Chapter 156: Heavenly Calamity of the Demon Domain

In the southern Demon Territory of the Four Continents, Xu Zhe had a pleasant exchange with numerous fierce beasts.

Both sides engaged in a lively discussion, and in the end, parted on extremely cordial terms.

The demon race handed over the mutual communication method between the Bone Demon King and Zhang Yunfan to Xu Zhe.

Xu Zhe also made a solemn pledge to unearth the true identity of the mysterious figure in black who had ambushed the Fox Demon King, swearing on his life as Lan Zhen that he would present his own head if he failed.

Upon hearing this, the numerous demon lords hurriedly cried out that it was "not necessary to go that far," yet they ultimately agreed with broad smiles.

To the demon lords, the identities of Zhang Yunfan and his associates were by no means simple, considering they were the proud prodigies of the human race.

A human traitor like "Lan Zhen," whose identity had already been exposed, could not possibly stay within the demon race forever and would inevitably require some degree of protection from his own kind.

The Bai family, holding themselves in high self-righteousness, would likely refuse to take in "Lan Zhen."

Therefore, "Lan Zhen" would have no choice but to seek out Zhang Yunfan.

Now that the demon race had presented him with this opportunity, and he was trading the investigation of the black-clothed figure to secure it, this was a truly win-win cooperation.

However, from Xu Zhe's perspective, this was a completely one-sided victory.

The demon race might not have made a loss, but he, Xu Zhe, had undoubtedly struck a massive fortune.

By merely disguising his identity and expending a single manifestation talisman, he had successfully procured irrefutable evidence of the betrayal by the Bai family, Zhang Yunfan, and the others. This trip could truly be described as immensely smooth.

Thus, after the two sides happily finalized their cooperation, the demon race enthusiastically invited Xu Zhe to visit the Demon City in the Southern Demon Territory.

Xu Zhe readily accepted.

Mounting the back of a four-winged bird-beast, he set off in a grandiose procession toward the Demon City alongside several demon lords and numerous beasts.

The current strength of the Southern Demon Territory was profoundly weakened; the cultivation and power of tens of millions of demon soldiers had plummeted by more than half, leaving behind little more than the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled.

As for the peak power, the ancestral-level Bone Demon King and the Tiger-Head Demon King had perished simultaneously, leaving only the Fox Demon King, who was severely injured and in closed-door seclusion.

Now, with the arrival of a Tribulation-stage powerhouse comparable to a Demon King—who, although human, could at least be considered an ally—willing to oversee the Demon City, the various demon lords were naturally quite welcoming.

After all, the environment of the Demon Territory was far from being as pleasant as that of the Four Continents.

Though spiritual energy was fairly abundant, the Demon Territory was largely desolate everywhere, suffering from a scarcity of resources.

The crucial point was that natural disasters struck year-round; from time to time, sheets of heavenly fire would plunge from the skies, or dragon-shaped black gales would sweep across the land.

Without a Demon King-level entity stepping forth to maintain the protective array, if a natural disaster persisted too long and destroyed the barrier, the entire Demon City could be reduced to ashes in an instant.

"Deputy Commander Lan, although the Demon City cannot compare to the Four Continents, there is plenty of entertainment to be had here. Furthermore, there is a vein of spiritual energy reserved exclusively for your cultivation, which will surely satisfy you."

Along the way, the demon lords wore enthusiastic smiles, continuously introducing the perks of the Demon City to Xu Zhe.

"It seems the Demon City is indeed quite a fine place," Xu Zhe responded with a polite, smiling nod.

However, he took these remarks strictly as polite diplomatic pleasantries.

One could only listen to the demon lords' words without taking them too seriously.

If the Demon City were truly such a wonderful place, why would the demon race relentlessly fight to seize territory in the Four Continents?

"Still, this trip will heavily rely on Deputy Commander Lan. Should any natural disaster strike during this period, we sincerely hope Deputy Commander Lan will not spare his efforts to help us maintain the protective array," the demon lords requested.

"That is naturally not a problem," Xu Zhe agreed with a nod.

When the demon race invited him to the Demon City, they had already explained the issue of natural disasters.

However, resisting natural disasters primarily relied on the power of the protective array, which could withstand most ordinary calamities.

Yet, if a natural disaster lasted too long, spiritual energy at the Tribulation stage had to be replenished in a timely manner to keep the protective array functioning.

Simply put, for a Tribulation-stage practitioner, doing this favor required minimal effort.

For Xu Zhe, however, this posed a genuine dilemma.

Without spiritual energy of the Tribulation-stage caliber, the protective array simply would not absorb it.

Even so, Xu Zhe had chosen to tag along precisely to find out who had cast the intermediate battle array for the demon race previously.

"By the way, are those lords not in the Demon City anymore?" Xu Zhe lowered his voice and asked the demon lords.

"Ah? Does Deputy Commander Lan not know? With the grand plan to conquer the Northern Continent currently underway, those lords have naturally all headed north."

The demon lords were all startled, looking somewhat puzzled as to why Deputy Commander Lan was asking questions he already knew the answers to.

"So that's how it is. You needn't be surprised; I have an appointment with one of those lords and assumed he would be waiting for me in the Demon City. It seems this trip will require an extra journey to the north," Xu Zhe replied with a faint smile.

Given that the demons in the Southern Demon Territory had fallen to the point of relying on him to maintain their protective array, Xu Zhe had already vaguely guessed that the so-called lords had departed.

Nonetheless, he asked the question just to confirm it.

On the other hand, it also provided him with a reasonable excuse when he eventually wished to leave the Demon City.

The demon lords nodded in sudden realization, and the gazes they directed back at Xu Zhe carried a hint of newfound envy.

To have earned an audience with one of those lords clearly meant he was valued, and his future prospects were boundless.

"Deputy Commander Lan, I hope you will look out for us in the future!" the fox-faced demon lord said with a narrowed, smiling gaze.

The other demon lords also snapped back to reality and cast their gazes toward Xu Zhe.

"Fox Lord is too polite; in the future, we shall look out for one another," Xu Zhe smiled at the group of demon lords.

"Good! Deputy Commander Lan is indeed forthright," the bull-headed demon lord laughed heartily.

The atmosphere between the human and the beasts instantly grew even more harmonious, filled with laughter and chatter all the way, as if they were members of the same family.

Soon, the sky gradually darkened.

The four-winged bird-beast carrying Xu Zhe continued its flight, pressing steadily toward the Demon City.

According to what the demon lords themselves had claimed, the journey from the previous border of the Demon Territory to the Demon City typically took anywhere from five to thirty days.

Logically speaking, whether it was five days or thirty days, it should have been no more than the blink of an eye for cultivators.

Yet, a gap between five days and thirty days still represented a distinct difference in duration; that was far too wide a margin.

Puzzled, Xu Zhe refrained from asking further questions.

After all, the real Lan Zhen had visited the Demon City before and obviously knew the reason. If he were to blurt out such a question now, it would inevitably arouse suspicion from the sharper demon lords.

However, by the time dawn broke the next day, Xu Zhe discovered the reason for such a massive discrepancy in the travel schedule.

Beneath the serene sky, as they flew along, the terrain below consisted entirely of desolate, yellowish earth.

Suddenly, with a deafening "boom," a tremendous explosion echoed across the vault of the heavens, resembling a thunderclap from a cloudless sky.

Immediately afterward, a vast expanse of dazzling golden flames, akin to a blazing sun, expanded rapidly in the sky and instantly came roaring toward the flock of beasts and Xu Zhe.

"Not good! It's the golden heavenly fire! Quick, detour!" one of the demon lords roared in alarm.

Instantly, the entire procession forcefully halted their momentum, wheeled around, and fled frantically in the opposite direction.

Seated upon the back of the four-winged bird-beast, Xu Zhe could vividly feel the creature beneath him trembling violently. It was terrified, even foaming at the mouth!

"Strange, what kind of phenomenon is this?"

Xu Zhe wore a look of perplexity, not out of curiosity regarding the bird-beast's condition, but rather captivated by the sheet of golden flames behind them that they were gradually leaving in the distance.

This was a phenomenon he had neither heard of in the Azure Heaven Domain nor ever encountered in any ancient texts.

Golden flames manifested out of thin air, and even before they truly drew close, one was enveloped by an intense wave of scorching heat, accompanied by an unsettling sensation of palpitations.

At the time, Xu Zhe had barely managed to react; he could only feel his heart pounding wildly, as if he were facing a world-ending catastrophe.

It was only after the four-winged bird-beast beneath him carried him a safe distance away that the sensation gradually subsided.

Fortunately, that mass of golden heavenly fire did not pursue them, instead plummeting directly toward the ground and igniting a vast sea of fire.

"That was close. It seems we'll have to detour for a few more days," a demon lord said in a deep voice.

The entire procession had already tacitly changed direction, opting for a much longer route.

Clearly, this was a common occurrence for them.

"Deputy Commander Lan, when you previously came to the Demon City, did you encounter any natural disasters?" At that moment, the fox-faced lord looked at Xu Zhe and asked with a smiling expression.

"Oh?"

Xu Zhe's eyebrows instantly arched.

What was the meaning of this remark?

Was he suddenly starting to probe me?

This question was somewhat tricky!

So, should I say I had encountered them or not?

"Fox Lord, there's no need to ask that. When Deputy Commander Lan came to the Demon City before, he certainly must have seen natural disasters, otherwise how could he remain so calm? Besides, things like heavenly fire pop up anytime and anywhere; it's hard not to see them,"

Before Xu Zhe could reply, the bull-headed demon lord boomed loudly from the side.

"I have indeed witnessed them," Xu Zhe immediately responded with a gentle, smiling nod.

Regardless of what the fox-faced lord's motives were, he could not afford to panic. Since an answer was required either way, he might as well take a decisive gamble and claim he had seen them.

"However, the heavenly fire I encountered back then wasn't nearly this large. Today has truly opened my eyes," Xu Zhe added with a serious expression.

"Indeed, today's heavenly fire is considered on the larger side. But if Deputy Commander Lan stays in the Demon Territory for a while longer, you will certainly have the chance to witness heavenly fire ten thousand times larger than this," the fox-faced lord nodded in response.

Seeing that it did not seem to be probing him after all, Xu Zhe felt somewhat more at ease.

Nonetheless, a solemn expression remained on his face as he murmured in a deep voice, "It's better to witness fewer of these things."

The fox-faced lord was momentarily stunned, then burst into hearty laughter: "Right, right, right! Deputy Commander Lan makes a valid point. Such heavenly fire is indeed best seen rarely, especially those dragon-shaped black gales—those are even more vital to avoid... Huh?"

Just as its voice trailed off, the fox-faced lord's expression suddenly stiffened, its gaze locking firmly ahead.

The numerous beasts and Xu Zhe simultaneously raised their heads to look.

High up in the sky ahead, an immense black tornado had materialized from nowhere. Even more terrifyingly, as the dark gale spun, it was gradually taking the shape of a dragon, and one could faintly discern the shimmering, dark, reflective scales covering its dragon-like form.

"???"

Xu Zhe was once again stunned into speechlessness, his heart rate spiking involuntarily once more.

What in the world was this thing now?

Did the demon race really have to deal with such perils?

Yet, even as this gale caused his heart to flutter with anxiety, why did it vaguely carry a sense of familiarity?

Xu Zhe suddenly froze, sensing that the dragon-shaped black gale seemed to be heading directly toward him—and harboring no malice whatsoever.