Ye Xuan held the Human Emperor Seal in his palm, turned toward Beyond the Thirty-Three Heavens, and bowed deeply. His clear voice rang out across heaven and earth:
"Ye Xuan thanks the Holy Mother for bestowing this treasure!"
Below him, countless members of the human race were so moved that they knelt and cried out.
"We thank the Holy Mother!"
"Long live the Human Emperor!"
Ye Xuan straightened and drew the Kongtong Seal into his body, where he placed it above the Life Spring in his Sea of Suffering.
At that moment, he felt more secure than ever before.
He had strength: his Great Emperor-level body rivaled a Golden Immortal's.
He had a foundation: the Human Body Secret Realm Method had spread throughout the entire race.
He had authority: the Kongtong Seal suppressed their fortune.
"Now then..."
Ye Xuan turned around. His gaze swept past the crowd to the gloomy forest beyond the valley.
There, demonic energy surged into the sky.
There, countless greedy eyes watched the human race like venomous snakes.
The corner of Ye Xuan's mouth slowly curled into a cold, bloodthirsty smile.
"Receive my Divine Edict."
His voice was no longer calm. It brimmed with the slaughtering spirit of war.
"Humanity, expand!"
"This Primordial Wilderness should have a place for the human race, too."
"Go. Use your fists to tell those beasts out there—"
"Starting today, the hunter and the prey... have changed places!"
Beyond the valley, within the forest,
a three-zhang-long Black Panther Demon lay lazily on a boulder, its entire body as black as ink.
It was the Patrol Captain of this region, a late-stage Earth Immortal, and commanded several hundred lesser demons.
"Great King, the Saintly Might in the Human Valley seems to have completely dispersed."
A Tanuki Demon sidled up, wearing a fawning smile. Drool nearly ran from the corner of its mouth.
"Can we attack now? This little one's been craving human flesh for ages. It's so tender and smooth!"
The Black Panther Demon opened its eyes, licked its paw, and gave a sinister grin.
"Why the rush?"
"The humans are lambs waiting for slaughter. They can't escape."
"But since the Saintly Might has dispersed, it's time to go harvest a batch. I'll capture a thousand alive this time and present them to the Great King as a birthday gift!"
"Little ones! Grab your weapons! It's mealtime!"
At the Black Panther Demon's command,
countless wails and howls rose from the surrounding woods.
Hundreds of grotesque little demons brandished bone clubs and iron forks, charging toward the Human Valley with loud cries.
In their eyes, this was nothing more than a one-sided slaughter—and a feast.
However,
just as they charged out of the forest, before they could even make out what lay ahead,
"Rumble!"
The earth suddenly began to tremble.
A terrifying torrent of blood and vitality, like a flood of steel, crashed toward them!
An army of humans poured out of the valley entrance.
They had no magic treasures and no mounts.
But every one of them was bare-chested, their muscles bulging like granite. Their eyes were bloodshot, and their body heat warped the air around them.
At their head was a boy of barely fifteen or sixteen. He looked young, but a great dragon shone along his spine—the manifestation of the Dragon Transformation Realm!
"Those are... humans?"
A Tiger Demon at the front froze.
The humans it remembered were all trembling weaklings who cried and begged for mercy at the sight of demons.
But this bunch...
Why were they looking at the demons with even more savagery than a hunter looked at its prey?
"Kill!!!"
The boy in the Dragon Transformation Realm roared and stamped his foot into the ground.
"Bang!"
The earth burst open, leaving a huge crater.
He shot forward like a cannonball, covering several li in an instant and appearing before the Tiger Demon.
"Roar?"
The Tiger Demon instinctively swung its massive paw, trying to swat the reckless boy to death.
But
the boy didn't dodge. He simply reached out and seized both of the Tiger Demon's front paws.
"Rip open for me!"
The boy's arms bulged with veins, golden blood and vitality burning like flames.
"Riiip—"
A teeth-grating sound of tearing cloth rang out.
To the demons' horror, the Tiger Demon—renowned for its strength—was ripped in half by the boy with his bare hands!
Blood splattered, and its entrails spilled across the ground.
"Th-this... how is this possible?!"
The Black Panther Demon leapt off the boulder, its eyes nearly popping out.
Were these really humans?
They were primordial Fierce Beasts wearing human skin!
"Damn it! Something's not right! Little ones, attack! Blast them with spells!"
The Black Panther Demon shouted, trying to sound fierce despite its fear.
But in the next moment,
a fiery-red figure appeared in front of it.
It was Suiren Shi.
He didn't use any Great Emperor divine abilities. He simply looked calmly at the Black Panther Demon, which had once terrified him.
"Y-you... what are you going to do? I'm a subordinate of the Black Wind Demon King!"
The Black Panther Demon felt the unfathomable aura emanating from Suiren Shi. Its fur stood on end as it backed away in terror.
"The Demon King?"
Suiren Shi sneered.
He raised one finger. A tiny orange-red flame danced at its tip.
It was the human race's sacred flame—and a fire that could incinerate the heavens.
"Even if your Demon Emperor showed up, no one could save you today."
He flicked his finger.
"Whoosh!"
The flame landed on the Black Panther Demon.
It didn't even have time to scream.
The late-stage Earth Immortal demon couldn't even spit out its core before it instantly turned into a human-shaped lump of charcoal. A gust of wind scattered it.
"The captain's dead!"
"Run! The humans are eating demons!"
The remaining lesser demons were scared out of their wits. Their earlier arrogance was nowhere to be seen.
Every one of them wished they had two extra legs as they turned and fled into the depths of the forest.
"Trying to run?"
"Did you ask the clubs in our hands?"
The human army swept after them.
It was a completely one-sided rout.
The lesser demons who had once thrown their weight around were as fragile as paper before humans who had cultivated the Human Body Secret Realm Method.
They were smashed apart in a single exchange.
Night fell.
A huge bonfire blazed outside the Human Valley.
The fuel wasn't ordinary firewood. It was the bones of demons.
On the spits were Tiger Demon legs and Wolf Demon ribs.
The aroma filled the air.
"Hahaha! What a thrill! This is incredible!"
The boy who had torn apart the Tiger Demon was riding a tamed Wild Boar Demon. He held a golden-brown roasted leopard leg and tore into it, grease running down his chin.
The other members of the race were doing the same.
The demons that had once haunted their nightmares were now food on their plates and mounts beneath them.
Ye Xuan sat on high ground, turning the Kongtong Seal in his hand.
The firelight cast shifting shadows across his face.
"This is only the beginning," he murmured to himself.
The human race had bared its fangs.
Amid the towering mountains of the Primordial Wilderness stood a cavern shrouded in Black Mist all year round, known as Black Wind Cave.
The surrounding hundred thousand li all belonged to the Black Wind Demon King.
Demonic energy hung thick inside and outside the cave. Piles of bones were scattered everywhere—some human, others belonging to weaker demonic beasts. The air reeked of blood and rot.
"Report—! Great King! Disaster!"
A sharp-faced little demon stumbled into the depths of the cave and fell to its knees, shaking like a leaf.
On a throne built of piled bones sat a hulking demon, over one zhang tall.
Dark, sinister winds swirled around him, and his oily green eyes gleamed in the darkness with a ferocity that promised to devour anyone in sight.
He was the overlord of these hundred thousand li, the Black Wind Demon King, a late-stage Golden Immortal.
"What's all the panic about?"
The Black Wind Demon King's voice boomed like thunder, shaking loose gravel from the cavern roof.
"Has the sky fallen?"
"R-reporting to the Great King!" the little demon stammered. "Leopard Vanguard... Leopard Vanguard was killed by the humans! Even his corpse... they roasted and ate it!"
"What?!"
The Black Wind Demon King shot to his feet. A terrifying pressure erupted, instantly crushing the messenger into a cloud of blood.
That Leopard Demon was his brother-in-law and one of his most favored subordinates.
He'd only gone out on patrol. How had he ended up falling to a bunch of two-legged sheep?
"Humans... Those weak morsels dare to resist?"
The Black Wind Demon King laughed in fury, killing intent boiling in his eyes.
"Good! Very good!"
"I must have been idle for too long. Those two-legged sheep have forgotten who rules this land!"
"Deliver my military order! Assemble thirty thousand demon soldiers!"
A Black Tassel Spear appeared in the Black Wind Demon King's hand. He pointed its tip skyward, and killing intent surged into the heavens.
"Today, I'll bathe the Human Valley in blood! I'll rip out the tendons and peel the skin from every human there, and sate my hatred!"
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