"Why Hundred Spirits Valley first?"
Cheng Xinzhan asked.
As he saw it, what worried the Miao people most was the weather. Shouldn't they first discuss his place for Union with the Dao, or where to erect an altar and form an array for Praying for Clear Skies and Rain? Or gather the leaders from every quarter for a prewar mobilization or planning meeting? Why Hundred Spirits Valley?
Pacify the interior before repelling outsiders?
If that was the case, the Wumeng King was clearly the greater threat.
At this, the stockade chief asked in return,
"As far as I know, the Southern Demon Cult should only know that you have visited Azure Dragon Cave, correct?"
Cheng Xinzhan nodded. Azure Dragon Cave's Mountain-Guarding Grand Array hid the mountain in the void, with nothing screening its four sides. Its Dharma Treasure, the Azure Dragon Bell, also gripped the Earth Vein of the Miao Borderlands, locking Spring-Gazing Mountain fast. These were measures left behind by Azure Dragon Cave's founding patriarch, a Fifth Realm cultivator. Even he could not break through the void and the Azure Dragon Bell unnoticed. He could only force his way through from outside, which would inevitably alert the Demon Path.
Moreover, Elephant Dragon occupied Redwood Ridge, very close to Azure Dragon Cave. Any rustle of wind through the grass would draw the Demon King's attention, so Cheng Xinzhan had never expected to conceal his visit. The words he had spoken outside Spring-Gazing Mountain were deliberate, too. He had wanted to provoke Azure Dragon Cave before the Demon Fiends, leaving it riding a tiger it could not dismount, while drawing the Demon Cult's attention there.
Immortal's Cave and Chiyou Cave, however, both had obscuring barriers, shrouding their mountains in clouds and miasma over vast areas. Even the Demon Cult could not