Nighttime in Demon City was as lively as ever with the constant festive spirit in the air.
The old green man kept himself hidden in a dark crypt, away from the festive spirit. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground with eight long rods-burning with green flames that looked alive-in a circle around him. His eyes were full of darkness and the corners of his mouth were curved up in a bloodthirsty smile.
He raised his hand to adjust one of the levers and the green flames became even stronger, making him seem even more sinister.
A cold and raspy voice came out of his slightly parted mouth. “Activating Immortal Weaken
Spell!”
He then closed his lone eye and his body began to emit a weird aura, causing the space around him to be distorted. If someone were to see him now, they would describe him as a reflection of a funhouse mirror-all distorted and unreal.
A sneer slowly crept upon his face. “I would not be as careless as the Left Messenger. Things will go as planned now that I’m taking matters into my own hands.”
The birth of the Area of the Gods caused monks from different disciplines to gather together. Among one of the disciplines was Witchcraft—the old green man’s expertise.
The strength of Witchcraft’s spells depended on its ability to take someone’s life without even stepping out of the house. It was hard to defend oneself from it, and sometimes, the victims would not even know what hit them. Perfect for overbearing people who liked staying close to home.
The origin story also told of this kind of voodoo magic and it could also be found in many fairy tales-yes, none other than the Seven Nails Book! This assassination weapon belonged to Lu Ya and after 21 days of worship, it took out Zhao Gongming’s life with only three nails. There was no doubt about Zhao Gongming’s power and yet, he was met with such a death, proving the strangeness and overbearing strength of Witchcraft.
However, the Seven Nails Book only ever appeared once, with the reason being it would deal damage to the spell caster as well. Hence, making it impossible to use frequently.
This was the unfortunate truth. Although the old man was skilled in Witchcraft and many feared him, his green skin, lone eye, and bent body were all caused by the backlash of casting Witchcraft spells. It was impossible for him to reverse the effect even with his power.
However, he did not see himself as ugly. In fact, he was proud of the way he looked. It was like a badge of honor for him. It was due to his skills in Witchcraft that he was able to enjoy a high standing in the world of Ministry.
Meanwhile, on Dog Mountain, only silence could be heard and a few dogs were on patrol. Underneath Dog Mountain, four figures stood in the four corners of South, East, North, and West. They were hard to see because they blended in well with the night.
Bong!
Suddenly, a strange air ripple began to spread over Dog Mountain and black air began to flow in the sky, making the night sky even more intense.
Above Dog Mountain, layers of a vortex began to appear, covering the entire mountain. “Right Messenger has begun! We need to act quickly, too!” “I can’t believe we’re spending so much effort just to catch a dog!”
The four people pulled the levers at the same time and immediately, ripples started to appear and combine with the vortex in the air, forming a barrier and isolating the entire Dog Mountain from the outside world.
This was to prevent any changes from happening from the actions that were about to be taken.
Gradually, as the ripples surrounded the Dog Mountain, every Dog Demons’ eyes became slack until they all fell asleep without a sound.
Meanwhile, at Fox Mountain, a big sturdy man with a smile on his face was humming a song as his Merit Cloud started its descent. He raised his hand to touch the two thick horns on his head as soon as his feet touched the ground. After rubbing for some time, he was finally satisfied.
Then, he happily walked towards his destination, stopping for a while to pick up a hibiscus flower growing by the side of the road before continuing on his way.
He was naturally overjoyed to receive an invitation from Little Fox. He dropped everything on hand and rushed over to where she was, his face flushed red with excitement.
As the so-called willow head on the moon, people meet after dusk. For this first date with Little Fox, he even dressed up well and made sure his horns were shiny.
He felt youthful again ever since Little Fox came into his life.
He never expected to start a love affair when he came to the Area of the Gods to look for new opportunities. He was grateful to the Gods for his unexpected good fortune.
Bull Demon King felt the color of his world change from monotone to one full of colors. It would not be farfetched to say that those around him could see pink bubbles coming out of him.
“I’m definitely close by. I can feel it. It seems like she has already arrived…” His heart started to beat faster the closer he got to the meeting spot. He took a deep breath,put the hibiscus flower between his teeth, and started walking gracefully to his final destination. “I apologize for making a beauty like you wait for so long…”He did not get to finish his words as his eyes became as big as saucers. He swallowed back the words he was going to say when he saw the scene in front of him.
In front of him, two people—who were each holding similar hibiscus flowers in their hands
—were also staring back at him. All three of them were frozen in place with shock.
One of them was very skinny and looked like a scholar. The other was as big as a mountain, and especially with those two nostrils of his, it looked like two cannons were aimed at Bull Demon King with hot air coming out of it. The owner of the nostrils belonged to a hippopotamus.
Their eyes were all filled with puzzlement. ‘Why are the other Demon Kings here?’ they wondered.
On the way over, each of the three Demon Kings constructed every possible scenario and devised every possible strategy-even going as far as writing a romantic script-to showcase their romancing skills.
They did not account for the appearance of two love rivals in every possible scenario. So, it was natural for them to be in a foul mood.
“What…what are the two of you doing here? Where did you hide my Little Fox?” asked Bull Demon King, pointing at the two unwelcomed guests. His face was about to explode when suddenly, he said in a cold voice, “The two of you must have overheard Little Fox asking to meet me here and came here to cause trouble out of jealousy. You should leave now!”
Hippo Demon King gave an icy laugh that was as loud as thunder. “Nonsense, she asked to meet me!”
The one that looked like a scholar was Panther Demon King. He smiled arrogantly and said, “You fools! Have you each seen yourself in the mirror? With your big horns and big nostrils, your ugliness is an insult to my eyes. Why would Little Fox ever be interested in the two of you?
“The way I see it, Little Fox has asked us three to meet her here so she could announce who she has chosen to be with and that person, without a doubt, is me! So, the two of you can get out of here now!”
“You’re a joke,” said Bull Demon King with a confident smile. “If it wasn’t for the fact that it was Little Fox’s bath time when I asked her out, we would’ve met sooner!”
“I think it’s about time I tell you both the truth.” Hippo Demon King laughed so hard, his whole body shook. “Do you know what Little Fox thinks of me? She said… I’m a good demon! Isn’t this enough to prove I’m the one she likes the most?”
“Good demon? Bath time?” said Panther Demon King, stunned. “Why does it all sound so familiar?”
All of a sudden, a blast of chill air burst out of the forest, sweeping in like a storm, causing the three Demon Kings to tremble slightly with surprise.
They looked up and saw two figures, one dressed in white and the other in red, walking out of the darkness from under the moonlight. The duo turned their gazes toward the three Demon Kings and stared at them with indifference.
The most conspicuous thing was the illusory nine tails coming out from the white-dressed woman’s back. The tails swayed in the thin air —their mighty aura gushing out like wavesand swept toward the three Demon Kings!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The entire mountain began to freeze over. The temperature dropped to an icy cold level and it started to snow.
“A Nine-Tailed Fox?” The three Demon Kings’ pupils shrank rapidly with shock. Why was there another Nine-Tailed Fox here?
Daji’s eyes were as icy as the arctic wind. “So, it’s you three who’s always harassing my little sister?” she asked with a slight frown.
Little sister?
The three Demon Kings’ eyes stayed motionless. It never crossed their minds that Little Fox would have such a strong and beautiful elder sister.
Panther Demon King was the first one to snap out of their trance. He bowed down to her respectfully and said, “Greetings, sister-in-law, I’m…” “Looking to die!” said Daji. Her eyes darkened considerably and sparks were coming out of her body. She clapped her hands continuously, sending wave after wave of attack at Panther Demon King.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
A strong cold current rushed out, freezing everything in its path, on a collision course with Panther Demon King. His face fell and quickly raised his hand to activate his black demon fire to block the cold current.
“Is this how you greet people during their first meeting with you? I’m afraid you’ve chosen the wrong person as your opponent,” said Panther Demon King sarcastically to Daji. Then, he gave out a soft laugh, transformed into a black mist, and melted into the night.
His speed was so fast that those left behind could still see the black flames dancing around them. The frozen spot where he previously stood had also melted.
At the same time, layers of flames formed a vortex around Daji. From the outside, it looked like a giant fire dragon was intertwined with Daji.
“Now do you know how powerful I am? I’ll forgive you if you beg for mercy,” said Panther Demon King arrogantly. The giant fire dragon’s body began to tighten, causing the surrounding flames to move closer to Daji!
Daji stood still. Instead of running away from the flames, she slowly extended her hand to grab the black flames.
The ring on her ring finger gave out a halo. The moment her slender hand touched the flame, a layer of frost appeared and rapidly spread down the fire dragon’s body, turning it into an ice sculpture in a blink of an eye.
Did she just freeze flames?
“My flames…how’s this possible?” lamented Panther Demon King in disbelief.
Both of them held the title of a Chaos Daluo Golden Immortal but if Daji’s ice attack was able to overpower his flame attack, it could be said they were not on the same level.
Immediately, Panther Demon King’s pupils zeroed out and every hair on his body was standing. He felt an imminent disaster was about to befall him.
There was no choice for him but to run. He did not waste any time in making his escape but before he could, a white beam faster than the speed of light shot through his body. It was as if fate had decided that today was his death day.
“Ah…” He only had time to open his mouth before transforming into an ice sculpture.
“Ssss…” Both Bull Demon King and Hippo Demon King let out a sharp breath at the sight of the ice sculpture.
The fight did not last long and ended in a blink of an eye. From an onlooker’s perspective, Daji did not move much-she simply stood where she was and only raised her hand twice. In contrast, Panther Demon King jumped around just to show off how powerful he was.
Then, just as he was about to flee by jumping, he was turned into ice and would never jump again. This could definitely be classified as an instant kill.
The three of them were all Demon Kings and it was natural for fights to break out between them. However, their battle power was usually on par with each other. In other words, this Nine-Tailed Fox could easily turn them all into ice.
But how did things end up this way?
Even in the ranking of Chaos Daluo Golden Immortal, the three of them would take the top spots. So, how powerful exactly was this Nine-Tailed Fox?
Their feelings of shock did not last long before it made way for the feeling of schadenfreude. ‘Served him right for acting disrespectfully towards Little Fox’s sister and thank you for sacrificing yourself!’
The two of them suddenly felt Daji’s stare. They quickly greeted Daji, “Greetings to you, friend! We truly admire your sister and have no intention to harm her. It’s not against the law to love somebody, right? We’re all demons here, there’s no need to make an enemy of each other.”
“You’ve caused a lot of trouble for my sister. I’ll make this simple for you by giving you two choices.” She paused for a while and took out the Demon Summoning Gourd. “Choice number one, surrender and become my sister’s servant, or choice number two, become an ice sculpture.”
She had given it some thought before. Currently, Little Fox did not have anyone powerful by her side and these three Demon Kings were Chaos Daluo Golden Immortals. So, if their crimes were not enough for a death sentence, she would accept them as servants.
“Well…” Bull Demon King and Hippo Demon King looked at each other and saw the helpless struggle the both of them were feeling.
They were used to being royalty in their own domain and enjoyed the freedom their title conferred upon them. To be a servant to someone else? They would rather die.
At least, that was what they wanted to tell Daji but her aura was just too powerful, causing them to feel suffocated. They felt the air around them becoming colder and colder.
Bull Demon King’s eyes flashed and he said between gritted teeth, “Friend, I’ll surrender on one condition. If you can fulfill the condition, I’ll pledge my undying loyalty.” “What’s the condition?” asked Daji.
“I have a little brother. He was captured by the Ministry five days ago. I hope you can rescue him,” said Bull Demon King.
Daji frowned slightly. “Do you know exactly where he’s being held?” “Yes!” He nodded quickly. “Us two brothers can sense each other’s location. But the Ministry’s too powerful, that’s why I’m hoping someone from the Heavenly Realm would be able to…” His voice became softer and softer, not wanting to put too much hope for a mission this difficult.
“Deal!” Daji nodded and turned her gaze toward Hippo Demon King.
Fear made him break out in goosebumps. “The Ministry also captured a few of my servants. I’ll also surrender and pledge my undying loyalty if you can get them out!”
“And you?” Daji asked the frozen Panther Demon King after unfreezing his mouth.
“Me-me, too… Please, unfreeze me!” he replied with chattering teeth and purple lips.
