Chapter 681

Chapter 681: Sea Demon Tribes’ Challenge

At the mention of Shadows, the expressions of all present shifted. The Demon Kings appeared particularly uneasy.

This Shadow Demon King served as chief general under Malice Demon King. Both shared sea serpent origins, though of different breeds—Malice being a rare illusion serpent while Shadow took form as a shadow demon snake.

Shadow demon snakes were peculiar marine serpents. Even an Eighth-rank specimen measured merely three feet long. Yet underestimating them proved disastrous.

These creatures naturally manipulated shadows, lurking undetected in oceanic darkness beyond divine sense perception. Their ambushes came like lightning strikes, piercing protective divine light effortlessly. Razor fangs could penetrate even a Mysterious Turtle’s armor.

Their venom held greater terror. A Demon King’s bite required massive Nascent Soul energy expenditure to detoxify. For Eighth-rank Demon Kings, death became inevitable.

Hence their fangs earned the name "Killer’s Bite," enabling victories against stronger foes.

In frontal battles, Shadow Demon King posed little threat. But he never engaged openly, preferring ambushes. Over a dozen Eighth-rank Demon Kings had fallen to his stealth attacks.

Mentioning him made fellow Demon Kings grimace. He could slaughter ten fools like Blood Shark King without injury—precisely why Malice Demon King prized him.

Malice Demon King sneered, "That brat Fang Lie couldn’t survive Shadow’s bite."

Other Demon Kings nodded agreement. Even stone-faced Instant Shadow Demon King dipped his head slightly, rare approval in his gaze.

Seeing consensus, Dream Lure Demon King snorted, "Do as you will. I claim no Qingyu Island benefits and dispatch no challengers."

Iron Shark Demon King scoffed, "Better you don’t. We’ll handle Fang Lie without you."

"Your problem, not mine." Dream Lure Demon King shrugged, secretly mocking: Fools! Clueless about mainland humans yet provoking Fang Lie? That youth recently crushed the Ximen family clan alone. Three Great Semi-Immortals including East Kunlun Sword God failed against him!

She kept silent, anticipating the three Demon Kings’ humiliation.

Malice Demon King commanded, "Shadow Demon King, lead these four to Qingyu Island for the Mo Sect wager."

A black-robed youth materialized—Shadow Demon King, who’d hidden during the feast rather than carouse with others.

His gloomy presence chilled fellow Demon Kings. None had realized death lurked in their shadows throughout the revelry.

Ignoring their fear, Shadow Demon King departed with four subordinates. Black Crow Demon King trailed pitifully, missing limbs from Iron Shark Demon King’s feast.

Witnessing this, many Demon Kings shuddered—this fate awaited those without powerful patrons.

Iron Shark Demon King cared not. Black Crow’s backers posed no threat. He only regretted missing Fang Lie and Mo Lanyun’s destruction personally. Appearing at Qingyu Island without Semi-Immortal opposition would disgrace his status, forcing him to await news.

At Qingyu Island, defenders maintained vigilance after repelling the first attack, expecting retaliation.

Days later, demon forces reappeared. Through the Seven-Colored Treasure Mirror aboard Netherworld Ghost Fire warship, observers grew puzzled.

In the control room, Fang Lie frowned. "They returned without reinforcements?"

Shadow Demon King’s solitary nature kept him undetected—the mirror showed only four visible foes.

Mo Lanyun wondered, "Didn’t they seek backup? Where are the reinforcements?"

Mao Mao chuckled, "Who saves reinforcements for last? Look at their aggressive aura—they want battle. Brother Fang Lie fought last time. My turn now!"

Fang Lie heard this and immediately laughed, "Great, great! I have never seen my sister show her skills before; I can’t wait to see it this time!"

However, Mo Lanyun looked unhappy and said, "I’d rather not. Just seeing Mao Mao show her skills once is enough; please spare me the second time!"

"If you don’t want to watch, then don’t!" Mao Mao teased with a laugh and didn’t mind as she flew out of the Netherworld warship, heading towards the opposing army.

Fang Lie couldn’t help but ask with curiosity, "What? Is it not fun to watch Mao Mao fight?"

"Not only is it not fun, it’s simply awful!" Mo Lanyun exaggeratedly replied, "I only saw it once, and I couldn’t eat meat for months!"

"Is it really that exaggerated?" Fang Lie said in shock.

"One after another, those living people suddenly grow sores on their faces and bodies, and then in a short time, they start to spray pus and blood, ultimately dying in terrible agony; within at most an hour, their whole body turns into yellow water, leaving only a white skeleton. Doesn’t that scene scare you?" Mo Lanyun said helplessly, "I was terrified after seeing it just once, and ever since then, whenever I go out to fight, I always lead the way, making sure she doesn’t have to step in!"

"Is it really that scary?" Fang Lie exclaimed again in disbelief.

"Even scarier!" Mo Lanyun pouted and said, "I have only seen her show her skills once, but I have heard about it many times, and each time it’s just as twisted."

"Can it be even more twisted than directly dying from pus?" Fang Lie quickly asked, "How is it twisted?"

"The way of dying that is even more twisted than dying from pus is, of course, slowly dying from pus!" Mo Lanyun said seriously, "I heard that once a Thunder Tribulation Immortal tried to rob Mao Mao and got hurt by a slap. At that moment, he felt fine and was able to suppress the plague poison with his deep Magic. But soon, they found out that was just the beginning of a nightmare; the plague poison would gradually grow stronger until he couldn’t hold it back anymore, slowly acting up. It starts with growing sores and ends with dying from pus; the longest it can take is a full ten years. Just imagine watching your body slowly rot away with pus—that’s how it feels!"

"Ah, that sounds~" Fang Lie wiped his cold sweat and smiled bitterly, "That does sound pretty terrifying!"

"So yeah, people call her the Poison Witch behind her back!" Mo Lanyun said, "But don’t tell her; she will be sad!"

"Okay, okay!" Fang Lie quickly agreed.

While Fang Lie and Mo Lanyun were talking, Mao Mao faced off against the army of sea demons.

The Shadow Demon King revealed himself and said to Mao Mao, "Who are you?"

"I am a disciple of the Mo Sect, and my name is Mao Mao!" she replied directly, "If you want to attack Qingyu Island, you must first go through me!"

"We are here to challenge you!" the Shadow Demon King said calmly, "The Four Great Demon Kings have ordered that we host three battles. If you win two, Qingyu Island will be spared, and we will no longer attack this place. But if you lose, you must leave, and we will turn Qingyu Island to ruins!"

Mao Mao frowned upon hearing this and said, "This is too important for me to decide. Can you wait here for a moment?"

"I’ll give you one hour. If you don’t agree by then, it will be a fight to the death!" the Shadow Demon King said coldly.

"Okay, I understand!" Mao Mao nodded and then turned to leave.

Soon, Mao Mao met with Fang Lie, Mo Lanyun, and the three Thunder Tribulation Immortals, including Huo Wufang, in the great hall of Qingyu Island.

After Mao Mao returned, she smiled and said, "Did you all see that? What do you think?"

The protective array also had a surveillance function, so Huo Wufang and the others had already seen what happened from a distance, and there was no need for Mao Mao to explain.

Huo Wufang frowned and said helplessly, "The sea demon tribes are very powerful. Even if we win every battle, we won’t even scratch one percent of their strength. If we keep pushing forward, we will likely be outmatched!"

"That’s right!" Mo Qianxun said helplessly, "The most terrifying part is still the Four Great Demon Kings behind them. Although they have an Agreement with the Human Tribe’s Semi-Immortals not to interfere in the battle, we all know the demons’ nature; promises are just empty words. Once they feel humiliated and angry, they won’t care about that!"