Chapter 902

Sui Province, west side.

The Western Demon Realm had a disturbance; Wu Tie immediately mustered a large force and rushed to the border.

At the mountain peak, a flagpole of condensed magical power a thousand zhang tall rose high; a royal banner with iron‑colored edges stained with blood, its length and width about a hundred zhang, fluttered wildly at the top of the pole in the wind, emitting a tremendous 'flap-flap' sound.

Surrounded by numerous civil and military officials, Wu Tie stood on a high platform beneath the royal banner, gazing into the distance.

Smoke and clouds shot up to the heavens, killing intent filled the air.

Thousands of gigantic mantis demons dragged their swollen, bloated abdomens, flying slowly toward this side. Beneath the abdomens of these mantis demons hung countless fist‑sized mantis eggs.

Several hundred li away from Wu Tie's side, the mantis demons suddenly flapped their wings.

With a continual 'gushing' sound, countless black mantis eggs trailed extremely thin black smoke, wailing as they flew toward the position where Wu Tie and the others were.

These crystal‑clear mantis eggs trembled in the wind and instantly hatched; each mantis, the size of a human head, slick with mucus, burst from its eggs, waving its long, blade‑like arms, shrieking sharply as it charged forward.

Instantly the dimmed void was filled, as far as the eye could see, with countless tiny mantises flapping their wings in a frantic rush.

On the ground, millions of fire spirits simultaneously raised both hands; intricate flame patterns flickered across their bodies, and instantly a sea of fire ignited in the void. Countless mantises dove headfirst into the fire sea, then were burned until their bodies were wrapped in black smoke, falling to the ground with a scorching, pungent odor.

The thousands of mantis demon giants utterly disregarded the heavy casualties among their offspring, merely frantically shaking their huge abdomens, sending out countless mantis eggs with piercing whistles as they tore through the air.

Then Wu Tie saw that several mountain peaks ahead began to shake violently.

On those peaks, one after another, bowl‑thick holes kept appearing, then a tide‑like swarm of blood‑colored marching ants surged out. The blood‑red quickly covered the earth, as countless marching ants went berserk, leaping and hopping eastward in a charge.

On the ground, a great host of earth spirits pressed their hands against the earth.

With a 'pfft' sound, countless thumb‑thick, extremely sharp stone spikes continually erupted from the ground, thrusting out, then swiftly retracting, then erupting again with tremendous force.

Vast swaths of the blood‑colored marching ants were blown apart like sieves, their bodily fluids flooding the ground, and the air instantly reeked of a nauseating, bloody stench.

To the west, the surfaces of more than ten great rivers suddenly began to swell; amid a continual 'gushing' of water, dense black clouds appeared in the high sky, and a torrential downpour howled down, causing the river currents to surge ever more violently.

Thousands of flood dragons transformed into humanoid forms with dragon heads, clad in dragon‑scale armor, wielding dragon‑horn spears, commanding countless squeaking water creatures as they stood on the wave crests and rolled eastward.

The black clouds moved with them; within the clouds, streaks of lightning flashed.

The waters of more than ten great rivers burst their channels, burst out of the valleys, following the terrain, turning into a vast expanse of white water that surged straight toward them.

Countless water spirits stepped out of the formation, their bodies flickering with deep‑blue water light; accompanied by their incantations, vast sheets of goose‑down snow swirled down from the void, and the temperature in the mountain range plummeted in a straight line.

The vast white water quickly turned into a vast expanse of black ice; countless weak water creatures were sealed within the black ice, instantly losing their vital breath.

Thousands of flood dragons roared, shattering the thick ice on their bodies, driving the black clouds, stirring up a thunderstorm, and charging furiously toward Wu Tie and his side.

Wu Tie remained still; Xue Yu led a group of subordinates from Blood Prison Mountain, raising a vast expanse of blood‑colored clouds to meet them.

"What do you intend? This is the territory of my Blood Prison Mountain." Xue Yu blocked those flood dragons in mid‑air, shouting sternly.

"Your territory? Xue Yu, are you really going to ally with humanity and become an enemy of my demon race?" A flood dragon whose scales were bronze‑colored, with mottled markings, its horn broken off halfway by someone unknown, exuding an ancient aura, surged forward.

"What qualifications do you have to question me?" Xue Yu swiftly brandished a blood‑colored halberd and lunged at that flood dragon: "Cut the nonsense—dare to pass through my Blood Prison Mountain's territory, and you will die!"

The flood dragon swung a bronze‑colored dragon‑horn spear, which slammed hard against Xue Yu's blood‑colored halberd.

With a tremendous boom, Xue Yu, weaker in strength than this flood dragon, was shaken and flung backward tens of li. However, behind Xue Yu, a magnificent spread of peacock feathers unfurled, and countless blood‑red eyes sprayed hundreds of thousands of strands of Xue Yu's Extermination Divine Light, sweeping across the void.

The flood dragon's dragon‑scale armor was instantly pierced; countless scales were shattered by the Extermination Divine Light, and its body was riddled with thumb‑sized blood holes. Though the flood dragon's body was extraordinarily tough, it still screamed in agony without cease.

Thousands of flood dragons and the great demons under Xue Yu's command huddled together.

Seeing that the great demons of Blood Prison Mountain were barely holding their own against these flood dragons, the great demons of the neighboring Iron Wall Mountain and Iron Arm Mountain also rushed forward.

Wu Tie stood on the platform, watching these great demons brawl in chaotic melee; on the ground, countless blood‑colored marching ants were slain until their corpses piled like mountains, while in the air countless mantises continued their desperate, frantic charge, and the air was filled with a pungent odor.

"You're all just rabble; send someone who can actually command!" Wu Tie suddenly shouted harshly; empowered by his magic, his voice rang out like a metal ingot, a resounding 'clang-clang' that echoed in all directions.

Xue Yu, who was locked in combat with that flood dragon, upon hearing Wu Tie's rebuke, could not help but turn his head in irritation and glare at him.

"Rabble? Are you saying I can't even handle a single rabble-rouser?"

In the midst of speaking, Xue Yu's halberd unleashed a flurry of dozens of thrusts and slashes at the opposing flood dragon, while the Extermination Divine Light behind him lashed out randomly, leaving the dragon's body pitted and gouged, blood streaming everywhere.

Wu Tie shook his head, raised his right hand, and gave a light pat.

In mid‑air, a bolt of furious lightning coiled like an inverted dragon; a thunderbolt tens of zhang thick crashed down, enveloping the flood dragon that had been locked in an even fight with Xue Yu. With a tremendous boom, the dragon's flesh and bones were pulverized, not a trace of its spirit escaping.

A column of light several dozen li thick shot straight into the heavens; a flash of five‑colored divine light behind Wu Tie instantly swept it away.

Xue Yu opened his mouth and stomped his foot in irritation.

She had fought hard for half a day without subduing that formidable foe, yet Wu Tie casually blasted it to pieces with a single thunder spell— the disparity in strength is obvious… To Wu Tie, these flood dragons, as well as those mantis great demons, are nothing but rabble.

'hmph!'

A cold snort came from afar; though not loud, it held a strange power. In Wu Tie's military formation, the myriad five‑element spirits who heard it all bled from their seven orifices, staggering backward.

The swarms of flying mantises and the crawling blood‑colored marching ants on the ground instantly lost their obstruction; they cheered and howled, then rushed wildly toward Wu Tie's vast army.

Zhu Ganglie lightly patted his belly, took a stride of several dozen li, and positioned himself before Wu Tie's army.

A terror unique to a demon sovereign spread forth; the sky filled with rolling black demon clouds, and atop Zhu Ganglie's head could be faintly seen a colossal black wild boar hundreds of li long, looming within the demon clouds.

Within a radius of a million li, all flying beasts and crawling creatures lay prone on the ground; all demon races held their breath like cicadas, suppressing their primal savagery, cautiously prone, daring not to make a sound.

"Old Pig is here… just now which little brat was making that random grunt? Come out if you dare, and let Grandpa Pig weigh you."

A thousand li ahead, vast mountain ranges shot up into the sky, then exploded in mid‑air into fragments. An aura more overbearing than Zhu Ganglie's, more savage, brimming with chaos and yin‑evil, surged heavenward; blackness mixed with large amounts of green demon clouds spread outward, quickly enveloping the void within a million‑li radius.

The demonic aura Zhu Ganglie had just released was forced into a steady retreat; his whole body's fat trembled violently, and he staggered backward step by step.

"Another… immortal old bastard." Zhu Ganglie's mouth full of snow‑white tusks clicked 'gaga' as he snarled in furious frustration.

At least hundreds of big and small mountain peaks shattered; amidst the flying stone fragments in the sky, a dragon‑like colossal shape could be seen slowly rising into the air.

Upon closer inspection, that massive form, several li wide and thousands of li long, was not a dragon but a gigantic centipede that faintly bore the aspect of a divine dragon.

This terrifyingly huge giant centipede has 1,296 segments from head to tail, a number that secretly accords with the subtleties of heaven and earth; each segment of its body displays a strange green‑gold hue, like gold that has soaked in a swamp for years and grown a layer of moss.

On each side of every segment of the centipede's body grew a pair of scythe‑like, sharp limbs, each pair tens of li long, the whole body flashing with a black cold light.

What is horrifying is that this giant centipede's back bears 1,296 pairs of enormous wings. Shaped like dragonfly wings, they are covered in twisted, aberrant dark‑green ghost faces; as the wings gently vibrate, these ghost faces writhe and twitch, seeming like living things.

"Old Saw… you old coot, why aren't you sleeping in your earthen hole instead of coming out?" Zhu Ganglie bellowed, his voice a ragged 'aow‑aow' howl.

Giant centipede flew slowly toward this side, its body too huge, so the gale whipped up by its wingbeats made Wu Tie's army unable to stand firm footing impossible; many soldiers were blown straight up by the gale and slammed headfirst into the mountain behind.

The military formation on the ground was in utter chaos, and the fleet of thirty thousand standard warships in the air also swayed wildly in the wind.

The demonic aura of the giant centipede Old Saw rolled in, invading; wherever the black‑green intertwined demonic aura passed, countless deep marks, as if torn by the saw, silently appeared on mountain after mountain.

"What are you doing? Lao Geda said, you five are traitors." Old Saw's huge body twisted and writhed through the void, emitting an aura astonishing to the extreme.

"Traitors, they deserve to die."

"Once they're dead, we need juniors to fill the vacancies."

"The Western Demon Kingdom, the Nine Great Demon Lords — just right. It wouldn't do to have one more grabbing our territory, nor too few, lest we be bullied."

"You five deserve to die. So we must have five juniors step up to take your places."

"To step up, one must offer a sacrifice to the Holy Ancestor to gain a chance to ascend to the Venerable Rank. A sacrifice requires an offering. Between heaven and earth, what offering could please the Holy Ancestor more than humanity?"

Old Saw gave a hee‑hee laugh: "Zhu Ganglie, ah, I thought you were a clever pig… How could you do such a stupid thing? In the Demon Kingdom, to be honored as the Dao Ancestor and enjoy endless bliss — isn't that good?"

"Why are you getting involved with humanity?"

Zhu Ganglie steadied his stance, straightened his back, and stared fixedly at Old Saw.

"Old Zhu, not only are you a clever pig, you are a pig with ideals."

"A pig with ideals cannot just loaf around, waiting to die, muddling through each day."

"Old Zhu, wanting to do something meaningful… for example, letting humans and demons live in peace. That's a good thing, isn't it? Because, whether we're human or demon, we all share the same origin."

Old Saw's voice suddenly turned piercingly harsh: "Nonsense! Where did you hear this heresy? Humans are humans, demons are demons; the Holy Ancestor created the demon race, and also created humanity as food for the demons…"

Old Saw's huge body vanished in an instant, and an old man about three zhang tall, extremely thin, with six arms sprouting from his back and waving rapidly, appeared before everyone.

His triangular eyes flashed with vicious, malicious light; Old Saw glared at Zhu Ganglie and coldly snorted: "Indeed, I can't let you live… You actually believed this heresy — you, you can't be allowed to live."

Wu Tie left the platform, stepping into the void, and walked step by step toward Old Saw.

The Golden‑Eyed Demon Lord and the Dragon Vein Crocodile Lord followed at Wu Tie's side; the two great demon lords glared with murderous intent, likewise fixing Old Saw with a fierce stare.

"You four old geezers, do you want us dead?" the Dragon Vein Crocodile Lord roared: "I don't want to die yet, so it'd be better if you old geezers kicked the bucket first!"

Old Saw gave a contemptuous smile, lightly extending his right index finger and making a casual left‑to‑right tug; a piercing crack rang out, and the void before him was actually torn open by a pitch‑black rift.

The rift was like a blade, swift as lightning, and with a whoosh it sliced sideways toward Wu Tie and the others.

At the same time, on the northern border of Suichao, the Five Elements Daoist gazed solemnly at the endless hills ahead where black mandala flowers bloomed profusely.

In that sea of black mandala flowers, countless crimson‑red figurines the size of a thumb, clutching various instruments, sang and danced wildly.

Behind the Five Elements Daoist, in the border military city of Suichao, millions of elite troops likewise danced frenziedly, just like those blood‑red figurines.

They danced and danced, hysterically contorting in every unimaginable way, until bones broke and tendons snapped, until the seven orifices bled, until they died and their souls vanished.

The heavily wounded Netherworld Peng Lord stood beside the Five Elements Daoist, gazing at the endless hills of black mandala flowers, and involuntarily let out a hoarse cry: "That old monster… it's said he's a wooden Buddha statue from Red Lotus Temple that turned into an evil thing… truly… terrifying…"

At the same time, vast armies like surging tides poured in at the southern border of the Ghost Kingdom and the eastern border of the Demon Kingdom.

Within Suichao, the Nine Princes rebelled; externally, enemies attacked from all four sides, and Suichao instantly fell into a state of tumultuous wind and rain.