Riding atop clouds and mist, the white tiger roared as she descended from above.
The spectacle before them looked virtually identical to the appearance of the White Tiger, one of the Four Sacred Beasts of mythology!
The older demons who had attained enlightenment long ago grew increasingly wary, while some inexperienced little demons gasped in hushed awe.
Some demons had even brought banners and cheering lightsticks, waving them relentlessly. Glowsticks illuminated the mountains and wilderness all around, making the scene resemble an idol’s concert at first glance.
Hu Ban'er narrowed his eyes and grinned.
Crouched beside him were foxes of all sizes, their eyes glinting green beneath the moonlight.
Given the Mountain Lord’s instructions, he would not dare act recklessly even if he harbored petty schemes of his own; naturally, he had spread the word far and wide across the land.
He had only stopped short of notifying the foreign demons north of Mohe who babbled in Russian and chugged vodka.
Yet what could be done when certain demons were simply short-sighted and lacked all vision?
For this Demon Core Tasting Assembly, among the Five Families of the Northeast—Hu, Huang, Bai, Liu, and Hui—aside from the Hu and Bai families who had arrived with their entire clans in tow, the Huang and Hui families had not shown up at all.
The Liu family had wavered, too proud to swallow their dignity, and merely sent a small, insignificant python over.
Idiots.
It had been a long time since he saw fools this pure.
Boundless fortune had rained down upon them, yet they had smugly held up umbrellas to dodge every drop, foolish without even realizing it.
If the Mountain Lord truly wanted to deal with them, would she need to scheme and trick demons here just to slaughter them?
Flying over on clouds and mist to swallow them whole would take no more than a few bites.
In ancient times, the greatest merit of following a dragon came from aligning with a wise master before they rose to prominence.
Now that the Mountain Lord was hosting an assembly, if you refused to show respect, who would care who you were once the demon race truly prospered?
Hu Ban'er harbored disdain in his eyes, sighing over how the Huang and Hui families had squandered such a magnificent opportunity for nothing.
...
Seeing the white tiger’s resemblance to the divine beast White Tiger, fear intensified in the hearts of the demons.
The demon race revered strength above all else; after a single glance, an innate sense of submission surged from their very bones.
In the blink of an eye, the colossal tigress descended upon an elevated seat within the mountain ravine, transformed into a three-and-a-half-meter-tall humanoid tigress, and sat cross-legged with swaggering dominance upon her chair.
It was a rustic, unadorned stone chair overgrown with dark green mountain vines, formed from jagged rocks stacked into a natural throne.
Draped over it was the hideous hide of a demon beast that faintly radiated a terrifying pressure.
Skinned whole, the demon beast possessed a head resembling a hybrid of a tiger and a leopard, born with three eyes and an immense build, speckled with gold fur that shimmered under the moonlight.
Even the finest modern weaving craftsmanship could never produce such dazzling radiance.
It looked unlike anything from the mortal world.
Beasts loved adorning their dens with battle trophies; thus, the demons endured their terror, averting their eyes from the ferocious beast head.
—Though the demon beast was dead, its lingering might remained.
Some of the smaller demons present were so terrified by the beast that they collapsed flat to the ground, whimpering uncontrollably as they wet themselves.
Even the older demons felt lingering dread with just a single glance.
If a mere pelt exuded such formidable oppressive power, it must have been an extraordinarily potent demon beast in life, with a cultivation level of at least the second-revolution of the demon core or above.
Yet such a great demon, spoken of only in legends, had been slain by the Mountain Lord and casually skinned into a seat cushion.
Just how profound was the Mountain Lord’s cultivation—
No one knew.
No one dared raise their heads to examine the demon beast hide, let alone look directly at the Mountain Lord. Drenched in cold sweat, they all remained utterly silent.
Ten thousand beasts came to pay homage, yet all fell silent as cicadas in winter.
The Mountain Lord crossed her legs and propped her head on one hand. With a casual sweep of her gaze, servant beasts promptly brought forward luminous pearls to provide illumination.
Placed upon the stone platform one by one, the luminous pearls lit up immediately, casting a gentle, brilliant glow that turned the surroundings snow-white as though it were broad daylight.
Only then could the demons clearly see the Mountain Lord’s surroundings:
Behind the stone throne stood a curved screen of red sandalwood with mother-of-pearl inlays depicting peach blossoms, gold, jade, and splendid court ladies. On the screen, a sturdy peach blossom tree bloomed radiantly while court ladies offered tea and musicians played.
What was most extraordinary was that these figures appeared vivid and lifelike, their eyes seeming alive no matter the angle from which one looked.
It was as though they might step out of the screen at any moment.
At the Mountain Lord’s feet lay layers of thick beast-fur carpets; one glance made it clear that stepping upon them would feel as soft as walking among the clouds.
There were also a coral Guanyin incense burner and a pair of white jade landscape carvings depicting flowing streams. Within each floated a sphere of spiritual energy; shimmering specks of materialized spiritual energy flowed in reverse like cascading waterfalls, swirling around the Mountain Lord’s feet.
The ignorant demons simply thought the Mountain Lord looked magnificent.
But the demons who recognized what it was stared with green, covetous eyes.
Spiritual energy clusters!
Clusters condensed from Five Elements spiritual energy!
With the resurgence of heaven and earth’s spiritual energy, the awakened spiritual pulses had long been carved up and depleted.
Everyone guarded the newborn spiritual pulses, doting on them like their own mothers and refusing to waste a single wisp of spiritual energy.
Who the hell had ever seen spiritual energy condensed into physical matter, much less clustered into solid spheres?!
No wonder Qingmeng Mountain was so rich in spiritual energy—cultivating here was countless times faster than anywhere else!
Only now did they understand the reason.
A spiritual pulse might not even produce a single sphere of spiritual energy in ten days to half a month—yet Her Ladyship the Mountain Lord was using this stuff as an air purifier!!
That was not all.
Below the Mountain Lord, on both the left and right sides, five stone tables and stone seating arrangements were set up. Upon them lay sprigs of orchid grass and stalks of spirit ginseng, along with red and yellow lingzhi growing tenderly right out of the stone tables.
Chunks of bloody demon beast meat were laid out, and jars brimming with demon blood stood waiting, constantly stimulating the senses of the gathered demons.
Century-old lingzhi and Century-old Spirit Ginseng were all rare spirit herbs, not to mention the immensely nourishing demon beast meat.
For demons, these were fatal temptations.
...
“Gulp...”
“...Gulp...”
“Holy mother of gods, so many treasures...”
“Are they... are they all for us?”
The sound of swallowing saliva echoed endlessly.
Let alone minor demons, even great demons who had lived for over a century could not escape the temptation.
What demon could possibly withstand such a test?!
Waves of spiritual power still radiated from the demon beast meat; one look revealed it was exceptionally fresh, its spiritual energy not yet dissipated.
A single bite would be immensely nourishing!
And those plump, premium ginsengs brimmed with spirituality, far from ordinary artificially ripened crops, their medicinal fragrance wafting everywhere.
Demon blood was also a marvelous substance; consuming it could clear meridians, bolster cultivation, and even prolong life.
What grand generosity from the Mountain Lord!
Reflexively leaning forward, Hu Ban'er let a trail of crystal-clear drool seep from the corner of his long fox snout.
“Awoooo!!”
From within the forest, dozens of dark silhouettes could no longer control their craving for flesh and blood, pouncing heedlessly toward the stone tables. Yet in that mere instant, the Mountain Lord seated aloft lazily yawned and exhaled a hurricane—
“Boom—!”
In a flash, the hurricane swept across the area, hurling sand and scattering stones in wild dance. After the deafening roar, half of the mountainside was leveled flat, exposing bare red earth.
—Those rampaging dark figures had their bones and flesh shattered to pieces, bloody shredded meat spraying across the ground and dissolving into heaps of mangled gore.
“This Lord prefers demons with real capability.”
“For today’s Demon Core Tasting Assembly, fine wine and good meat have naturally been prepared. However, it remains to be seen who among you possesses the skill and qualifications to share a table with this Lord.”
The white tiger’s golden eyes swept coldly across the crowd. Slightly lifting her chin, she leisurely gestured:
“Begin.”
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