Journey to the West: Starting with the True Lord of the Pure Land

Several days have passed in the blink of an eye.

The sky was bright, and the lake south of Qingchi was shrouded in mist.

This is the spirit fish area designated by the Azure Scale Demon Lord in his early years.

Although the silver-lined spirit fish raised in captivity are not considered rare treasures, long-term consumption can nourish the demon's body and replenish its blood and energy, making it a rare and valuable food.

Big Shrimp and Fatty Black led a group of lesser demons out of the Water Palace, raising flags and beating gongs as they began their patrol.

The two demons are now cultivating the Water Element Demon Cultivation Technique. Every day at dawn, they gather water essence and natural spiritual energy from places with flowing springs and abundant water elements to create a wisp of pure water vapor.

After consuming pine nuts, in just a few days, the chaotic demonic energy in his body had become much clearer, and he looked energetic and spirited.

"If that plague-ridden pig demon dares to steal the spirit fish again, I'll make sure he gets a good whack from my hammer!"

Black Fatty, carrying two copper hammers, looked around with wide eyes, ready to smash the pig demon to death at any moment.

Xia Da, wielding two knives, surveyed the surroundings, then suddenly his gaze faltered, fixing warily on the dense forest not far away:

"There's movement!"

A rustling sound came from the forest, and a fat, muscular, black-skinned boar demon with protruding tusks swaggered out.

He had a brand-new token hanging from his waist, engraved with a ferocious, roaring tiger's head—clearly indicating that he was now a commander of Tiger Prison Cave.

"It's you again, you little rascal! You've ruined my life time and time again..."

The pig demon's arrogant words suddenly stopped, as a streak of dark light shot through the air, heading straight for his face, about to smash his head into a mess!

The pig demon was so frightened that its face changed color, and in the blink of an eye, the octagonal copper hammer became clear in its eyes.

boom!

A large, thick tiger claw swung out with lightning speed, directly knocking the copper hammer away.

The pig demon, still shaken, wiped the sweat from his brow and hurriedly made way for the tiger demon behind him, saying gratefully, "Thank you, Commander! Thank you so much for saving my life!"

Black Fatty and Shrimp Big were regretting not being able to kill the pig demon with one blow when they heard this, and they looked at each other in bewilderment.

"The Grand Commander? That sounds even more powerful than our Lord!"

Black Fatty looked at Shrimp Big with a bewildered expression and shouted.

"Idiot, keep your voice down!"

"What Grand Commander? He's just a self-proclaimed one from Hulao Cave. Our master is the Lake Patrol Commander of Ling Snake Prefecture. He's nothing to be afraid of."

Although Shrimp Da didn't back down verbally, his eyes were fixed on the pig demon's back, as if facing a formidable enemy.

A bloody wind howled.

A massive tiger demon with fierce eyes strode out, followed by a group of leopard demons and wolf demons, all exuding a strong aura of blood and baring their fangs and claws.

Now that the pig demon had a different status, he was full of confidence. He snorted through his pig nose, staring intently at the fat black man, clearly filled with hatred. He gritted his teeth and said, "You two gatekeeper bastards, how dare you be so insolent in front of Commander Hu Lie! Kneel down and beg for mercy, obediently offering up the spirit fish!"

He gripped the thick iron rod tightly in his hand. If he weren't afraid of delaying things, he would have rushed up and smashed the catfish demon's fat black fish head twice with the rod!

"Bullshit! If you want a spirit fish, stick your head out and let me smash it a couple of times before you talk," the fat, dark-skinned man cursed in a rough voice, his long catfish whiskers trembling wildly.

"The Demon Lord has already given orders that the spirit fish are to be uniformly allocated by the Spirit Serpent Palace, with each of the four caves having its own quota. My master is the lake patrol commander, and it is his duty to protect the spirit fish."

Xia Da followed closely behind, explaining, gripping his twin swords tightly, not daring to be careless, hoping to use the name of the Demon Lord to make them back down.

He had long heard that there was a tiger demon in Hulao Cave who was at the late stage of Qi Refining and had remarkable talent, with the potential to reach Foundation Establishment.

He was later adopted by General Hu Sha as his son and given the name Hu Lie. His ruthless and violent nature was just like that of his adoptive father, Hu Sha.

Now that Hu Lie has come in person as the Grand Commander of Hulao Cave, he's probably not someone to be easily fooled.

Just as the pig demon was about to speak, Hu Lie sneered and said in a sinister tone, "The Snake Lord is still in seclusion and has no time to concern himself with such trivial matters."

Hu Lie looked down at the demons as if they were ants, but then abruptly changed the subject, announcing directly to Hei Fei:

"You fat fish do have some strength, so I'll grant you a heaven-defying opportunity. Slaughter that shrimp demon next to you, and I'll allow you to follow me, leaving behind that black mudfish Xuan Ling, and become a commander under my command, ta-da!"

"Is there really such a good thing?"

The fat man grinned sheepishly, looking quite surprised, but a glint of shrewdness flashed in his large, copper-bell-shaped eyes beneath his thick eyebrows. With a flick of his wrist, the last remaining copper hammer hummed and spun as if it were alive.

Hu Lie gave a sullen "hmm" with a mocking expression, his disdain for the dragon demon Xuan Ling growing even stronger.

Xia Da leaned forward slightly, a cold smile curving his lips. As his twin blades trembled, demonic power surged across their edges, gleaming with a chilling light.

"Show me your magnificent tiger head, let me smash it three hundred times, and I, Old Black, will agree!"

Before he finished speaking, his clumsy, bulky body suddenly erupted with the force of thunder!

The copper hammer, accompanied by a fierce wind, hurtled straight at Hu Lie's face. Before the hammer even arrived, the powerful wind had already caused the grass and trees to flutter and sway.

A swift red figure arrived first!

"You scumbag! How dare you insult my master!"

The water surged and roared, the twin swords splitting the mountain and slashing down like frost and white lightning, determined to cut Hu Lie into a madman!

A sharp, resounding crack exploded.

The tiger's claws shot out like pillars supporting the sky, shattering the twin swords into pieces.

Then a loud tiger's roar exploded from the ground!

Before the shrimp's expression of shock could even fully dissipate, the entire demon had already been swept away.

The fierce aura of the ninth level of Qi Refining erupted suddenly, slamming him hard onto the water's surface. The sound of his shrimp shell shattering was like an ice river exploding.

The black fat man's copper hammer, which followed closely behind, was grabbed by the sharp tiger claws. With a burst of force from the five fingers, the head of the copper hammer twisted and deformed like a clay sculpture in an instant.

A tiger's colorful tail swept across, and a whirlwind swept across the ground.

The demonic aura around Black Fatty was forcibly drained away, and his huge body spun around like a top several times before crashing to the ground, limp and lifeless.

Two mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators couldn't even last a single round against Hu Lie, a ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator!

The remaining lake-patrolling demons cried out in panic and scattered like birds and beasts.

Tiger Fierce grabbed at the two demons with both hands, and in the midst of a howling black wind, he had already pulled them into his palms. His ferocious tiger eyes gleamed with a fierce light, and a low growl rolled from his throat.

"They're just two little demons who were disrespectful to me. I can easily kill them. Does that bastard Xuan Ling dare to retaliate against me?"

He couldn't understand how these two minor demons at the fourth or fifth level of Qi Refining, like ants, dared to be disrespectful and attack him, a great demon who was on the verge of Foundation Establishment.

Shrimp squinted and spat out a mouthful of demonic blood, splashing it all over Hu Lie's face with a hot, bloody stench.

The tiger bared its fangs, its ferocious glint fully revealed, and as its claws snapped shut, the sound of bones cracking echoed: "You're courting death!"

Before the words were even finished, the lake surface suddenly cracked open!

Two dark blue dragons, carrying immense water elemental pressure, grew taller with the wind, eventually becoming ten-zhang-long giant dragons before Hu Lie, crashing into his chest with a thunderous roar.

Tiger Fierce's supposedly powerful demonic body was struck as if by a mountain, and he was sent flying back ten feet like a kite with a broken string.

The tiger claws involuntarily loosened their grip on the two demons, and the protective aura around its body tore apart as easily as paper!

He managed to stop himself, but still staggered backward.

Its tiger-like eyes widened in disbelief as it stared at the center of the lake, its gaze filled with horror.

How is that possible!

"What level of cultivation...are you at?"

But then a figure dressed in black stood silently on the waves, with two dark blue dragons coiled around each of his arms.

Without a word, he raised his hand and two more dark blue dragons twisted in the air, causing Hu Lie's powerful body to spray blood mist.

Before they could even react, a giant dragon claw covered in fine black scales slammed down from mid-air!

His five fingers were wrapped with an overwhelming and unstoppable water elemental demon power, and crimson lightning flickered in his palm.

Before the claws even arrived, the gale-force winds had already made the hard tiger bones crackle and pop.

Hu Lie desperately urged his evil energy, and the colorful tiger shadow soared into the sky behind him, only to be shattered like a bubble under the terrifying dragon's claws.

"No--"

The sound of bones shattering was continuous. Hu Lie only had time to let out a short howl before his entire tiger head and upper body were smashed into a pulp by a single claw!

Blood rained down from the sky, and mangled bodies crashed heavily into the water, creating a crimson splash.

The ripples on the water gradually subsided, leaving only the mournful, fishy smell in the wind.

The demons of Hulao Cave stood frozen in place.

A leopard demon's steel fork clattered to the ground, and a wolf spirit's thighs trembled as it gushed out a foul-smelling liquid—the once arrogant and domineering Tiger Fierce Commander had been smashed into a pulp by a single claw!

The demons were terrified. No one knew who was the first to kneel down, but in an instant they were all prostrate, kowtowing repeatedly, not daring to even breathe.

Chen Jiao concealed his dragon form, and the energy of six dark blue dragons once again swirled around his arms.

He glanced at the pig demon trying to make itself as inconspicuous as possible, his voice as cold as frost:

"Go back and tell your master that I will personally pay him a visit soon."

The pig demon dared not speak, but only kowtowed desperately.

None of the demons present dared to question him, even though Chen Jiao was only a commander.

They all knew that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Qingchi Ridge was about to welcome a new Foundation Establishment level demon!

I don't know how much time passed.

pat pat pat.

Thunder roared and lightning flashed, and rain poured down.

The demons, who had been lying prostrate on the ground, were soaked by the rain. Only then did they dare to raise their heads and look around. Commander Xuan Ling, or rather, General Xuan Ling, had been gone for quite some time.

Looking up at the sky, dark clouds covered it.

Heaven has changed.