"The Demon King is dead! Kill!"
"The Sea Dragon Demon King is dead! Kill!"
"Kill these little demons!"
With the Sea Dragon Great Demon dead, the remaining lesser demons—those who had been far away and had narrowly escaped Lei Zhan's Water-Fire Grinding Disc—were suddenly isolated and outnumbered.
At the same time, the people on Black Water Island were greatly heartened and swarmed around the demons, slaughtering them as they tried in vain to escape.
Across the Great Xia World, the Demon Race had powerful factions of its own, but it was the Great Xia Dynasty that truly ruled the land—and it was a human dynasty.
Many powerful demons even served as officials in the Great Xia Dynasty. That was precisely why the Demon Race had been allowed to endure.
But while the highest ranks enjoyed a measure of peace, ordinary human cultivators and demons fought fiercely.
The battle between the Sea Dragon Great Demon and the Black Water Clan was merely a microcosm of the Great Xia World as a whole.
Every demon on Black Water Island had now been slaughtered by the Black Water Clan.
"Senior." Black Water Fang immediately approached with his daughter, then dropped to his knees and knocked his head against the ground to show his sincerity.
"On behalf of the hundreds of thousands of members of the Black Water Clan, my daughter and I thank you for saving our lives, Senior."
God-Devil Body Refiners were already stronger than Qi Refiners of the same rank, and the Sea Dragon Demon King was a demon, born with an advantage over humans.
If Lei Zhan hadn't intervened, even if Black Water Fang had fought desperately with a forbidden technique, killing a Purple Mansion-stage demon in the late phase would have been extremely difficult.
"There's no need for such a grand gesture, and you don't need to call me Senior. I simply couldn't stand that demon's arrogance, so I killed him while I was at it." Lei Zhan shook his head at the dark-skinned man, whose aura was unsteady and whose face had gone slightly pale.
"Killing the Sea Dragon Demon King may have been nothing to you, Senior, but to me, Black Water Fang, it saved the lives of more than a hundred thousand people in my clan." Black Water Fang bowed once more.
"Father. Now that we've killed the Sea Dragon Demon King, the Lone Dragon Demon King has lost his beloved son. He surely won't let this go..." Black Water Yun stood behind her father, a trace of worry in her eyes.
"Senior..." At the thought, Black Water Fang's expression changed. "Please leave Black Water Island at once. If the Lone Dragon Demon King discovers that his son has died..."
"The Lone Dragon Demon King? His son?" After just a few words, Lei Zhan had roughly guessed that behind the Sea Dragon Demon King he had slain stood an even more powerful demon—his father.
"Yes. The Sea Dragon Demon King's father is the Lone Dragon Demon King, a Myriad Phenomena expert." Black Water Fang answered respectfully.
Black Water Yun also looked at Lei Zhan with curiosity and awe. She could sense the aura of the handsome young man in black robes. He was also at the Purple Mansion stage, yet he had killed a late-stage Purple Mansion God-Devil Body Refining demon with a casual wave of his hand. Ordinary cultivators couldn't do that.
"The Lone Dragon Demon King broke through to the Myriad Phenomena stage several hundred years ago. And now, after all these years..." Black Water Yun said, "Senior, please leave. My clan can't escape, but you've suffered this undeserved disaster because of us..."
"Only at the early Myriad Phenomena stage several hundred years ago?" Lei Zhan considered it. A faint smile remained on his face, and he showed no sign of panic. "Demons need a long time to cultivate. Even if the demon king had some good fortune, after a few hundred years he should be no stronger than the perfected Myriad Phenomena stage at most... Still, I did kill his son, so I'll need to be careful."
After all, he had cultivated the Great Xia World's foremost God-Devil Body Refining method, the Crimson Bright Nine Heavens Map. At the late Purple Mansion stage, he could already rival ordinary perfected Purple Mansion cultivators—or even early Myriad Phenomena God-Devil Body Refiners.
He also had the divine abilities Law of Heaven and Earth and Three Heads and Six Arms, as well as the supreme divine ability Star-Plucking Hand. His comprehension of the Dao was comparable to that of an ordinary Primordial Spirit Daoist.
If the Lone Dragon Demon King truly was an exceptionally powerful perfected Myriad Phenomena demon... even if Lei Zhan couldn't kill him, he could still escape with his life.
Suddenly,
"Senior." Black Water Fang looked at Lei Zhan, gritted his teeth, and offered him an item. "You saved my clan. I shouldn't ask for more, but my daughter is the most talented person in the Black Water Clan. I'm willing to offer you a precious Earth-Grade Magic Treasure. I humbly ask that you take my daughter with you to North Sea Commandery City."
A small clan was weak and defenseless, and in a perilous wilderness, its survival depended on preserving its bloodline. As the clan chief, Black Water Fang naturally had many things to consider.
North Sea Commandery City was the heart of North Sea Prefecture, where the Baili Clan had been enfeoffed for generations as the Marquis of the North Sea. Even a Myriad Phenomena demon wouldn't dare cause trouble there. If his daughter, Black Water Yun, could hide in the city and cultivate in peace—or join a great sect—then even if the demons massacred her clan, one day she might still restore the Black Water Clan.
But everything depended on whether their savior agreed. He had pushed himself to use a forbidden technique. Though his Purple Mansion lake hadn't completely shrunk, his foundations had still been damaged.
The Black Water Clan had lived on the island for generations. They would have to stay behind and find a way to delay the Lone Dragon Demon King, so he couldn't take his daughter and flee, abandoning his clan.
"Hmm? An Earth-Grade Magic Treasure?" Lei Zhan looked in surprise at the treasure floating before him. It was a flying sword, blue-green from hilt to tip. Though no one had refined it, its sharpness remained undiminished, and waves of mysterious power radiated from it.
By Lei Zhan's eye, the aura this flying sword gave off was far beyond that of an ordinary Earth-Grade Magic Treasure.
"Now that's a fine treasure. I wonder how the Sea Dragon Great Demon learned about it. He probably attacked Black Water Island today because he wanted this item." Lei Zhan's thoughts stirred.
In the Three Realms, treasures naturally belonged to the stronger party. Those with superior strength and status often seized treasures by force. And the conflict between humans and demons was even more intense; plundering treasures and enslaving one another were commonplace.
Lei Zhan shook his head and looked at the father and daughter before him, their faces full of hope. "This Earth-Grade Magic Treasure is tempting, I'll admit. But though I'm also passing through North Sea Commandery City, I can't be bothered to take anyone along."
"Can't be bothered to take anyone along..." The hope in Black Water Fang's eyes instantly dimmed. He forced a smile. "Since you like it, Senior, then you may have this treasure. Let it be a small token of gratitude from the Black Water Clan for saving our lives."
Magic Treasures were rare, but since he had chosen to offer it, he had already prepared himself to lose it. Besides, the weak had no say in the matter.
"I'll take the treasure." Lei Zhan pondered for a moment before continuing slowly, "In exchange... I'll deal with your problem."
"Hm?" Black Water Fang and Black Water Yun immediately looked up. "Deal with our problem? What do you mean, Senior?"
"What kind of demon is the Lone Dragon Demon King? Has he made a move recently? Which demons serve under him? And where is his territory?" Lei Zhan asked one question after another.
"Senior, are you..." Black Water Yun's eyes widened, and she struggled to speak. "Are you going to kill the Lone Dragon Demon King?"
"You feared that if I took you to North Sea Commandery City, the Lone Dragon Demon King would come after you to avenge his son. In that case, we should nip this trouble in the bud."
"He was the father of the son I just killed. Naturally, I'll send him down to the underworld to join his boy." Lei Zhan gave a soft laugh. "The whole family should be together. This Earth-Grade Magic Treasure will be my payment for killing the Lone Dragon Demon King!"
"Mmm. According to Black Water Fang and his daughter, the Lone Dragon Demon King controls this stretch of sea, and his lair is on Lone Dragon Island."
Lei Zhan stood on the deck of a black-sailed ship, gazing into the distance. Even with the naked eye, he could make out a vast island far ahead.
There were many demons on the island. Some had taken human form and moved about as if they were an army.
"For hundreds of years, there's been only one Myriad Phenomena-stage demon on the island. The closest to that level was the late-stage Purple Mansion Sea Dragon Demon King I killed."
"The rest are all at the Purple Mansion stage..."
Black Water Island lay next to Lone Dragon Island, so the Black Water Clan knew quite a lot. This information had all come from Black Water Fang and Black Water Yun.
Lei Zhan didn't fully trust everything they'd said, but it gave him something to go on. At least he wouldn't be rushing into the demons' lair completely blind.
"The Lone Dragon Demon King's true form is a Single-Horned Sea Serpent demon. They say he has a trace of Mysterious Serpent bloodline. He didn't take human form until he reached the Myriad Phenomena stage, but fortunately, he only cultivates the Qi Refining Path..."
The Lone Dragon Demon King hadn't cultivated God-Devil Body Refining. Otherwise, a Myriad Phenomena demon king who had cultivated that path wouldn't be someone Lei Zhan could provoke lightly.
After all, no treasure was worth more than his life.
Immortal Juhua had given Lei Zhan three treasures to protect his life. They were even useful to Void Return Earth Immortals and Loose Immortals, so he naturally wouldn't waste them on a mere Myriad Phenomena demon.
Of course, if Lei Zhan had enough Essence Liquid and treasures to advance his Qi Refining Path cultivation to the Myriad Phenomena True Person level, then thanks to the uniqueness of the Nine Directions Fragment, he wouldn't fear even a Myriad Phenomena God-Devil cultivator.
"Too bad I still don't have enough treasures." Lei Zhan shook his head with a laugh.
"Now all that's left is to see whether killing this Myriad Phenomena demon will earn me enough treasures to trade for more Essence Liquid."