Chapter 777: Generations of Slaves

In the small cave, Deng Yuxiang was like a machine devoid of emotion.

The exchange between them was calm until Lu Ran heard one sentence and exclaimed in shock:

"Cooperation? Humans cooperating with demons?"

"Yes! Yes!" Lady Luo nodded frantically.

Lu Ran fell briefly silent, struggling to process this shocking revelation.

To survive, to gather Sacred Spirit Qi, everyone will do anything.

The human and demon factions have blood-deep enmity!

For forty years, the demons' atrocities against humanity cannot be summed up in a few words.

Had the gods not descended to turn the tide, humanity might have been wiped out entirely!

Human blood and tears have flowed for decades—how can such pain, such shame, such deep hatred be washed away?

But in the Sacred Spirit Mountain Realm, can humans and demons truly cooperate and coexist?

Lu Ran asked himself: he could never be so flexible, so willing to bend.

He could be the master of demons, enslaving them.

But to ally with demonic forces, to live in shameful compromise and march side by side for the sake of a god's mission?

What nonsense!

Setting aside matters of national righteousness, consider only Lu Ran's own small family.

The demon race has killed his father!

Deng Yuxiang noticed Lu Ran's expression and gently patted his arm, whispering soothingly: "Master."

"Hmm." Lu Ran snapped back to himself, his face still dark.

Since entering the Sacred Spirit Mountain, Lu Ran's understanding had been struck by one shock after another.

Deng Yuxiang's voice, unusually soft, said: "The night spirit we just saw was unusual—she must possess considerable intellect."

Lu Ran mused: "This must be the foundation of human-demon collusion."

If demons attacked humans on sight with no thought, how could collusion even exist?

Lady Luo hurried to say: "The demons within the Sacred Spirit Mountain differ fundamentally from those invading the human world."

It was clear Lady Luo had fully submitted—fearing further abuse, she spoke rapidly: "The demons here, like us, must be on missions!"

Their very purpose is to gather Sacred Spirit Qi!

They kill, but they also assess the situation—their cruel nature is suppressed."

"Boom!!"

A sudden thunderous roar cut off Lady Luo's words.

Even though Lu Ran was at the bottom of the gorge, inside the cave, the earth-shaking sound startled him.

Deng Yuxiang tensed, then after a moment turned to the imprisoned souls and said coldly:

"What's happening above?"

Lady Luo, now fully in role, flattered: "My lady, we believe that place is the true battlefield of gods and demons.

The Sacred Spirit Qi we collect must be falling from that divine-demonic war zone."

Deng Yuxiang's face was expressionless: "Is that so."

Lady Luo confirmed: "Yes, my lady! We've found the pattern!

Every time there's such a sound, roughly half a day later, Sacred Spirit Qi falls into the mountain."

"Half a day." Deng Yuxiang pondered—it matched.

Yesterday, when she and Lu Ran first arrived in this realm, they had heard the noise above just as the sun set.

The deafening sound had lasted until deep into the night.

Lu Ran and she had first seen Sacred Spirit Qi drifting down from the sky that very morning.

"We humans are truly insignificant," Lu Ran murmured, his head pressed against the stone wall.

So the gods and demons fight above.

Is the energy spilled from their battle gathered by ants on the ground?

Then how do we return the collected energy to the gods?

By human lives!

By using the souls of the dead to send streams of energy to the gods they devoutly worship.

In that light, the demon side seems almost better.

At least the demon minions within the Sacred Spirit Mountain are created by the demons themselves—mere energy constructs.

But the gods? They simply use human believers' lives to reclaim the source energy.

Moreover, even within the god faction, there's no unity.

Each sect's followers compete fiercely for Sacred Spirit Qi, hoarding it to offer to their own lord.

Or perhaps the peculiar conditions of the Sacred Spirit Mountain are deliberately engineered by the gods?

If human believers didn't kill each other, how would they die faster and become souls to return energy?

"Boom!!"

Another earth-shaking roar.

Amid the massive sound, Deng Yuxiang heard the quiet whisper beside her: "Life is as cheap as grass."

Yes, human life is like grass.

Deng Yuxiang lowered her head, her eyes dim.

She had long known that to the gods, humans were slaves.

But since arriving in this realm, she now understood just how lowly humans truly were.

What talent, devotion, luck, and bloodshed must one endure to reach the Jiang Realm?

That person finally becomes a great mortal, capable of protecting their homeland, shielding their people.

And yet—

To the gods, even such a person is nothing more than a worker ant.

Why?

If demons can create minions, why can't the all-powerful gods create energy constructs?

Even if they truly cannot, couldn't they find another way?

Why not descend to the Sacred Spirit Mountain and collect the energy themselves?

Are human souls really that delicious?

"Boom!!"

The roar jolted Deng Yuxiang awake.

She turned slightly, looking at the man beside her: "Lu Ran."

"Why are you calling me by name again? What's wrong?" Lu Ran, seeing her serious expression, immediately dropped his other thoughts.

Deng Yuxiang whispered: "You said you would slaughter all demons and purge the world of its evils."

Lu Ran nodded.

Deng Yuxiang took a deep breath, hesitated long, then slowly said:

"Do you think the gods will allow such a thing?"

Lu Ran: "The gods?"

Deng Yuxiang nodded: "Have you ever considered whether the gods truly desire peace in the mortal world?"

Some things she hadn't failed to notice—she simply dared not think deeply, due to lifelong indoctrination from family, school, society.

Lu Ran remained impassive: "Why think that?"

When enough information is gathered, when enough signs are seen—

The wise struggle to break free from the cage of thought.

Deng Yuxiang lowered her gaze and whispered: "Do you think the divine-demonic battle above is truly mortal combat, head-on conflict…

Or is it merely a contest?"

"Why call it a contest?"

"Because of the outcome!" Deng Yuxiang's voice grew softer, "Have you noticed? The result of the god-demon war is the overall weakening of humanity.

The true purpose of the god-demon war—

Is it not a continuous harvest of human strongholds?"

Lu Ran's heart trembled, his gaze dark and unreadable.

He had always held the gods in contempt.

And the conditions within the Sacred Spirit Mountain had led Deng Yuxiang to challenge the authority in her heart.

It proved: once the seed of doubt is planted, it grows uncontrollably.

Lu Ran continued listening, waiting for the right moment to share his own beliefs with Deng Yuxiang.

Deng Yuxiang, lost in her thoughts, drifted far from the topic: "Forty years ago, demons invaded the mortal world. After three months of bloody slaughter, the gods descended.

At the most critical moment of humanity's survival, the gods came as saviors.

Since then, everyone has worshipped the gods, treating them as the sole lifeline."

Deng Yuxiang leaned slightly, resting against Lu Ran's shoulder.

This gesture was uncommon.

She was always the proud and dominant one, but for what she was about to say, she seemed to need a support.

"Since then, the demons have invaded the mortal realm every fifteenth day, constantly reminding people not to let their guard down for a moment."

"The more cruel the demon camp becomes, the more the people revere and devoutly worship the gods."

"Generation after generation, wave after wave of humans flood into every sect and school, tirelessly offering their faith to the gods for survival."

"If there were no demons in this world, would humanity still rush to them with such fervor, showing such devotion and madness toward the gods?"

"So Lu Ran, tell me—"

Deng Yuxiang turned her head: "You want to slaughter the demons—will the gods allow it?"

Lu Ran turned to look at her complex gaze: "I thought you'd ask me whether gods and demons are in cahoots."

Deng Yuxiang stared straight into Lu Ran's eyes: "All along, we've merely clung to faith—or held onto illusions. We dared not, and refused to, speculate."

But whether we admit it or not, objectively speaking, gods and demons have already become partners."

The demons need the negative emotions of humanity.

The gods need the faith energy of humanity.

Both camps perfectly achieve this goal through the fifteenth night each month.

Whether gods and demons are enemies is another matter—but they are certainly partners.

"You—you two." Lady Luo stared at them, stunned.

Decades of devout worship made her see these two young men and women as utterly blasphemous.

Even if Lu Ran and the others had merely sensed some signs and made wild guesses, let alone if ironclad proof lay before her, Lady Luo's fanatical faith in the gods would still drive her to cover her eyes and plug her ears.

Control over individuals or groups can take many forms.

For instance, emotional bonding. Or interest-based bonding.

And also—well.

Day after day, people pray devoutly before small deity statues, until they are utterly cleansed.

"Ha." Deng Yuxiang shut her eyes in pain.

Wasn't she herself a believer?

She was even a mighty, roaring river!

And the stronger a believer becomes, the more devout and deeply rooted their faith naturally grows.

If she hadn't been expelled from the North Wind Sect—and nearly had her life taken by Lord North Wind—Deng Yuxiang's heart would now be a hundred times more tormented and agonized!

"Boom!!"

Lu Ran leaned back against the stone wall, already accustomed to the earth-shattering noise.

Following the woman's train of thought and blending it with his own, he spoke softly: "So, the Sacred Spirit Mountain Realm is where our human strongones are buried."

Gods and demons will never allow humanity to rise up."

Humans must not grow strong enough to defeat the demons, nor threaten the gods—the status quo cannot be changed."

Thus, the war between gods and demons in the heavens will never end."

As for the mortal realm—

The demons will keep invading, and the human believers led by the gods will never win."

Both gods and demons feed on humanity, drinking deeply of its blood."

And we humans can only live, generation after generation, beneath the feet of gods and demons."

Deng Yuxiang lowered her head and softly continued Lu Ran's words:

"Slaves for generations."

"Slaves for generations." Lu Ran sighed deeply and closed his eyes in silence.

The truth—

Could it really be like this?

"Boom!"

The tremendous sound shook heaven and earth once more.

And within this terrifying roar, a phrase etched deep into his mind flickered faintly:

"Do not lose yourself."

Request Moon Tickets!

(End of Chapter)