Chapter 322: Shadow of the Demon Ancestor

The laws of the Demon God Star Domain were being restructured.

The stars, once soaked black as ink by endless demonic Qi, were now being forcibly "whitewashed" by an irresistible will.

The corpses of stars were reignited, the orbits of planets corrected into place, and the shattered continental plates, urged together by invisible hands, let out a thunderous boom as they pieced together into a brand-new world.

This was creation, and also the most efficient post-war cleanup.

The warriors of the coalition—those experts from different civilizations—were all now like the most devout believers, gazing up at this starry sky.

Their power had gained an inconceivable leap during the earlier "baptism of the supreme laws," yet this heaven-and-earth-altering miracle before them still made them feel their own insignificance from the depths of their souls.

Right at the center of this newborn star domain, before the "Tower of Order" reshaped from the Demon God Palace, a Light Spot collapsed to the extreme.

Then, it unfurled.

A black-haired, black-eyed youth appeared out of thin air.

No—he could not be called a youth.

His figure was tall and straight, every line of muscle seemingly holding the power to crush stars. A suit of dark gold armor materialized out of thin air, covering his body—not equipment worn upon him, but an exoskeleton growing from beneath his skin, coursing with ancient and chaotic patterns—the very remnants of the demonic universe's laws that had been devoured by Wang Zhitao.

He was barefoot, suspended in the cold void.

Wang Zhitao.

He looked down, examining his own fair, slender palms with a touch of novelty.

These hands could clearly sense every wisp of energy flowing through the void, could touch the very veins of the laws.

A sense of control such as he had never experienced before.

But he tilted his head, a trace of confusion flickering across his brow, as though pondering the profound question of "why do I look like this."

The next second, all confusion was replaced by a more primal, more pure impulse.

He touched his own flat stomach.

"Hungry."

A single word, clearly echoing in the minds of Li Hu and the others.

The voice was not loud, yet it made these newly promoted experts shudder in unison.

That hunger was not physiological, but a sense of emptiness stemming from existence itself—one that wanted to stuff the entire universe into his belly.

A figure appeared soundlessly beside Wang Zhitao.

Wang Zhize.

He glanced at his younger brother's new form, as though appraising a perfect work of art he had crafted with his own hands.

"Digested nicely."

He raised his hand, and a fist-sized crystal of constantly shifting form materialized above his palm.

Within that crystal, it was as if a collapsing universe was imprisoned—billions of demonic shadows howling and perishing inside, radiating a soul-chilling aura of chaos.

It was precisely the remnant of the "Demon God Palace Core" that had been bitten apart by Wang Zhitao and then redefined by Wang Zhize.

"I define: this object is the 'Chaos Demon Crystal.'"

"Your new 'battery.'"

Wang Zhize's tone was flat as he handed the crystal over.

Wang Zhitao's eyes lit up, the look in them as pure as a child's upon seeing candy.

He grabbed the "Chaos Demon Crystal" and, without even looking, shoved it straight into his mouth.

Crunch.

As crisp as crunching a piece of rock sugar.

He narrowed his eyes in satisfaction, and the dark gold armor on his body blazed with light, his aura growing heavier by another degree.

Li Hu's eye twitched as he watched.

That was… the Dao-fruit Core of an entire universe! Just like that… eaten as a snack?

He steadied himself, stepped forward, and reported respectfully, "Boss, the Demon God Star Domain has been completely purged. All corrupted worlds are undergoing purification beneath the radiance of the 'Tower of Order.' Morale is high across all units of the coalition, and their sense of belonging to the 'Newborn Realm'…"

His voice grew lower and lower, because he saw that Wang Zhize's gaze was not listening at all.

Wang Zhize's gaze pierced through endless space-time, gazing toward the coordinates parsed from the main memory fragments of the Demon God Palace.

"Li Hu."

"Here!" Li Hu snapped to attention.

"What do you think—when a branch manager gets fired, how would the head office react?" Wang Zhize asked an unrelated question.

Li Hu was taken aback and answered reflexively, "They might… send a new manager, or simply dissolve the branch altogether?"

"No." Wang Zhize shook his head, the corner of his lips curving into an amused arc. "If that branch had strong performance and suddenly disappeared, the head office would be furious. They'd send auditors, security, legal—investigate the guy who dared touch their cake inside out, and then… wipe out the whole lot, people and nest together."

Li Hu's heart gave a violent leap.

Branch… the Demon God Palace?

Head office…

A noun he dared not imagine surfaced in his mind.

And at this very moment—

At the end of the universe, in that primordial demon domain where even light could not reach, known as the "Graveyard of All Realms," a certain anomaly occurred.

Upon a black throne beyond all words of description, an ancient will that had slumbered for who knows how many billions of epochs slowly opened its eyes.

Those eyes had no pupils—only pure, all-devouring Termination.

Its awakening stirred not a single ripple of energy.

But across the entire universe, every existence that had grasped laws related to "destruction," "Termination," or "the demonic Dao"—no matter where they were, no matter how high or low their cultivation—had their souls freeze in the same instant.

Their "Dao," at this moment, found its source, and also welcomed its sovereign.

"One of my… coordinates… has vanished…"

An ancient, hoarse will resonated at the conceptual level.

The next instant, endless pitch-black demonic Qi madly spilled from the borders of the Primordial Demon Realm, like a black flood bursting through a dam, surging toward the surrounding galaxies.

A prosperous technological civilization—its fleet, the moment it came into contact with the demonic Qi, saw all intelligent systems collectively glitch into garbled code, and the warships twisted into indescribable flesh-and-blood creations.

A reclusive cultivation sect—its mountain-protecting grand array did not even hold for a single second; every cultivator, from Nascent Soul to Grand Ascension, instantly found their eyes pitch-black, bizarre demonic patterns growing on their skin, as they turned and pounced on their own fellow disciples.

Disaster, on a scale measured in light-years, spread madly.

In the command center of the "Realm of New Life," on the Light Screen before Zhang Mei, the Green Area representing cosmic stability was being frantically eroded by vast swathes of deep crimson.

The Alert was shrill enough to pierce eardrums.

"Boss," Li Hu's voice carried a trace of trembling, "this… this is…"

"Headquarters has come to audit the accounts."

Wang Zhize's expression did not change in the slightest, as if the apocalyptic scene before him were merely an ordinary business report.

He raised his hand and, toward that star chart polluted by demonic Qi, tapped gently.

"I define: all demonic Qi overflowing from the 'Primordial Demon Realm' is defined as the 'Realm of New Life' new-type law detection test paper."

"All those infected by demonic Qi are defined as potential clients for the 'Purification Business.'"

"The Demon Ancestor? Defined as the 'Realm of New Life's' next-phase expansion target, and… new KPI."

As casual as a passing breeze.

As though he were saying their company's performance target for next quarter was to acquire that neighboring Fortune 500 company.

Li Hu and Zhang Mei were already numb.

Only Wang Zhitao, having finished digesting the "Chaos Demon Crystal," licked his lips once more; gazing toward the direction from which the demonic Qi came, deep within his pitch-black pupils flickered a hunger far more profound than the demonic Qi itself.

Over there… there was something delicious.

A great many things, a hundred times more delicious than that "jelly bean" just now!

Wang Zhize looked at Li Hu: "Assemble a 'Primordial Demon Realm Exploration Team'—go feel out the situation first, figure out the clients' specific needs."

He then looked at Wang Zhitao: "You go clear the way for the exploration team. Snacks along the roadside, you can eat freely—just don't choke."

"Alright!" Wang Zhitao answered excitedly, his body already transforming into a streak of dark-golden light, unable to wait as he charged toward that star region where demonic Qi surged to the heavens.

Right at this moment.

A signal, faint to the extreme, like a candle guttering in the wind, pierced through layer upon layer of demonic Qi blockade, crossed an incalculable distance, and was precisely transmitted into the "Realm of New Life's" supreme divine oracle channel.

That was not data, nor was it radio waves.

It was a world's final deathbed wail.

The signal transformed into a shattered image:

Endless immortal palaces collapsing, auspicious clouds dyed pitch-black by demonic Qi, countless immortals clad in Daoist robes torn apart by demonic creatures in despair.

At the center of the image, atop an ancient immortal mountain shrouded in nine-colored immortal light, a white-haired old Daoist wept blood and questioned the heavens.

"The Heavenly Dao is dead, the immortal path is severed… where… can there be a path to life?"