The Anti-Demon Alliance

As the Demon Race clashed with the myriad races of the Primordial World, its overwhelming strength forced the other races to unite and form an alliance against it. Gradually, an alliance led by the Asura Race took shape. It became the vanguard against the Demon Race, and the two sides slowly reached a standoff across the Primordial World!

As for the North Sea, after the Demon Race's army fought the North Sea Demon Race, the North Sea Demon Race suffered a crushing defeat, and Demon Master Kunpeng was gravely wounded!

The Demon Court had suffered badly too. Eastern Emperor Taiyi was seriously injured, and even Bai Ze and Jiu Ying were severely wounded!

The Demon Race's army had lost seventy percent of its forces! It was a truly pyrrhic victory. If the other Demon Saints hadn't arrived with reinforcements at the last moment, both the Demon Race and the North Sea Demon Race would have been utterly devastated!

No one had expected Kunpeng to be so ruthless. He'd risked his life to seriously wound three Quasi-Sages! He'd also been responsible for more than half the Demon Race's casualties, because he had actually blown up one of his Three Corpses: his Evil Corpse!

The North Sea was as good as finished!

Boundless Blood Sea

When Ancestor Minghe heard that Kunpeng had blown up his Evil Corpse, he was shocked by Kunpeng's ruthless resolve!

Minghe hadn't decided to oppose the Demon Race on a whim. Ever since the Wu Race withdrew from the Primordial World, the Demon Race had inevitably seized control of its fortune. It was quite possible that the Demon Race would produce a Sage in time.

Minghe hadn't intended to compete for supremacy, but then Kunpeng had led the way in breaking away from the Demon Race, throwing it into internal turmoil, and the other races had begun declaring their independence.

That had shown Minghe an opportunity: a chance for him to attain Sainthood by controlling the fortune of Heaven and Earth. Unlike the other races vying for supremacy in the Primordial World, he was truly just a hair's breadth away from becoming a Sage. He had reached the limits of the Quasi-Sage realm, and no amount of cultivation could help him advance further. After all, he had chosen the path of Proving the Dao by Severing Three Corpses.

To become a Sage, one needed either Primordial Violet Qi, immense Merit, or the fortune of Heaven and Earth. He had none of those.

Hong Yun was holed up in Wuzhuang Temple and wouldn't come out, while Zhenyuanzi's Book of the Earth was absurdly powerful. Even Sages wouldn't dare attack him, let alone Minghe! The path of Primordial Violet Qi was out of reach, and he had already tried the path of Merit. Now, only the path of fortune remained!

And, as it happened, ever since he'd founded the Anti-Demon Alliance, he seemed to feel his cultivation loosening ever so slightly! That made him all the more determined to see this through!

He bestowed countless treasures and spirit items, steadily raising the Asura Race's strength. He even passed down his Blood God Child ability! With his all-out investment, the Asura Race produced five Great Luo Golden Immortals: Zizaitian Papiyas, Heavenly Consort Uma, Great Brahma, Yusetian, and Shiva!

As the battles with the Demon Race continued, Calamity Qi began to spread throughout Heaven and Earth. Under its influence, the Demon Race and the Anti-Demon Alliance's forces rapidly grew closer in strength, and the fighting grew fiercer still!

Ten thousand years passed in the blink of an eye!

During those ten thousand years, after recalling their scattered clansmen, the Human Race entered an intense era of comprehensive cultivation!

All resources were made available to the people, and information began to be shared. The Human Race's strength rose rapidly. Even then, Jiang He still felt uneasy, so he went to Wa Huang Palace to seek help from Empress Nuwa. Thanks to the Human Race, Nuwa's strength had grown over the years until she was surpassed only by Empress Houtu. Even Laozi was no match for her!

To help the Human Race survive this calamity, she refined a Jade Talisman imbued with the power of one of her attacks—enough to protect them.

But Jiang He had thrown a full-blown tantrum and wheedled the Green-skinned Gourd Nuwa had used when creating humanity out of her as well! It wasn't as if she had any use for it anyway.

Just as Jiang He returned from Empress Nuwa's palace, feeling pleased with himself, the Anti-Demon Alliance came knocking, hoping to invite the Human Race to join!

The great powers across the Primordial World had watched the Human Race grow stronger over those ten thousand years. No one knew how many more Great Luo Golden Immortals it had produced in that time. But why did the Human Race's Clan Leader still seem to be a Great Luo Golden Immortal? He didn't appear to have changed at all!

If Jiang He had known what they were thinking, he would have been sick with frustration. I've been working diligently at cultivation! If my cultivation won't improve, what am I supposed to do about it? Jiang He had come to think of himself as a tool—a tool for the development of the Human Race. He'd given up!

Human Race Luo Shui City

A group of Anti-Demon Alliance envoys entered the city. The prosperity of the Human Race's city left them dazzled. Its orderly buildings, bustling streets, shops selling all kinds of spirit artifacts and treasures, and patrols of fully armed soldiers made them green with envy!

The Asura envoy leading the group, Brahma, thought to himself, I have to bring the Human Race into the alliance! Then all these resources will belong to the alliance. Just then, massive warships flew across the sky, far larger than the Flying Boats of the Human Race's early days. That only strengthened his resolve!

Clan Leader's Hall

Jiang He, Jiang Shan, and the other Human Race leaders received the Anti-Demon Alliance envoys!

"Clan Leader Jiang, we've come on behalf of the Anti-Demon Alliance to invite the Human Race to join us!"

"You know how tyrannical and overbearing the Demon Race is. It has brought devastation to the myriad races of the Primordial World. Our Anti-Demon Alliance was founded to oppose it!"

"The Human Race is a force the entire Primordial World cannot ignore. We formally invite you to join us and contribute to the future of your people, as well as to the future of all living beings in the Primordial World!"

As soon as Brahma began speaking, he piled on one moralizing argument after another.

Jiang He simply smiled without a word, listening attentively. When Brahma had finished his long speech, Jiang He cleared his throat and said, "The Anti-Demon Alliance has indeed stood on the front lines for the myriad races of the Primordial World. We of the Human Race admire you greatly. Personally, I would very much like to join the Anti-Demon Alliance."

The envoys were delighted to hear that Jiang He was willing to join, but then he continued.

"But!"

The moment he uttered those two words, the expressions of the envoys changed.

"But the Human Race is still developing, and we can't compare with your races. We've been around for barely twenty thousand years. And our circumstances are different from those of the Asura Race. Asura are born warriors, but our children have no fighting strength and need to be cared for! So we can't turn our entire people into soldiers like the Asura Race."

Jiang He discreetly watched the envoys' expressions change. After a pause, he continued, "So after giving it careful thought, the Human Race has decided it would be best not to join."

As soon as he said that, a wolf-headed, human-bodied envoy in the Anti-Demon Alliance party slammed the table and leapt to his feet. "Are you making fools of us?"

The other envoys' expressions darkened too!

Brahma said with a livid face, "I hope the Human Race will carefully consider the consequences of refusing us!"

Jiang He didn't take Brahma's threat to heart. He said calmly, "I don't care what the consequences are. I only know that this is the Mother Goddess's command!"

With that, Jiang He produced the Jade Talisman he'd received from Nuwa. Saintly Might instantly filled the hall, and the envoys hurriedly bowed to it.

Watching them bow, Jiang He put on the air of someone emboldened by his powerful backer. "You see? I can't help it. The Mother Goddess is a Sage, and I wouldn't dare disobey her. Why don't you go ask Her Majesty yourself?"

Brahma hurriedly stepped back, repeatedly insisting he wouldn't dare.

Seeing that there was no hope of recruiting the Human Race, Brahma prepared to take his leave.

"Hey! Don't rush off, everyone!" Jiang He called out when he saw them about to leave.

Thinking Jiang He meant to humiliate them further, Brahma turned around and asked angrily, "Clan Leader Jiang, what else is there?"

"Don't get the wrong idea! Don't get the wrong idea! We have an old saying: 'Even if the deal falls through, friendship remains.' Although we can't join the Anti-Demon Alliance, we can't send you away empty-handed!"

Brahma didn't understand what Jiang He meant, but it sounded promising, so he asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean the Human Race can supply the Anti-Demon Alliance with weapons and elixirs! Would you be interested?" Jiang He said with a smile.

Brahma's eyes lit up. "Really? For free?"

Jiang He nearly choked. Free? What were you thinking?

"Ahem! Well, they're not free, but I guarantee we'll sell them to you at cost. The more you buy, the better the price!"

Brahma wasn't disappointed to hear they weren't free. He'd blurted it out without thinking; even if they'd been free, he wouldn't have dared accept them!

"Then what can we trade with?"

Seeing that there was a deal to be made, Jiang He replied, "Demon Cores, fur, scales, Spirit Plants, spiritual roots, divine abilities, cultivation techniques—anything can be traded, as long as it's valuable!"

Brahma was delighted to hear that. They had plenty of all those things. In their previous battles with the Demon Race, they'd come away with little else!

"Fine. Let me see what you've got."

As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang He handed him a list!

It was packed with all kinds of treasures and weapons. The main offerings were still the same three categories: elixirs, Talismans, and equipment! Nothing else was for sale.

But when Brahma saw that the warships he'd spotted in the city weren't on the list, he shamelessly wheedled Jiang He until he got ten of them!

Of course, they weren't necessarily the same kind the Human Race operated themselves! They might only look the same on the outside!

When Brahma and the others left the Human Race, both sides felt they'd gotten an incredible deal!