The Sixth Book Chapter Forty-Three Departure for the Demon Realm

  I found Panzong and the others in a luxurious hotel, originally they didn't want to go into the palace with me, but I and Meng Ke persuaded them strongly, and tempted Jin Yin with the delicious food inside the imperial palace, finally moving them, together we arrived at my mother's residence.

  I originally wanted to explain to the palace guards, but they didn't stop me at all, and let our twenty people pass through the checkpoint.

  I pulled my mother's hand and introduced her to them: "Brothers, this is my mother." My mother smiled at everyone and said: "Hello, don't be polite here, just treat it as your own home."

  Pan Zong scratched his head, looking at my human mother and said: "Lao Si, what should we call you?" I laughed and said: "According to human rules, you should call me Mother-in-law."

  "Hello Auntie." His mother smiled warmly and said, "You're doing well. You must be my son's older brother, right?"

  Pan Zong nodded and swept up the hood on his head, revealing nine snake heads: "Yes, did Lei Xiang tell you? I am a nine-headed snake, didn't I scare you?"

  "Come on, everyone, let's go inside and sit down. I've prepared some food for you." As soon as they heard there was food, Jinyi and Yinsi rushed in first. Jin exclaimed: "Auntie, hello! I'm Jin."

  "Aunt, hello, I'm Yin, you're really beautiful."

  "Mom, this is my second brother and sister."

  "Ah! Your hair is also very beautiful." The mother's sincere praise.

  Jin looked a bit embarrassed and said, "Auntie, those..." I chuckled and said, "It's only right that they're in that room. Go ahead! Mom, my second brother and sister don't have any other hobbies, they just love to eat and drink, and also like some novel things."

  Yin Nu said: "Old Fourth, what are you talking about? We are dignified..." I continued: "Right, right, they are also known as the Wolf God, and all the wolf people listen to them. Big Brother is the spiritual leader of the Snake People, and the snake people admire him greatly. Second Brother and Second Sister, why don't you hurry up? Big Brother and Third Brother have already gone in. My mom's cooking is human delicacies that even I haven't had before. If you don't go, I will!" As I spoke, I darted into the house with a swift step.

  Wow, the whole table is full of all kinds of small desserts, I couldn't help but speak, and immediately joined Pan Zong and Meng Ke's sweep team. Jin Yin also rushed in, and without hesitation, stuffed them into her mouth.

  The mother stood at the door, staring blankly at us, a group of people who looked like they were starving to death. She turned her head and said to the group of snake-like people who followed Pan Zong: "You all go eat something too."

  The snake-headed guard swallowed his saliva and said respectfully, "Ah! You don't have to be polite, we're not hungry." Who dares to compete with these big shots for food? Isn't that looking for death? Even if it's the best delicacy, they wouldn't dare go up.

  In just a short while, the food on the table was swept clean. Since I had eaten human food before, tasting it again didn't feel like anything special except for feeling my mother's love and care for us. The others were different though.

  Pan Zong and Jin Yin rushed to their mother's side, each holding one of her arms, with an expression that seemed like they were about to drool. Pan Zong said: "Auntie, auntie, are there still some food left? It's simply too delicious."

  Yin Dao: "Yes, yes, it's too delicious, I've never eaten anything so good."

  I ran over and said, "You guys know how delicious human food is now, right? Second brother, do you know why I didn't eat their stuff last time at Sa Si's place? You're all older than my mom, stop pretending to be so innocent!"

  "Ah, we're really treating ourselves to a feast, aren't we? No matter how old we get, our seniority remains the same. Compared to those rotten dishes served by others and your culinary skills, Mother, theirs are simply trash! Is there more, Mother? I want to eat some more."

  Mother shook her head and said: "Time is too tight, I only did these, didn't expect your appetites are so good. I'll make more for you now, the ingredients are all ready."

  I hastily pulled my mother back and said, "Mom, don't go, you can't exhaust yourselves for the sake of food."

  Pan Zongdao said: "Auntie, let us help you with this, so you won't get tired, how about it?"

  "Big brother, stop messing around, I still have something to say to you all. Come on, let's go inside and sit down."

  "What's more important than eating?" Panzong muttered to himself. Although he said so, he had already followed his mother in. They were like good children who were even more filial than me, Jin and Panzong sat on either side of their mother, I frowned and said: "I say, you guys didn't come here to fight with me for mom, did you?"

  Yin Xiao said: "Of course we have to rush, it would be great if we had such a good mother."

  Her mother gently patted her silver hair and said, "When the time comes, I'll teach you how to do it. Later on, you can cook for yourselves and eat, isn't that better?"

  Yin Xi said: "Good, good." Really can't deal with them, I solemnly said: "I really have something important to tell you, the Beast Emperor wants to see you."

  "What's he doing, watching us?"

  I cried and laughed helplessly: "Second sister, he is the king of the beastmen after all. I need your help to persuade him to send troops against the demon tribe. Don't you see how he's behaving?"

  Yin Dao: "What's wrong with that? We won't be slaves to him." Pan Zong nodded in agreement, saying: "Fourth Brother, you can represent us. We don't want to pay respects to this lowly beast of a man, and we don't want to cause trouble for you either. It's better not to go."

  They are right, I thought for a moment and said: "The Beast Emperor is a wise ruler, he shouldn't care about these trivial etiquette. You two come with me to see him tomorrow, I guarantee you won't have to bow down, isn't that enough? Just clearly tell him that your two tribes will support his development of the beastman tribe and support this attack on the demon tribe." Jin said: "Fourth brother, you'd better keep your word."

  I nodded and said, "Of course, if I can't do it, punish me by not letting me eat my mother's cooking for the rest of my life." Jinyuan and Panzong nodded in satisfaction, thinking that there was nothing more important than being able to eat their mother's cooking. I turned around and looked at the sky which was gradually darkening, saying "You guys rest here, I still need to go out for a bit." My mother asked, "Ashuang, where are you going?"

  I sighed and said, "The Beast Emperor let me go back to take a look. I must persuade Lei Ao to support my actions against the Demon Clan. Mother, you won't blame me, will you?"

  "Mother frowned and said: 'You go. Be careful.'"

  "Don't worry, I will. You also said it, there's the Beast Emperor's face at stake, Lei Ao won't do anything to me."

  "Go see King Bimun? I'll go too, I'll go too."

  "What are you going to do? Are you looking for trouble again? I won't help you. I'm going to take care of something, not play around." Jin said: "Who says I want to look for trouble, just go and take a look."

  This guy is really getting on my nerves, they used to cause trouble for my father before, if I go, won't we end up fighting?

  Just as I was in a predicament, Mother spoke up: "Xin, how about Auntie teaching you to cook? What you ate earlier were just ordinary snacks. Tonight, Auntie will make something better for you."

  "Great, great! When shall we start?"

  "Of course it's now, cooking requires many steps, if you miss something, the flavor will be lost a lot." Under her mother's kind words, Yin dragged Jin, who was somewhat reluctant, to the kitchen together.

  I secretly let out a breath of relief, instructed Meng Ke to take good care of them, and quietly left the imperial palace.

  I made my way through the streets and alleys to the Bimeng Wangfu, the mansion still stood tall as it had before. I took a deep breath, didn't go in through the main gate, lightly jumped over the wall and entered the compound. At this time, Father should be inside, I looked around, the mansion was very quiet, only a few servants hurriedly walked by, no one would notice me.

  After all, this is the place where I have lived for over a decade. I arrived at my father's bedroom with ease, now that it's evening, the tall room inside is lit up, he should be in there.

  I calmed myself down a bit, took two steps forward and knocked twice on the door.

  "Who?" His father's deep and heavy voice sounded.

  "Dad, it's me." My voice was slightly excited. The huge figure cast a shadow on the door under the lamp light, and the door opened to reveal my father's familiar tall and sturdy body standing in front of me.

  It's only been a few months since we last met, but I noticed that my father's temples have some white hair, and his eyes looking at me are complex, with comfort, joy, and also anger.

  He stretched out his big hand and grabbed my shoulder: "Come in."

  It's clear that this war's defeat has dealt a great blow to Father. Father's hands are still as steady and powerful, making me feel as if no force can resist him.

  As I entered the house, my father waved his hand casually, and a strong gust of wind blew by, closing the door behind me. He released his grip on my hand and walked alone to sit down at his desk. He looked up and stared at me intently, as if he had never seen me before: "Sit down." I murmured in response, pulled out a chair, and sat down diagonally across from my father, turning my face towards him.

  "Aren't you supposed to be on a mission for His Majesty? How did you end up back here?"

  In front of Father, I always feel a bit awkward and respectfully say: "Father, this time I came back because there are some important things to report to Your Majesty."

  His father picked up the large water cup on the table and took a sip: "What's wrong, can't you even deal with some thieves?"

  I wasn't surprised at all that Father knew about my actions, the relationship between the Beast Emperor and Father is inseparable, without Father's support, the Beast Emperor wouldn't be able to sit in this position today, he wouldn't have anything hidden from Father.

  I shook my head and said, "A few bandits are nothing. I have successfully conquered the entire territory of Yunna and Sasari, and killed several batches of bandits. However, after I just recovered Sasari, I encountered an attack by the fallen angel of the Demon Clan."

  My father's eyes shot out two sharp glints, the immense pressure making me somewhat breathless, my heart involuntarily trembling. My father asked in a deep voice: "How can there be fallen angels within our domain? What are they doing here?"

  "I said with hatred: 'They came to destroy our plan to rebuild the Beastman tribe. The five fallen angels killed 19 of my brothers, one escaped back to the Demon Tribe before I returned, and the rest were all annihilated by me. This vendetta must be avenged, so this time I've come back to ask Your Majesty to dispatch troops to attack the Demon Tribe.'"

  Father Tong suddenly stood up, "What did you say? You killed four fallen angels?"

  I shook my head and said: "I killed one, the remaining ones were killed by my sworn brother, one was self-destructed, and another was blown up by his companion's self-destruction."

  "Where did you find this sworn brother of yours? What kind of person is he?"

  "Oh, I've sworn brotherhood with three beastmen, including a snake person and a wolf person, and one of them is my surviving guard." My father grunted and said, "Nonsense, with our noble bloodline being superior to the Mongols, how can we form brotherhood with these lowly races?" I exclaimed in surprise, "But isn't Your Majesty also a lion person?"

  His father coughed dryly and didn't answer the question, "You said you could kill a fallen angel, so your kung fu should have improved a lot, right?" As he spoke, he walked in front of me, and I quickly stood up.

  "Follow me." Father turned around, pushed the door and went out. I followed closely behind him, just like when we came in, without going through the main gate, he took me and jumped out of the Wang Fu.

  The sky has gradually darkened and night is falling. Father called me out to do something, from what he said earlier, it should be to test my kung fu skills.

  My father took me back to the place where we last fought, he stopped and said: "Let me try your progress in martial arts?" After finishing speaking, he turned around and threw a punch at me.

  My heart secretly cries out in anguish, and with Father as my enemy I couldn't use the Fallen Angel transformation, even if I were to become the Crimson Angel it's clear he wouldn't be a match for me. How much more so now that I'm unable to transform? In order to hold on just a little while longer, I tried hard to recall Grandma's death, thinking that by relying on these memories my emotions would stir up and I'd go into a frenzied battle state.

  I adjusted my thoughts while mobilizing the Crazy God's Fighting Aura and Dark Magic, and a faint yellow glow emanated from my body. I knew what kind of battle my father liked, so I took a step forward, let out a loud roar, and infused the Crazy God's Fighting Aura into my fist, unleashing it with the mindset of fighting to dominate the world.

  A highly concentrated aura of madness condensed into a tangible entity outside my fist, and for a moment, the yellow millet was in full bloom.

  A glint of light flashed in Father's eyes, and a white glow appeared on his fist as he swung it out.

  "Boom!" Two fists collided, a strong gust of air shot up into the sky, and the surrounding grass and trees were blown by the powerful fighting spirit, making a rustling sound.

  I stumbled and retreated several steps in a row before grasping the pole firmly, my right hand numb with pain. What tremendous strength.

  His father obviously hadn't done his best, and snorted, saying: "Let me tell you, this is just one of my two successful moves. At your level, it's impossible to kill the fallen angel. Come on, don't you want to avenge your grandmother?"

  I have no time to think about how my father knew the hatred in my heart, his words had already deeply ignited the flames of anger within me, but what's strange is that I was so angry, yet why couldn't I go mad.

  My eyes revealed bloodshot, I let out a loud roar and leaped high into the air, shouting "Crazy Dragon's Frenzied Dance." My body transformed into a yellow dragon as I charged at my father with all my might.

  His father didn't dodge either, stretched out one hand in the air and drew a semicircle, a white light ball appeared in front of him, I rushed up like a moth to flame, and plunged into the light ball.

  A massive force burst forth, blasting a three-meter diameter crater into the ground. I was knocked back again, but I found that Father's strength was just right - not enough to hurt me, yet sufficient to knock me back. Without any hesitation, I continued with the fourth move of the Crazy God Fist.

  "Kyōei Hyaku Retsu." Along with a furious roar, I felt as if every cell in my body was burning up, speed unfolding to the limit, countless yellow figures covering the sky and rushing towards Father.

  His face showed a serious expression for the first time, he took half a step to the left with his left leg, his body slightly crouched, his hands crossed in front of his chest with palms up, slowly opened his hands, and his palms gradually turned from upwards towards his body, then downwards, and finally when his palms were on both sides of his body, they were facing me.

  I strained every nerve to drive the frenzied assault of the Shadow Breaker, but in front of my father there seemed to be an invisible wall that made every shadow I crashed into turn into a light spot, and the powerful attack exploded with a circle of ripples in front of my father.

  My father remained in the posture with both palms facing forward, and I often saw him emit white heavenly thunderbolts that did not appear, as if the space between heaven and earth was filled with his invisible power.

  I was like a dragonfly hitting a stone pillar, tirelessly attacking, yet couldn't affect Father in the slightest.

  Father suddenly exhaled and shouted, pushing his palms forward: "Open." My remaining shadow was completely shattered, an invisible force heavily struck my body, I was thrown high into the air, flying far away, finally, heavily falling to the ground, my body's inertia dragged out a long groove on the ground.

  Under the moonlight, my whole body felt as if it was splitting open in pain, and the fierce energy seemed to have been scattered by Father. It was an indescribable suffering, and the dark magic was rapidly circulating, continuously restoring my physical strength.

  The moonlight in the sky was suddenly blocked, and Father's tall figure appeared before me.

  I struggled to climb up and looked at him.

  "Why didn't you go wild?" Father frowned and asked: "If you had gone wild just now and used those few moves, I wouldn't have been able to receive them so easily."

  I stood up, shaking, and smiled bitterly: "I also want to go wild, but I don't know why. Since the last time I fought with those fallen angels, there has been a strange energy in my body. Every time I reach the edge of going wild, that strange energy appears, making me unable to burst out."

  Father raised his hand and placed it on my shoulder, a thick aura of Dou Qi entering my body. I was greatly shocked in my heart, hurriedly using my will to control the dark magic and evade Father's Dou Qi, compressing them completely into the aperture at my brow.

  It's okay, from Father's cognitive perspective, the energy of us martial artists is all in the dantian. The energy he emitted went straight there, and with his help, I re-condensed my scattered Crazy God Fighting Qi. After a while, Father slowly withdrew his power, with a puzzled look on his face: "Your fighting qi is full of overbearing aura, and inside, there's also the energy of Heavenly Thunder Armor, did you learn another martial art?"

  I nodded and said, "Yes, I learned another type of Dou Qi, which is the Kuáng Shén Dou Qi that I learned from the Tiān Dū Academy of the Dragon God. It's said to be only learnable by those with a Kuáng Huà body constitution, so I practiced it, and it feels pretty powerful."

  His father nodded and said, "These are nothing, but there is a hint of death in your aura, this might be the reason why you can't go berserk. Have you encountered a necromancer?"

  I stared at Father in surprise and asked, "Wong Leng Sifu, what is that?"

  The father sighed and said, "The undead warlock is a very powerful being. They can be said to be a branch of wizards."

  "Is it a dark magician?" I asked doubtfully.

  The father shook his head and said, "No, dark magic practitioners mainly practice dark magic, while lich wizards practice undead magic or necromancy. Although both belong to the category of darkness, they are essentially different. Compared to them, lich wizards are much more terrifying."

  A flicker of fear flashed through Father's eyes, apparently the undead warlock had left an indelible impression on him. "Are there really undead warlocks on the mainland? I've never heard of it, nor have I seen them."

  "The Necromancer is now very rare, when I was young, I met a high-level Necromancer with your grandfather, he wasn't even at the level of a wizard yet. At that time, your grandfather's skills had already surpassed those of the Beastmen tribe, but in the end, although your grandfather killed that Necromancer, he also fell under his curse. This is the real reason why your grandfather died young. You are the second person to know this secret besides me, do not tell anyone else without my permission."

  "Ah! Is the undead warlock that powerful? Back then, was Grandfather more powerful than you are now?" My father looked at me and said in a low voice, "I'm afraid it's still your grandfather who is more powerful. His Thunderous Armor has already broken through to the highest realm and reached the level of the ancient divine beasts' '补天' (Heavenly Supplement) stage."

  "I exclaimed in surprise: 'Mending the Heavens? I've heard my sworn brother, Pan Zong, mention this before. He's almost reached the Absolute Void stage. Isn't this kind of description only used by ancient, long-lost tribes?"

  His father exclaimed in surprise: "Isn't your elder brother a snake man? He's actually reached the level of an absolute land, I've never heard of such a powerful snake man."

  Anyway, he will know sooner or later, and I have nothing to hide. For now, I briefly told him about the process of this trip to suppress the bandits. A sudden smile appeared on Father's face: "It turns out that the sly assassin is actually the double-headed wolf of the Wolf Tribe. When I see him again, hum!"

  I thought to myself, what can I do if Jin and Father fight? Which side should I take? I quickly changed the subject: "Then why did you use the method of '補天' (making up for Heaven) to describe your own situation?"

  "Actually, our clan is also an ancient tribe that has been passed down from the remote past, and we are one of the most numerous tribes that have survived to this day. If you have the chance, ask your two brothers if they know about the Hong Huang Giant Clan. In the remote past, our Hong Huang Giants were second only to the Dragon Clan, with innate conditions that could be cultivated to this day."

  "There are only a few dragons, so if we say that, our ethnic group was the strongest in ancient times, even surpassing the Mongols."

  The father sighed and said, "You're wrong. Although our innate conditions are very good, we have a fatal flaw compared to the Mong tribe. This flaw makes it impossible for us to compare with the Dragon Tribe. You should know that our lifespan as a Bimon clan will not exceed 150 years, no matter how high our cultivation is, unless we can break through the boundary of dust and become immortal. In fact, according to what I know, very few of our Bimon clan members can live beyond 100 years. Those other tribes have lifespans of hundreds or even thousands of years, let alone the Dragon Tribe. Sigh... You know why I don't like you? It's because you're not a pure-blooded Bimon. Actually, neither am I. Your grandmother is from the Demon Tribe, which you know. This is why I may never be able to enter the threshold of the Sacred Realm. So, I resent your grandmother, and that's why I don't care about her. But I never thought of killing her, it was just...".

  A surge of strong anger and murderous intent rose in my heart. If he had treated my grandmother a bit better, would his subordinates have dared to harm her? But for now, I couldn't erupt yet. I didn't have the power to confront my father. Suppressing the anger in my heart, I asked, "What level has your cultivation reached?"

  "It's just barely passing the threshold of Bu Tian. Lei Xiang, you should know that every level up is a huge change, but even at my current level, I absolutely dare not provoke those undead sorcerers. When I checked your body's condition earlier, it was somewhat similar to when your grandfather was injured back then, just lighter. Did you really not encounter any undead sorcerers?"

  I thought for a moment: "Ah! The fallen angel I was just talking to you about, he used the forbidden technique, which is also a powerful force of death. It's just that it was weakened by our combined efforts, or else it would have hit me."

  Father frowned and said, "Forbidden technique, does such a spell really exist? However, the undead sorcerer I encountered before was killed by Father in the end, but he used an incantation that didn't work, and ended up self-destructing. Maybe he also wanted to use this technique back then. Leixiang, for now it seems that the death energy inside you only prevents you from going berserk, without any other effects, but you must think of a way to change this situation as soon as possible. Otherwise, if you let it linger in your body, it will eventually be triggered, and by then...". Father is actually worried about me, which has never happened before, but this isn't enough to weaken my hatred for him.

  However, what he said about the undead warlock sparked my interest. I nodded and asked, "What are the characteristics of an undead warlock? What should I do if I encounter them in the future?"

  "The undead mages are divided into several different levels, the most common being the undead mage, but some have powers above that of a human intermediate magic user. They were all once human ordinary magicians who became undead mages, and one level higher is called the advanced undead mage. If we're talking about human magicians, they should be at the level of a magic master, but much more terrifying. The last kind, and also the highest level, is the undead wizard, which seems to be just a legend, as no one has ever heard of it appearing anywhere. Undead wizards are true commanders of the undead, their powers absolutely surpassing those of human so-called saintly magic masters. At that level, they can break through our world and reach the legendary realm of the gods. I'm afraid that even if I could cultivate to the point of transcending the mundane, I wouldn't be a match for them. Remember, the attire of undead mages is generally a black large cloak with a long wooden staff, the staff being their most obvious symbol, similar in other ways to dark magicians. Advanced undead mages wear red large cloaks with a long wooden staff, and undead wizards are said to have no physical form at all, just a gray-cloaked mist. With your current abilities, if you encounter any undead wizard, the only method is to immediately run away."

  "Is the Lich really that powerful?"

  Father Zheng nodded heavily and said, "Yes, they are extremely formidable. They excel at cursing techniques and summoning the spirits of the dead. In other words, if you were to fight him, for every one person that dies on your side, he will gain an additional person on his side. Understand? Moreover, the higher the level of the necromancer, the more of the original power they can retain from the summoned spirits."

  Although Father spoke very seriously, I was somewhat skeptical. Later on, when there's an opportunity, I must find a Necromancer to have a contest with. I asked: "Where can one find Necromancers on the continent?"

  "Father shook his head and said, "I don't know either, maybe they've already been wiped out. The biggest advantage of the undead mage is that as long as you don't provoke him, he generally won't come to provoke you, so they are so silent on the mainland. They usually cultivate in the deep mountains to reach a higher realm, these people who practice undead magic are all power-worshiping madmen. Maybe there will be some on the demon side. Alright, we've said too much today, let's go back to the manor."

  Back at the Bimon royal palace, Father asked me: "You said this time you came back to let His Majesty dispatch troops to attack the Demon Clan, what's going on?"

  "I said indignantly: 'Those damned demons have already bullied us to our territory, if we don't give them a lesson, they will become even more arrogant, so we must counterattack.'"

  His father snorted and said, "You're still too impulsive. Don't you know how powerful the Demon Clan is? We've just gone through a war and suffered heavy losses. Moreover, the Demon Clan has control over our logistics lifeline. I think His Majesty will not agree to your request for troops."

  I glanced at Father and said, "No, Your Majesty has agreed to my suggestion."

  The father suddenly stood up and angrily shouted: "What? Has Your Majesty gone mad?"

  I smiled slightly, for the first time taking the upper hand in this process of coming to find Father today: "No, His Majesty is not crazy, with his wisdom, would he do something that doesn't benefit him? Of course, it's true that some risk must be taken, but high-risk results in high returns. His Majesty promised me to think about it and give me an answer within these few days. However, he still respects your opinion very much, isn't that what I'm here to tell you?"

  My father glared at me, he also understood that the Beast Emperor wouldn't be so impulsive, and sat back down, saying: "Tell me in detail, what do you plan to do?"

  I hesitated for a moment and repeated the strategy I told Beast Emperor today. After listening to my account, Father fell into deep thought.

  "After a long while, he raised his head and said: 'If the Demon Emperor doesn't know when to stop, what can we do? Are we really going to go all out with the entire nation's strength and fight the demon clan to the end? You should understand that after all, there is still a certain gap in strength between us and the demon clan.'"

  "I knew all this, but as I said earlier, the demon clan is not as stable as it seems on the surface right now, and the Demon Emperor can't ignore these factors."

  The father nodded.

  I stood up and said, "You think about it some more, I'll go back first."