NOVEL NEXT Chapter 151: North Mountain King
The human race's attack had long ended, but the atmosphere within the forest camp was filled with a pervasive sense of despair.
Many demon soldiers whispered among themselves, and even the elite demon soldiers from the Great Snow Mountain had lost their previous spirit and no longer dared to rush recklessly around.
Because there were more than twenty zones in the forest camp that were still shrouded in poisonous mist, impossible to disperse.
In these poisonous mist zones, there would often be a massive underground fissure, and around these areas, all the big trees had withered and died.
The scene was one of death and decay.
There were not even officials responsible for counting merits to tally the numbers, and the new recruits who were supposed to arrive at the Seek Death Camp hadn't shown up either.
"Could it be that the Great Snow Mountain is planning to abandon this place? Or has Grandpa Tree's sapling truly been secretly harmed in this round of surprise attacks?"
Wang Wu thought to himself with a heavy heart, burdened and anxious.
Seeing that the North Mountain King's condition had stabilized but remained unconscious, Wang Wu hesitated for a moment, then carried it on his back and headed towards the original camp.
Along the way, when occasionally asked by demon soldiers, he would say that this was the North Mountain King, unconscious from poisoning, and he was trying to find a way to treat it, or did any of the big brothers have a solution?
This strategy worked well, or rather, the North Mountain King's name was very effective, so hardly any demon soldiers tried to stop him.
On the way back, he still saw the corpses of some fallen demon soldiers in place, surrounded by poisonous mist formed by Five Poison Spiritual Qi. Though demon soldiers were used to dividing up the corpses of their comrades, they were so wary of this poisonous mist that they dared not go near.
This, in turn, benefited Wang Wu.
Because he understood, if truly contaminated by the Five Poison Spiritual Qi, the bodies would have already decayed into toxic fluid.
However, the demon soldiers' caution was justified. Perhaps the poisonous mist was originally stable, but if some demon soldiers passed by and disturbed the mist, it would lead to dire consequences.
Wang Wu almost fell victim himself while dragging a demon soldier's corpse, it scared him into a cold sweat.
He continued to collect five demon soldier corpses in total along the way, all large in size, whether they were Cow Demons, Bear Demons, Wolf Demons, or Pig Demons, they were meaty and delicious.
But Wang Wu wasn't collecting them for his own consumption, but as an offering to the North Mountain King. What if the severely injured North Mountain King urgently needed energy and, in his haste, ended up eating him?
He placed all five demon soldier corpses together, then patiently waited ten meters away from them, with the demon soldier corpses in between, being cautious.
After about two more hours, without any warning, the North Mountain King awoke. Though its eyes were unseen, from its body, corroded to the point of having no legs or claws, suddenly grew four bladed limbs. They immediately pinned Wang Wu to the ground, and it seemed its twin blades were about to slash him into pieces.
Wang Wu hurriedly shouted, "There's food! I prepared it for you! Great King, I'm the one who carried you out! Spare my life, Great King!"
At the last moment, the twin blades of the North Mountain King stopped at Wang Wu's throat.
Cold sweat dripped from his terrified body. Even though he had anticipated this possibility and specifically kept a twenty-meter distance, who knew that even severely injured, this thing was still so terrifying?
No wonder it's a Fourth-Grade Great Demon!
But the North Mountain King seemed not to have heard Wang Wu's words. Its ugly, disgusting body began shedding old skin.
In a moment, a Zijin Mantis Blade Master the size of a calf reappeared, looking full of vitality and extraordinary power.
Its eyes finally focused on Wang Wu.
"Who are you?"
"Reporting to the Great King, I am Xiong Wu, the Camp Commander of the Seek Death Ninth Camp. I'm the one who carried you out. Have you forgotten?"
Wang Wu answered cautiously, he was indeed gambling this time, seeking a strong backer.
Moreover, if he lost the gamble, it wouldn't matter much, as long as the North Mountain King hadn't lost its mind. At most, he would be transferred back to the Seek Death Camp, especially since he had already prepared food for it.
No matter how brutal, it wouldn't eat its savior alive, would it? Isn't this the Four Seas and Eight Wildernesses reformed by the wise figures of various demon tribes for tens of thousands of years?
Isn't this the West Wilderness, where the Monster Academy prospers?
Being a Fourth-Grade Great Demon already implied that it would have enough rationality to view and solve problems.
"Seek Death Camp? Where are my trusted subordinates?"
The North Mountain King slowly withdrew its twin blades. Suddenly, a dark-golden mist emanated from its body, and in the blink of an eye, it transformed into a slightly hideous, sharp-mouthed youth around a dozen years old.
"Reporting to the Great King, a total of fifty-four of your trusted subordinates sacrificed themselves to help pull you out of the poisonous mist. But thanks to their sacrifice, relay dragging, it gave me the chance to carry you out."
Wang Wu dared not stand, still answering cautiously, as he had seen earlier, those trusted guards of the North Mountain King were indeed loyal, all dead, or he wouldn't have taken this risk.
The North Mountain King's expression didn't change, it was unclear if it was saddened or indifferent.
Then, its gaze swept over to the five demon soldier corpses, and it sneered, "Are you afraid I'll eat you?"
Indeed, there was no hiding it, this Great Demon was so cunning. Wang Wu didn't dare to speak out in fear, even somewhat regretting.
Had he been too reckless this time?
But who knew that the North Mountain King sat cross-legged on the ground, pulled out a Spirit Light Gourd from nowhere, opened the lid, and a fresh fragrance immediately wafted. It poured out three Spirit Pills and ate them like beans. Instantly, spiritual light enveloped its body.
At this point, it glanced sideways at Wang Wu, "You country demon, you do have some courage, stop with the lies, it's natural to seek benefits after saving me. It is normal, humans say, all bustling things under heaven are for benefits, and all coming and going under heaven are for gains. Neither of us are human, and so it is."
"Therefore, I still thank you; I won't eat you. Now, you have two choices. First, I assist you in leaving the Seek Death Camp to become a trusted aide by my side; second, I still assist you in leaving the Seek Death Camp, but I'll give you a Spirit Pill, and from this day on, we will have no more ties."
Hearing this, Wang Wu finally felt a weight lift off his heart. He immediately got up, knelt down, cupping his fists with both hands, "King, I wish to follow you to the ends of the earth and through fire and water without ever backing down!"
"Hehe! Since that's the case, you mustn't regret it. Stand up; I don't care for these demon corpses, so I'll reward them to you." The North Mountain King remained calm, showing no sign of ups and downs.
Wang Wu hurriedly gave thanks again and also changed his way of addressing.
"Thank you for the reward, master!"
Then he got up, ran to the side, and really started devouring the food like a wolf or tiger. The North Mountain King looked down upon such low-grade food, but for him, it was rarely seen, a delicacy of the finest quality.
He kept eating non-stop, while the North Mountain King sat there, forming a mysterious gesture with his hand, as if in deep meditation, looking enigmatic and extraordinary, making Wang Wu dare not to gaze directly.
Wang Wu ate an entire Pig Demon, a Cow Demon, and then a Wolf Demon before he was finally too full to eat any more.
His satiety skyrocketed to over 20,000, and his Spiritual Qi broke past 13,000, never having been so abundant.
When he opened the attribute bar, as expected, the Copper Head Iron Bone secret technique had another plus sign lit up next to it, marking the upgrade conditions which were quite difficult.
No choice to be made.
Ten thousand points of Spiritual Qi were consumed in an instant, upgrading the Copper Head Iron Bone technique to Level 3.
The effect now became, within three seconds, he could withstand accumulative damage of 2,700 points.
It was still worth it.
Afterward, Wang Wu consumed 2,500 points of Spiritual Qi to raise his Basic Defense from 68 points to 69 points, plus passive benefits, reaching 70 points in total, equivalent to exempting 210 points of damage.
It seemed decent, but before a Great Demon, it was still insignificant.
Wang Wu pondered anxiously, thinking of many things, weighing, calculating, but in the end, he felt that investing in the North Mountain King this time had more advantages than disadvantages.
Not to mention, without the North Mountain King's support, he might again be thrown into the Seek Death Camp as a Camp Commander.
He might survive once on the battlefield, survive twice, but could there be a third time?
If he survived a third time, wouldn't there be Demons who suspect? These are all troublesome matters, impossible to sort out.
Moreover, the upcoming battles are likely to be unfavorable, following the North Mountain King might offer more chances of survival.
Thinking this, Wang Wu drifted off to sleep, sleeping soundly until dawn, waking up feeling refreshed and energetic, the effect of being well-fed and well-rested was indeed amazing!
Overnight, he had actually consumed over 5,000 points of satiety.
Looking around, fortunately, the North Mountain King was still there meditating, though it was hard to discern his status, it shouldn't be too bad, right?
At this moment, as if sensing Wang Wu's gaze, the North Mountain King suddenly opened his eyes, startling Wang Wu.
The next moment, the North Mountain King slowly stood up and strode forward without saying a word, Wang Wu hurriedly chased after him.
It was truly amazing. The old fellow seemed to walk slowly, step by step, yet in the blink of an eye, he had covered over a thousand meters, Wang Wu behind him had to exhaust all his strength to barely catch up.
Then, the North Mountain King suddenly stopped, and Wang Wu quickly came to a halt, only to see a massive number of new recruits being sent from the Great Snow Mountain to the Seek Death Camp ahead.
The Fierce Tiger Captain and Cyan Wolf Captain were surprisingly still alive, they glanced at Wang Wu in some surprise, then hurriedly paid their respects to the North Mountain King.
Awkwardly, they seemed to want to ask something but didn't dare to.
The North Mountain King seemed not to have anything urgent, stopping just to wait for Wang Wu, and upon seeing Wang Wu catch up, he stepped forward again with swift steps for such short legs.
Wang Wu hastily rushed to follow, leaving a puzzled one-eyed tiger and one-eyed wolf behind.
After exchanging glances, they began roll call—
"Niu Dali, Ape Big Head, Wolf Xiaobai, Xiang Wudi, Tiger's Three Jumps, Fox Tail, Leopard Feihua..."
——
"Xiong Wu, you wait here; I'll be back soon."
When they reached the periphery of Grandpa Tree's seedling branches, the North Mountain King walked right in, while the ferocious Demon Soldiers didn't dare to stop him this time.
Wang Wu observed around, making various guesses, it seemed there would be another battle today?
Indeed, standing from the position of the Snow Mountain Great Ape King, how could they easily give up? Once they start retracting, there will be a second time, retreating and retreating until they're at the foot of the Great Snow Mountain, should they reenact the siege of the Demon Emperor from three thousand years ago?
It seems here is destined to become a bloody purgatory!
Just as he was thinking this, that powerful, authoritative voice resounded once more.
"All units, hear the order. Today, the Human Race's grand array must be taken. Do not return if unsuccessful!"
"Seek Death Camp, hear the order. Immediately take your positions, prepare to charge the array!"