Hukou Pass

Tan Yi'en went ahead to Cangheng Island. Qin Sang and the two birds entered the Heavenly Demon Mound, then headed north, arriving at Myriad Demon City. *** Myriad Demon City. One of the Seven Grand Passes, and the gateway through which the demon race entered and exited the Ancient Immortal Battlefield. Ever since the demon race took possession of the Heavenly Demon Mound, they had held this pass firmly, and it had never changed hands since. The other grand passes had all been affected to varying degrees by the internal strife among humanity. Demon cultivators entering or leaving the Ancient Immortal Battlefield had to go through Myriad Demon City. The current master of Myriad Demon City was none other than the illustrious Demon King Yu. Myriad Demon City was quite different from Immortal Demon City. Qin Sang wanted to see what a true demon city looked like, so he entered alone. Fat Chicken and the white crane waited a short while before catching up. Upon stepping into Myriad Demon City, Qin Sang's first impression was that it possessed a strong human presence. The city was still predominantly populated by mortals. People bustled through the streets in an orderly fashion, presenting a picture of peace and prosperity. From birth, these mortals had lived under the rule of demon kings, long accustomed to demon beasts strutting openly down the streets. The demon beasts permitted into the city were all great demons who had been enlightened and attained sentience. Demon King Yu had established strict rules. After entering the city, Qin Sang had indeed seen no demons slaughtering or tormenting mortals. Even so, the cultivation world was incapable of tender affection. Just as humans hunted demon beasts to flay their hides and extract their bones as spirit materials for crafting pills and artifacts, the demon race would not raise so many humans for nothing. Certain matters did not bear thinking about too deeply. Not long after entering the city, as Qin Sang was strolling through the streets, a commotion suddenly erupted ahead, and the crowd parted to either side. A dark mass surged forward—a pack of armored demon wolves galloping furiously down the street. The wolf pack's leader was burly and imposing, radiating an intimidating blood fiend aura. Yet upon its back rested an exquisite saddle, carrying a bizarre demon beast that resembled a fox, though smaller, with remarkably short forelegs. It was a bei demon. The aura radiating from this beast was even stronger than that of Fat Chicken and the white crane, marking it as a great demon at the late Demon Core stage. Otherwise, the wolf leader would never have willingly served as its mount. Qin Sang halted his steps, knowing his presence had been detected. With a flicker of motion, Fat Chicken and the white crane stepped forward to shield Qin Sang. Rumble... The demon wolves moved in seamless unison, their target unmistakably Qin Sang's group. Reaching them, the pack screeched to a halt all at once with immense oppressive force. Qin Sang stood with his hands behind his back, his expression calm and detached. Fat Chicken and the white crane bristled, posturing a warning. The bei demon leapt down from the wolf, walked upright before them, and bowed respectfully. "May I ask if Senior is the Young Master of the Thousand Mountains Bamboo Sea, Demon King Mingyue? Our Great King has already prepared a temporary palace. Junior has been commanded by the Great King to receive the seniors." At these words, gasps erupted one after another along the street, and the onlookers gazed at Qin Sang with eyes filled with awe and reverence. "Young Master?" Qin Sang smiled with amused interest. The title wasn't bad. He nodded and signaled for the bei demon to lead the way. Under the bei demon's lead, they made their way toward the demon king's temporary palace. That was the heart of the demons' den. Qin Sang reckoned there were few other human Nascent Soul cultivators who would dare strut into such a place alone as he did. "Which other demon kings are attending the council?" The bei demon replied, "To report to Senior, Red Tail Demon King arrived earliest, three days ago, followed by Senior Snake King..." After listening to the bei demon finish listing them, Qin Sang found that nearly half of Heavenly Demon Mound's demon kings had already arrived. The council was scheduled for three days later, so more demon kings were bound to trickle in. Presumably, just like him, they had been drawn here by news of Ziwei Palace. Three days slipped by in a flash. During this time, several demon kings came to visit, including Demon King Lihong. Qin Sang, intending to build connections, made the acquaintance of a few of them. One was the Red Tail Demon King mentioned by the bei demon. Having attained the Dao as a red fox, he had transformed into a handsome young man, though an eye-catching red tail remained behind him. The title of Red Tail Demon King had come from this. He claimed to have long admired Senior Bamboo Demon, and was quite warm toward Qin Sang. Qin Sang could not tell whether he was sincere or merely polite, but humored him nonetheless, learning quite a few demon secrets from him in the process. Qin Sang ordered the two birds to remain at the palace and walked side by side with Red Tail Demon King toward Yu King Palace. Yu King Palace had always been the cave dwelling of successive generations of Demon King Yu, and this council was to be held within it as well. Red Tail Demon King dismissed the little demon guiding the way and led Qin Sang toward Yu King Palace with practiced familiarity. "King Yu has been playing his cards close to his chest, but as usual, since Ziwei Palace was mentioned, there must be some news. During the previous appearances of Ziwei Palace, Senior Zhu never showed his face. Dispatching Fellow Daoist Mingyue this time, could he intend to vie for a spot to enter Ziwei Palace next time?" Red Tail Demon King asked curiously while pointing out and introducing the surrounding structures to Qin Sang. Qin Sang shook his head slowly. "Master made no mention of entering Ziwei Palace. He sent me here primarily to inquire about the war on the frontlines." Red Tail Demon King understood and sighed. "If the Xiaohan Realm and Celestial Alliance truly prove no match for Sin Abyss, given Sin Abyss's overbearing ways, our agreement with humanity will likely be difficult to sustain, and peace will be hard to come by in the future. Yet if we help them resist Sin Abyss with all our might and end up severely depleted, that would be the most foolish choice of all. Striking the right balance truly is difficult. Still, that's a headache for King Yu..." "Be that as it may, we cannot remain completely indifferent. I have no desire to hide away in the Demon Sea in the future, keeping company with chunks of ice all day," Qin Sang remarked with a shake of his head. These past few days, he had been sounding out the attitudes of the demon kings, both overtly and subtly. Unsurprisingly, the demon race had little interest in intervening in humanity's civil war. Their best choice was undoubtedly to sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight—hedging their bets on both sides to avoid offending either. Yet the Xiaohan Realm and the Celestial Alliance were no fools, and would never let the demon race slip by so easily. Presently, although Heavenly Demon Mound had dispatched demon troops as reinforcements, few demon kings had actually entered the fray. Those few demon kings were stationed with their troops at a stronghold called Hukou Pass. It was said to be a vital pass, but its remote location meant the probability of Sin Abyss launching a massive assault there was minimal. Outside Hukou Pass, a detachment from Sin Abyss stood in confrontation with them. Both sides seemed to share an unspoken tacit understanding, and their skirmishes back and forth were mere petty brawls. As they spoke, a towering expanse of jungle appeared ahead, looming indistinctly. "We're here! Yu King Palace is just inside!" Red Tail Demon King reminded him in a low voice. Qin Sang peered closely and found an archaic wooden palace hovering in midair at the center of the jungle. Azure spiritual light flickered around it, suffused with dense, powerful restrictions. "You two fellow daoists have finally arrived!" A figure darted out of the woods as Demon King Lihong came out to welcome them in person. By this time, he had long abandoned any designs on the Thousand Mountains Bamboo Sea, and was quite warm toward Qin Sang. "Fellow Daoist Mingyue, King Yu heard that you are Senior Zhu's successor, and has long wished to see what manner of exceptional talent could receive Senior Zhu's true legacy." *** After exchanging pleasantries, the three entered the jungle together and arrived before the doors of Yu King Palace. Demon King Lihong pushed open the doors and entered. With a single glance, Qin Sang saw a man in feather robes seated calmly at the center—none other than Demon King Yu, who had wielded an extraordinary treasure to blast open the Ziwei Palace formation all those years ago!