Volume 2 - Chapter 9: No Blade of Grass Left Behind - Part 1
As Li Hao roasted the tusk in his palm, he casually asked Li Hongzhuang:
"Do you know the locations of the lairs of the Great Demons that attacked tonight?"
"Hmm?"
Li Hongzhuang was momentarily taken aback before replying, "Why? Are you thinking of wiping out their lairs too?"
"Is there a problem with that?"
Li Hao looked confused.
"..."
Li Hongzhuang had no words. There was naturally no problem. If their lairs could be destroyed, she would gladly do it herself, let alone Li Hao.
Back when she guarded this place, she couldn’t leave; if she did, the demons would invade. Without her presence to deter them, even with the help of her deputy commanders, the soldiers here were not strong enough to fend off the attacks of the Three Immortals Great Demons.
After all, the previous Cangya City had already fallen. Without defensive arrays or city walls, even the divine might of the Three Immortals Great Demons was enough to overwhelm the army.
“You’ve just arrived, so I haven’t had the chance to explain the distribution of demon forces beyond Tianmen Pass to you yet.”
Li Hongzhuang began sketching on the sandy ground near the campfire with her sword.
Initially, she had not planned to discuss this with Li Hao, thinking of him as just a child.
From what she had learned from Li He, she already knew that her seventh brother was planning to abandon Tianmen Pass. Over the years, reinforcements had dwindled, and no one bothered to repair the crumbling city walls.
If this were not the land of Great Yu, a pass established by their Li family ancestors, they would not have clung to it for so long.
Sending this child here under the guise of handing over responsibilities was essentially an implicit message: this place could be abandoned.
In addition, it was an opportunity for her talented nephew, who had clashed with her brother, to lower his head and experience the perils of demons firsthand.
However, her seventh brother likely never anticipated that on Li Hao’s very first night here, he would slay two of the Three Immortals Great Demons that had plagued this area for years!
Such an achievement, if reported in other border regions, would likely earn him a first-class special commendation. Without a noble title, he could directly be crowned a third-class marquis!
“The three demons you saw tonight each belong to one of three mountain territories ruled by their respective Demon Kings,” Li Hongzhuang explained as she drew a circle with her sword. “Here is our Cangya City.”
At this point, a self-deprecating smile appeared on her face. There was hardly anything left here that could be called a "city."
“Three thousand li to the east lies the border city of the Northern Frost Kingdom.”
“In the three thousand li between us, there is a mountain range here. It is the first major demon force outside our borders.”
She marked a small circle and her expression turned serious.
“That place is the Dragon Mountain Dojo, home to a millennia-old True Dragon that calls itself the Dragon Lord!”
“It’s a Fourth Pillar Great Demon!”
Hearing her words, Li Hao’s gaze narrowed as he stared at the circle drawn in the sand.
“This is a forbidden zone. No matter what happens, do not set foot there,” Li Hongzhuang warned solemnly. “Under normal circumstances, the Dragon Lord does not leave the Dragon Mountain Dojo or attack Tianmen Pass. If it did, it would be considered an invasion of our borders!”
Li Hao nodded slightly, recalling the casual conversations he had with Second Uncle while fishing.
The Fourth Pillar Great Demons beyond the borders dared not rashly invade.
Why?
The reason was simple: the elders of the Divine General Mansion had personally visited to issue warnings.
It was akin to an agreement between Great Yu and the Fourth Pillar Demon Kings.
Disobey?
They would face retaliation from either the elders of the Divine General Mansion or a True Person of Qiandao Palace.
They dared not defy it.
This ancient and towering dynasty, though aged, still possessed the foundations and majesty to awe the Eight Desolations.
As to why they merely warned rather than exterminated the demons, that was another matter.
These Great Demons were numerous but disunited. Individually warning them ensured caution, but a widespread slaughter risked uniting the rest, leading to heavy casualties for Great Yu.
Ultimately, Great Yu no longer had the strength to exterminate all the surrounding demons.
Moreover, some of the demons had grown particularly troublesome.
The True Person of Qiandao Palace often sat in meditation at the capital of Great Yu, rarely leaving, for fear that certain demons might infiltrate and launch an attack on the capital itself.
At this point, Li Hongzhuang explained the invasion regulations for Fourth Pillar Demon Kings to Li Hao once more before adding:
“While these Fourth Pillar Demon Kings appear obedient and refrain from openly invading, our military strength has waned. With the Divine General Mansion at Tianzhao tied down by the River of Death for centuries, these demons have grown restless.”
“They dare not act rashly, fearing retribution, but they often indulge their subordinate demons to probe and test us.”
“Even if the court questions them, it’s merely a war of words with no real outcome. We are left to endure!”
Li Hao nodded, listening attentively.
In the past, he had asked Second Uncle why the elders didn’t simply station themselves at the border, ensuring absolute security since Fourth Pillar Great Demons dared not invade.
The answer he received was that the number of elder-level Fourth Pillar experts was limited.
Additionally, besides the registered and warned Demon Kings, new Fourth Pillar Demon Kings would emerge every few years or decades.
Some came from distant lands or deep, isolated mountains, unfamiliar with Great Yu.
When these new demons wandered into Great Yu’s territory, they often acted recklessly, slaughtering entire cities or swallowing up half a province before they could be stopped.
The elders had to handle such cases decisively. Against these invaders causing mass casualties, warnings were meaningless—they had to be executed to set an example, inevitably resulting in large-scale battles.
Many elders of the Divine General Mansion had lost their lives this way.
Li Hongzhuang observed Li Hao as he listened quietly, asking no questions. Her eyebrows raised slightly, and she continued explaining, more to herself than to him.
“The Dragon Lord cannot cross the border, but if you recklessly step into its territory, it will have justification to kill you. So, you absolutely cannot go near it,” she warned.
“The King Chi-Tiger you encountered tonight is actually the Dragon Lord’s mount.”
Li Hongzhuang’s gaze turned cold. “These Fourth Pillar Great Demons rarely act themselves but allow their subordinates to repeatedly test and invade our borders. If injured or defeated, they simply flee back to safety. Pursuing them into their lairs only results in falling prey to the Demon King itself.”
“A mount?” Li Hao’s expression became peculiar.
A True Dragon Demon King with a tiger as its mount?
A dragon riding a tiger?
No wonder the tiger demon bore chains—it was likely bound with something akin to reins, which also served as weapons in battle.
“Besides the Dragon Lord, the second Demon King resides to the north.”
Li Hongzhuang sketched another circle on the ground, this one much larger and closer to their camp.
“This is the Myriad Mountains Range. Within it resides a Demon King who has cultivated for an immeasurable length of time. We call it the Myriad Mountains Demon King.”
“The Myriad Mountains Demon King is equal in power to the Dragon Lord. Which of them is stronger remains unknown. But encountering either of them means certain death for us.”
“However, this Demon King is also registered and has been warned. The Six-Tusked Stabbing Boar you slew earlier was one of its fiercest generals.”
She then drew another circle to the south.
“There’s a solitary peak here. Within a radius of five hundred li, no one dares set foot, not even other demons.”
“This is where the third Demon King resides, the Sacred Mountain Demon King.”
Li Hongzhuang glanced at Li Hao. “You might find this Demon King’s origins somewhat familiar. It once cultivated in the Sacred Palace of Yenbei and mastered the Sacred Palace’s unique techniques. It seems to have been an elder there before defecting centuries ago to claim this mountain, naming it Sacred Mountain.”
“Your father fought against the Sacred Palace for over a decade. The Yenbei situation must have been extremely complicated. I don’t know much about it, but the fact that he returned alive is a blessing.”
Li Hao remained silent, his expression neutral.
He caught the underlying meaning in Li Hongzhuang’s words: the war in Yenbei had been grueling.
She likely believed the tension between him and his father stemmed from resentment over his father’s prolonged absence due to the war.
He felt no need to explain otherwise.
“Does the Northern Frost Kingdom ever invade?” Li Hao asked, changing the subject.
Li Hongzhuang frowned slightly, sensing his reluctance to engage on the previous topic. She sighed inwardly.
As Li Hao’s aunt and his father’s younger sister, she naturally hoped to reconcile the father and son. But for now, it seemed unlikely.
Focusing back on his question, she replied:
“The Northern Frost Kingdom wouldn’t dare an open invasion but instead engages in underhanded schemes, like secretly offering sacrifices to the Dragon Lord. Each year, they sacrifice many fresh lives to entice it to probe our defenses.”
Her expression turned icy.
Li Hao frowned. Offering humans as sacrifices to demons was something only the most backward villages within Great Yu would do.
When ordinary people sought protection or power from demons in exchange for their offerings, the Demon Subduing Division would intervene and execute all involved.
Yet now, other nations used this despicable method against Great Yu.
Indeed, in the face of war, no tactic was off-limits.
When Li Hongzhuang finished her explanation, Li Hao had a clearer understanding of the situation beyond Tianmen Pass.
“Since you killed the King Chi-Tiger and the Six-Tusked Stabbing Boar last night, their forces will likely respond with fury. There may be another attack soon—perhaps even tomorrow,” Li Hongzhuang said, her eyes gleaming with cold determination.
Li Hao nodded slightly and asked, “Do they always stay in the Demon King’s lair, or do they have separate nests of their own?”
“Of course, they have their own lairs,” Li Hongzhuang replied. “The Dragon Lord’s lair is a thousand li away. Making such a journey takes time, and besides, what general would want to spend all their time under their master’s watchful eyes? They maintain their own nests where they can mate, feast, and drink freely.”
Li Hao’s eyes lit up. “Do you know the locations of their nests?”
“You seriously want to wipe out their nests too?” Li Hongzhuang asked in surprise.
Li Hao nodded. “Since I’ve killed them, I might as well kill them all.”
His tone was calm, but to Li Hongzhuang, his words carried a chilling resolve. Her narrowed eyes sparkled with a smile as her cold face softened slightly.
“Well said. Ruthless enough!”
She then drew two circles on the ground with her sword. “According to our scouts, the nests seem to be in these two directions, about three to four hundred li away. You can check them out, but don’t go too far. Venturing deep into demon territory risks detection by the Demon Kings, and not even the gods could save you then.”
Li Hao glanced at the rough map she had drawn and memorized the directions.
At this point, the tusk in his hand had been sufficiently heated.
He extinguished the fiery energy in his palm and began carving the tusk with a beast horn.
[Carving experience +24...+19...+35...]
Lines of experience notifications appeared as Li Hao focused on his task.
After half an hour of heating with fire energy and carving with precision, the progress of shaping the tusk advanced rapidly.
Perhaps due to the rarity of the Six-Tusked Stabbing Boar’s tusk, the experience notifications came in a steady stream, occasionally awarding significant experience points.
As the meat roasted over the fire, Li Hongzhuang grabbed a piece for herself and began eating.
Li Hao, however, continued carving. Soon, his Carving Dao reached a new milestone, amassing 500 experience points and advancing to the second stage.
Two skill points were earned instantly.
Li Hao couldn’t help but marvel at how easily points could be accumulated in the Carving Dao.
Still, he suspected this was due to the quality of the boar tusk. If he were carving an ordinary wooden plaque, the experience gain would likely be no more than one or two points per action.
To test this theory, he paused his work on the tusk and used the beast horn to carve a figure on a nearby tree stump.
Now at the second stage of the Carving Dao, he could craft intricate carvings with lifelike detail.
He quickly sculpted a small figure wearing overalls, but the result yielded less than 20 experience points.
"Stingy," he muttered.
It seemed the material quality did matter, just like with his Painting Dao and Fishing Dao—greater challenges brought greater rewards.
Time passed quietly.
As the campfire dimmed slightly, Li Hao completed his third round of carving. The originally curved and elongated tusk had been shaped into a sharper crescent blade.
Though not quite a sword, it resembled a massive, blunt greatsword.
It might not cut anyone cleanly, but it could certainly crush them to death.
Li Hao drilled a circular hole at the tusk’s base, making it easier to grip.
...