Chapter 197: If You Can't Beat Li Hao, Kill Li Li Tiangang First

As the Demon King was defeated, the demonic beings from afar who had come as Third Immortals also sensed the tide turning and prepared to flee.

But their speed could not match the Demon King's; Li Hao, having failed to catch the Demon King, immediately infused Long Xiao with divine energy and charged toward them with full force.

Feiduan, along with its hidden-bow property, wove countless invisible threads around, and as the Third Immortal demons fled, they struck these threads, instantly becoming entangled and strangled, simultaneously granting Li Hao vast amounts of fishing experience.

"Spare me…"

The Third Immortal demons trembled and shook, begging for mercy before Li Hao.

Li Hao ignored them; Long Xiao flew past, piercing through these demons.

These great demons had traveled countless miles to seek revenge, never imagining such an end—until death, they burned with regret and fury.

Li Hao manipulated Long Xiao to pursue and slaughter every demon within a hundred li, swiftly clearing all visible living things in the vicinity.

After releasing the hidden threads, Li Hao entwined and strung together the corpses of these demons.

The corpse of the Ten Thousand Caves Wanku Wanku Gui Niang, whose body bristled with countless spectral limbs resembling hands and feet, looked horrifyingly grotesque, yet he also strung it onto the threads.

These threads dragged dozens of demon corpses like a string of kites, drifting through the air, exuding an aura of death.

Far away, a bird demon from Huang Tianji Hall lurked among the clouds, secretly witnessing this scene, trembling uncontrollably—it had never seen anything so terrifying.

To demons, this sight was as grotesque and horrifying as a demon who had stormed a human city, crushing countless human corpses and tying them to its belt.

At this moment, in their eyes, Li Hao was no less than such a demonic tyrant—utterly terrifying.

"Even the Demon King couldn't stop him—we're finished, finished!"

The Huang Tianji Hall bird demon, terrified, quietly transmitted word of Li Hao's whereabouts.

As Li Hao flew past, he saw nothing but empty peaks—every demon within had already fled.

"What? Human invasion?"

"Entry, maybe—but you call it invasion?"

"Killed the Demon King?"

Upon hearing Huang Tianji Hall's report, many demons initially scoffed, but when they learned the human boy had slain the Demon King, they all froze in shock.

Some hastily packed and fled; a few, half-skeptical and relying on their own strength, hid near their caves, determined to sneak a peek at whether this human was real.

But that very thought cost them their lives.

Five hundred li away, in a certain mountain lake.

A fat middle-aged man lay at the lake's center, surrounded by beautiful fish-demon maidens, enjoying himself—when suddenly a flying bird darted down, urgently saying:

"Your Excellency, Lord Lord Yuanhu."

"Hmm?"

The fat man raised an eyebrow, recognizing the Huang Tianji Hall bird demon, and lazily asked: "What is it?"

"Lord Lord Yuanhu, please leave at once—a human boy is approaching, slaughtering demons." The bird hurriedly said.

"Hmm?"

The fat man blinked, then laughed: "Do you know what you're saying? You want me to leave?"

"That boy just fought three Demon Kings—Lord Fengshan Jun and Tun Tian Tiantian Mo Zu both lost; Wan Ku Wanku Gui Niang was brutally killed by him. Please don't underestimate him." The bird quickly added.

The fat man's mocking expression froze; his face turned grave. He had heard of Lord Fengshan Jun and Tun Tian Tiantian Mo Zu's names.

Both defeated by that human boy?

"Who is he? When did the humans produce a youth like this? Could he be a disciple of a True Person?"

The fat man asked.

"No—he's the Young General Hao from Tianmen Pass, from the Li family!"

"Li family?"

The fat man frowned. He knew a little of the Great Yu Divine Dynasty's general houses, but having dwelled in demon territory for millennia, he'd never approached the dynasty and paid it little heed—he lived here as a mountain king, comfortably enjoying his life.

"Your Excellency, please leave quickly, lest you lose your life."

The bird hurriedly said.

The fat man's face darkened—he had dwelled in this mountain lake for thousands of years, and now he was being driven out by a human boy?

And he hadn't even seen the boy's face.

He was a Demon King—when had he become so powerless?

"This is outrageous!"

The fat man, furious, knew Huang Tianji Hall's intelligence was never false and dared not deceive him—he took a deep breath and gathered the surrounding fish demons: "My beloved consorts, my children, come here—let's leave temporarily!"

As he left, he used demonic arts to instruct ordinary fish demons to remain behind and observe.

Then he flew away with his entire demon household.

Not long after the fat man departed, Li Hao's figure flew past.

Seeing a mountain lake, Li Hao sent his spiritual sense into it and discovered a demon cave built beneath the lake, extravagantly adorned with countless jewels and precious stones.

In the deep crevices around and within the lake, piles of demon and human bones lay scattered.

Li Hao snorted, transformed his spiritual sense into a cosmic manifestation—a towering giant standing in the lake—and with both arms churned, lifting the water into a thousand layers of waves, crushing and killing every small demon and aquatic creature within.

He scooped up lake water and flung it aside, then dragged two massive mountains from nearby and filled the lake with them, causing the water to flood outward and leave behind utter ruin before continuing forward.

He advanced onward, leveling mountains, filling lakes, leaving behind terrifying traces of destruction.

The land lay scarred and shattered, the demon territories utterly destroyed.

Wherever he passed, it was as if iron hooves had trampled, plowing a thousand li of wasteland.

Huang Tianji Hall's bird demons were few; they only reported high-level demons. Lower-level ones, such as those at the Heavenly Human realm, weren't even notified, let alone smaller demon clans.

Yet these demon clans, still enjoying their comfort, suddenly saw a boy galloping across the horizon.

Behind him, dozens of demon corpses were strung like kites—dark, dense, horrifying beyond words.

When these demons realized it, it was already too late to flee; Li Hao pierced them with a single finger's sword qi, leaving behind a ground littered with corpses.

Countless demons died or fled elsewhere.

As Li Hao advanced, Huang Tianji Hall's bird demons realized his cleansing path was not aimless—it radiated outward from Tianmen Pass like a fan, extending far to the sides, while the boy himself did not proceed further.

"He's clearing the demon territories beyond Tianmen Pass!"

The Huang Tianji Hall bird demons quickly understood the boy's intent—and were filled with dread.

Though he was only clearing the area directly beyond Tianmen Pass, the scope was too vast—he had gone four or five thousand li beyond the pass!

Along his path, Li Hao had already driven off three Demon Kings and destroyed their lairs.

These Demon Kings, having received Huang Tianji Hall's intelligence, could only suppress their rage and temporarily abandon their nests, planning to return later.

The uproar here also reached farther distances.

The three major demonic factions gathered outside Liangzhou all received Huang Tianji Hall's report.

Huang Tianji Hall's branch in Liangzhou was understaffed, so the main hall dispatched reinforcements and split off three branches to remain permanently beyond Tianmen Pass, monitoring the situation.

Such treatment was second only to that given to the five Divine Generals' headquarters.

"This boy can kill Demon Kings? How old is he?"

"Isn't he only fourteen? Just a moment ago in Qingzhou he barely entered the Heavenly Human realm—how could he kill Demon Kings now?!"

The three demonic factions' Liangzhou branches were stunned upon hearing the news.

But when they learned the boy was only clearing the area beyond Tianmen Pass, they breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Then they recalled the boy and his father's battle in Qingzhou.

"Perhaps the rumor is true—otherwise, the Li family wouldn't risk such a scandal by bringing it upon themselves."

"If this boy is truly honoring his agreement, our invasion of Liangzhou shouldn't affect him much."

"Why not start from Liangzhou's eastern side? If we can't beat the son, kill the father!"

"Agreed—I've always hated Li Li Tiangang. In Yanzhou, he was as stubborn as a pile of dog shit, costing us dearly!"

The three demonic factions secretly deliberated.

"My Longmen Grand Elder won't emerge from seclusion for another year—we'll wait and see then."

"First, deceive them—pretend to launch a feint attack, making them think we're merely distracting, not truly planning to invade."

The three factions deliberated.

Meanwhile, Lord Fengshan Jun and Tun Tian Tiantian Mo Zu, who had fled earlier, were severely wounded; Tun Tian Tiantian Mo Zu's injuries were grave—though he survived, most of his power had been stripped away, his realm regressing to Third Immortal.

He needed time to rebuild his strength before he could return to Demon King status.

He wanted revenge, but could only endure.

Lord Fengshan Jun, having escaped, suffered only injuries and would heal with rest; upon hearing of the gathering demons in Liangzhou, he immediately rushed there, hoping to leverage their power for revenge.

…

Li Hao pushed forward relentlessly, slaughtering countless demons; now he sat atop a peak, surrounded by carnage.

Gazing at the stars and moon above, Li Hao knew it was time to return.

He had cleared far enough.

After resting one night, Li Hao returned the next day, dragging the multitude of demon corpses behind him.

Along the way, he selected several higher-cultivation demon corpses from those he had previously slain and strung them together to carry back.

As Li Hao returned, the Huang Tianji Hall bird demons secretly watching rejoiced wildly and immediately notified the fleeing Demon Kings and great demons: the demon of death had finally left!

These demons, both resentful and relieved, hurried back to their lairs.

But when they returned to their territories, they found them utterly ruined—uninhabitable.

Lord Lord Yuanhu returned to his mountain lake; though furious, he thought he could endure it.

Then he saw two mountains had filled his lake, and every small demon within was dead—he nearly spat blood.

"Aaaah… I will have revenge!!"

The Lake Abyss Demon King let out a roar.

The other two Demon Kings, sharing his same fury, suppressed their raging anger, gathered intelligence from the Huang Tianji Palace, and rushed to the three major demonic forces along Liangzhou's border, willing to temporarily pledge allegiance.