The Demon Lord was anxiously pacing in his study. It had been already five days since Lu Ren Wei started his expedition to Yao Ling Mountain. It was a tradition in the Demon Clan that when any stupid member went missing for more than a week after going hiking in Yao Ling Mountain, then they were pronounced as deceased.
You Xie knew that Lu Ren Wei was a capable soldier but if all those rumors about Yao Ling Mountain were true, then Lu Ren Wei's survival rate with the men he lent was low. Yet, the Demon Lord did not feel remorse. He knew Lu Ren Wei was an ambitious one. If he had lent him more capable soldiers there were chances of a coup d'etat and You Xie was not in the mood of slaughtering members of his own clan, yet...
The other thing that bothered him was the whisper that Lu Ren Wei swore he had heard. Was his general going mad or was he telling the truth? He did not look crazy, but there was no way someone could have whispered to him. Every single one of them had the binding spell, and to be able to make a whisper spell, they needed more cultivation than what they were permitted.
You Xie had thrown out the idea that it was from members of the other clans since everyone was scared of stepping even a foot in the Demon Clan. They were basically described as purgatory.
Just as the Demon Lord continued pacing, a servant came in rushing. "Your Majesty, General Lu has returned!"
"Order him to come here right now!" You Xie barked to the servant that went rushing back so fast to pass the message, that he almost tripped on when exiting the Demon Lord's study.
You Xie continued pacing back and forth waiting for Lu Ren Wei to arrive. He already did not care how the general survived. What he cared about was if the general had found the stone. He needed to get the stone fast. The Sky Clan would never think that he would plan on attacking them right after the clans' reunion. Right now, all the clans were focused on the Sky Empress newborn son.
"Your Majesty," Lu Ren Wei greeted the Demon Lord.
"Speak, how did the expedition go?" You Xie asked.
The general then kneeled down with his forehead on the floor and asked for forgiveness.
"Please forgive this servant, Your Majesty," Lu Ren Wei said.
"Explain General Lu, I don't need your half-hearted apologies," You Xie barked.
"I lost all the men you lent me, Your Majesty. Please forgive me for my bad leadership," Lu Ren Wei said.
The Demon Lord stayed silent for a moment. It made the atmosphere tenser.
"How?"
"Half of the men were lost when we entered a cave. The other half I lost them when a divine creature attacked us on our way back." Lu Ren Wei said confused that the Demon Lord still has not asked about the stone.
"So what? Did you get what I asked for?" You Xie asked. He had just acted as if he wanted to know about the soldiers to see if Lu Ren Wei will go begging for his life, but the general maintained himself calmed meaning that he had something that he could bargain his little life with. He did not care what was the general's intention for mentioning such a petty thing as the death of those useless soldiers since General Lu was also as ruthless as he was. What You Xie cared for was to know if the general had really found the stone.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Lu Ren Wei finally stood up and showed his true self. He gave a sly smile to the Demon Lord and finally show the Ten Thousand Spirit Stone.
Even from all the lights from the Demon Lord's study, the stone still gave this red eerie glow.
You Xie smiled when he saw the stone. "Finally! The Ten Thousand Spirits Stone! With this, General Lu, we are going to rule over all the Immortal Realm!"
Just as the Demon Lord grabbed the stone, the unbinding spell in his neck was undone. You Xie felt how all his powers came back and then undid the spell from Lu Ren Wei.
The Demon Lord then grabbed some wine and offered it to Lu Ren Wei. "Today we are going to celebrate general. Tomorrow, we will begin the war."
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The next day, You Xie gathered all his troops. Including the old generals who he retired. Lu Ren Wei stood at the Demon Lord's right side waiting for him to speak.
"Today, we are no longer going to be oppressed by the other clans." You Xie said waiting for silence to take its place once again.
"Today, my dear fellows and loyal members of the Demon Clan. We are going to show them all that we are the most powerful clan! We have been blessed by our Founder, the first Demon Lord! What most of us thought was a myth, was found by General Lu and a group of soldiers who sadly sacrificed their lives for our purpose." You Xie said with a strong and confident voice. Today I present to you, the Ten Thousand Spirits Stone!" You Xie finally finished his speech.
The soldiers and generals looked at him with confusion, the ones on the front lines were close enough though to notice that neither the Demon Lord nor the general had the red mark on their necks. "The Demon Lord has undone the binding spell!" One of the soldiers shouted.
"That's correct. With this stone, we shall march towards the Sky Clan and demand what we should have had since a long time ago. We shall finish what the Founder wanted to do millions of years ago!" You Xie shouted.
Most of the soldiers and generals shouted in agreement. While the retired generals just stood there thinking that hell was about to break loose. They couldn't go and warn the Sky Clan without risking their lives, but they neither wanted to take part in this massacre.
The Demon Lord continued getting frenzy with all the crowd cheering. He then said, "We shall start preparing. For I am announcing that war has begun with the Sky Clan!"
The crowd continued cheering the Demon Lord.