The Enemy of Humanity
In the depths of the endless underground, numerous ferocious demons were gathering from all directions.
The faint light from the moss illuminated the wide cavern, but even brighter were dozens of pairs of eyes. Most of their pupils were squinted into slits, as if they were not used to such a bright environment.
Fierce, cold, or arrogant gazes clashed in the air, creating sparks.
Their breaths, filled with the stench of blood, rose and fell, like the restlessness of a volcano before an eruption. Occasionally, a low roar could be heard, like thunder rolling across the sky, echoing endlessly in the cavern.
Their demonic auras gathered in the darkness, entangling with one another and exchanging information. However, they maintained a cautious distance between each other.
Their enormous bodies formed black shadows in the dim light, wriggling, swaying, and twisting.
In the past, they had never interacted with each other, but today, they had been summoned by a single person.
Suddenly, their gazes converged in the same direction.
Thump, thump, thump!
Heavy footsteps shook the ground. They were still very far away, but a violent wave of demonic aura rushed into the cavern first. This was how the demons greeted each other, but it was filled with arrogance and provocation. Normally, it would cause a fight.
All the demons retracted their demonic auras and lowered their heads, as if they were subjects waiting for the arrival of their king.
They could all sense that he had become even stronger. Like a sharpened demonic blade, it shone with a bloodthirsty light.
A huge black shadow appeared at the dark entrance of the cavern. The entrance was diagonally above the cavern and was several meters wide, but it was still not big enough to accommodate his body. However, he only raised his head high. His two sharp horns swept across the ceiling of the cavern, creating a string of sparks.
The black shadow leapt into the air. His enormous body was not clumsy at all. He was like a ferocious tiger coming down the mountain.
He landed loudly, his scarlet hair flying like fire. His scarlet eyes swept across the crowd of demons like a blade, causing them to lower their heads even more.
Little Ann and Milliped sat on his shoulders, one on the left and the other on the right. Little Ann had turned into a skeleton, and two Skull Prayer Beads floated above his head.
Milliped, on the other hand, was dozing off against Li Qingshan's head. However, the powerful demonic aura emanating from his body continued to spread in all directions, scattering the demonic auras of the other demons.
Li Qingshan waved his hand, and blood and flesh rained down, forming a small mountain in the center of the cave. These were dishes cooked by humans and the three fresh animals mixed together, giving off an alluring fragrance.
Almost all the demons were drooling. They had never seen so much food in their lives.
"This is what I promised. Now, eat!" Li Qingshan's deep voice was like a metallic hum, penetrating rapidly.
His words were like a spark falling into the fire. The demons swarmed forward, each more ferocious and vigorous than the last. Pouncing on food was their innate instinct.
After a few roars to test the waters, they were naturally divided into ranks. The strongest few monsters were the first to eat.
The Blackwater Salamander gulped down a pile of fresh fish. It was glad that it had come. Otherwise, it would have missed out on such a feast.
The Boulder Viper coiled its body and swallowed an entire cow. With a wave of its tail, it swallowed a sheep.
The Ice Frog's eating method was the strangest. It opened its mouth to a terrifying extent and breathed out cold air, freezing the food into ice shards. Then, it sucked hard, and its body immediately swelled up. All the ice shards were sucked into its body, like a bottomless pit that could not be filled no matter what.
The other monsters were patrolling restlessly in the surroundings.
This scene was like an ancient and primitive ceremony. They were like the ancestors of mankind, dancing around a bonfire to start their civilization.
Milliped smelled the fragrance of food and opened his eyes slightly. Li Qingshan passed him the food and wine that he had prepared. He ate heartily, then lay down on Li Qingshan's shoulder and fell asleep.
Li Qingshan shook his head. He had wanted Milliped to say a few words to raise the morale of the demons, but it seemed that there was no need.
He did not take out all the food at once. Hunger was the driving force behind the food. When the three daemon soldiers under him had eaten half of the food, he ordered them to stop and let the other daemons eat.
However, the feasting daemons were at their most ferocious. Why would they listen to Li Qingshan's orders? They only cared about eating and drinking.
Li Qingshan began to move. He grabbed the boulder viper's head with his huge claws and pressed it against the ground. The boulder viper's body wrapped around Li Qingshan instinctively, like a thick belt. It coiled around Li Qingshan's waist a few times, but it discovered that its body was even tougher than metal. The piercing pain from its head made it return to its senses. The claws could actually pierce its armour.
He grabbed the Blackwater Salamander's neck with his other hand. Although the Blackwater Salamander could slide away, it did not move obediently.
The Ice Frog wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to eat a few more mouthfuls, but a bone sword was aimed at it. Little Ann's eye sockets burned with flames.
The bone sword had been forged from the bones of the first senior brother of the Pheasant's Grace mountain.
Although the artifact forging section of the Path of White Bone and Great Beauty had a sword called the Buddha Slaying sword, it was not something that Little Ann could forge right now. As a result, apart from being tough, the sword did not have any other uses.
However, to a supreme swordsman, a tough sword was enough.
The Ice Frog was immediately stunned by the sword intent. It dared not move. It felt like as long as it moved slightly, it would attract a tsunami of attacks.
The three strongest daemon soldiers were subdued immediately, and the other daemons dared not move either.
Milliped opened his sleepy eyes and asked, "Are they disobedient?"
Li Qingshan smiled. "You'll have to ask them that!"
The three daemons expressed their submission in a hurry. Li Qingshan released the three daemon soldiers and said nothing more. He only declared his right to distribute the food once more. The leader would always declare this right to the group and strike down anyone who tried to provoke him.
The other daemon soldiers immediately ate in a much more orderly manner. After all of the food had been distributed, all the daemons felt like they had not had enough. Their stomachs that had not eaten for a very long time seemed to become even hungrier.
"The human cultivators have already begun to enter the underground!" Li Qingshan finally spoke. At the same time, he used daemon qi and his voice to send a message.
All of the daemons raised their heads cautiously. They also understood the danger that humans posed.
"For the sake of killing us, for the daemon cores in our bodies, for the spiritual herbs in our caves, from today onwards, you must listen to my orders. You cannot fight on your own anymore. We must work together and face the enemy together. After this, I will redistribute the food according to your contributions!
"Now, set off and kill everyone!" Li Qingshan raised his right hand before swinging it down viciously.
Various howls and howls shook up the cavern, causing rocks to fall down. The daemon army set off.
Li Qingshan stood at the very back. When all of the daemons had entered the cavern, he muttered to himself in an extremely low voice, "The codename for this operation is' Enemy of Humanity '."
A strange smile appeared on his face. It seemed to be a cruel smile, a bitter smile of sorrow, or a cold smile of self-mockery. Then, it all disappeared, replaced by silent determination.
This was the path he had chosen. He would not hesitate or regret it.
"Alright, go to sleep!" Li Qingshan put Milliped down from his shoulder. There would not be any Foundation Establishment cultivators entering the underground. With his current strength, he could kill any Qi Practitioner.
"Be careful." Milliped muttered. He crawled towards his cave abode, his buttocks rising and falling. He moved extremely quickly.
Li Qingshan smiled easily. He put his hands in front of his chest and bowed slightly. "I will fight for you!" Then, he nodded at Little Ann. "And for you!"
Finally, he stood up and said proudly, "Fight for me!"
With large strides, he disappeared into the depths of the cavern.
… …
His footsteps landed on the ground silently, advancing steadily and quickly.
The disciples of the three sects had already split up underground, advancing towards their respective targets and paths. Normally, it would be a Qi Practitioner at the sixth layer or above leading a few weaker Qi Practitioners.
This group was led by the person who called himself caretaker Liu, Liu Fengrui. However, his face was sunken. He completely ignored the flattery of his junior brothers beside him.
Recently, he had been very unhappy on the Green Vine mountain. He had never thought that bringing back a little girl would actually cause so much trouble. Not only did he earn the cold glances of his senior brothers, but even the Green Vine Elder did not treat him kindly.
He was not afraid of the cold glances of his senior brothers, but once he lost the favour of his master in a small sect like this, it would be extremely terrifying. He could not help but grind his teeth in hatred towards Yu Zijian. He was eager for her to die in the ceremony this time. If there was a good opportunity, he did not mind contributing to this matter.
"Senior brother, there's a daemonic beast's nest up ahead. There should be Quartz grass growing in the surroundings. That's an essential spiritual herb for refining Stone Grain pills," a disciple of the Green Vine mountain said in surprise and joy as he held a small mental map in his hand.
He interrupted Liu Fengrui's thoughts and said in displeasure, "What kind of high grade spiritual herb is Quartz grass? We're still very close to the surface. If you want to find the good stuff, you'll have to go even deeper. It's just a daemonic beast, and it hasn't even condensed a daemon core yet."
The disciples of the Green Vine mountain all nodded obediently. Venturing deeper underground increased the danger. How could daemons with daemon cores be so easy to deal with? Although daemonic beasts did not have daemon cores, their skin and bones were all great materials for forging spiritual artifacts. Their flesh and blood were of great use too.
"Let's go take a look!" Liu Fengrui ordered. All he could do was gather some more spiritual herbs from the Herb Gathering ceremony this time to redeem his master's impression of him.
The dark cave was so dark that one couldn't even see their fingers in front of them. The group moved forward quickly. The Clear Sight Talisman didn't affect their eyesight too much. With their skills, the winding cave with rocks couldn't stop their footsteps.
Suddenly, a third layer Qi Practitioner disciple said, "Senior brother, it's so cold!" He shivered as well.
Liu Fengrui also sensed the coldness in the surroundings. Looking back at his junior brothers, they were all pale-faced and their lips had turned blue. Qi Practitioners with innate true qi should have been impervious to heat and cold, but right now, they were afraid of the cold like regular people.
"This is unusual. The records didn't say it would be so cold in here!"
"It wasn't so cold last time I came. The underground caverns change frequently. Has something happened? Do you want to go somewhere else, senior brother?" An old Qi Practitioner asked carefully. He was only a third layer Qi Practitioner, so he had to refer to Liu Fengrui as senior brother.
Liu Fengrui's eyes swiveled. "Master is watching us from above. If we retreat before we've even encountered any danger, what kind of disciple of the Green Vine mountain are we? Let's go. It won't be cold if we walk. The Quartz grass is right up ahead!"
They began to run through the cavern, but the coldness did not lessen. Instead, it grew colder and colder. Even Liu Fengrui felt the bone-chilling coldness, let alone the junior brothers behind him. They all slowed down.
"We can't! Senior brother, let's retreat!"
"Croak, croak!"
Just when Liu Fengrui was about to order them to retreat, a loud croak rang through the cavern.
"It's a daemonic beast!" Everyone responded. Apart from daemonic beasts, what other animals could survive here?
"We'll leave after we kill this daemonic beast!" Liu Fengrui beamed with joy and hurried off with the others.
Cold mist permeated the darkness, and a layer of frost formed on the grey Quartz grass. An icy-blue frog hopped around on a rock. "Croak, croak!"
Liu Fengrui could not help but feel disappointed. The strength of a daemonic beast was often related to its size. The larger it was, the more powerful it was, and the more valuable it was. The frog was so small, so it had clearly only recently evolved from a beast to a daemon.
Suddenly, he thought of something. How could a low level daemonic beast give off such a heavy coldness?
"Who's there?"
A few blurry figures appeared in the cold mist. Liu Fengrui's eyes narrowed, and he raised his hand and struck out. It had already been a secret for Qi Practitioners to kill one another for the sake of spiritual herbs and daemonic beasts. Underground, humans were even more dangerous than daemons.
Even more terrifyingly, he actually failed to sense their presences. Clearly, they were hiding on purpose and wanted to launch a sneak attack, which was why he showed no mercy right from the start.
However, the figures did not move at all, allowing the true qi to land on them. There was a crisp sound, and the wind from the palm dispersed the cold mist, revealing the figures.
Liu Fengrui immediately felt like all the blood in his body had frozen. He finally understood why he could not sense their presences. It was because they had all been reduced to ice sculptures. Dead people obviously did not have any presences.
They all wore the uniform of the Pheasant's Grace mountain. One of them had two chicken feathers embroidered on his chest. He was an inner disciple before the sixth layer, but now, they were all dead.
They were all dead, but their bodies were still in the same position as before they died. They were still trying to wield their Spirit Tools and conjure their spells. Their expressions were frozen with fear, and they were all looking in the same direction — the ice-blue frog.
"What daemon is this …" In his fright, a disciple of the Green Vine mountain swung a green staff that flickered with light at the ice frog.
The ice frog opened its mouth and sprayed out a ball of white, cold air. The disciple was immediately frozen into an ice sculpture.
The cold air gushed out, and his seniors and juniors behind him immediately followed in his footsteps. The cold air was like thousands of tiny, invisible blades, piercing their protective true qi.
Crack, crack. The air was filled with the sounds of freezing, like the notes of death.
Liu Fengrui summoned his flying sword as he roared out before maintaining the same posture forever. One final thought flashed through his mind. They were not facing some daemonic beast, but a true daemon, and a powerful one among daemons at that. However, why would a daemon appear at such a shallow level?
It was just like how a tenth layer Qi Practitioner killing a group of weaker Qi Practitioners was a piece of cake.
"Croak, croak! Eleven, croak, croak! That's enough for ten. " The ice frog opened its mouth and sucked. The ice sculptures shattered into ice shards and were sucked into its mouth. Only the spirit artifacts in their hands and the hundred treasures pouches on their bodies remained intact.
"Croak, croak, the leader wants this!"
The ice frog collected all of them and placed them in a cave not far away. This was the token used to calculate contribution points. Inside the cave was a huge rabbit-like demonic beast. Its body was shriveled up and it was trembling non-stop. It was unknown whether it was because of fear or the cold. It was originally the target that the Qi Practitioners were looking for.
"Fellow Green Vine, looks like even your disciple failed to defeat the daemon there!" the Golden Pheasant Elder said coldly.
In the location of the Herb Gathering ceremony, the three elders stayed in a bamboo pavilion together. They admired the snow and drank tea as they waited for the outcome of the ceremony.
Before them was a projection from the underground mental map. Many specks of light flickered on it, split into three colours: gold, azure, and grey, indicating the location of the disciples of the three mountains. It was just like the pathfinding puppet insects the disciples of mohism had used in the past.
With the deaths of Liu Fengrui and the others, the specks of light on them faded away too. Before that, the golden specks of light that represented the disciples of the Pheasant's Grace mountain had vanished there too.
The Green Vine Elder said, "There must be a powerful daemon there, but that shouldn't be. It's only a shallow layer."
The Lone Grave Elder said, "You'll know if you keep watching."
The boulder viper moved through the earth as it flicked its forked tongue, constantly sensing the presence of the humans in the cave. Suddenly, it emerged from the wall and saw the frightened faces of a few humans. They were all extremely weak.
The Qi Practitioners only saw a grey shadow pass over their heads. They did not even manage to make out the daemon's appearance before they were frightened out of their wits by the terrifying daemon qi.
The leading seventh layer Qi Practitioner bellowed out, "Summon the zombies!" They were disciples of the Burial Mound mountain.
The disciples of the Burial Mound mountain immediately waved the bronze talismans in their hands. Several dozen zombies scattered around them, surrounding them tightly. The seventh layer Qi Practitioner even summoned two indestructible Iron Plate corpses. Corpse qi coiled around them. Every single one of them was even more powerful than the Iron Plate corpses the Zombie Daoist had refined in the past.
The boulder viper turned around. Its long body coiled up and suddenly tightened.
Dozens of zombies and a few disciples of the Burial Mound Mountain were in the low cavern. The disciples of the Burial Mound Mountain had nowhere to run. They felt a tremendous force pressing down on them from all directions, and they were immediately ground into a pile of meat paste, no longer distinguishable from the zombies they had refined.
The deathly aura on the Lone Grave Elder's face seemed to grow heavier too.
The Green Vine Elder and the Golden Pheasant Elder's expressions were ugly as well.
On the underground mental map, large swathes of specks of light were extinguished. Groups of herb gatherers died underground. The number of Qi Practitioners they had lost in a short period of time had already exceeded the total number lost during the Herb Gathering ceremony last time.
And right now, the Herb Gathering ceremony had only just begun. The Qi Practitioners had only ventured into the shallow layer. They should not have run into any powerful daemons.
"Sect masters, what's going on?" Hwa Seung-zan, who had been paying attention to this the entire time, walked into the bamboo pavilion with a stern expression. He understood what these specks of light represented.
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