The bonfire blazed.
A crowd gathered around it, singing and dancing as though performing some mysterious ritual.
That's right, a crowd of people! Real, true humans!
"Good grief, how can there still be humans in the Inner Demon Realm? Did the Lord of Extreme Evil plunder them from other worlds and relocate them here?"
High above, Fang Yuan found it utterly inconceivable.
Below, at the far end of the Land of Blood, there were not only humans, but also cultivated fields, villages, and cities.
It looked almost as if another human world had been transplanted here. It was utterly unbelievable.
"With the Inner Demon Realm's environment, ordinary people couldn't survive. They'd either die or mutate... But the Original Sin Demon Realm is the Lord of Extreme Evil's domain. He forcibly changed the rules and the properties of the energy here, making it suitable for ordinary humans to live in..."
Fang Yuan surveyed the surroundings, puzzled. "But why go to all that trouble?"
As he pondered, the ritual below continued:
"O Lord of Extreme Evil, who are everywhere!"
"Please guide us through you, far from the endless City of Suffering!"
"Please guide us through you, far from the eternal Pit of Misery!"
"Please let us devoutly offer you three people doomed to suffer through ten thousand calamities!"
"O exalted Creator, eternal Maker, protect your people. Drive the demons from our cities and villages, and bless us with a bountiful harvest this year!"
Many people chanted hymns as they pushed the three sacrifices onto the stakes.
One had his eyes sewn shut, another had his mouth stitched closed, though something squirmed incessantly inside his belly. The last was covered in sulfur. As soon as he was shoved into the flames, he let out a piercing scream.
Whoosh!
The flames roared, devouring