"Brother Lao, we did it! We finally took Giant Pillar Peak back!"
After Hu Lao stepped down from the arena, Hu Gou came forward to meet him, speaking with excitement and delight.
The fox demon maidservants behind her were beaming as well, immersed in the joy of having accomplished their great undertaking of restoring their homeland.
For so many years, the fox demons had swallowed humiliation and shouldered heavy burdens, struggling to survive. At last, they had a Demon King's own domain, a place to shelter their people and recover their strength.
"Sister..."
Hu Lao's eyes flickered. He was about to say something to her when his expression suddenly changed slightly. He stepped forward, shielding her and the fox demon maidservants behind him.
"Hu Lao, you actually became a Demon King! You certainly kept me in the dark!"
"Your Majesty..."
The powerful Demon King who had suddenly appeared before them was none other than Yu Kai of Partridge Ridge.
However muddleheaded and foolish he might be, he ought to have realized what had happened by now.
Becoming a Demon King was no overnight achievement. It required years upon years of cultivation and accumulated foundations, along with considerable resources, before one could succeed. Even then, most demon cultivators remained trapped at that threshold, unable to advance another inch for the rest of their lives.
Yet Hu Lao had advanced without a hitch.
How much sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall, how much playing the pig to devour the tiger, had gone into this needed no explanation.
"To think I was so devoted to you, even making you chief steward of Partridge Ridge, granting you authority beneath one demon and above ten thousand! Why did you do this? Why did you betray me?
"I suddenly feel like a fool, deceived by you