At Red Mane's shouted orders, bands of Monsters and spirits soon gathered before the Cave Abode.
With their king Red Mane presiding over them, the lesser demons were remarkably quiet, huddling together as they waited.
Once all the Monsters had assembled, Red Mane hurried forward and bowed.
"Exalted immortal, all my followers are here."
Jiang Yang looked around and frowned.
"You're the lord of this Red Mane Cave, yet you have so few lesser demons under you?"
Red Mane was a Foundation Establishment demon general, after all. Even in such a remote backwater, he ought to command at least three hundred lesser demons. How many were here? By Jiang Yang's reckoning, a hundred at most.
Seeing Jiang Yang's displeasure, Red Mane hurried to explain.
"I wouldn't dare conceal anything from you, exalted immortal. Everyone in the cave who has taken form or gained intelligence is here, so long as they can move."
Then he began pouring out his woes.
"You have no idea. I once had two hundred followers, but these past few years, a scourge in Golden Armor has kept coming to raid us. With Golden Thunder and Lightning, this scourge has blasted the Monsters across several nearby mountains until we're all utterly miserable. Yet rather than killing my followers, this scourge only wounds them and carries them off in droves..."
His ranks had dwindled again and again, and Red Mane feared he would lose his territory at this rate. That divine figure in Golden Armor possessed profound cultivation and formidable abilities. Never mind Red Mane—even the neighboring demon generals together could not afford to provoke such a foe.
He could neither win a fight nor keep up in pursuit. What could he do? He could only watch helplessly as his lesser demons dwindled day by day.
"Hmm?"
At