The Mao-Ri Demon King

Thirty-Li Slope.

At dusk, the blood-red remnants of the setting sun spilled over the scattered rocks covering the hills.

Wei He stood rooted to the spot, his hands and feet ice-cold.

The two slender fingers had already released their grip, but the fierce pain in the web of his hand kept reminding him just how terrifying the demon before him was.

The man slowly put away his handkerchief and clasped his hands behind his back. "Master Wei, you are, after all, the seal-bearer of a provincial commandery office. Such courage is rather disappointing."

Wei He exhaled, released his grip on the broken saber, and simply abandoned his defensive stance.

Before a Lotus-Seeding Realm Demon King, his Core Formation Realm cultivation was no different from a toddler waving a sword.

"As an exalted Demon King, why have you left the comforts of the Western Regions to sneak thousands of miles into the heartland of our Great Tang? Do you think Longyou has no one capable of stopping you?"

The man tilted his head slightly and sighed. "You are a clever man, Master Wei. Some things need not be spelled out. Longyou is bitterly cold and poor, and its Demon Suppression Regional Office does not even have a single commander. But if no one truly watched over it, why would our Demon Court still be sitting in the Western Regions?"

Wei He narrowed his eyes at him.

There was indeed nothing wrong with that reasoning.

Although the court seemingly favored Jiangnan over the northwest, Longyou Circuit was, after all, the gateway to the northwest, a vital choke point.

On the surface, Longyou Commandery was declining by the day, even forced to pin its hopes on a young girl like Jiang Yuechu growing strong enough to hold things together. But beneath the surface...