I, the Demon Lord, Have Spoken: Who Agrees, and Who Objects?

Late at night in the dense forest, mist hung thick in the air. High upon the mountain, peach blossoms suddenly drifted from blooming trees as the faint sounds of pipes and strings echoed.

Had anyone seen this from afar, they would surely have mistaken it for a mirage.

Nan Zhi leaned lazily against her stone chair, the thick trunk of the peach blossom tree resting behind her. A long-robed court lady approached with graceful steps, covering her lips with a light chuckle:

“Allow this servant to pour wine for Master.”

A jar of spirit wine infused with Jiao-dragon blood was unsealed. The viscous liquid trickled into a jade goblet. Nan Zhi tilted her head back and downed it in a single gulp. Heat surged down her throat, and waves of fiery energy swirled around the demon core within her body, refusing to dissipate for a long time.

—The moment this external incarnation was born, it possessed the power of a second-revolution demon core, equivalent to a human Foundation Establishment cultivator, naturally bearing a glittering golden white tiger demon core inside her.

Having heard her personally declare the feast open, the ten demons in their seats no longer pretended to be composed. They began voraciously tearing into the spirit herbs and demon beast meat laid out before them.

“Sob sob sob... What kind of miserable lives were we living before this?! If we got an old mountain ginseng a century old, we’d wish we could split it into eight pieces to eat! And when we bought herbs to cultivate, we even got scammed online by humans! They claimed it was wild-grown, but when it arrived, the damn stuff was entirely greenhouse-farmed—didn’t even have a whiff of medicinal aroma!”

Hu Ban'er munched on spirit herbs while furiously kicking his worthless younger generation: “Quit blindly stuffing your faces, damn it! Can you even digest that demon beast meat and blood? You’ll end up shitting your pants! See those lingzhi and immortal herbs? Eat more of those! Save the rest for your grandmother!”

The giant panda had just endured a vicious battle, leaving not a single patch of intact skin or fur on its body. But hearing that all this was free to eat, it stuffed food into its mouth with both paws while casually tossing scraps behind its back, secretly feeding the sparrows and little beasts nearby.

With a hearty crunch, a steaming chunk of demon beast meat was ripped free. The ring of white fur beneath the black-and-white bear’s neck was dyed a terrifying shade of crimson.

—It was enough to make any giant panda fan scream in horror.

The hedgehog returned to its normal size, now only as big as a car tire. Uninterested in the demon beast meat, it sprawled across the table and focused entirely on gnawing through the herbs.

The giant elephant Xiangyao was covered in wounds. Resting her battered body beside the table, her long trunk coiled again and again, crunching through mouthfuls of spirit herbs while discreetly smuggling food over to her herd nearby.

The python, golden retriever, wild boar, golden falcon... were like children who had fallen into a honey jar, feasting to their hearts’ content.

A mouthful of demon beast meat, a gulp of beast-blood wine.

Feeling the surging, boundless demonic power coursing through their bodies, they felt happier than immortals.

The mountain summit was bustling, peach blossoms dazzled the eyes, and not a single demon spared the attention to appreciate the strains of elegant music playing in the background.

Like a whirlwind sweeping away the clouds, the spirit herbs, beast meat, spirit beast pills, and beast-blood wine on the stone tables were stripped completely clean.

Only then did the ten demons realize what they had just done, and embarrassment washed over them.

Hu Ban'er in particular felt his old face flush red. For this Demon Core Tasting Assembly, he had brought along all the promising juniors of his family, leaving only his old wife and several clan elders behind to hold down the fort. The Mountain Lord had hosted a banquet, and not only had he brought the whole family to eat and pack leftovers, but he had also eaten in such an... utterly disgraceful manner.

“There is no need for all of you to be so restrained.”

As though seeing through the unease of her fellow demons, Nan Zhi set down her wine goblet at the head of the feast. Without reprimand, she simply spoke in a deep voice:

“Though I have long lived apart from our kin, I know well the hardships the demon race has suffered across the world. Thus, I prepared simple wine and food to host this Demon Core Tasting Assembly.”

These words nearly brought tears to Hu Ban'er’s eyes.

It hit right where it hurt most.

Poverty!

The demon race was so poor.

Heaven had mercy on humans—when spiritual energy vanished, they could dedicate themselves to technological development and forge another path upward. But what about the demon race?

They were outcasts by nature. After enduring countless hardships to attain enlightenment, they had to scrape by on whatever meager spiritual energy the heavens bestowed, constantly finding ways to survive in the cracks of human society.

Some spirits lived even more miserably than humans.

He knew an old hen that had become a spirit before the founding of the republic. Lacking spiritual energy later on, she had no choice but to assume a human identity and open a chicken farm, selling grain-fed eggs she had laid herself every single day.

There was also a wild pangolin spirit of grand age, having lived for some three hundred years. Who knew which human bastard claimed pangolin had aphrodisiac qualities, causing swarms of poachers to hunt them down. Over the years, its descendants had been hunted down until only two or three remained. In a fit of rage, the old pangolin transformed into a human, passed the civil service exams to enter the Forestry Bureau, and dedicated itself to catching poachers.

—Even with all that, those among the pangolins capable of unlocking intelligence were few and far between. If things continued like this for another two hundred years, pangolin spirits would go completely extinct.

Though demons originated from beasts, they were not devoid of emotion; it was impossible to only care about filling one's own belly while letting one's children starve.

Money? Money was merely paper; it could not buy spiritual energy, nor could it buy lifespan.

Thankfully, at long last, spiritual energy was surging once more.

A formidable Mountain Lord had arisen within the demon race, capable of producing abundant spirit herbs, spirit pills, demon beast meat, and demon blood. As long as they followed her, all of these would be within reach.

Did this even require hesitation? Even a fool would know what to choose!

“The Mountain Lord is benevolent! Bearing in mind the weakness of our demon race, while humans flourish and the Demon Suppression Division grows tyrannical, she could not bear to see our demon brethren wither away. Thus, she hosted this Demon Core Tasting Assembly to invite us to discuss the grand revival of the demon race!”

Hu Ban'er rose swiftly to his feet and respectfully raised his cup toward the seat of honor:

“My Hu family is willing to follow the Mountain Lord’s lead in all things and honor the Mountain Lord as our master! From this day forth, there shall be no distinction of the Northeast Hu family, but only the fox vanguards under the Qingmeng Mountain Demon King, striving together for the prosperity of our demon race!”

No wonder people said foxes were crafty. Hu Ban'er was truly a demon of rare talent.

Nan Zhi set down her wine goblet and gracefully rose to her feet.

The surrounding mountains fell deathly quiet. Countless eyes fixed upon her, everyone holding their breath in rapt attention.

—Even the younger demons innocently followed their elders' lead and looked up.

“Since awakening my innate wisdom, I have grieved the plight of the world's demons. Seeing humanity flourish by the day, I cannot bear to see the demon race remain subjugated beneath humans, our lineage severed.

“Thus, I host this feast to discuss the grand future of our demon race with demons under heaven. For ages, the demon race has lacked a ruler. Today, I intend to claim the throne of the Demon King. Henceforth, there shall be no Mountain Lord on Qingmeng Mountain, only the White Tiger Demon King!

“Those present here—who agrees, and who objects?”

The air fell still for a moment.

A heartbeat later, a tsunami of cheers erupted from ten thousand demons as they shouted long live the Demon King:

“We of the Northeast Hu family are willing to follow the Mountain Lord, honoring the Mountain Lord as our King to revive the demon race! Long live the Demon King! Long live! Long live!”

“We of the Northeast Bai family are willing to follow the Mountain Lord, honoring the Mountain Lord as our King to revive the demon race! Long live the Demon King! Long live! Long live!”

...

“We of the Southwest elephant clan are willing to honor the Mountain Lord as our King to revive the demon race!”

“We of the Mobei golden falcon clan are willing to honor the Mountain Lord as our master—”

The demons rallied with one voice, chants rising and falling across the slopes. Regardless of race, all shouted in unison: “Long live the White Tiger Demon King!”

“Good. Today, we swear by this wine.”

Nan Zhi narrowed her eyes and raised the goblet in her hand, ambition shining in her gaze.

“Henceforth, the demons of Huaxia shall honor me as supreme, and all demons under heaven shall look to Qingmeng Mountain as their leader! No more words are needed—everyone, drink this cup to the bottom with me!”

With a flick of her tiger claw, a drop of Dragon Girl demon blood was retrieved from her inventory and tossed into the air.

Instantly, a light drizzle mingled with threads of blood qi fell over the surrounding mountains.

Whether great demon or little demon, all sensed the extraordinary nature of this rain, stretching their mouths open and scrambling to ingest the blood qi contained within—

Across the boundless wilderness, cries of the demon race resonated.

The giant turtle spoke in human tongue, offering lavish praise: “The Mountain Lord senses heaven and earth, summoning wind and rain with omnipotent grace. Truly vast are your divine abilities.”

“Since you are willing to honor me as your King, by rights, you shall serve as the demon generals beneath my command.”

Nan Zhi nodded and produced a small, half-human-tall banner upon her palm, a benign smile appearing on her face.

“This is my natal dharma treasure, the ‘Ten Thousand Demon Banner.’ When the demons of the world infuse their essence blood into my banner, they may be commanded according to my will...”

—In truth, the proper name of this thing was the “Yin Spirit Banner,” a magical artifact specifically used to store yin souls and control spirits. But since the Mountain Lord decreed that it was the Ten Thousand Demon Banner, then Ten Thousand Demon Banner it was.

Quite a few demons fell silent.

Yet not a single demon dared ask, obediently offering their essence blood.

A moment later, as essence blood entered the banner, the ten demons felt a distinct shift in perception:

From this point on, with a single thought from the Mountain Lord, their lives and deaths were entirely at the Great King’s disposal.

Nan Zhi was not stingy either. She immediately took out the demon core of the Golden-Winged Flying Centipede, divided it into ten parts, and turned it into ten droplets of elixir liquid that entered each demon's body.

In the blink of an eye, all ten demons underwent transformations.

The elephant grew even larger, towering like a mountain.

The golden retriever's coat became sleek and lustrous, its face eerily resembling a human's, smiling with an uncanny grin.

The giant panda’s spine shifted, allowing it to walk upright, its stubby tail lengthening by a fraction while the fur across its body grew softer and denser.

The old turtle’s shell gleamed, growing even thicker. The black boar's tusks looked menacing, glinting three inches of cold gleam.

The python thickened, its eyes brimming with intelligence as its transverse bone was refined, allowing it to speak in human tongue.

The golden falcon expanded by a size, spreading its wings as the tips of its feathers shimmered with brilliant gold light.

Experiencing a massive surge in cultivation and breaking through to the first-revolution of the demon core, the ten-odd demons were overjoyed, scrambling to pledge their loyalty:

“We are willing to follow the White Tiger Demon Lord to the death! Should we violate this oath, may heaven destroy and earth extinguish us!”

...

“We are willing to follow the White Tiger Demon Lord to the death! Should we violate this oath, may heaven destroy and earth extinguish us!”

The voices, both male and female, were deep and resonant, penetrating the white mist and echoing over Mulian Village.

The black-uniformed agents of the Special Investigation Bureau who had been observing the whole time looked at one another, their faces turning pale.

It was over. Qingmeng Mountain was truly going to produce a Demon King.