Chapter 22: The Twelve Demon Kings of Dongliu

In the imperial palace of the former Qi Kingdom's capital, millions of li away from Ji Ning.

Inside a resplendent hall, beautiful maidservants carried various rare delicacies and immortal wines, all delivered within. The hall contained twelve low tables, including one on the dais.

"Come, drink."

"Big brother, I toast you."

"Ninth brother, we haven't seen each other for over a thousand years. Come, let's have a cup."

Bold laughter, some high-pitched, some deep, some shrill, but all were overbearing and unrestrained.

The maidservants, transformed from yao, trembled with fear, careful not to offend any demon king. They knew that the twelve gathered here were the Dongliu Twelve Demon Kings, and offending any one of them would lead to a miserable end.

Once, a maidservant, nervous, spilled some juice from her tray onto the 'Jade Toad Demon King' among the twelve. The Jade Toad Demon King immediately rolled his eyes, opened his mouth wide, and swallowed her whole.

Below the dais, in the center of the hall, yao and human beauties danced.

Beside the hall, musicians played instruments, striking and blowing.

"Enough, all withdraw."

After a long while, the Firewing Demon King, seated on the dais, spoke.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Immediately, the many maidservants, dancers, and musicians all withdrew, leaving only the twelve demon kings in the hall.

"Third brother, you invited us all here. If you have something to say, say it quickly." The immensely sturdy demon king, still covered in golden fur with a bear's head, spoke in a deep voice. He was the eldest of the twelve, the 'Golden Fur Bear Demon King'.

"Big brother." The black-robed, tall and thin Firewing Demon King smiled. "Haha, I invited all brothers here for a great joy. Seventh brother arrived earliest; I told him before. If you don't believe me, you can ask seventh brother."

The other demon kings looked over.

The blue-armored, eagle-eyed Flying Demon King nodded. "Indeed, it is good news."

"Oh?"

The other demon kings looked at Firewing Demon King curiously. Although they shared similar temperaments, they were all notorious. Normally, they would keep benefits for themselves; why would they share with others?

Seeing this, Firewing Demon King smiled, then flipped his hand, producing a black beast-hide scroll. The scroll flew out, unfurled, and hovered in midair. On the scroll were complex patterns, like a map.

"This is?" The other demon kings were puzzled.

"A treasure map!" Firewing Demon King announced.

"Treasure?"

"A treasure map?"

"What nonsense. What treasure could there be? To us brothers, even celestial immortal treasures are nothing. Only true immortal or godly treasures can barely be called treasure."

At once, many demon kings spoke up.

They were the Dongliu Twelve Demon Kings; even celestial immortal patriarchs were unwilling to oppose them. For them to call something 'treasure' was no small matter.

Flying Demon King immediately said, "Brothers, third brother isn't lying. The location marked on this treasure map indeed hides a great treasure."

"Oh?"

"A great treasure?" The other demon kings began to ponder. Even seventh brother, Flying Demon King, admitted it; this was no simple matter.

"Third brother, does this have to do with the Qi Kingdom?" The short, fat, green-skinned Jade Toad Demon King spoke in a low voice.

Firewing Demon King on the dais nodded. "Indeed, it's related to the Qi Kingdom. The reason I attacked and destroyed the Qi Kingdom was because I heard some information about this treasure. I struck without warning, capturing many important members of the Qi royal family. Through soul-searching and other means, I learned the detailed information about the treasure and obtained this treasure map from the Qi royal family."

"With the treasure map in hand, third brother could go alone."

"I don't believe third brother is so kind."

"Heh heh, third brother, what are you thinking? Speak honestly; we all know your nature."

Each was notorious; they all knew each other's temperaments and methods.

Firewing Demon King chuckled.

Flying Demon King beside him said, "Third brother did go twice. The first time, he returned empty-handed, unable to penetrate deeper. The second time, he prepared thoroughly and forced his way in, but was trapped in that treasure ground for over twenty years, nearly dying. He only escaped recently."

"What? Trapped for over twenty years?"

"Third brother, couldn't you escape even with a Greater Teleportation Talisman?"

"So dangerous?"

All the demon kings were shocked.

Firewing Demon King said, "Listen carefully. This treasure ground..."

Firewing Demon King spoke at length, sharing his experiences from his attempts. He knew that alone, he couldn't penetrate deep; only with the combined strength of the twelve demon kings was there hope.

As Firewing Demon King narrated, the other demon kings grew solemn and alarmed. The place was indeed terrifying and dangerous... from his description, even a celestial immortal would likely die trying to enter.

"Only with all twelve of us working together is there hope." Firewing Demon King said gravely.

"What exactly is in that treasure ground?"

"It's really intriguing."

Each felt eager and longing.

The outermost part of the treasure ground had been entered by the founding emperor of the Qi Kingdom, who obtained cultivation methods, divine abilities, secret arts, and more. And these were top-tier techniques; otherwise, the Qi Kingdom wouldn't have expanded so quickly... If the outermost part was like this, what about deeper in?

"We need to plan carefully." The eldest, Golden Fur Bear Demon King, said solemnly. "No recklessness."

"We must plan seriously."

"Extraordinary."

Just as the demon kings were discussing plans, a long-necked old man appeared outside the hall.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty." The long-necked old man called out loudly.

"Enter." Firewing Demon King frowned.

The long-necked old man entered and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, the three Firewing Guard teams led by three scattered immortals that were sent earlier have all been killed, not one escaped."

"All killed?" Firewing Demon King stood abruptly.

"Yes, all." The long-necked old man nodded anxiously.

Firewing Demon King's face changed.

Hundreds of Firewing Guards, led by three scattered immortals... to kill them all without letting a single one escape, how powerful must the enemy be?

"What's wrong, third brother?"

"Third brother, what happened?"

The other demon kings asked.

Firewing Demon King said solemnly, "To be honest, brothers, there are still remnants of the Qi royal family on the run. The strongest among them is only at the Wanxiang Adept level. Earlier, a small Firewing Guard team sent to hunt them was completely wiped out. Suspicious, I sent three large teams, but they too were all killed, not one returning."

"Three large teams? Hundreds of Firewing Guards forming a Dao-soldier formation could destroy even top scattered immortals."

"Killing hundreds of Firewing Guards without letting any escape is very difficult."

"The enemy is no ordinary foe."

The demon kings knew each other well and were familiar with Firewing Demon King's forces.

"Haha, why worry? Today, all brothers are gathered. Let's go together and see what tricks the Qi remnants have." Golden Fur Bear Demon King laughed loudly. "With all of us together, there's truly no opponent in the entire Star Continent."

The top powers on the Star Continent only had celestial immortal patriarchs.

Together, they indeed were not afraid of celestial immortal patriarchs.

"Let's go together."

"Third brother, let's go together and see who dares to provoke us, the Dongliu Twelve Demon Kings."

"Destroying the Firewing Guards is disrespecting third brother. Disrespecting third brother is disrespecting all of us."

"Let's go see."

Firewing Demon King laughed. "Haha, good! With all brothers here, whoever is backing the Qi royal family will die!"

"No time to waste. After we've eaten and drunk our fill, we'll go and slaughter."

"Slaughter."

...

The Dongliu Twelve Demon Kings acted on their words. Leading thousands of yao, they left the Qi capital in a grand procession.

...

Atop a mountain peak.

Ji Ning sat on the cliff edge, leisurely drinking from a wine flask, gazing at the vast sea of clouds.

After previous cultivation, spending 1.2 million catties of liquid elemental essence, Ji Ning's true body's qi-refining had advanced from perfected Yuan Shen to the early Void stage! This allowed him to better use immortal-ranked magic treasures.

"My true body uses the Thousandbull Sword, Northsong Sword, and other treasures; my second avatar uses the Plowshare Sword Formation." Ji Ning nodded to himself. His strength had reached a peak, hard to improve further in a short time.

"Firewing Demon King, I killed hundreds of your Firewing Guards... you'll surely come see for yourself."

Ji Ning waited expectantly.

By sheltering these Qi royal remnants, he could lure the Firewing Demon King here.

"Among the ten great sinners, I'll kill Firewing Demon King first, then deal with the others one by one." Ji Ning thought. With his strength, his true body and second avatar working together, killing one demon king shouldn't be too hard.

As Ji Ning sat drinking and waiting leisurely...

"Hmm?" Ji Ning suddenly looked into the distance.

A large cloud was rapidly flying over, densely packed with countless figures—a multitude of yao. At the forefront of the countless yao stood twelve figures, each with overwhelming auras that made Ji Ning's expression change upon sensing them.

"Twelve?" Ji Ning looked at the twelve figures leading the cloud-borne yao and his face changed.

Such powerful auras were no ordinary scattered immortals; the invisible stirring of heaven and earth forces made Ji Ning tremble. And the twelve figures stood in a row at the very front, showing no distinction in rank.

"Are you the Dongliu Twelve Demon Kings?" Ji Ning called out loudly, his voice resounding across heaven and earth.

"Who are you, little brat? Is your master protecting the Qi royal family?" The black-robed, tall Firewing Demon King among the twelve shouted. "Tell your master to come out quickly. We twelve brothers want to see who has the nerve to wipe out hundreds of my Firewing Guards."

Ji Ning was inwardly frustrated, cursing: "I wanted to deal with just one demon king, but here come twelve! Don't the Dongliu Twelve Demon Kings each have their own territories? Why are they gathered together?"

...