Chapter 917

The Northern Monster State was completely pacified.

In the core region of the Northern State, amidst a vast expanse of ice mountains stretching millions of li, Wu Tie stood atop a crystal-clear cold jade mountain.

Behind him stood a group of maidens with translucent bodies, silver-white hair, graceful figures, and exquisite faces—this was the strange race naturally bred by this cold jade mountain, the Ice Maiden clan.

In the Northern Monster State, the Ice Maiden clan is considered an oddity even among oddities.

Their bodies are ice-cold, their spirits ice-cold; they remain silent like ice sculptures year-round, standing foolishly in the icy snow without eating or speaking, motionless, utterly unaware of the meaning of their existence.

If no outsider touches them, they can stand there stupidly until the end of time.

But their talent is terrifyingly formidable; their bodies are far more yin-cold than even extreme yin forces in the world, so much so that even an ordinary innate spirit treasure touching their bodies would be frozen into shards.

Thus, throughout the Northern Monster State, it is rare for any clueless monster to dare provoke them.

No one knows how many years have passed, but this cold jade mountain amidst the ice mountain range has already given birth to thousands of Ice Maidens. They are isolated from the world, standing here in a daze year after year.

This is a clan that poses no danger to the outside world, yet seems useless to the world as well.

Therefore, Wu Tie did not exterminate them like other monsters, but instead incorporated them into Wuguo's military roster, forming them into a special unit.

Speaking of which, these Ice Maidens are merely somewhat aloof, naturally uninterested in everything. However, having developed sentience, they still retain an intense fear of life and death.

When Wu Tie, accompanied by Sha Jun and Ci Huang, descended upon the cold jade mountain and uttered the four words 'Surrender or die,' the leader of the Ice Maidens, without hesitation, led all her people to submit to Wu Tie.

"Canghai, it's yours now!" Wu Tie clasped his hands toward the Canghai Daoist.

The Canghai Daoist laughed, and a Canghai Divine Pearl leapt forth, swallowing in one gulp the ice mountain range spanning millions of li, together with this primary cold jade mountain at its center and the several veins of dense yin energy beneath it.

Within the Canghai Divine Pearl surges an incomparably rich innate water spirit qi; the Canghai Daoist also condensed a Yin Dao seal, enabling the innate water spirit qi to transform at any moment into an endless stream of innate extreme yin qi.

The Canghai Divine Pearl is absolutely the ideal breeding ground for these Ice Maidens.

In the Northern State, this cold jade mountain would normally take about a thousand years to nurture an Ice Maiden, but placed within the Canghai Divine Pearl, receiving boundless water spirit qi and extreme yin qi nourishment, an Ice Maiden can be born in roughly three to five years.

These Ice Maidens inherently possess strength equivalent to the third to fifth heaven of the Divine Manifestation realm, and their bodies are incredibly ice-cold, capable of shattering ordinary innate spirit treasures outright; their icy breath can freeze all things, turning a myriad-li domain into a land of ice and snow.

What formidable battle power this is!

In three to five years, one can gain an Ice Maiden with the strength of the third to fifth heaven of the Divine Manifestation realm; how fast, then, do the elite scions of Wuguo's aristocratic families cultivate?

Aside from the Ice Maiden clan, the entire Northern Monster State is filled with strange and wondrous anomalies that cannot communicate or coexist with flesh-and-blood life, their nature imbued with an instinct to disregard other living beings.

Therefore, with the assistance of Sha Jun and Ci Huang, Wu Tie swept away all these anomalies born from the distortion of the Great Dao's laws by the uncanny.

Hovering in midair, Wu Tie opened the celestial eye between his brows, and the vast chaotic divine light gazed out in all directions.

In the vision of his celestial eye, the south was already a realm of clarity, while the east and west billowed with rolling killing qi shooting up to the heavens.

Wu Tie sat cross-legged in midair, gathered his mind, and immersed himself wholly in a profound state; his fingers flew as he silently calculated the various conditions he had gathered, beginning to divine the future of the entire Chao Dynasty.

Once, after receiving the gift of the Primordial Dragon King Ao Chi, Wu Tie once attempted the art of divination in a small grove.

Divination, in essence, uses as much information as possible, following the operation of heavenly and earthly laws, to calculate the myriad possible futures of a thing, a living being, a clan, or even an entire world.

The Chao Dynasty continent is but a tiny speck compared to the whole of Mu Dalu.

The situation of the Chao Dynasty, the circumstances of the four surrounding enemy states, what Wu Tie has seen and heard these days, and the intelligence reports from Wuguo's spies and informants—all have become tangled in Wu Tie's mind.

He peeled away the cocoon thread by thread, slowly sorting out the information he had obtained.

At this moment, how many times greater is Wu Tie's cultivation compared to when he first received the Canghai Divine Pearl and other gifts?

Back then, Wu Tie could barely calculate the fate trajectories of small creatures like birds and grass snakes within a ten-li radius of a small grove for the next few days; but now… the fortune of the entire Chao Dynasty lies in his mind like the lines on a palm, perfectly clear.

"As it turns out, I have already become the most important core of the entire Chao Dynasty." Wu Tie murmured: "When the Chao Dynasty's Feng clan can no longer hold sway over the whole dynasty… my taking their place is only natural."

"Can I do better than the Feng imperial clan?"

The Six Desire Demon Sovereigns beside him all shrieked in unison, each smiling obsequiously: "Ah, Your Majesty, if you were to become this Chao Emperor, you would surely be the first sage sovereign since the Chao Dynasty's creation; is there anyone under heaven more suited than you?"

"With your wise and mighty martial prowess, your keen and sagacious intellect, ah…"

"Demons are demons; the Six Desire Demon Sovereigns themselves are demons born from human desires, and their talent for flattery—tsk… is innate!"

Wu Tie lightly gave each of them a slap: "Get lost; I haven't become so foolish as to listen to your flattery."

The Six Desire Demon Sovereigns chuckled lightly, not knowing which foul-mouthed one muttered softly: "Sooner or later, people—will there still be those who don't listen to flattery?"

Wu Tie's face twitched violently; the Six Desire Demon Sovereigns' bodies shuddered, and they hastily transformed into six streaks of demonic light, fleeing far away, each cautious, holding their breath lest they make the slightest sound.

"Tsk, you still hope I'll fall into demonhood, don't you?" Wu Tie pointed at the Six Desire Demon Sovereigns who had run far off and sneered: "If I were to fall into demonhood, I would devour you all first…"

The Six Desire Demon Sovereigns all shivered in unison, each chanting the Buddhist invocation: "Amitabha, whoever dares let Your Majesty fall into demonhood is our mortal enemy… Your Majesty, you had better… remain a proper human being!"

In just a few months, the Demon State suffered heavy blows, the Ghost State was exterminated, and the Monster State has now become a barren expanse; the Six Desire Demon Sovereigns have genuinely developed great fear of Wu Tie's methods. If Wu Tie were to fall into demonhood, heh, given the demon sovereigns' ferocious and ruthless nature, those Six Desire Demon Sovereigns would likely become snacks—indeed, very possible!

Therefore, Wu Tie had better remain an honest and upright human sage ruler!

Talk of falling into demonhood? Just a joke, really just a joke.

Wu Tie lightly tapped the Six Desire Demon Sovereigns, then lifted his gaze toward the direction of the Eastern Demon State.

Now, the only external threats to the Chao Dynasty are the Eastern Demon State and the Western Yao State.

Demons, yaos.

These are two utterly distinct kinds of existence.

The Yao clan, which can be called the Yao, are a life-form that reproduces via flesh and blood, inheriting lineage.

As for demons, they sometimes cannot be called a 'demon clan'; or rather, this group of demons in the east of the Chao Dynasty has not formed a clan relationship.

They are merely beings stained by demonic qi, having degenerated and transformed into demonic creatures.

Take the Blood Sea Demon Sovereign, for example—his true form is merely a pool of filthy, ruthless blood; how could he propagate offspring?

Thus, the Yao possess some inherent flaws and instincts of living beings.

But with demons, you cannot predict their future actions based on their mode of existence.

"The old fogeys will stay put with their troops," Wu Tie muttered softly, "but what will the Profound Bone Demon Ancestor, the Blood Sea Demon Sovereign, and the Yin River, Miasma, and White Lotus… the five demon sovereigns do?"

The Scarlet Lotus Demon Sovereign standing nearby spoke in a deep, resonant voice: "They will sacrifice the entire Demon State to obtain a batch of demon sovereigns."

The Scarlet Lotus Demon Sovereign said in a solemn tone: "As long as the demon sovereigns do not perish, my Demon State will not fall; for as long as the demon sovereigns endure, sooner or later other beings will fall into the demonic path and evolve into new demons."

"They must already be preparing to create new demon sovereigns."

"If we cannot loot enough sacrifices in the Sui Dynasty, then attacking those big and small demon heads of the Demon Country is also a matter of course."

The Red Lotus Demon Venerable said it very "a matter of course".

Wu Tie nodded slowly, he sat in midair, continuing to calculate based on the information he had received.

One day later, the latest news arrived.

In the Western Demon Country, the four oldest demon venerables—Lao Geda, Lao Juzi, Lao Langtou, Lao Wangzi—all appeared; they gathered over sixty percent of the demon country's big and small demon tribes, contracting westward, staying far from the Sui Province border by nearly a million li.

Countless demon tribes drove human craftsmen captured in raids to urgently construct various military city defenses, presenting a posture of strict defense and stubborn resistance.

Even, the scouts sent out by Zhu Ganglie and them have already discovered the slogan shouted by the four old demons—"For the survival of the demon tribes, we will not hesitate to fight to the death."

Meanwhile, the news coming from the Eastern Demon Country was that countless demon heads were rushing toward the lair of the Profound Bone Demon Ancestor, White Bone Mountain.

Under the joint order of the two great demon ancestors, not a single demon head dared to defy the command; all demon heads swarmed in, and now the entire Demon Country's big and small demon heads have gathered around White Bone Mountain.

The demon heads stretched for millions of li, like a dark, overwhelming tide, filling the sky and earth with all kinds of strange and bizarre demon heads.

Gathered around White Bone Mountain, they caused demonic qi to surge to the heavens, rolling killing qi transforming into black smoke that shot straight up into the sky, clearly visible for hundreds of thousands of li away.

"Go east." Wu Tie said in a deep voice: "The Western Demon Country still has room for negotiation, but the Eastern Demon Country is likely to fight us to the death."

Wu Tie believed that the five great demon venerables of the Eastern Demon Country had surely already learned of our news here.

Having flattened the Ghost Country and cleared the Strange Country, Wu Tie now commands over twenty venerable-level combat forces, including powerful old monsters such as Sha Jun and Ci Huang.

The four demon venerables of the Demon Country chose to hold their ground, while the old demons of the Demon Country chose to fight desperately.

This is where the difference between demons and monsters lies.

"However, this also gives us a one-time opportunity to settle the Demon Country." Wu Tie looked at Sha Jun and Ci Huang with a smile: "We don't have to painstakingly spend time and effort to gradually clear the Demon Country's territory."

Sha Jun and Ci Huang stared blankly at Wu Tie, then said in a low voice: "We will naturally serve..."

After a pause, Sha Jun let out a cold snort: "That Blood Sea Demon Ancestor—I happen to be his nemesis. No matter how boundless his Blood Sea's might, mix in some sand and his Blood Sea turns to mud; what can he do then?"

Wu Tie's mouth corner twitched slightly.

The Eastern Demon Country's White Bone Mountain, true to its name, is a giant mountain piled high with gleaming white bones.

Countless big and small, long and short white bones pile up here, nourished day and night by heavenly and earthly primordial energy, and infused day and night with the Profound Bone Demon Ancestor's demonic qi; every bone here is starkly white, eerily white.

The Profound Bone Demon Ancestor sits atop White Bone Mountain, beneath which lies a mysteriously shaped altar.

The Blood Sea Demon Ancestor floats beside the Profound Bone Demon Ancestor, the Blood Sea surging, constantly emitting huge wave-tumbling sounds, and countless mournful wails continually emanate from his Blood Sea.

A yin river, a patch of miasma, and that refined scholar from the White Lotus Palace stand on the mountainside of White Bone Mountain, coldly gazing down at a row of nearly a hundred towering and short, oddly shaped giant demons stationed below.

Each of these giant demons can be called a hegemon of one region of the Demon Country; they are existences at the peak of demon emperor level.

They merely lack an opportunity to break through to the venerable level.

This opportunity, in the past they had none; the Profound Bone Demon Venerable and the Blood Sea Demon Venerable carefully controlled the number of venerable-level experts in the Demon Country, fearing that too many venerable-level demon offspring below would threaten their status.

Demons, by nature, are extremely selfish beings.

But today, after the news from the Ghost Country and the Strange Country arrived, the two great demon ancestors chose to sacrifice countless demon heads of the entire Demon Country, achieving nearly a hundred demon emperors, letting them become demon venerables.

In their hearts, they also harbor an even more vicious plan.

With sinister demonic flames flickering in their eye sockets, the Profound Bone Demon Ancestor hoarsely shouted: "You, offer loyalty to me, the old ancestor, and to the Blood Sea Demon Ancestor, and you can become demon venerables… Why haven't you yet released your innate spiritual light? What are you waiting for?"

A huge-bodied giant demon, shaped like a stone giant piled from boulders, stepped forward heavily: "Please, both demon ancestors, swear an oath……"

A demonic light poured down from above, blasting the stone giant to smithereens, scattering even the innate spiritual light within it into nothing.

"Hmm, next, let's bring in another of comparable strength…… This fellow doesn't want to enjoy this great fortune; then let someone else take his place…… Our Demon Country, are we still lacking this big oaf?"

Dozens of demon emperors of roughly equal strength surged out from the vast ocean of demon heads, screaming and shrieking, wildly slaughtering each other, merely hoping to seize this newly vacant spot.

After a brief moment, a victorious demon dragon with three heads and six wings, menacing in form, landed on the mountainside; he bowed respectfully to the Profound Bone Demon Ancestor and said reverently: "Old ancestor, I, the child, am willing……"

This demon dragon split its own skull open, a point of innate spiritual light the size of a water jar flew out, allowing the Profound Bone Demon Ancestor to leave within it a seal controlling life and death.

On the mountainside, the selected demon emperors' eyes flickered; without a word, they each proceeded as prescribed.

The two great demon ancestors have gathered so many demon heads; this sacrificial matter has become a settled fact, with no chance to stop it. If they do not comply, they will die; so perhaps it's better to temporarily comply.

As for what comes after the sacrifice……

We're all demons; who doesn't know who?