Chapter 182: Rescue Changfeng Mansion

Changfeng Prefecture in Jiangzhou was a relatively large prefectural city with a population of 1.2 million. The divine demon forces guarding it were also quite strong.

Yet, at this moment, smoke billowed from the city walls of Changfeng Prefecture, and countless civilians had hidden in the underground tunnels.

"Hahaha, is this all divine demons are capable of?" A massive serpent demon, five to six *zhang* tall as it coiled, overlooked its surroundings. Numerous black mists rose, engulfing everything within a one-mile radius centered on the serpent demon. Vaguely, two other demon monarchs could be seen within the mist. One of them, a rhinoceros demon monarch, was clutching the corpse of a human divine demon and swallowed it whole.

This sight caused the divine demons outside the black mist to glare furiously.

"Leave those three demon monarchs to us," said a man with two short spears on his back.

"Senior Brother Fan, we've already killed all the other demon monarchs attacking Changfeng Prefecture; only these three remain!" one of the local divine demons warned. "The leading serpent demon's domain is extremely powerful, and it possesses a demon's divine ability. The other two demon monarchs are also elite, and their combined strength is formidable. Nine of our divine demons in Changfeng Prefecture have died, almost all at their hands."

"The serpent demon's divine ability unleashes a 'poison mist' that instantly kills anyone caught in it. So far, no divine demon has been able to withstand it."

The five surviving divine demons of Changfeng Prefecture all warned.

"Don't worry," came the confident reply.

The three divine demons who had arrived as reinforcements were full of confidence. Having been dispatched, they were naturally all extremely powerful, and their teamwork was exceptional.

"Kill!"

"Slay them!"

"Charge!"

The three divine demons charged forward simultaneously, unleashing their domains to impact the black mist.

"Senior Brother Fan, this serpent demon's domain is truly formidable; my own domain can't even form," said a divine demon wielding a single sword.

"The old method: defeat them one by one," Senior Brother Fan replied, a short spear in each hand.

The remaining female divine demon, wielding a shield in one hand and a saber in the other, also nodded.

After piercing the black mist, the three moved together, heading directly for the rhinoceros demon monarch. The serpent demon and the mantis demon immediately moved closer to the rhinoceros demon monarch.

The serpent demon, controlling the domain, coiled and slithered with astonishing speed, being the first to approach the rhinoceros demon monarch.

"Kill the rhinoceros demon monarch first," Senior Brother Fan transmitted, their plan unchanged. "Act now."

The words had barely left his lips.

The female divine demon with the saber and shield had a hazy red glow in her eyes as an invisible illusion enveloped the rhinoceros demon monarch's head. This female divine demon was the core of the trio; she had mastered a 'Red Dust Allure' illusion art and excelled at one-on-one combat. Demon monarchs subjected to her one-on-one assault almost instantly lost self-control, becoming easy prey.

Thus, their trio was well-suited for the 'defeat them one by one' tactic.

"Haha..." The rhinoceros demon monarch laughed, swinging two massive hammers, preparing to strike.

Suddenly, it stood frozen, unmoving.

Its consciousness had entered a wonderfully beautiful realm. It arrived at an incredibly luxurious palace where countless lesser demons brought vast amounts of food of all kinds, endless amounts, all for it to eat. It ate voraciously with excitement, supremely happy.

"Die!"

A short spear in Senior Brother Fan's hand darted like lightning, thrusting forward to pierce the rhinoceros demon monarch's skull.

He knew very well that these elite demon monarchs had strong vitality. Even if their hearts were pierced, they could retaliate for a while before dying. Piercing the skull, however, meant instant death, leaving no chance for resistance.

"Roar—" Seeing this, the nearby serpent demon monarch immediately opened its mouth and sprayed.

Black poison mist shot out.

Senior Brother Fan, supremely confident, thought, "With my speed, I can kill the rhinoceros demon monarch and retreat, avoiding that poison mist."

But suddenly—

"Pfft."

A shadowy figure emerged from underground, as fast as lightning, piercing Senior Brother Fan from behind his head.

Senior Brother Fan's eyes widened, but his consciousness was already scattering. "A trap!"

In that final moment before death, he knew it was a trap.

"Whoosh." Immediately after, the poison mist descended. Senior Brother Fan, unable to dodge, was enveloped by the mist, and his flesh and blood immediately dissolved into a puddle of blood.

"Senior Brother Fan!"

Both the female divine demon and the divine demon with the single sword looked on with disbelief. Senior Brother Fan, the strongest in direct combat among the three, who had already reached the 'Dao realm,' was killed instantly?

Because the black mist domain obscured everything, they couldn't see what had happened. They could only vaguely see the colossal serpent demon monarch spray poison mist, enveloping the area, and then Senior Brother Fan died! Through their tokens, they could clearly ascertain that Senior Brother Fan was dead.

"Escape!"

Although filled with grief and anger, they both retreated without hesitation.

Because one of them specialized in illusion arts and the other excelled in both domain control and close combat, neither was as strong as Senior Brother Fan in terms of combat strength. If Senior Brother Fan was killed instantly, they would also be throwing their lives away.

"This isn't good." The five divine demons from Changfeng Prefecture, who were outside the domain, heard cries of alarm after Senior Brother Fan and the others charged in. "Senior Brother Fan!" "Escape!" These simple cries let the divine demons outside know that something terrible had happened.

One breath later.

Only the female divine demon managed to escape! Her companions had all died within the domain and had not made it out alive.

"How could this happen? How could..." The female divine demon stood blankly.

"Hahaha!" One of the mantis demon monarch's blade-like limbs pierced through the corpse of the divine demon with the sword, lifting it high. It then threw the body, and another rhinoceros demon monarch opened its gaping mouth, a *zhang* wide, and swallowed the divine demon's corpse whole in one gulp.

"Senior Brother Qu!" The female divine demon's eyes turned red. "Senior Brother Fan!"

In a flash, both Senior Brother Qu and Senior Brother Fan were dead.

This left her furious and heartbroken, yet powerless.

"How did Senior Brother Fan die?" the five divine demons from Changfeng Prefecture pressed.

"Inside the domain, I couldn't see clearly. With Senior Brother Fan's strength, he should have been able to avoid that poison mist. But as soon as the poison mist appeared, Senior Brother Fan died," the female divine demon said, gently shaking her head. "How could this happen?"

"The divine abilities of demons are unpredictable in power."

"Legends say that some demon divine abilities are strong, while others are weak; the strong ones can even possess some of the might of a Fourth Heaven demon monarch."

These divine demons were all anxious.

What strength did Senior Brother Fan possess? One of him was worth five of them combined, yet he still died inside.

"Hahaha, divine demons, what other tricks do you have? Come on!" The serpent demon monarch and its allies maintained their domain, forcing the divine demons to retreat, not daring to enter its range.

"They're inside the domain, slaughtering civilians!"

"These three demon monarchs!"

The divine demons were enraged. Every moment, civilians hiding in the tunnels were discovered and slaughtered. But reason told them that charging into the domain was suicide.

Jiangzhou City, Yuanchu Mountain Jiangzhou Branch.

Dean Chang, Zhang Junfeng, and Yang Fang were resting there when they suddenly saw a bolt of lightning flying from afar, instantly arriving before them. It was Meng Chuan.

"Junior Brother Meng," Dean Chang, Zhang Junfeng, and Yang Fang all said, standing up.

Dean Chang saw Meng Chuan wearing protective inner armor that was dented and full of cracks, and his robes were tattered.

"I've completed a patrol and killed one demon monarch and one Sky Demon," Meng Chuan said. "There should be no more demon monarchs or Sky Demons left in the city now. Even if there are, they must be fleeing."

"Junior Brother Meng, you've worked hard. Your robes and inner armor are ruined; I'll get you a new set," Dean Chang said with a smile. "We only have standard issue robes and inner armor here, suitable at most for Great Sun divine demons."

"Thank you, Senior Brother Chang," Meng Chuan said.

Those who could serve as deans of a provincial branch were generally older Great Sun divine demons with formidable strength.

"We have few robes and inner armor suitable for Great Sun divine demons, and only three sets that fit your build, Junior Brother Meng," Dean Chang asked. "They are black, fiery red, and blue. Which one would you like?"

"Black," Meng Chuan said.

Soon, a new set of robes arrived.

It was a set of black robes with matching black inner armor.

Meng Chuan changed into the new robes and inner armor, finally no longer looking like a beggar.

Meng Chuan, Zhang Junfeng, and the others sat down and relaxed.

"What were the losses this time?" Meng Chuan asked.

"Only the East City suffered heavy losses, with a total of seventeen divine demons killed in battle," Dean Chang sighed. "Six Great Sun divine demons and twelve Indestructible divine demons. Among them, five were disciples of Yuanchu Mountain."

Meng Chuan, Zhang Junfeng, and Yang Fang all felt a pang of heartache upon hearing this.

Thirteen outer-sect divine demons and five Yuanchu Mountain divine demons died.

This was mainly due to that Fourth Heaven Sky Demon; without it, the losses would not have been so great.

"You have already done incredibly well," Dean Chang said. "To be able to kill a Fourth Heaven Sky Demon, a higher-tier opponent, is something I wouldn't even dare to imagine."

Meng Chuan and the other two remained silent.

They knew every single divine demon. As the three strongest martial artists in Jiangzhou City, they had intelligence on every divine demon in the city. Now, seventeen had died; the losses were too great.

"Hm?" Meng Chuan and Zhang Junfeng felt a sensation. Their patrol tokens, carried with them, turned scalding hot. They each took theirs out to look.

"Changfeng Prefecture is in danger. Yuanchu Mountain wants us to go," Meng Chuan said, immediately standing up.

"Let's go," Zhang Junfeng also said, standing up.

"Senior Brother Zhang, your body..." Yang Fang, however, was extremely worried.