Within the Wanzhang Plain.
The Venerable was wrapped in a white overcoat. Her gaze was unfathomably deep, always making it impossible to see through her thoughts.
At this moment, the White Emperor Palace's final stronghold in the Wanzhang Plain had shrunken into a tight perimeter.
Nearly ten thousand Sovereigns, along with over a hundred Grand Sovereigns, encircled the stronghold on all sides.
Now that the entrance to the Gate of Myriad Demons had opened, more than half of Shang Yanran's plan was already complete.
Looking toward the stronghold, where the Great Sun Golden Lotus radiated a blazing white aura, a glint of greed flashed in her eyes.
"It... will be mine. No one can stop me!"
After scheming for so many years, she was finally closer to it than ever before!
The Great Sun Golden Lotus, a relic left behind by the Great Sun Radiant Buddha upon his passing—such a supreme treasure was currently covered in dust, treated merely as the Heartless Lotus.
Only in her hands could this supreme treasure unleash its greatest worth.
The Liufeng Realm, as well as the Myriad Demons Realm she had tainted, would become her true paradise.
And she, too, would attain ascension.
"Venerable, when shall we launch the general offensive?" A Grand Sovereign standing beside her asked with a bewildered expression.
The Venerable had maintained the siege without attacking for twenty years. He could not understand why she acted this way.
Now that the Gate of Myriad Demons was open, the urgent priority ought to be wiping out every last remnant of the White Emperor Palace and bringing the Liufeng Realm entirely under their control.
"Once the Blood Lord has been captured, the general offensive will begin." The Venerable had her own designs.
Bai Ze... was the Buddha.
Trapped in the cycle of samsara life after life, he had long lost the formidable magic power of his past.
Even so... swallowing him whole would not be that easy.
What she excelled at had never been cultivation or Daoist arts, but manipulating the human heart.
Thus, even when the Buddha of back then was vastly more powerful than her, had he not still been played in the palm of her hand and reduced to an Archdemon?
Which also birthed the demonic monstrosities of this era.
"Grand Sovereign Cat Demoness... should be returning soon." This human Grand Sovereign felt rather excited.
He would soon witness that glorious moment.
Yet thinking up to this point, he hesitated slightly. "What if the Blood Lord is too powerful or has helpers, and Grand Sovereign Cat Demoness fails to capture him? What then?"
"No matter how strong he is, he is at most a Grand Sovereign.
"Even if he has helpers, how many could there be?
"Even if the cat demoness cannot capture him and lets him escape, he will still come here.
"The Canary... has been here all along."
Shang Yanran possessed some curiosity toward the Blood Lord, but far less than she did toward Bai Ze.
On the Blood Lord, she could not sense the slightest trace of... a deity's aura.
In that case, he was beneath concern.
No matter how talented or breathtaking a mortal might be, so long as they were not a deity, they were merely... playthings.
Even the Buddha, who had once been a deity, had ended up danced upon the palm of her hand, hadn't he?
As for the Blood Lord, he was merely an unexpected pawn.
"Bai Ze, do you still refuse to see me?" Just then, a faint smile flickered in Shang Yanran's eyes, and her somewhat desolate voice drifted into the White Emperor Palace's final stronghold.
She began her performance.
Bai Ze's silhouette appeared at that very moment.
He looked at Shang Yanran with eyes full of sorrow and compassion. "Yanran, the sea of bitterness is boundless; turn back to find the shore. Do not continue down this path of error."
"What error have I committed?" Shang Yanran wore an expression of aggrieved sorrow. "I did all this for the sake of the entire Liufeng Realm.
"Or do you wish to watch the entire Liufeng Realm be ravaged by demonic monstrosities, sinking into oblivion?"
Bai Ze sighed helplessly. "That is why the Southern Lands... were the best solution."
Preventing cultivators from dying of natural old age could purge the demonic monstrosities.
It was a helpless course, yet there had been no better way.
"And now... isn't there a better way?" Shang Yanran looked at Bai Ze with an icy glint in her eyes. "The reincarnations of both the Archdemon and the demoness have been found. As long as..."
"Hmph! Shang Yanran, stop spewing your bewitching lies! You colluded with the Myriad Demons Realm and brought war upon us; that alone is a monstrous crime!" one of the Sovereigns among the Thirteen Northern Demon Fiends barked, his eyes blazing with fury.
Seeing his former senior sister become like this, how could his heart not ache?
"Our master's kindness to me was indeed as weighty as a mountain, but he holds the survival of this entire realm in his hands. We must place the common people above all else!
"If Master perishes, I shall build a temple in his honor and pay homage every night..."
Before Shang Yanran could finish her words, a terrified voice suddenly shrieked from afar.
A Grand Sovereign, his face pale with utter horror, flew frantically toward Shang Yanran.
"Disaster! Disaster! They've breached our lines! They're slaughtering their way here!"
Hearing this, Shang Yanran's eyes flickered with surprise.
She glanced at Bai Ze and said slowly, "Husband, we must place the common people above all else!"
Back then, for the sake of the world's common people, the Buddha had slain the demoness who had fallen into corruption alongside him—namely, her.
Now, Shang Yanran was full of confidence that Bai Ze would certainly execute the Blood Lord for the sake of the world.
In Bai Ze's eyes, in the Buddha's heart, there had only ever been the world's common people. How could there ever be room for a demoness like her?
And how could there be room for an Archdemon like the Blood Lord?
Shang Yanran's figure faded away, vanishing from the spot.
Meanwhile, within the stronghold, Bai Ze's eyes were profound and unreadable.
The member of the Thirteen Northern Demon Fiends who had just hurled curses at the Venerable also looked perplexed. "Slaughtering their way here? Could it be... Master has arrived?"
At the thought, excitement surged through him.
A reunion with old friends was, after all, one of the most joyous occasions under heaven.
Ning Tao held a longsword, her black dress accentuating her slender, graceful figure. A light touch of makeup seemed to grace her face, and the half that remained visible was already peerless in the mortal realm.
The auras of Greed, Pride, and Lust swirled around the blade. Hidden deep within Ning Tao's cool, aloof eyes was a faint sliver of trepidation. "I want to... go out and meet him."
She felt somewhat frightened of facing him in this state.
"You cannot. If you go out, the Venerable will never spare you!
"If Master comes here, and you are captured by her... then..." Bai Ze hesitated, leaving the rest unsaid.
Hearing that, Ning Tao tightened her grip on her sword. "I just want to take a look."
She was not acting out of willful stubbornness; she merely wished to catch a glimpse.
...
Perched upon his throne, Qi Yuan wore a relaxed expression.
"Bringing an army to steamroll through is so much better. Grinding mobs alone is simply too slow."
If he had been on his own, how long would it have taken to clear out the entire Gate of Myriad Demons?
The Sovereigns from the Myriad Demons Realm here were neither the old codgers from Dijue nor the Liufeng Realm Sovereigns whose fates he could decide in an instant with a single origin divine ability.
To be frank, ten thousand demon Sovereigns could easily drown Qi Yuan in sheer numbers.
"Reporting to the Blood Lord, the Song Battalion has cleared the stronghold ahead, slaying thirty-seven enemies!" Liu Gaoda, commander of the Song Battalion, stood clad in blood-red robes with a helpless expression.
The stronghold assigned to him this time had too few Sovereigns.
They had been wiped out in a single exchange.
"Not bad," Qi Yuan remarked casually.
Though Liu Gaoda was an esteemed Sovereign, he was willing to cast aside his pride and got along very well with Yuan Qi. The name 'Song Battalion' was also linked to Yuan Qi's brother.
Qi Yuan recalled something and inquired, "How much longer until we push into the Wanzhang Plain?"
The army had been advancing continuously, slaughtering every resisting enemy in their path.
"Roughly half an hour," Chen Huan replied with a solemn expression.
For this campaign, he served as the Grand Marshal of the Armed Forces, overseeing and coordinating all battle maneuvers.
Directing an army of a hundred thousand single-handedly—all of them Sovereigns—he was truly at the pinnacle of high spirits.
"Clearing a massive dungeon raid in less than a day—such is the power of the masses," Qi Yuan marveled.
There was undeniable strength in numbers.
Having a massive crowd was truly wonderful.
"Continue advancing. Slay every enemy in sight!"
As the grand army marched forward, the game drew near its conclusion. Inside, Qi Yuan felt remarkably calm.
...
"Who has breached our lines?" Shang Yanran demanded with a frosty glare, looking at the dozen or so flustered Sovereigns in the hall.
"It's the Blood Lord! He's leading a massive army and completely wiped out our forward stronghold! There are too many of them, all dressed in blood-red robes! If I hadn't been standing far back, I would have died there too!" one Sovereign cried in terror.
The other Sovereigns hurriedly nodded in agreement. "Yes! It's the Blood Lord's army!"
"The Blood Lord? An army?" A look of surprise crossed Shang Yanran's face. "How many do they have?"
"A thousand Sovereigns!" one Sovereign blurted out.
"Nonsense, it was clearly three thousand!"
"It was five thousand!"
"You're all wrong, it was ten thousand!"
"Stop talking nonsense, where could the Liufeng Realm possibly get so many Sovereigns?"
Arguments erupted incessantly throughout the hall.
Reports on the size of the Blood Lord's army varied wildly.
A flicker of astonishment passed through Shang Yanran's eyes. "It seems the Blood Lord has already unified the Liufeng Realm. He does possess some ability.
"A pity, then. With ten thousand demon Sovereigns on our side, their arrival is nothing more than seeking their own deaths!"
The demon Sovereigns present broke into radiant grins.
"Let him tear down the outer strongholds as he pleases. Once he reaches the Wanzhang Plain, it will be his death!" Shang Yanran declared with supreme confidence.
The Liufeng Realm's world tier was noticeably inferior to that of the Myriad Demons Realm.
In Shang Yanran's grand scheme, after securing the Great Sun Golden Lotus, the first realm she would devour was Liufeng.
The Liufeng Realm would become her playground.
"I shall lead five thousand Sovereigns to take them down!" a demon Grand Sovereign volunteered from the floor, brimmed with confidence.
Shang Yanran hesitated briefly before replying, "Very well. The Blood Lord must be captured alive. Grand Sovereign Hong Niu, I leave this to you."
Five thousand Sovereigns were more than enough to sweep across the Liufeng Realm.
The demon Grand Sovereign nodded firmly. "I will accomplish the mission without fail!"
Every Sovereign from the Liufeng Realm was a treasure in their own right.
Right now, he was rubbing his palms together, eager to capture the Blood Lord in one fell swoop and claim grand achievements.
"A mere thousand Sovereigns can be wiped out in an instant!"
"Men, assemble the army!" Armed with Shang Yanran's decree, Grand Sovereign Hong Niu prepared to mobilize his forces to confront the Blood Lord.
"Grand Sovereign Hong Niu, assembling five thousand Sovereigns on short notice will likely take half a day," a Sovereign reported.
After all, this was a clash between grand formations of Sovereigns. It was not like ordinary skirmishes where one could simply yell and charge in.
Disorganized Sovereigns stood no chance against structured formations.
"Half a day?" Hearing this, Grand Sovereign Hong Niu nodded. "I will warm a cup of wine and drink. Once I finish, I shall go and sweep the Liufeng Realm.
"Maintaining this siege without attacking has truly been boring."
Grand Sovereign Hong Niu left, delegating the tasks to his subordinates.
Meanwhile, he huddled together with a few familiar Grand Sovereigns to drink.
"In just a few hours, Hong Niu, you will sweep across the Liufeng Realm. If you earn the Venerable's favor, you might gain entry into the true Gate of Myriad Demons. How envious that makes us," a female demon Grand Sovereign remarked, her eyes full of admiration.
"That Blood Lord possesses some skill, and we haven't captured him yet. Speaking of this now is a bit premature," Grand Sovereign Hong Niu replied modestly.
"The Sovereigns of the Liufeng Realm are nothing but clay chickens and pottery dogs. Once your army marches out, Hong Niu, they will be easily slaughtered!"
"Hey, what did our Dog Clan ever do to offend you?"
The Grand Sovereigns drank and chatted merrily, thoroughly enjoying themselves.
"With five thousand Sovereigns marching out together, capturing that Blood Lord is certain!" Having downed a few cups of wine, Grand Sovereign Hong Niu felt a little lightheaded and arrogant.
"We could drink here for three days, and before the wine is even finished, Grand Sovereign Hong Niu will likely return in triumph!" another Sovereign praised.
Grand Sovereign Hong Niu's spirits soared. "If it succeeds, it shall indeed be remembered as a glorious tale for the ages."
Yet right at that moment, an overwhelmingly immense aura suddenly permeated the air.
A chilling cry of slaughter pierced through the firmament.
"Kill!"
Grand Sovereign Hong Niu froze, bewildered. He hadn't even finished a pot of wine—what on earth had happened? He promptly flew out of the palace.
There, standing in the void, was a contingent of figures clad in blood-red robes, charging straight toward them.
That red-robed unit numbered a full one thousand, and every single one was a Sovereign.
"I haven't even marched out to capture you, yet you dare launch a surprise attack on me? What audacity!"
"Sovereigns, hear my command! Form the battle array!"
Grand Sovereign Hong Niu bellowed an order.
The Sovereigns throughout the camp quickly formed a magical formation.
Boom!
The thousand red-robed Sovereigns struck simultaneously, while the camp's Sovereigns scrambled to meet them.
In an instant, dozens of corpses plummeted from the sky.
Grand Sovereign Hong Niu cared nothing for the fallen Sovereigns. "A sudden ambush is only formidable on the initial wave. Once our battle array is set, we will trap you all here!"
He was brimming with confidence; his rise to glory would take place today.
Daring to raid their camp was simply walking into death!
Yet just as the words left his mouth, another wave of battle cries tore through the air.
Up in the sky, two more divisions of red-robed Sovereigns emerged.
Each division numbered a thousand Sovereigns.
Grand Sovereign Hong Niu's expression finally turned grave, yet his heart remained steady. "Three thousand Sovereigns... is this the entirety of the Liufeng Realm's foundation?"
He showed no fear whatsoever!
"All Sovereigns, form the grand array and slay the invading enemies!"
Inside the camp, five thousand Sovereigns managed to cobble together a battle array. A triumphant sneer surfaced on Grand Sovereign Hong Niu's face. "Five thousand against three thousand—the advantage is mine! Encircle and slaughter them!"
Beside him, a Grand Sovereign from the Liufeng Realm's Northern Lands sighed with emotion. "This must be their absolute limit. To think that all the Sovereigns accumulated by the Liufeng Realm over ten thousand years will perish here today."
He lamented.
Yet right then, an event beyond anyone's wildest expectations unfolded.
From the sky above, several more roaring shouts of "Kill!" thundered down.
Everyone looked up, only to see five more divisions of red-robed figures descending from the heavens.
A staggering five thousand more Sovereigns!
"What is going on?" Grand Sovereign Hong Niu was dumbfounded.
How could there be more?!
The Grand Sovereign who had just been lamenting also froze in shock.
Since when did the Liufeng Realm have so many Sovereigns?!
"I am Yang Hun, Commander of the Blood Palace's Vanguard Battalion!"
"By order of the Blood Lord, execute the Venerable!"
"Those who obstruct us: die!"
"Those who surrender: die!"
Commanding these seven thousand Sovereigns, Sovereign Yang Hun launched a ferocious assault upon the camp.
With a single strike, the heavens crumbled and the earth fractured.
"Five thousand against seven thousand, and I still have six thousand Sovereigns behind me! In this battle, the advantage remains mine!" Grand Sovereign Hong Niu roared, entirely unfazed by the Blood Palace's forces.
This was also the mindset shared by many of the Sovereigns present.
The enemy's numbers had exceeded their predictions, but the overall advantage still lay firmly on their side.
Meanwhile, a trace of disdain curled on Sovereign Yang Hun's lips. "It seems you still have no idea what kind of horror you are about to face!"
He eagerly awaited the moment the full army pressed forward, watching the shock and dread twist these Sovereigns' faces as every defense was pulverized!
"Hmph, a puny Liufeng Realm daring to oppose our Myriad Demons Realm is like an egg striking a stone..."
Before Grand Sovereign Hong Niu could finish, an earth-shattering roar swept in from the heavens like an overwhelming tidal wave.
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
The roar was like an ocean tempest sweeping in from every direction.
Grand Sovereign Hong Niu tilted his head toward the sky, his eyes bulging wide.
Across the firmament...
One division!
Ten divisions!
Thirty divisions!
Seventy divisions!
Legions of blood-red robes surged forward, sweeping across the horizon.
And the numbers continued to climb relentlessly.
Looking up, the vast canopy of heaven was densely blanketed by a sea of red-robed figures.
The numbers kept multiplying without end!
Witnessing this, Grand Sovereign Hong Niu's eyes nearly split open, his gaze drowned in absolute terror. "What... what is that?!"
"How is this possible?!"
Every Sovereign shuddered in sheer panic. Staring at the sea of crimson figures filling the sky, their minds went blank as they gasped in horror!
An army of one hundred thousand had finally arrived at the Wanzhang Plain.
Red robes fluttered across the sky; as far as the eye could see, heaven itself was painted crimson.
Even the earth below seemed bathed in shades of blood!
An army of one hundred thousand, organized into more than a hundred battle formations, each comprised entirely of Sovereigns.
It was... utterly inconceivable!
Against such a horrifying force, who could stand?
Who could possibly stop them?
Just then, in the heart of the hundred-thousand-strong army of Sovereigns, the red-robed figure seated upon the throne rose to his feet. His gaze carried an overpowering dominance that looked down upon the entire world.
He swept his eyes over the several thousand Myriad Demons Realm Sovereigns across the Wanzhang Plain, his voice resounding across all directions.
"With one hundred thousand Sovereigns as my foot soldiers, what do you have to stop me?"
"A major raid boss? Nothing more than a tiny shrimp!"
"Warriors of the Blood Palace, hear my command: kill!"
With a single command from Qi Yuan, one hundred thousand Sovereigns charged forward as one.
Crimson clouds bore down upon the stronghold, and the heavens tore asunder!
One hundred thousand Sovereigns striking simultaneously was truly earth-shattering, a spectacle grand enough to shake the gods themselves.
"Kill!"
"Kill!"
One hundred thousand Sovereigns held nothing back. Countless origin divine abilities surged toward those five thousand Sovereigns!
It was a completely one-sided massacre!
A drenched, bloody slaughter!
Pity those five thousand Sovereigns: every single one was an exceptional talent in their own right, yet now they fell before the torrent of origin divine abilities from one hundred thousand Sovereigns.
Before dying, they didn't even know which Sovereign's origin divine ability had claimed their lives.
Without even seeing the faces of their foes, they perished on the spot.
If an autopsy could be performed, one would surely find their bodies completely saturated with origin divine abilities.
"Trespassers against our Blood Palace: kill!"
Morale surged like a rainbow as one hundred thousand Sovereigns roared in unison.
Origin divine abilities unleashed simultaneously, obliterating mountains and rivers.
"Those who block our Blood Palace: kill!"
Origin divine abilities unleashed once more, plunging the earth into ruin.
"Enemies of the Blood Palace: kill!"
Origin divine abilities unleashed again, more terrifying than a nuclear carpet bombing.
How could the terrain and landscape here possibly remain intact?
One could say the hundred thousand Sovereigns were now purely striking empty air.
The five thousand Sovereigns below had long since been wiped out... not even their corpses remained.
Everywhere, origin divine abilities raged; everywhere, the terrifying auras of Greed, Lust, and Pride swept through the air.
This army of one hundred thousand steamrolled the entire area in the blink of an eye!
One hundred thousand against five thousand was absolute, unmitigated crushing power!
No matter how breathtakingly gifted a Grand Sovereign might be, they were bound to perish within this endless, boundless torrent of divine abilities!
This was the Blood Palace; this was Qi Yuan's secret to clearing dungeons!
At this moment, the one hundred thousand Sovereigns moved like Qi Yuan's own limbs, surging toward the depths of the Wanzhang Plain in accordance with his gaze.
There lay the final five thousand Sovereigns!
Meanwhile, inside the White Emperor Palace's stronghold.
Everyone was utterly stunned—or rather, paralyzed in disbelief.
The scene before their eyes had completely surpassed their imagination!
Or rather, they hadn't even dared to imagine such a thing.
Ning Tao gripped her blood-red sword. Piercing through the crimson mist with a single glance, she saw that man she had longed for day and night.
"He is... my childhood friend!"
Chapter 134