The Origin of the Calamity, The Demon Race's Internal Conflicts Explode

Zhun Ti's expression froze.

There was no helping it; at this point in time, Zhun Ti was not yet the Sage who had honed the skill of shamelessness to perfection, so he still cared about his reputation to some extent.

Of course, it was also possible that his strength was not yet sufficient, and since there were still many powerful beings who could defeat him, he dared not go too far.

Precisely because of this, during the Demon Race's Dao Discussion Assembly, Zhun Ti, holding the mentality that "not taking advantage is a loss," brought along all the disciples under his and Jie Yin's tutelage—not distinguishing between personal and outer sect disciples, and even bringing along the menial servants who swept the gates of Mount Sumeru.

In short, he wanted to eat his fill!

However, because his skin was not yet thick enough, he spoke many ill words about the Ancestral Witches and the Witch Race, thinking it would curry favor with Di Jun and Tai Yi.

No, it should be said that among the many powerful beings attending the Dao Discussion Assembly at the time, Zhun Ti was the one who cursed the most viciously and spoke the most ruthlessly.

The most ruthless four characters among them were the ones that ultimately defined the Witch Race: "Source of Chaos."

In other words, the reputation of the Witch Race as the "Source of Chaos" had spread from Zhun Ti's own mouth.

Thinking of this, how could Zhun Ti dare to speak of begging the Ancestral Witches for anything?

Zhun Ti was ten thousand percent certain that if he dared to step anywhere near the Ancestral Land of the Witch Race, the Twelve Ancestral Witches would absolutely dare to make him vanish from the Primordial World forever.

Forget about talk of being a "Heaven-ordained Sage"; based solely on those four characters, "Source of Chaos," his relationship with the Ancestral Witches and the Witch Race was essentially one of irreconcilable enmity.

Conversely, if someone were to say that he and Jie Yin were shameless and greedy, he and Jie Yin would surely exterminate that person's entire clan!

When living in the Primordial World, isn't this face exactly what one needs to maintain?

"This won't work, that won't work; what exactly are we supposed to do? We can't just watch the Western World become a dead, desolate land, can we?"

Zhun Ti felt so much agony he wanted to slap himself twice—Why did you have to run your mouth!

Jie Yin sighed softly, "There is no other way. The only option now is to seek out our Master."

"I imagine that as the Dao Ancestor, and the future spokesperson for the Heavenly Dao, he cannot simply stand by and watch the Western World become a dead, desolate land."

"Sigh... that is the only way!"

The Two Sages of the West were suffering from a massive headache, but the Demon Race was currently very happy.

The reason was simple: they were certain that the Witch Race truly did not want to leave their Ancestral Land and had genuinely "laid flat."

Hmm...

The term "lying flat" had actually originated from within the Witch Race, and the person who coined it seemed to be the one currently in charge of the Witch Race, Zhu Jiuyin.

Of course, whether this information was intentionally leaked by Zhu Jiuyin was a matter of opinion.

Regardless, for the Demon Race, the fact that the Witch Race—who had repeatedly opposed them—had all returned to their Ancestral Land was simply the best possible news.

However, at the very beginning, a considerable portion of the Demon Race still did not quite believe it.

After all, who knew if the Witch Race was playing some trick to lure the snake out of its hole? What if?

Therefore, at the start, the Demon Race basically dared not make any major moves.

But now, it was different.

The turning point here was that they had witnessed the Ancestral Witches condense the True Form of Pangu and then carve out a Great Thousand World.

Not only that, but after the Ancestral Witches opened the Great Thousand World, the billions of Witches outside the Ancestral Land—save for a small portion remaining in Pangu Hall—had all moved into that newly opened Great Thousand World.

The signal combined by these two actions was far too obvious.

This was clearly telling the world that the Witch Race truly did not want to participate in the rights and wrongs of the Primordial World anymore and was preparing to close their doors and live their own lives.

Under these circumstances, for the Demon Race, the struggle for hegemony between them and the Witch Race had effectively ended with the Demon Race winning without a fight.

Of course, according to custom, in a struggle for hegemony, the victor usually exterminates the loser.

But this time, the situation was too special.

Even if the Demon Race were given a hundred times the courage, they would not dare to provoke the Witch Race again.

They had seen with their own eyes the scene where the Twelve Ancestral Witches condensed the True Form of Pangu to open up a Great Thousand World.

This was absolutely Sage-level combat power.

Most importantly, the Great Dao itself had descended afterward, not only bestowing Great Dao Merit but also personally gifting the current leader of the Witch Race, Zhu Jiuyin, a Chaos Spiritual Treasure.

In a word, the current strength of the Witch Race had completely exceeded the limits of what all the Demon Race, including Di Jun and Tai Yi, could contend with.

Knowing they couldn't win and still provoking the other side—if that wasn't stupidity, what was?

Even someone as arrogant as Tai Yi would not do such a thing.

Therefore, from top to bottom, the Demon Race tacitly and deliberately brushed aside the matter of calculating against the Witch Race.

With their greatest opponent out of the game and now standing alone at the top, the Demon Race naturally began to expand with all their might.

Then, the second unlucky soul to suffer after the Witch Race "laid flat" appeared.

In fact, the Demon Race itself was a very bloodthirsty and cruel race.

It might seem like the Witch Race consumed flesh and blood, using living beings as food, but at the very beginning, the Witch Race actually ate Demon Beasts.

In the Primordial World, Demon Beasts, the Demon Race, and living beings were actually completely different concepts.

The difference between a demonic beast and the Demon Race lies in the fact that demonic beasts lack sentience, whereas the Demon Race possesses it.

The distinction between the Demon Race and other living beings is that the Demon Race is actually a term artificially created by Di Jun and Tai Yi.

Of course, for Di Jun and Tai Yi to name the group they ruled the "Demon Race" was truly somewhat arrogant.

Theoretically speaking, the Dragon, Phoenix, and Qilin could be considered part of the Demon Race, the future Human Race could be considered part of the Demon Race, and even all Innate Beings and Innate Demon Gods could theoretically be called the Demon Race.

Dragon demons, Phoenix demons, Qilin demons, and even human demons.

Naturally, the "human demon" here is a completely different matter from the "human demon" of later generations.

If one were to be even more extreme, even the Dao Ancestor Hongjun could be a demon; after all, his origin was a Chaos Earthworm, so how could he not be called a demon?

Precisely because demonic beasts lack sentience while the Demon Race possesses it, their weight under the Heavenly Dao is entirely different.

In a word, under the Heavenly Dao, the Demon Race has "human" rights, while demonic beasts do not.

Theoretically, even if the Witch Race slaughtered every demonic beast in the entire Primordial World, it would not diminish their merit in the slightest.

Because as long as they have not birthed sentience, they do not even possess the qualifications to be considered "people" under the Heavenly Dao.

It is just like how the Human Race of later generations eats cattle and sheep without losing a shred of merit.

However, in the eyes of the Demon Race, the Witch Race doing this is akin to digging up the very roots of the Demon Race.

This is because demonic beasts can basically be considered the reserves of the Demon Race; if the opportunity arises, even a pig can birth sentience and become a pig demon.

This is the fundamental point of the conflict between the Witch Race and the Demon Race.

But now, while the external conflict has vanished, the various internal conflicts within the Demon Race—which were originally suppressed by the Witch Race as the primary contradiction—have begun to erupt en masse.

Thus, in many cases, the moment of victory is also the beginning of defeat!