight back.

The leading Demonic Cultivator's eyes were full of doubt: "Is this still the demon race we've always worshipped? The mighty demons we've always looked up to?"

Why are they so weak? A single encounter and the human cultivators knocked them senseless.

Actually, it's not that they were knocked senseless; it's a matter of mindset.

When facing the demons, the human cultivators' mindset was relaxed, after all, these were just food material.

In battle they naturally had no scruples, with no fear or cowardice in their hearts.

By contrast, the demons, faced with the surging human forces, were utterly unprepared and were knocked senseless on the spot; as one side waned and the other waxed, they naturally fell into a disadvantage.

"Hurry, tie up the ones captured alive first."

"What the hell are you throwing talisman seals onto the food material for?"

"Be careful, don't damage the food material, don't waste it."

The humans grew more excited the more they fought, while the demons grew more frightened the more they fought.

Is this record reversed? This Haotu Shijie is nothing like their paradise—no matter how you look at it, it doesn't resemble one.

In a great battle, the demons couldn't hold out for long; in the end, it could almost be said that the entire army was wiped out.

The two Demon Gods also suffered one dead and one wounded.

This was the first time a demon god had been captured alive; Yun Xiantai and the others were overjoyed—this was progress.

But seeing so many demons captured alive, the ten Demonic Cultivators felt as dead inside.

Is this the object they've always worshipped? Is this the being they'd devoted their lives to follow?

Damn, every single one of them has become a prisoner.

"Shīzūn, what should we do with them?"

After the battle ended, Hong Zun looked at the ten Demonic Cultivators and asked Yun Xiantai, who stood nearby.

Hearing that, Yun Xiantai glanced at the ten Demonic Cultivators and casually said.

"Take them back first, then we'll talk."

She casually snatched the ten Demonic Cultivators, didn't mind, took them back, interrogated them, hoping to learn their hiding places.

Even if they yielded nothing, they'd just be killed later.

The harvest was abundant; they left a team to guard here, keeping close watch on every move of the Demon Cave.

The rest escorted the large amount of food material toward the garrison.

All the way back to the garrison, at the same time, the other four Demon Caves also yielded gains.

Soon, as people returned one after another to the garrison, Spirit City also became lively.

"So much food material."

"Good grief, that should be enough to eat for a long time."

"What are you thinking? You don't even see how many mouths there are."

The food material looks plentiful, but daily consumption is also huge.

Moreover, it's not just Ye Zhangqing now; all the Nine‑grade Spirit Chefs of the Spirit Chef Alliance have joined the cooking effort.

People from the various sects can't eat the dishes Ye Zhangqing makes; they have to settle for second best.

Fortunately, the demon race food material tastes good, and with the Spirit Chefs' skills improving under Ye Zhangqing's guidance, they can manage to get by.

Faced with such consumption, the food material will certainly never be enough.

So, after only resting two days, everyone went back to the Demon Cave again to gather another batch of food material.

Right now, in the eyes of human cultivators, the demons have completely become a hot‑ticket commodity.

After several rounds, the humans indeed reaped abundant gains, but correspondingly, the demons have also become clever.

In the Demon Realm, a host of Demon Gods gathered together.

Their faces grim for days, in a short time the demons suffered heavy casualties, and now they can't even get out of the Demon Cave, damn it.

Or put another way, as soon as they go out, it's death.

At first they didn't know what was happening, but as more and more demons were killed or wounded, the Demon Gods finally realized: the humans had been lying in ambush outside the Demon Cave all along.

Whenever they saw demons, they swarmed in, and their methods were extremely vile and dirty.

Faced with this situation, the Demon Gods naturally felt indignant.

After great effort, expending enormous energy, wealth, and time to successfully build the Demon Cave, are they just going to let it go to waste?

Obviously they're not resigned, but how to deal with the humans now is a major problem.

Under these circumstances, even if they had more demons, they'd probably still not be enough to sacrifice.

"Roar.......... (What should we do now?)"

A Demon God spoke up, asking; in response, the many Demon Gods present also fell into silence.

How should we respond? This is indeed a problem.

However, at that moment, one of the Demon Gods let out a low roar.

"Roar.......... (Humans are too good at hiding; if it were a head-on battle, my demon race might not lose; as long as we can solve this, we have a way to deal with humans.)"

In this Demon God's view, the reason humans can win repeatedly is entirely because they lack martial virtue and only know how to sneak attack.

As long as we can detect the humans' movements in advance, we can make preparations.

And in a head-on battle, our demon race is certainly not inferior.

Moreover, even if we concede a step, even if we are defeated, as long as we have prepared in advance, we can retreat calmly when the time comes.

So we won't end up like before, where even our retreat route was blocked by them.

Upon hearing this Demon God's words, the other Demon Gods nodded in agreement.

Every time, we get blocked as soon as we leave the Demon Cave; if we could detect the humans' traces earlier, we could make preparations in advance.

Therefore, afterward, when passing through the Demon Cave we must be more cautious; it would be best to cultivate a group of demons with strong scouting abilities and keen perception, dedicated to reconnaissance.

The demon race actually needs to conduct reconnaissance, and even specially train such demons—this shows how desperate they have become.

You should know that the demon race has always believed in strength alone; to them, everything else is mere flashy nonsense.

What reconnaissance is all bullshit; as long as you're strong enough, whether you scout or not makes no difference.

But now, the demon race has changed, having been made to lose all temper by the humans, and actually started wanting to conduct reconnaissance.

Although regarding this, the myriad Demon Gods are extremely displeased, but aside from this there is no other way; they can only grit their teeth and accept.