Terror of the Ancient Dynasty

[In the third year of the Ancient Dynasty, while patrolling the outer perimeter of the Demon Extermination Forest and on guard against an attack from the Ancient Dynasty of the Demon Country, you discovered a squad of bizarre soldiers.]

[They were roughly the same height and build as normal men, but their skin was covered in purple-red patterns, and their eyes held no ordinary emotion—only a fierce, iron-like savagery.]

[You had never seen soldiers like this before and didn't realize the problem at first. When you asked where they came from, they attacked without a word. Their fine iron spears shot out like river dragons, surging with blood energy as they thrust.]

[You drew your blade to meet them. A deep blue aura surged like an ocean, instantly deflecting three spears thrust simultaneously. Then you leaped back dozens of paces, your face a mask of shock and doubt.]

[Each of these soldiers possessed strength comparable to a talented Second-rate Martial Artist using inner force. Yet with such martial power, their movements were stiff and rigid, no better than an ordinary person's, lacking the flexibility expected of a typical Second-rate Martial Artist.]

[Still, bolstered by their formidable stats, these strange soldiers could handle normal Second-rate Martial Artists. Against Third-rate fighters or ordinary people, they were utterly overwhelming.]

[You, at least, were a master among First-rate fighters. This squad had seven men. Seeing they couldn't be reasoned with, you gradually dismantled them, killing six and breaking the bones and tendons of the last. You carried him back to your village, Fenglan Village.]

[In the Demon Extermination Forest, the scattered remnants of the three kingdoms had formed the Demon Slaying Alliance. To avoid being wiped out in one fell swoop, the Alliance had divided into many residential villages. Each village held no more than three thousand people—most barely over a thousand—and each had at least one Grandmaster stationed there.]

[Some might think this ratio absurd: a city of over a hundred thousand rarely had a single Martial Master. With so many villages, were there enough Grandmasters?]

[Of course there were. Ordinary people, unless they were already close to the south, lacked the strength to flee here. Many had died to the forest's environment, and stability had only come recently. Now, the Demon Slaying Alliance had fewer than twenty subordinate villages, scattered across dozens to hundreds of miles of deep forest.]

[Rumor had it that three Grandmasters had led thousands of people over a thousand miles into this primeval forest, all to preserve the last embers of humanity from the three kingdoms.]

[In Fenglan Village, the resident Grandmaster hailed from the Fenglan Sect. His name was Xu Yinkong. When you brought the strange soldier over, many martial artists gathered around. Analyzing recent rumors from the outside world, their faces darkened as they reached a conclusion.]

[The demon's conversion ability had been diluted and spread. It was now mass-producing these "Demonized Soldiers" on a large scale. No wonder no new compatriots had fled into the Demon Extermination Forest in the last two or three months. The Demon Country had already laid out a vast net of basic Demonized Soldiers.]

[Over the next six months, Demonized Soldiers appeared with increasing frequency. Among them emerged Demonized Captains, comparable to Martial Masters. The villages on the forest's outer edge all chose to migrate deeper.]

[In the fourth year of the Ancient Dynasty, you were 54 years old. Your Foundation Amplification had reached 168%, the limit of a First-rate Martial Artist. The next step was to establish Vital Energy Circulation and become a Martial Master.]

[Fortunately, the Flowing River Technique was perfect for this step. After all, every stage of this martial art's depth granted bonuses related to vital energy. You estimated you could break through to Martial Master within ten years.]

[You sighed in admiration—truly, you were something else. The older you got, the faster you progressed. You were a true late bloomer.]

[In the fifth year of the Ancient Dynasty, a scattered group of compatriots fled into the Demon Extermination Forest. They were taken in by various villages. According to their accounts, the original Three Kingdoms Zone had become a living hell.]

[Monstrous wonders had been built across the land: Blood Lakes, Bone Forests, Flesh Mountains. The demon called itself the Holy King, its cruelty beyond biological imagination.]

[In that dark dynasty, a stark pyramid of status had formed. At the top was the Holy King, the demon itself.]

[Below it were three tiers: Human Demons (Holy Sons), Blood Demons (Holy Envoys), and Demonized Warriors.]

[The highest tier was the Human Demon, self-styled Holy Son. These were mostly converted Grandmasters, possibly even Great Grandmasters. Each was personally transformed by the demon, injected with ancient blood to create a noble class. Others had to prostrate themselves in worship upon seeing them.]

[There were only a few dozen Human Demons in total.]

[The middle tier was the Blood Demon, self-styled Holy Envoy. These were administrative talents, mostly converted from former merchants, nobles, and aristocrats. Their transformation was far cruder than the Human Demons—they merely drank a small amount of ancient blood granted by the demon.]

[Blood Demons were numerous, estimated at nearly a thousand. They managed the human slaves in cities and the breeding farms across the land.]

[The lowest tier was the Demonized Warriors. They were mass-converted through some ritual. Based on the number of conversions and the ritual's promotion grade, they could be divided into Soldiers, Captains, and Generals. These three levels were purely based on strength, with Generals surpassing many Blood Demons.]

[Demonized Warriors had no intelligence, no personality, no emotion. Even at the General level, they were the same—machines following kill orders. Armies of Demonized Warriors were typically commanded and controlled by Blood Demons.]

[Below them were the slave laborers in the cities and the blood livestock in the breeding farms.]

[You were stunned. According to the refugees' descriptions, a Martial Master-level fighter among the Demonized Warriors was only a Captain?]

[And there were at least ten thousand such Captains in the Demon Country, with millions of Demonized Soldiers at the Second-rate level...]

Yun Shou: "...How the hell are we supposed to fight that?!"

"There's no hope of resistance at all. This demon's cross-dimensional suppression is too brutal. Just Martial Master-level combat power alone exceeds ten thousand, while the combined Martial Masters of the entire Qing, Wu, and Ning kingdoms might not even reach a thousand?"

"And what's even more terrifying is the demon's ability to mass-produce troops and erode territory. No matter how wildly a single demon kills, as long as people scatter and hide, it can never wipe them all out... but it's built a Demonized army."

A thought flashed through Yun Shou's mind: The hidden Demon Slaying Alliance was doomed.

If it wasn't doomed yet, it meant the demon was playing with them: "Amuse me with your desperate resistance!"

"Good thing I'm here. Those futures that haven't happened yet will be crushed to dust by me, step by step."

His gaze hardened. Perhaps in the next simulation, he would go meet Zhu Baowen again.

Zhu Baowen was simply too strong. Originally, he had planned to minimize contact until he became a Grandmaster, afraid of being found out and ending the simulation early.

He wanted to know how high the sky of martial arts could reach—whether there was an end to it...

[In the sixth year of the Ancient Dynasty, more and more Demonized Warriors entered the Demon Extermination Forest to search villages. Captain-level Demonized Warriors, comparable to Martial Masters, appeared frequently. Fortunately, they couldn't use Lightness Skills, so they couldn't catch you when you ran.]

[The name "Demon Extermination Forest" had become a joke. Compared to the demon, it was the humans who were being constantly purged and driven deeper into the forest.]

[In the seventh year of the Ancient Dynasty, two villages were overrun by Demonized Warriors. Their First-rate Martial Artists and Martial Masters scattered into other villages.]

[Just a few months later, Fenglan Village was discovered. A Blood Demon led the charge, its strength actually surpassing your village's Grandmaster, Xu Yinkong, by a clear margin. It brought over twenty Demonized Captains (equivalent to Martial Masters), over a hundred elite Demonized Soldiers (equivalent to First-rate Martial Artists), and seven or eight hundred ordinary Demonized Soldiers (equivalent to Second-rate Martial Artists)!]

[The entire Fenglan Village was surrounded on all sides. There was no chance of turning the tide. Grandmaster Xu Yinkong used vital energy to transmit his voice, ordering everyone to break out with all their might.]

[You had lived here for years, but you knew clearly that with your current strength, you couldn't lead anyone out. The most important thing now was to preserve yourself, so your Main Body could inherit a higher Foundation Amplification.]

[All regrets and suffering would be severed at the root!]