They eventually reached the deepest part of the ghostveil forest, but no demons or beasts were there, as if they didn't dare approach. Angela suddenly pointed to a giant banyan tree right in the middle of the area and informed them. 'Hey! The voice came from that tree, and it seems to be an old tree demon.' Hearing that, Zhang Xiaolong immediately asked Mei to scan the tree, and the AI quickly displayed its status. === Name: Arbeola Age: 100,000+ years old Gender: Male Race: Banyan Tree Demon Rank: Archduke Elements: darkness and wood. Physique: Elderwood demon physique. Abilities: tree control, wood manipulation, tree generation, enhanced endurance, natural weaponry, self-sustenance, disease immunity, contaminant immunity, and so on. Strong: darkness and wood. Weak: light and fire. === 'Holy crap! This demon is the oldest demon I've ever met, but its rank is only at Archduke rank!' Zhang Xiaolong screamed with shock in his heart. [Master, it seems that it is more difficult for the demons in this realm to increase their rank compared to the demons in the Diyu Realm, especially since each of their ranks is three to four levels above theirs.] 'I think so too, especially since a Duke or Duchess demon in this realm has strength equal to Ursula and the others.' Zhang Xiaolong immediately informed the female demons by his side. 'This demon is a banyan tree demon named Arbeola, and his rank is Archduke rank. His strength should exceed that of the Diyu Realm's emperor or empress rank demon, so we must be careful.' 'How exactly do you know all that?' With curious looks, Ursula, Virgil, and Angela asked at the same time, especially since they themselves couldn't do such a thing. However, Zhang Xiaolong only smiled at them, especially since he still didn't want to reveal the existence of the system and Mei to anyone, causing them to frown at his secrecy. After ensuring the safety of the area, Zhang Xiaolong brought them to land in front of the giant banyan tree demon before undoing his invisibility. However, Ursula immediately moved in front of them, activating their light power as they stared at the tree with seriousness. Soon, a white-bearded old man's face suddenly emerged from the tree trunk, and two hands formed from tree branches appeared on either side of it. Arbeola immediately observed Ursula, Virgil, and Angela. "As expected, a fallen winged race, a devourer demon, and a fish demon. Moreover, all of you are not natives of this realm, and your demon rank has reached the empress and duchess ranks, but your strengths are too weak." After Arbeola recognized the identities of the three female demons, their tension increased. Angela, who was hiding behind Zhang Xiaolong, asked him a question. "Why did you call me to come here, sir?" "I just felt lonely in this forest, and you were the only one who didn't have the light element among them, so I called you to come here." They were dumbfounded by Arbeola's response and thought his reasoning was absurd, and he then glanced at Zhang Xiaolong. "However, you are the most interesting among them, kid. If I'm not mistaken, you should have two other identities besides your incubus identity; you are a human and a beast, right?" "Hmm?" Zhang Xiaolong looked at Arbeola with a frown, especially since no one, whether human, demon, or beast, had ever recognized his three identities on their first meeting. "How did you know about that?" "Hahaha." The leaves and twigs on Arbeola's body swayed as he laughed out loud. "I've lived for too long, and I've encountered all kinds of living creatures. Therefore, I can recognize your three identities right away, kid. Moreover, you were the one who brought these female demons into this realm, right?" "That's right." Zhang Xiaolong did not deny that. "I did bring them to this realm to train and improve our demon powers, particularly because the quality of the demon aura in this realm is much better and stronger than it is in our home realm. Anyway, do all the old demons in this realm have the ability to recognize my identity like you do?" "No." Arbeola then pointed in the direction of the Demon Emperor City. "You have to be careful when you go to that city, especially since most of the demons in that city have reached the archduke or archduchess rank and above, and the Demon Emperor of this realm also lives there. They also have abilities like mine, so they will immediately recognize your identity as a human, and they will kill you on the spot." "Thanks for your warning." Zhang Xiaolong then asked Arbeola again. "Why don't you leave this forest if you feel so lonely? That way, you can meet other demons, and you won't feel lonely anymore." Arbeola let out a heavy sigh in response to Zhang Xiaolong's words. "I'm Arbeola, one of the oldest demons in this realm. Far in the past, the deceased fourth demon emperor tasked me with protecting this place, and he forbade me from leaving it, so I have lived here for tens of thousands of years. My roots are fused with this forest, so I cannot leave, and these tree demons are my descendants." "The deceased fourth demon emperor?" Arbeola nodded at Zhang Xiaolong. "How many demon emperors have ruled this realm before?" Arbeola immediately told Zhang Xiaolong. "The current demon emperor is the sixth, and he is the most ambitious compared to his predecessors. His predecessors never thought of invading other realms, but he has dispatched countless of his subordinates to do so. Some of his invasions ended in victory, some ended in defeat, and countless demons from these realms have died because of his ambition. However, he was never satisfied with his successes, and he never learned from his defeats. In fact, he is still planning to invade other realms, and I heard from the trees in the Demon Emperor City that he wants to invade a realm called the Sky Jade Realm. After he ascended to the demon emperor, he tried to invade that realm once, but it ended in utter failure, and the portal connecting the two realms was sealed by the people of that realm." The three female demons immediately turned to Zhang Xiaolong, especially since they already knew that he and his close people lived in the Sky Jade Realm. He simply nodded to them and asked Arbeola again. "Old Demon, could you please tell me how the demon emperor was able to create those portals to invade other realms? In fact, that realm is my home realm as a human, and my family also lives there now." "Oh?" Arbeola looked surprised to hear that. "Do you really live in the Sky Jade Realm?" "Yes." Zhang Xiaolong nodded to Arbeola. "The seniors in my realm have been trying to strengthen the seal on that portal, and they are doing so to prevent the demons from this realm from invading our realm again, especially since their previous invasion was our worst nightmare. However, the demon emperor left some demon remnants there, and quite a lot of evil people have chosen to side with him. Over the years, they have tried to break the seal, but we have managed to stop many of them. I don't know him, but I felt that it was impossible for him to create those portals, and I think someone else helped him to create them." "Whether humans or demons, many of them are too ambitious and greedy, and they are never satisfied with anything in their possession." Arbeola expressed this sentiment, shaking his head in agreement. "Actually, your guess was correct, kid. Not even his predecessors had the ability to create those portals, and the current demon emperor had the help of others to create them. According to the information I got from the trees in that city, there was a mysterious man and a woman who suddenly came and defeated him before he could blink, so he decided to submit to them." "Hmm?" Zhang Xiaolong was deeply shocked by this, particularly considering that the demon emperor of the Netherworld Realm should possess a strength comparable to that of a cultivator in the seven divine realms, yet they were able to deafeat him with such ease. "Did you know their identities? Are those people cultivators of the upper realms?" "Yes." Arbeola answered with a nod. "The trees in the city didn't know their true identities, but they told me that they were cultivators, and they came from one of the realms in the upper realms. In fact, countless cultivators from various realms often came to this realm in the past, but they never did anything like that before, so I couldn't understand their reason for pressuring the demon emperor and forcing him to help them. Moreover, those two also said that the Sky Jade Realm was their main target, and they ordered him to invade that realm once again." After listening to Arbeola's last sentence, Zhang Xiaolong fell into deep thought, trying to connect some of the information he had obtained about the Sky Jade Realm with other things. 'Mei, do you think their plan has something to do with the ten-tailed fox? That realm was once the Heaven Wilderness Realm in the upper realms, but he moved it to the lower realms with his last strength. Perhaps those people know about him, and they might want to get his legacy.' [That could be one possibility, master. However, I find it strange, especially since they were able to subdue the demon emperor of this netherworld realm so easily. They should be able to attack and take over the Sky Jade Realm with ease, and those senior cultivators would not be able to stop them.] 'Yeah, I agree with you, and I myself feel strange about them. Sigh! I wanted to find out information about them, but there's no way I'd do something crazy like go to the Demon Emperor City, and that would be the same as me seeking death.' Zhang Xiaolong then ignored it, especially since it was beyond his current abilities, and there were so many people who would be sad if something happened to him. "Anyway, old demon, do you know about the mysterious living creature sealed in the heart of the dead forest?" "The dead forest?" The female demons looked at Zhang Xiaolong with raised eyebrows, especially since the forest's name was quite scary. Zhang Xiaolong then pointed to the realm's central area. "The first time I went to this realm, I arrived in that area, and the dead forest was there. However, the distance was quite far, and it would take us seven to ten days to get there. Fortunately, I had my movement ability, so I could have gotten here sooner." "How did you know about that mysterious living creature, kid?" Arbeola asked in a serious tone as he stared at Zhang Xiaolong. I don't know how to explain it, but I can sense something unusual." Zhang Xiaolong lied with a straight face, especially since he hadn't even told his family about Mei and the system, so there was no way he could tell a stranger like Arbeola about the two. "Anyway, I also found a bewildering formation in that forest, so I think it was built intentionally to stop other demons from approaching the area, and that mysterious living creature might be a threat to this realm." Arbeola shook his head at Zhang Xiaolong. "I know that a mysterious living creature is sealed in the heart of the dead forest, and the demon emperor sealed it there. Unfortunately, I don't know anything about it because I can't check the place, and the trees there never answer my call either." "I see." Zhang Xiaolong nodded in understanding as he muttered to himself. 'If an old demon like Arbeola didn't know about that mysterious creature, then a demon like Xenaya wouldn't know about it either, so I have to go to the Demon Emperor City to find out about it. However, I won't be able to go there anytime soon, and I must first increase my demon rank as high as possible before I can go there.' Continue your adventure at empire Mei immediately teased Zhang Xiaolong. [Master, the Amaris Twins are already in your hands, and Angela obviously likes you, so you can eat the three of them right away. Additionally, Xenaya has already offered herself to you, and her female essence is definitely much stronger and more abundant than theirs, so you don't need to hold back and use them to increase your demon rank.] 'Tch! What a pervert, AI! If you had a real body, I'd definitely eat you too!' [Humph! Keep dreaming! I'm an AI that lives inside the system, so you won't be able to eat me!] "So what are you all planning to do next? Are you guys going to continue training in this forest?" Arbeola suddenly asked them. Ursula, Virgil, and Angela immediately pointed at Zhang Xiaolong. "We don't know anything about this realm, and he's the one who brought us here, so the decision is up to him." "Haha." Zhang Xiaolong laughed at their behavior, then told Arbeola. "We do want to train in this forest for a while, but I'm going to the Lust City to meet someone later, so I hope you can help me protect them while I'm there." "Do you want to join the Incubi Tower? I advise you not to join them, especially since that place will be hell for you." Zhang Xiaolong looked at Arbeola in confusion, especially since Xenaya had told him that the incubus were eager to join them. "Yhrer is extremely egotistical, and he will never allow another Incubus to develop. If he finds out about your potential, he will capture you and absorb your demon power, so you will never be able to develop. Instead, you can visit Cain at the mansion north of the city, but he is arrogant and eccentric, so you will have to work hard to win him over. Although he is only a marquis rank demon, that incubus lord does not dare fight him head-on, and I dare to guarantee that you will not regret receiving his support." Zhang Xiaolong smiled after hearing that, especially since he himself had already thought about going to the mansion to meet Yu Xixuan and Lu Xin. "All right, thank you for your advice, and I will try to go to that mansion later. Zhang Xiaolong smiled after hearing that, especially since he himself had already thought about going to the mansion to meet Yu Xixuan and Lu Xin. "All right, thank you for your advice, and I will try to go to that mansion later. Do you know about the three succubi duchesses?" - To Be Continued - === My other novels 1. Cultivator With Modern AI 2. Primordial 'Dual Cultivator ' Dragon With System 3. Otherworldly-Cultivator 4 . Tang Xiao: The Birth Of The Multiverse If you guys haven't read all four, maybe you can take a peek at them, who knows you might like them. 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖 ===