The two Skydemon Sect disciples despaired as they watched the Godfiend shoot two bolts of lightning at them. Originally, they had hoped that this Godfiend would spare them.
Boom! Boom!
When the two lightning bolts struck, Qian Rucheng and his fellow Skydemon Sect disciple turned to dust. Even the items they carried with them were destroyed, leaving only two craters behind.
He had to rid evil thoroughly! Meng Chuan never showed mercy to the demons and Skydemon Sect because he knew that the seemingly weak Skydemon Sect disciples would kill many innocent people. Since they had joined the Skydemon Sect and betrayed humanity, they could forget about being spared.
...
Meng Chuan led the Skydemon Sect Elder back to the manor.
“Junior Brother Meng.” Zhang Yunfeng and Yang Fang immediately came to receive him. They saw the goateed elder in Meng Chuan’s grasp.
“He’s a second Firmament Skydemon,” said Meng Chuan. “He’s in charge of liaising with the scouts. He can become a bird via demonic transformation. If I were any slower, he would have flown away.”
“He can become a bird via demonic transformation?” Zhang Yunfeng nodded. “He’s a Skydemon. I’m afraid my illusion spells aren’t strong enough to interrogate him. I’ll get Junior Brother Cheng to interrogate him. Junior Brother Cheng is a Great Solar Mirage Godfiend. He’s much stronger in the field of illusions than me. It won’t be difficult for him to interrogate a second Firmament Skydemon that his demonic powers sealed.”
“I’ll go with you,” Yang Fang said. “You’re only good at domains. Don’t act alone.”
“Yes.” Zhang Yunfeng nodded as well.
The three of them silently left the manor and arrived at Jiang State’s Archean Mountain branch. They found Cheng Shiyou.
After Zhang Yunfeng revealed his token, Cheng Shiyou immediately said, “Senior Brothers, please wait a moment. I’ll interrogate the Skydemon immediately.”
...
In a hall.
In front of Meng Chuan and the others, Cheng Shiyou began casting illusion techniques on the Skydemon. As a peak Great Solar Godfiend with a Mirage Fiend body, he was one of the most important Godfiends in Jiang State Capital. He was in no way inferior to Yu Chiyan—one of Meng Chuan’s Godfiend buddies at North River Pass.
The goateed elder was completely controlled by Cheng Shiyou and answered everything he was asked.
“I don’t know. I’m only in charge of gathering intelligence and reporting it to the Grand Elder. The Grand Elder is in contact with the inner sect,” said the goateed elder in a daze.
“Who is the Grand Elder? How do you contact him?” Cheng Shiyou asked.
“He’s Raven Mountain Palace’s Grand Elder, Chunyu Xiao. I need to fly 300 kilometers to Lanze Lake...” the goateed elder continued.
Pieces of information came out of his mouth.
Meng Chuan and the others frowned as they listened.
“The Skydemon Sect’s spy network is made up of independent chains. There’s no way to investigate the entire network,” said Meng Chuan.
“If it were so easy to investigate, the Skydemon Sect wouldn’t have existed for so many years.” Zhang Yunfeng was calm. “Furthermore, I discovered something. When Raven Mountain Palace Lord gave the orders, he said that the Great Zhou Dynasty has the densest population and that the Jiang State and Wu State have the most people. Which is why it was imperative for them to investigate the Godfiends at the state capitals.”
“Raven Mountain Palace Lord has extremely high status in Skydemon Sect. Apart from the sect master and two deputy sect masters, there are seven Palace Lords in Skydemon Sect,” said Zhang Yunfeng. “Since he said that the Jiang and Wu State has the greatest population density in the Great Zhou Dynasty, their main targets should be the Jiang State and the Wu State.
“Yes.” Yang Fang and Cheng Shiyou nodded in agreement.
Meng Chuan’s heart tightened. He also agreed with Senior Brother Zhang’s speculation. However, Eastcalm Prefecture laid in Wu State. His father, Liu Yebai, and over 10,000 Meng family members were in Eastcalm Prefecture. He was somewhat worried when faced with the demons’ incoming assault. However, he had no choice but to sit still. All Godfiends were under Archean Mountain’s command.
Of course, when Archean Mountain was arranging the defenses, they would also do their best to take care of the Godfiend families. However, Archean Mountain’s main priority was to protect everybody, not just the Godfiend family clans.
“I’ll write a letter and report everything I’ve found out to Archean Mountain,” said Zhang Yunfeng.
...
Meng Chuan and company hid in the dark as they waited in Jiang State Capital silently.
Days passed.
People from various small and medium-sized city passes were still migrating en masse. Demons would occasionally attack a city pass, but they would rush back to the Demon Realm when they realized a Marquis Godfiend was present. The presence of a Marquis Godfiend horrified the demon monarchs.
The demons’ goal was to force the Marquis Godfiends to defend the city passes.
19th March, morning.
The sky was gloomy—a sign that it was about to rain.
Zhang Yunfeng and Yang Fang stayed inside the manor while Meng Chuan continued patrolling the city as usual.
Above the clouds, 50 kilometers away from Jiang State Capital, black water flew over.
Whoosh.
Eleven figures stood above the black water. Leading them was a bald, black-robed man. Barefoot, he stood on the black water. The ten Skydemons behind him had extraordinary auras, but they appeared extremely reverent.
“Look, there’s an avian demon monarch up ahead.” The bald, black-robed man saw a bird flying half a kilometer ahead. With eyes filled with pity, he said, “Unfortunately, a carefree avian demon monarch was enslaved by the Godfiends. Now, he is diligently serving the Godfiends. He doesn’t even know that he is a Demon Realm demon monarch.”
“This bird should be patrolling. However, it can’t see us at all, even though we are very close to it.”
“How can this demon monarch see through the Palace Lord’s concealment?” The Skydemons complimented the Palace Lord’s abilities.
The bald, black-robed man was the Blackwater Palace Lord. The Blackwater Palace was one of Skydemon Sect’s seven factions. He enjoyed a very high status in Skydemon Sect.
Whoosh.
The bald black-robed man stretched out his hand, and an invisible force blanketed the bird—that was half a kilometer away. The bird immediately struggled in pain. Blood spilled out of its body, and it soon became a desiccated corpse—no more blood or liquid was left inside it.
“Let’s meet up with the demon monarchs,” said the bald, black-robed man. He controlled the black water and—with the ten third Firmament Skydemons behind him—descended.
...
50 kilometers outside Jiang State Capital.
Over a hundred demon monarchs gathered on a patch of grass. Sixteen were third Firmament demon monarchs, and 103 were second Firmament demon monarchs.
“He’s here.” The demon monarchs saw the scenery in front of them distort, revealing the bald, black-robed man and the ten third Firmament Skydemons behind him.
“Greetings, Blackwater Palace Lord.” The demon monarch-in charge bowed together with the other demon monarchs.
Although the demons were much stronger than the Skydemon Sect, the demons still had to give face to the Skydemon Sect when they were in the human world. Here, they were partners of equal standing.
After all, Blackwater Palace Lord was a fourth Firmament Skydemon. He was as strong as Marquis Godfiends and fourth Firmament demon monarchs. In the Demon Realm, there were many third Firmament demon monarchs, however, there weren’t as many fourth Firmament demon monarchs. Every fourth Firmament demon monarch enjoyed a high status in the Demon Realm. Thus, they didn’t dare be disrespectful when facing Blackwater Palace Lord.
If Blackwater Palace Lord destroyed them with a flip of his hand and claimed that the human Godfiends had done it, the demons would probably have nothing to say.
“One hundred and nineteen demon monarchs?” When Blackwater Palace Lord saw this, he indifferently asked, “Is that all?”
“We’ve been constantly pursued ever since we entered the human world. It hasn’t been easy to gather so many for the assault on Jiang State Capital,” said Demon Monarch Goat respectfully. “Blackwater Palace Lord, may I know about the Godfiends in Jiang State Capital?”
“I don’t know,” said Blackwater Palace Lord.
“No idea?” The demon monarchs were astonished. The Skydemon Sect was in charge of gathering intelligence, but they actually said they didn’t know?
“The ones responsible for investigating Jiang State Capital didn’t return alive,” said Blackwater indifferently. “However, there’s nothing to be afraid of since we are certain that all Marquis Godfiends are defending the middle-sized city passes.”
“Yes, yes,” answered Demon Monarch Goat obediently. The other demon monarchs exchanged looks and did not dare say a word.
“Jiang State Capital.” Blackwater Palace Lord looked at the city a hundred kilometers away. He whispered, “Jiang and Wu in harvest spell food for the world?”
There was indeed a saying in the Great Zhou Dynasty that Jiang and Wu in harvest spelled food for the world. Although the Great Zhou Dynasty was more densely populated than the Great Yue Dynasty, that was the overall situation. There were still major differences in the Great Zhou Dynasty’s 23 states. For example, the places in the north—such as North River Pass—were cold and mountainous. Here, few places were suitable for growing food, and harvests only happened once a year.
The Jiang State and Wu State were different. The Great Zhou Dynasty’s southeastern region was filled with plains. Many lakes littered the region, and water was abundant. There was no need to worry about droughts. In the vast fertile lands, large fields lined the area. Additionally, harvests happened twice a year here—meaning a lot more food was produced than in the northern regions.
“The Godfiends allowed demon monarchs entry since they hold the absolute advantage. It’s very difficult to engage in wanton massacres. It’s already impressive if we can kill 20 to 30 percent of the population by paying a huge price. Their losses would be rapidly recovered with the humans’ reproductive abilities. If we want to reduce the number of humans, we have to cut off their food supplies. Without food, there will be fewer people.”
Blackwater Palace Lord knew what the Skydemon Sect and the Demon Realm’s leaders had planned. Food was the demon’s primary target. Thus, the Jiang State and Wu State were of utmost importance.
“All demon monarchs are to scatter. Invade Jiang State Capital from all directions and kill anyone you come across. All you need to do is slaughter everybody you see,” ordered Blackwater Palace Lord.
“Yes,” answered the demon monarchs in unison.