A Complete Steamroll!

At the entrance of the Gate of Myriad Demons, twenty Grand Sovereigns had gathered, accompanied by one hundred Sovereigns from the Myriad Demons Realm. Guarding the threshold together, they waited under orders from the Venerable to hunt down the Blood Lord. "There are a few little mice scurrying around outside. Should we deal with them?" asked a Grand Sovereign from the Myriad Demons Realm. He was referring to He Wu and Ling Yayi, who lurked in their vicinity. At this suggestion, quite a few Grand Sovereigns from the Myriad Demons Realm grew eager to make a move. "Dealing with them would be a waste of time," a human Grand Sovereign remarked. "The task the Venerable assigned us is to capture the Blood Lord. We must not be negligent!" These human Grand Sovereigns stood in great dread of the Venerable, treating her commands as absolute. "Hmph. You humans of the Liufeng Realm might fear this Blood Lord, but we of the Myriad Demons Realm do not." "Why make such a huge fuss? Our Myriad Demons Realm could send any two Grand Sovereigns to take him down." They had gathered ample information on the Blood Lord. His origin divine ability could trigger inner demons to burst violently through a cultivator's body. To the Sovereigns of the Liufeng Realm, that was a lethal blow delivered from an untouchable plane, yet the Grand Sovereigns of the Myriad Demons Realm harbored no fear of it. The human Grand Sovereign who had spoken wore a helpless expression. These Sovereigns of the Myriad Demons Realm had not yet shed their bestial natures; they remained arrogant and untamed. Just then, a taciturn cat demoness, who was also a Grand Sovereign, finally spoke up: "Everything proceeds according to the Venerable's orders. Those little mice... can be ignored for now." This cat demon Grand Sovereign was tall and slender with striking, delicate features. What drew the most attention, however, was the row of headlights across her chest. Yes, a literal row. Unlike most female demons who took human shape, she retained several feline characteristics: a cat's tail, cat ears, and... five pairs of breasts. In human form, she looked remarkably eye-catching. Many of the male Sovereigns couldn't help casting glances her way, whether intentionally or not. A catgirl like that would surely be adored by the otaku of Blue Star! If Qi Yuan had laid eyes on her, such a thought would undoubtedly have crossed his mind. She was also the leader of the demon Sovereigns present. The moment she spoke, none of the others brought up hunting down He Wu again. They waited quietly, watching for the Gate of Myriad Demons to open. A day later. A violent gale suddenly erupted from within the Gate of Myriad Demons, and a surging, boundless aura swept out from inside. Every Sovereign instinctively turned toward the entrance. It was pitch-black. Even the Grand Sovereigns found their divine senses swallowed whole, unable to discern anything. They had to rely on their eyes alone. Once they crossed that black mist, they would arrive in the Liufeng Realm. "It's opening!" The cat demon Grand Sovereign brimmed with excitement. A dazzling, exaggerated smile spread across her face, sending the entire row trembling in a magnificent display. She surveyed the assembly. "Who is willing to step into the black mist to scout ahead?" "This old man will go." "I will go as well." Two demon Grand Sovereigns eagerly volunteered. They went both out of a desire to capture the Blood Lord and an eagerness to slip into the Liufeng Realm ahead of the rest to feast upon human flesh. The cat demon Grand Sovereign smiled and nodded. The two Grand Sovereigns plunged straight into the black mist. The remaining Sovereigns waited peacefully, their expressions relaxed. "Once this mission is over, I'll need a proper feast," remarked a tiger-faced demon Grand Sovereign, his gaze settling greedily on the face of a human Grand Sovereign. The human Grand Sovereign glared back fiercely, grunting in displeasure, "The mission is far from over. Save your talk until after the Blood Lord is captured." "With so many experts on our side, finishing it is only a matter of time. In fact... we might not even need to lift a finger. Grand Sovereign Fufeng and Grand Sovereign Yangli may have already brought the Blood Lord down," the tiger-faced Grand Sovereign said casually. The other demon Grand Sovereigns shared his indifference. "You humans might fear the Blood Lord, but we demons do not!" "With this much power gathered, what is there to dread?" At that moment, a strange look crossed the cat demon Grand Sovereign's face. "Grand Sovereign Yangli and Grand Sovereign Fufeng are coming out... so quickly?" The other Grand Sovereigns sensed it too, and some broke into smiles. "Who would have thought those two could be so fast? Could they really have subdued the Blood Lord already?" After all, according to the Venerable, the Blood Lord had lost his engraved origin divine ability and was nothing to fear, his strength having plummeted to the mid Sovereign realm. Deploying so many experts was already flattering him beyond measure. Yet as everyone watched, Grand Sovereign Fufeng and Grand Sovereign Yangli burst out, fleeing in absolute panic. The Sovereigns on guard blinked in surprise. Things did not look at all like what they had expected. With a flick of her wide sleeves, the cat demon Grand Sovereign intercepted the pair. Her expression turned chilly. "What is this panic? Did you see the Blood Lord?" Both Fufeng and Yangli looked utterly deranged with fright. "N-No!" Grand Sovereign Fufeng stammered, his face white with frantic terror. "Then why are you running?" she demanded. "Too many! There are too many of them!" Grand Sovereign Yangli's scalp still tingled with dread as he recalled the distant glimpse he had caught in the darkness. A dense, endless sea of figures—people everywhere! "Many people?" A human Grand Sovereign looked startled. "Could it be that the Sovereigns of the White Emperor Palace have arrived? But if so, how do they plan to handle the North-South Accord?" There were still quite a few Sovereigns in the Southern Lands of the Liufeng Realm. If they abandoned the Accord entirely and marched into the Gate of Myriad Demons, that would indeed make things difficult. "Come, follow me to take a look," the cat demon Grand Sovereign said boldly. "No, don't! There are too many of them—ten thousand, no, tens of thousands! And they're all Sovereigns!" Grand Sovereign Fufeng yelled hysterically. "Run! Run now, or it'll be too late!" A single distant glance had scared his wits away, driving him to sprint back for his life. The Grand Sovereigns were taken aback at first, but then chuckled. "I know the Liufeng Realm like the back of my hand. Grand Sovereign Fufeng, I'm afraid you were tricked by an illusion!" The Liufeng Realm's world tier was what it was; its capacity could never support that many powerhouses. Naturally, none of them believed him. In Blue Star terms, it was like the Eagle's warships sailing into a certain sea, only to beat a frantic retreat and report in terror to their commander: "Bad news! The Rabbits just deployed ten thousand aircraft carriers!" Anyone from the Eagle would hardly believe such a claim either. The Grand Sovereigns felt precisely the same way. "The Liufeng Realm is on the verge of collapse. Even a terminal rally could at most produce around ten thousand Sovereigns. We haven't even reached that point yet, so how could there possibly be so many? It must be an illusion!" the cat demon Grand Sovereign declared decisively. "No need to fear. Come with me and see." The twenty Grand Sovereigns and one hundred Sovereigns wore tranquil expressions, touched by a glimmer of curiosity. "No, I won't go! It's real! They're all Sovereigns!" Grand Sovereign Fufeng was scared out of his mind. Grand Sovereign Yangli was in the exact same state. Both tried to flee, but the cat demon Grand Sovereign effortlessly pinned them down, rendering escape impossible. The others looked upon the terrified pair with poorly disguised contempt. To be scared witless by a mere illusion... even after reaching the rank of Grand Sovereign, their bestial nature had clearly not been purged. Just as the group prepared to advance together, a heavy rumble echoed through the thick black mist. It sounded as though an invisible army of thousands upon thousands of steeds was marching through the dark in eerie silence! Before any silhouette could even be seen, an overwhelming aura shot straight into the clouds. Everyone froze, feeling their origin divine abilities shudder and destabilize. The Grand Sovereigns from the Liufeng Realm felt it most acutely of all. It was as if an unimaginably terrifying, supreme fiendgod lurked within the black mist! "Could it... really be true?" A Liufeng Realm Grand Sovereign trembled all over. His origin divine ability reacted with visceral horror, sensing an unspeakable dread. "In the tiny Liufeng Realm...?" The cat demon Grand Sovereign's eyes clouded with confusion. A world of such low standing could never sustain so many supreme experts. "It's true! Run, or we won't make it!" Grand Sovereign Fufeng cursed the cat demon to high heaven. If she hadn't blocked him, he would have been gone by now. Yet no one had the mind to listen to him anymore. They hesitated, wavered, and felt utterly lost, questioning reality for the first time in their lives. Fixing their eyes on the dark fog, they heard a vast, earth-shaking voice ring across the heavens: "Blood Palace business!" "Those who obstruct, die!" "Those who surrender, die!" The roar was monumental, sounding like a thousand Sovereigns shouting in unison. From the black fog, the terrifying vanguard finally revealed a corner of its might. A crimson wave of blood qi stained the dark mist scarlet. Amidst the blood fog marched one thousand Sovereigns clad in uniform blood-red robes, arranged in a battle formation like ordinary foot soldiers. To put it dramatically, the aura belonging to these Sovereigns seemed powerful enough to obliterate the Great Dao itself. The blood-robed figure at the front glared down at the handful of Sovereigns ahead, his eyes filled with overbearing arrogance. "Y-You... you're Yang Hun? Why are you here?" A human Grand Sovereign stared at Yang Hun in sheer disbelief. How had that lowly, insignificant Sovereign from before transformed into what seemed like an entirely different person? Could it be... that the Blood Lord had unified the Southern and Northern Lands? Gathering a thousand Sovereigns? Thinking along those lines, it did seem possible. A thousand Sovereigns was an immense force, but it still shouldn't be enough to alter the broader balance of power. "I am Sovereign Yang Hun, Commander of the Vanguard Battalion of the Blood Palace Grand Army!" Sovereign Yang Hun cast a disdainful glance at the Grand Sovereign, his expression practically asking, *And who might you be?* Vanguard Battalion? Did that mean there were more behind him? Before anyone could process the words, Sovereign Yang Hun barked out: "Running dogs of the Venerable, beasts of the Myriad Demons Realm... leave none alive!" Under the coordination of their battle array, the Sovereigns of the Vanguard Battalion acted as a single, unified weapon. "Kill!" One thousand Sovereigns struck in unison. The momentum was earth-shattering and utterly peerless. Their formation had been overseen by Qi Yuan and crafted jointly by the Sovereigns. It welded the power of a thousand Sovereigns together in seamless perfection. In a single breath, a thousand origin divine abilities poured forth like an endless torrent, unleashed as though power cost nothing at all. Seeing this, the hundred-plus Sovereigns on guard didn't even dare to resist; they turned and fled in utter terror. Faced with a thousand Sovereigns, what little fighting spirit they had vanished instantly. Yet running was impossible! Empowered by the formation, the thousand origin divine abilities crashed down like a raging river. With just a single strike, two-thirds of the hundred-plus Sovereigns were wiped out on the spot. "Strike again!" Sovereign Yang Hun roared in pure exhilaration! Commanding a thousand Sovereigns—how could a small fry like his former self ever have dreamed of such a thing? The thousand Sovereigns struck once more, unleashing another deluge of origin divine abilities. Among the surviving third struggling to hold on, another large swath was instantly annihilated. "Kill!" "Kill!" "Kill!" Yang Hun's blood surged, and he issued three commands in rapid succession. The thousand Sovereigns of the Vanguard Battalion poured their origin divine abilities out recklessly. This first battle upon entering the Gate of Myriad Demons had to be clean, decisive, and magnificent! Kill! Kill! Kill! The Sovereigns of the Blood Palace were meant to bathe in blood, meant to slaughter every enemy in their path. In mere dozens of breaths, the hundred-plus Sovereigns were wiped out entirely, leaving only one alive—spared deliberately on Yang Hun's orders. After all, no matter how formidable a Grand Sovereign was, none could withstand the simultaneous onslaught of a thousand Sovereigns. And among those thousand, there was no shortage of Grand Sovereigns either. "Bring the survivor forward and present him to the Blood Lord!" Sovereign Yang Hun commanded, his voice trembling slightly with excitement. What a pity the enemy was far too weak. It had been an effortless steamroll, giving him no chance to showcase his tactical brilliance. "Yang Hun... the Venerable is invincible! Even with a thousand Sovereigns, so what?" Seeing that he had no way out, the human Grand Sovereign found his nerve. "You have no idea what a majestic existence the Venerable truly is!" Sovereign Yang Hun cast him a sidelong glance and sneered, turning the man's own words back on him: "And you have no idea what a majestic existence your Venerable is up against!" Leading a squad, he dragged the heavily wounded Grand Sovereign toward the rear. The Grand Sovereign hung like a dead fish, not even bothering to struggle. As Yang Hun escorted him into the black mist, his heart suddenly seized. For some inexplicable reason, he felt his body trembling with involuntary dread. Beside his ear came Yang Hun's voice, humble to the point of bowing into the dust: "Blood Lord, the hundred Sovereigns guarding the entrance to the Gate of Myriad Demons have been completely eradicated. We have deliberately spared one survivor!" The Grand Sovereign immediately felt countless eyes watching him from within the darkness. He raised his head, and in those eyes that had long succumbed to despair, a profound terror bloomed! What was he looking at?! A dense, endless sea of Sovereigns! They hovered in the void, gathered in ranks of military battalions like a mortal army, all gathered around the supreme figure in blood-red robes seated upon the highest throne. How many Sovereigns was this...? The Grand Sovereign swallowed hard. Inside the black mist, divine sense could not reach, and his eyes could not grasp the full scale. Ten thousand? Thirty thousand? Or perhaps a hundred thousand? Was this fake? Had the world gone mad? How could there be this many Sovereigns?! He suddenly remembered what he had just shouted at Sovereign Yang Hun. In hindsight, how utterly laughable it was. "Where is the Venerable's lair? "And where is the White Emperor now?" A cold, indifferent voice descended from the blood-robed figure perched high upon the throne. The Grand Sovereign looked up into Qi Yuan's eyes, his expression utterly blank. "They are both at... the Wanzhang Plain..." He hid nothing, mechanically reciting everything he knew. Whether he told them or not no longer made any difference. The endless multitude of Sovereigns filling the sky was incomprehensible, unimaginable. How could even the Venerable he so deeply revered withstand this? He stared at Qi Yuan and suddenly collapsed into a desperate wail: "Is Heaven determined to destroy our Liufeng Realm?! You monster! You Archdemon!" With those final words, he took his own life on the spot. Sovereign Yang Hun's expression shifted slightly. "This subordinate handled the matter poorly, allowing this scoundrel to offend the Blood Lord!" Qi Yuan's gaze was calm. Looking at Sovereign Yang Hun, he asked, "Am I an Archdemon?" Sovereign Yang Hun scrambled to reply, "The Blood Lord is the Child of Destiny, the Hegemon of this realm! How could you possibly be an Archdemon?" A faint smile touched the corner of Qi Yuan's lips. Just then, another Sovereign from the Vanguard Battalion returned. "Blood Lord, we captured several Sovereigns. They claim to be old acquaintances of yours!" Following the report, five Sovereigns were escorted before Qi Yuan. Ling Yayi, who had worn a playful smirk moments earlier, nearly dropped to his knees when he saw the boundless army of Sovereigns blotting out the sky. He Wu was just as stunned, his eyes wide. The scene before them surpassed their wildest imaginations. They had assumed the Blood Lord had merely unified the remaining Sovereign forces of the Liufeng Realm. Unified them? This wasn't unification! This was creating an army out of thin air! Ling Yayi swallowed hard, speaking up boldly to shake off his nervous dread: "Honored Master, Honored Master, do you still remember me?" Qi Yuan looked at the dashing, handsome Ling Yayi and noted his concealed left cheek, his expression shifting slightly. "Thirteen Northern Demon Fiends... I know of you, but I do not know which one you are. What is your name?" Time was fickle, and years washed away all things; reincarnation wore a person's traces smooth. Even Canary had gone from a tsundere to the yandere Ning Tao. He did not recognize Ling Yayi, yet he knew this was his Eldest Disciple, who had entered the Gate of Myriad Demons, endured the curse of myriad demons, and strived to awaken him. Silence. Hearing Qi Yuan's question, Ling Yayi fell silent. He shouldn't have opened his mouth. There were nearly a hundred thousand soldiers here! To utter his former name under the gaze of so many was simply too humiliating. "I am... Nangong..." "Nangong?" Qi Yuan looked puzzled. "Nangong, Nangong..." Ling Yayi grew flustered, until finally he blurted it out: "Nangong... Dagou." "Dagou?" Qi Yuan looked at Ling Yayi, finally recognizing him. Nangong Dagou had been born and raised on Mount Jiupan. Behind them, upon hearing such an absurd name, the expressions of the hundred-thousand-strong army shifted for a brief instant. Had the Blood Lord not been present, and had they not been standing in military formation, they would likely have burst into roaring laughter. "Honored Master, he is Daoist Yu, now known as He Wu!" "Honored Master, I am Gu Qin!" ... "I am Bai Li!" Listening to the five of them, Qi Yuan remained calm. He looked intently at each face, engraving them into his mind, and said solemnly, "I... remember you!" Qi Yuan meant it with complete sincerity. There were many people he had committed to memory. Like the Five Ancestors from the Five Elements Forbidden Ground in his first game. Or Zhang Sheng and Chen Jiao, who had shared their wine with him in the City of No Return. "Honored Master, the situation at the Wanzhang Plain is critical. Please mobilize the army immediately to capture the Venerable! "Canary... is still waiting for you!" He Wu said in a heavy voice. He knew this was no time for reminiscing; the crisis at the Wanzhang Plain had to be resolved without delay. Past memories surfaced one by one in Qi Yuan's mind, yet his expression remained serene. Once he crushed that final boss, the Venerable, his mission to guard the City of No Return would truly be at an end. And then... it would be time for him to leave this game. "March!" A glint of ferocity flashed through Qi Yuan's eyes. In the end, it was time to kill, kill, kill! Filling the sky, one hundred thousand Sovereigns in one hundred thousand crimson robes marched together toward the Wanzhang Plain!