After hearing Nan Daning's introduction, Yang Hong was still alright, but Yu Kewei beside him turned even paler, her body trembling slightly.
Yu Kewei's eyes reddened, and she asked with a choked voice, "Master, have we... have we caused trouble?"
Yang Hong could only roll his eyes at her. Wasn't it obvious?
But he wasn't too worried. He had already offended the Golden Winged Great Peng tribe before, even destroying the physical body of one of their direct descendants. That was a hatred akin to killing a child. Adding another collateral branch of the Dragon tribe now seemed like it wouldn't make much difference. After all, when you have many troubles, one more doesn't seem to matter as much.
However, the problems that needed to be solved still had to be addressed. The primary issue now was the over 100,000 Southern Scaled Seahorse tribe about 7 million miles away. If these seahorse demons found that Nan Yiqiang and the others were taking too long to return, they would surely become suspicious. If they mobilized their entire tribe to attack Human Dao Island, Yang Hong could take the opportunity to capture all of them. His only fear was that they wouldn't attack directly but would report upwards, which would be troublesome.
In the end, Yang Hong decided to take the initiative.
"Nan Daning, can you notify the other five demon lords of your team? Just tell them that Human Dao Island has been taken by you and they can migrate here."
Yang Hong's idea was good, but Nan Daning shook his head like a rattle drum.
"Master, it's no use. Elder Nan Yiqiang and I are just the vanguard. The only commander is Elder Nan Yiqiang. Only if he sends the message will it be accepted and recognized. Any message from other demons sent back will be directly interpreted as a distress call or warning."
"That troublesome." Yang Hong was a bit disappointed but helpless. Since it was a migratory expedition, there must be various detailed and cautious preventative measures. It seemed he still had to use Nan Yiqiang, that old seahorse.
Yang Hong didn't move from his spot. With a thought, his spiritual sense entered the scale space on the back of his hand. As his spiritual sense entered, the dark and lightless scale space instantly lit up.
"Little thing, if you have the guts, come out and face me in a real fight."
"Audacious tree demon, release us quickly! Do you know who we are?"
"If you don't release us immediately, when the Dragon tribe's army arrives, it will be too late even for you to beg for mercy."
"Release me quickly."
Before Yang Hong could even speak, the five seventh-rank demon lords began to curse loudly. Their central theme was threats. Hearing their threats, Yang Hong felt awkward. These demon lords were used to being arrogant; even after being imprisoned by Yang Hong, they were still so proud?
"I'll give you a chance to surrender to me, and I'll spare your lives."
Yang Hong's voice, amplified by the scale space, boomed in the demons' minds like thunder, silencing the five demon lords and leaving their heads buzzing.
"As long as you agree to surrender to me and make a heavenly oath, I will release you. You can then return to your island with complete freedom."
Before the five demon lords could spout more nonsense, Yang Hong continued to entice them.
"I know you are collateral branches of the Dragon tribe, and I know you are a branch of Kui Daqi's Southern Scaled Seahorse tribe. Therefore, I truly dare not kill you. However, I can imprison you permanently."
"I believe that after being imprisoned for these nine days, you should also know the power of this space. This is a spatial treasure refined by my ancestor specifically for imprisoning criminals. You cannot escape."
Yang Hong lowered his stance slightly, but this was like showing consideration to a blind man. Nan Yiqiang sensed the yielding in Yang Hong's tone and immediately became more assertive.
"Little thing, your ancestor is giving you a chance, and it's the last one. Kneel down and apologize to your ancestor, then release your ancestor. Otherwise, your ancestor will skin you, flay you, and refine your soul into the Soul Slaying Banner to be eternally driven by me."
"..."
Yang Hong was shocked! Were there demons this oblivious to the situation? He was the one who had imprisoned them! And they were still so arrogant? Was the Southern Scaled Seahorse tribe truly the most powerful among the four-scaled seahorse demons? Oh, right! It was precisely because of their great strength that they were so arrogant. Hearing the other four demon lords also shouting incessantly, Yang Hong became even more speechless. He simply withdrew his spiritual sense from the scale space.
After pondering for a moment, Yang Hong looked at Yu Kewei, whose complexion was gradually regaining its color.
"Kewei, can you fully activate the [Universal Salvation Demonic Melody] to convert seventh-rank demon lords?"
"No! Absolutely not. Although the Great Bright Buddhist Scripture is a Heavenly-grade cultivation technique, and the Universal Salvation Demonic Melody is very suitable for my racial talent, my cultivation is still too low, and my spiritual sense is not strong enough. I am completely unable to affect seventh-rank demon lords."
"Their spiritual sense is too powerful, and their will is as firm as a rock," Yu Kewei said with a look of guilt. She felt useless for being unable to convert seventh-rank demon lords.
"What about with the help of sleeping drugs? Or by making the seventh-rank demon lords lose their minds?" Yang Hong proposed again.
"Sleeping drugs? That might be feasible. But we don't have sleeping drugs that can affect seventh-rank demon lords either."
"Feasible is good. You should go down and recover first. Also, take these seahorse demons away and arrange them outside the formation near the central area. Keep them as guard dogs for now."
"As you command."
After telling Yu Kewei to go down and rest, Yang Hong began to meticulously research sleeping drugs. At this time, the vast amount of alchemy knowledge he had acquired through trading proved to be immensely useful. Although Yang Hong had not yet learned alchemy due to his energy limitations, he had memorized related alchemy knowledge and information on spirit herbs and medicines. Among them were many jade slips detailing the properties of spirit herbs.
Yang Hong sorted out all the spirit herbs with sedative properties from this knowledge. Then, he found the corresponding spirit herbs and began to cultivate them with all his might. The fourth-grade spirit herb [Soul Soothing Flower] was colorless and odorless, but the spiritual energy it emitted could induce sleep; the fifth-grade spirit herb [Nightmare Grass], a single stalk resembling ordinary foxtail grass, could plunge creatures within ten miles into nightmares. The fifth-grade spirit herb [Drunken Immortal Flower] emitted a fragrant aroma, and its scent when mature could intoxicate even sixth-rank demon races.
Yang Hong used the three best spirit herbs with hallucinogenic effects he had on hand, combined with as many as 88 types of third-grade spirit herbs with certain hallucinogenic effects, to concoct a sleeping drug without a specific recipe.
"Master, can this really work?" Looking at the large lump of black powder, which clearly looked like a failed product, Yu Kewei was very uneasy.
"Hmm~ By the way, Kewei, your flowers have a certain seductive effect. Have you bloomed yet? If so, give me two flowers." Seeing Yu Kewei, Yang Hong thought of her flowers.
"Cough cough~ Master, this doesn't seem reliable." Yu Kewei found it more and more unreliable.
"It's okay, it's just an experiment now. What if it succeeds?" Yang Hong wasn't too concerned; it was just a small experiment. Seeing Yang Hong's casual attitude, Yu Kewei helplessly revealed her true form and allowed him to pluck ten flowers before stopping.
Yang Hong truly possessed great fortune. This haphazardly concocted sleeping drug, to his surprise, took effect on the first try. After Yang Hong force-fed the powder to the five demon lords, they all fell into a semi-conscious, semi-awake, semi-drowsy state. Yu Kewei had already managed to convert them in this state.
"Master, I succeeded, but the duration of control is limited, possibly not exceeding an hour."
"An hour is enough."
"Nan Yiqiang, quickly send a message to the commander of your team, telling them you have successfully attacked Flower Wood Island and that they should all migrate here."
"As you command, Master."