It’s quite laughable that those controlling the flood and saving the people are the demon race, while the ones causing harm by releasing the waters are the human race itself. Truly, a tremendous irony.
Now, after a month of flood control by the demon race, the floodwaters in the Northern Land have disappeared completely, and the soil on the ground has dried up. However, the devastation along the way makes Zhang Chen’s heart ache.
Do you know why?
Everywhere are refugees, dirty and disheveled, forming large groups in the Northern Land, leading donkeys and pushing carts, heading south.
The rumbling of carts, the neighing of horses, travelers with bows and arrows at their waists, mothers, wives walking to bid farewell, dust obscures the Xianyang Bridge.
They’re all citizens fleeing south!
Now that the Northern Land has been breached, the demon race has entered, life is unbearable for its people, and countless citizens, unable to continue living, are now dragging their families southward as the floodwaters recede.
As the carts pass by, they kick up dust, lightly staining Zhang Chen’s clean and tidy clothes with a layer of soil. Nearby, three little ones sit obediently at the edge of the cart, each with dusty faces.
Previously, as the flood rampaged, river silt swept across the Northern Land, leaving the ground thick with river sand and soil, and the carts naturally churn up clouds of dust. This is unavoidable, unless new vegetation grows, which will eventually transform the silt into fertile soil.
Even the wild donkey with its glossy coat is now covered in dust, looking quite disheveled.
"There sure are many refugees along this journey." Xu Erniu, watching the massive procession of thousands, each individual with a blank stare and tattered clothes, speaks with sympathy.
How many massive groups like this have they encountered today?
Not only refugee groups but also surviving merchant caravans now march together across the endless yellow sands.
The Northern Land was submerged by river water, killing off all vegetation, leaving the Northern Land barren and yellow, with new plants yet to grow.
"They have no choice but to form large groups to have a chance of leaving the Northern Land. It’s known that there are demon beasts ravaging the land, and Prince Pingbian’s forces have completely ceased resistance. Ordinary folks, however, can unite against the demon beast army for survival. If they travel alone, encountering even a single fierce beast could be fatal." Zhang Chen explained to Chengyu.
The majority of the demon race’s army consists of ignorant beasts, with only a small portion capable of awakening intelligence. Those with awakened intelligence are akin to human cultivators who have awakened their bloodline. If there were too many such demon beasts, they would have grown long ago and occupied the Divine Land of humans. The invasion of the demon race essentially involves intelligent demon beasts leading those without intelligence in carnage and plunder. If there were too many intelligent demon beasts, given their growth over countless years, the world would have been occupied by the demon race.
Facing a herd of beasts, as long as there are no demon race experts with monster power, common people banding together still hold the advantage.
Never underestimate human strength; a single person armed with a sharp weapon can face several wolves alone.
Ten people with ropes, hooks, nets, alongside swords, spears, and clubs, would dare to contend with a mighty tiger.
And this southbound crowd is not traveling as lone individuals; they are organized by clan, village, and surname, allowing them to look after one another.
Which farmer doesn’t have a sickle or a hoe at home? When they form teams, even if they unintentionally collide with a beast tide, they’re still willing to take a chance.
Of course, if they encounter a Great Demon with awakened monster power that defeats them one by one, then they can only blame their luck.
Moreover, even a Great Demon with monster power, unless it reaches the fifth or sixth tier, would still harbor concerns about a large human group, as the demon race is not made of steel bones, and could be injured by sharp weapons.
Especially with the influence of human clans, hunters, and archers, demon beasts are particularly wary.
It’s essential to understand that not all demon beasts are powerful; their awakened abilities vary greatly in strength. When discussing specific strengths and weaknesses, each is unique; after all, an awakened intelligent tiger and an awakened intelligent rabbit are simply incomparable.
Humans are not to be trifled with either; otherwise, this world wouldn’t be the world of humans.
Driving the donkey cart, Zhang Chen eyes the dispersing great procession and shakes his head inwardly: "Large groups are undoubtedly safer, but they also present a larger target, easily attracting the attention of demon beasts. Yet, the Northern Land is so vast, even if millions of demon race troops rush in, the truly intelligent demon beasts number just a few thousand. Spread out across the Northern Land, they are but a drop in the ocean.
So there is still a chance for humans to escape!
Moreover, once beasts break free from the constraints of demon beasts, they revert to their beastly nature, squabbling fiercely among themselves, engulfed in infighting, with virtually no ability to inflict effective harm on human crowds.
This is also the shortcoming of the Demon Beast race!
The family of Zhang Chen was dirty and dusty, blending into the crowd inconspicuously.
"Big brother, there are so many wandering souls in the air, they smell so fragrant," Zhang Tuowei salivated while staring at the wandering souls in the air.
In this catastrophe in the Northern Land, countless people perished unjustly. The air was full of wandering souls, but these souls lacked fate and couldn’t form a climate. If they couldn’t reach the Underworld soon, they would disappear without a trace in Heaven and Earth.
"No eating! The purity of your bloodline is the most important. With the Heavenly and Earthly Treasures I gave you, as long as you digest them well, your bloodline will eventually reach great success. Although I don’t know the defects of devouring souls, this act harms Heaven and will surely be reckoned with when the future catastrophe arrives," Zhang Chen’s eyes emitted True God Golden Light as his gaze scanned the Northern Land, where vengeful spirits covered the sky, turning into streams of black air undetectable to the naked eye, flowing towards Prince Pingbian’s Ancestral Vein. The Ancestral Vein of Prince Pingbian was shrouded in black air, pitch-black like ink, and the clear and upright light of the earth from the past was long gone.
"Prince Pingbian’s Mansion has committed such grievances and is already being reckoned by the Karmic Force," Zhang Chen thought to himself.
As Zhang Chen pondered over this, a strange roar suddenly came from the north. A black pillar of air shot up, transforming into a flag entirely composed of black air currents. That black flag, accompanied by the cries and howls of ghosts, emitted endless pulling and attracting force, guiding wandering souls toward the flag.
"Yama Banner! A Ghost Dao Cultivator is actually taking advantage to sacrificially refine this evil technique?" Zhang Chen recognized the origin of the flag at a glance. Having read countless cultivation books, he recognized the phenomenon immediately.
The Yama Banner is a supreme treasure of the Ghost Dao. When cultivated to the Mahayana Realm, it can nurture Nine-Child Ghost Mother, even capable of battling Daluo Immortals.
"Someone actually knows this technique? It seems someone has deciphered the Immortal Cultivation Spell," Zhang Chen thought.
This is a Ghost Dao Technique, also known as Yang God Technique; it doesn’t require cultivating magical power, only the power of the Ghost Dao, completely bypassing magical power.
With the appearance of the banner, countless vengeful spirits in the Northern Land roared, flying toward the flag like millions of streams returning to their origin.
"With the countless vengeful spirits from the Northern Land nourishing it, perhaps the banner might open up a Dharma Realm, establishing a country to nurture evil spirits," Zhang Chen speculated. However, once souls fall into it, they won’t be able to live or die, daily and nightly providing power for the Yama Banner in vain.
Those entering the Yama Banner shall never reincarnate!
"Moreover, this Yama Banner has already been sacrificially refined to a great degree; otherwise, it wouldn’t dare to flaunt itself in the Northern Land, which still hosts countless experts." Zhang Chen analytically thought. Although he wished to eradicate evil and defend the Dao, he was powerless against it. Distance aside, he couldn’t destroy the Yama Banner even if he wanted to. That Yama Banner’s Qi Mechanism charged toward the sky, generating Pure Yang Qi, already stepping into the ninth tier. It wasn’t easy to deal with.
The wild donkey seemed to sense the anomaly brought by the Yama Banner, uneasily looking around, and its body starting to react, ready to bolt away at any time.
Zhang Chen whipped the donkey’s rear: "You beast, stop slacking and keep moving."
Cursing and scolding while reprimanding, Zhang Chen’s Dragon Qi exploded within him, calming the donkey.
While talking, a few divine lights in the Northern Land detected the anomaly, soaring into the sky toward the banner. The banner twisted and transformed into a Night Parade of Hundred Demons world, floating above the clouds. After those divine lights entered the banner, they disappeared like stones sinking into the ocean.
"Those divine lights must be at least sixth-tier divine spirits. Yet, after entering the Ghostly Realm of the banner, they haven’t caused any ripples. Something’s amiss, that Yama Banner just generated Pure Yang Qi, barely reaching the ninth tier, how could it have the capability to open a Ghost Country? To establish a Ghostly Realm, it should at least be at the tenth tier, right? Something’s off with that banner," Zhang Chen detected something odd and recalled the records about the Yama Banner.
"Could it be someone didn’t sacrificially refine the Yama Banner, but someone obtained it and is now absorbing souls to repair it?" Zhang Chen pondered.
No matter the opponent’s background or methods, it had nothing to do with Zhang Chen. As long as they didn’t provoke him, things would be fine both ways. If pressed, he’d confront them without backing down, for he was no longer the newbie he once was.
"No sense of security at all, still need to quickly forge the Sun Embers into a ninth-tier skill, only then will I feel secure." Zhang Chen began absorbing the Great Sun Essence, his cultivation already reaching perfection, allowing him to constantly absorb Sun Essence whenever he was under sunlight.
"And then there’s Chen Xu, I wonder how he’s doing now, where he might be," Zhang Chen hadn’t bid farewell to Chen Xu; the old fellow disappeared after his transformation. Zhang Chen hadn’t been able to find him, uncertain if he succeeded in transformation or was caught and skinned.
As Zhang Chen absorbed the Sun Essence, suddenly three divine lights rose within Heaven and Earth, their power startled the entire Northern Land. Zhang Chen opened his eyes in shock, quickly turned, and was astonished, "Three ninth-tier powerhouses of Yellow Heaven Dao have made a move, one of them is Gu Mingyue!"
"Chen’Er, mother feels something’s not right!" While Zhang Chen was in shock, Mrs. Zhang cautiously shouted at Zhang Chen.
Zhang Chen turned to look at Mrs. Zhang and saw her secretly pointing into the distance: "Seems there’s a group of people who’ve been following us for an hour. We, as orphans and widowed, could we have been targeted?"
Hearing this, Zhang Chen followed Mrs. Zhang’s gaze, and indeed saw a dozen figures leisurely following behind their donkey cart.
Those figures were all tall men traveling on foot, trailing behind the cart at a slow pace, dirty and unrecognizable.