"One minute left."
Giant Axe reminded them coldly.
Watching the two Monster Race ancestors, once so arrogant, now forced to sacrifice their territory to survive,
Giant Axe felt no sympathy for them.
If the tables were turned and the Monster Race had the upper hand,
the terms they proposed would surely be even harsher.
Of course,
the terms humanity was offering now were no easy bargain either.
And Dream Demon Ancestor's reasoning wasn't wrong.
Even if the Monster Race agreed to these terms today,
humanity would still find an excuse to keep pressuring them afterward.
The only difference was whether it happened sooner or later.
"Zhen Jiao, do we really have to agree?"
Dream Demon Ancestor was deeply conflicted.
She hadn't even had time to enjoy the Supreme Treasure the Sky Screen had awarded her, the Gold-Shattering Spear!
If they really had to hand over a Supreme Treasure, she would definitely be the first to give up her set.
Tremor Demon Ancestor was indeed stronger.
It would be better to preserve him.
"Let's agree for now..."
Tremor Demon Ancestor sighed helplessly. "Compared to one Supreme Treasure, those twenty-three Universe Masters are more valuable to us. Without enough Universe Masters, it'll be very difficult to hold on to our territory."
In the Primal Universe,
Universe Masters could do more than revive Venerables and weaker life forms.
They also guarded the various secret realms, core territories, and other important places.
After all, the strongest beings were suppressed by the Origin Will in the Primal Universe. In many situations, they needed a sufficient number of Universe Masters to assist them.
Tremor Demon Ancestor's thinking was simple: as long as they preserved enough of their strength, they would still have hope in the future!
Besides,
the Monster Race absolutely had to hold on to at least some of its territory for the next million years!
Because
the next time the Sky Screen opened might be their only chance to turn the tables.
"Then... all right."
Seeing the determination in Tremor Demon Ancestor's eyes, Dream Demon Ancestor chose to trust him, as she always had.
Dream Demon Ancestor usually made the decisions on routine matters, but when it came to major issues affecting the entire race, Tremor Demon Ancestor was the one who decided.
This time was no exception.
"Time's up."
Seeing their final reaction, Giant Axe wore a rare smile toward the other race. "Have you made your decision?"
"We have," Tremor Demon Ancestor replied bitterly. "Giant Axe, we accept your terms. But we have one condition: once you've taken the treasures and territory, release the Universe Masters you've imprisoned immediately, and don't attack us again for at least a million years."
"Agreed."
Giant Axe accepted without hesitation.
He was already very satisfied to have squeezed two Supreme Treasures and half their territory out of the Monster Race in a single battle.
He had assumed they would need to fight several more times and beat the Monster Race into submission before they could obtain all this.
Since the other side was being so reasonable,
Giant Axe agreed on the spot.
"Here!"
Tremor Demon Ancestor tossed out two streaks of light.
Giant Axe caught them.
As expected, they were Dream Demon Ancestor's Supreme Treasure armor, the Dream Scale Armor, and the offensive Supreme Treasure the Sky Screen had awarded her not long ago, the Gold-Shattering Spear.
He infused them with divine power and easily refined them, making them his own.
The smile on Giant Axe's face grew wider.
Whoosh!
With a wave of his hand, the twenty-three imprisoned Universe Masters flew free.
Whoosh!
Tremor Demon Ancestor swept them up with his divine power and took them all into his Palace Supreme Treasure.
"This is the new border. Come claim the territory in a month. Giant Axe, I hope you keep your word!"
Tremor Demon Ancestor gave Giant Axe a long look, then glanced warily at the God-Slaying Axe in Giant Axe's hand, which still glimmered faintly.
"Let's go!"
Tremor Demon Ancestor and Dream Demon Ancestor then teleported away.
Watching them leave, Giant Axe made no attempt to pursue.
Just then, he had received the boundary information Tremor Demon Ancestor had sent him.
This time,
Tremor Demon Ancestor had designated the Desolate Dark Shattered Star Belt as the new border. The territory east of the border, including the Desolate Dark Shattered Star Belt, would all be ceded to humanity.
Giant Axe knew of the Desolate Dark Shattered Star Belt.
It was a well-known region in the Monster Race's core territory.
This Shattered Star Belt stretched almost from north to south across the entire Monster Race Territory.
The territories on either side were also roughly equal in size.
"Giant Axe, they agreed just like that?" Peng Gong Lord couldn't help asking.
The Monster Race had always been stubborn. Most of the Universe Masters on humanity's side had thought it would take several battles to seize so much territory under such harsh terms.
And the Supreme Treasures?
Even the Original Ancestor hadn't been able to forcibly seize one in the Primal Universe.
To accomplish that,
the only way was as they had done now:
threaten the race's survival and capture large numbers of its Universe Masters.
Otherwise, trying to take a Supreme Treasure from one of the strongest beings was no different from killing him.
"They agreed. Everyone, get ready. We'll officially take over the territory in a month."
Giant Axe smiled.
"Whoosh!!"
Behind Giant Axe, the Universe Masters of the subordinate races allied with humanity heard his words.
A commotion broke out at once.
They had seen Tremor Demon Ancestor toss out two treasures just moments earlier,
but they hadn't known the details of the negotiations.
Now that they had heard the answer from Giant Axe himself,
the subordinate Universe Masters were utterly astonished.
They knew the Monster Race's style of doing things all too well.
They couldn't believe humanity had claimed half of the Monster Race's original territory after just one war!
What an immense territory that was!
For small races with only one or two Universe Masters, such vast lands were beyond anything they would ever have dared dream of.
"Humanity really is incredible!"
The subordinate Universe Masters present couldn't help thinking.
After this battle,
the Hong Alliance, led by humanity, was sure to become the undisputed top power in the Primal Universe!
The Monster Race, meanwhile, had fallen from its peak and become prey in the eyes of the other major powers.
The balance of power in the Primal Universe would change as a result.
"Vulture Lord, thanks for letting me hitch a ride with humanity this time," Miao Yun quietly transmitted to him.
"We're buddies. What's there to thank me for?" Miao Yun was also shocked, but still pretended to be calm and collected.
"Heh, looks like humanity gets the meat, and we'll get to drink the soup too."
Vulture Lord was delighted.
Many others felt the same way.
These Universe Masters had joined humanity in the first place to ensure their races would survive.
For that,
they willingly charged at the front in every battle, proving their loyalty and ability.
Fortunately, humanity had a decent reputation.
As long as you genuinely put in the effort, you would be rewarded accordingly.
Besides, there were rumors
that humanity had already taken in enough subordinate races.
They would set higher standards for accepting new underlings in the future.
It wasn't hard to understand why. After all, the Primal Universe was only so big.
There was a limited amount of territory suitable for living and reproduction. If humanity took in subordinate races, it had to give them somewhere to live.
When there were only a few subordinates, it was fine. They wouldn't affect humanity's own development and survival.
But if humanity took in too many, they would start to encroach on humanity's room to grow.
Everyone in the Hong Alliance understood this perfectly well.
"Tremor Demon Ancestor has some nerve, at least."
After watching the whole spectacle, Yang Yu took a sip of wine, stepped forward, and returned to a barren void not far from the Milky Way Galaxy.
From here,
Yang Yu could easily see Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy.
Judging by the timing,
Luo Feng wasn't far from breaking through to the Domain Lord level.
When the Virtual Universe Company sent him away on assignment, he would return to Earth and discover the Nine Tribulations Manual Yang Yu had left there earlier.
From then on, he would officially embark on the path of becoming Earth Lord.
He would also become Yang Yu's disciple in all but name.
Before you continue