Chapter 56: The Demon General (Part 1)

“Big Brother...”

“Chief Bear is here...”

When Lu Fei was reminded by Redskin and dismissed the data before his eyes, the area was already crowded with little demons of various breeds and heads. Together with the Crow Monster and Redskin, Lu Fei stood among the group of little demons led by Chief Bear. Huang Gui, the weasel, had returned to his own minor leader, a group under a stag demon.

Today was merely the usual morning roll call. Not only was General Black absent, even Chief Wolf did not appear. Each minor leader presided over the task assignments themselves.

Thus, having just completed half a month’s mountain patrol, the trio of Lu Fei, Crow Monster, and Redskin soon found themselves once again under Chief Bear’s watchful eye.

“Today, the kitchen needs help...” Chief Bear, a towering figure, after assigning a task to assist General Black, spoke again. His pair of dark red, violent eyes swept over every little demon under his command. When his gaze landed on the figure with a white wolf’s head and the wild boar demon and crow demon beside him, his lips curled into a faint smile, and he said, “White Fur, Black Feather, and Redskin—you three brothers did well on your patrol. The kitchen needs help today, so you three will handle it.”

As his words fell, the surrounding little demons all glanced over, some with surprise, others gloating.

At the sound, a surge of anger rose in the Crow Monster’s heart, but he had already been taught many times by his big brother, Lu Fei—especially after being shouted at last time, he had learned to control his emotions. No matter how furious or aggrieved he was now, he kept it bottled up in his heart and said nothing. The same went for Redskin. He had just agreed with Huang Gui before the meeting to go search for spirit herbs together. Now, with Chief Bear assigning them another task immediately after they’d just finished one, he was furious. But his big brother had already warned him in advance, so he could only swallow his anger.

As for Lu Fei, he wasn’t particularly angry about Chief Bear’s arrangement, for he had been prepared for it. Although Chief Bear was called “the big guy” and was indeed burly, his mind was as narrow as a needle’s eye. Having been scolded by Chief Wolf, he couldn’t retaliate openly, so he resorted to petty tricks in secret. Though Lu Fei thought these moves were rather crude, he had to admit they were effective.

The only thing Lu Fei could do, besides unconditionally accepting Chief Bear’s petty humiliations, was to focus on his cultivation. But at his current cultivation speed, unless he consumed spirit herbs, he would need at least another three or four months—or even longer—to max out his realm value. The monster meat he’d secretly acquired at the banquet half a month ago was already gone from his storage space.

Moreover, the buff effect from his divine ability “Celestial Wolf Devours the Moon” was now much weaker than what he gained from eating monster meat. After all, there wasn’t moonlight every night. Even so, compared to other monsters, Lu Fei’s cultivation speed was already startlingly fast. The saying that monsters, despite their long lifespans, cultivated at a notoriously slow pace was true. One only had to look at the Crow Monster, who had been on the mountain for several years but was still only at the very beginning of the lowest rank.

Of course, the main reason for monsters’ slow progress was their indulgence in pleasure and their aversion to the hard, tedious work of cultivation. This was evident in the Crow Monster; after just a short time of diligent cultivation with Lu Fei, he already showed signs of a breakthrough.

Back to the main point: if he didn’t use spirit herbs, Lu Fei would have to endure Chief Bear’s petty torment for another three or four months. If he did take them, after half a month’s adaptation, he was now adept at controlling his own demon power and could handle it. What concerned him most was that his strength would increase too quickly to explain.

After all, it had only been half a month since he’d advanced to third-rank demon soldier—the late stage of demon soldier. If, after another half month, he immediately reached the demon general realm, it would be hard to explain as merely finding a few spirit herbs. Other minor leaders took thirty to fifty years at best, or a hundred or two at worst, to reach the body of a demon general. The difficulty of the demon general realm was clear.

Furthermore, Lu Fei was unsure if, after maxing out his realm value, he could, as before, simply tap and ascend directly to the demon general realm. If that were so, he would have leaped from a little demon to demon general in less than a month. In General Black’s eyes, there would be only one explanation—he must have consumed some extraordinary treasure or a superior grade elixir. This would definitely draw General Black’s attention, and whether that attention would be good or bad was uncertain.

This was Lu Fei’s greatest concern. Of course, he wanted to break through to the demon general realm as soon as possible. New little demons awakened to intelligence arrived on the mountain daily, and now he could recruit them—no longer needing to endure Chief Bear’s petty bullying. But he was also clear-headed.

“Just bear with it a little longer—wait until a month and a half from now, after submitting the bi-monthly spirit herb task. Then taking medicine to break through won’t be as conspicuous...”

“After all, I’ve always worked hard at cultivation...”

“Yes, if I establish a reputation as a diligent cultivator, it will be even more convincing...”

Having swiftly thought all this through, Lu Fei’s expression returned to normal as he replied, “Understood, Chief, I guarantee the task will be done.”

“Mm...” Chief Bear nodded with a light laugh at the white wolf demon’s response, then turned to command the other little demons once again.

Half an hour later.

Behind the main mountain, in a dense thicket.

Lu Fei, the Crow Monster, and Redskin each wielded an axe, chopping at trees with heavy thuds. Soon, Lu Fei felled a great tree with a mighty swing, sending it crashing to the ground. The Crow Monster and Redskin stepped forward, raising their axes to chop the fallen tree into sections.

“Hey, there’s a bird’s nest up here—and some eggs...” The Crow Monster noticed a hollow in the trunk and pulled out three bird eggs. He picked up one and stuffed it into his mouth. “Let me see how it tastes... Mmm, not bad at all... Redskin, try one.”

He tossed one to Redskin, who caught it in his mouth and chewed with relish.

“Tasty, right?” Seeing Redskin’s look of enjoyment, the Crow Monster carried the last egg to Lu Fei. “Big Brother, would you like one?”

Lu Fei was about to refuse, but an inexplicable craving made him accept the egg and toss it into his mouth, chewing as he swung his axe at another log. In his heart, he muttered bitterly, “When Heaven assigns great responsibility to a person...”

“Bang!”

“It first tests his resolve...”

“Bang!”

“And exhausts his body...”

“Bang!”

“And starves him...”

“Bang...”