Chapter 617: Chapter 557: Lianhua

The Female Demon Lord threw the flute aside and returned to her throne to play with her cat. On her face, there was no sign of pride or self-satisfaction, nor did she sarcastically question Erhe Zangxin whether this act was considered an achievement.

But everyone knew that the troublesome issues piled up on the desk of the Netherworld Palace had mostly been silently resolved by the Empress within this short month.

As for the Beiyuan Demon Emperor, he had been decapitated and re-sealed by the Demon Lord during her youth when he was in his prime. Now that he had come back, with the Empress here, what was there to worry about?

Amidst the gathering, no one else broached the topic of abdicating the throne and replacing the Demon Lord.

Many gazed at the hovering corpses of the azure dragons in the sky and fell into deep contemplation.

On the Female Demon Lord’s desk, there were six Mystic Iron Boxes displayed, each numbered from one to six.

The third and sixth box were closed, clearly indicating that during this Monarch’s Return Banquet, in the heart of the Demon Lord, Rivers Three and Four were absent in representation.

Baili An keenly observed the Female Demon Lord’s fingers as she grazed each box, pausing significantly when she reached the sixth box.

Her fingertips gently caressed the number six on the box, her lips curving into a silent, mocking smile, her gaze growing ominously dark and almost dangerous.

These boxes each represented the identity of the six rivers.

Moreover, each of the participants from the six rivers had their specific Battle Orders.

The Battle Orders were mystically linked to these iron boxes. If a lower ranking River Lord wished to challenge a higher ranking one, they only had to emit a command to their Battle Order, which would then vanish from their hand and teleport into the iron box—very convenient.

Because the challenges among the six rivers were no trivial matter, they required deep consideration before issuing a command to challenge.

Once a Battle Order was issued, life and death were unbounded. As for challenges issued by lower Demon Soldiers and citizens beneath the level of Demon Generals in the Demon River, no formalities were needed; one could simply stand out and nominate themselves for a challenge immediately.

A Battle Order was a unique honor for the six rivers, and a privilege for those in lower positions.

Once a Battle Order appeared in the Demon Lord’s iron box, neither party could refuse or alter it.

Baili An was held in the arms of the Demon Lord. From his angle, he could see all six boxes clearly.

He was startled to find that within the opened boxes of Rivers One, Two, and Five, there lay a River Lord’s Battle Order each.

Seeing this, Baili An suddenly felt a chilling sense of dread.

He watched the Demon Lord smiling as she picked up pastries for him to eat from her fingers, thinking this woman was truly terrifying to the extreme.

Following the six rivers were the seventy-two Demon Generals of Prison Law. At the Monarch’s Return Banquet, besides challenging one of the six rivers, Demon Generals could also challenge each other to alter their positions and rankings within the Demon World.

The Female Demon Lord withdrew her finger from the sixth iron box, nodded, and said, “The corpses of the azure dragons can be refined into Corpse Puppets. It’s a waste to leave them here, so I’ll entrust these to Poison Lord to strengthen our Demon World’s rivers and mountains.”

The corpses of the azure dragons were incredibly valuable, numbering in the tens of millions. Distributing them would be a grand gift of resources to various powers.

Yet, with a single sentence, she had now bestowed all the azure dragon corpses to Poison Lord alone.

And Poison Lord was one of the veterans from the ancient Immortal Demon Wars, currently aged, and struggling to advance through the realms of his Poison Technique, nearing the end of his life with other elders.

Earlier at the banquet, he had argued in defense of the Empress. Now, this skyful of dragon corpses, bestowed with a word.

Truly, what generosity and whimsy.

If he could extract Corpse Poison from these dragon corpses, once he broke through, his lifespan would extend for thousands of years.

Poison Lord was stunned for a while before realizing what a massive favor had fallen into his lap.

His face, wrinkled like orange peel, flushed with excitement as he hurriedly bowed in gratitude, “Your Majesty… thank… thank you!”

He was so flustered he could barely speak coherently.

The Female Demon Lord then spoke, “And these scattered reverse scales, it would be a pity to simply sweep them as dust. I remember Su Xi, you once desired a protective Chain Armor. These reverse scales of the azure dragon are excellent materials. I’ll grant them to you, refine them as you see fit.”

Su Xi of the Wuhe river remained calm, yet the joy in his tone was hard to conceal, “Thank you, Your Majesty, for your generous gift.”

The floating corpses of the azure dragons, the reverse scales—all were given away.

Clearly, the Empress was now officially planning to cultivate her own true forces.

“Well, My intentions and gifts have been delivered. Now, it is your stage,” she declared.

With the command of the Demon Lord, someone finally initiated a challenge at the Monarch’s Return Banquet.

The battlefield chosen was the nine-layered sacrificial platform, equipped with the Thousand Leaf Formation. Each leaf encompassed a battle space within it.

In that not-so-large platform, there were thousands of leaves.

At the Monarch’s Return Banquet, anyone who initiated a challenge could choose a leaf to enter that world to fight until the end. When a green leaf turned red, it symbolized the conclusion and outcome of the battle.

Each leaf’s veins symbolized the law of order, overseeing each battle, ensuring no one could engage in any misconduct during the challenges of the Monarch’s Return Banquet.

The method of watching the battle was also simple. One only had to focus their Divine Sense on whatever green leaf they wished to observe, and they could see the battle sceneries within the leaf.

Nevertheless, the first to initiate a challenge was not between Demon Generals but rather an unranked member of the Demon Clan challenging the Demon River.

Seeing who the challenger was, everyone revealed a surprised and emotional expression.

Because the challenger was not one of the seventy-two Demon Generals of Prison Law, nor could he even be considered a Demon General?

Since he had resided in the Demon World for four thousand years, the old Demon Lord had tried to bestow numerous titles on him, all of which he had politely refused.

Clearly, he was a figure of high pride.

Indeed, originally he was from the Ying Province of the Immortal World, a divine spirit known as the Peacock Ming King, known for his brutal nature and consumption of Immortal Spirits. Detected by Immortal Venerable Zhu Zhan, he was stripped of his Immortal Bone by the furious Immortal Venerable and banished to Ying Province to reflect on his wrongdoings.

Yet, the Peacock Ming King, too proud to submit, infuriated, ironically turned to the Cultivation of Immortal Techniques, forging a body of demonic bones and feathers.

He fell into demonhood, broke the prison, and soared into the Demon World, becoming a notorious Peacock Ming King.

His strength was above the seventy-two Demon Generals of Prison Law and, in the distant past, there had even been rumors of him defeating River Six of the Demon World.

Whether these rumors were true or not, everyone knew that this Peacock Ming King, Lianhua, was terrifyingly powerful. He indeed had the capabilities to battle the six rivers.

Yet, for many years, he had shown no interest in the position of Demon River.

Originally a Divine Beast, his life pattern conflicdted with the Demon River. Although he could forcibly refine the Demon River, doing so would cause his body to suffer from its violent backlash year-round.

He always believed in enjoying life and would not make himself suffer. So why would he be the first to challenge the Demon River today?

Others may not know the reasons, but Mi Lu guessed clearly and his face turned pale.

He knew that Peacock Ming King Lianhua was fond of the current Demon Lord. However, being a supremely proud creature, he had kept this affection hidden for thousands of years.

Now that the Demon Lord had returned and shown favoritism to Poison Lord and Su Xi, it was clear that she was officially establishing her own forces.

Peacock Ming King Lianhua clearly couldn’t stay calm any longer. He would rather endure the suffering from the backlash of the Demon River to claim the honorable position of River Four, easing the Demon Lord’s worries.

Furthermore, he knew that Ning Feiyan was Mi Lu’s future Young Princess Consort. Thus, he was also aware that Ning Feiyan was part of Mi Lu’s camp.

Now, taking advantage of her illness and wounded body, he planned to ruin her in this Monarch’s Return Banquet. This would effectively cripple Mi Lu, while he could present his newly obtained Demon River as a token of loyalty to the Demon Lord, strengthening her power.