Chapter List: Inner_Demon XXX-----XXX-----XXX-----XXX The Eel Demon, Chi Tiao, who had transformed into “Li Shan,” was indeed a bold and ruthless character. He led a grou

The Eel Demon, Chi Tiao, who had transformed into “Li Shan,” was indeed a bold and ruthless character. He led a group of demons toward Jun Mountain. Once they reached the water’s edge, his expression changed, and he shouted loudly, “Great King, Great King! Your subordinate has brought everyone!”

Just now, when this Chi Tiao killed Li Shan, it was a hundred meters deep underwater. At that depth, it was pitch black, and coupled with the numerous water weeds in Sunken Ship Valley, visibility was already poor. Moreover, these water creatures naturally have poor eyesight—thus, no one realized that this “Tenth Prince Li Shan” was already a fake. They only assumed that the Tenth Prince was enraged because the Eel Demon Chi Tiao had done something unsatisfactory, and so he had killed him.

He shouted loudly two or three times like this, and Li Yunxin appeared from the palace hall.

First, he looked at these demons—all had transformed into human bodies. But whether the appearance resembled a human was another matter.

Then, he looked at that Li Shan. The expression on his face was much more lively and animated than before. At this moment, he was looking at Li Yunxin with a smug look, as if asking for credit.

Li Yunxin pondered briefly, then said directly, “I summoned you here to carry out one task. Currently, the Daoist Orthodoxy outside the lake—”

He suddenly realized that this was somewhat superfluous. These demons were not bright; being able to explain things clearly to them was already considered clever. If he spoke to them about things like the Daoist Orthodoxy and the life-and-death struggle of demons, they would probably be even more confused. He simply decided not to go into those details, saying only, “Never mind, no need for unnecessary talk. In a moment, you are to leave the lake with me.”

“After leaving the lake, go into the Wei River. Along the way, visit the Demon Kings near Dongting and tell them that the Wei River Dragon King has matters to discuss, and ask them to meet by the lake at Bai Dang Village’s Yeyuan Forest.”

After he finished speaking, he looked at those water demons again—they were still standing there foolishly, not knowing if they had understood.

It was Li Shan who approached and whispered, “Great King, asking these simpletons to do such a thing will probably cause more harm than good.”

Li Yunxin appraised him again and smiled, “It is precisely because they are stupid enough that I am doing this.”

“You also saw the likes of King Ao and Serpent King before. When they wanted to deal with me, they sent envoys to communicate—they have been in the lake for several hundred years yet still suspect each other, only caring about themselves. How can you expect the demons outside Dongting to unite? This is merely to send them a message, so that the people of the Daoist Orthodoxy think we are contacting various Demon Kings to fight them to the death. That way... they will help me do things.”

Li Shan stood dazed for a while, seemingly trying to understand what Li Yunxin had said. After a moment, he said, “...Help the Great King do what?”

Li Yunxin glanced at him: “You are quite studious today.”

Li Shan hurriedly said, “I just want to share the Great King's burden, so I can secure a good future.”

Li Yunxin smiled, “That is a proper way of thinking. Then, I shall let you know—the Taoist Priests of the Daoist Orthodoxy have captured small demons nearby. I heard they are using them to set up a Formation. But they are likely afraid of causing too much trouble, so they haven't targeted the larger demons in the vicinity. What kind of things are those large demons nearby?”

“Hmph, they are nothing but cuckoos occupying a magpie's nest,” Li Yunxin coldly snorted with indignation. “I am the Wei River Dragon King; the entire Wei River should be under my jurisdiction. Yet those things have seized my territory, not even respecting the True Dragon's Dragon Might. In the past, this King couldn't be bothered to argue with them, but now, hmph hmph—”

“Once the Taoist Priests of the Daoist Orthodoxy realize that they are colluding with each other, they will certainly not stand idly by. Now that the war between the demons and the Daoist Orthodoxy is imminent, what do you think they will do? Naturally, they will slaughter all those unruly Demon Kings!”

“Haha. In this way, I will use the Taoist Priests’ methods to clear out the Demon Kings nearby—who will dare to compete with me in the vicinity of Dongting after this? Once this great calamity is over, Hah ya, I will be the Wei River Dragon King in name and in fact!”

After hearing all of this from Li Yunxin, Li Shan immediately clapped his hands, “The Great King is truly brilliant and resourceful. What a masterful plan! But... the people of the Daoist Orthodoxy want to destroy Dongting, and they might stay here afterward and refuse to leave. Even if the Great King gains the Wei River, you might not be able to be the master of it later!”

Li Yunxin smiled mysteriously upon hearing this. After thinking for a while, as if having made a decision, he squinted at Li Shan and said, “You are worried about this. Good, I shall tell you the full story, so you will serve me faithfully and not harbor any foolish, half-hearted thoughts.”

“Do you know that this King was once a human?”

Li Shan was taken aback and said, “...What does the Great King mean?”

Li Yunxin smiled, “It is enough that you know. This King is a demon now, but was once a human. How many Taoist Priests of the Daoist Orthodoxy are there in total?”

“They have outposts in the cities of the mortal world. But only in famous, large cities. In those small cities and towns, you cannot even see a ghost. Do you understand? The Daoist Orthodoxy is short of manpower. I heard there are many Taoist Priests on Cloud Mountain, but they all want to pursue the Great Dao and are unwilling to participate in mundane affairs. Therefore...”

“Now, the Daoist Orthodoxy wants to conquer the world and has taken large territories from the demons. Will they just leave them unmanaged? They can ignore places with human settlements—the imperial court and government officials will manage them for them. When there is more yang energy in the human world, it is difficult for demons to take form. But the places where those demons used to dwell were mostly remote, desolate mountains and turbulent waters; no humans would go there.”

“If these areas are captured and left alone, new demons will appear in a decade or two. Heh, what should be done about that? Naturally, they will find someone to manage them on their behalf!” Li Yunxin laughed with satisfaction. “For instance, in the Wei River area... this King was once human. I understand human thoughts and intentions. When this matter is over, I will find someone from the Daoist Orthodoxy and say that I still sincerely yearn for the Dao and am willing to renounce the darkness and embrace the light—to suppress the local demons for them and govern this region. Any reasonable person who understands the general situation will agree, won't they?”

“This will be the general trend in the future.” Li Yunxin let out a breath proudly. “Demons cannot be completely eliminated. The only ones the Daoist Orthodoxy can kill are the foolish and unrepentant ones. Others like me will become the Daoist Orthodoxy's agents. So—what are you afraid of? Dongting is ruined, but that doesn't mean this King will also be ruined. Not only will I not be ruined, but I will be happier than before—I won't even have to hide anymore!”

Li Shan listened to him in dumbfounded silence. He couldn't help but clap again, “Brilliant, brilliant! Great King, this truly is a great strategy!”

As he was praised like this, Li Yunxin seemed to be getting carried away. Or perhaps he felt that this Li Shan was also a capable talent for major use, so he continued smugly, “Do you think that’s all? Hehe. Although the Daoist Orthodoxy is strong, it may not be stronger than a True Dragon. I will first submit to them and wait—once they are defeated by the True Dragon, that will be interesting too.”

“—I am a Dragon's Son, a demon of noble status. How could I sincerely submit to the Daoist Orthodoxy? Everything I did before was just a pretense, waiting for the opportunity to strike back. At that time, the people of the Daoist Orthodoxy will roll out of Dongting and the Wei River... Won't this territory be mine?”

He glanced at Li Shan: “This is what is called a plan of killing two birds with one stone. Those stupid demons. How could they understand this!”

The fake Li Shan listened as Li Yunxin laid bare his plan and couldn't help but sneer inwardly. But on the surface, he remained calm, only praising Li Yunxin’s plan as good.

Li Yunxin showed off for a while, seeming to feel that he had won over Li Shan's heart. He did not say anything more. He first instructed Li Shan to convey his meaning to the demons, and then he used his divine power to lead them out of the Dongting Restriction.

This was also a troublesome matter.

His Dragon Palace was a very secret place—he was not as unrestrained as the Lord of Dongting, who actually turned his Dragon Palace into a new realm and brought all his shrimp soldiers and crab generals in.

Therefore, he first had to use his divine power to seal the senses of those demons, then bring them into the Dragon Palace, and then send them out of the Restriction. This whole process took a full two hours.

The demons in Dongting rarely left the lake.

Because they were all water demons. This meant that although they had transformed into human forms, they were still happiest staying in the water. Moreover, some demons had innate divine powers, which could only be activated with the help of wind and waves.

Now that they had arrived at the Yeyuan Forest on land, many bewildered demons complained incessantly. Fortunately, Li Shan constantly moved around to control and suppress them, preventing a stampede.

Fortunately, Dongting was close to the Wei River, a large lake formed by a bend in the Wei River. Not long after they traveled through the forest, these demons reached the bank of the Wei River and immediately jumped into the water with a plop, plop. During this time, some demons became restless and tried to slip away in the forest—Li Shan killed them immediately without waiting for Li Yunxin's instruction.

Seeing him act cleverly and decisively, Li Yunxin relaxed once the demons entered the Wei River. He merely instructed Li Shan to hide and wait by the water, while he returned to Dongting first, as he had things to do.

Li Shan nodded and agreed hastily.

Thus... only he was left in the forest by the Wei River.

The place where the demons entered the water was on the opposite bank of Three Rivers' Mouth. It had always been uninhabited, and looking south, South Mountain could be seen in the distance.

The hottest part of the day had just passed, and the leaves of the trees and plants were wilting. The heat that had been steamed up had not yet dissipated in the forest, and the sunlight penetrated the somewhat sparse branches by the edge of the forest, scattering patches of light on the ground.

Such an environment was by no means comfortable for a low-level water demon; it was even a form of torture.

But Li Shan raised his head and stared at the sun in the sky for a long time, then took a few deep breaths of the air in the forest, which was filled with the scent of grass and trees. Then, he exhaled comfortably. Afterward, he slowly lay down on the grass, which was slightly warm from the heat, spreading out his limbs in a large 'X' shape.

After about half an hour, Li Shan sat up again.

He first took out a Talisman from his bosom, and then burned the Talisman to ashes.

The ashes scattered, and he waited patiently.

After waiting for roughly half an hour, a streak of light appeared in the sky. The streak of light came straight into the forest, hovering above Li Shan's head for a while, seemingly finally finding the person. Then, it landed—

It was Kun Wuzi.

But naturally, just like this “Li Shan,” he was a fake. It was "Fei Yunzi," whom Linliang Zi called Fu Liangzi, disguised as Kun Wuzi.

To an uninformed person, the scene would naturally look strange—the Sect Master of the Daoist Orthodoxy’s Langya Grotto-Heaven, standing on the grass.

Looking down at a strangely shaped lake demon. And that lake demon was sitting, looking up at him.

The two looked at each other like this for a moment, and Li Shan suddenly smiled, “You’ve done well for yourself. A few decades ago when we parted, we were both only in the Manifestation Realm. Now, I am barely at the peak of the Manifestation Realm, and Senior Brother you are already... Aiya?”

He suddenly sat up, moved closer to Kun Wuzi, and stared at him carefully for a while, his face changing color: “What is going on with this body of yours...? Did you seize the body of that Kun Wuzi? How did you manage that??”

Kun Wuzi sighed slightly, “It really is you. Alas, I haven't seen you for many years, and I almost forgot your Dao name was Tan Liangzi just now. My body was not seized; an Elder abandoned his own body and gave it to me. You don't need to be too surprised. It's just that you are now... Alas.”

He looked at the Eel Demon he called Tan Liangzi with a look of regret. After a long moment, he sighed again, “You used to be someone who loved beauty dearly. Now you are trapped in this Human Skin Bag, which is truly a hardship for you.”

Li Shan smiled, “Human Skin Bag? The Human Skin Bag is a small matter. What I dislike most is the stench of the lake. That kind of place, never seeing the light of day, staying in the water for decades. Eating rotten meat, drinking muddy water. A scene like this now... I haven't seen it for a very, very long time. I was obsessed that day and insisted on becoming a lake demon. I should have learned from you and become a Taoist Priest—good food and good clothes, and the cultivation realm is good too.”

Kun Wuzi smiled and did not argue with him about these things. Perhaps he felt that Li Shan had indeed suffered for many years, and he didn't know how to comfort him now. He thought for a moment and changed the subject, “Junior Brother has indeed suffered. But now—have you made any progress on your side?”

Li Shan then looked serious and talked about business, “If we only consider my side, there is no progress. But I thought of you. I didn't know you had become Kun Wuzi before, but I always knew you must be near him. And here—that Li Yunxin is planning some things. I thought about it and felt that this was an opportunity not to be missed, so I simply disguised myself like this—as a Demon King in the lake. Listen to me carefully.”

Then he recounted everything Li Yunxin had been doing in Dongting these days, emphasizing the words Li Yunxin had said to him earlier.

When Kun Wuzi heard this, his face first changed slightly. Then he fell silent for a long time.

“When you think about his words... there are no obvious flaws,” he frowned and stroked his beard. “But how do we know he didn’t just say it to trick you?”

Li Shan smiled slightly, “For one, he doesn't know I'm fake. For another, Senior Brother, he even admitted that he was once a human—you can see that the words must be true. Did you know about this?”

Kun Wuzi thought for a moment, “That is true. Kun Wuzi told me before, but he also told me not to underestimate that Li Yunxin. Now that I hear you say this... he is indeed a person of some cunning and courage. To have the Daoist Orthodoxy clean his house for him, and then reap the benefits from both sides—”

“I don't know him very well. But upon careful thought, Kun Wuzi said he was cunning, and this seems to confirm it.” Kun Wuzi shook his head, “If you hadn't come and told me this, we might have truly fallen for his trick. So... what do you think we should do?”