Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Without even blinking, Jin Xinyue said quickly, “With your unparalleled wisdom and strength, the Pantheon of Demons would disappear as long as you flicked your little finger at them. However, we don’t use a sledgehammer to crack a nut. You don’t have to do such things personally, Elder. After all, the greatest threat for the Pantheon of Demons is not us.”

Cold brilliance suddenly flashed in his eyes, as if he were angry. He said coldly, “Are you referring to the Heaven’s Origin Sector? You want me to cooperate with human beings? Hehe. That’s right. I almost forget that you look like a pure human being from your head to your toe now. It is only reasonable that you want to join hands with human beings of the Heaven’s Origin Sector.”

Jin Xinyue hurried to kneel down and shook her head. “Cooperation can only be established on equal terms. Right now, I am all by myself. If I go to cooperate with the Heaven’s Origin Sector, I will simply be feeding myself to the human beings.

“Also, with your identity, it is difficult for you to win the Heaven’s Origin Sector’s trust, Elder.

“What I referred to was the Blade of Chaos.”

Li Yao thought quickly and said, “Go on.”

Jin Xinyue coughed slightly and continued. “The Blade of Chaos seems to have suffered a major strike. However, the body of a bug can still move even if it is killed. Such a large organization cannot be eliminated so easily.

“The Blade of Chaos has reached every social class of the Blood Demon Sector in its hundreds of years of lurking in the darkness. Right now, we have only chopped its tentacles and limbs at best. We do not even know where its heart is.

“As you know, Elder, after the Blade of Chaos started the ‘Riot of Bloody Blade’ and occupied Bone Sand City in the north, the rebels stayed there and sabotaged the city, giving the coalition army of the demon race plenty of time to mobilize and annihilate all of them.

“At first, I thought that the Blade of Chaos was simply made of a bunch of mobs who did not know what to do after they took over a major city.

“But from a different perspective, what if their target had always been the mysterious drug that could turn a demon into a human being?”

Li Yao’s eyes were slightly enlarged. “Huh?”

“Suppose that the Blade of Chaos learned a long time ago that Elder Nether Spring had a secret laboratory in Bone Sand City and invented a mysterious drug that could change the world,” Jin Xinyue said. “Therefore, they initiated the ‘Riot of Bloody Riot’, and their real reason for occupying Bone Sand City was to search for said drug.

“If that’s the case, it is easy to understand why they stayed in and sabotaged the city. That is because they were digging pits in every household in search of Elder Nether Spring’s laboratory and the mysterious drug!

“If so, the secrets behind the drug must be more appalling than we imagined. Elder Nether Spring hunted them down without caring for the cost!

“If so, other than Elder Nether Spring and the four kingdoms, the Blade of Chaos should be looking for the mysterious drug, too!

“Right now, the mysterious drug has been absorbed by me and has led to the unbelievable changes inside my body. Therefore, I think that I might be a rather valuable bargaining chip right now. We can use me to initiate dealings with the Blade of Chaos.”

Li Yao thought for a moment and nodded. “You do have a point, but where are we going to find the Blade of Chaos? The entire Blood Demon Sector is suppressing the rebellions right now. Members of the Blade of Chaos must be living in anxiety and will not show up easily in case they are captured.”

Cunningness suddenly beamed out of Jin Xinyue’s eyes, as she smiled and said, “I happened upon a piece of ungrounded intelligence before, which was the location of a secret bureau, if not the headquarters, of the Blade of Chaos!”

Li Yao was dazed for a moment. “You knew where the Blade of Chaos was headquartered, and you kept such important information to yourself instead of reporting it to the Pantheon of Demons?”

Jin Xinyue laughed drily. “What benefits can I get by reporting it to the Pantheon of Demons? I might as well hide the information first and trade it for something more valuable when necessary, say, right now, in order to make best use of the information.”

Li Yao stared at her.

“It can’t be helped,” Jin Xinyue said frankly. “If you want to live, and live well, in the Blood Demon Sector, you must grasp a few secrets that other people do not know about.”

“Then, where is the secret bureau of the Blade of Chaos?” Li Yao asked calmly.

“Void Turmoil City.”

Li Yao chewed on the name and vaguely sensed the stink of blood. He remembered hearing the name when he was back in the Dry Leaf Village.

“Void Turmoil City is an independent city and does not belong to the four most powerful demon kingdoms,” Jin Xinyue said. “It is perhaps the most dangerous, disorderly, and lawless place in the entire Blood Demon Sector. It wouldn’t be exaggerating to call the city a cancer of the Blood Demon Sector.”

Li Yao found it amusing. “And the Pantheon of Demons simply tolerates the existence of such a ‘cancer’?”

“That’s because ‘Fire Ant King’, master of Void Turmoil City, is a middle-level demon emperor with tremendous strength,” Jin Xinyue explained.

“The Fire Ant King is a weirdo in the demon emperors. His strength and background are on par with those of quite a few of the twelve demon emperors, but he has never shown any intention of competing for the place of the twelve demon emperors. He simply occupied the Void Turmoil peninsula and established his own city, declaring that he would not attack anybody as long as he was not attacked.

“After Void Turmoil City was established, the most brutal demons of the Blood Demon Sector were immediately attracted to it. Many of them had committed felonies in the community that they belonged to or were those who failed in the struggle for power. They did not want to be sent to the Heaven’s Origin Sector for suicidal missions and therefore fled to Void Turmoil City. As long as they entered the territory of Void Turmoil City, the Fire Ant King would treat and shelter them equally.

“As time went on, the most brutal and merciless demons gathered around the Fire Ant King. With his invincible forces, other demons do not dare mess with him easily anymore.

“Unlike his forces, the Fire Ant King is the opposite of reckless. In fact, he is extremely smart.

“His Void Turmoil City mainly has two businesses.

“Firstly, to capture and refine the chaotic-blood demons.

“The chaotic-blood demons are despised by all other demons. They often live in remote regions of the Blood Demon Sector, too. After generations of life in the wilderness, they have become disobedient and uneducable.

“Therefore, the Fire Ant King sends out slave-catching teams to capture the chaotic-blood demons in the far-flung areas of the Blood Demon Sector. All the prey is brought back to Void Turmoil City for refinement. They are either bred into loyal slaves or fearless cannon fodder. Some of them even became gladiators who are made to fight each other for the entertainment of high-level demons.

“After the refinement, he sells the slaves, soldiers, and gladiators to high-level demons to be their pets, tools, and weapons.

“Through such a business, not only has the Fire Ant King earned a fortune, he has also made friends with the leadership of various tribes. After he first started, he quickly became the biggest hunter of chaotic-blood demons and slave owner of the Blood Demon Sector.

“The Fire Ant King provides slaves for the high-level demons with a neutral attitude, showing that he is interested in only money and nothing else. Why would anybody come to piss off such a peaceful demon emperor?

“Around the ‘Battle of Dawn’, the demand for cannon fodder soared. The Fire Ant King was much more efficient in producing cannon fodder than the major demon kingdoms were. He was a noble guest of the demon kings, who would only greet him warmly when he dropped by. Did they have any reason to provoke him?

“The Fire Ant King’s second business is the refinement of various kinds of demonic plants. The Fire Ant King possesses secret arts that can refine the demonic plants and extract the narcotic and berserker drugs from the demonic plants.

“The drugs are very important military assets. Many ignorant demons, especially the herbivores, are weak and do not have aggressive instincts. They require the narcotic and berserker drugs to put them in illusions where their family is being butchered by human beings. That’s the only way to trigger their bloodthirst and motivate them to fight.

“The demonic plants and slaughtering drugs that the Fire Ant King produces are very effective. Such a business has brought him wealth and the friendship of the major demon kingdoms, too. His Void Turmoil City, thus, became a unique place in the Blood Demon Sector.

“More importantly, the Fire Ant King and Elder Nether Spring are blood brothers who share the same mother!”

Li Yao was dazed. “What?”

“According to the custom of the demon race, if two brothers of the same family are both experts, intense conflicts are inevitable for the control of the family and family businesses,” Jin Xinyue said.

“However, years ago, the Fire Ant King bowed out of the competition of his own accord and left the Nether Spring Kingdom. He basically gave the entire Nether Spring Kingdom to Elder Nether Spring and established his businesses on his own.

“Moreover, when Elder Nether Spring was competing with other brothers, the Fire Ant King offered a lot of help so that Elder Nether Spring gradually grasped the entire Insect Clan.

“As a result, whether because Elder Nether Spring bore the favor that the Fire Ant King did to him in mind or because he was meaning to further count on his brother’s strength, it was difficult for him to turn against the Fire Ant King.

“Right now, the Fire Ant King has the support of Elder Nether Spring in the Pantheon of Demons, countless brutal demons as his subordinates, and sources of wealth that exceed the revenue streams of major demon kingdoms. He is also a strong middle-level demon emperor. Who is bold enough to ask for his trouble?”

Li Yao thought for a moment and said, “According to your story, the Fire Ant King made the first pot of gold by hunting the chaotic-blood demons, and Void Turmoil City is a huge factory that produces bettered chaotic-blood demons. Then, isn’t it the most dangerous place for the chaotic-blood demons?”

“You’re right, Elder.” Jin Xinyue smiled and said, “This is a hint of the smartness of the Blade of Chaos. The most dangerous place is perhaps the safest place. Right now, the entire Blood Demon Sector is searching for the members of the Blade of Chaos and their bureaus. But nobody would expect that the most important secret bureau of the Blade of Chaos is right inside Void Turmoil City below the Fire Ant King’s nose!”

“Understood.”

Li Yao thought quickly. The mental devil quickly released almost a hundred sordid, ill-intended ideas inside his brain. He made up his mind and said, “It seems that we must pay a trip to Void Turmoil City to look for the headquarters of the Blade of Chaos, explore all of the secrets of the mysterious drug, and even…”

Pausing for a moment, Li Yao scratched his bulging left temple and said calmly, “Meet this Fire Ant King!”