The arrival of Yang Kai and Zhu Qing caught many demons off guard. What shocked them even more was the fate that had befallen the Blood Demon and Charm Demon who had struck from the shadows — both attacks had been completely neutralized by the newcomers, and one of them had even been injured in return. This was nothing short of inconceivable.
The Blood Demon was wailing in agony, and the Charm Demon's face had gone deathly pale. Both were Demon King-level existences.
Two Demon Kings had launched their attacks without leaving a trace, yet this pair had dismantled them one by one and even turned the tables on one of them. It was almost impossible to believe.
While they stood there stunned, the sound of barking suddenly reached their ears. A moment later, a scruffy little black dog — dirt-caked and utterly unremarkable — came charging out from the side, its four stubby legs churning like wheels as it sprinted with wild excitement toward a Demon General, looking for all the world like a male dog in heat that had just spotted a seductive bitch in full estrus. The sight was utterly comical.
That particular Demon General appeared to be a Power Demon by origin — tall and broad-shouldered, wielding a massive axe. The blade gleamed with a sharp, polished sheen and radiated dense black energy, clearly a demon artifact.
Seeing the little black dog charge straight at him, the Demon General's face hardened. He shook his head and swung the great axe down upon the dog with a crushing blow.
His movement was casual. He could sense that the little black dog's strength was nothing special — a pitiful mutt like this, he could kill with a flick of his wrist.
The other demons' attention had already been drawn to Yang Kai and Zhu Qing. Aside from a handful who spared the dog a brief glance, no one paid it any further heed.
The great axe descended. The little black dog dodged with an agility that was frankly absurd, slipping clear of the blow so cleanly that the Demon General struck nothing but air. He froze for a moment, then flushed with rage — and before he could launch another attack, the little black dog suddenly opened its mouth and lunged at him.
Its head, not particularly large to begin with, swelled abruptly until it was as big as a door, and in a single gulp it clamped the Demon General between its jaws.
The entire battlefield went silent.
Every demon whipped around to stare at the little black dog in horror, their eyes nearly bulging out of their skulls.
Zhu Qing and her brother were clearly stunned as well. They had never imagined that this unassuming little creature could display such overwhelming power — swallowing a Demon General in a single bite. While the General wasn't the strongest among demons, he was equivalent to a Void King Realm cultivator. Moreover, a Demon General of the Power Demon race was a match for most ordinary Dao Source Realm fighters.
Zhu Qing was especially surprised. She had spent these past days around the little black dog and had noticed something peculiar about it, but she had never dreamed it possessed such abilities.
Only Yang Kai remained unruffled, stroking his chin in quiet contemplation.
According to what Gong Yue had told him, the little black dog carried the bloodline of the Guixu — an otherworldly beast of the Demon Domain. That trace of bloodline had lain dormant deep within it until Gong Yue used a secret demon art to awaken it inside the Azure Sun Divine Temple. Back then, the little black dog had been like a single guardian holding a pass against ten thousand. Gong Yue, relying on its power, had managed to hold off ten Emperor Realm cultivators for a considerable time.
It had swallowed even Feng Ming, a third-order Emperor Realm master, in a single bite — so what was a mere Demon General?
The trouble was that in recent days, the little black dog's performance had been inconsistent. Aside from gobbling up Steward Liao, it hadn't shown that devouring ability again. Just a few days ago, it had fought with Fu Yu inside the palace at length without ever trying to swallow her.
But now it was as though it had been injected with rooster blood — if it didn't make a sound, fine, but when it did, it stunned everyone.
Yang Kai figured this had something to do with the demons. The Guixu was, after all, a beast of the Demon Domain. The aura of the demons seemed to fill the little black dog with delight. To it, these demons might well be some kind of delicious food.
While Yang Kai was lost in thought, the Demon General trapped inside the little black dog's mouth began to struggle violently. Visibly, lumps bulged against the dog's enormous maw as the General thrashed within. Its massive head and tiny body were completely out of proportion, and the Demon General's thrashing sent it staggering wildly from side to side.
Then, suddenly, it tilted its head upward and made a swallowing motion.
Before the crowd's collective gaze, a small lump slid down its throat, rolled all the way to its belly, and vanished.
The door-sized mouth snapped back to its original size in the same instant, yet its belly showed not the slightest change. No one knew where the living Demon General had actually been swallowed to — even the giant axe had disappeared without a trace.
A chorus of sharp, hissing breaths rose from the demons. A bone-deep chill ran through them all.
The little black dog licked its lips, wearing a look of lingering satisfaction. Its bright, gleaming eyes turned toward the cluster of demons, and every demon it laid eyes on — regardless of cultivation level, regardless of strength — felt goosebumps erupt across their skin involuntarily, as though they had encountered some primordial predator. Terror gripped their hearts.
No order was needed. The moment danger descended upon them, the demons began unleashing their secret arts in unison. Stream after stream of dark energy coalesced into attacks that rained down upon the little black dog in a relentless barrage.
Yang Kai's expression shifted slightly. He was curious to observe, so he didn't step in to block it.
The little black dog let out a series of yips — not of fear, but of excitement. It sprang three feet into the air and opened its mouth once more.
This time it opened wider than before. The gaping maw seemed to lead into some unknown world, unleashing an irresistible suction force.
Every attack aimed at it was devoured in full, leaving nothing behind — not a single drop. It had no effect whatsoever. Emboldened, the little black dog grew even bolder, charging forward through the storm of demon attacks with its mouth split open to the size of an entire house. It bit down.
Where its jaws clamped shut, space shattered. A huge chunk of the void simply ceased to exist, and over a dozen demons caught within that range vanished in an instant. The survivors fled in blind panic, scrambling to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the little black dog.