Most importantly.
Of the Universe Masters who had survived, only seven or eight belonged to the Monster Race itself!
In other words, of the 23 Universe Masters Giant Axe had just swallowed, ten were members of the Monster Race, while the other thirteen were its affiliated forces.
Losing affiliated Universe Masters was painful, but still within acceptable bounds.
Losing members of their own race was what struck at their very foundation!
"Now, can you accept handing over two Supreme Treasures and half your territory?" Giant Axe stood in the starry sky. He wasn't particularly tall, but his presence overwhelmed the two Demon Ancestors. "If you agree, I'll return all the Universe Masters I just captured."
"..."
Dream Demon Ancestor and Tremor Demon Ancestor exchanged glances.
After several minutes of silence,
Tremor Demon Ancestor finally spoke again.
"Giant Axe, your terms are too harsh. If we really agree, the Monster Race will be finished."
"With your current resources, handing over two Supreme Treasures would only hurt, not cripple you. It wouldn't be enough to destroy your race. As for half your territory... even if my Human Race doesn't take it, you can't hold on to it now."
Giant Axe spoke coldly.
"You have ten minutes to think it over."
In the eerie silence,
the Universe Masters of both the Human Faction and the Monster Race's faction said nothing.
"Giant Axe's pretty ruthless."
Watching from the distant void, Yang Yu took a sip of wine. "The Monster Race really got dragged through the mud by that Sky Screen."
Indeed.
The Monster Race had obtained two Supreme Treasures thanks to the Sky Screen's rewards.
On the surface, this had greatly increased its strength.
But Dream Demon Ancestor and Tremor Demon Ancestor were among the weakest in terms of personal strength, while others had received rewards better suited to them and could draw out more power.
Besides, the smaller alliances and scattered races within the Primal Universe were all looking for a way out. Few Universe Masters from these races had joined the Monster Race.
Many more had sided with the Human Race, the Demon Beast Alliance, the Insect Race, or the Machine Race.
As a result, the Monster Race's overall strength had actually weakened!
Now,
the Monster Race had finally reached a crossroads.
In its earlier wars against the Demon Beast Alliance and the Insect Race's faction, the Monster Race had suffered heavy losses.
But it had still managed to hold out.
After all, the gap in strength between them hadn't been that great.
Now it was facing the Human side, whose overall strength had multiplied several times. The Monster Race had taken a truly devastating fall.
Though the Primal Origin Will suppressed the strongest beings in the universe, limiting them to the peak of the sixth level,
even with the Supreme Treasure God-Slaying Axe and his secret art for burning divine power,
Giant Axe's attacks were capped at the peak of the sixth level, far too weak to threaten Dream Demon Ancestor and Tremor Demon Ancestor, who both had Supreme Armor.
But thanks to his sufficiently high realm, the axe-light Giant Axe swung was exceptionally condensed. With the God-Slaying Axe, he could easily drive the two back.
But that wasn't the whole story.
In the Primal Universe, Giant Axe's power was limited, but the more than ninety Universe Masters under his command could join forces in a combined attack.
Just one such attack would be enough to break the Monster Race's formation.
Within the Primal Universe,
the Monster Race no longer had the strength to stand against the Human Race.
And in the Universe Ocean...
Dream Demon Ancestor and Tremor Demon Ancestor stood even less of a chance against Giant Axe.
Even fighting him together would only leave Giant Axe tossing them around like spinning tops.
"Zhen Jiao, should we agree?"
After thinking it over for a long time, Dream Demon Ancestor finally couldn't hold back from asking him through voice transmission.
"Do we even have a choice now?" Tremor Demon Ancestor felt bitter. Never in his life had he faced such a difficult choice.
"Territory is manageable. We can't hold on to this much anymore anyway. But two Supreme Treasures is too much. If we hand them over, we'll be even weaker."
Dream Demon Ancestor was frantic.
"Let's try bargaining first."
Tremor Demon Ancestor hurriedly sent a voice transmission to Giant Axe.
"Giant Axe, Meng Cha and I have discussed it. We can cede half our territory to you, but we can give you no more than one Supreme Treasure."
"Just one?"
Giant Axe was immediately displeased.
The Human Race now had more than a hundred Universe Masters.
If the war continued, more than half the Monster Race's territory would sooner or later belong to the Human Race. The main reason Giant Axe had negotiated was to get two Supreme Treasures.
If he could obtain two,
whether they went to Chaos, Darkness, or Peng Gong,
the Human Race would instantly gain two sixth-level Universe Masters!
That kind of strength would be enough not only to guard the Primal Universe, but also to rank among the top forces in the Universe Ocean!
A Supreme Treasure was tremendously valuable to a race.
"There's no room for negotiation. Either hand over two Supreme Treasures and half your territory, or we keep fighting!"
Giant Axe was unyielding.
Before launching this war,
the Human Race's leadership had already discussed it.
This was the Human Race's first move within the Primal Universe.
They had to make a show of strength!
And they had to make the Monster Race suffer a crushing blow!
Only then could they deter the other forces.
Only then could they reassure the affiliated races that had joined them.
"Giant Axe, you've gone too far!"
Hearing that there was no room to bargain,
Tremor Demon Ancestor sent an angry voice transmission. "Half our territory, one Supreme Treasure, and ten Peak Supreme Treasures!"
"There's no room for negotiation."
Giant Axe replied leisurely.
"You...!"
Tremor Demon Ancestor was practically spitting blood with rage.
"Meng Cha, Giant Axe won't agree. He won't even accept my offer to make up the difference with ten Peak Supreme Treasures in exchange for one Supreme Treasure."
"What are we supposed to do?"
Even Dream Demon Ancestor, who was usually forceful and rarely backed down, had no idea what to do now.
"Fight?"
What could they possibly fight with now?
After a few more battles, any Universe Masters who dared to show themselves would probably all be suppressed by Giant Axe. If they stayed inside their Palace Supreme Treasures, they would only become sitting targets, and it would be difficult to stop the Human Race from occupying their territory.
"Agree?"
That would only be slightly better than being wiped out.
Don't forget.
Besides the Human Race, the other great peak races in the Primal Universe were watching too.
After this,
those peak races certainly wouldn't let the opportunity pass. They would come in and tear into the Monster Race!
They would keep going until not a drop of oil was left.
That was how conflicts between races had always gone!
Unless one side was completely wiped out, there would never be a day of peace.
"Then we refuse!"
The thought of being eaten away piece by piece filled Dream Demon Ancestor with such a nightmarish vision that he suddenly hardened his resolve.
"If we agree to give the Human Race half our territory today, we'll have to give up half of what remains tomorrow, and half again the day after. When will it ever end? Better to fight to the death! At worst, we can retreat to our miniature universes! We have two of them. I refuse to believe the Monster Race will really be wiped out!"
"Meng Cha, calm down!"
Tremor Demon Ancestor hurriedly tried to persuade him. If they truly reached the point of retreating to their miniature universes,
the Monster Race would lose all hope for the future.
For a race
to thrive and multiply, it needed sufficiently vast territory.
Otherwise, even if its population kept growing, the number of talented individuals born would be extremely small.
And if they also dared not venture into Cosmic Secret Realms, foreign territories, Primal Stars, or the Universe Ocean,
their chances of producing powerful beings would shrink to less than one percent!
In the end,
the Monster Race would be trapped in its miniature universes, and after three Reincarnation Eras, it would meet a quiet and bitter end.
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