"You said none can go beyond the Nascent Soul cultivators right?" I asked.
"Yes."
"Then that means that some are already within those ranks, wouldn't they just come and kill everyone here? I mean none of us are at the Nascent Soul cultivation level."
"They're not allowed, no one of a higher realm can attack a person of a lower realm, so we're safe as long as we don't breakthrough to the Nascent Soul cultivation level inside this cave."
"Right, then it seems to be slightly unfair, after all, you said that the quality of the same realm is higher with the humans. Right thank you for the information, but I think I'll be fine on my own." I said shrugging.
"Shen Bao, though the laws prohibit demons from attacking us that isn't the same for the other cultivators, if you don't stay close to me I can't protect you." Wu Di replied dryly.
"As much as I appreciate the offer, I've always relied on myself, also I have a companion who's pretty strong," I replied as I smiled.
"Your puppet cannot help you here," Wu Di shook his head.
"But I'm not talking about my puppet," I said as I grinned facing the gate.
The gate shuddered and swirled once again as the Armored Lion emerged from within it. It looked around at all the cultivators with apparent disdain as many of them pulled out their weapons in shaky hands. Some yelped in fright and the rest tightened their grips on their swords in grim determination.
The lion looked around and once it spotted me it came rushing in.
Wu Di was shocked at the sudden appearance of the lion and immediately appeared in front of me, he swung open his fan, and was readying up for a battle of death.
The lion stopped in front of Wu Di and I smiled as I lightly placed my hand on Wu Di's shoulder.
"Relax, he's a friend," I said and walked in front of Wu Di, I stroked the lion's mane and said, "This is a dangerous place, but your greed knows no danger does it," I said then threw a small pill into the lion's mouth.
The lion happily ate it and then began wagging its tail and purring, though his purrs were definitely skin-crawling growls, he was happy.
Wu Di's shoulders relaxed a bit but he still took a few steps away and asked, "You tamed an Armored Lion?" he asked unbelievingly.
"Not tamed, it's a partnership. Right, I'll be going now, seems like you still need to meditate to manage the Evil Qi of this world, I won't delay you any longer, and perhaps we'll meet in the ranking area." I said and then audaciously hopped over the lion's back.
The kitten was annoyed at being used as a mount but another pill was enough to satisfy his shamelessness.
"Take me to the woods," I said and the lion bounded over, crossing hundreds of feet in single bounds at astonishing speeds.
The woods that I thought were huge from afar were even more enormous the closer I've gotten and the lion didn't seem the least bit disturbed by the Evil Qi nor the evil forest.
"I think I should give you a name," I said. and the lion looked over his shoulder expectantly.
"Hmm, I have a good name for you, how about Arslan, you look like an Arslan." The lion cooed, definitely liking the name.
"Good then Arslan. How fast can you go?" I asked and the lion excited at being left to release the reins shot forward with even faster speed than before, dodging the trees with feline dexterity, and moved through the forest with impressive familiarity.
"It seems that you came here often," the lion growled in accordance.
I thought about this for a second then immediately understood, this lion lived in the Concaved Desert for a long while, so he must have seen the gate open at least once before if not several times. He would have gone inside to explore and managed to find the exit, so as long as I'm with him I'll be able to find a way out after gaining all I could from this place.
We continued moving through the woods aimlessly, and within the woods, I saw several creatures. Some were squirrels with three tails and jagged-looking fangs and a horn over their heads.
I never liked squirrels they look like evil incarnate and in this domain, they seem to have embraced their true nature.
Then came foxes, that bounded over the forest, and even boars with several tusks protruding from their jaws. The forest hosted a variety of creatures but they were all on the demonic side, they all had horns and fangs, and none seemed to be of a herbivorous nature.
Yet all these creatures decided against challenging the armored lion and gave us a leeway into the forest. All bar one little bugger.
A bird, not bigger than one's palm shirked at us. Its shrike caused the armored lion to stop in its track and almost jerk me over.
I looked at the hovering bird and was surprised to have the poison God's Book speak up.
***
{Flesh Diver}
A fifth tier demonic monster, though on the small side, and doesn't look any different than any regular bird, the Flesh Diver gains its name by its act of diving into a person's flesh, burrowing from the person's eyes and into their brains where the Flesh Diver consumes the person's brain matter. It's an evil little creature and Its speed is what makes it deadly.
It is best to leave a Flesh Diver alone when one can, as they are too fast to be predicted.
***
"Seems like danger comes in all sizes and shapes, Arslan why don't we take another route, I guess this little bird is protecting its nest," I said as I noticed a small nest near the Flesh Diver who hovered protectively and warned us continuously not to approach.
The lion took a detour after giving the bird a resigned growl. It seems that even the Armored Lion didn't want to fight this little thing.
The bird seemed relaxed and went back to his nest as soon as we moved away from our earlier path, and then I asked Arslan to slow down as we walked through the forest. We don't want to infringe upon a creature's territory that we can't afford to offend.
We moved through the forest for a long time until I came upon a ruckus in the distance. I nudged Arslan in the direction of the sounds and when we arrived I saw something rather breathtaking.
There was a large pond where three women were bathing, is say woman because their breasts were plump, full, and bear as were the rest of their bodies. They had a single protruding horn over their heads, and all three of them seemed to be in their mid-twenties if not early thirties. They laughed as they bathed playing with water in a rather innocent manner. Two of them had hair darker than the night while one had golden hair that was cut short above her shoulders. And when the girl with the golden hair turned, she screamed her life out from fright. Causing the two others to immediately turn and jump out of the water, not caring for their naked appearance as they grabbed a sword each and pointed it directly at me.
The girl with the golden hair dipped herself inside the water as the other two approached the lion uncaring.
"Seems like I came at the wrong time, I apologize," I said.
The two girls looked at each other and immediately scampered away behind a nearby rock.
"What does one want! You're no demon!" said one of the girls in black hair.
"I'm just venturing into the forest I didn't mean to invade your privacy." I apologized and waited for the girls that hid behind a rock to wear their clothes or as much as they could to appear descent.
"You've committed a grave crime, you laid your eyes on the bare skin of the Tartaghoul, the Demon King." One of the raven-haired girls said.
"I didn't mean any offense by this, it was nothing but luck that I ended up coming here."
"Lies, this is a blessed and hidden place, no man can come here without it forcing them to move away." One of the two girls came out from behind the rock, her sword still pointing at me, and for some reason, though she had worn her drabs hastily, and her cleavage was fully on display, it looked far more enticing than when she was fully naked.
I shook my head removing thoughts that I have not thought about in years and shrugged saying, "I don't lie, it's the truth."
The girl vexed unable to come with a reasonable response said, "If you come here to take the princess, we'll fight you tooth and nail, even if we were to die at the hands of your Armored Lion, we'll not let you take her highness without a fight! Discard any thoughts of an easy picking, kidnapper!" the woman accused.
I shook my head and said, "You're fast jumping to conclusions, I don't even know this king of yours, nor this princess. Anyway, where's the road to the Demon Kin city?" I asked.
"Sister," replied the second girl with the raven hair.
"I believe he speaks true, and if he wanted us dead, he would have killed us without revealing himself and taken the princess."
"Why do you say so? He may have tamed a Purple Lion but if we work together we can take his life before he even has time to order his lion to attack." The first girl said.
"But did you see where he emerged from? It's the territory of the Flesh Rending Shirker. No man lives crossing that path, not even his armored lion should survive an encounter with that little devil. Especially since it's in its maternity period. This man is either lucky enough to not encounter the Shirker or strong enough to dissuade it from attacking, Lucky or Strong we shouldn't wish to do battle with either."
"Seems your sister is rather sensible. I'm Shen Bao, a cultivator."
"I'm Nan'Dra." Replied the sensible girl.
The other spoke after her "I'm San'Dra. Royal guard to her highness Titra-Ghoul"
'Seems that their names are different from cultivators. Perhaps it's a demonic name.'
"Pleased to meet you, I still seek the passage to the city of the demon kin, I wish to know more about the Lord Ranking if possible."
"Then you'll have to turn around first, we need to have the princess dressed otherwise, you don't wish to add another crime to your first!" San'Dra spoke in a cold tone.
"I guess you're right then, I'll be behind that tree, call me when you're done," I said ogling a bit too far into San'Dra's rack. She gave me a cold look of disgust immediately afterward. And I offered an apologetic look.
I immediately shook my head, what the hell was going on here? My libido's been dormant for decades why is it working itself up now?
Just as I relaxed a bit behind a rock, I was called back.
Turning I saw the girls standing fully dressed and behind them a bit more than twenty soldiers. San'Dra pointed at me in a wicked grin, "That's the man who ogled."
'Well, shit…'