At the mention of the Tier Four Demon Beasts’ orders, the White Snake’s face filled with apprehension.
They wouldn’t just be killed; they’d be brutally tortured.
Who wouldn’t be afraid of that?!
The White Snake said with great difficulty, "Senior, it’s not that we don’t want to take you. We just don’t dare to disobey the orders of our lords."
Su Mo frowned. "You’re that afraid of them?"
"Yes, we’re terrified!"
the White Snake said without a moment’s hesitation.
The Demon Bear mustered its courage and said, "Senior, if we defy your orders, the worst you’ll do is tear us limb from limb, roast us, and eat our meat. But if we defy our lords’ orders, we’ll be tortured to death until our minds break."
Death itself isn’t something to be afraid of.
But torture is another matter entirely.
You can withstand it for a short while, but not for long. You’ll be tormented until your mind shatters, leaving you in a state where you can neither live nor die.
Eventually, you become nothing more than a walking corpse.
Su Mo said coolly, "Fine. If you don’t want me to make things difficult, you have to take me to see those lords of yours."
He had originally planned to go straight to the Holy Spirit Celestial Palace to get the Holy Spirit Spring Water and save himself some trouble.
Now, it seemed that was no longer an option.
He was curious to see just how powerful those Tier Four Demon Beasts were to have scared the White Snake and the Demon Bear into this state.
"What? You want to see our lords?"
The Demon Beasts were stunned.
Su Mo’s frown deepened. "Is that not an option either? Hmph. In that case, you can all just die!"
As he finished speaking, Su Mo raised his hand.
The White Snake panicked. "Wait, Senior! We’ll take you right now!"
"Then get a move on!"
Su Mo urged impatiently, then turned and leaped onto the White Snake’s back.
The White Snake set off.
The other Demon Beasts trailed listlessly behind, their faces etched with misery.
’What kind of mess is this?’
They had hoped to use the opening of the Holy Spirit Secret Realm to catch a few humans and vary their diet. They never imagined they’d run into such a freakish existence right out of the gate, one who crippled them all.
And now, he was forcing them to face those Demon Kings.
Bored, Su Mo asked, "By the way, how many of those Tier Four Demon Beasts you mentioned are there?"
"Eight!"
the White Snake answered. "All eight of our lords are Demon King level. They’re exceptionally powerful and once joined forces to kill a human Mid Stage Martial Monarch."
"Oh."
Su Mo responded noncommittally.
The White Snake asked tentatively, "Senior, aren’t you afraid of those eight lords?"
In the past, any human who came to the Holy Spirit Secret Realm would do anything to avoid the eight lords after hearing they were Tier Four Demon Beasts.
Yet this young man was actively seeking them out.
’How strange!’
Su Mo chuckled. "Afraid? Heh, I’m more afraid they’ll be too weak to withstand a single slap from me before I kill them all."
What?
’Kill all eight lords with a single slap?’
The White Snake couldn’t help but scoff internally. ’Hmph. What an outrageous boast.’
The other Demon Beasts were also left speechless.
’This kid really has some nerve.’
Without the power of a Late Stage Martial Monarch or higher, forget defeating the eight lords—just escaping from them alive would be an accomplishment.
More likely, you’d end up severely wounded.
The Demon Bear sent a telepathic message: ’Do you guys think this kid really has the power to slap all eight lords to death, or is he just posturing for us?’
’Is there even a question? He’s obviously posturing.’
’The way I see it, he’s a Late Stage Grand Martial Artist at best. He’s strong enough to beat us, sure, but he’s a far cry from the eight lords.’
’Exactly. Any one of the eight lords could kill him without breaking a sweat.’
’If that’s the case, then why do you think he’s deliberately going to provoke them?’
’He has a death wish!’
The Demon Beasts chattered all at once.
The Demon Bear nodded.
Other than a death wish, it couldn’t think of any other explanation.
Just then, the White Snake brought Su Mo to the entrance of a large cave. Pointing inside, it said, "Senior, this is the residence of the eight lords."
"Is that so?"
Su Mo swept the cave with his Divine Sense and, just as expected, detected the presence of eight Demon Beasts within.
The White Snake said in a grave tone, "Senior, before you enter, I have to warn you. The eight lords are not fond of humans, and they have terrible tempers. When you meet them, you must choose your words carefully to avoid provoking them."
Su Mo nodded. "Don’t worry, I’m a very agreeable person."
’Agreeable?’
The Demon Beasts nearly burst out cursing.
’Agreeable my ass! You crippled all of us and killed several others!’
’Go fuck yourself!’
Of course, they could only curse him in their minds; they would never dare say such things to his face.
Otherwise, one slap and they’d all be dead.
Inside the cave, eight towering figures were gathered.
One of them, a White Elephant with a long trunk, spoke. "Everyone, the Holy Spirit Secret Realm is open once again. What are your thoughts?"
"What is there to think about? It’s just the usual small-scale scuffles," a Giant Ape grumbled.
The Old Turtle beside them sighed. "The Holy Spirit Secret Realm may seem like our Demon Race’s territory, but the ones truly in charge are those bastards from Holy Spirit Manor. The only reason they don’t eradicate us is to use us to raise the difficulty of their trials. If we go too far, they’ll step in and kill us."
"Fine. Then let’s just do what we did last time: catch a few humans to snack on and put on a show," the White Elephant sighed. "Otherwise, those old fossils will complain that we’re not cooperating."
The remaining Tier Four Demon Beasts nodded in resignation.
When you live under someone else’s roof, you have no choice but to bow your head.
However, a Two-headed Black Lion objected, "No! We can’t be as spineless as we were last time. We must kill every single human Martial Artist who enters the Holy Spirit Secret Realm!"
"Two-headed Black Lion, have you gone mad?"
the Old Turtle snapped angrily. "If you go on a killing spree and lure out that old scoundrel from Holy Spirit Manor, then what? Don’t you forget, that old man is at the Martial King Realm! He could kill all of us with a single yawn!"
"Heh, so what?"
The Two-headed Black Lion sneered. "They have a Martial King Powerhouse, and we don’t? Don’t forget that senior who arrived two months ago. He is a Divine Beast who has undergone a Secondary Awakening of his bloodline. He’s already a Tier Five Demon King!"
At these words, all the Demon Beasts lit up with joy.
Ordinary Demon Beasts can’t fight above their Realm, but Divine Beasts are a different story.
Divine Beasts can kill those in higher Realms.
A Tier Five Demon King was completely on par with a human Martial King expert.
In an instant, the Demon Beasts’ confidence soared.
The White Elephant declared loudly, "That’s right! With that lord on our side, we might not lose to Holy Spirit Manor. At worst, it will be a draw!"
"Then let the massacre begin!"
"Kill!"
"Pass down the order! Tell the underlings to catch more humans to eat! This time, I’m going to eat until I puke!"
"And don’t forget to save some for the great lord!"
Just as their righteous fury peaked and they prepared to start their massacre, a voice suddenly echoed from the entrance. "Wow, this cave is deep!"
Hmm?
The eight Tier Four Demon Beasts whipped their heads around in unison to look toward the entrance.
A moment later, a human figure strolled in.
It was Su Mo.
Su Mo calmly began to count, "One, two, three... Ah, so all eight of you are here."