Luther sat up straighter at Bai Qi's words, his face beaming with unadulterated joy.
After all, Bai Qi was the original great demon of the world, and anyone would be proud to be praised by such an existence.
Savage's goal had been achieved. With the great demon standing by his side, Savage felt more confident. Since the other party had been so straightforward, it was only right for them to show proper respect.
Savage nodded and decisively approved the Illuminati's next new member.
The three then had a further discussion about Project Cadmus, exchanging their opinions.
Although Bai Qi had been extremely busy lately, releasing demons and recruiting new members, he hadn't neglected the matters in the laboratory. Especially with the brilliant minds of Doctor Octopus and Extreme Man, Cadmus's genetic cloning project had made significant progress.
Doctor Octopus had even used Spider-Man's DNA and Cadmus's technology to clone a Spider-Man duplicate. This duplicate was now undergoing forced training under the Goblin's tutelage and would soon be ready for use.
Just as Savage was opening a portal to leave, Bai Qi called him back.
"Savage, we'll let today's matter slide. But next time, don't involve me in such manipulative schemes."
Savage didn't reply, merely nodding before turning and walking into the portal.
"This is quite an interesting device. I wonder if I can get one when I have time."
After seeing the two off, Bai Qi didn't waste any time. He returned to his palace in K'un-Lun directly through the Shadow Realm.
Just like last time, the Pangu Box was activated when LaSu accidentally twisted it. Judging by the hexagram, it represented Qian, the sign of Xi Mu, the sky demon.
Bai Qi didn't have much of a good impression of Xi Mu, but he didn't hate him as much as other demons. More importantly, Xi Mu represented the sky, or natural disasters. He should have been the most powerful among the eight great demons, but unfortunately, many of his powers had been usurped by other demons, leaving Xi Mu with no abilities other than flight.
However, this suited Bai Qi's expectations perfectly. With Xi Mu's weak power, even if he recovered, he wouldn't shake Bai Qi's standing in the Black Mother's heart. Furthermore, he could help share the pressure from the forces of good.
"It seems I'll have to divide my forces."
It was best to release Xi Mu as soon as possible, but finding the lost continent was equally important. Bai Qi had to personally oversee it and join the exploration team. Therefore, the best solution was to split his forces.
With this thought, Bai Qi entered the secret chamber and approached the demonic mirror that connected to Hell.
Magic power was injected, and the scene in the mirror began to shift, revealing the landscape of Hell.
"Holy Lord."
As soon as the demonic mirror connected, Zhou Lan, the eldest brother, came closer, followed by Xiao Feng, Xi Mu, and Ba Sha. As for the remaining demons, Bo Gang was eating stones for sustenance, Di Kui was playing with mud nearby, and Zhong Su was still angry about being sealed again.
"Holy Lord, did you this time..."
Before Zhou Lan could finish, he was pushed aside by an enraged Zhong Su.
After being re-sealed and returned to Hell, Zhong Su had thrown a furious tantrum, his violent lightning power shattering the surrounding floating stones until he was utterly exhausted.
It was only after Xi Mu had spent a long time persuading him that his emotions had slightly calmed down.
However, Bai Qi's reappearance reignited Zhong Su's dissipated anger.
In Zhong Su's view, his re-sealing was all Bai Qi's fault.
Looking at Bai Qi in the demonic mirror, Zhong Su roared, "Holy Lord! If you hadn't stopped me at that time and let me leave, none of this would have happened! You must!"
Before Zhong Su could finish, Bai Qi interrupted him with a sharp retort, "Must what! You were re-sealed because of your own stupidity! If you hadn't drained my temper, would I have been idle enough to stop you?! If you had left immediately after emerging from the gates of Hell, would those humans have attacked you?! Now you're complaining to me about all sorts of nonsense. Let me tell you, I, the Holy Lord, am not made of mud and cannot tolerate your insolence. Zhou Lan! If this guy doesn't disappear from my sight within five seconds, none of the rest of you demons will be coming out."
Indeed, this was always the most effective way to deal with demons.
Despite their camaraderie, when their own interests were at stake, the selfish and ugly side of demons would inevitably surface.
Zhou Lan glared at Zhong Su and said, "You are emotionally unstable right now and not fit to participate in this discussion. Zhong Su, you should excuse yourself."
Not only Zhou Lan, but Xiao Feng, Ba Sha, and even his good friend Xi Mu said similar things, all urging Zhong Su to leave.
"Fine."
Zhong Su was angry, but he didn't have the ability to confront four great demons simultaneously, especially in his weakened state.
After Zhong Su left, the meeting continued.
Bai Qi had La Su hold up the Pangu Box for all the demons to see and said, "The hexagram from the Pangu Box is Qian, and the gate of Hell corresponding to you is Xi Mu."
Upon hearing that it was his gate of Hell, Xi Mu showed no outward reaction, but inwardly, he was overjoyed.
He had been trapped in this wretched place for too long. If he could return to the surface, and with Zhong Su already re-sealed, he might be able to reclaim his stolen powers, the lightning powers, during this time.
Xi Mu subtly glanced at Xiao Feng and Zhou Lan beside him, thinking that if he could re-seal them as well, then the powers of typhoon and gravity would also return to his hands.
However, until he returned to the surface, Xi Mu had to maintain his submissive facade, act like a lackey, let the other demons underestimate him, and make the Holy Lord believe he was not a threat.
Do not think Xi Mu was foolish. On the contrary, among these demons, Xi Mu was the most cunning.
With Bo Gang and Zhong Su successively re-sealed, Xi Mu had begun to notice a pattern. Although the Holy Lord hadn't directly participated, after conversing with both of them, Xi Mu realized that there was a shadow of the Holy Lord behind every incident.
Bo Gang was greedy, so the Holy Lord summoned that massive subordinate. Ostensibly, it was to destroy the city and buy time for Bo Gang's appearance, but the reality was different.
Even if Bo Gang hadn't eaten the city's inhabitants, he would have been drawn away by the Holy Lord's colossal subordinate, and his sealing was inevitable.
Then there was Zhong Su. After retrieving his temper, the Holy Lord would surely notice something was amiss, yet he didn't react immediately. He appeared just as Zhong Su was about to leave to attack him, as if deliberately delaying Zhong Su's departure.
The more Xi Mu thought about it, the more fearful he became. Connecting this to the Holy Lord's deceitful nature, he quickly arrived at a conclusion.
The Holy Lord did not want any demon other than himself to return to the surface. The diligent opening of the gates of Hell was only to retrieve his temper. After reclaiming his temper, he would unceremoniously throw the released demons back into Hell.
It was even possible that the Holy Lord had already formed an alliance with human mages, one controlling the release and the other controlling the sealing. With one going out and one coming in, nothing would be delayed.