Chapter 971: Demon Sovereign (2)

At high noon, Wu Tie sat in a small tavern, leisurely watching the flow of people on the street.

The offensive of the Supreme Demon State suddenly became much quieter; aside from some small scout units still probing and constantly clashing with Wind Mountain City's scouts, there was no trace of large-scale demon armies.

The atmosphere inside Wind Mountain City also became much more relaxed.

The City Lord's Manor even ordered the southern gate opened; some citizens with connections actually obtained travel permits and fled south with their families.

The food supply within the city also suddenly became generous.

Originally, the refugees in the refugee camps had only a few steamed buns to fill their stomachs each day, but who knows if City Lord Fu Feng Youran had come into unexpected wealth; over the past two months, the refugees each day actually received a large bowl of braised pork!

Fu Feng Youran's popular support surged, improving more than a hundredfold over before.

And the refugees were all nourished to healthy bodies, each with a glowing complexion.

In the wounded soldiers' camp, nearly ten million injured soldiers with strong cultivation and rich combat experience recovered, greatly replenishing Wind Mountain City's military strength.

With military strength increased, the citizens' morale also became much more ample.

The marketplaces also became lively.

Aside from the nightly street vendors, during the day the various taverns and restaurants in the market opened for business; at night, the once-empty brothels began to hear the sound of strings and bamboo.

Where there is profit, people always dare to take risks.

The owners of those brothels, at the outbreak of war, had already led people to flee Wind Mountain City.

Now that the situation has only just eased, they have come scurrying back to Wind Mountain City with a large group of flashy girls.

Whether this business is legitimate or not, Wind Mountain City gradually became lively.

Wu Tie, this gate official, also performed his duties with vigor, for he was diligent, conscientious, and earnest, and never bullied those unfortunate refugees; thus, among Wind Mountain City's low-ranking clerks, he also gained some reputation.

On a day of rest, Wu Tie again received a small bonus; he happily set out a table of food and drink at this little Great White Tower, inviting Fang Jun Cai, Tang Bu Yun, Li Fei Yang, Lao Tie, Lao Yang and a few other clerks; they gathered around a table and ate and drank with delight.

"This life is comfortable..." Xiao Fang drank a bowl of wine, leisurely leaning against the window frame behind him, looking at the pedestrians outside the street, then at the diners in the tavern hall, and said with a contented smile: "Ah, if only those demon troops would just go and never return, how wonderful that would be!"

He scratched the few pimples on his forehead, Xiao Fang said solemnly: "I'm also at the age to marry... tsk, look at this fire on my brow!"

Tang Bu Yun, Li Fei Yang and the others laughed, their words both overt and implied immediately turning to vulgar topics.

None of them were particularly respectable; they were merely insignificant members among the thousands of low-level clerks in Wind Mountain City. Their work was the most menial and basic, and those they dealt with were also ordinary folk of the bustling world.

A group of esteemed gentlemen gathered together would never end up discussing great affairs of the world.

They would chat about flowers, snow, moon, and wine, with a hint of risqué topics—this is the favorite tune of middle-aged gentlemen.

Wu Tie chatted and joked aimlessly with Xiao Fang and the others.

The Eight Great Expedition Envoys, attacking city after city in the southern borders of Wuguo with unstoppable momentum, had been arrogant for several months; the latest report said that Lao Tie had successfully closed the great gate.

Hehe, once the Eight Great Expedition Envoys' entire army is wiped out, Wu Tie will spread this news throughout the Supreme Demon State.

Tsk tsk, Wu Tie calculated: the thirty-six demon sovereigns are all ancient monsters; if they joined forces to attack, Wuguo might suffer damage. So it's best to let them invade Wuguo in small groups, to be divided and annihilated—this would be ideal.

While pondering these schemes that would scare Xiao Fang and the others to death, Wu Tie chatted flowerily with them about his experiences with women.

"Speaking of which, if you have too many women, aren't you afraid the back courtyard will catch fire?" Wu Tie seriously told the hopeful Xiao Fang: "So, having a woman you like, bearing a few obedient, promising children, is enough."

He lightly tapped the table with his finger, Wu Tie sighed softly: "People, sometimes, it's just that simple."

Xiao Fang licked his lips and chattered on: "But if life is too simple, what's the fun in that? Hey, we're not talking about three palaces, six courtyards, seventy-two concubines or anything—just one wife and two concubines, that's the bare minimum, right?"

Tang Bu Yun gave a weird laugh from the side: "One wife, two concubines, and outside keep three or five households of mistresses—tsk, this little life is wonderful!"

Li Fei Yang let out a sigh: "Xiao Fang, don't listen to Old Tang; one wife and one concubine have already emptied my pockets... tsk, we're not that ruthless lot—without some outside income, how could we keep mistresses?"

When the topic turned to Li Fei Yang, Tang Bu Yun's face slightly changed: "By the way, Old Jin and his gang have been missing these past few months... not just Old Jin, but also those we usually don't get along with—tsk..."

Wu Tie smiled without speaking.

Xiao Fang and the others lowered their voices and muttered softly.

Three months ago, within Wind Mountain City, a batch of low-ranking clerks vanished overnight.

During wartime, there are some things everyone knows about but dares not investigate.

Today everyone had drunk a bit; Xiao Fang and the others just happened to bring up this topic, and several people began to whisper guesses about what had happened to those clerks who suddenly disappeared.

They certainly wouldn't know that these clerks were silenced in secret by Fu Feng Youran and Fu Feng Yasi for spreading zombie elixirs at midnight.

They were guessing whether demon spies had slipped into the city, or whether these fellows had colluded with the demon army and been secretly dealt with by Wind Mountain City's officials; such things are not uncommon—the demon forces are strong, many in Wind Mountain City collude with them, and once discovered, the outcome is always miserable.

"If we're talking about colluding with demon spawn, Old Jin and his lot really could pull it off." Xiao Fang spat a bone onto the ground and said harshly: "Look at their usual virtue—what difference is there between them and demon spawn?"

Wu Tie smiled without speaking, chewing contentedly on a piece of pork head meat.

To his right, outside the window was the street, with pedestrians coming and going in crowds; to his left was the tavern hall, dozens of tables filled with diners.

This ordinary, plain, yet enduring atmosphere of life made Wu Tie feel relaxed and happy, giving him a genuine sense of the joy of being alive.

When struggling to survive in the underground world, he had no such feeling.

When scheming and fighting in the mortal world, he had no such feeling.

Now, holding the reins of Wuguo as its supreme sovereign, whether overlooking civil and military officials from the great hall or cultivating in seclusion deep within the palace, he had no such feeling.

This mortal air, this flavor of the mundane world.

This surging, endless 'alive' aura moved Wu Tie.

Every cell in his body trembled; an inexplicable wave communicated with the vast, boundless merit Wu Tie had accumulated, and threads of merit power permeated his whole body.

Within his body, that cluster of innate spiritual light, lively and agile, likewise became stronger, more agile, denser, and vibrant under the immersion of merit power.

Wu Tie faintly felt that if this state could last a year and a half, he could, with the aid of merit power, condense more than ten Dao Seals, and even the Dao Seals he had already formed could at least be evolved to the third or fifth heaven of the venerable level.

Wu Tie smiled as he looked at Xiao Fang and the others.

They were no great figures, their cultivation was lowly, but they could be counted as Wu Tie's 'friends'!

A strand of strange qi surged violently from the other end of the street; in Wu Tie's perception, the bustling market life on this street was like a vivid, lively painting, full of vigor.

And this strand of strange qi was like a vat of thick, sticky ink that, with a 'slap', flung the painting into a face of utter blackness.

Thoroughly crushing everything, destroying everything, controlling everything, then devouring everything.

This strand of qi is just so overbearing, wild, evil, and twisted—it is 'demon', and moreover a terrifying venerable-level great demon!

Wu Tie held his small wine cup and looked north along the main street.

Towering over ten feet tall, he wore a purple silk brocade robe embroidered with nine black, fang‑bared, claw‑flailing demon dragons in black thread; his steps rang like heavy blades chopping the earth, a supreme demon walking forward with his hands behind his back.

The supreme demon strode down the center of the street, and naturally a blank zone several dozen feet in radius formed around him.

Pedestrians, carriages, horses, and even the cats and dogs darting about the street all unconsciously avoided him.

Even the patrolling constables and soldiers unconsciously let their gazes slide over him, as if no one could see him at all.

It wasn't that they couldn't see him.

Rather, the terrifying aura emanating from the supreme demon forced everyone to "not see him"!

The aura on the supreme demon plainly broadcast a terrifying thought—those unqualified cannot see, cannot smell!

On the street, among all those passersby, only Wu Tie managed to glimpse the supreme demon.

Instantly the supreme demon sensed Wu Tie's gaze; from over ten li away he traced the look back, his eyes flashing golden demon light as he glared fiercely at Wu Tie.

Wu Tie gave a faint smile.

The wine cup on his fingertip silently turned into a wisp of green smoke and drifted away.

In the void, the sweeping golden demon light that had come crashing down touched Wu Tie's body and then vanished without a sound.

The next moment, above the demon army camp north of Shanfeng City, an invisible void rift appeared out of nowhere; torrents of golden demon light poured down, instantly annihilating the demon camp that covered nearly a thousand li.

The tens of thousands of demon troops left in the camp by Yin Wu Shuang and others, together with the entire camp, were reduced to powder.

Wu Tie smiled and nodded at the supreme demon.

The supreme demon's face twitched slightly; the next moment he appeared beside Wu Tie's wine table and said in a deep voice, "What refined taste—just, this food and drink are rather poor, and the person you're drinking with…… tsk tsk, a dragon, how could you mingle with a grass snake?"

Xiao Fang and the others were still shocked by the sudden disappearance of Wu Tie's wine cup when the supreme demon abruptly appeared at their table; waves of horrifying demonic aura capable of instantly obliterating them rolled over, leaving them feeling as if their bodies and souls were on the brink of annihilation.

Wu Tie lightly waved his right hand, layer upon layer of void barriers enveloping the entire tavern, all its patrons, and even shielding Xiao Fang and the others right nearby.

"Dragon? Grass snake? Heh, where's the exaggeration? Once, I was even worse than a grass snake." Wu Tie laughed brightly. He spoke the truth; back when he was a child in the Wu family's Shibao, his constitution was naturally weak, and he could not compare to Xiao Fang and the others who were at the Qi Pond realm.

The supreme demon released rings of black‑and‑gold demonic light that surged outward like a tsunami.

But Wu Tie's void barriers were layered and endless; as soon as the demon flames touched his barriers, they were instantly displaced into nothingness.

North of Shanfeng City, the land where the demon army camp stood has been bombarded wave after wave by demonic light into a ruin; a pit a thousand li wide and a hundred li deep has appeared at the site, and it continues to deepen.

The supreme demon's aura suddenly retracted; he said in a deep voice, "Well done."

Wu Tie looked at the supreme demon and smiled, "May I ask your honored name?"

Xiao Fang and the others stared nervously at the supreme demon; the style of his purple robe and the nine black dragon patterns on it, as low‑level clerks of the Fufeng Divine Dynasty, they naturally knew enough about the dynasty's mortal enemy, the Supreme Demon Kingdom.

Purple robes and black dragon motifs are the exclusive privilege of the royal high‑rank of the Supreme Demon Kingdom.

The nine black dragons represent the kingdom's national demon treasure, the Nine Dragon Fallen Stele; only the demon emperor of the Supreme Demon Kingdom may wear nine black dragons on his robes.

Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.

How could the demon emperor of the Supreme Demon Kingdom possibly come alone to Shanfeng City?

But it's not ridiculous at all!

In the past, such a thing would never have happened; now, however, the Fufeng Divine Dynasty's Heaven‑Clearing Wind Banner has been seized by the Supreme Demon Kingdom, the dynasty has no means to deal with these demon venerables, and even if they came openly, what could the dynasty do to them?

"I am the supreme demon, the current demon emperor of the Supreme Demon Kingdom." The supreme demon proclaimed his name arrogantly.

Xiao Fang and the others' vision went black.

Truly the supreme demon!

Indeed it is him!

The legendary demon emperor who slays countless, eats human hearts and blood daily, and wears clothing made of human skin—this supreme demon truly, alive, stands before us.

Then, who could be worthy enough for the supreme demon to personally seek out?

Xiao Fang and the others stared blankly at Wu Tie, their minds empty, not knowing what to say or think.

Wu Tie sighed, lightly tapped the foreheads of Xiao Fang and the others, and according to each of their attributes and the cultivation methods they had previously practiced, transmitted several top‑grade cultivation arts capable of bringing them to the peak of the Divine Realm.

"You are excellent." Wu Tie looked at Xiao Fang and the others, smiling, "In this chaotic age, lives are as cheap as grass, but as long as you retain a shred of kindness in your heart, dare to bravely continue living."

"Live on with your spine straight. This world will only get better, never worse." Wu Tie stood, smiled at Xiao Fang and the others, and said, "Look, I am striving to improve this world for you; you too must strive."

The supreme demon snorted coldly from the side, "You think you're who? You say the world can improve, so it will? You think you're……"

Wu Tie's smile vanished instantly, then he slammed a fist into the supreme demon's face.

With a deafening bang, the supreme demon's teeth all exploded at once; half his face caved in from Wu Tie's punch.

"Ji zhao, you think because you're a demon emperor I dare not beat you?"