The Demon Court and the Demon Race

Atop the highest peak of Wolf Fang Mountain, the doors to the Lang Household's ancestral hall were tightly shut. Fewer than ten Lang Household cultivators who looked to be in their teens patrolled the area around it on alert, clearly having awakened their bloodlines only a few years ago.

Little viciousness could still be seen on the faces of these young Lang cultivators. Most gazed in terror at the battlefields on every side, like birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring.

From this alone, it was clear that the "Gray Wolf" Lang Household had indeed reached the end of its rope. It no longer even had the forces needed to guard its ancestral hall as usual.

Still concealing itself, the second-tier chameleon Demon Beast ignored the young Lang cultivators on patrol and on alert. It even opened the doors and entered the ancestral hall without any of them noticing.

Inside the hall, before the steps bearing numerous memorial tablets, the Lang Household patriarch was activating a great array on a large open stretch of floor.

Within the array, illusory images of several "wolf fang" peaks on Wolf Fang Mountain could be seen. Apart from the shortest peak on the very edge, which had already collapsed, the remaining peaks had also begun to crack as the array operated, the fissures spreading into the surrounding earth.

It was plain that the array threatened to destroy the whole of Wolf Fang Mountain along with the land around it.

"Patriarch Lang, are you preparing to burn together with your enemies?"

A voice suddenly rang out in the empty ancestral hall, giving the Lang Household patriarch, who was activating and operating the great array, a sudden fright. He looked up and stared in the direction of the voice, shouting angrily, "Who's there?"

He hoped to alert the Household disciples patrolling and standing guard outside.

But after his angry shout, he discovered that there was no movement outside at all.

The second-tier chameleon Demon Beast laughed and said, "There's no need to trouble yourself, Patriarch Lang. I've sealed off this ancestral hall. Neither our voices nor any commotion we make in here will carry outside."

"A second-tier Demon Beast!" The patriarch noticed the second-tier chameleon at last, and despair filled his face. "I never thought that our Lang Household would be driven to the end of the road, attacked by so many cultivators, and even draw Demon Beasts here..."

"No, wait..." At that, the Lang Household patriarch's eyes suddenly went wide. He stared at the other party and cried in alarm, "You're a Demon Beast, but you can speak and possess intelligence!"

The second-tier chameleon bulged its eyes at his words and stared back at the Lang Household patriarch. Raising its voice, it said, "I belong to the Demon Race under the Demon Court. We're an entirely different race from those Demon Beasts without intelligence!"

"The Demon Race is the Demon Race, and Demon Beasts are Demon Beasts! Don't lump me together with those ignorant, witless members of the Demon Race."

The second-tier chameleon's tone made it seem plainly a little angry.

"The Demon Court? The Demon Race?" The Lang Household patriarch was puzzled by this so-called "member of the Demon Race" who had appeared out of nowhere. He had never heard of the Demon Court before, only the Golden Crow Imperial Dynasty.

But from the words of this second-tier chameleon, this so-called member of the Demon Race, it seemed the other party had not come to loot a burning house. This gave the Lang Household patriarch some hope, and he immediately said, "Then, my lord of the Demon Race from the Demon Court, may I ask what brings you to our Lang Household at this time?"

A smile appeared on the second-tier chameleon's face. "I've come at this time, of course, to offer your Lang Household a way to survive."

"What way?" The Lang Household patriarch already had a guess in his heart, but he asked nonetheless.

Sure enough, the second-tier chameleon said with a smile, "The way to survive is, of course, to join our Demon Court and become members of the Demon Race."

The Lang Household patriarch neither refused nor agreed. Instead, he asked directly, "After we join the Demon Court, can your Demon Race help our Lang Household kill or drive away all the cultivators from the various factions besieging our ancestral lands?"

The second-tier chameleon shook its head. "No. I can't make a move now, lest I draw the attention of the Du Household in Demon-Suppressing Pass."

From that one sentence alone, the Lang Household patriarch understood. He said directly, "So your Demon Court isn't a legal organization, and you fear the True Spirit Lineages of the Golden Crow Imperial Dynasty. You're no match for the Golden Crow Imperial Dynasty!"

The second-tier chameleon smiled. "In this world, the victor becomes king and the loser an outlaw. All you can say is that our Demon Court is not yet a match for the Golden Crow Imperial Dynasty. Otherwise, it wouldn't be the Golden Crow Imperial Dynasty ruling the True Spirit Realm today, but our Demon Court."

"But none of that matters. The Golden Crow Imperial Dynasty can't save your Lang Household. Only our Demon Court can save you now."

"Now, Patriarch Lang, please tell me your choice. If we delay any longer, I'm afraid the rest of your Lang Household's cultivators will all be slaughtered by the attackers."

"One last question!" Patriarch Lang said at once. "After joining the Demon Court, how do we become members of the Demon Race?"

At that question, the second-tier chameleon's face filled with smiles. "Of course, when you make a breakthrough, you release your humanity's suppression of your demonic nature, embrace that demonic nature of your own accord, and transform into a member of the Demon Race!"

"As the saying goes, 'Let a single thought arise in the heart, and heaven and earth suddenly open wide.' Every time you make a breakthrough, you labor to suppress your demonic nature with your humanity, and often fail anyway. Why go to all that trouble?"

"Let go of your attachment to humanity and embrace your demonic nature of your own accord. Your breakthroughs will be both fast and safe. That is the true path!"

"Wouldn't that mean falling straight into becoming ignorant, witless Demon Beasts?" the Lang Household patriarch asked directly.

"As long as you join the Demon Court, we naturally have a way to let you retain your sentience and intelligence after you abandon your humanity and embrace your demonic nature. You'll become members of the great Demon Race, rather than fall into becoming ignorant, witless Demon Beasts!"

The second-tier chameleon of the Demon Race spoke with utter confidence, its words full of temptation.

The Lang Household patriarch hesitated no longer. "Though I fear this Demon Court and Demon Race of yours may be another pit, as you said, our Lang Household has no other choice now. I'm willing to lead the Lang Household into the Demon Court and become members of the Demon Race!"

"Haha... good!" Seeing this, the second-tier chameleon burst out laughing. "Patriarch Lang, you'll be glad and proud of the choice you've made today."

"This world belonged to our Demon Race before, and one day it will belong to our Demon Race again!"

"Now you can recall your Lang Household cultivators and clanspeople, take your Household's resources and spiritual items, and follow me. I'll lead you out through the encirclement and attacks of the cultivators from every side."

As the Lang Household patriarch listened, his eyes flickered and he seemed lost in thought. Still, he said, "Are you going to lead us in fighting our way out? Could we fight our way out through the side where the 'Peacock' Kong Household cultivators are attacking? Those Kong Household cultivators are the chief culprits behind our Lang Household's present plight."

The second-tier chameleon shook its head. "I told you, I can't take action to fight or kill, lest I alert the Du Household. So I can only lead you out of the encirclement."

"But you needn't worry. In as little as a year, or at most two or three years, a change will take place in the Du Household and Cuckoo County."

"By then, you should have made a breakthrough with our Demon Court's help and become a second-tier member of the Demon Race. You'll naturally be able to lead a group back here yourself and take revenge."