The Demon with Holy Radiance

After passing the people he had just encountered, Yang An quickly entered the area of Earth Demon Cliff.

Earth Demon Cliff was a massive cliff located within a mountain range, its terrain treacherous and complex.

The entirety of Earth Demon Cliff looked gloomy and sinister, shrouded in a thick fog. Visibility was extremely poor in the dead of night, and the fog even affected one’s perception to a certain degree, creating a feeling of unreality.

However, Yang An could tell that this place was usually teeming with Demon Fiends. Even though he hadn’t spotted any yet, their lingering auras were everywhere.

He was all too familiar with that foul stench unique to Demon Fiends; it was overwhelming and utterly repulsive.

Since he hadn’t gotten the information he wanted from the group earlier and there was no one else around, Yang An ventured into Earth Demon Cliff to investigate for himself.

Generally speaking, in a place like this, the deeper one went, the more dangerous it became, and the greater the chance of encountering Demon Fiends with high Cultivation Levels.

Therefore, Yang An headed directly for the depths of Earth Demon Cliff, with no intention of wasting time on the periphery.

He also noticed that the people from earlier were following him, but while he didn’t know their intentions, he couldn’t be bothered to deal with them.

Soon, Yang An flitted across a large expanse of jungle and into the dense, foggy depths, where he finally detected the presence of a Demon Fiend.

It was a bizarrely shaped stone with human-like limbs and webbed hands, and it was scratching relentlessly at a large tree.

"Ahh, that’s the spot... A little to the left... Now a little lower... Yes, yes, right there... Hssss..."

The large tree before it was swaying, its silhouette swirling within the dense fog as it made those strange sounds.

The scene was quite an eyesore. Yang An descended from the sky and landed near them, but the two creatures continued their bizarre activity, completely ignoring him.

Yang An found this a bit surprising.

Cultivators and Demon Fiends were natural enemies. The moment they met, a fight was almost always inevitable, regardless of the circumstances.

This was the first time he had ever seen a Demon Fiend show absolutely no reaction to spotting a Cultivator.

’Should I interrupt them? Would that be rude?’

Yang An hesitated, but before he could say anything, the strange, tree-scratching stone spoke first:

"Where’d you come from, Cultivator? If you’re going to make a move, stop dawdling. Kill us already. What are you doing just standing there gawking?"

"Exactly! Don’t tell me this guy’s a rookie, his first time here?"

"..."

’Are all the Demon Fiends here this... proactive?’

Yang An looked at the two Demon Fiends. The auras of their Cultivation Levels were merely at the Early Stage of Zombie God, yet they showed not a shred of fear. On the contrary, they were urging him to hurry up and attack.

As they spoke, the two Demon Fiends turned to look at him in unison, a look of realization dawning on them.

"He really is a newbie?!"

At this, the two Demon Fiends suddenly grew very excited.

RUMBLE—

Just then, the earth began to tremble violently. As the ground shook, soil flew into the air and a huge fissure cracked open beneath the large tree.

A torrent of flesh and blood surged from the fissure, coalescing into a behemoth over ten meters tall.

It had a pair of enormous scarlet eyes, but no mouth or nose. It appeared to be a monster formed from a mass of flesh, with tree roots piercing its body all over, extending from its various parts to anchor it deep in the earth.

It was only then that Yang An realized the stone and the tree he had seen earlier were actually the two arms of this Demon Fiend.

In other words, the behemoth before him was the Demon Fiend’s true body. The two "Demon Fiends" he saw earlier were just this creature putting on a show for its own amusement...

"Since you’re a newbie, allow me to teach you the rules around here!"

The monster raised its bizarre arms as if to welcome Yang An with an open embrace. Though it had no discernible expression, it seemed incredibly excited.

But just as Yang An thought it was about to attack, its next words caught him completely off guard.

"Come on! Kill me!"

"..."

Its voice seemed to carry an infinite echo, with the tree and the stone that formed its arms repeating its words.

It was hard to imagine what these Demon Fiends had experienced to end up in such a mental state. For a moment, Yang An was at a loss for words.

The Demon Fiend waited for him to attack, showing no intention of defending itself or fleeing. This didn’t seem to be a trap.

"Why should I kill you?"

Yang An asked, confused.

"If you won’t kill me, then I’ll have to come and ’take care’ of you!"

As Yang An remained motionless for a long while, the Demon Fiend seemed to grow impatient and said with a hint of anger.

"..."

"Wait! I came here looking for your strongest Demon Fiend. If you want me to kill you, you have to tell me where it is first."

Operating on a principle of fairness, Yang An felt that since this creature was so desperate to be killed, he couldn’t just do it for nothing, so he stated his terms.

Hearing Yang An’s words, the Demon Fiend shuddered slightly.

"You’ve come for the Death Lord? Are you from the Golden Soul Sect?"

’Death Lord? Is that the name of the Great Demon of the Insect Dao?’

Yang An shook his head.

"Since you’re not from the Golden Soul Sect, head east, to the very depths. The Death Lord is there.

But before you go, you must kill me first. If you don’t, I won’t let you pass so easily."

"..."

It was hard to believe this creature would reveal the Great Demon Fiend’s location so easily. Yang An couldn’t help but doubt whether it was telling the truth.