History's Number 1 Founder
chapter-895

"I am aware of that. Thank you for your efforts – I need you to help me spread a piece of news as well."

Lin Feng was still grateful that the Taotie Grand Sage was willing to blow the whistle for him, and cut off his connection with the Taotie Grand Sage after everything had been settled while he continued to sense the golden bowl in his search for the Golden Cicada Master.

He was not too surprised to find himself nearing the outskirts of the Lingyuan Mountains.

The Lingyuan Mountains was considered the holy ground of the Barren Expanses; it was extremely suitable for demons to cultivate, and the demons that inhabited this region were the Ancient Ape Demons.

The Ancient Ape Demons were a powerful race that was second only to the Immemorial Celestial Dragons. Much like the dragons, the ape demons were a collection of different branches and breeds such as the Extreme Spiritual Divine Monkey, the Crimson Gorilla Ape Demon, the Heavenly Demon Ape, etc.

In the infant years of the Antiquity Age, the leader of the dragons – Emperor Jue, Xuan Shang – met his demise along with several powerful draconic cultivators and the dragon race descended into unprecedented weakness. The Ancient Ape Demons rode the tides and rose to power following the fall of the dragons and gradually became the new-era demon race to dominate the world.

During the middle of the Antiquity Age, an Extreme Spiritual Divine Monkey was born into the tribe that went by the name of Extreme Spirit Shen Yuan. His power was unrivaled and reigned supreme over all else; he was one of the three most powerful demons over the course of history – the Emperor of Extremity, also known as Shen Yuan.

This was during the era of the Emperor of Extremity, Shen Yuan, and the Ancient Ape Demons reached the peak of their power and influence and dominated the entire Grand Celestial World.

The Ancient Desolate Galaxy had fallen into the hands of the humans during the beginning of the Antiquity Age, and it was the Emperor of Extremity that took it back from them. The gap in power between the demons and the humans during the battle for the Galaxy was the most conspicuous in the history of wars between the two worlds, and was the battle with the most obvious winning side.

In the next war between the worlds during the Middle Ages, the Emperor of Extremity perished and the Ancient Ape Demons gradually descended into a path of decadence. Eventually, they were overtaken by the rise of the Hades Tribe and the dragons that had been nurturing and saving their energies all this time.

In the past few thousand years, the Ancient Ape Demons had been living like hermits inside their ancestral ground, the Lingyuan Mountains, much like the dragons residing inside the Black Sea. Only in the recent years did they resurface in the world in force and participated in the furor within the Barren Expanses.

The Golden Cicada Master had gained his reputation relatively early and had already become an active demon during the Antiquity Age. The demon emperor that ruled the Barren Expanses was the Shen Yuan, and the Golden Cicada Grand Sage was one of great demons under his wing.

This layer of connection meant that the Golden Cicada Master would naturally choose a place near the Lingyuan Mountains to hide; he was familiar to the inhabitants as well as the geographical layout.

However, he was not about to get too close to Lingyuan Mountains. The current dictator of the mountain was a Heavenly Demon Ape that was not on good terms with him and even chased the Golden Cicada Master down the mountain many years ago.

Still, he was still familiar with several individuals from the Ancient Ape Demon tribe despite being exiled from the mountain. This was the reason why he was still able to find somewhere near the Lingyuan Mountains to seek refuge in and hide himself.

Even though the Golden Cicada Grand Sage of today was in the Vipralopa Stage, he was alone after all and it would be extremely difficult to challenge the Heavenly Demon Ape and his leadership.

This old cricket had always been cunning. He knew that Lin Feng would be able to detect his location and wanted to use someone else to take care and get rid of him – he wanted Lin Feng to disturb the hornet’s nest.

Even though that Heavenly Demon Ape was not too friendly with him, the Ancient Ape Demons were on even worse terms with the humans. The demon apes were not likely to form an alliance with Lin Feng against him, and they were more likely to execute Lin Feng before anything else once they saw him.

When Shi Tianhao was in the Barren Expanses several years back, he had been ambushed and besieged by several Six-Horned Divine Monkeys. The episode ended with him killing a few of them, and one of them was in the advanced demonic lord stage. This Six-Horned Divine Monkey was one of the up-and-coming young prodigies of the ape tribe and was heavily favored by the elders.

This stirred up quite a furor inside the Lingyuan Mountains. Both Lin Feng and Shi Tianhao were aware of this, and thus they took special care in their expedition to the Lingyuan Mountains.

Of course, the Golden Cicada Master had to be prepared for the unlikely but possible scenario where the apes in the Lingyuan Mountains teamed up with Lin Feng temporarily against him. This was the reason why he exposed Lin Feng’s tracks and his location to draw the other great demons to Lingyuan Mountains to mess with Lin Feng.

The dragons were currently the most powerful tribe in the Barren Expanses, and had an influence superior to that of even the Ancient Ape Demons. Without discussing the other demon tribes, Lin Feng had already antagonized the dragons.

Initially, it was because of the camaraderie between the Celestial Sect of Wonders and the Great Qin Empire. The Great Qin Empire’s destiny-level magic treasure, the Immortal Dragon City, was built based on one of the elder ancestors of the dragons – the Ancestral Dragon Cang Ning – and this was an intense humiliation for the dragon race.

During the last war between the worlds, the Great Qin Empire’s usage of the Immortal Dragon City was discovered by the dragons and the latter made the Great Qin Empire their prime target. If not for the reinforcements from other powerful human cultivators, Xiling City would have been razed to the ground.

The Immortal Dragon City, which was still incomplete, was severely damaged in the process and the Great Qin Empire had to invest in voluminous amounts of resources and materials to repair and restore it.

Even the dragons inside the Supreme Dragon Roost of the Great Void Sect had something against the Great Qin Empire for this very reason.

The Celestial Sect of Wonders had associated themselves with Jieyu and Baiguang for a very long time so those two dragons were able to correct their mentalities about the rapport the Celestial Sect of Wonders had with the Great Qin Empire. However, the intense hatred from the dragons in the Barren Expanses towards the Great Qin Empire extended towards Lin Feng and his disciples as well.

In the end, somebody had spread the news of Lin Feng’s cultivation of the Red Dragon King to forge the Thunder Dragon Avatar after the conclusion of the Ying Sea conflict. There were already powerful dragons in the Barren Expanses that had expressed their intentions in seeking vengeance for his transgression, but the only problem as that Lin Feng had been inside the Divine Lands this whole time. They were afraid that they would be ambushed and overwhelmed by a host of powerful human cultivators and temporarily repressed their desire for revenge.

Today, Lin Feng was inside the Barren Expanses and it was only natural that they would seek him out.

Despite how complicated the situation had become, Lin Feng was in a relatively jovial mood. There were going to be dragons going up the Lingyuan Mountains, and he was definitely going to encounter ape demons as well, but all this was beneficial towards his efforts in discovering the Golden Cicada Master’s hiding place.

The Golden Cicada Master was highly aware of this as well. There were banes and boons for everyone, and the person to get the last laugh depended on one’s abilities and intelligence.

The common understanding was that there was a constant conflict between the two worlds, between humans and demons. However, since the Primordial Age, it was more accurate to say that conflict existed between hundreds of races, or perhaps even thousands.

Even though they were all demons, they were still distinct after all and the only things they shared was a similar method of cultivation and the common hostility towards humans. Throughout the Antiquity Age, the Middle Age and then the Modern Age, the concept of demons standing together started to develop.

However, if one were to truly discuss the mutual grudges and feuds between the demons, it would probably be even more acute than the conflict between the great human powers.

For the humans, the demons were treasures per se as many magic items and their embryos were forged from the original forms of demons.

On the other hand, consuming the immortal soul and the flesh and blood of human cultivators was also extremely nutritious and invigorating for powerful demons after digestion as well.

For powerful demons, consuming and cultivating the flesh and souls of other demons was equally beneficial.

Not only demons like the Taotie were able to swallow and consume other demons. Demon tribes frequently invaded and fought with one another, but the only difference was that most demons were just not as efficient at digesting and consuming other demons as the Taotie.

The Golden Cicada Master’s flesh and soul was alluring for many powerful demons due to the authenticity of his natural talent.

The special ability, the Golden Cicada Shell Escape Technique, even though it was not comparable to Lin Feng’s Celestial Sect Teleportation Technique or the Great Void Set’s Cheng Heaven Great Void Celestial Light in terms of being able to completely avoid the Power-Destroying Catastrophe, it still had its profundities and its own unique aspects.

The Golden Cicada Master was in the Vipralopa Stage and had completed the Alpha Tribulations. Juxtaposed against his innate talent, the Golden Cicada Master could withstand the greatest number of instances of the Power-Destroying Catastrophe amongst others of the same level of mastery. Even those that were more powerful than him may not be able to survive through more instances of the Power-Destroying Catastrophe.

From the perspective of the Golden Cicada Master, his most powerful weapon was to channel the Power-Destroying Catastrophe against his opponent to see who can withstand more instances of it. This was his forte, but the only problem was that even though he was able to resist the Catastrophe, it was ultimately an agonizing experience. Therefore, he would not typically resort to this method that would damage himself even though he eventually overcame his opponent.

During the rule of the Emperor of Extremity, the Golden Cicada Master had yet to experience the Tribulations, so others consuming his flesh and soul was not that attractive yet so nobody really cared too much about him.

However, the Golden Cicada Master was in the Vipralopa Stage now and instantly became a thousand times more delicious.

If powerful demons in the peak of the third-level undying demon soul stage consumed his flesh and blood, they would greatly increase their chance of success and safety in experiencing the tribulations.

Powerful demons that went through an instance of the tribulation and survived it would also be able to recover in an extremely short period of time after digesting his flesh and blood, and their demonic powers would be restored to its peak condition in no time.

Still, third-level undying demon soul stage demons couldn’t do anything to the Golden Cicada Master and they could only dream of consuming his flesh. However, he was not able to defend himself against other great demons in the Vipralopa Stage who wanted to capture him for the benefit of their subordinates. This was the reason why the Golden Cicada Master had been careful about covering his tracks and removing himself from the radar of the others and revealed himself only when necessary as he wanted to avoid being poached and hunted by the other great demons.

This demon’s uncanny ability to escape was extraordinary, and he was a meticulous individual by nature. This were the only reasons why he managed to stay alive until now.

Therefore, Lin Feng was not too upset about the Golden Cicada Master exposing his presence inside the Barren Expanses, and he had a simple plan in response.

"If you expose me, then I shall expose you too."

He was going to spread the news as well that he was here to find the Golden Cicada Master and he already had a lead in his possession. At the same time, he would make the rough location of the Golden Cicada Master public.

While he ran the risk of conflicting with other powerful demons, these demons would also be able to help him sniff out the old cricket from his hiding place.

As they proceeded forward, a uniquely-shaped mountain range appeared in front of them.

The summit of the mountain and the slopes leading up to it were a pure white color and were shiny like crystals. Upon closer inspection, one could see that the surface of the mountain was covered with strange white jades that radiated brilliantly and exuded enchanting spiritual energies.

The bottom layer of the mountain was a patch of fiery red. Streams of heat surged into the sky, as if the mountain was surrounded by a sea of a fire or even a moat of boiling lava.

This wasn’t real fire but a concentration of ores. The fire-type spiritual energy was overbearing as the vein of ore reached all the way up to the surface; it was a relatively exotic and high-quality ore, and existed in abundance – the vein of the Chi Lian Flaming Copper.

The Chi Lian Flaming Copper and the Matte Glowless Metal and the Evil-Warding Purple Gold amongst the other ores were known as the Six Mystical Metals. They were the optimum materials for the forgery of tools, and this was especially true for weapon-type magic treasures.

This vein of Chi Lian Flaming Copper beneath their feet was not the biggest one, but it was probably the vein with the best quality in the entire Grand Celestial World.

The white jade on the mountain and the Chi Lian Flaming Copper at the foot of the mountain gave Lin Feng all the clues he needed. "We have reached the Xiaocizhi Mountain."

The Xiaocizhi mountain was located due West of the Lingyuan Mountains, and was the roost of the Crimson Gorilla Apes of the Ancient Ape Demons.

In the war between the worlds during the Middle Age, the Mount Shu Sword Sect had attempted to mine the Chi Lian Flaming Copper before and set up an ambush. The ancestor of the swords, Ren Changmei, used the Saintly Celestial Sword to slay the tribe leader of the Crimson Gorilla Ape Demons. However, their assault on the Xiaocizhi Mountain drew out most of their forces and their own gate was left relatively unguarded - the Emperor of Extremity launched an invasion of his own on Mount Shu and almost annihilated the entire sect.

The Crimson Gorilla Apes had always been one of the more powerful breeds amongst the Ancient Ape Demons. The current Crimson Gorilla Grand Sage was the number two figure in the entire tribe of Ancient Ape Demons.