Aspiring to the Immortal Path

A long and narrow stretch of black flatlands covered a vast area of the Primordial Fog Domain, appearing like an enormous saber.

It was said that long ago, there was a Demon Lord Heavenly Saber who swept through the Primordial Fog with Blood Massacre Demon Saber in hand. Later on, this Demon Lord ended up provoking some other devil Titan, who obliterated him in this place. His demon saber fell here, becoming this wasteland, the Heavenly Saber Plains.

Of course, it was just a legend. Nobody knew if it was actually true.

At this moment, in a forest on the western side of the Heavenly Saber Plains, a pack of Glare Demons was kneeling on the ground.

These were ruthless demons that loved to use their claws to tear their enemies apart, but right now, they were all quivering like sheep.

The source of their fear was two figures covered in dark fog.

The dark fog rendered their figures indistinct, but any demon would know by the demonic aura they exuded that these were upper-class existences.

“You idiots, you can’t even do something like this properly! What’s the point in keeping you around!?” one of the figures furiously rebuked.

The Glare Demons begged for mercy.

“Get out of here and keep gathering information!”

The Glare Demons felt like they had been pardoned, and they hastily fled.

Once the Glare Demons were gone, the dark fog dispersed, and the figures of Huangfu Meng and Tang Xuanyu emerged.

Tang Xuanyu frowned. “The news was spread ages ago, so why hasn’t the Massacre Saber Devil done anything? Is he too afraid of the God Phoenix forces to strike?”

Huangfu Meng replied, “The Massacre Saber Devil is both powerful and arrogant. I don’t believe that he would be afraid of Miss Ice Phoenix. Those Glare Demons are probably just too incompetent to pick up on this information.”

“But it’s still possible, right?” Tang Xuanyu said. “In my view, we can’t wait any longer. We need to add some fuel.”

“How do you plan to do that?” Huangfu Meng asked.

“Why don’t we use the method from last time? Pretend to be one of God Phoenix’s subordinates, massacre a demon base, steal some treasure, and leave behind some clues so that old devil strikes back in revenge,” Tang Xuanyu replied, seemingly excited by the idea.

After some thought, Huangfu Meng slowly said, “The more we involve ourselves, the more we risk exposure.”

“What’s to be scared of?” Tang Xuanyu chuckled. “With Junior Sister around, those demon scoundrels won’t show themselves lightly. And with me around, even if they do appear, I can guarantee our safety.”

Huangfu Meng considered these words before finally nodding.

Meteorville.

This was a small town on the western side of the Heavenly Saber Plains.

There was a Meteor Iron mine here, and the large quantities of Meteor Iron and small amounts of Starsilver drew many demons here, particularly the Ironbones that liked eating metal. While the mine had eventually been mined out, the town remained.

There were hundreds of towns like these on the Heavenly Saber Plains, scattered like stars across the land. Together, they formed a massive faction, the Massacre Saber Devil’s faction! All existences here had to obey him!

Huangfu Meng and Tang Xuanyu arrived at Meteorville after a day’s travel.

Gazing at the small town, the two exchanged a glance, and then Tang Xuanyu transformed into a Goldbone demon while Huangfu Meng took the form of a Boneless Banshee.

Tang Xuanyu bowed to Huangfu Meng. “Junior Sister, you first!”

Huangfu Meng replied, “Senior Brother, you first!”

The two laughed and headed into town.

Their plan was to find any valuable treasures in the town, steal it, and then go on a killing spree.

This was the town’s busiest time, and countless demons were going here and there, occasionally roaring and arguing.

Demons had very rough and simple ways of interacting, often fighting at the first sign of disagreement.

As they walked down the town’s paths, they could hear things like:

“You need to pay a protection fee to do business here. Scram!” …and then a fight.

“This is too expensive. A little cheaper! Scram!” …and then a fight.

“What sort of trash are you selling here? Scram!” …and then a fight.

“You’re in my spot. Move a little that way. Scram!” …and then a fight.

“Hey, you just ran into me. So what? Scram!” …and then a fight.

And so on and so forth.

Of course, most of the fights were limited to sparring, with few resulting in death. This wasn’t because they were all pacifists, but because the mayor of the town, Furyhorn, didn’t allow it.

Furyhorn was a Thunderhorn Ifrit, the two curved horns on his head able to unleash pillars of lightning and fire.

Thunderhorn Ifrits were rather powerful demons, but they still couldn’t reach the level of the higher-ranked demons. But Furyhorn was a fortunate one. 420 years ago, when he was wandering through an area bereft of demons, he encountered a storm of violet energy.

The violet energy of the Primordial Fog had gathered into a terrifying storm, obliterating all in its path.

Miraculously, Furyhorn survived.

As a survivor of a violet energy storm, he grew much stronger, the violet energy rushing into his body letting him overcome some bottleneck and advance to the upper ranks of demons. After killing the former mayor of this town, he took the post of mayor for himself.

Furyhorn had high expectations for this town, and to ensure its prosperity, he didn’t want any demon to cause too many deaths here, other than himself.

The Primordial Fog was so barren that demons mostly traded in worthless trash.

But with the start of the Primordial Fog Calamity, human treasures would begin to appear in its towns.

Damaged art relics, various medicines and plants, and rare resources would all appear. Sometimes, there were even female human cultivators…

“Come and take a look! A gorgeous female human cultivator seized from the Jade Splendor Domain!” A call drew Tang Xuanyu’s attention.

Nearby, a Goldgrubber was shouting from a platform, and behind him was a line of ten-some female human cultivators, each one with a spiritseal ring around their neck, shivering in the wind with their clothes in tatters.

Goldgrubbers were a rare sort in the Primordial Fog Domain. Born merchants, they didn’t have much combat power but were innately cunning and greedy. One was basically guaranteed to find Goldgrubbers wherever demons gathered.

Goldgrubbers were skilled in transportation spells, and this particular Goldgrubber had purchased these female cultivators on the battlefield and then transported them back to the Primordial Fog Domain to be sold.

Demons were often powerless against beautiful human women, particularly those demons who had originally been human. Even though they had become demons, their sense of beauty had not changed. The vast majority of demons had grotesque appearances, and if possible, these former humans naturally preferred human women, taking particular pleasure in women that had not become demons. There were also those demons of more unusual form that were interested in female humans. After all, many demons found human flesh delicious.

Many demons were drawn over by the Goldgrubber’s cries.

The Goldgrubber grew excited. Pulling a female cultivator over, he said, “Let’s begin the auction! Female cultivator number one, Nine Revolutions Period. Although she’s not that strong, she’s extremely attractive. Please submit your bids. The starting price is one Jailstone, and the minimum increment is one Jailstone.”

“One Jailstone!” a demon that had the appearance of a pig said.

“Two Jailstones, I’ll pay two!”

“Three.”

“You poors, don’t even say anything if you don’t have the money. I’ll pay five.”

“Is five a lot? I’ll pay seven!”

“You trash, are you challenging me?”

“Scram!”

A fight started.

The bidding stopped.

Jailstones were quite valuable, and seven Jailstones for one female cultivator wasn’t cheap. Thus, other than those two fighting demons, nobody bid anymore.

The Goldgrubber was in no rush, calmly watching the two demons fight.

A few moments later, the demon that had bid five Jailstones had the clear upper hand. With a savage punch, he toppled his opponent, finishing with a mouthful of spit. “Weakling.”

He then turned to the Goldgrubber. “Five Jailstones!”

The Goldgrubber slapped his forehead. “You useless thing!”

He handed the female cultivator over and took the five Jailstones.

Yes, this was the negotiating custom of demons.

If you thought the price was too high and didn’t want to pay it, you just needed to beat up the high bidder. And if the seller didn’t like your offering price, he could refuse, but he would have to beat you up first.

Nobody could win forever, so most demons weren’t suited to be merchants. Goldgrubbers were the only exception. With their sharp minds and powerful transportation abilities, they were always able to avoid potential losses.

Five Jailstones was still considered profitable by this Goldgrubber, so he chose to take the trade. After selling off the first female cultivator, he started the bidding for the second.

“Look at this! A high-quality Jade Splendor female cultivator. This is the daughter of the sect master of a major sect of the Jade Splendor Domain. She’s at the Heart Demon Tier, the phase where it’s easiest for one to become a demon, a perfect fit for demons skilled in seduction arts. Does anyone want to try their hand at educating this high-class good? The starting bid is five Jailstones!”

To avoid a possible loss, the Goldgrubber decided to start at five.

“Six!”

“Seven!”

“Eight!”

Numerous demons started to bid for this Heart Demon female cultivator.

The price quickly rose to twelve Jailstones.

Just when it seemed like the Plague Armor Demon that had bid twelve Jailstones was about to win, a voice shouted, “I’ll pay fifteen Jailstones.”

All the demons turned to the source of the voice, a Goldbone.

The Plague Armor Demon spat out his long tongue, licking his lips. “Are you seeking death?”

“Scram!” The Goldbone gave the classic reply.