’Besides, hearing a Demon King say those four words, "plague the human world," sounds so awkward.’
’Demons have always been the ones to plague the human world, haven’t they?’
Hearing the name "Ancient War Ruins" again, Tu Xiao’an had to take it seriously. He knew he’d heard of this place somewhere before.
After a moment of deep thought, Tu Xiao’an’s eyes lit up. ’Oh, that’s right. I remember now.’
Tu Xiao’an had once devoured Du Tianyi, a team leader from the Demon Management Bureau, and obtained information about the Ancient War Ruins from his memories.
"A-Level Incident: The Ancient War Ruins may be on the verge of opening. Investigation reports a monster has escaped, entered a village, and begun a massacre, resulting in one hundred and seventy deaths. The situation is being handled urgently."
’Yes, that was the message. Could the monster mentioned in Du Tianyi’s memories be this Taotie?’
If a Taotie had charged into a human village, not just one hundred and seventy people, but even a thousand would have been wiped out without a single survivor.
Even an ordinary Rank Three Demon Spirit was like paper before the Taotie, let alone a normal human.
And what’s more, this was just one of the Taotie’s clones.
Thinking this, a terrible premonition surfaced in Tu Xiao’an’s mind. ’God knows how many clones the Taotie has. If they enter human cities, it will be a true disaster.’
’If one of them entered Bai Town, the consequences would be unimaginable.’
’Mom, Sis!’
The mere thought sent a chill down Tu Xiao’an’s spine.
"Senior, you know about the Ancient War Ruins. Do you know how many Taotie clones have escaped from there, and where they’ve appeared?"
Tu Xiao’an looked at the Fox Immortal King anxiously. If they had only appeared in the Yaoling Mountain Range, it wouldn’t be so bad.
He was afraid it was just as he imagined.
A few of them, or even dozens, entering Wencheng’s territory would mean absolute devastation.
The Taotie had an insatiable appetite; it could eat as many people as there were. Its entire life was dedicated to one thing: eating.
"What did you say? This is a Taotie’s clone?" The Fox Immortal King was startled. She instantly moved past Tu Xiao’an, placing a jade-like hand on the massive Taotie’s body.
A wave of Energy enveloped the Taotie, and it began to tremble in fear and agitation.
After a moment, the Fox Immortal King withdrew her hand, her expression turning grave. "Unbelievable. It really is a clone. There’s no Beast Pill in its body."
This was completely beyond the Fox Immortal King’s expectations.
"No wonder the Taotie that escaped from the Ancient War Ruins seemed so weak," the Fox Immortal King finally understood.
But if this was merely a clone, then it wasn’t weak at all—it was terrifying.
A single clone had devoured a powerhouse at the Pseudo Demon King Level. If the main body had hundreds or thousands of these clones, not just the Human World, but the entire Yaoling Mountain Range would face annihilation.
Moreover, this kind of Fierce Beast knew nothing but endless consumption, completely devoid of reason.
"You three, come over here. There’s new information."
Ever since Tu Xiao’an’s Dark Illusion had been broken, his duel with the White Demon King had entered a sort of halftime.
The White Demon King, Gray Demon King, and Yellow Demon King had gathered together, whispering about something unknown.
When the Fox Immortal King spoke, the three of them flew over in an instant, stopping just a few meters from Tu Xiao’an.
Instantly, those two lowlifes, the Gray Demon King and the White Demon King, glared viciously at Tu Xiao’an, looking like they wanted to swallow him whole. While the Yellow Demon King’s gaze wasn’t as hostile, it was certainly not friendly.
Among the four Demon Kings, only the Fox Immortal King showed Tu Xiao’an any semblance of cordiality.
However, Tu Xiao’an remained secretly wary of the Fox Immortal King. ’These Deep Mountain Demon Kings are all treacherous creatures. I’ve been tricked by them more than enough times.’
’Even Demon King Liu of my own Snake Race tried to possess my body in the end, to say nothing of Demon Kings from other races.’
’The slightest carelessness could lead to my utter damnation.’
"What are you staring at, you dead rat, you dead hedgehog? Fuck you," Tu Xiao’an glared back fiercely, letting out a curse.
’I can’t afford to provoke the Level 39 one, but I have the confidence to deal with these Level 38 Deep Mountain Demon Kings now.’ Since things had already reached a kill-or-be-killed point, there was no need to pretend.
As for the Yellow Demon King, he didn’t know him and had no beef with him, so he chose to ignore him.
"You damn Snake, you’re courting death!"
The Gray Demon King and the White Demon King flew into a rage. Their Demon Qi erupted instantly, causing the surrounding space to twist and distort.
"Courting death? The two of you have attacked me more than once. Am I dead yet? You dead hedgehog, our fight isn’t over!"
"Fine, let’s continue! If I don’t kill you, you damned Snake, I’m unworthy of being called a Deep Mountain Demon King!" The White Demon King’s Killing Intent shot out like a gale, and his eyes turned blood-red.
The Gray Demon King said, "Younger Brother Bai, let me handle this. This Snake will die today for sure!"
"Hmph..." Tu Xiao’an said dismissively. "You dead rat, you fled pretty fast back on Monkey Mountain. And now you’re trying to act tough with me? Why don’t you two just come at me together?"
Every gesture Tu Xiao’an made was filled with the heroic arrogance of someone who looked down upon the entire world.
PFFT...
Hearing this, the two Demon Kings nearly coughed up blood from rage.
They really did want to team up and kill the snake, but now that he had said it so brazenly, they couldn’t bring themselves to do it without losing face.
Two Deep Mountain Demon Kings ganging up on a Snake who had just reached their rank? Was that even acceptable?
Did they have no shame? How utterly humiliating would that be?
"Alright, that’s enough out of all of you," the Fox Immortal King suddenly snapped. "The Ancient War Ruins have already opened, and you’re still bickering and fighting? This Taotie is a clone. Do you have any idea what that means?"
"What? This is a clone?"
The three Demon Kings were utterly shocked.
"I checked. This Taotie has no Beast Pill inside its body," the Fox Immortal King said calmly. "If I’m not mistaken, the real Taotie is probably still inside the newly opened War Relics and hasn’t emerged yet."
"Do you know why it sent its clones out first?"
The Yellow Demon King answered directly, "The real Taotie needs Energy. Its strength hasn’t recovered. Since these are clones, whatever the clones eat is the same as the main body eating it."
By consuming a massive number of living beings in the world, the stronger its prey, the more powerful the Energy it obtains.
It was just like Tu Xiao’an’s evolution system.
"Exactly. Right now, we don’t know how many clones the real Taotie has sent out. The more Demons these clones eat, the stronger the real Taotie will become. I’m afraid that by the time it emerges, it will have the fighting strength of a Rank Four."
Rank Four???
Even for Deep Mountain Demon Kings, that level was a distant and unattainable realm. Before a Rank Four, they were all just ants, completely powerless to resist.
"Second Sister Fox, are you saying we must find the opened War Relics now and kill the Taotie before it recovers to Rank Four?"
"Correct. If the real Taotie emerges as a Rank Four, we Demon Kings will be the first to be devoured as food."
The Yellow Demon King said, "Since this clone appeared here, it means the War Relics opened somewhere in the Yaoling Mountain Range. If we search carefully, we’ll definitely find it."
"Whenever War Relics open, the surrounding Spiritual Qi surges. Finding it shouldn’t be too difficult."
The Fox Immortal King mused, "Not necessarily. It’s possible they opened in the outside world, and this clone simply followed the scent of Qi into the Yaoling Mountain Range."
"First, we’ll have the Yaoling Mountain Range searched from top to bottom. If we can’t find it, then it must be in the Human World."
"Mm, let’s hope the War Relics are in the Human World, then."
The four Demon Kings had a heavy conversation, the tension thick in the air. Seeing their expressions, Tu Xiao’an realized that these War Relics were a far bigger deal than he had imagined.
’The real Taotie will be Rank Four once it recovers its strength?’
It wasn’t that Tu Xiao’an had never encountered an Ancient Exotic Beast before, but it was clear that an Exotic Beast emerging from the War Relics was no ordinary creature.
It posed a devastating threat to this world.
"Senior, can you explain to me exactly what these Ancient War Ruins are?"
Tu Xiao’an was completely in the dark about the whole thing.
’Senior?’ The Gray Demon King and White Demon King were instantly displeased. ’We’re all Deep Mountain Demon Kings. You call that Old Fox Lady ’Senior,’ but you call us ’dead rat’ and ’dead hedgehog’?’
The Fox Immortal King looked at him and said, "With your current strength, you are barely qualified to know about the War Relics."
Tu Xiao’an was taken aback. ’I feel like I’m practically unrivaled, and I’m only *barely* qualified to know?’
’Fine, I’ll wash my ears and listen respectfully for now.’
’If it’s really that terrifying, I probably can’t stay in the Yaoling Mountain Range for another moment.’