Withered Leaf Town—rather than a town, it was more like a camp, tasked with opening up the primeval jungle to the south. Every resident's mission was to expand Ning Kingdom's territory.
Yet this "camp" had stood for over fifty years. Old people had died on this land, while second and even third generations of newborns had been born here. It truly had become a town.
The townspeople were astonished by your arrival. When they heard that you intended to venture deep into the jungle, they kindly urged you not to court death. The depths of the forest held poisonous creatures and treacherous environments that were impossible to guard against. Over the years, many martial artists had died within.
Even masters with Qi Flowing Through the Body, their entire bodies wrapped up tight in protection, still had to sleep. In their dreams, they had no power to defend themselves!
You listened to the townspeople's warnings and felt that they made sense, so you settled down in Withered Leaf Town.
That demon-like creature seemed to have slaughtered cities and sects in the simulations. It probably would not come to such a tiny town, would it?
In Year 303 of Da Qing, as a First-rate Martial Artist, you had no trouble finding a good job in town. After a year together, you had become quite close with the people of Withered Leaf Town.
Half a year later, you thought to yourself that information simply traveled too slowly in this little town. If this had been East Forest City or Yangxue City, news of cities being massacred across the land would already have reached your ears.
In Year 304 of Da Qing, a piece of news arrived and left you completely dumbfounded. There had been no news for an entire year, yet when it finally came, it exploded like a thunderclap.
Seven Supreme Grandmasters had joined forces on Wuxin Island in Wu Kingdom to kill an Alien Demon of unknown origin. As the Supreme Grandmasters attacked together, their voices shook the land for ten li!
Then they were instantly killed... instantly killed... killed.
Yun Shou: "Fuck!"
He sprang from the bed.
"Why had another stat monster appeared... Was this monster Zhu Baowen after he lost control and transformed into a demon?"
There were only a handful of Grandmasters in the entire Three Kingdoms Region. They were the embodiments of legend, which was why they bore the prefix "Supreme."
Yet they had been instantly killed. All seven at once, or one after another?
There did not seem to be much difference between those two possibilities.
"Good, good. That Alien Demon only spawned on schedule more than thirty years later. As long as I keep simulating, it definitely won't be my match!"
Even Grandmasters had been instantly killed, so how had the news spread? Was it because that Alien Demon simply did not care about the ant-like spectators watching from the side?
You chose to visit a nearby city to gather information. This time, entering a city was safe enough. The Alien Demon had previously been in Wu Kingdom—what were the odds that it would happen to choose this particular city for slaughter?
In Five Wolves City, after learning the details, your worldview—already shattered by the "seven Supremes being instantly killed"—was smashed to pieces once more.
That Alien Demon possessed intelligence!
It had even used some method to transform two out of several observing masters into Human Demons, then ordered those Human Demons to kill the other masters.
The news of the Alien Demon instantly killing the Supreme Grandmasters had been spread by its two Human Demon subordinates. Along with it came the Alien Demon's command: submit to it.
It demanded that all martial artists, all commoners, all humans, the three kingdoms, and the entire world submit to it!
With every turning of the sun and moon—every day—it demanded that its territories and subordinates offer it no fewer than a thousand human blood-meals. Through its two Human Demon subordinates, it directly proclaimed to the three kingdoms: its master intended to establish human livestock farms and breed humans as blood-meals.
Those who submitted to it and helped it obtain blood-meals would be granted "True Blood," transformed into mongrel Ancient Clan members, and qualified to serve this monarch.
Yun Shou: "Why did every villain, demon, and the like always have to cultivate with human blood and feed on humans?"
"Would raising pigs not work? Would raising cattle not work? Did they just have to fix their eyes on humans?"
He could not understand it.
As far as your eyes could see and your ears could hear, nearly every martial artist was enraged by the Alien Demon that called itself the "Ancient Clan." Raising humans like livestock? That utterly overturned everything they believed in.
A Second-rate Martial Artist cursed the two master Human Traitors, declaring that if the three kingdoms truly joined forces, they could gather an army of millions, countless First-rate Martial Artists and Martial Masters, and over a hundred masters.
No matter how powerful that Alien Demon was, it was only one being. Even counting the two Human Demons, how could it withstand such a force that would crush dry weeds and rotten wood?
Some also recalled the Martial Saint who had made a move in Qingcheng over a decade ago. They were brimming with confidence. So long as the Martial Saint acted, even the most formidable Alien Demon would be crushed like an insect between their fingers.
The Martial Saint did not act.
In just a short span of years, the world had changed beyond all recognition.
The Alien Demon spent three days wiping out 1.19 million of Wu Kingdom's 1.2 million troops. Most of those three days had been spent traveling and hunting them down; the remaining ten thousand had only survived because they scattered too widely.
The Alien Demon transformed a batch of clever Human Demons, having them establish breeding farms and manage its territory.
Large numbers of commoners and martial artists submitted. They were willing to send their children to the breeding farms, all to secure for themselves the status of "Human Slave," rather than become "human livestock" to be slaughtered at will.
In Year 305 of Da Qing, the Alien Demon's first city massacre began in Qing Kingdom. Its Demon Country gnawed on Wu Kingdom's flesh and blood, clawing its way out from Wu Kingdom's corpse to rise and stand.
This was not an expansion pack called "Devil Race Invasion." This was a scripted death scenario called "Demon King Rules the World."
Half a year later, Qing Kingdom had essentially fallen as well. The Demon Country bared its sharp fangs and teeth at the sole remaining Ning Kingdom.
Large numbers of commoners and martial artists chose to flee the three kingdoms. They did not want to become Human Slaves, much less human livestock like pigs and sheep.
Some fled all the way into the barren mountains of the north. Some journeyed far into the Great Desert in the west. Some set sail across the East Sea. Yet among those capable of escaping, even more chose to flee into the dense forests of the south.
You gave a bitter smile. You had once feared the danger of entering the primeval forest alone. Now, a whole group traveled with you into the woods, yet you could not feel happy about it.
An atmosphere of despair belonging to humanity blanketed the entire Three Kingdoms Region.
Year 306 of Da Qing... Year 1 of the Ancient Dynasty. You and the many martial artists and ordinary people who had fled into the primeval forest formed a Demon Slaying Alliance. Its main goal was to build up strength and wait for the day of counterattack.
That year, you were fifty-one years old. Your Foundation was at 165%, and you began training diligently once more.
The conditions in the forest were harsh. People often died from poisonous insects, parasites, lack of food, or eating red-and-white umbrella mushrooms... Yet humanity's adaptability was formidable. In the end, you survived here, jokingly calling the place Demon Extermination Forest. No Human Demons came.
In truth, it was only because the Ancient Dynasty established by the Alien Demon had not yet cast its gaze this way.
In Year 2 of the Ancient Dynasty, people from the former Three Kingdoms Region steadily fled into Demon Extermination Forest. From them, you learned that a vast, tightly controlled, terrifying Demon Country was rapidly perfecting itself.
Yun Shou began to worry. That Alien Demon had displayed far too much intelligence. Aside from its initial beast-like bloodbath across the cities, it had actually begun transforming people afterward, cultivating Human Traitors, and even establishing a nation.
Moreover, judging from the Alien Demon calling itself the "Ancient Clan" and its many cruel acts, it truly was not Zhu Baowen. It was some intelligent species distinct from humanity, one that might have borne a blood feud against humans in the past...
And Zhu Baowen, why had you, a Human Martial Saint, still not made a move? Had you gone sightseeing somewhere else?
Before you continue