Chapter 68: The First Snow

Watching as the cat demon ignored him once again, her gaze fixed only on the big brother, the crow demon did not become angry. Though he fancied himself dashing, he had to admit that compared to the big brother, he still fell just a little short. The reason he dared to pester the cat demon, Third Lady, was not because he was greedy for dumplings, but rather because the big brother had no interest in her whatsoever.

The cat demon had only just arrived on the mountain and had been assigned to the big brother’s command not long ago. Yet, on the very first day, she boldly confessed her feelings to the big brother—a fact known to all the little demons under his command. However, the big brother remained completely unmoved. It was only after repeatedly confirming with the big brother that the crow demon felt emboldened to try courting Third Lady himself.

Alas, Third Lady was just as indifferent to his advances as the big brother was to hers.

“What are you looking at? No need to keep staring—Third Lady will never like you…” At that moment, the toad demon Jin Hua, standing next to Third Lady, with his green, bulbous head and sturdy, short stature, said to the crow demon, “Third Lady likes the leader. Wait until you become the leader yourself before you try again.”

Annoyed by the toad demon’s words, the crow demon snapped, “Then what are you looking at? Have you taken a fancy to me?”

“Not a chance. Come back when you turn into someone like Third Lady,” Jin Hua retorted.

With that, the crow demon’s anger quickly dissipated and he slipped back among the demon crowd, where he was immediately surrounded by several little demons.

The wild donkey demon, Madman, quickly said, “Brother Crow, when you go searching for spirit herbs tomorrow, can you bring me along? I’m the most obedient…”

Leopard demon Scarface chimed in, “Brother Crow, I’m obedient too, please bring me…”

Pheasant demon Kun hurried over, “Brother Crow, don’t forget me…”

To Lu Fei, the noisy commotion below was no different from the burning gaze of that little cat demon. His preferences were perfectly normal—he had no interest in demons covered in fur.

Still, the little cat demon was clever. After boldly confessing her feelings to him on the first day, no other little demons dared to bother her. Otherwise, with the severe imbalance of male to female demons on Wandering Mountain, a cat demon with such looks and figure would be the object of pursuit for countless male demons—including some of the leaders.

The little female demons in the horde could not resist the leaders. Currently, there were ten leaders on Wandering Mountain. Except for Lu Fei, the other nine, unless uninterested in female demons, all kept one or two as bedwarmers.

Female demons were not like the common male demons; they were a rare resource in the horde, reserved for the strong. Female demons were not counted among the males, and ordinarily, they would not be sent into battle.

The reason Lu Fei had been assigned two female demons this time was, he guessed, because the Wolf Commander noticed he had none by his side and so sent them for his pleasure and comfort.

Thus, even if other leaders fancied the cat demon under Lu Fei’s command, they would not dare demand her outright.

Time slipped quietly by.

When all the little demons had filled the training grounds and the other leaders had arrived, Lu Fei and the other leaders, seeing no sign of the Black General or the Wolf Commander, understood that they were to manage things as they saw fit.

It was late autumn now, and winter was approaching. In anticipation of the contest among the little demons at the season’s first snow, the leaders began training their followers, making them spar with one another.

At first, like Lu Fei, none of the other leaders cared much for the contest the Black General had announced; the rewards were for the little demons and had little to do with themselves. But the Black General seemed to sense this and issued a new order:

“The leaders of the top five little demons in the contest will have their monthly tribute of spirit herbs halved—only five required. The leaders whose little demons lose, however, will have their tribute increased by half—fifteen in total.”

With this command, all ten leaders, who had previously been indifferent, instantly took the contest seriously. They had no choice—their lifelines had been seized.

Lu Fei was no exception.

Training had begun several days earlier. At his command, his ten little demons sprinted to the training ground at the mountainside, where they had been practicing for days. The entire mountainside had been leveled, forming a vast ring-shaped arena encircling the peak.

In the clearing, Lu Fei began to give orders. “Blackhair, Redskin, you two continue your sparring…” He looked at his two subordinates and said in a deep voice, “Among the little demons, apart from that dog demon and the dung beetle demon, the rest are on your level—you have nothing to fear. You two are the most likely to win rewards under my command. Don’t let me down!”

Motivated and under the gaze of their leader, even the usually playful crow demon grew serious. Together with third brother Redskin, he replied, “Yes, Big Brother!”

Lu Fei nodded, then looked to fourth brother Yellow Weasel and the other seven little demons. “I am always fair. The last slot for the contest will be chosen from among you. The day before the contest, I’ll have you all spar, and the strongest will earn the final spot.”

“You all know the rewards—two spirit herbs and a real weapon…”

“Just like this one!”

As he finished, a pure iron spear, nearly three meters long including the head, appeared in Lu Fei’s hand. With a sudden thrust, he slammed it into the ground.

With a boom, the spear’s butt shattered a massive, flattened boulder into pieces, and the ground trembled. All the little demons stared at the spear in Lu Fei’s hand, their eyes shining with longing.

Only Third Lady, the cat demon, gazed at the white wolf leader, resplendent in full iron armor and wielding the long spear, her eyes sparkling with desire as she swallowed greedily.

With his heightened senses, Lu Fei immediately noticed her unusual gaze from such a distance. He frowned, fixing the cat demon with a cold, piercing look.

Startled by the overwhelming pressure and pain radiating from his eyes, Third Lady quickly turned her head away.

Lu Fei said nothing more. He turned to Huang Gui and the ant demon Blacktooth, whom he valued among the seven new demons. “You two spar. As for the others, choose your own opponents…”

“No one is to stop before noon…”

“Begin!”

At his command, the ten little demons immediately paired off and began sparring.

Lu Fei watched for a while, then walked over to the crow demon and Redskin to give them some instructions. Then, black mist coiled around his feet, lifting him as he flew up the mountainside.

Soon, he reached a sparse patch of woods. Standing firm, spear in hand, he drew a deep breath.

Suddenly, Lu Fei thrust his spear forward. He immediately retracted it, spun, pressed, drew, and stabbed again!

With a whoosh, he shot forward, driving the spear with force into a tree trunk as thick as a large bowl.

With a twist of his wrist, the thick trunk split in two, a savage gash opening in its heart. The entire tree shuddered violently, sending a shower of red leaves fluttering down.

Lu Fei pulled out the spear and struck again.

With this thrust, the swirling snow fell like a curtain.

Two months slipped by in the blink of an eye.

At last, the first snow since Lu Fei arrived in this world began to fall.