Calamity of the Demons

It was the dead of winter.

The weather was freezing, the north wind howled, and the earth seemed to be draped in a silvery-white cloak.

Scattered, low-lying houses dotted the snow, forming a village of about a hundred households. Some of these houses were dilapidated, with broken roofs revealing gaping holes, haphazardly plugged with stones and wood.

A sliver of dawn light pierced through the cracks of the door and into the pitch-black room.

Wu Ming, wrapped in a worn, thick cotton quilt, was curled up on a narrow bed. Although it was already morning, the weather was frigid. Despite the gnawing hunger in his belly, he had no desire to leave the warmth of his quilt.

At times like these, Wu Ming couldn't help but reminisce about his past life. Although he had been nothing more than a common laborer in his previous life, at least his hard work allowed him to eat his fill and dress warmly, which was far better than his current circumstances.

Just a little longer.

Wu Ming thought to himself. He turned over, and in his daze, he dreamt of many scenes from his past life.

But soon, a clamor broke his slumber.

"...Who's hurt?!"

"Alas, it's Old Man Wu Sijiu. Before the New Year, Old Man Wu Sijiu went into the mountains to chop firewood and broke his leg. He's been bedridden for a month, and his family ran out of provisions long ago. To prevent his grandson, Liu'er, from starving, he secretly went to the distant river yesterday to try and catch some fish to trade for grain. But he ran into a fish demon..."

Listening to the murmurs outside.

Wu Ming quickly woke up. His expression turned grim, and he quickly got out of bed, pushed open the door, and stepped outside. He could see many figures in the village heading towards the village entrance.

He blended into the crowd and soon arrived at the village entrance, only to witness a horrifying scene.

There, lying in the snow at the village entrance, was a person... or perhaps, one could barely call him a person. The man had streaks of white in his temples and was considered an elder in the village, known as Wu Sijiu. The reason he could barely be called a person was that, apart from retaining a human shape, his entire body had been hollowed out from the inside!

His flesh and internal organs were virtually gone, leaving only a skin and skeleton lying in the snow!

"Another demon disaster."

Wu Ming's face was unsightly as he looked at the scene.

Similar incidents had happened to almost every family. They, the poor common folk, were not qualified to settle in Jingye City, a dozen miles away, and could only live in remote villages, making it almost impossible to avoid demon disasters.

During the most severe periods of demon rampages, those demonic creatures would even enter villages to devour people!

Ordinary people were utterly incapable of resisting demons. Only martial artists could confront them. In the entire Wu Village, with its hundred-odd households, there were only a handful of people who could cultivate blood energy and be considered true martial artists.

The demon rampages were a stark reality happening around him.

From the time Wu Ming was born into this world, seventeen years had passed. And since he recovered all his past life memories and thoroughly understood the mystery of his prenatal existence, he had only been in this world for a little over a year.

After the integration of his past and present lives, with his personality re-established, Wu Ming was plagued by many troubles. Because, based on his current life's memories, he knew that this world was not an ordinary ancient dynasty, but a world fraught with danger, where demons ran rampant and ravaged the human realm!

"Grandpa!!"

Wu Liu, Wu Sijiu's only grandson, collapsed in the snow, crying heartbrokenly.

The surrounding crowd, witnessing this scene, felt a pang of empathy and sighed in unison.

Wu Sijiu had toiled his entire life, finally finding a wife for his son. However, less than three years later, his son and daughter-in-law both perished in a demon disaster, leaving behind only his young grandson, Wu Liu. Now, Wu Liu had just turned eight, and Wu Sijiu had also passed away.

Wu Ming stood by, silent for a moment.

Although he sympathized with their plight, he was powerless to do anything about it.

Speaking of which, he wasn't entirely without possessions now. Ever since he awakened the mystery of his prenatal existence and understood his past and present lives, he often dreamt of a painting depicting a god-like being subduing demons, with every stroke rendered with lifelike detail.

This painting was called the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram.

Wu Ming didn't know where this painting came from, but it truly existed in his mind. However, despite countless attempts to explore it over the past year, he had found nothing. He had no idea what its purpose was.

In essence, the painting might have the power to subdue demons, but the problem was that his current body was merely that of a mortal. He had been practicing martial arts for over a year and a half, and had yet to truly reach the realm of a martial artist. He couldn't possibly seek out demons on his own.

Let alone subduing demons.

In fact, Wu Ming was currently facing a more fundamental problem: survival.

In his past life, even the laziest person could easily maintain basic survival. But here, it was impossible. One only needed to look at Wu Sijiu, who went to the distant river to catch fish for grain, encountered a demon disaster, and was left with nothing but an empty husk!

"Little Liu'er, don't cry."

Just then, a burly man with a resolute face walked over. His temples were flecked with white, and he looked to be in his forties or fifties, but his vital energy was exceptionally robust. He was the village chief of Wu Village, Wu Qu.

Wu Qu looked solemnly at Wu Sijiu's corpse, then shook his head and said, "Old Si, help carry him for burial. Little Liu'er, from today onwards, you'll come to my house to eat."

Wu Liu, who was only eight years old, lacked the ability to survive and would surely starve if left unattended. Although more than half of the hundred-odd households in Wu Village were surnamed Wu and were more or less related, at this time of year, it was difficult for any family to spare extra grain to help Wu Liu. As the most capable village chief of Wu Village, he had to look after the young Wu clan child who had no means of survival.

Wu Ming, mixed in with the crowd, watched for a while, then turned and quietly left.

"Ming'er, what happened outside?"

When Wu Ming returned home, he saw a young woman supporting a woman as they stood in the courtyard, looking outside.

The young woman was his elder sister, Wu Yu, and the woman was his mother, Liu Shi.

Wu Ming's family consisted of four people. Both his parents were alive. His father had a skill in house construction and had recently taken on a job from a wealthy family in the city, going to work there. At home, there were only him, his sister, and his mother.

"Old Man Wu Sijiu had an accident."

Wu Ming recounted the events with a grave expression, omitting the gruesome state of Wu Sijiu's corpse.

Upon hearing this, Liu Shi let out a long sigh and said, "Such unfortunate people. Little Liu'er's family is left with only him as the sole descendant. Fortunately, the village chief is willing to take him in..."

After speaking, Liu Shi looked at Wu Ming again and said in a low voice, "Ming'er, it's not peaceful outside right now, you can't go out. Although there isn't much food at home, your sister and I can manage, and it will be enough for you. Just hold on until your father returns."

The remaining food at home was also dwindling. Wu Ming's father had been gone for a long time, and Liu Shi worried that Wu Ming would also go to dangerous places outside the village to find food, just like Wu Sijiu. Therefore, her tone was a bit stern.

"Don't worry, Mother, I won't rashly leave the village."

Wu Ming shook his head in response.

In fact, the nearby mountains and rivers outside the village, being close to Jingye City, were not considered very dangerous. But precisely because of this, the mountains and rivers in the vicinity were all claimed, and one could not freely hunt in the mountains or fish in the rivers.

As for the unclaimed distant mountains and rivers, far from Jingye City, the dangers increased exponentially. Let alone ordinary people, even orthodox martial artists who had cultivated blood energy wouldn't dare to say they could return safely.

"Eldest sister, help Mother to rest. I'll go cook the porridge."

Wu Ming instructed Wu Yu, then turned and went into the house. He took out a cloth bag from under the heated brick bed. Inside the bag was a little more than half a bag of coarse rice, mixed with some other grains.

Wu Ming weighed the cloth bag in his hand, his expression somewhat grim.

"There's not much left."

According to his calculations, even if the family reduced their consumption, this half-bag of grains would last them at most six or seven days.

During midsummer, there were many jobs to be done. Liu Shi also had the skill of weaving straw sandals and mats. With Wu Yu weaving mats and selling footwear, they were relatively well-off. But now, as winter approached, straw sandals and mats couldn't be sold, and it was difficult to find other work. The family relied solely on Wu Ming's father working outside, making ends meet a struggle.

Of course, The biggest problem was his own immense consumption.

It wasn't that his appetite was too large or that he couldn't endure hunger, but rather that he couldn't afford to endure it.

He didn't know how to use the Black Emperor's Demon Subduing Diagram in his mind and couldn't rely on it for now. What he could rely on was, naturally, the concrete, down-to-earth martial arts cultivation.

He was already seventeen this year, and the period from sixteen to eighteen was the best stage for a martial artist to condense their first trace of blood energy.

During this time, even ordinary people, without valuable medicinal herbs or supplements of rich blood and qi, had a slight chance to condense a trace of blood energy and step onto the threshold of martial arts cultivation.

And this, Was almost the only opportunity for the lower-class poor to turn their lives around.

If one couldn't condense blood energy by eighteen, the resources required to do so later would increase exponentially. For the common folk, if they couldn't achieve it in the two easiest years, they certainly wouldn't be able to later.

"If I can cultivate blood energy, things will be completely different."

Wu Ming understood this very well.

In this world that revered martial arts, whether one could cultivate a wisp of pure yang blood energy was a huge dividing line between ordinary people and orthodox martial artists. It wasn't a difference between heaven and earth, but it was certainly a different level.

Ordinary people, if they couldn't condense blood energy and become Blood Forging martial artists, their future paths would be limited to farming and repairing houses for wealthy families, or even feeding horses and shoveling dung, living a life of constant hunger and scarcity at the bottom.

But if they became Blood Forging martial artists, their options would be vast.

For Blood Forging martial artists, their direct three generations would be exempt from taxes. They could serve as guards and enforcers for wealthy families in the city, or become minor leaders in gangs. Whatever they did, they could eat their fill and dress warmly, and easily support a family. If they wanted to get married and have children, as soon as the news spread, families with eligible daughters in the surrounding villages would actively inquire, allowing them to choose.

Becoming a martial artist, Was the hope of all the common folk.