Chapter 177: Chapter 9 No Blade of Grass Left (Additional updates for 10 & 11 merged, 7K in one) _2

Many of the old generation in the Divine General Mansion had died for this reason.

Seeing that Li Hao was only listening without any questions, Li Hongzhuang raised an eyebrow and proceeded to speak on her own:

“Although the Dragon Mountain Taoist Master cannot step into the realm, if you rashly appear on its territory, it will have a reason to kill you, so you must absolutely not get close.”

“The Chi Hu Jun you saw tonight is actually the steed of the Dragon Mountain Taoist Master.”

Li Hongzhuang’s eyes turned chilly as she said, “These demons of the Four Stands Realm do not move themselves but allow their demon subordinates to repeatedly invade and test us. Once injured or defeated, they directly flee back. If you rashly pursue and kill them, you might instead get caught and eaten by it.”

A steed? Li Hao’s expression turned strange.

A True Dragon Demon King with a tiger as a steed?

Dragon riding a tiger?

No wonder the Tiger Demon had chains on it, probably constraints like a saddle, which have also become its weapon for attacking and killing.

“Aside from the Dragon Mountain Taoist Master, the second Demon King is here, to the north.”

Li Hongzhuang drew another circle on the ground, but it was much larger in scope and closer to the camp:

“This is the Wan Demon Mountain Range, where there is a Demon King who has cultivated for a very long time. We call it the Wan Shan Demon King.”

“This Wan Shan Demon King and the Dragon Lord have comparable strength. It’s unclear who is higher or lower, but if we encounter it, death is certain.”

“But it too is registered and has been warned. The Six-Tusked Zhe Pig you just slaughtered was one of its fierce generals.”

She then drew another circle to the south:

“There is a solitary peak here, but within a five hundred mile radius, no one dares to set foot, not even demons dare rashly enter.”

“Inside is the third Demon King, the Sacred Mountain Demon King!”

Li Hongzhuang glanced at Li Hao and said, “You might be somewhat familiar with the origin of this Demon King. It once cultivated in the Holy Palace in Northern Yan, mastering the Peerless Techniques of the Holy Palace’s demon race, and seemed to have been one of the elders there. It has since left, and hundreds of years ago took a mountain here and declared it to be the Sacred Mountain.”

“Your father fought against the Holy Palace for over a decade. The situation in Northern Yan must be extremely complicated. I also don’t know much, but it’s truly fortunate that your father was able to return.”

Li Hao said nothing, his face expressionless.

He heard the hint in Li Hongzhuang’s words: The war in Northern Yan was tough.

The other party probably thought that his conflict with that man was because the man had been at war for many years and had not returned home, leaving him bearing resentments and misunderstandings.

About this, he neither explained nor did he need to explain anything.

“Has the Northern Cold Country trespassed?”

Li Hao asked.

Li Hongzhuang slightly frowned, seeing that Li Hao didn’t continue her topic, and she sighed softly in her heart.

As Li Hao’s aunt and the seventh brother’s younger sister, of course she hoped for father and son to resolve their conflicts and reconcile.

But for now, it seemed there was no effect.

She didn’t dwell on it any longer and refocused on Li Hao’s question, saying:

“The Northern Cold Country wouldn’t dare to offend openly, but they do like to play little tricks in secret, like worshipping the Dragon Mountain Taoist Master, secretly sacrificing numerous living beings every year, to probe us.”

At this point, her expression turned ice-cold.

Li Hao frowned, sacrificing living people to demons; in Dayu, only some extremely backward villages and towns would do this.

Mortals offer sacrifices to demons in exchange for protection or demonic strength to exploit their neighbors.

If the matter was exposed, the Monster Suppression Department would handle it, executing all involved.

But now, other major nations were using these despicable methods against Dayu.

Indeed, in the face of war, all means are exhausted to the extreme.

After Li Hongzhuang finished speaking, Li Hao also had some understanding of the situation outside the Heavenly Gate Pass.

“The Chi Hu Jun and Six-Tusked Zhe Pig you killed last night are likely to be furious. They may attack again soon, perhaps even tomorrow.”

Li Hongzhuang’s eyes showed no retreat, but instead, a cold killing intent surfaced.

Li Hao nodded slightly and asked, “So do they usually reside in the Demon King’s lair, without their own dens?”

“Of course not,”

Li Hongzhuang said, “The Dragon Mountain Taoist Master is a thousand miles away from here, and it would take a lot of time for it to travel back and forth. Besides, which general likes to stay under the master’s watch every day? They all have their own lairs outside, where it’s more convenient for them to mate, eat, and drink.”

Li Hao’s gaze flickered as he said, “Then do you know the locations of their lairs?”

“Do you really intend to wipe out their lairs?”

Li Hongzhuang asked in astonishment.

Li Hao nodded, “Since I’ve killed them, I might as well kill them all.”

He spoke calmly, but Li Hongzhuang’s eyes narrowed at his words, and soon a cold face revealed a smile:

“Well said, you’ve got the killer instinct!”

She promptly drew two circles on the ground with her sword: “Scouts have checked before, it seems in these two directions, roughly three to four hundred miles away, you can check it out, but don’t go too far, otherwise, if you enter demon territory and get detected by the Demon King, even gods won’t be able to save you!”

Li Hao looked at the crude map she drew, noting down the directions.

At this moment, the fang in his hand was also heated enough.

He immediately retracted the blazing flame in his hand and began to polish the fang with the horn.

[Carving experience +24…+19…+35…]

A series of experience prompts appeared as Li Hao seriously polished.

After half an hour of flame roasting, combined with the horn and brute force, the progress of polishing the fang increased rapidly.

Perhaps due to the rare material of this demon pig’s fang, the experience prompt continued uninterrupted, occasionally delivering large amounts of experience.

When the roast was ready, Li Hongzhuang picked it up and began eating.

Meanwhile, Li Hao continued to polish, his Carving Arts suddenly showing a prompt—he had accumulated 500 experience points and advanced to the second segment!

In the blink of an eye, he gained two Skill Points.