Gathering Cauldron Mountain had now become increasingly similar to Huo Guan Mountain in both climate and terrain.
Blazing fire steamed away the moisture in every direction. The ground had dried and curled, the soil split into cracks, and the sky above looked as though it had been burned through with a massive hole, the clouds pierced by a neat, enormous opening.
A column of smoke and fire twisted together, drilling through that great hole into the clouds and reaching beyond the Nine Heavens, staining the sky orange.
From afar, the air shrouding Gathering Cauldron Mountain warped as though covered by a thick layer of plastic.
Earthen platforms rose one after another across the mountain. Though many now stood empty, quite a few Cauldron Artifacts remained atop them, fires burning beneath as they refined something.
Countless heads bustled around the platforms and Cauldron Artifacts. At a rough glance, there were well over ten thousand people.
They were all pharmacists and attendants hired by Ku Tang, recently devoted to researching open avenues for refining Demon Essence into pills.
Utterly unaware that catastrophe loomed over them, that great demons had set their sights upon them, they remained busy with their work.
"Hurhur, this desolate mountain is where Lihuo Prefecture brews medicine on a grand scale!"
Aside from its mouthful of fangs, the Demonic Creature speaking looked like a burly butcher. Its oily face gleamed as it chewed a living human screaming in agony, blood spraying from between its teeth.
One of the Ten Southern Demons, the Cunning Demon was cruel and gluttonous, taking its greatest pleasure in eating living humans raw.
It ranked among the Ten Southern Demons, slightly above the Dragon Demon, placing it around the middle.
The Cunning Demon was most famous for its love of "fine food." It could not