As Mo Xuan finally saw the true form of that black cloud, he also understood why he felt a sense of familiarity.
It turned out that the black cloud was actually a gigantic crow; this Mo Ling King was, surprisingly, of the same kind as him — a crow spirit.
The moment Mo Xuan recognized the true identity of the Mo Ling King, he felt a surge of inspiration welling up in his mind, as if some idea was about to burst forth. However, he couldn't quite grasp it at that moment. It wasn't until the Mo Ling King had devoured the soldiers clean that Mo Xuan was able to settle his thoughts.
Having consumed so much fresh human flesh, the Mo Ling King was clearly full. He folded his wings and fell from the sky, disclosing his human-like form. Compared to Mo Xuan's transformation, the Mo Ling King's metamorphosis was quite inferior; his head still retained the features of a crow, but he had notably grown four limbs with clear traces of wings, looking distinctly like a monster.
What puzzled Mo Xuan even more was the intensity of this creature's demon energy. In contrast to Mo Xuan, who had exhausted his demon energy after merely transforming, the Mo Ling King's power was significantly greater. Mo Xuan deduced that this creature must have at least one thousand years of experience, otherwise, it would be impossible for him to possess such potent demon energy.
Moreover, it appeared that he was similar to Mo Xuan, having just successfully transformed himself. Generally, only monsters that had recently transformed would venture into the human world to cause mischief, as their curiosity about humans would be heightened post-transformation.
However, Mo Xuan had another question: the Mo Ling King seemed a bit dim-witted, appearing to lack intelligence. How then had he managed to transform successfully?
Could it be that he had a good sense of enlightenment?
Mo Xuan pondered, and at that moment, the Mo Ling King suddenly burst out with excitement. "Children, bind all these remaining folks and take them back to our cave; the King will reward you with them!!"
The band of little demons cheered in response. Although these newly-initiated little demons were somewhat dazed, they understood well the benefits of human flesh for their evolution.
Watching the self-satisfied Mo Ling King with his group of little demons, Mo Xuan quietly followed behind.
After so much time spent in the cultivation world, Mo Xuan had become quite knowledgeable. The so-called divine senses or perception did indeed exist, but only true heavenly level experts possessed an automatic detection function. For others, including demons like Mo Ling King who existed in the earthly realm, they needed to sense things on their own. This was akin to radar; heavenly level experts had it on all day long, while others mostly kept it turned off, only activating it when they deemed necessary. In fact, for most beings, the time spent with the switch off was significantly longer than with it on.
Currently, it was clear that the Mo Ling King didn't feel the need to activate this switch.
Thus, hidden away, Mo Xuan feared no discovery.
After following the group of demons along about a hundred miles of mountainous paths, they finally arrived at a series of caves. To be precise, it wasn't just a cave but a collective of caves, with dozens of them scattered across the rocky wall. In front of these caves was a platform encompassing several hundred square meters, equipped with stone pots, bowls, and cooking grills, resembling an open-air cafeteria. Beside the platform was a deep pool; upon arriving, the little demons stopped and unceremoniously tossed the bodies — whether alive or dead — into the pool to rinse them clean. Then they set up their pots, started a fire, and prepared to feast.
Mo Xuan paid little mind to the antics of these demons. In this world of gods and demons, the act of eating people was quite common.
He merely followed the Mo Ling King, who led him around the mountainside to a cave much grander than the aforementioned ones.