A Demon's Journey

Azaroth led Yrellea, Sargan, and Tiana to an empty field. It was some distance away from Kloras Town.

"Yrellea, I don't have perfect skill for a succubus but I do possess a cultivation skill for your poisonous physique. If you continue practicing this skill, you can enhance your cultivation by absorbing the Ardor in nature or poison in general. If you absorb poison and increase your cultivation, there will be no repercussions to your foundation. You can advance as long as you find poison. It will also upgrade your physique to Ten Thousand Poisonous Physique." Azaroth gave a basic description of the skill he was about to hand to her, "It's called Heavenly Poison Scripture."

Even though Yrellea was a somewhat calm individual, she was still very excited upon hearing Azaroth's words. She didn't think Azaroth would actually grant her a cultivation technique.

She didn't know its level, but coming from the succubus clan, she was well aware of how uncommon cultivation techniques are. To think Azaroth was teaching her such a valuable skill simply because she was his retainer.

"For now, begin running around this place. In a few days, I will draw gravity arrays on your bodies. You have lived far too much time in that prison which has dulled your senses and decreased your physical fitness."

Azaroth then stared at Tiana, "The cultivation technique for you will be related to Ice Element. I am pretty sure this is the element you have awoken or will awaken. This is Nine Yin Cultivation Art." He threw a scroll with the technique in it towards Tiana, "Just begin cultivating it. It will be painful in the beginning but you will soon experience rapid progress."

Finally, Azaroth turned towards Sargan.

This guy had given away his Bloodline Essence to him and dropped down to 2 Star Rank. It also seemed that the technique Sargan was cultivation wasn't as effective as he initially believed. Otherwise, he would have broken through the 3 Star Rank by now.

"You will cultivate the Nether Devil God Mantra." Azaroth paused when he observed Sargan's startled expression.

"Nether Devil God Mantra?!" Sargan had naturally heard of this cultivation technique. This was something used by a Demon God millions of years ago. This demon god was one of the most mysterious beings in the world and it was impossible to find his whereabouts.

He used the Nether power and tormented his enemies. He possessed many skills that had been spread in Purgatory.

Moreover, his Nether Energy was one of the strongest kinds of Ardor that existed in the world. However, the most annoying part of Nether Demon God was that as long as even a trace of his spirit survived, he could easily recover back to his peak. No amount of physical damage could bring him down!

To kill him, his entire body and spirit had to be purged!

For this reason, this Nether Devil God Mantra was quite valuable in Purgatory. Many of Nether Devil God's ruins had been explored but there have been no signs of this skill making the demons think that it had been lost in the flow of time.

Yet, here Azaroth was, handing over this skill to him!

'Is this just a skill with the same name? It's possible.'

Azaroth soon handed over the skill to Sargan.

Sargan soon began to read it and was utterly shocked as this skill was indeed a cultivation art left behind by a Demon God. Some parts even resembled the rumors regarding the Nether Devil God Mantra.

Sargan was immediately on his knees as he faced Azaroth, "I shall never forget this favor, milord."

Azaroth lightly smiled but didn't say anything.

He wasn't worried about Sargan becoming stronger than himself using this skill. After all, he was the one who killed the Nether Devil God and read his soul to get this skill. If he could defeat the original Nether Devil God at his peak, he was confident in suppressing Sargan as well.

His own Heavenly Demon Breathing Technique and Heavenly Demon Physique were of an even higher rank than Nether Devil God Mantra. The skills he lacked were actually the high-ranking cultivation skills of Celestials and Humans.

Demon Cultivation Techniques, however, were sufficient for the time being.

Azaroth continued to give them more instructions regarding cultivation arts. He understood it was unrealistic to expect these three to be able to employ their skills right away.

After a basic round of meditation, Azaroth also ordered them to begin running. They weren't allowed to use Ardor and the second instruction he gave them was to keep until they collapse.

He wanted to test how far they could go. He was well aware of Sargan's limitations, yet he still wanted him to run. Perhaps seeing someone sprinting may inspire these two women to run till they are exhausted.

Azaroth continued to observe their training for some time before taking his leave.

He was moving towards the Gerbil Alpine Woods. It had been some weeks since he had last been here.

The death aura he had failed to absorb in Kloras Town had completely disappeared.

'Someone came after me and absorbed it.'

Azaroth was quite to come to this conclusion. He knew that the amount of Yin Aura left behind wouldn't have dissipated so quickly.

So it was reasonable to assume that a demon arrived and absorbed that remaining aura.

Yet, even after searching for half a day, Azaroth couldn't find any tracks left behind by this demon.

'He is certainly smart enough to conceal his tracks. No point in wasting my time to search for this individual.'

There was something he found unreal though. The presence of that Golden Ape had disappeared from this forest.

It must have been more than a week since that Golden Ape left.

'Has it left for some other area? But why?'

Azaroth had no idea that the Golden Ape had actually unlocked a part of its memory after that fight against him. The Golden Ape had left for the mountain where the previous generation of its bloodline had left behind its inheritance.

Since the Golden Ape was no longer in the Alpine Gerbil Woods, Azaroth took a tour of the outer area of the Alpine Gerbil Woods and grabbed whatever herbs he wanted.

At the moment, no beast in the Alpine Gerbil Woods can kill him. Although certain creatures would be difficult to overcome, all he had to do was collect the herbs and go. This was unquestionably simple.

The biggest problem, even for an expert, was that he couldn't possibly know where all of the herbs were located. Because of his Mystic Eyes of Perception, this was no issue for Azaroth.

Even a faraway herb concealed underneath some rocks wouldn't escape his notice!

After a few hours of gathering herbs, Azaroth turned back towards Kloras Town. He was more or less sure that Laura must be finishing up. And Sargan along with Tiana and Yrellea must have collapsed as well.

~~

When Azaroth arrived in Kloras Town, he was dismayed to see that Laura had yet to construct the home. In fact, it seemed as though she was teaching Noah some new tricks. Using Wooden Ardor, she created something like a playground for him.

Azaroth felt compelled to facepalm himself.

"Why aren't you working on the mansion as you were ordered?" Azaroth asked, keeping his voice calm and composed.

Laura and his other retainers turned towards him, somewhat surprised to see him here.

However, Laura wasn't scared of Azaroth at all. In fact, she stared right into his eyes and answered, "Didn't I have a whole day for this? I will complete it before the time limit. I wanna have some fun until then."

Azaroth sighed out and then turned towards Noah, "Make sure she does the job."

"Y-yes, boss!" Noah decisively said to Azaroth. He then turned towards Laura and gave her a somewhat angry look.

"I won't play with you until you finish master's task," he told Laura.

Laura was more than ready to start taking her task seriously after hearing those words.

Azaroth then turned towards Ralph, "Check up on Sargan and others. Bring them back here and then cook some food. I brought the required materials."

Ralph had been training his Ardor since the start of the day. Laura had tried to make him play in that playground but he was quite stubborn about cultivating.

He was very serious about becoming stronger.

Azaroth was internally pleased to see that atleast one person amongst this group had utilized his time well.

The exhausted bodies of Sargan, Yrellea, and Tiana lay on the ground. Sargan was still awake, but he couldn't even move his tiny finger due to exhaustion.

Since he could no longer move his body, Sargan recalled the Nether Devil God Mantra and began using it to cultivate.

It was also Sargan who had forced Yrellea and Tiana to run until they had fallen unconscious. He had repeatedly urged them with his taunts that forced them to move even though their bodies had gone past their limits.

When Ralph came on the scene, he grabbed the three of them and carried them to the location specified.

Azaroth took a look at the three of them but didn't say anything. He handed over the carcasses of the beasts to Ralph, "You can start cooking now."

"Okay, boss." Ralph obeyed Azaroth's instructions and went away to start a fire.

By the time the food was prepared, Laura was surprisingly done with her task.

She had created a huge Mansion with many rooms in it. There were nearly 25 or so large rooms in it.

The rooms were quite plain though but that wasn't a problem for Azaroth.

"I can go play now, right?" Laura inquired, prompting Azaroth to dismiss her.

He then went to find the guard captain Martin.

"Set up the things we brought in the rooms." Azaroth gave his order and was about to walk off.

Martin though placed his arm over Azaroth's shoulder and applied some force to show his power and spoke, "Young master, we aren't some laborers. If you wanted someone to do such low-class work then you should have brought some laborers or other slaves. Maybe you should ask your retainers to do this task."

Azaroth grabbed Martin's hand and slowly turned. There was a furious glare in his eyes as he uttered, "I believe my father told you to obey all of my commands. You should not hesitate even if I were asking for your life. However, I am not requesting that you give up your life. It's just easy activities that can be finished quickly if you really perform them. You, on the other hand, are complaining to me. Do you really believe you have the authority or the face to complain to me?!"

Azaroth wasn't just glaring at the guard, he twisted that hand and forced Martin to experience some great pain.

Even with the use of Ardor, this man was too weak to contend his strength against Azaroth.

"But we are guards who have come to protect you not your laborers, young master." The guard captain still spoke out while squealing in pain.

The other guards also heard their captain and joined him, "Yes, that's right. We didn't come here to be your damn slaves! Don't disrespect us like that."

And soon, a few more joined in and began bashing Azaroth.

These guards looked to be preparing to abandon him. Azaroth, on the other hand, had a chilly and almost amused smile on his face as he stared at this scenario, contrary to everyone's expectations.

"Martin, do you think I'm unaware of your identity? You're one of Laurance's dogs, and you've come here to cause me trouble, right?" With a light tone, Azaroth spoke.

Martin's heart raced wildly as he heard Laurance's name from Azaroth's mouth. "Aren't you simply attempting to divert the matter, young master?" He said calmly, in keeping with his position as guard captain.

"My patience has limits. Either you complete the task or I just take it one step further." Azaroth spoke before twisting his arm a little more strongly.

Martin remained silent when it came to Laurance. He appeared to be a really loyal person.

The other guards also wanted to save Martin, but most of them were three-star warriors. There was no purpose in fighting Azaroth if a 4 Star Warrior like Martin couldn't match his power.

The two vice-guard captains, on the other hand, were hoping Azaroth would defeat Martin.. They would have a chance to become the guard captain if Martin was demoted. That would be really beneficial to them!