Chapter 23: Archfiend Azure Lion’s Secret

He faced no resistance when he assumed command of the Eagle Peak, as the bird fiends thought he was the second Archfiend of Pitfall Mountain. They even lacked a Fiend General and so, they received him with all respect.

Chen Ming now knew what power the Eagle Peak held, thirty-six Dao Initiation realm Great Fiends, not something Archfiend Azure Lion would pay attention to. Pitfall Mountain had hundreds of Great Fiends, proving to be a considerable force for a fringe area of the Myriad Mountains.

But the surroundings of Pitfall Mountain, all had Archfiend accompanied by conflicts.

Chen Ming started to think of a way to divert Pitfall Mountain’s attention from the Yan Empire and spent all day gathering important information.

To do this he had to understand the bitter conflicts that arose in the area. Thus, Chen Ming sent his Great Fiends to scout, the more important the information was, the better.

“Lord, we found that Savage Bull adores eating venison, constantly watching Fiend General Stag with shifty eyes!”

“Lord, Fiend General Stag brought a female boar in his cave. When he came out he started putting on his clothes, revealing content and relaxed expression!”

‘No way! The information you gathered is controversial indeed, but it’s f*king useless!’

“Lord, Fiend General White Wolf sneaked inside Savage Bull’s territory…”

Chen Ming perked up. It seemed that these two had a valuable secret and might be in cahoots with each other. Chen Ming grew impatient, “And then?”

The black hawk giving the report gave a mysterious smile, “I don’t know what Fiend General White Wolf did to Savage Bull’s cows but White Wolf’s men started drinking cow milk!”

Chen Ming smacked him out of the cave, “Scram!”

‘A bunch of trash! You’d be better of as reporters!’

When Chen Ming saw that Great Fiend Black Hawk returned while covering his face, he asked, “Got anything else to add?”

Great Fiend Black Hawk nodded.

“It isn’t gossip?”

Great Fiend Black Hawk didn’t understand, but still reported, “I recently found that Fiend General Gorilla sneaked in Archfiend Azure Lion’s lair when he was away.”

Chen Ming’s eyes sparkles, ‘Didn’t think bushy eyebrow Gorilla would defect. He must be an Archfiend’s spy, to infiltrate Azure Lion King’s lair and steal his secrets!

Chen Ming nodded, “Alright, you are free to leave. Let’s see what is Fiend General Gorilla up to!”

Chen Ming activated the Fire Crow Art and turned into a pitch-black ordinary crow, something he could do since he formed the Dao Seed. For fiends, once they formed the Dao Seed they could take human shape and for humans, it seemed to be the opposite.

In-flight, he moved the Dao Canon’s Dao Palace in front. With the first volume, now one could differentiate him from an ordinary man. Adding the fact that Dao Canon lacked an attribute, this made him look like any ordinary crow out there.

He hid outside Fiend General Gorilla’s cave waiting for him to sneak into Archfiend Azure Lion’s lair.

In the middle of the night, it amazed him it wasn’t Fiend General Gorilla who came out but Fiend General White Wolf who came in instead, ‘Could they be accomplices?’

White Wolf went inside Gorilla’s cave followed by Chen Ming’s wings flapping towards the entrance, eavesdropping on Gorilla, “Archfiend Azure Lion’s Spirit Devouring Art reached it’s peak and will soon be completed, causing his appetite grows larger and larger.”

White Wolf said, “There are barely any Great Fiends with no affiliation left. We must risk grabbing Great Fiends from another Archfiend’s territory.”

“With our power, if we don’t meet a Fiend General, no one will know. This is a crucial time for our Archfiend, we must make sure not to cause chaos! “

“What’s there to fear, once this period passes and Archfiend Azure Lion becomes a Great Archfiend, we will garner great merits and become Archfiends!”

The two fiends suited into black clothes, only their eyes revealed, then stepped on their fiend cloud.

Chen Ming sat on a fiend’s spear, ‘Fiend General Gorilla doesn’t plan on rebelling but to fulfill Azure Lion’s secret order. What cultivation method is this Spirit Devouring Art, allowing a cultivator to devour Great Fiends?’

The fiend holding the spear was drowsy, but then he saw there was a crow perched on it, “Ha-ha-ha, heaven favors me by gifting me this crow. Let me grab and roast you!”

Chen Ming ignored the fiend and flew after the Fiend Generals.

The night suited Chen Ming like a glove, helping him hide, but looking like any other crow didn’t hurt. He followed the two until they reached White Fox Mountain. This territory’s Archfiend was a three-tailed fox, known as Archfiend White Fox, having significant power under her. But she didn’t enjoy fighting and maintain neutrality.

White Wolf and Gorilla entered a cave with no effort, knocked out a Great Fiend. They used the same method until they got four captives, then retreated in the night.

White Wolf said, “This affair won’t cause any problems, and this area is the border between White Fox Mountain and Thousand Serpents Cave. It shouldn’t cast any suspicion on us, but we can’t take more since it will draw White Fox Mountain’s attention. Let’s go!”

Gorilla nodded, “Alright, let’s take them to the prison.”

Chen Ming went after them and when it cracked of dawn, they arrived at the prison, in the Pitfall Mountain’s abyss. The two descended on a winding stone path on the abyss’ wall for a mile or so, then the prison’s entrance came in sight.

Perched on the path’s railing, Chen Ming could see prison cells on the abyss’ wall, holding close to twenty Great Fiends.

Archfiend Azure Lion, eyes bloodshot, transformed into a hundred feet Azure Lion, opened its maw and swallowed a Great Fiend whole.

He then sat cross-legged and controlled his spiritual power to digest his meal. Two hours later, Chen Ming saw how his danger value increased, point by point, until 532!

If he keeps this up, wouldn’t he become a Great Archfiend in a few years? At that point, no matter how much he raised his cultivation with spiritual knowledge points, he would still come short of matching Azure Lion’s power.

White Wolf and Gorilla gave their report and left. Azure Lion smacked his mouth, “Devouring a Great Fiend has such an amazing effect. I wonder how stronger will I get if eat Wandering Crow? But the time isn’t right yet, the four Fiend General would feel threatened when their shield is gone. I need to get stronger, and when the time comes, I will devour the entire world, ha-ha-ha-ha!”