The will of a sixth-tier demon king remained incredibly firm, especially considering the Nanlin Seahorse tribe was a direct offshoot of the dragon race.
While other demon kings resided within Huamucheng, aided by the formations and the magical support of twelve saplings, they had only held out for three days before being converted.
The demon king of the Nanlin Seahorse tribe, however, took nine days to fully convert.
And for those nine days, Yang Hong had continuously adjusted the formation, assisting Yu Kewei's "Purifying Demonic Melody."
"Master, this Seahorse tribe might truly be a direct offshoot of the dragon race. Their willpower is far more resolute than that of ordinary demons."
Once the last Nanlin Seahorse demon king was converted, Yu Kewei finally ended her "Purifying Demonic Melody" and reverted to her human form.
"Indeed, I've noticed that as well. It seems the stronger the bloodline of a demon race, the more steadfast their will."
Yang Hong glanced at the kneeling demons, a lingering sense of unease still within him.
"Let's not dwell on that for now. You immediately command the Nanlin Seahorse tribe to leave Huamucheng. More demon tribes are arriving."
"Yes, I'll arrange it now. You seahorses, follow me."
Yu Kewei directly ordered the 1,550 demons to depart Huamucheng quickly and cautiously.
Yang Hong and the previously stationed foreign demons swiftly began clearing the traces of the recent battle within Huamucheng.
As for the "Six Harmonies Capturing Tiger Formation," it could not be immediately relocated, so it was temporarily deactivated.
After fifteen minutes of busy work, Yang Hong also departed, leaving Xiao Kui and Xiao Pu, two young flower demons, in charge of Huamucheng's affairs and to receive the newly arrived demons.
He himself arrived at the mid-level of Rendao Island, in a small valley surrounded by lush green mountains and clear waters.
The converted Nanlin Seahorses were temporarily housed here.
"Master, please interrogate them."
Upon seeing Yang Hong, Yu Kewei, still somewhat pale, immediately stepped forward.
Nine consecutive days of casting "Purifying Demonic Melody" had pushed her to her absolute limit.
If not for Yang Hong infusing her with power daily, she certainly wouldn't have been able to last nine days.
"I'll handle the interrogation. You should go and recover."
Yang Hong nodded, sat on a chair brought by Hua Xinlei, and looked at the fifty demon kings standing in neat rows before him.
At this moment, their gazes were still somewhat dazed, not fully recovered.
He pointed to a demon king in the late sixth tier.
"Step forward and introduce yourself."
The demon king dazedly took three steps forward and began to speak volubly.
"This humble demon is Nan Daning, from the Nanlin Seahorse tribe, the Kui Daqi Sea Branch, a collateral line of the Zhou Que Sea."
Hearing about two entirely unfamiliar seas, Yang Hong felt a twinge of helplessness. The Ten Thousand Demon Archipelago was vast, and even the royal demon races couldn't know the locations of all the seas, let alone an outsider like him.
Therefore, he could only proceed with slow questioning and gradual understanding.
"First, tell me about the general situation of the Zhou Que Sea and your Nanlin Seahorse tribe there."
"The Zhou Que Sea is located to the northeast, more than 37 million miles from here. The Nanlin Seahorse tribe in the Zhou Que Sea has a population of hundreds of billions. There is one ninth-tier Demon Emperor, twelve eighth-tier Demon Lords, sixty-three seventh-tier Demon Lords, 2,241 Demon Kings, over 30,000 great demons, and more than 800,000 lesser demons. The rest are un-transformed tribesmen."
Upon hearing Nan Daning's introduction, Yang Hong nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Holy cow! A hornet's nest!"
Setting aside everything else, if just one eighth-tier Demon Lord were to act, he would be utterly doomed. He hadn't expected to provoke twelve of them at once.
He then asked, "What about the Kui Daqi Sea? Is it an inner sea?"
"Yes, the Kui Daqi Sea is an inner sea, and it is very close to the central area of the Ten Thousand Demon Archipelago."
"The main base of the Nanlin Seahorse tribe is in the Kui Daqi Sea. There are trillions of tribesmen there, thirty-six Demon Emperors, and countless Demon Lords and Demon Kings. We control over a hundred million square miles of sea."
Yang Hong noticed that Nan Daning's tone became quite proud as he described these things, and his consciousness cleared slightly. Clearly, the power of his race gave him immense pride and confidence.
Yang Hong then changed the subject, continuing to extract intelligence.
"Tell me about your group. Why did you come to my Huamucheng?"
"We are a branch from the Nanlin Seahorse tribe of the Zhou Que Sea. Our Nanlin Seahorse tribe has a powerful reproductive capacity, so every thousand years we conduct a dispersal. The dispersed tribesmen must continually disperse outwards from the inner regions. Our Zhou Que Sea is already on the periphery of the Ten Thousand Demon Archipelago, so we can only migrate towards the outer seas and gradually develop towards the inner regions based on our capabilities. If we don't develop well, we'll be continuously driven further out. That's why we came to Huamucheng, intending to occupy this island."
Hearing this, Yang Hong naturally understood. This was trouble finding him at his doorstep.
"How many groups like yours are there? And how many are in the nearby seas?"
"This time, the dispersed Nanlin Seahorse tribesmen, excluding the un-transformed ones, total over 500,000. They are divided into five groups, each led by a seventh-tier Demon Lord, and are scattered throughout the outer seas. Our group is the only one heading towards Huamucheng. The other five seventh-tier Demon Lords and the remaining 250,000 tribesmen are recuperating on a large island about 7 million miles away."
"Besides our group, the nearest tribesmen are at least over 30 million miles away."
"Seventh-tier Demon Lords? A piece of cake. I just don't know if killing too many will attract the attention of those eighth-tier Demon Lords."
Hearing Nan Daning's words, Yang Hong's heart settled. Only the five Demon Lords would be slightly difficult to kill; the rest were trivial.
However, Nan Daning's next sentence made Yang Hong unable to sit still.
"They will. The eighth-tier Demon Lords of the Zhou Que Sea will certainly know of the death of seventh-tier Demon Lords. Even the death of a sixth-tier Demon King will be known in the Zhou Que Sea."
Yang Hong asked urgently, "Why?"
"Because before we left the Zhou Que Sea, all sixth-tier Demon Kings and seventh-tier Demon Lords had to divide a wisp of their divine soul and ignite a soul lamp in the ancestral land of the Zhou Que. Once we die, the soul lamp will shatter."
Yang Hong admitted his ignorance. He truly hadn't considered the soul lamp aspect.
Immediately, he looked towards his Scale Space. "One, two, three, four, five!" Fortunately, the five seventh-tier Demon Lords he had captured earlier, Nan Yiqiang and others, had not yet been killed by the spatial forces because he had been occupied; and they also hadn't had the bright idea to commit suicide.
"I'll keep them confined for now."
Yang Hong confirmed there was no immediate danger and continued his interrogation of Nan Daning.
As he interrogated, Yang Hong's expression grew increasingly grim. The Nanlin Seahorse tribe was indeed a direct offshoot of the dragon race, and a rather favored one at that. The reason was simple: the dragon race, being individually too powerful, found it difficult to procreate among themselves. While the seahorse tribe was inherently weaker, they were incredibly prolific, birthing dozens of eggs annually with a high survival rate. Because of this alone, the dragon race had taken a liking to the seahorse tribe.
After millions, or perhaps tens of millions, of years of interbreeding, it was possible that there were no longer pure seahorse tribes. There were only the North, South, East, and West Lin Seahorse tribes. Among them, the Nanlin Seahorse tribe, with their silver tongues and shrewd minds, conducted business throughout the Ten Thousand Demon Archipelago, offering tributes to the dragon race, making them the most highly regarded collateral race by the dragons. These four Lin Seahorse tribes could compete and even fight amongst themselves, but if any were killed by another race, they would face a united counterattack.
Now, Yang Hong knew the magnitude of the hornet's nest he had stirred.