Chapter 66: The Demon King Speaks, A Desperate Struggle for Survival

The spicy pepper-eating contest finally came to an end beneath the blazing sun.

To Mo Fan's surprise, that fellow One-Eye actually participated in person. However, this wolf demon was quite capable, gritting his teeth and holding out all the way to third from last before collapsing.

This incident became a source of endless amusement for many of the nearby minor demon commanders.

Mo Fan did not mock him. Although he didn't care much for One-Eye, this was hardly the time to cultivate a grudge.

In his view, now that the scorpion demon was dead, he had almost no enemies left in Black Wind Mountain. Although Fang the Venomous might count as one, the other party was not yet inclined to pick on a minor demon like him, and Mo Fan had no intention of proactively stirring up trouble.

Growing steadily in obscurity while keeping a low profile was the most important thing!

As the contest concluded, Mo Fan instructed Number Three and Number Six to drag the utterly exhausted Number Eight back.

The minor demon who had drawn the lot this time was indeed Number Eight the spider demon.

Although Number Eight had lost, he was utterly thrilled because he was about to win a flask of spirit wine.

Mo Fan did not say much, simply producing a flask of monkey wine and handing it to Number Eight. He then looked toward the rest of the minor demons and smiled, "Although I have taken over the scorpion demon commander's position, I am not like that stingy scorpion. As long as I have meat to eat, the rest of you will at least have soup to drink!"

"From now on, for every spicy pepper-eating contest, I will provide spirit wine or items of equivalent value as rewards to encourage everyone to actively participate!"

"Long live the master!!"

"Long live the master!!"

"..."

Upon hearing this, the surrounding minor demons all became immensely excited.

Although this spicy pepper contest hadn't netted Mo Fan any direct rewards and instead cost him two flasks of monkey wine, he felt quite pleased inside.

This gesture had significantly elevated his image in the hearts of these minor demons and greatly increased their loyalty.

In Mo Fan's view, that was quite enough!

He considered himself an ambitious demon, and ambition naturally required a loyal core group of followers. Right now, he had already begun to cultivate his own faction.

"Children, all of you, quiet down for your lord!!"

Just as the demons of Flat-Top Peak were preparing to return to their respective caves, the Black Wind Demon King finally spoke, his voice echoing clearly across the entire peak.

The demons all looked toward the Demon King at the summit, and Mo Fan was no exception.

"Tomorrow night is the night of the full moon. I hope that all the children of my Black Wind Mountain will diligently apply themselves to cultivation. If any newly ascended minor demons do not understand the ways of cultivation, you may ask your respective demon commanders for guidance."

"If any demon commander dares to teach half-heartedly, the minor demons may come directly to me, and I will personally dispense justice for my children!"

The Demon King's words took Mo Fan by surprise. This was the first time he had heard such protective words toward the minor demons uttered by the lips of a demon king, which he found rather incredible.

In Mo Fan's impression, the demons of Black Wind Mountain were almost entirely self-serving. Let alone the demon kings and generals, even the demon commanders squeezed the minor demons to the point of misery for their own benefit.

Take the scorpion demon as an example: not only did he demand regular tributes of low-grade spiritual herbs from his subordinate minor demons, but when he encountered demons like Mo Fan who carried their own natural toxins, he would ruthlessly extract their poison without the slightest regard for the minor demons' lives.

Over the past half-month, Mo Fan had learned much about the scorpion demon's past atrocities from the mouths of Number Eight and the other two demons.

It turned out that he wasn't the only demon whose poison had been harvested by the scorpion; several others had suffered the same fate over the past dozen years, though he was the only one who had survived.

Those demons all possessed true forms similar to Mo Fan's—venomous creatures born with natural toxins. Once they successfully transformed into spirits, their toxicity far exceeded what it had been before, which was the main reason the scorpion targeted them.

Without exception, those demons had all been successively appointed as the scorpion's personal attendants and bestowed with code names as names. Yet in the end, all those demons had died, leaving their code names vacant. That was why there were numerical gaps between Number Three, Number Six, and Number Eight.

After questioning the three demons, Mo Fan learned that they were not venomous demons themselves, but possessed formidable individual strength, which was why the scorpion valued them and promoted them as personal attendants to handle specific tasks, including hunting down escaping "venomous demons."

Therefore, Mo Fan never believed that the demons of Black Wind Mountain possessed any genuine benevolence; they were all a selfish lot.

Yet now, the Black Wind Demon King had uttered words that actually benefited the lowest-tier minor demons, which truly seemed baffling to him.

"Grandpa King is bringing up this rule again... It seems that time has come around once more..."

Lu Tantan muttered to himself nearby, his expression turning rather solemn.

Hearing this, Mo Fan felt a pang of curiosity. He glanced sideways and saw that He Feifei beside him wore the exact same grave expression, while Da Li, the ox demon standing behind them, looked nervous, his body trembling involuntarily.

These fellows seemed to know something.

As Mo Fan pondered this, the Black Wind Demon King atop the mountain spoke once more: "I have noticed that many new minor demons have recently ascended in our Black Wind Mountain, so there are probably many things you do not know about. I will briefly explain them to you all here."

"Half a year from now, our Black Wind Mountain will engage in a conflict with two other nearby mountains. When the time comes, all demon commanders and minor demons must participate!"

The Black Wind Demon King paused here, and a wave of commotion rippled through the demons on Flat-Top Peak, before they heard him continue: "This conflict will be extremely hazardous, and quite a few of you will inevitably lose your lives. However... if you manage to survive this battle, I will not be stingy with my rewards. Spiritual herbs, elixirs, magical treasures, status—everything you could possibly desire will be yours!"

As soon as these words fell, the minor demons across Flat-Top Peak erupted into a frenzy once again. For these demons at the very bottom of the hierarchy, this was clearly a tremendous opportunity!

If the minor demons were simply left to cultivate in peace, making a breakthrough would be exceedingly difficult. After all, aside from cultivation, they were required to pay heavy tributes of resources.

Taking the few minor demons Mo Fan knew as examples, clues of this were not hard to find.

Zhazha the sparrow demon had cultivated in Black Wind Mountain for several years, yet had never crossed the threshold into the realm of a demon commander.

Red-Eye the rabbit demon had likewise practiced for over a decade with the same result.

Da Li the ox demon was an even clearer case; having cultivated for more than thirty years, he was still nothing more than a minor demon.

One could easily imagine how arduous it was for minor demons to achieve a major breakthrough. Not every demon was as fortunate as Mo Fan.

Now that such an opportunity had presented itself, even though it carried a certain mortality rate, it still filled the demons with elation.

When all was said and done, demons were fundamentally different from humans; they carried an innate wildness deep within their bones—a wildness intertwined with bloodlust!

After uttering a few inspiring platitudes to boost morale, the Black Wind Demon King waved his large sleeve, and swirling demonic winds swept away a retinue of alluring enchantresses as he flew off into the sky.

The three demon generals also dispersed, leaving the demons on Flat-Top Peak buzzing with discussion.

"Brother Lu, you all seem quite familiar with this so-called conflict?"

Mo Fan looked toward Lu Tantan and He Feifei, a hint of inquiry in his eyes.

"Conflict, you say... Ha! I never thought time would pass so quickly. It's time to put our lives on the line once more!"

Lu Tantan gave a wry smile, his complexion looking rather unsightly.

Put our lives on the line?

Hearing this, Mo Fan's expression shifted slightly, a premonition of trouble stirring in his heart as he asked, "What do you mean by that, Brother Lu?"

Lu Tantan cast a sidelong glance at the various demons on Flat-Top Peak with their different expressions, then said to Mo Fan, "This matter is of great consequence. Let's leave Flat-Top Peak first before we talk!"

"Very well, I was just about to host our two commanders anyway."

A thoughtful gleam flashed in Mo Fan's eyes as he nodded and said, "Come, let's go to my cave dwelling!"