30: patrol

"His name is Dah Huang, and he also came to the Mountain to seek refuge not long ago!" Fox Elder walked over and introduced the little demon he brought to Wei Xun.

Wei Xun looked at the demon named Dah Huang, who appeared to be a dog demon.

His human form was quite well-developed; aside from retaining some dog head features on his head, other parts seemed to be no different from a human.

"Thank you, Fox Elder!" Wei Xun could only cup his fists in gratitude.

"From now on, Dah Huang will follow you!" Fox Elder still had a smiling expression: "You two will be responsible for patrolling the Forest down the Mountain. Just report any incidents in a timely manner; there's nothing else major!"

"Understood!" Wei Xun responded, lowering his head.

Then Fox Elder gave a few casual instructions and turned to leave, leaving the dog demon named Dah Huang standing in place, somewhat at a loss.

"Are you Dah Huang?" Wei Xun asked.

"Yes!" Dah Huang nodded.

"Why does that name sound like a human gave it to you!" Wei Xun joked casually.

"I used to guard homes for people!" Dah Huang scratched his head, looking a bit shy.

"Oh?" Hearing this answer, Wei Xun was somewhat surprised, so he continued to ask: "Then how did you end up in this Demon Mountain?"

"Sigh!" Dah Huang suddenly looked a bit dejected when he heard this question, and then he said: "I used to guard homes for a wealthy family for many years, and my life was quite good."

"But then one day, my young master didn't know where he got some Spirit Pill for me to eat, and I wasn't picky, so I ate them all."

"Then I inexplicably gained sentience."

"I was quite happy when I suddenly became smart, and I even refined the horizontal bone in my throat specifically to speak human language."

"But as soon as I spoke, the people in the manor were terrified, saying that I had become a demon and that they wanted to kill me."

Dah Huang lowered his head as he spoke, looking incredibly wronged.

"Then the young master released me, and I kept running, and finally, I don't know how, but I ended up in this Mountain Forest."

"I only transformed into a demon a few days ago, and that's why I came to Black Tiger Mountain to seek refuge."

After hearing about Dah Huang's life, Wei Xun felt a bit emotional.

He had guarded homes for people for so many years, and in the end, just because he gained sentience and became a Spirit Beast, he suddenly became an existence that everyone wanted to kill.

He didn't know why these humans discriminated against demons so much; these guys weren't necessarily all bad!

"It's alright!" Wei Xun stepped forward and patted Dah Huang's shoulder, then comforted him: "Just follow me from now on; I won't make things difficult for you!"

"Mm!" Dah Huang nodded: "Fox Military Advisor said you are the Captain, so I'll call you Captain from now on!"

"Okay!" Wei Xun nodded, then prepared to take Xiong Er and Dah Huang to the Forest down the Mountain to take a look.

This Forest was not far below his own cave. Following the small path up the slope to the foot of the Mountain led directly to the Forest.

Within Black Tiger Mountain, each demon squad had its own assigned area.

Some important areas even required two demon squads to patrol in shifts, like the Forests at the Mountain entrance when he first arrived.

The Forest Wei Xun was now responsible for was behind the Mountain's waist. Since it wasn't very important, only Wei Xun's team was assigned to patrol and guard it.

After strolling around the Forest for half a circle with Xiong Er and Dah Huang, Wei Xun discovered that if they continued further, they would encounter a cliff, which looked to be about a hundred meters high.

Below the cliff was a rushing river. He didn't know where the river water came from or where it flowed, but he couldn't see its end.

The Forest Wei Xun was responsible for was adjacent to this cliff. To reach this Forest, one had to pass through the Forests at the Mountain entrance first.

So it was no wonder that before he came, there were no demons assigned to guard this place.

It was truly because this Forest was not important, and there were no other paths leading here.

It was completely an idle position.

However, an idle position was perfect. Wei Xun came to Black Tiger Mountain simply to seek refuge.

Having an idle position arranged for him, allowing him time to Cultivate properly, was exactly what he wanted.

This assigned Forest was neither too big nor too small. If one were to truly patrol it, they could circle it twice in less than half an hour.

Moreover, the Forest was very quiet. Perhaps because it was close to the Demon Mountain, there were no large wild beasts in the Forest.

Only a few small animals hid underground, occasionally appearing to forage.

After roughly understanding the Forest's boundaries, and having circled it twice more with Xiong Er and Dah Huang, Wei Xun prepared to find a place to Cultivate.

Ever since he transformed into a demon, he hadn't had a proper chance to Cultivate.

To Breakthrough to Body Tempering Realm Second Layer, it would require a full one million cultivation points.

Although his cultivation speed had increased after becoming a demon, it would still take a considerable amount of time to Breakthrough.

So Wei Xun found a comfortable spot in the Forest, had Xiong Er and Dah Huang wait nearby, and he sat cross-legged on a large stone, closing his eyes and running the Demon Cultivation Mind Technique in his mind.

After becoming a demon, the demon core inside his body circulated the Spiritual Qi within, at a much faster rate than the previous demon core.

Secretly swallowing a few ginseng whiskers into his stomach, the demon core would quickly dissolve the Spiritual Qi entering his body throughout, constantly flowing through the meridians in one cycle after another.

Allowing this Spiritual Qi to continuously wash between the meridians and the demon core until it was completely dissolved.

After cultivating for half a day, Wei Xun found that after becoming a demon, maintaining a cultivation speed of around thirty thousand cultivation points per day was most suitable.

Any higher and his body would feel uncomfortable.

Thirty thousand points a day meant it would take about a month or more to Breakthrough to Body Tempering Realm Second Layer.

After he finished Cultivating alone, Wei Xun opened his eyes and found that the sky had already darkened.

Another day was almost over, and due to the large amount of physical exertion from Cultivating, his stomach rumbled.

Then Wei Xun remembered an important matter: how would he solve the problem of eating on Black Tiger Mountain?

Did this job only include lodging but not food?

While he was wondering, Xiong Er came over, clutching his stomach with a pained expression: "Big Brother, I haven't eaten all day, I'm so hungry!"

"Don't the demons on our Mountain bring us food?" Wei Xun turned his head and asked Dah Huang, who was behind Xiong Er.

"I've been on this Mountain for about ten days, and most of us ordinary little demons have to find our own food. Only Instructor, General, and Tiger King don't need to," Dah Huang said calmly, as if it was common practice.

"This..." Wei Xun was immediately speechless.

He had circled this Forest several times in the morning, and there was simply no food to eat in the Forest.

Although there were a few misshapen small fruits on some trees, they couldn't fill him up at all and were very sour. There wasn't even a hint of Spiritual Qi light on them.

This was going to starve him to death!