A Scapegoat

To be honest, Su Chengd of Hengshan is clearly a ruthless bastard. As a disciple of the Xuanmen sect, doesn't he know any restraint when sparring with others, even if it's just a cut or broken bone?

Ink Bamboo Mountain has no open grudge against Hengshan Mountain, nor does it have any connection with Su Chengd himself. So why is it taking such drastic measures now? Isn't it just to show off in front of the two female cultivators from Nangong who are on his side?

Alright, no need for further words. Since we're all mingling with the Nangong Family now, there's no point in arguing. I've already memorized the faces of this master and disciple; they're practically red-name monsters from the opposing camp to Li Fan. Anyway, these ancient cultivators who have reached the Golden Core may look young, but they're actually hundreds of years old. They've lived long enough; I can just use them as points to erase them when the opportunity arises.

Yuan Tianxiao from Ink Bamboo Mountain looked ready to kill. Of course, if he really hurt Su Chengd, he might lose his temper and the Nascent Soul Stage from Hengshan might turn against him.

Fortunately, the surrounding rogue cultivators knew his temper and rushed forward to subdue him. Meanwhile, Yuhengzi, currently the strongest Golden Core Stage cultivator on the Ink Bamboo Mountain, jumped out to ask Su Chengd for advice.

Liu Qing also retreated to sew up her wrist with ink thread to treat the wound. Yuan Tianxiao was worried about Qingqing's injury and restrained himself from jumping out to fight immediately.

Although Li Fan had not directly experienced Yuhengzi level, he could tell that Yu Hengzi was highly skilled. Moreover, given the many magical Magic Treasure he carried, such as gourds, swords, and whisks, and the fact that he casually gave away things like Yang Sui, Li Fan should not be in any danger to his life.

So Li Fan immediately set off, sneaking towards the monsters that were approaching, intending to shift the blame onto them.

This was a group of organized wolf-headed demon scouts stealthily moving about. If Li Fan wasn't mistaken, they certainly weren't just passing by by chance, but had discovered a large group like the Ink Bamboo Mountain or the Nangong Family from afar, so they deliberately kept a distance to track and monitor them, guarding against any tricks the Human Race cultivators might pull outside the Demon God Palace.

Now that Ink Bamboo Mountain and the Nangong Family are fighting, and another proper Nascent Soul Stage cultivator has joined in, and there was a piercing scream just now that shook the heavens and the earth, it would be strange if they didn't come over to see what happened.

Since you've taken the initiative to come here, you might as well accept the blame and not try to take it off.

Li Fan removed the disguise of his Daoist robe, revealing his true form. Pretending to be an unsuspecting wandering cultivator, he deliberately charged into the encirclement of the lurking wolf demons.

These monsters really cooperated. Seeing their prey had run into the trap, they naturally wouldn't let it go. So they forgot about their main task of tracking and swarmed up to ambush and hunt it down.

To be honest, their level is really bad. There are probably twenty or thirty wolves, but they don't have any threatening magical treasures. The demonic winds and flames they emit are not even as pure as the Dao Breath of some Foundation Establishment disciples. If Li Fan were to fly on his sword, their ranged skills wouldn't even be able to catch up with him.

So Li Fan had no choice but to cooperate by flying with his qi, playing the role of Demon Race who was ambushed by the demon race, panicked and fleeing for his life. He was running away in a panic amidst the encirclement of the demons, and he led the wolf pack straight towards the water shrouded in mist. Then, he seized the opportunity and took a hit from behind with a demonic fire. Although it didn't hurt him much, he still let out a scream and fell into the lake.

He immediately activated his Daoist robe skill to conceal his form, watching as the monsters went into the water to search. They then found the body and sword of Dexin, a Hengshan disciple whom he had previously abandoned there.

Watching these wolf-headed demons drag the corpses of Hengshan disciples out of the water, strip them naked, and devour them, then grinning and passing around the precious sword, laughing foolishly at their newfound treasure, Li Fan really wanted to sigh...

Dealing with monsters is so damn easy...

Then I decisively ran away.

Sure enough, a moment later, the sound of swords pierced the sky, a gale swept across the heavens, and then Li Fan heard a furious roar that echoed throughout Lei Marsh.

Tsk tsk, as expected, the most miserable people these days aren't rogue cultivators, but monsters.

At the slightest disturbance, human cultivators would unite to kill a wave of monsters.

Humans killing each other is acceptable, but monsters eating humans is not!

Double standards! So incredibly double standards!

Theoretically, the blame has already been shifted to the monsters, right? Shouldn't he be able to go back and check on the situation at Ink Bamboo Mountain now?

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent says, 'Be steady one last time. After collecting the corpse, I'll do a divination to see if there are any enemies I've overlooked, and then I'll hide from them.'"

Alright, since Profound Heaven Sword Intent is so familiar with the rules of the Xuanmen, in order to avoid inexplicably implicating Ink Bamboo Mountain again, Li Fan will not go back to check on the condition of the Ink Bamboo Mountain disciples. In case that Xu Daochong of Hengshan still harbors resentment, he decides to continue south to the demon territory. He will take refuge in the demon territory for two days and also take the opportunity to observe the level of these demons.

There are now the auras of three Divine Transformation level demon kings in the southern marshland, along with forty or fifty great demons and thousands of other demons and monsters. It's a chaotic scene of demons dancing wildly, with demonic energy soaring to the sky.

As mentioned before, the Ten-thousand-mountains to the south are actually a three-system mountain range, with forty main Main Peak and hundreds of precipitous peaks, stretching for thousands of miles from east to west. Ink Bamboo Mountain occupies fourteen of the Main Peak peaks in the eastern section, while the other twenty-six are naturally the territory of demons and gods.

To become the master of a peak, in this weather, there are countless Nascent Soul Stage level demons, alien species, and demon gods emerging. A demon king would need to be at least at the Transformation Stage to secure his position. Even if some powerful demon gods can occupy two or three more peaks, a rough estimate suggests that there should be nearly twenty Divine Transformation level demon gods and two or three hundred Nascent Soul Stage level demons in the Ten-thousand-mountains.

The opening of the Lei Marsh Demon God Palace this time immediately attracted five great demon kings and fifty-two great demons. It's likely that most of the demons living near Lei Marsh came to join the fun.

With so many demons, it would be impossible to eliminate them with just the few human cultivators in the north.

Fortunately, as the General Wang said, these demons were not of one mind. Not only were the demon kings on the east and west sides treacherous, but the three demon kings on the south side also clearly harbored their own schemes and were wary of each other.

Li Fan himself took a closer look and realized this from the mountain peak where the monsters were entrenched to the south.

After all, even among humans, there are factions and cliques; how much more so these demons who clearly belong to a different category?

On the northernmost hill, the wolf demon clan appears to be the most aggressive. Li Fan glanced around and saw that beneath the Divine Transformation cultivator, there were four Nascent Soul Nascent Soul Stage, five or six hundred Core Formation demons, and over a thousand giant wolves, each two zhang long. It was clearly a wolf pack, and the Divine Transformation demon king was probably the alpha wolf.

Although this wolf pack is not the most powerful or has the most demons among the three demon kings in the south, it should be the strongest in terms of organization and combat power. Currently, the scouts and vanguard of the southern demon king alliance should be this clan. Even if the individual combat power of those core-forming wolf demons is not strong, twenty or thirty of them together are enough to surround and kill ordinary rogue cultivators.

Moreover, because these wolf demons were blocking the north, even the Thunder Eagle cavalry found it difficult to continue investigating the Demon Race's background to the south. Fortunately, Li Fan had the Gui Xu Dao Yi to conceal himself, so as long as he didn't jump right into the face of the great demon, probably no one would be able to spot him.

Given that the wolf pack was heavily guarded and it was difficult to go deep into their territory, and that these dogs had a keen sense of smell—although they couldn't detect him, they seemed to be able to smell human scent— Li Fan had no choice but to smear some mud on his body to avoid getting too close to the scouts. He then bypassed the wolf pack to the north and continued to scout into the demon pack to the south.

Fortunately, the monsters that followed were less professional, and they included various races, making for a mixed bag of creatures. Relying on his Gui Xu Dao Yi Robe for invisibility and the system's translation function, Li Fan circled around the monsters twice, eavesdropping on their conversations and getting a general idea of their arrangements.

The Demon Race in the south are now roughly gathered in a triangle, forming a triangular formation. To the north is the Wolf King, who has reached the Divine Transformation stage; to the south is the Divine Transformation King, who has reached the Divine Transformation; and to the west is the Rhinoceros King, who has reached the Nascent Soul stage. Those demons who do not belong to any particular tribe and occupy their own mountain strongholds are entrenched in the center of the triangle, serving as a buffer zone between the three Divine Transformation stage demons.

Of these three Divine Transformation demon kings, the Lion King in the south is the most famous among the demons. He is the Nine Bends God of Fuyu Mountain, yes, the father of the three lions that Li Fan ate earlier.

This Nine-Bend Divine Lord can be considered the undisputed overlord of the seventeen peaks in the middle section of the Ten Thousand Mountains. He has fought many times with the eldest disciple of the Mo Mountain Lord, the Tianyu Divine Lord who suppresses Tianyu Mountain, and has not been at a disadvantage. Therefore, the progress of the southern sect of Mozhu Mountain in developing the mountains has been stagnant.

Now that it has arrived, it is naturally recognized by the monsters as their leader. The large number of monsters gathered this time is due to the old lion's accumulated prestige.

However, three Divine Transformation still ignored the Lion King. Although the Wolf King and the Rhinoceros King obeyed its commands, they also gathered their own forces and defended themselves. At this time, they were only trying to unite against the Human Race and compete for the ownership of the Demon God Palace. It can be seen that the divisions among the Demon Race are even greater. They are only allies for short-term interests. It seems unlikely that they can truly unite to fight against the human race in the short term.

General Wang once said that, excluding himself, there were twelve genuine Nascent Soul Stage cultivators on the Human Race at this time. Just looking at the two of them, Xu Daochong from Hengshan and Yao Xuanzhou from Ink Bamboo Mountain, they could easily kill ordinary Nascent Soul Stage demons. Even if the opponent was a demon king, they would still have a chance to fight.

If, as the divine general suggests, we gather our elite forces and launch a surprise attack on one of our strongholds, with twelve of them surrounding and killing a single demon king, then eliminating even the Nine-Bend Old Lion King should not be difficult. If we can kill one demon king, the other demons will certainly not dare to fight and will inevitably retreat.

There are just too many minor demons. If the battle drags on and they get surrounded, it does carry some risk. And if these demon kings suddenly change their minds and decide to join forces to fight against the Human Race, even twelve Nascent Soul Stage cultivators might not be able to withstand three demon kings plus a large number of minor demons.

I wonder what Ink Bamboo Mountain and the Immortal Palace will do...

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent said, even if you kill a demon king here, it won't make much difference. You don't have enough manpower to occupy those mountains. Given the current climate, in ten or twenty years, new great demons will be able to advance to the demon king level."

That's true. Although it's such a big event, the Human Race and Demon Race are all fighting at the Golden Core level. Those True Persons, Divine Lords, and Demon Kings above are just here to support their underlings, to give them face, and to see if there are any opportunities to make money. They themselves have no interest in fighting.

After all, what you have in your Demon God Palace are just some Cultivation Method. Maybe demons at the Golden Core Nascent Soul Stage levels would be interested, but once you've Divine Transformation King level, which one doesn't have some cultivation methods of their own race? Unless it's a snake spirit or someone with a similar Dao body, it's not so easy for them to cultivate the divine techniques of another race. The attraction isn't that great, so it's not worth going too hard for.

But now, things have changed a little...

"You fiend, you're courting death! How dare you touch a disciple of Hengshan! I'll wipe out your entire sect!"

Before Li Fan could find out the origins of the other two demon kings, he heard Xu Daochong's earth-shattering sword cry. The overwhelming Sword Light from the north swept across the clouds and mountain ridges, dispersing the thick fog around the marshland.

This guy's still not giving up? He's actually come to the monster's location? But maybe he's in the wrong place?

Li Fan is currently with the lion pride to the south, but the fierce battle that is taking place far away seems to be between the wolf pack to the north.

"Hmph! How dare you speak such arrogant words! Let me, the King, experience the superior skills of Hengshan!"

This aura... it seems the Divine Transformation stage demon within the wolf pack has made its move directly...

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent said, 'Alright, it's all over now. It seems your arithmetic wasn't up to par. Your karma has been taken over by the demons. So, don't pick up things randomly outside, and don't eat things indiscriminately; there will be retribution.'"

The monsters are so honest...

I really didn't expect the Nascent Soul Stage from the Xuanmen sect to react so strongly, directly coming to challenge Divine Transformation stage demon to a one-on-one duel. And these demons are quite interesting; with so many of them, why don't they swarm and attack together, instead just watching the two sides fight it out? Are they that afraid of the Xuanmen sect?

' The Profound Heaven Sword Intent said, 'It's a Nascent Divine Transformation King, after all. Why should it help a Nascent Soul Stage cultivator? Doesn't that make it lose face? Besides, wouldn't it be better if it lost? Look at all those wolves under its command, how much territory does it need? With the Wolf King dead, at least a thousand miles of mountains will be available for other demons to share.'"

That's true...

However, since the blame had already been shifted onto someone else, Li Fan was no longer interested in mingling with the demons. After all, they were beasts who had attained enlightenment; their place was filthy and smelly, like a pigsty. Besides, he'd been wearing his Daoist robes for far too long, and his True Essence was being depleted. He still had to deal with Nangong later, so he needed to conserve his energy...

So he abandoned the Hengshan Nascent Soul Stage and the Wolf King, who were locked in a fierce battle, and took a detour to the east where there were fewer demons. He slipped away, found a Gui Xu Dao Yi to wash away the stench of demons.

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent said, 'Wait, someone's passing by.'"

Oh? Humans? There are so many monsters around here. Are they scouts from the Immortal Palace? Or are they here to help the Immortal Hengshan?

' The Profound Heaven Sword Intent says, no, this movement technique... it's from the Divine Sect! Let's follow them and see!'

A cult?? Holy crap, another cult?! Can't you just shut up already?!

Li Fan keenly sensed that he had stumbled upon another side quest or sect storyline. To avoid alerting the crowd ahead with his Divine Sense, Li Fan took out his Si Nan and examined it. Sure enough, the compass was pointing in the same direction as the Divine Cult cultivators indicated by the Profound Heaven Sword Intent. He was following the Divine Cult cultivators towards the southeast corner of the Demon God Palace's marshland. And soon, Li Fan also noticed that more than one demonic aura was gathering in front of him.

'The Profound Heaven Sword Intent says, it seems the Divine Sect and the Demon Race have joined forces.'

Now they're making their move... While the battle between the Hengshan True Man and the Wolf King is drawing the attention of both humans and demons, are the Divine Cult and the Demon Race they've won over directly launching the Demon God Palace instance?!

Sure enough, following the guidance of the Profound Heaven Sword Intent and the compass, Li Fan arrived at the edge of the marshland and could clearly see that the mist had dissipated, revealing a passage leading directly to the Demon God Palace.

It seems the Divine Demon Race was behind the discovery of the method to break the seal! Could it be that arming the demons of the Ten-thousand-mountains is also a way to restrain the Ink Bamboo Mountain? Or does the Divine Cult have some other scheme?

The Profound Heaven Sword Intent declared, "Whatever their schemes, if we encounter members of the Divine Sect, we'll kill them. There's no wrongdoing."

That's true...

But I really am the nemesis of the Divine Cult; I always manage to ruin their plans, making him a little embarrassed... Sword intent, how many people are ahead?

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent states that the Divine Sect only has one Golden Core Stage cultivator, but there are three Nascent Soul Stage great demons."

Wow, so many people! He should invite more people to join in and share the profits.

So Li Fan stretched out his hand and launched a huge Vermilion Bird Fire Phoenix into the sky, guaranteeing that it was exactly the same as the Vermilion Bird Talisman that Nangong Xianji had shot out before.

Alright, let's go, time to raid the dungeon.