"Sect Master, some demon races and demon beasts wish to seek refuge with us. May I ask if it's possible?"
The enormous Golden-Winged Thunder Eagle lowered its head, cautiously inquiring of Yang Hong.
"Heh heh~ If they are here to supplement my meals, I would welcome them. Seeking refuge? Forget it."
Hearing that demon races and demon beasts were seeking refuge with him, Yang Hong almost burst into laughter.
Normally, he would assign tasks for disciples to hunt and kill demon beasts, both for training and to enrich their diets.
Now, the demon races were walking right into his trap, yet they were asking for protection. What kind of peculiar logic was this?
"Um~ Um~ These demon races are good demons, they haven't harmed humans, they are all herbivores."
Jin Jialin continued to add in a low voice. He himself didn't have much leverage to convince Yang Hong, but some of these demons were his acquaintances, so he came.
"Herbivorous demon races?
Better not. In Qingfeng Mountain Villa, demon beasts are food!
If you weren't lucky, you would have been stewed by me already!"
Yang Hong had been to the Myriad Demon Sea Territory and knew the deep-seated animosity between humans and demons. He had no reason to harbor excessive benevolence.
As for the Golden-Winged Thunder Eagle tribe, Yang Hong's designation for them was mounts, sect mounts.
"Sect Master, how about we reserve a mountain..."
"Heh heh~ Very well. I'll allocate a mountain to house them, but they must be prepared to become food."
Yang Hong interrupted Jin Jialin again. Before he could make another plea, Yang Hong directly issued an order.
"I will give them ten days to pass through. After ten days, they will be hunted by the disciples of Qingfeng Mountain Villa. Your Golden-Winged Thunder Eagle tribe must also assist."
"Yes~ This little bird will convey the message immediately."
Jin Jialin stopped arguing, quickly nodded, and began to back away, preparing to leave.
"Wait. Tell me, why are those demon races risking being eaten to seek our protection?"
Yang Hong was not an idiot. The abnormal behavior of the demon races must have a reason.
"Master, these are demons from the Lihuo Desert migrating for refuge. Six thousand years ago, after every 'Black Despair', a plague of 'Lihuo Locusts' would erupt in the Lihuo Desert.
After the Lihuo Locusts pass, the already barren Lihuo Desert becomes a wasteland stretching for millions of miles. All oases in their path are destroyed, and anything with even a hint of green is devoured by the Lihuo Locusts."
Hearing this, Yang Hong's brow furrowed, and he interrupted, "What rank are the Lihuo Locusts, and what is their scale?"
"Lihuo Locusts are born as first-tier demon insects and can reach ninth-tier. Their scale is extremely, extremely vast. Once the plague takes form, there will be at least a trillion demon insects. They don't even form a swarm unless there are trillions of Lihuo Locusts."
"Also, first-tier Lihuo Locusts are already the size of your palm, Sect Master. With each rank advancement, they grow at least twice as large. It is said that ninth-tier Lihuo Locusts can be a hundred zhang long."
Yang Hong found it strange. Why had he never known such important information before?
"Have the Lihuo Locusts already approached the Purple Kun Mountain Range?"
"They are indeed not approaching.
Originally, the Lihuo Locusts erupted from the west of the Lihuo Desert, where the cultivators and demons of the Lihuo Desert jointly resisted and eliminated them. Although a Lihuo Locust swarm erupted after every 'Black Despair', they were always eradicated in time."
"However, as the swarms continued to erupt and their numbers grew, the cultivators of the Lihuo Desert, initially suffering heavy losses, eventually migrated away.
Only the demon races found it difficult to migrate, so they stayed to resist the swarms."
"And this year's swarm seems to be even larger and more terrifying, which is why the demon races are also beginning to withdraw."
At this point, the giant eagle Jin Jialin looked up at Yang Hong again, wanting to persuade him once more. However, Yang Hong turned to look at Zhang Zhengyan beside him.
"Zhang Zhengyan, you are in the Yurou Plains. It's impossible that you have no information about the Lihuo Locusts, right?"
"We do, but the information is very limited.
For the higher sects, after each 'Black Despair', cultivators who participate in the defensive array can enter the western part of the Purple Kun Mountain Range to collect spirit iron and spirit ore for one year.
For the following ten years, it is best not to enter the western part of the Purple Kun Mountain Range, as insect plagues will descend.
And once an insect plague breaks out, no one is allowed to cross the Purple Kun Mountain, lest cultivators accidentally bring back insect eggs into the Yurou Plains.
As for what kind of swarm it is, we are unaware."
Zhang Zhengyan quickly replied. The Lihuo Locusts had always been far from their lower-tier sects. Information concerning areas outside the Yurou Plains was controlled by the higher-ranking nine, eight, and seven-grade sects.
They hadn't even informed their subordinate sects of such critical information.
"Zhang Zhengyan, take some men out now and scout around. See if many new small sects have been established nearby, and inquire if these small sects have the support of larger sects behind them."
"Your disciple obeys."
Zhang Zhengyan roughly understood Yang Hong's intentions. He now also understood the true motive behind Ye Yudong of the Sheng Yu Sect a month ago.
He was looking for scapegoats!
After Zhang Zhengyan left, Yang Hong pondered for a moment and then said,
"Jin Jialin, I can allocate two mountains to those demon races, but they must be mountains near the Lihuo Mountain Range, and I will arrange a fourth-tier formation for these two mountains.
The condition is that they must guard the front lines against the Lihuo Locust swarm!"
Since the high-ranking sects of the Yurou Plains sought scapegoats and shields, Yang Hong could naturally find some shields for himself.
He had been wondering why, as a newcomer occupying an area of 8100 li, no one had come to drive him away or compete with him. It turned out they were waiting for this.
"Sect Master, this subordinate will convey the message now."
"Hmm~ Remember to tell them, if they don't wish to stay, I will still allow them to pass through and leave, and I will not stop them."
"The Sect Master is merciful. This subordinate will try to persuade more demon races to stay."
Jin Jialin nodded again. He had actually understood the reasons why those demon races came to seek refuge all along and wanted to express it, but he was afraid to say it directly, fearing Yang Hong would kill him with a slap.
His desire to shelter those demon races was also due to his own selfish motives.
He understood that Yang Hong would definitely not retreat; that was the pride of a strong person.
Once the Lihuo Locust swarm broke out, they, as demon races, would certainly be sent to the front lines. Therefore, he wanted to pull in some demon races to share the pressure for him.
Now that Yang Hong's thoughts aligned with his, he was naturally pleased.
Soon, Jin Jialin returned with good news. Hundreds of demon beast races passed through Qingfeng Mountain Villa, and over thirty demon races decided to stay.
Although the number of demon races that stayed was small, they were all flying creatures, which was much better than ground-dwelling demon races.
To enhance the combat effectiveness of these flying demon races, Yang Hong also took out more than ten sonic attack cultivation techniques for them to practice.
When dealing with locusts, using birds would undoubtedly be more effective than using fierce tigers or lions.
Zhang Zhengyan also returned with his report soon.
As Yang Hong had suspected, after this 'Black Despair', the ninth-grade sects in the Yurou Plains not only did not restrict cultivators from entering the western part of the Purple Kun Mountain Range, but they also encouraged rogue cultivators to enter and even subsidized them to establish sects.
"Indeed. Only with a sufficiently black heart can one become a great sect."
Yang Hong sighed, then turned his attention back to accelerating the deployment of formations.