A Sixth-Tier Demon Emperor

"Your Majesty, the Emperor Gutian has just dispatched 20,000 demonic beasts into Yongzhou. Among them, 200 are third-tier demonic beasts, and the rest are all first- or second-tier."

A crimson tiger stepped forward, knelt on one knee, and spoke respectfully.

"Hmph. He's smart to know his place."

"If it weren't for his interference, would I have brought Feng'er to such a place?"

"I only have this one son, and those old geezers actually threatened me, demanding that Feng'er be brought along as well."

The demons below looked at each other, none daring to speak.

Both the Emperor Gutian and the White-Foreheaded Tiger Emperor are sixth-tier Demon Emperor; either one could easily crush them.

This is a matter of their own business.

"By the way! Any news about Wu Qingfeng lately?" the White-Foreheaded Tiger Emperor suddenly opened his eyes and asked.

"Reporting to Your Majesty the Tiger King, there has been no news of Wu Qingfeng since he broke through to the Celestial Person Realm. Has he changed his mind?" the crimson tiger king hurriedly replied.

"Go back on your word?"

The White-Foreheaded Tiger Emperor chuckled.

"Impossible. You don't understand humanity."

"Even if he breaks through to the Celestial Person Realm, he would never dare let anyone know that he personally broke the barrier of Yongzhou and let us in."

"If this gets out, the entire human race will not tolerate him. He will have no choice but to go down a dark path."

"I have already helped him break through to the Celestial Person Realm. I believe that Severed Cloud Pass will soon be taken by Feng'er."

"As long as Feng'er takes Severed Cloud Pass, I will have sufficient reason to force him to return to the Demon Race."

It closed its eyes, its voice lowered, carrying a hint of barely perceptible worry.

"This is ultimately human territory. And with Feng'er's proud nature, it's too dangerous for her to stay here."

As soon as the White-Foreheaded Tiger Emperor finished speaking, a Demon Lord stepped forward, his face beaming with flattery.

"Young Master possesses the bloodline of the Tiger Ancestor; once activated, his future will be limitless!"

Upon hearing this, the White-Foreheaded Tiger Emperor's gloomy expression eased somewhat, revealing a slight smile.

"Indeed. Feng'er's bloodline power is purer than mine. As long as her bloodline Ancestral Reversion, her future achievements will surely surpass mine."

Upon hearing this, the Demon Lord below immediately shouted in unison:

"This little demon swears to follow Lord Tiger King to the death! To follow the young master!"

The White-Foreheaded Tiger Emperor nodded in satisfaction, and was about to say something more when he suddenly trembled.

Its massive body tensed suddenly, as if something were gripping its chest tightly.

A mouthful of blood spurted out of the tiger's mouth without warning, splattering onto the animal hide in front of the stone platform, turning it a dark red stain.

"Your Majesty, Tiger King! What has happened?"

The Demon Lord below paled in shock and gasped in surprise.

Since they entered Yongzhou, they have never seen Hu Xiaotian injured.

"The Feng'er is dead!"

"Who! Who dares to kill Feng'er!"

The White-Foreheaded Tiger Emperor slowly raised his head, squeezing out each word through clenched teeth.

It looked up and let out a tiger's roar.

A whistling sound exploded from the depths of the cave, rushing out along the passage and causing the entire mountain to tremble slightly.

The Demon Lord inside the cave were forced back several steps by the force of the sound.

Then, the White-Foreheaded Tiger Emperor pushed off with all four limbs, its body transforming into a white streak of light as it darted out of the cave and vanished instantly before the demons' eyes.

The Demon Lord looked at each other, none of them speaking first.

Hu Xiaofeng is dead, the only offspring of the White-Foreheaded Tiger Emperor. The fury Hu Xiaotian is something they can't even imagine.

"What do we do now?" a Demon Lord asked in a low voice.

"You two stay here. We'll go with Lord Tiger King to take revenge!" Scarlet Flame Tiger Lord quickly made a decision and selected two fifth-tier Blood-Pupiled Ape.

After saying that, it led the other Demon Lord in pursuit of the direction in which the White-Foreheaded Tiger Emperor had disappeared.

"Hateful."

Only after one of the Blood-Pupiled Ape and the other demons had gone some distance did it finally speak, its tone full of dissatisfaction.

" With Hu Xiaofeng dead, who knows how many humans will perish with him."

"A bunch of their old followers went with them, claiming it was for revenge, but really they just wanted to feast on blood! Leaving the two of us here to guard them is so unfair!"

"Alright! Stop complaining. We weren't originally Tiger King's subordinates, so it's normal that we're not valued. Just guard this place."

The other Blood-Pupiled Ape sighed and patted its shoulder.

"But they all went to eat the blood, and we got nothing. Brother, I'm heartbroken. I'm going to sleep!"

The Blood-Pupiled Ape muttered something sullenly, then turned and went deeper into the cave.

The remaining Blood-Pupiled Ape watched its retreating figure, then glanced at the empty stone platform, sighed deeply, and began arranging guard duties within the cave.

Meanwhile, in a secluded valley not far from Yangshang Town.

Wu Qingfeng, Song Xuanji, Xiao Tianqi, Lu Qingshan, and other key figures sat in a circle.

"Guan Shanhai sent word. Of the two Fifth-Tier Demon Lord attacking the third line of defense, one was killed, and the other escaped severely wounded. All of the dozen or so fourth-tier Demon King accompanying them were killed. The human side suffered nearly a hundred casualties, but the defense line held."

Wu Qingfeng put down the communication token in his hand and spoke.

"Hu Xiaofeng was severely injured by Zhao Changgeng and fled towards the border. Zhao Changgeng has already given chase."

Upon hearing this, however, no one showed much joy on their faces.

The entire plan, from troop deployment to ambush, from luring the enemy to encircling and killing them, was meticulously orchestrated to lure Hu Xiaofeng outside the third line of defense and deliver a fatal blow.

It's good that the third line of defense was held, but if Hu Xiaofeng hadn't died, then everything would have been for nothing.

After Jiang Han and the others safely returned to the third line of defense, Guan Shanhai had already ordered them to return to the city. Lu Shuang didn't go to the third line of defense; instead, she went directly back to the city to investigate why the second line of defense had been breached.

"Guan Shanhai, the rest of you, continue guarding the third line of defense and await our news."

"Where's Lu Feng? Why haven't we heard anything from Lu Feng?" Xiao Tianqi suddenly asked.

Wu Qingfeng paused for a moment.

He picked up the token again and looked it over; there was indeed not a single word about Lu Feng.

Seeing that Xiao Tianqi's expression wasn't good, Wu Qingfeng added,

"But I think he should be fine. If anything happened to Lu Feng, Guan Shanhai would definitely report it."

Xiao Tianqi didn't reply, he just nodded.

Just then,

Song Xuanji took out a jade pendant from her bosom.

The jade pendant was pure white and carved with a small sword. At this moment, the jade pendant was slowly cracking in his palm, breaking into two pieces.

Song Xuanji's expression changed instantly.

"Brother Song, what happened?"

Upon seeing this, Wu Qingfeng hurriedly asked. He had actually already guessed, but when he spoke, there was still a hint of hope in his voice.

Song Xuanji tightened his grip on the broken jade, remained silent for a moment, and then squeezed out four words through gritted teeth:

Zhao Changgeng is dead.

The valley was deathly silent.

Zhao Changgeng went to hunt down Hu Xiaofeng, and now he's dead.

Aside from being killed by Hu Xiaofeng, no one could think of another possibility.

"This shouldn't be! Junior Nephew Zhao is already Great Grandmaster and a sword cultivator. That Hu Xiaofeng is only at the fourth level; even with the bloodline of the Tiger Ancestor, he shouldn't be his match. How could this be..."

Lu Qingshan frowned, his tone filled with confusion.

He didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear.