Human Tribulation, Secret Rescue

Longevity Mountain, Wuzhuang Temple's backyard.

Lu Chen lay under the Ginseng Fruit Tree with his legs crossed, a blade of grass in his mouth. He watched the tragedy unfolding on the Primordial continent through the water mirror before him.

In the water mirror, the Demon Clan's army swept across the East Sea coast like a swarm of locusts.

They didn't attack cities or seize land; they only killed humans.

It wasn't ordinary killing, but brutal slaughter—extracting souls and refining spirits, drawing blood and tempering bones, channeling the fear, pain, and resentment of humans in their final moments into blood-red sword embryos.

"Witch-Slaying Sword..." Lu Chen spat out the grass, a cold glint in his eyes.

In the original story, the Demon Clan had slaughtered billions of humans to forge the Witch-Slaying Sword, a weapon specifically designed to counter the Witch Clan's physical bodies. They used the humans' essence, blood, and souls as materials, creating the most ferocious weapon in the Primordial Era.

Now, this tragedy was unfolding ahead of schedule.

Because of the first Witch-Demon War, the Witch Clan had displayed combat power far exceeding the Demon Clan's expectations. Especially their incomplete Great Heavenly God-Demon Array, which could actually contend with the Great Formation of the Stars. This made Di Jun and Taiyi feel threatened.

Therefore, they needed to accelerate the forging process of the Witch-Slaying Sword.

And humans had become the most easily obtainable and effective "materials."

"Master, are we really not going to intervene?" Yan Chen stood beside him, his fists clenched white as he watched the humans being soul-extracted and spirit-refined in the water mirror.

"Intervene? Of course, we will," Lu Chen stood up and brushed the dust off his pants. "But not now."

He looked in the direction of the Demon Clan's camp in the water mirror—blood energy soared to the heavens, and resentment condensed into tangible black clouds. At least three million humans had already been massacred.

"If we rush out to save them now, we'll be directly confronting the entire Heavenly Court of the Demon Clan," Lu Chen shook his head. "We don't have that strength yet."

"Then..."

"When the humans are almost all dead," Lu Chen said calmly, "when Di Jun feels he has enough materials and lets his guard down, we'll make our move."

Yan Chen was stunned. "But by then, the humans will be..."

"Almost dead, but not entirely." Lu Chen grinned. "Guess why the Demon Clan only slaughtered humans on the East Sea coast and didn't go after other places?"

Yan Chen pondered. "Because the East Sea coast is closest to the Heavenly Court of the Demon Clan?"

"That's only part of it." Lu Chen walked to the water mirror and traced his finger across its surface, the image shifting to various parts of the Primordial continent. "Look, at the foot of Buzhou Mountain, human tribes are secretly protected by the Witch Clan. On the outskirts of Kunlun Mountain, the Three Pure Ones occasionally glance at the humans. Even in the barren lands of the West, Jieyin and Zhunti have been secretly gathering followers."

He paused, his voice low. "The only ones truly abandoned are these three million humans on the East Sea coast—they are too far from the Witch Clan, too far from the Saints' dojos, too far from any potential protector. That's why the Demon Clan dares to slaughter them so unscrupulously."

Yan Chen understood. "So, the ones we're going to save are these 'abandoned' humans?"

"More than that," Lu Chen's eyes flashed. "What I want to save is the 'spark' of humanity."

He took something out of the Qiankun Diagram—a fist-sized essence of the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil (the other half).

"When Nuwa created humans, I secretly intercepted twelve drops of the purest human origin essence blood," Lu Chen took out a small jade bottle. "Combined with this breathing soil, I can create another batch of 'innate humans,' and they will be even stronger than those Nuwa created."

Yan Chen's eyes lit up. "Like the Twelve Yuan Chen?"

"A bit weaker than the Twelve Yuan Chen, but they'll all start as Earth Immortals," Lu Chen nodded. "More importantly, these people will have an innate 'anti-Demon Clan' will—their souls were snatched back from the Demon Clan's soul-refining array for the Witch-Slaying Sword, so their hatred for the Demon Clan is etched into their very bones."

"But Master, won't Saint Nuwa notice if we do this?" Yan Chen worried. "After all, it's the origin of humanity..."

"So what if she notices?" Lu Chen smiled. "Nuwa is in a bind right now—on one hand, the humans she personally created are being slaughtered; on the other hand, the Demon Clan's Heavenly Court is too powerful to openly oppose. If I step in to save people now, she'll be grateful."

He put away the breathing soil and the jade bottle. "Let's go, time to get to work."

The two of them vanished, using Brick Escape to head straight for the East Sea coast.

Demon Clan camp, the core of the soul-refining array.

The souls of three million humans were imprisoned here, their wails shaking the heavens. Their essence blood had been extracted and infused into blood-red sword embryos; their souls were torn apart and integrated into the resentment runes within the swords.

Di Jun personally presided over the array, Taiyi guarded the perimeter, and the Ten Great Demon Saints led a million demon soldiers, surrounding the area tightly.

"Only thirty thousand more souls are needed, and the main sword of the Witch-Slaying Sword will be formed," Di Jun looked at the blood-red giant sword that had already condensed into a physical form within the array, satisfaction flashing in his eyes. "At that time, no matter how strong the Witch Clan's physical bodies are, they won't be able to withstand this sword's edge!"

Taiyi, however, frowned. "Brother, I can't help but feel something is off about this soul-refining array—the resentment of those souls is too strong, so strong it's almost... abnormal."

"Abnormal is good," Di Jun said dismissively. "The stronger the resentment, the greater its restraint on the Witch Clan's physical bodies. This is a secret technique I traded from Minghe of the Sea of Blood; there won't be any problems."

Taiyi was about to say something else when his expression suddenly changed. "Someone is breaking into the array!"

As soon as he spoke, a gap suddenly exploded open on the east side of the array!

A wisp of green smoke drifted in, and within the smoke, a blurry figure could be vaguely seen—it was Hun Yuanzi (Self-Corpse)!

"Who dares to trespass into the Demon Clan's array, you petty thief!" Taiyi roared, bringing down a replica of the Chaos Bell.

Hun Yuanzi didn't resist directly. He raised his hand and threw out dozens of talismans—all "Disruption Talismans" that Lu Chen had refined earlier.

The talismans exploded, turning into a vast mist. The mist was filled with spatial turbulence, the inversion of the Five Elements, and the chaos of causality, and other disturbances! Although they couldn't harm Taiyi, they caused a brief period of chaos in the entire soul-refining array!

In this moment of chaos!

At the core of the array, Lu Chen's true form quietly appeared.

He held the Chaos Brick in his left hand, the Qiankun Diagram in his right, and the Morning Bell hung around his neck. He was fully armed.

"Collect!"

The Qiankun Diagram unfolded, transforming into a sky-covering scroll, and swept towards the three million imprisoned human souls!

"How dare you!" Di Jun roared in fury, his Witch-Slaying Saber slashing horizontally!

The blade light was pitch black, tearing through space. Wherever it passed, even light was devoured! This strike contained Di Jun's full power as a peak Quasi-Saint, coupled with the Witch-Slaying Saber's suppression of living beings, it was enough to heavily wound an equal!

But Lu Chen was prepared.

The Morning Bell rang!

"Clang--!"

Space and time froze, the blade light slowed by one-thousandth of a second!

In that instant, the Qiankun Diagram had collected all three million souls!

"Go!"

Lu Chen activated Brick Escape at full power, turning into a dark light and preparing to flee.

"Stay!" Taiyi's Chaos Bell suppressed him, and a million demon soldiers formed a net!

Just as he was about to be surrounded--

Lu Chen suddenly grinned, pulled out a small bell from his embrace, and shook it gently.

"Ding-a-ling--"

A clear bell sound rang out, possessing no power.

But Taiyi's expression instantly changed.

That was... the little Golden Crow's protective bell!

The little Golden Crow, born from the Primordial Phoenix's sacrifice, had been saved by Lu Chen and hidden deep within the Solar Star to slumber. This bell was a companion spirit treasure that came with the little Golden Crow at birth, and only the Golden Crow Bloodline could activate it.

As the bell rang, the Golden Crow Bloodline within Taiyi's body resonated slightly, causing him to react half a beat slower!

In that half a beat, Lu Chen had already escaped the great formation and vanished into the sky.

"Chase!" Di Jun roared.

But it was too late.

Lu Chen's Brick Escape was already known for its speed, and with the Morning Bell's acceleration and the Chaos Brick's void-breaking, he had escaped hundreds of thousands of miles in a few breaths, completely disappearing from the Demon Clan's sensory range.

The Demon Clan's main camp was in disarray.

The Soul Refining Formation was broken, three million souls were stolen, and the refining progress of the Witch-Slaying Sword's main blade had regressed by thirty percent!

"Lu! Chen!" Di Jun roared at the sky, his voice filled with endless malice, "This Emperor declares an eternal feud with you!"

Meanwhile, in a hidden valley somewhere in the Primordial Era.

Lu Chen released the three million souls, cleansed their grievances with the Three Lights Divine Water, and reshaped their bodies with the Nine Heavens Breathing Soil.

Of course, not all of them were completely reshaped--he retained the purest three hundred thousand souls, combined them with the human race's origin blood essence and Breathing Soil, and recast them into three thousand "Innate Avengers."

These "Avengers" started their cultivation at the peak of the Earth Immortal realm and possessed the "Demon Slayer" talent--doubling their damage against the Demon Clan.

The remaining 2.7 million souls were sent by Lu Chen into the Underworld for Reincarnation. He also tampered with the Underworld's registry, ensuring they would be reborn in safe places in their next lives.

After completing all this, Lu Chen looked at the three thousand "Avengers" kneeling on the ground and slowly spoke:

"From today onwards, you shall be called the 'Kindling Department.' You have only one mission--survive, grow stronger, and then, take revenge on the Demon Clan."

"But remember, revenge is not suicide. If you lack the confidence, lie low for me."

The three thousand Avengers acknowledged in unison.

Lu Chen nodded and sent them into the inner world of the Qiankun Diagram--where time flowed differently, a hundred years inside for every year outside, enough for them to grow.

Having finished everything, he finally let out a long sigh.

"Esteemed self, we've thoroughly offended the Demon Clan this time," Yan Chen said with a wry smile.

"We offended them thoroughly long ago, this one time doesn't make much difference," Lu Chen shrugged, "Besides, didn't we leave a 'gift' behind?"

He looked in the direction of the Demon Clan's main camp.

Within the sword embryo of the Witch-Slaying Sword's main blade, he had secretly embedded a drop of "Chaos Demon God's Grudge Blood"--the same kind as the one in Di Jun's Witch-Slaying Saber.

When the Witch-Slaying Sword was finally forged, and the two ferocious weapons clashed...

"Heh heh." Lu Chen grinned, shouldered his brick, "Let's go, it's time to return to Wuzhuang Temple and continue 'lending my name'."

"This play has a long way to go."