Chapter 86: Tallying the Spoils, the Treasure-Bearing Child, and the Peach Blossom Miasma!

At dawn, with the sky only just beginning to pale, a cold sun rose slowly from the eastern sea of clouds. Golden light spilled across the mountain range after the blizzard, and the snow-clad peaks looked strangely exquisite in their silver robes.

Inside a spacious stone cavern, a rather small but hefty golden tabby had curled up in one corner, purring softly in a steady rhythm.

On a leather bed at the center of the cave sat a tall, wolf-headed figure cloaked in silver-white fur, eyes closed in cultivation. Black smoke coiled and churned around him, his aura astonishing.

When the clear calls of birds from the forest outside drifted into the cave, Lu Fei opened his eyes.

At once, the black mist that had been circling his body as though alive streamed swiftly into him and vanished.

He let out a long breath.

Looking around at his stone cave and the familiar objects within, he felt a sudden, inexplicable warmth, as if everything here had grown dear to him.

He had been away from Langlang Mountain for only two days.

And yet the sights he had seen, the battles he had fought, the brutality of the battlefield, and the exhaustion of his mind had all been too much.

Now, gazing upon these familiar things, he felt an almost forgotten sense of peace and belonging.

A rhythmic, gentle snore came from the corner.

Lu Fei turned and saw that the little tiger he had brought back the previous night was sleeping in the crow demon's old nest, still lost in dreams, snoring without pause.

He withdrew his gaze.

With a slight movement of thought, pale, ink-like words of light began to appear before him.

His level had risen considerably thanks to a full day of devouring demon flesh yesterday.

His breathing technique had also advanced somewhat, though the increase was noticeably smaller than before. Next time, he would ask the other leaders whether they were using the same method of breathing as he was.

The mastery of his divine power, the Wolf Devouring the Moon, had also improved a little. It was a pity the moonlight had been so brief last night; otherwise, his cultivation, techniques, and divine powers would likely have risen even more.

Still, winter moonlight was brief to begin with. There was no point in forcing it; better to let nature take its course.

As for the last bit of soul force, he could wait until his subordinates came to gather in his cave and ask each of them about their divine powers one by one.

He only hoped he could find a suitable one soon.

After quickly reviewing the panel before him, Lu Fei did not dwell on it further and dismissed the data.

Then, within his embrace, there appeared a pale green-white ring emitting a faint mist, along with a golden scale that shimmered with soft light.

Both were clearly treasures. They had been forged from materials infused with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and were anything but ordinary.

As for their origin, both had been taken from the snake demon leader who had ambushed him early in the battle two days ago.

First, he examined the scale.

Holding it up casually, he saw it was about the size of an adult’s thumb, its whole surface a pale yellow. A faint pressure could be felt from it upon closer inspection.

Because it had come from the snake demon leader on the Windcloud Ridge side, and because its shape resembled a serpent’s scale, Lu Fei guessed it must have belonged to a snake demon far stronger than a mere leader-class demon general. At the very least, it had once been in the hands of a commander-level being, perhaps even something higher.

But it was certainly not from the Windcloud Ridge snake demon leader who had died by his hand before.

If it had been, then the one who would have died back then would unquestionably have been him, with no possibility of luck at all.

And the spoils being counted now would no doubt have ended up in the snake demon’s possession instead.

Though that creature had not carried many valuable treasures.

Sigh. Back on Earth, he had been poor enough already. Even after coming to this world and rising to the level of a leader among demons, he was still poor.

At the thought, Lu Fei could not help feeling a touch of melancholy.

Yet there was still a difference.

Back on Earth, as a lowly man at the bottom of the ladder, he had seen little hope because there had been so few paths forward.

But in this world, that was not the case. He was already walking the right road, and his demon path stretched far ahead.

Gathering in the runaway thoughts that had begun to scatter like wild horses again, Lu Fei sent forth a sliver of divine sense toward the golden serpent scale in his hand.

Since the original owner was dead, he entered it with ease and left his mark upon the scale.

At the same time, he learned what the scale could do.

Its effect was this: if properly nourished, it could, once per day, withstand a fatal attack from an enemy below the level of a demon marshal.

The condition was that he had to warm and nurture it daily with demon power.

The better it was cared for, the stronger the effect.

It could block one fatal attack below the demon marshal level...

And as long as it was not damaged, it could do so every day...

Wasn't that practically a second life every day?

Understanding its use at once, Lu Fei's face lit up with joy.

Though the scale had a somewhat low ceiling, it was indeed a fine treasure.

If it could block a fatal blow below the demon marshal level, then what about an attack from a demon marshal itself? Even if it could not completely stop it, it ought to absorb at least most of it, or half.

What else could such a thing be called but a treasure?

Because of his many divine powers, Lu Fei's strength among early-stage demon general leaders was already formidable; he was not even afraid of mid-stage opponents.

But he lacked a final trump card for survival, or rather, a life-saving treasure.

If he encountered a truly powerful enemy, his situation would become dangerous.

He knew this well enough. But he had only been in this world for a little over half a year, not even a full year yet.

Everything required time.

Just like this serpent scale in his hand. Who would have thought that in less than a few days, such a treasure would end up in his possession?

Fate changed just like that. One could only take things slowly.

Lu Fei was very satisfied with his current life.

He was even more satisfied with the system panel on his person.

Even after he became a demon general, each stat on the system had become far harder to raise than before.

Yet his enthusiasm for it remained undiminished.

Because the system had granted him a rebirth, a chance to begin again and alter his fate.

For that, Lu Fei would always be grateful.

His attention returned once more to the golden scale in his hand.

He lifted it and was just about to press it to his brow when something suddenly occurred to him.

So he raised his hand and pressed the golden scale against his chest instead.

Soon, the scale floated within a small pocket of space.

Beside it, seven black, thorn-like spikes were arranged neatly, drifting in the same place.

This was precisely the nurturing pool for the divine power known as Ambush.

It seemed that using it to nurture this serpent-scale treasure would be perfect as well.

Lu Fei checked and found that the scale was being nourished normally within the pool.

Satisfied, he turned his gaze to the pale ring in his arms.

The golden serpent scale had pleased him greatly.

Now he wondered what this treasure could do.

Once again, Lu Fei sent out his divine sense.

As with the scale, its former owner was dead, so he penetrated it easily.

A moment later, joy returned to his face.

Sure enough, it did not disappoint.

It was indeed a storage ring with inner space.

Its space was not very large, however, roughly only half the size of Lu Fei's enhanced storage technique.

Of course, the ring's size was not the main point.

What mattered was the contents, and here too, Lu Fei found a surprise.

Through his divine sense, he saw that among a pile of odds and ends lay an object resembling a silk sash, suffused throughout with a faint pink glow.

Not every treasure shone, of course.

But anything that did glow was certainly no ordinary object.

For someone as poor as Lu Fei, whether a treasure was good or bad mattered less than the fact that it was a treasure at all. That alone was heaven's gift, no, fate's gift.

With a flick of thought, the glowing pink treasure appeared in his hand.

Then, as he looked at it, Lu Fei's expression turned slightly strange.

He had misjudged it; it was not a sash, but an embroidered chest covering, a pink undergarment of incomparably smooth material, glowing with a soft pink light.

Could it be a treasure used by women?

Though a little odd, Lu Fei did not care much.

While such a thing might impose a heavy psychological burden on other demons, especially those who prized face and dignity, he had few such reservations.

After all, for someone who had once had the nerve to walk into a women's underwear store alone on the street and buy lace panties for his girlfriend, using a chest covering as a treasure was hardly a challenge.

If it was useful and could be used, he would take it.

So once again Lu Fei extended his divine sense.

Not long after, the strange look on his face gave way to delight, then sheer joy.

Because this was actually a treasure that could activate a large array.

When activated, a poison mist known as peach-blossom haze would fill and enshroud an area of five miles in radius.

Any living being who wandered into it and inhaled the haze would have desire and lust stirred within them.

If they could not escape the formation in time, they would not only lose their way, but also become lost in the desire-filled illusions it induced, sinking into them until they could not extricate themselves.

In the end, they would die from the draining of their essence.

As for its restrictions, once the peach-blossom haze was activated, anyone whose level did not exceed Lu Fei's would be trapped within it.

The difference lay in the strength of the trapped being and the degree to which the haze affected them.

If, for example, the newly promoted commander Sheep Longwhiskers, now at the late demon general stage, were trapped in the haze along with Deer Horn, the effect on the former would surely be slight.

But the latter might not be so fortunate.

As for those of lower rank, any demon below the demon general level, unless they possessed some special divine power or relied on other treasures and methods, would all be caught within the shrouded range of the peach-blossom haze.

Lu Fei could also clearly sense the positions of all demons trapped within it and arrive at astonishing speed.

For within the haze's range, he could move wherever he wished.

This power of free movement was exceedingly domineering.

And most importantly, the haze's range and its ability to trap living beings would both change with the strength of the host using it.

The stronger Lu Fei became, the better the peach-blossom haze would work.

The weaker Lu Fei became, the worse its effect would naturally be.

Its might depended entirely on the strength of its owner.

The more carefully he sensed it, the more strongly Lu Fei felt the power of this undergarment.

His smile grew brighter and brighter.

The only flaw in this peach-blossom haze chest covering was that it was somewhat slow to activate.

Even to cover the smallest range of one mile, it would take at least half an hour to generate enough miasma.

A larger and farther range would require even more time.

That was its sole shortcoming.

But to Lu Fei, compared with its immense function, such a flaw amounted to nothing.

After all, large-scale protective formations surely could not be activated quickly in the first place.

After some time, once he had thoroughly understood the undergarment's capabilities, Lu Fei left his mark on it and withdrew with great satisfaction.

Looking at the pink undergarment in his hands, Lu Fei was truly grateful to the Windcloud Ridge snake demon. It was practically a treasure-delivering boy.

Now he also understood why that snake demon had not used this treasure against him.

Because its activation speed was too slow.

Let's see how well it works...

With that thought, Lu Fei softly uttered an incantation, and the pink undergarment in his hand burst into radiant light.

Then the undergarment flew up from his body, rapidly expanding several times in size before landing on the ground and disappearing.

Feeling it settle somewhere in the earth beneath his stone cave, Lu Fei left it alone and allowed it to slowly generate its haze.

This time he only intended to activate it over the smallest possible area, a one-mile radius centered on his cave.

Even so, it would still take at least half an hour, or an hour in human terms.

Just then, Lu Fei suddenly stood up. A surge of immense demonic energy exploded from him, rushing out of the cave and sweeping across the surrounding land.

In an instant, birds scattered and shrieked, and wild beasts fled in terror.

Feeling the commotion of birds and beasts outside, Lu Fei sat back down on the bed.

Once the peach-blossom haze was activated, ordinary little demons could not withstand it, much less ordinary birds and beasts.

Though the Black General's emphasis on sparing common beasts had long since become a thing of the past, Lu Fei guessed that White General would probably continue some of his rules, since they were indeed effective.

And Lu Fei did not want all the creatures on this mountain to flee. Even during ordinary hunts, he had always sent his subordinates, the crow demon and Red Skin, to go far away.

At a time like this, he certainly could not kill off the birds and beasts just to test a treasure.

That should be safe enough now...

After driving away the birds and beasts, Lu Fei picked up the green-white ring again and began taking inventory of the snake demon's other possessions.

At that moment, the little tiger, awakened in fright, came over and rubbed its big head against him.

Then, from the corner, came a burst of chirping.

A long-bodied white rat darted out from beside the bed and rushed straight into Lu Fei's arms.

The long-nosed treasure-seeking mouse, Little White, on the bed and the small tiger, Wandashan Number One, standing by the bed, met each other's gaze.

They immediately began yelling at one another.

Seeing that Little White was small yet occupying its master's embrace, Wandashan immediately reached out a fat paw to swat at it.

Little White, unafraid of Wandashan's size, stretched its snout and chattered furiously.

It also wanted to bat at Wandashan, but its paws were too short, so it had to use its head to nudge its father, Lu Fei, for help.

When that brought no reaction, it showed no fear at all and immediately opened its mouth to bite the big paw Wandashan had extended.

The two little beasts fought noisily.

Meanwhile, Lu Fei used his divine sense to take stock of the spoils inside the storage ring.

Aside from the red undergarment, the snake demon's collection consisted of several mundane iron weapons, arrows, a few corpses of lesser demons, several jars of fruit wine, a small amount of gold and silver currency, and some odds and ends.

Time passed slowly.

The cold sun climbed higher.

The sky grew brighter and brighter.

Within a mile around Lu Fei's stone cave, within the quiet snow forest, fine strands of pink mist had at some point begun to drift through the air.

The crow demon awoke from sleep and instinctively opened his mouth in a great yawn.

He took a deep breath of the icy air, then blinked sleepily toward the eastern sky. The light was bright, the sunlight warm, but everything seemed faintly hazy, as though he could not see it clearly.

What a thick fog...

He sat up unsteadily, only then noticing that the world around him was filled with a pink blur, and he could not help muttering under his breath.

White snow, together with pink mist...

For some reason, it put him in a very cheerful mood.

Then, after a few more yawns, the crow demon leaped straight out of the large bird nest.

His nest was very high above the ground. In his half-demon form, he dropped swiftly downward.

But just as he was about to land, the crow demon calmly spread his wings and descended with ease.

Ah...

He yawned again. Then, at that very moment, a figure appeared in his line of sight ahead.

It was that hairless woman from the Black General's side!

The crow demon instantly recognized her and was overjoyed.

And then something even more delightful happened: the woman in front of him, completely naked and utterly bare, suddenly turned around and waved at him.

In that instant, the crow demon felt his nose grow hot, as though something was about to flow out.

Even below him, everything felt unbearably hot.

Without the slightest hesitation, the crow demon charged toward the woman, wrapped his arms around the laughing figure, and thought only: so soft, so fragrant...

At the same time, Red Skin staggered out of a small cave, shaking his head.

Yellow Noble also swayed as he emerged from his burrow.

At the foot of the mountain, the wild chicken demon Quin, with his multicolored plumage standing atop his head, the wild donkey Madman, and four other little demons also entered the forest ahead, now veiled in pink mist, and headed toward the direction of the leader's dwelling.