Chapter 58: The Golden Cicada

The King of Hunt-West remained expressionless, his tone indifferent as he spoke: "To dare to intercept my prisoner—if I were to let you escape, would it not make our reputation seem hollow and undeserved? Thus, I have no choice but to come and see you myself. Think carefully: surrender now, and I may spare your life. But if you choose to resist, forget your life—you will be lucky if even your soul remains intact!"

A faint blood-red hue surged into Liuchou’s eyes. Facing the King of Hunt-West’s oppressive aura, which felt as heavy as physical weight, Liuchou unleashed his demonic power to its limit. It surged through his meridians and acupoints, pushing every function of his body to the brink. His bones suddenly cracked and popped like roasting beans, and his eyes glowed with a predatory, malevolent light. He stared at the King, his eyes filled with fierce, murderous intent.

"My thanks for the instruction, King of Hunt-West! I am but a lowly pawn; to die at the hands of the Six Kings of the Realm would be an honor. Yet, if I am fortunate enough to escape with my life today, Your Highness would do well to be careful when you venture out in the future. If your kin were to die off without cause, leaving you alone in this world, that would truly be a dull existence."

Though Liuchou’s voice was low, it carried an indescribable, sinister edge. The King of Hunt-West felt a shiver of dread, a faint, chilling intent to kill slowly rising from the depths of his heart.

The King had not originally intended to kill him, but Liuchou’s words sent a tremor through his soul, igniting a sudden murderous urge: "A mere minor demon—why does he cause me such agitation and unease? Could it be that this creature must not be allowed to live?"

The King of Hunt-West raised his hand, gripping the empty air. Suddenly, a spear appeared in his grasp, covered in barbs and resembling a twisted, withered branch. Without adopting any formal stance, he swung it from hundreds of yards away.

This was a replica of Nezha’s Fire-Tipped Spear. Though a copy, it was forged from celestial meteor iron and abyssal cold-gold, tempered a thousand times. While it looked like a withered branch, as he wielded it, it seemed as though he held a leaping ball of fire, dancing through the heavens with dazzling brilliance.

Following the motion of the swing, a mass of crimson flame erupted instantly, hurtling toward Liuchou. It was not merely a ball of fire, but a sea of it; the spear acted like a brush dipped in thick ink, painting a stroke of searing flame across the void, howling and shrieking as it dived forward.

Facing an attack of unfathomable depth, Liuchou took a deep breath, leaped into the air, and struck at the flames with his iron rod like a thunderbolt. In an instant, dozens of blows rained down; the sound was earth-shaking, and faint rumbles of thunder echoed across the night sky.

Yet, how could a minor demon like Liuchou withstand such an attack?

After dozens of clashes, Liuchou vomited a mouthful of blood and plummeted like a shooting star, falling even faster than the wave of fire. He slammed into the ground, gouging a massive crater. However, the color of the flames remained unchanged, descending steadily toward him. He was about to be struck!

Stones flew from the crater. Though injured, Liuchou still had strength left; he scrambled up, narrowly dodging the flames. The fire hit the crater, flashing with a mountain-wide red light, unleashing a massive shockwave that threw the unsteady Liuchou back dozens of paces before he could regain his footing.

Looking closely, it was nothing more than a sheet of red light, but the crater had inexplicably expanded several times over. Beneath the flames, the rock and soil of the crater had been melted entirely into magma.

Liuchou’s pupils contracted sharply. The Six Kings of the Great Zhou were true to their reputation; a casual swing held such terrifying power.

Before Liuchou could even raise his head, the King of Hunt-West struck again with his Fire-Tipped Spear. With two swift flashes, two intersecting walls of fire flew toward Liuchou’s head.

This time, the speed was several times faster than before. Liuchou’s movement to look up and the swing of the spear seemed simultaneous, but by the time he saw the flames, the heat wave had already reached his face.

There was no escaping it!

Caught in such a predicament, and with no other options, Liuchou took a deep breath and let out a roar. He drove his iron rod straight into the center of the intersecting flames, intending to meet the fire with a desperate, life-risking strike to clash head-on with the King!

Liuchou’s eyes were filled with resolve. Since there was no path of retreat, why hesitate?

At that very moment, a silver halo flashed past, swift as lightning. It streaked across a hundred yards of the night sky and struck the exact intersection of the flames Liuchou was attacking!

With a deafening roar that shook the earth and sky, Liuchou—along with his rod—was blown away by the erupting fire-phoenix, retreating repeatedly as the air burned with countless black, flocculent ashes that scattered across the wilderness, felling countless trees.

Yet, the King of Hunt-West’s attack vanished, never to appear again.

The firestorm swept the surroundings, but in two places, it parted of its own accord. One was where the King of Hunt-West hovered, and the other was to the west, where another figure now floated in the previously empty sky.

This person had a handsome, delicate face, like a jade-faced gentleman carved by nature. His eyes, however, were cold and desolate, carrying a chilling aura that kept others at a distance. He held a silver wine flask, a piece the size of a fingernail missing from its rim.

Could that silver light have been the missing piece of the flask?

Both Liuchou and the King of Hunt-West reached the same conclusion.

Blocked by this stranger, the King of Hunt-West’s face turned livid. He raised his Fire-Tipped Spear high above his head and spun it rapidly. The spear tip released a sphere of fire, as scorching as the sun. Its vast, radiant glow illuminated the entire city of Xiyi as if it were day, a sun rising in the night that startled the world. If this red sun were to strike, it would surely shatter mountains and collapse rivers!

Just as the red sun emerged and before it could fully take shape, the stranger’s eyes flickered. A glow of light washed over him, and his wine flask flew out. The remaining wine poured forth like a waterfall, drenching the King of Hunt-West from head to toe.

The King watched helplessly as the deluge of wine grew, drenching him completely. He tried to dodge, but it was impossible, and he was forced to take it head-on. Even more shocking was that under the influence of this unbidden wine, the Fire-Tipped Spear extinguished, turning into a plume of blue smoke that rose into the sky and vanished in the wind.

This technique was an ancestral secret. The King had been fully prepared, yet he was suppressed entirely. He felt an indescribable discomfort within his body; his chest heaved, and he vomited a mouthful of blood.

The King was both shocked and furious. Although their exchange had been indirect, he sensed that the opponent’s power was unfathomable—compared to him, he was like an ant. Such power exceeded that of many Celestial Immortals and divine beings he had encountered. He had never heard of such a person, which filled him with trepidation and horror.

"You... are you a demon?" the King asked. As he spoke, his internal energy circulated, quickly healing the injuries caused by the backlash of his broken technique. His Fire-Tipped Spear had already been tucked away, and he now held the Universe Bow and the Heaven-Shaking Arrow, standing his ground.

"The Universe Bow? That is somewhat interesting!" The stranger looked at the fearsome weapons in the King’s hands. His expression remained unchanged, but his brow furrowed with gravity. He sighed and said, "You are a descendant of the Li family, are you not? I do not wish to kill you, but I cannot afford to face that bow and arrow. You put me in a difficult position!"

"A difficult position?" The King gripped the Universe Bow tightly, not moving. "What do you mean?"

"If you attempt to shoot me, I must kill you first. But my intent is not to kill you. You see, that is the difficulty, is it not?" The stranger looked down at Liuchou, who was also on high alert, and said to the King, "If I kill you, how would I explain it to Li Jing and his three sons?"

"You—you know my ancestor?"

Having felt the stranger’s vast power, the King no longer doubted that he knew his ancestor. Moreover, even though the stranger did not admit it, it was highly likely that he was a demon. This calmed the King slightly—anyone who could be an acquaintance of his ancestor must be a great demon who survived the Investiture of the Gods, almost all of whom had transcended the Taiyi realm. Even his true ancestor might not be able to defeat such a being. The feeling of defeat vanished.

"Something like that, yes!" A strange light flickered in the stranger’s gloomy eyes. "Go back and ask him if he remembers the fate of the Holy Mother of the Turtle Spirit."

"The Holy Mother... the Holy Mother of the Turtle Spirit..." The King of Hunt-West murmured the name several times. He looked at Liuchou once more, then gave a slight nod to the stranger. "Since you are an old friend of my ancestor, this matter ends here. This junior takes his leave."

Those who could be called "Holy Mother" possessed cultivation at least at the Taiyi realm, far beyond that of wandering immortals or earth immortals. To have crossed paths with such a being in his grandfather’s era and been defeated was only natural. The King of Hunt-West dared not show disrespect; he bowed and departed, not even returning to Xiyi, instead riding the wind toward the east, heading for Guankou.

The appearance of this demon was no small matter. The King of Hunt-West needed to inform the other five kings immediately to devise a strategy. Though the six kings often had their own grievances, they would never hide such a matter concerning the survival of the Great Zhou.

Watching the King of Hunt-West vanish, the stranger’s mouth twitched. He turned his gaze to Liuchou and frowned. "Hey, little one, do you hail from Mount Mei?"

Hearing the question, Liuchou did not dare to be careless. The aura of this demon felt like the vast, boundless universe, far beyond that of any great demon he had ever known. Knowing his cultivation was supreme, he bowed and performed the three kowtows required by the etiquette of the demon race before saying:

"This one is indeed from Mount Mei. May I ask how the ancestor knew?"

"That scent of Mount Mei is the same everywhere. How could I not recognize it?" As he spoke, the stranger walked down from the sky as if stepping on invisible stairs, slowly descending to Liuchou’s side. His tone was more intimate and less distant than when he had spoken to the King.

Hearing this, Liuchou felt a faint sense of familiarity from the stranger. It was like returning home after a long time away—everything was exactly as it was outside, yet it felt inherently familiar and comforting.

Liuchou nodded with a smile. Though he was usually reserved, the joy of surviving death was hard to suppress, and a sense of inexplicable affection for this demon rose from the depths of his heart.

"What is the ancestor’s name?" Liuchou asked tentatively. "I know most of the figures in Mount Mei, but it seems... it seems I have never..."

"Never heard of me? That is common. I have always lived in seclusion and rarely see anyone." The stranger stood before Liuchou. The ground was still covered in rising smoke, and the magma in the crater, though cooling, remained foul-smelling. He waved his sleeve casually, and a breeze swept the air clean. The ground seemed to come alive, the soil shifting to fill the crater.

Then, after a moment of thought, he said, "Do you know the valley in the center of Mount Mei?"

"The valley... the valley... Ah! Does the ancestor mean the Forbidden Forest of Mount Mei?" A bolt of lightning flashed through Liuchou’s mind, and he blurted out, "Is the ancestor the master of the Forbidden Forest, the forefather of all the demons of Mount Mei?"

The stranger finally smiled. "Indeed. My name is the Six-Winged Golden Cicada Immortal."