Chapter 117 - Recruiting Another Junior Brother

Chapter 117: Chapter 115: Recruiting Another Junior Brother"Will you participate in this war, Tong Shuai?" Lu Hong asked curiously, wondering if Tong Shuai could manage to disorient the lion completely.

Facing Lu Hong’s expectation, Tong Shuai shook his head, "No."

"After all, the Gold Lion is still a formidable young generation fighter. For an old monster like me who has lived for tens of thousand of years to strike at him, wouldn’t that be bullying the younger?"

"Tens of thousand of years?!" Lu Hong was shocked. What concept is tens of thousand of years? That’s even more ferocious than Caesar!

"What? Surprised? Demon King Yan has lived even longer than I have, over fifty thousand years," Tong Shuai laughed. "However, not all from the Saint Demon lineage can live to this age, only those demons with purer bloodlines can live longer. In fact, aside from me and Demon King Yan, mostly everyone’s lifespan in our demon race is around five thousand years."

"Five thousand years is still a long time, right?" What concept is five thousand years, the wilderness wasn’t even discovered until recently, right?

"Unfortunately, our Saint Demon lineage took too long traveling from the ancestral star to the wilderness. A span of ten thousand years was enough to considerably dilute our bloodline, losing its original nobility," Tong Shuai sighed, and Lu Hong seemed to catch something extraordinary from his words. It took them ten thousand years to travel from the demon’s ancestral star to the wilderness? If not coming from Tong Shuai, Lu Hong would never believe it.

"Actually, our demon ancestral star is much like your Continent of God’s Grace and even stronger. Do you know why?"

Lu Hong knew this wasn’t really a question, so he responded, "Please enlighten me, Tong Shuai."

"Ha ha," Tong Shuai boasted jovially, "Isn’t the strength of a plane determined by its highest combat power? Our demon ancestral star has two beings of the Heavenly God Level, now with such power alone, who in your entire Continent of God’s Grace could possibly stand against us?" Tong Shuai’s eyes showed a hint of aggression as he looked at Lu Hong.

Lu Hong felt displeased. Wasn’t this demeaning the whole Continent of God’s Grace? As a member of the continent, Lu Hong rebutted, "The demon race is indeed powerful, but in fact, it is very difficult for powers of the Heavenly God Level to enter the Continent of God’s Grace. Even the Hell Demon Lord lacks the ability to break through the World Will."

Lu Hong spoke diplomatically, but his core message was clear: even if you possess top-notch Heavenly God Level power, it’s useless if it can’t withstand the repulsion of the will of the Continent of God’s Grace.

"That’s correct," Tong Shuai conceded, "but the Hell you speak of, is it a plane too? Do they have Heavenly God Level beings?"

"Yes, there are seven Demon Lords in Hell, and they are all of the Heavenly God Level. Additionally, Hell has an even higher ranking being, the Hell Demon King, who is probably above the Heavenly Gods," Lu Hong laid the ultimate power of Hell on the table, instantly suppressing the swagger of the two Heavenly Gods from the demon race.

"Amazing, truly amazing, there actually is a plane where eight Heavenly Gods coexist. Quickly tell me where the entrance to Hell is? I want to explore it and see what kind of place can birth eight Heavenly Gods," Tong Shuai stared at Lu Hong intently, "Tell me the entrance to the Hell plane, and I’ll give you a satisfying reward."

Lu Hong shook his head, "I’m afraid I’m going to disappoint you, Tong Shuai. The entrance to the Hell plane remains a mystery, and nobody knows how to enter it."

At this point, Lu Hong told a little white lie: there were indeed ways to enter Hell, but they were kept within the sects of Hell. Although he had some connections with Lando, Lu Hong did not trust Tong Shuai’s contact with Lando.

If Tong Shuai made a big stir in Hell, and the Demon Lords vented their anger on Lando, he wouldn’t like that one bit.

"Is that so..." Tong Shuai, disappointed, withdrew his gaze and said faintly, "If you ever change your mind, come find me, and I will give you a treasure that will be extremely useful to you."

Lu Hong felt an invisible pressure. Tong Shuai seemed to see through his thoughts but luckily didn’t force him, "I understand."

"Mm, then you may leave. Since you’re here, rest for a few more days. Tong Ling has been grounded by me recently; you can keep him company."

It appeared that, unable to achieve his wish, Tong Shuai had lost the desire to continue the conversation.

"Young one, I shall take my leave then." Lu Hong rose and bowed, slowly exiting the hut.

Just as he stepped out of the hut, Tong Ling suddenly emerged from nowhere, "Hey! Long time no see."

"Heh, I’d rather not see you," Lu Hong wasn’t very willing to interact with Tong Shuai’s sons, possibly influenced by Tong Shuai’s final admonition.

For Lu Hong, even though Tong Shuai had yet to reveal any malevolent intentions, who could say for sure? Desiring his assistance to locate Divine Eye, who knew if he might betray him in the end.

"Hey hey hey, don’t avoid me like that," Tong Ling rushed ahead blocking his path upon seeing Lu Hong turn to leave.

"Master Tong, please let me pass."

"Don’t be like that," Tong Ling pleaded pitifully, trying the old saying, "No discord, no concord. We’re already close friends now, and I’m about to die of boredom being grounded at home. Come have a drink with me."

Lu Hong firmly refused Tong Ling’s invitation, having just obtained a high-quality essence blood from Cui Xi, how could he not savor it?

"No, I have matters to attend to."

"What could be so important? More important than catching up with an old friend? Plus, you’ve just visited Tong Mansion as an honored guest, how could you leave so soon?" Tong Ling’s skin was indeed thick, considering they had only met twice, how did they become old friends?

"I’m not leaving, I just want to find a quiet place to absorb the

Tong Shuai’s sacrifice was unknown to Tong Ling. After making sure the doors and windows were securely shut, he activated the Demonic Qi in his body, enveloping the entire courtyard house. Once he finished, he sat across from Lu Hong with a serious expression on his face.

"What are you doing, kidnapping me?" Lu Hong gave Tong Ling a blank look. What kind of secret could be so important that, even in his own residence, such precautions were necessary? Besides, this busywork wouldn’t escape his father’s control.

"Don’t ever absorb the source blood," Tong Ling said gravely. "There’s a curse in it! This is the highest secret of our demon race!"

"The highest secret? And you just told me like that?" Lu Hong was also taken aback. Who would treat their family’s highest secret so cheaply? There was no protection whatsoever. Moreover, it was only their second meeting. Could their relationship be that good?

"Of course it’s not that simple. I’m waiting for the punishment from the holy covenant," said Tong Ling as he took a deep breath. "My father said the covenant itself is very damaged. As long as one reaches the Second Transition Level 4, the peak of this plane, there’s a good chance one can withstand it."

"What if I can’t withstand it?"

"Then I die," Tong Ling said. "Not just me, but upon hearing this, you would die too."

"...What the hell, why tell me? Just stop me from absorbing it and die?"

Before Lu Hong could comment further, the rebound punishment did indeed descend. Tong Ling was struck as if by lightning, his skin split open, and purple blood gushed out.

"Shit!" Lu Hong quickly mobilized his vital force and carefully collected the demonic blood leaking from Tong Ling, pushing it back into his body. This manner of bleeding would surely lead to death in no time.

"See, the punishment has arrived," Tong Ling said with a pained smile. "I’ll hold on."

"Can you just stop talking?" Lu Hong tried his best to suppress the demonic blood back into Tong Ling’s body, fighting against the power of the holy covenant.

Meanwhile, in the grass hut, Tong Shuai nodded in satisfaction and said, "Without a lesson, they really don’t know how high the sky is."

As Tong Shuai’s power faded, Tong Ling’s injuries finally stabilized.

"I’m not dead?" Tong Ling weakly smiled. "Quick, help me grab a bottle of Magic Potion from the bedside cabinet."

"Wait for me." Lu Hong rushed to the spot Tong Ling pointed at. Over twenty top-grade Magic Potions lined up neatly. Lu Hong grabbed two bottles and poured them directly into Tong Ling’s mouth.

"Are you crazy? Was this secret worth risking your life to tell me?" As Tong Ling started to recover after drinking the Magic Potion, Lu Hong couldn’t help but blurt out, "It doesn’t matter if you die, but, goddamn it, if I ended up dead because of this covenant rebound, I’d never forgive you even as a ghost!"

"I’m taking a gamble. Otherwise, would you have believed me when I said not to absorb the source blood?" Tong Ling responded. "Besides, my father is still around. He probably wouldn’t just watch me die."

Lu Hong stared at Tong Ling and asked, "Why are you doing this?"

"I made a vow that whoever among my peers could defeat me, I would acknowledge as my leader."

Seeing Tong Ling’s serious face, Lu Hong asked, "When did you make that vow?"

"When I was three or four."

"You haven’t been defeated by anyone since you were three or four?"

"Yeah, I had just come back from a victory tour across the wastelands before I lost to you, having challenged all the young powerhouses there."

"Did you meet Lois?" Logically, Lois should also count as one of the top young people in the Red Nation.

"Who is she?" Tong Ling thought for a while, confirmed that he had never heard the name, then said, "I don’t tend to remember weaklings."

Okay, it seemed Lois wasn’t even on Tong Ling’s radar.

Lu Hong looked at Tong Ling, then suddenly smiled and said, "So, you acknowledge me as your leader now?"

"Mm... I guess so," Tong Ling turned his head away, not denying it, probably feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Come on, call me ’big brother’ and let’s hear it."

"... Can I not?" Tong Ling blushed and whispered.

"Huh? You won’t listen to your big brother?"

Faced with Lu Hong’s persistence, Tong Ling helplessly shouted, "Big brother!"

"Happy now? Just you wait, the day I defeat you, I’m going to turn the tables and be the leader!" Tong Ling stubbornly tried to save face.

"Well, I won’t give you any chance since being the leader is quite awesome." After saying this, Lu Hong and Tong Ling looked at each other and laughed. Soon after, they both roared with laughter.

And in the grass hut, spying surreptitiously, Tong Shuai also nodded in satisfaction. Inviting Lu Hong over was definitely worth it.