The Demon Commander's Shock

### Chapter 39: The Demon Commander's Shock

The embers of the fire flickered dimly in the corner of the stone hut, like the slow, steady rise and fall of a sleeping beast's chest, the dark red glow pulsing with a breath-like rhythm. The scent of burnt pine branches mingled with the damp, earthy smell of the stone walls, flowing silently through the air.

On the straw mat in the corner, the figure called "Little Black" stirred. The scaled eyelids lifted slowly, revealing a pair of inhuman vertical pupils that gleamed faintly in the dimness. Demon Commander Ji Meng awoke as the long night drew to a close.

His brown-black pupils contracted in the gloom, reflecting the tangled shadows of the thatched roof overhead.

The piercing wound on his neck had formed a deep brown scab, and the trachea beneath the new membrane of flesh rose and fell steadily with each breath, no longer torn by pain.

He attempted to circulate his remaining demonic power, and a warm, pure surge of spiritual energy instantly flooded his meridians, like a spring stream washing over his dried-up demon core.

Ji Meng's heart shook violently!

This spiritual energy... was even purer than the solar essence refined by the Solar True Fire in the forbidden core of the Demon Court, the Sun Star Palace!

Unlike the violent and turbid energy of the primordial wilderness, the spiritual energy here was condensed like liquid stars, docile as a tamed river, every strand brimming with boundless vitality.

He secretly sank his divine sense into his meridians and saw that wherever the spiritual energy passed, his broken demon veins mended and regenerated at a visible rate, like parched earth receiving sweet rain. Even the cracks in his demon core shimmered with a faint golden light!

Comparing with memory: In the old days, healing in the Demon Court required drawing Solar True Fire to burn away the turbid energy, then supplementing it with Moonlight Jade Dew to balance yin and yang—a perilous and agonizing process. But here, the spiritual energy needed no refinement; it reached the origin directly!

He quietly extended his divine sense, trying to trace the source of the spiritual energy.

The moment his divine sense touched the barrier of the Safe Zone, a vast, star-sea-like force of law gently brushed past, dissolving his probe without a sound. Ji Meng shuddered in alarm and immediately withdrew his demonic power—this barrier was no natural formation; it was an absolute domain purified and ordered by supreme power! Its subtlety and profundity far surpassed the Great Zhou Heavenly Stars Formation personally laid down by Eastern Emperor Tai Yi!

At the first light of dawn, Chen An pushed open the door.

He walked barefoot on the cold stone floor, carrying a clay pot toward the well. Ji Meng's gaze followed him like a shadow.

Chen An tied a vine rope to the clay pot, flicked his wrist, and the pot sank steadily into the well. The rippling arc of the water, in Ji Meng's eyes, perfectly matched the soft trajectory of "Supreme Goodness is Like Water"!

Chen An crouched by the fire to add firewood, stacking the branches into a triangular structure. Ji Meng's pupils contracted—that was clearly a simplified prototype of the Three Talents Formation! The flames burned evenly within the formation, with no heat wasted!

Chen An carried a clay pot to the vegetable patch, and water poured from the spout like silver threads, precisely irrigating the roots of each seedling without a single drop wasted. Ji Meng felt as if he were witnessing the embodiment of the principle "Heaven Gives Birth to Water"!

What shook his soul most was Chen An's gaze.

When tending the seedlings, his focused eyes seemed to be gazing upon the origin of the Great Way; when stroking his fur, the gentle warmth flowing from his fingertips stirred Ji Meng's dormant demon blood into faint resonance!

Returning to Simplicity! This being had merged the Great Way into his very breath and steps; every ordinary movement was a manifestation of The Great Tao is Simplest!

The "Subtle Truth" in the Way of Survival

Last night, Chen An's simple words—"Unity is strength," "Take action and the path will open"—now thundered in Ji Meng's soul!

For ten thousand years, the Demon Court had been rife with infighting, great demons scheming against each other for resources. If they could truly unite... Ji Meng recalled the terrifying power of the Wu Clan's Twelve Heavenly Gods and Demons Great Formation, and cold sweat broke out on his brow.

Cultivation in the primordial wilderness followed ancient methods; who would dare, like Chen An, to use common clay to fire pottery or wild herbs to heal wounds? Yet it was precisely this "heresy" that had carved a path of survival in a dead end!

Chen An's phrase "A tall tree catches the wind" struck Ji Meng's memory like a thunderbolt—back then, it was his own arrogance in pursuing Hong Yun that had led to Kun Peng's ambush!

"So that's it!" Ji Meng's soul trembled violently. This being wasn't just making small talk; he was using ordinary words to reveal the Ray of Life within the deadly calamity!

When Chen An walked over with a bowl of meat broth and softly called "Little Black," Ji Meng's last shred of Demon Commander pride shattered completely.

He voluntarily lifted his head, letting out a docile purr from his throat, and even rubbed his nose gently against Chen An's wrist—a gesture of attachment that only young demon beasts showed to their closest kin.

Inner monologue: The name "Little Black" was a title bestowed by a sage, a chance to sever the past! Demon Commander Ji Meng had already died on the battlefield of the Wu-Demon War; what remained was only "Little Black" in this small courtyard.

When dusk fell again, Ji Meng curled up by the fire, watching Chen An repair the kiln. The clay spun in his palms, cracks mending under his fingers. Ji Meng suddenly understood:

This Safe Zone was a "dojo" opened by a sage with supreme power, and he himself was a "Clay Embryo" picked up by the sage from the ruins of the great calamity. The path of rebirth through nirvana had only just begun.