Descended Demon

[Withered Leaf Town—it was more of a camp than a town, responsible for pioneering the southern virgin jungle. The mission of every resident was to expand the territory of the Ning Kingdom.]

[But this "camp" had been established for over fifty years now. Old people had already died on this land, and second or even third-generation newborns had been born here. It truly was a small town.]

[The townsfolk were astonished by your appearance. When they heard you intended to venture deep into the jungle, they kindly advised you not to court death. The deep jungle was filled with venomous creatures and an environment that caught you off guard. Many martial artists had died there over the years.]

[Even a Grandmaster with Qi Flowing Through the Body, protected from head to toe, still had to sleep. And in their dreams, they had no defenses!]

[You heeded the townsfolk's warnings, found their reasoning sound, and settled down in Withered Leaf Town.]

[That demonic creature seemed to only slaughter cities and sects in the simulations. It probably wouldn't bother with such a small town.]

[In the year 303 of Da Qing, as a First-rate Martial Artist, you could still find a decent job in town. After a year of getting along, you built good relationships with the villagers of Withered Leaf Town.]

[Six months later, you thought to yourself that this town was just slow in information flow. If you were in East Forest City or Yangxue City, news of massacred cities would have reached your ears long ago.]

[In the year 304 of Da Qing, a piece of news arrived that left you completely stunned. A whole year with no news, and then one hit that was huge.]

[Seven Grandmasters joined forces on Wuxin Island in the Wu Kingdom to slay an "anomalous demon" of unknown origin. The Supreme Grandmasters struck together, their might shaking the land for ten li!]

[Then they were one-shot... one-shot... shot]

Yun Shou: "Damn!"

He leaped up from the bed.

"Why is there another stat monster... Is this really Zhu Baowen losing control and turning into a monster?"

There weren't many Grandmasters across the entire Three Kingdoms. They were practically incarnations of legend, worthy of the prefix "Supreme."

And they got one-shot. Seven of them together, or picked off one by one?

The two possibilities above didn't seem all that different.

"At least, at least that 'anomalous demon' refreshes on a fixed timer thirty years later. As long as I keep simulating, it won't stand a chance against me!"

[If Grandmasters were one-shot, how did the news get out? Was it because that 'anomalous demon' didn't care about the ant-like onlookers?]

[You chose to head to a nearby city for information. This trip into the city was safe—the demon was still in the Wu Kingdom. What were the odds it would pick this exact city to massacre?]

[In Five Wolves City, after gathering information, your worldview—already shattered by the "seven Supremes one-shot"—was further crushed.]

[That anomalous demon was intelligent!]

[It even used some method to convert two of the several observing Grandmasters into "Human Demons," ordering them to kill the other Grandmasters.]

[And the news of the demon one-shotting the Grandmasters was spread by its two Human Demon underlings, along with the demon's command: submit to it.]

[It demanded that all martial artists, all civilians, all humans—these three kingdoms, this entire world—submit to it!]

[Every cycle of sun and moon (every day), it required its territory and minions to offer it at least a thousand human blood sacrifices. Through its two Human Demon underlings, it directly proclaimed to the Three Kingdoms: the master would establish human livestock farms, raising humans as blood sacrifices.]

[And those who submitted to it and helped it acquire blood sacrifices would be granted "True Blood," transformed into mongrel Ancient Clan, qualified to serve this sovereign.]

Yun Shou: "Why is it that every time a villain or demon shows up, they have to train with human blood and feed on humans?"

"Can't raise pigs? Can't raise cattle? Why do they have to fixate on humans?"

He didn't understand.

[As far as your eyes could see and ears could hear, almost all martial artists were furious at the demon calling itself the "Ancient Clan." Raising humans like livestock? That was too twisted.]

[A Second-rate Martial Artist cursed the two Grandmaster Human Traitors, declaring that if the Three Kingdoms united, they could muster millions of troops, countless First-rate Martial Artists, Martial Masters, and over a hundred Grandmasters.]

[And no matter how strong that anomalous demon was, it was just one person. Even counting the two Human Demons, how could it withstand such overwhelming force?]

[Some also recalled the "Martial Saint" who had acted once in Qingcheng over a decade ago. They were confident that if the Martial Saint stepped in, no matter how fierce the demon, it would be crushed like a bug.]

[The Martial Saint did not act.]

[In the brief span of Years, the world changed unpredictably.]

[The anomalous demon took three days to sweep through 1.19 million of the Wu Kingdom's 1.2 million troops. Most of those three days were spent traveling and pursuing. The remaining ten thousand escaped because they scattered too widely.]

[The demon converted a batch of clever Human Demons to build farms and manage its territory.]

[Large numbers of civilians and martial artists submitted, willing to send their children to the farms just to earn the status of "Human Slave" rather than being "Human Livestock" for random slaughter.]

[In the year 305 of Da Qing, the demon's first city massacre began in the Qing Kingdom. Its "Demon Country" gnawed at the flesh of the Wu Kingdom, crawling out and rising from the Wu Kingdom's corpse.]

[This wasn't a "Demon Invasion" expansion pack. This was a "Demon King Rules the World" scripted kill.]

[Six months later, the Qing Kingdom had basically fallen. The Demon Country bared its fangs toward the last remaining Ning Kingdom.]

[Large numbers of civilians and martial artists chose to flee the Three Kingdoms. They didn't want to be Human Slaves, let alone Human Livestock like pigs and sheep.]

[Some fled north into the barren mountains, some trekked west into the great desert, some set sail from the East Sea. And those with the ability to escape mostly chose to flee into the southern dense forest.]

[You smiled bitterly. Before, you were afraid to enter the primeval forest alone. Now, a crowd was accompanying you into the woods together, but you couldn't be happy.]

[A despairing atmosphere, belonging to humanity, enveloped the entire Three Kingdoms Region.]

[In the year 306 of Da Qing... the first year of the Ancient Dynasty, you and the many martial artists and ordinary people fleeing into the primeval forest formed a "Demon Slaying Alliance." The main goal was to gather strength, waiting for the day of counterattack.]

[This year, you were 51 years old, with a foundation of 165%. You began training in martial arts diligently again.]

[Life in the forest was harsh. People often died from venomous insects, parasites, lack of food, or eating red-and-white mushrooms... But human adaptability was strong. You all managed to survive here, jokingly calling this place "Demon Extermination Forest." No Human Demons came.]

[In truth, it was just that the "Ancient Dynasty" established by the anomalous demon hadn't yet turned its gaze this way.]

[In the second year of the Ancient Dynasty, people from the former Three Kingdoms Region gradually fled into "Demon Extermination Forest." From their mouths, you learned: a vast, strict, and terrifying Demon Country was rapidly perfecting itself.]

Yun Shou began to worry. That anomalous demon displayed too high an intelligence. Aside from its initial beast-like bloodbath of cities, it then started converting and developing Human Traitors, even establishing a nation.

Moreover, from the demon calling itself the "Ancient Clan" and its various cruel acts, it was clear it wasn't Zhu Baowen. It was some intelligent being distinct from humans, one that might have a blood feud with humanity from the past...

And Zhu Baowen, you "Human Martial Saint," why haven't you acted yet? Did you go traveling somewhere else?