Chapter 462: Abyssal Demon Dragon (Two-in-One Chapter, Requesting Everything)

Boom—

The Quasit was slammed directly into the mountainside, its chest and abdomen caved in violently; there was no telling how many bones it had broken.

Yuangungun did not continue to attack, because the Quasit had already lost its life.

"The fourth Intermediate Demon!"

Li Zhangsheng skillfully cut off the Quasit's left ear; his luck was not bad, as he had finished off four Intermediate Demons in less than three hours.

The number of Low-level Demons he had finished off was even greater, likely close to a hundred; Li Zhangsheng did not waste them, cutting off all of their left ears.

The extra Demon Left Ears could also be exchanged for Merit at the fortress, though it was not as generous as the tasks.

Five Low-level Demon Left Ears could be exchanged for one Merit, and killing Low-level Demons did not require much energy; this was entirely a matter of convenience.

In this way, as long as he gathered one more Intermediate Demon Left Ear, Li Zhangsheng could complete the task quota.

Li Zhangsheng searched for a while and soon discovered his target.

This time the target was a Demon Spider; although the Demon Spider was not a demon, it was counted among the demon ranks, and the Demon Spider's Poison Sac could also serve as proof for the task to exchange for Merit.

The Demon Spider was shaped like a spider and usually lived by preying on other demons; its body was massive, weighing nearly two tons, roughly equivalent to a zebra, but its legs extended outward for 14 feet.

Although they could not speak, Demon Spiders could understand Abyssal Language, and they could also use telepathy to communicate with other creatures.

This was a Fifth Rank Demon Spider, so Li Zhangsheng naturally did not underestimate the enemy and immediately signaled Yuangungun to launch an attack.

The movement of Yuangungun's approach was too great, so the Demon Spider naturally discovered Yuangungun at the first moment; it did not flee, but instead took the initiative to attack as if it had seen food.

Ice Breath!

The moment the two approached, Yuangungun opened its large mouth, and ice-blue radiance condensed, transforming into a beam of light as thick as a water barrel that rushed toward the Demon Spider.

The Demon Spider wanted to dodge, but the distance between the two was truly too short, so how could it have time to avoid it, and it was struck in the head by the Ice Breath.

Squeak, squeak—

The Demon Spider opened its hideous mouthparts and let out a shrill, piercing cry; a thick layer of frost appeared on its body surface, almost obscuring its eyes.

For a moment, the Demon Spider was in a blinded state, and at the same time, its speed was inevitably slowed by a third.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, a strong ice-blue halo appeared on Yuangungun's fur, and its fluffy fox tail fluttered; this was the rhythm of casting Blizzard.

Bursts of icy aura shot out wildly, snow began to fall from the sky, and the surrounding temperature was also dropping at a very fast speed.

By the time the Demon Spider recovered its vision, the biting Blizzard had finally taken shape, shrouding an area of several dozen meters.

In the Blizzard, the Demon Spider had absolutely no ability to resist; the biting Ice Storm enveloped it, the extreme low temperature severely affected the blood flow within its body, and it was eventually covered by countless snowflakes and ice crystals.

By the time the Blizzard disappeared, the Demon Spider was frozen within the crystal-clear ice.

Clatter—

Yuangungun stepped forward and shattered the ice with a slap, the remaining force smashing the Demon Spider's head to pieces.

Soon, Li Zhangsheng obtained the Demon Spider's Poison Sac.

Besides the Poison Sac, Li Zhangsheng also cut off all the parts that could serve as materials.

Demons were all penniless; at the very least, Li Zhangsheng had not encountered any demons carrying storage rings or Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure, only the materials on their bodies were worth a little money.

Li Zhangsheng did not immediately return to the fortress; he prepared to stay here longer to hunt demons and earn some extra Merit.

Li Zhangsheng had carefully looked through the Merit exchange manual, and it contained Advanced Demon Hearts.

Even without hunting an Advanced Demon, he could exchange Merit for an Advanced Demon Heart; it only required paying 5,000 Merit.

At the rate Li Zhangsheng was earning Merit, it would take about half a month.

Besides Demon Hearts, Merit could also be used to exchange for other items; it even listed several Heaven and Earth Rare Treasure grade treasures, among which was the material for the Imitation Demon Refining Pot—the Cangxuan Wind-Stabilizing Bead.

Besides the Cangxuan Wind-Stabilizing Bead, it also listed the Xuanqiong Five-Colored Glazed Fruit that Li Zhangsheng had long coveted.

As a one-time-use Heaven and Earth Rare Treasure grade Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure, its efficacy could be imagined.

Unfortunately, Li Zhangsheng could only covet it, because Merit could only be used by oneself and could not be traded at all; otherwise, Li Zhangsheng would have long used this method to exchange for an Advanced Demon Heart.

Additionally, military regulations also prohibited the sale of Demon Left Ears; once discovered, it would be severely punished.

Li Zhangsheng could only dismiss these little thoughts and focus his mind on hunting demons.

By evening, Li Zhangsheng began to return to Li City Fortress.

He had spent a total of eight hours in the wilderness, and his harvest was quite abundant, totaling 8 Intermediate Demons and two hundred Low-level Demons hunted; their left ears alone filled a large bag.

Unfortunately, he had not encountered a single Advanced Demon.

However, this was also within expectations; Advanced Demons were few in number, possessed higher intelligence, held greater power, and were the backbone of the demons; they basically would not leave the range covered by the Abyss Will.

Compared to Intermediate Demons, Advanced Demons were not easy to cultivate; ordinary demons found it difficult to advance to Advanced Demons, and they were mostly dominated by demons with Advanced Demon Bloodline, such as Succubi, Balors, and Mariliths.

Simply put, this was similar to Top-tier Exotic Beasts; they could become Advanced Demons as soon as they reached adulthood, while ordinary demons were like thousands of troops crossing a single-plank bridge; given the cruelty of the Abyss, even if they possessed excellent aptitude, they were highly likely to perish along the way.

Not long after, Li Zhangsheng returned to Li City Fortress.

After returning to the military camp, Li Zhangsheng came to the Merit registration office and placed his task token and the large bag of Demon Left Ears on the table.

"Exchange all the rest for Merit!"

The officer in charge of registration opened the bag, poured out the pile of Demon Left Ears, and felt the aura remaining on each Demon Left Ear one by one.

"Task reward 200 Merit, the remaining three Intermediate Demons total 60 Merit, 150 Low-level Demons total 30 Merit, for a total of 290 Merit!"

It took five minutes for the officer to carefully calculate and record the Merit onto Li Zhangsheng's Identity Token.

If he had a similar harvest every day, he could exchange for an Advanced Demon Heart in about half a month.

However, Li Zhangsheng still felt a bit of heartache; the task rewards were clearly better, but he had no choice, as he couldn't just save these Demon Left Ears until tomorrow.

Demon Left Ears could not be kept for too long, otherwise the aura remaining on them would slowly dissipate.

Without the aura, the officer naturally could not accurately judge the strength of the demon while it was alive, so how could he calculate the Merit?

"No, I'll go accept a Level 1 hunting task tomorrow; as long as my luck isn't too bad, I should be able to complete it if I spend a little more time."

Li Zhangsheng secretly made a decision, though if he couldn't complete the Level 1 task on the same day, the Demon Left Ears he hunted would only be able to be exchanged for 'cheap' Merit.

Boom, boom, boom—

The next morning, the sound of a vigorous and heavy bell rang out, echoing across the entire Li City Fortress.

"Get up quickly, emergency assembly!"

In the military camp, General Yu Yuan's voice rang out; diffused by his Mental Power, his voice could be heard throughout the entire camp.

Unlike yesterday, there was a hint of urgency in his voice.

Although they were not well-trained soldiers, they were, after all, Monster Tamers possessing supernatural abilities; it took less than five minutes for everyone to finish assembling.

"According to intelligence, a large number of demons are gathering. Quickly follow me to the outer city wall to defend against the demon siege."

After General Yu Yuan finished speaking, he took the lead and left.

A demon siege is not a sudden event; when the number of demons accumulates to a certain point, the demons will attack the city, and while inflicting casualties on humans, they can also consume as many low-to-intermediate-level demons as possible.

Unlike humans, demons do not farm or raise livestock, so naturally, they do not have much food; their main food sources are other demons, Spirit Beasts, and humans.

Thus, every once in a while, the demons will take the initiative to invade the fortress.

Soon, General Yu Yuan led Li Zhangsheng and the others to the outer city wall.

Li Zhangsheng gazed into the distance, but unfortunately, he saw nothing; he could only see a large gray curtain over ten miles away, which was the area shrouded by the Abyss Will.

At this moment, Li City Fortress was urgently setting up various defensive works.

In the sky, thousands of knights riding griffins ascended; they were the Griffin Knights of the Langya Kingdom.

The Griffin Knights themselves were also quite extraordinary, with physical strength far exceeding that of ordinary people, and they possessed some special abilities.

Over the past hundred years, many countries in this world had naturally tried many experiments related to the Abyss, including methods for humans to master Demonic Qi, and eventually, they obtained a set of effective methods.

The method was simple: have humans inject demon blood; as long as the two bloods successfully fused, humans could obtain strength far exceeding that of ordinary people, as well as the ability to control Demonic Qi.

Humans who possess the ability to control Demonic Qi are known as Demon Men!

However, the process of transforming into a Demon Man is relatively dangerous and could directly lead to death; even if it is successful in the end, there is still a possibility of backlash in the future.

Most importantly, no Demon Man has ever lived past the age of fifty.

In addition, from their appearance, there is already a clear distinction between Demon Men and humans; some have horns, some are covered in scales, some are covered in black demonic patterns, and some even have pupils that have become similar to those of snakes, giving people a gloomy and strange feeling.

The most speechless thing is that many humans regard Demon Men as outsiders; on one hand, they rely on them to kill demons, and on the other, they fear and exclude them.

Furthermore, if a Demon Man wants to improve their strength, they must inject more and stronger demon blood; the danger of this process goes without saying.

Demon Men have a large number of side effects, so ordinary people are naturally unwilling to become Demon Men; those truly willing to sacrifice for the country are ultimately only a minority, which leads to there not being many Demon Men in the Langya Kingdom.

Outside Li City Fortress, a large number of Demon Pets skilled in Digging were working; they had dug countless traps, and the bottoms were fixed with a large number of sharp objects such as bamboo spikes and short spears.

On the wide outer city wall, engineers were assembling and testing Catapults, Bed Crossbows, and Magic Cannons, while soldiers were methodically transporting siege defense equipment, preparing a large amount of logs, rolling stones, fire oil, and dung water.

The most impressive were the hundreds of Cyclopes; next to each Cyclops, a large amount of millstone-sized boulders were piled up.

Li Zhangsheng specifically took a look at that Demon Saint-level Flood Dragon; at this time, it was closing its eyes, as if it were fast asleep.

Suddenly, Vice Governor Xiao Qing appeared in the sky with his hands behind his back.

It was also at this moment that Li Zhangsheng faintly felt the outer city wall vibrating; his drifting thoughts were pulled back, and he stared into the distance with slight nervousness.

At this time, several Griffin Knights flew over rapidly from the front.

"Report to the Viceroy, the demons are less than twenty miles away from here!"

"Scout again!"

Under the orders of Vice Governor Xiao Qing, several Griffin Knights disregarded the danger and once again drove their griffins to rush out of Li Cheng.

At the same time, Vice Governor Xiao Qing began to issue orders; the Demon Pets that were still digging traps outside the city returned to Li Cheng in an orderly manner; they were all engineer-type Demon Pets specially raised by Li Cheng.

After about half an hour, a long black line appeared on the distant horizon, and in the sky were countless dense black dots, giving people a feeling of blocking out the sun.

Like a massive army pressing down on the border, the demons rushed rapidly toward Li City Fortress.

The Abyss World is never short of demons; they are like locusts, endless and impossible to kill all.

In a few minutes, the sky was filled with dense demons, even interspersed with a few huge Abyss Magic Dragons.

As long as Abyss Magic Dragons reach adulthood, they can become Intermediate Demons; their appearance is similar to dragons, but they are entirely products of the Abyss and have no connection to dragons.

Relying on their huge size, even among many Intermediate Demons, Abyss Magic Dragons undoubtedly belong to the top tier.

The demons in the sky arrived first, but they did not immediately launch an offensive, quietly waiting for the demons on the ground to arrive, preparing to attack together.

Demons with wings are ultimately only a minority; most low-to-intermediate-level demons can only walk, but Intermediate Demons with the ability of Advanced Teleportation can teleport into Li City Fortress at any time.

There were too many demons, so Vice Governor Xiao Qing would naturally not be stupid enough to take the initiative to attack; he could only rely on the high city walls for defense.

After about a quarter of an hour, the vibration of the ground became more and more intense; the 'black line' in the distance had expanded significantly and was already approaching the trap area.

When there are over ten thousand people, it is boundless, especially since their body sizes are often even larger.

That was the powerful pressure brought by countless demons, making Li Zhangsheng feel quite breathless.

The pressure brought by this Demon Tide far exceeded the small Beast Tide that occurred in Luo City a month ago.

There was no help for it; the number of demons far exceeded the wild Spirit Beasts at that time, and that boundless formation was likely to have reached six digits.

The Demon Tide was close, even closer!

As the distance closed, the ground vibration became more and more obvious; the defenders on the outer city wall could already vaguely see the ferocious and terrifying faces of the demons, and the pressure they were under in their hearts could be imagined.

However, everyone present was a well-trained soldier, and they did not know how many times they had resisted the Demon Tide in the past four years, so naturally, no one fled the battle.

They operated the equipment meticulously; as soon as the demons entered the attack range, they would be met with their thunderous strike.

(End of this chapter)