Chapter 625: Far Beyond the Demon King

The three-minute rest ended quickly.

At Aileen's command, the thirty-man elite squad reorganized their gear and pressed onward into the darkness of the dense forest.

Surprisingly, the rest of the journey passed with unusual smoothness.

The nearby ratmen seemed utterly terrified; along the entire path ahead, the group encountered no meaningful resistance whatsoever.

Even the most greedy and foolhardy slave rats vanished as if they had never existed—not a single shadow to be seen.

Only the occasional wandering chimera and alchemical golems with still-smoldering magic crystals drifted aimlessly through the woods.

These massive creatures were deliberately left behind by Arakdo as "escaped prey."

As one of the Demon King's most loyal mounts, the giant spider understood its master's twisted tastes—he wanted the area cleared, but not too thoroughly.

After all, they had to leave the Campbell's heroine a little sense of participation.

Moreover, his subordinates had refined palates and couldn't stomach these grotesque oddities, so they were spared.

But Aileen wouldn't let them go.

The silver lightning slicing through the battlefield moved even faster than Prince Colin's wand—within half a breath, it severed the giant head.

With a heavy thud, the monstrous beast that had once charged unchecked across the battlefield collapsed into a pool of stinking, rotting flesh.

At the same moment, Aileen returned to Colin's side, the Glorious Radiance sliding silently back into its scabbard, untouched by a single drop of blood.

"Well done."

Luo Yan gave Aileen an appreciative glance; her lips curled slightly upward, but quickly dissolved into a soft cough.

"What's next? Which way do we go?"

Luo Yan smiled.

"This way."

As he spoke, the firebird circling above let out a clear cry and dove toward the dense forest ahead.

Guided by the firebird, the group quickly passed through the thick underbrush and arrived before a massive cave hidden beside a stream.

This was precisely the place where the players of "Ye Zhiqiu" and others had encountered the boss and been annihilated.

But now, the scene had changed entirely.

Arakdo and his spider army had swept through like locusts—killing every ratman stationed here, and even disposing of the two lizardman player corpses left behind, leaving not a single bone fragment.

All dropped equipment had long been packed and returned to the Grand Cemetery.

Yet the sight of the spiderwebs hanging from the cave entrance and the large pools of green slime on the ground still left Aileen with a flicker of confusion.

"Is this… the mark of a cave spider?"

She pried up a strand of tough silk with her sword tip, frowning slightly.

Luo Yan stepped forward, crouched to examine it for a moment, then nodded as if deep in thought, his voice measured and deliberate.

"It appears so."

Watching the Demon King's serious expression and Aileen, thoroughly fooled, Sarah couldn't help but twitch her lips, her gaze drifting to the surrounding shadows for signs of ratmen.

"But… why would ratmen and cave spiders turn on each other?" Aileen asked, more puzzled than ever, a hint of bewilderment in her eyes.

"Perhaps the ratmen's recent expansion was too aggressive, encroaching on the cave spiders' territory? Or maybe those rats stole the spiders' eggs?"

Luo Yan pulled a glass vial from his pocket, feigning scientific rigor as he scraped a sample of the slime with a silver spoon, sealed it, then stood and wiped his hands with a cloth.

"Regardless, this is good for us."

Hearing Prince Colin say this, Aileen didn't question it further. She nodded and turned to her soldiers, whispering orders.

"Everyone, stay alert! Watch your step—avoid the slime and traps! Follow me!"

"Yes!"

The group responded in unison, lighting their torches and following Aileen and Prince Colin as they marched forward.

The flickering torchlight dispelled the gloom at the cave entrance; the group stepped carefully over the slick ground into the depths of the cavern.

Until now, this adventure had merely been a righteous march—all faces bore eager expressions.

But as time passed and they ventured deeper, the nauseating stench grew stronger, forcing frowns and heavy hearts.

Everyone felt a dread rising.

The smell filling their nostrils wasn't just rotting flesh.

Mixed within it was a chilling metallic bloodiness, and the reeking stench of fermented biological waste.

This place was less a tomb than a breeding farm—and the things being bred were enough to freeze the blood.

The ground, trampled hard and slick by countless claw marks, was mixed with rotting straw.

As the group rounded a bend, a horrifying altar came into view, freezing them in place.

Around it lay piles of severed limbs and mangled corpses, stacked like garbage into a mound—the visceral horror made every stomach churn.

"This is…"

Aileen's voice trembled uncontrollably. Her emerald eyes widened, her sword gripped so tightly it creaked.

It was a "pit of ten thousand dead"!

Perhaps the number of bodies wasn't ten thousand—but a thousand was certainly an understatement.

They were carelessly dumped in the corner like kitchen scraps.

"These demons!" Teresa cursed, raising a hand to cover her nose and mouth, fighting the urge to vomit.

"Saint Xiangsheng above… I can't believe this happened in the Second Era," muttered a mounted knight, silently making the sign of the cross to steady his mind.

Unlike a battlefield.

There were no signs of struggle here.

At least the most prominent corpses bore no wounds from combat.

"Even the devils of hell might find this… blasphemous," Luo Yan murmured, then snapped his fingers. Vines erupted from the walls, temporarily covering the mountain of corpses.

Suppressing both physical revulsion and psychological dread, the group bypassed the flesh altar and pressed deeper.

After passing through a narrow corridor, the space opened abruptly.

Luo Yan waved his wand; a warm wind swept along the walls, silently reigniting the extinguished torches.

When the light illuminated the vast underground cavern, the knights of Campbell were stunned once more.

The dim torchlight revealed a scene like a pigsty, as described in the Holy Scriptures of Hell.

Countless crude wooden cages, stacked layer upon layer, reached the ceiling. The bars were caked with black grime and grease, as if gripped endlessly by filthy hands.

Inside the cages were not animals.

But living Lein people.

According to survivors from the refugee camp, most were refugees driven out of Roland City during last winter's great fire.

Naked, they were crammed together like livestock, gender indistinguishable. Their eyes were uniformly hollow, as if all light had been drained from them.

Many were covered in severe pustules and skin diseases—products of prolonged exposure to abysmal sanitation.

Some had broken legs, wounds oozing pus; others had missing fingers, black scabs sealing the stumps—clear signs of severe infection.

When the torch-bearing group appeared at the entrance, no cheers came as expected.

Instead, they scrambled like startled cockroaches, curling up and burrowing beneath each other.

A few near the cage bars, with nowhere left to hide, reflexively dropped to their knees and pounded their heads against the ground toward Luo Yan and the others.

"Don't kill me… I remember—I have two sons! Let me write them one last letter! Please, give me another chance!"

"What do you want? I'll give you everything!"

"Master! Spare me! I'll never dare again!"

These people had sunk so low they could no longer even cry for help.

When their humanity was stripped away, only animal instinct remained.

Watching these fellow humans, tamed like beasts, Aileen felt her limbs turn icy, a cold deeper than bone piercing her soul.

"Who did this?!"

One knight stepped forward, teeth clenched so tightly they grated—but his movement terrified the captives, triggering a chaotic scramble.

Luo Yan placed a hand on the knight's shoulder and spoke in a controlled tone.

"Calm down. They know no more than those who escaped. We don't need to squeeze the last scraps of information from them… leave them be."

The knight's throat bobbed; finally, he unclenched his fist and bowed his head, retreating into the ranks behind.

Luo Yan chanted a spell; milky-white light spilled from his wand's tip, sweeping across the entire cavern.

The warm glow, like a belated spring breeze, soothed fresh and old wounds alike, calming the terrified captives—enough that they no longer wasted their dwindling strength.

Lowering his wand, he looked at Aileen.

"They're severely injured. I've stabilized their conditions, but proper treatment must be handled by professional priests and physicians."

Aileen nodded faintly, her voice dry.

"Thank you."

Luo Yan lowered his gaze.

"It's nothing."

Teresa scanned the surroundings, her eyes fixed on the massive webs scattered across the floor and the arthropod slime clinging to the cage bars, her brow furrowed.

"Strange…"

Hearing Teresa's voice, Aileen immediately walked over.

"What did you find?"

"Hmm."

Teresa nodded slightly, tapping her chin in thought.

If this place was truly attacked by cave spiders, why did they eat all the rats but leave these humans behind?

The others exchanged glances, clearly finding this suspicious.

Luo Yan said nothing.

This is indeed a flaw—but what does it have to do with Prince Corin?

He too wore a look of confusion and turned his gaze toward Sarah.

"Sarah, do you have any idea?"

Sarah blinked slightly.

"Forgive me, Your Highness, I…"

"Could it be they're full?"

As Luo Yan expected, a self-assured knight stepped forward, hesitated a moment, then ventured his guess.

"After all, there were so many rat corpses outside—maybe they chased the fleeing rat-people elsewhere and didn't get around to these 'stored rations.'"

Elin looked toward Corin, instinctively seeking his advice. Luo Yan merely shrugged, his expression calm.

"I think this friend's analysis makes sense. For predators, live prey is far more appealing than caged ones. And cave spiders prefer to lay eggs inside their prey—perhaps they plan to return later to deal with these 'nurseries.'"

The knight, hearing the prince's approval, scratched the back of his head awkwardly, a faint, almost invisible smirk crossing his face—unaware he'd been used by the Demon King.

After a pause, Luo Yan interrupted the others' thoughts and continued.

"Rather than analyzing where those spiders went… let's first save the people before us. Saint Xis, the priests of Crowfall City won't be enough."

Soul and flesh are bound together.

Magic can regrow decayed flesh, but healing a corrupted soul is a long and agonizing process.

Especially seeing how these people react like startled birds, Luo Yan knew their wounds went far beyond the physical.

Luo Yan's voice pulled Elin back to the present.

She took a deep breath, her eyes hardening again with sharp resolve, regaining the composure befitting a commander, and turned to the nearby knight.

"Take half the men and stay here to treat the wounded. Send a fast rider back to camp immediately—tell His Majesty to send more reinforcements!"

The force she had on hand was nowhere near enough to save so many captives.

And no one knew if those spiders would return—she had to prepare for the worst.

"Yes, Your Highness!"

The knight slammed his fist against his breastplate and marched off.

After organizing the rescue, Elin turned, her gaze fixed on the dark passage deeper in the cave, her voice firm.

"The rest of you—follow me!"

In response, a low, suppressed roar of fury rose.

"Yes!"

…

Passing through the suffocating "pigsty," the group entered a vast natural cavern, now converted into a laboratory—and filled with items rats could never possess.

Yet the rat-people had still added their own touches, such as the massive grinding stone standing at the cavern's center.

The stone was ten meters long and wide, as heavy as a mountain.

Its surface was caked with dried blood and cracked, and within those fissures lay a fresh layer of still-wet crimson, layered over faint, glowing runes.

Above the stone, two thick wooden levers extended, still bearing deep claw marks—clearly operated by giant beasts.

"... So that's what those stitched monsters were for," Teresa whispered.

Elin, beside her, said nothing.

She stepped forward silently, glancing at the several rat-people corpses drained of blood beside the grinding stone.

These were likely overseers or laborers in the lab. Their deaths were clearly the work of cave spiders.

They got off easy.

It wasn't just Elin who remained silent—the knights beside her were equally quiet.

Even those with no knowledge of magic could guess the horror that had occurred here, seeing the glowing powder pooled in the stone trough below and the revolting dark-red sludge.

The rat-people processed the body parts they'd stripped from the Lyneans right here.

At the end of the trough sat several crude oak barrels.

Inside were thick, murky liquids, their surfaces shimmering with an oily sheen—likely unrefined "raw essence."

Sarah walked silently to Luo Yan's side and offered a handkerchief she'd kept hidden in her robes. Luo Yan shook his head slightly, declining, then moved to a wooden table beside the altar.

The table was likewise caked in blood, but among the chaotic torture tools lay several intact sheets of parchment.

Luo Yan picked them up, glanced briefly, and raised an eyebrow.

The handwriting was elegant and precise, even carrying the reserved poise of a scholar—utterly out of place amid the bloody barbarism.

"What does it say?" Teresa leaned in, unable to resist asking.

"Some lab notes. Or rather… a butcher's manual."

Reading the parchment, Luo Yan continued expressionlessly: "They meticulously documented the extraction process for different human body parts, and how to maximize the purification of soul components within."

Elin froze, then instinctively asked, "Purification? Soul… how do you purify that?"

Clearly beyond the knowledge of a knight.

But for a prince who had studied in the Scholar's Domain, it was no mystery.

"Grind it. Then filter it."

Luo Yan turned, his gaze fixed on the massive flesh-grinding stone beside him.

"Literally. This is one of their workshops."

Literally that kind, for example, this is one of their workshops...

Several young knights could no longer hold back—they rushed to the corner, clutching their mouths as they gagged violently. Even Elin, hardened by death, turned deathly pale, her stomach churning.

Luo Yan continued reading the parchment, but said nothing aloud.

The remaining content was filled with obscure academic jargon—these uneducated brutes wouldn't understand it, and constant questions would only disrupt his thoughts.

The information grew more horrifying by the line.

At that moment, Luo Yan finally understood why the Grand Sage had so openly granted him access to the Library of the Source Tower, letting him, an imperial prince, browse freely.

Because the secrets touching the soul weren't in the library—or even in the mage towers of the Snowfields!

These madmen had devised a method to completely bypass the "faith system," beyond the gaze of the gods!

It was a standardized slaughter assembly line—extracting every last ounce of value from a human, using cold magical technology to achieve "soul elevation!"

This was what they called "Holy Water!"

It was a wish-granting machine, liquid divinity!

Those craving power could easily ascend ranks by drinking it; those seeking immortality could slow their bodies' decay—

It would achieve a miracle even the Emperor had never truly accomplished!

"... This looks just like the Philosopher's Stone," Luo Yan murmured, flipping the parchment.

Compared to this, Taf and his wonders were trivial—this bypassed faith entirely!

Compared to this thing, Taf and his wonders were insignificant, for this device bypassed the limits of faith entirely!

【175】 Compared to this thing, Taf and his wonders were insignificant, for this device bypassed the limits of faith entirely!

Releasing fear through terror?

Driving civilization forward for collective prosperity?

Too inefficient.

Like picking fleas off monkeys—wasting both monkey and flea.

So these mages devised a more efficient method.

They threw the monkeys into the pot—and boiled them with their fleas.

Belief was soul resonance; once in the stomach, it still resonated—avoiding waste and unifying scattered thoughts.

Faith is fundamentally a resonance of the soul; even after entering the stomach, it still resonates, avoiding waste of materials and unifying the scattered thoughts of many.

I don't care anymore.

Whether you believe or not doesn't matter. Neither do your joys or sorrows. Once in my stomach, everything you are becomes mine.

Remembering the face of Grand Sage Doushike, a faint bead of cold sweat slid down Prince Corin's neck.

"Philosopher's Stone?" Elin, watching Corin's grim expression, lowered her voice with concern. "What's that?"

"Nothing. Just an alchemical legend."

Luo Yan dismissed her with a casual reply, leaving Elin bewildered, and continued reading.

The theory in the notes reminded him of another old acquaintance: Professor Uriel Ackley.

As a professor of the Holy Energy School and the designated successor to Aristide Thorne, his specialty was the forbidden soul-sewing technique known as "Soul Weaving."

Even by hellish standards, it was an extremely evil and dangerous art.

It forcibly stitched fragments of one soul onto another's—like kneading two lumps of clay together!

But the technique carried grave risks: a single misstep could shatter the subject's mind, driving them outright mad.

After all, patching oneself with another's soul meant "I" was no longer "I"—at least not purely so.

Luo Yan recalled the witch named "Green Tooth" Hekajelin he'd met on his way to the Scholar's Domain.

Luo Yan remembered the witch he met on his way to the Learning Dominion, named "Green Tooth" Hekajelin.

After devouring the souls of several innocent villagers, the magic apprentice gained power and broke through her innate limits—but also fractured her mind, becoming a "living lich."

She eventually ended up on the Adventurers' Guild's bounty list—whether Sarah had slain her or not, she'd surely have been killed later by rising bounties, other adventurers, or local lords.

In the end, she ended up on the Adventurers' Guild bounty list; even if she wasn't slain by Sarah's sword, she would surely be killed by later adventurers or the local lord as the bounty kept rising.

Yet the researchers of this underground laboratory solved the most difficult problem—"soul rejection reaction"—in an extremely cruel way.

The method recorded in the experimental logs was not complex; it could even be called crude and brutal.

First, ensure species uniformity: human-human soul fusion produces the least rejection, and rat-human–rat-human fusion is the same.

Second, according to the Soul School's view, the human spirit consists of two parts: "Ling" and "Hun."

"Hun" is the innate life source, a substance that enters reincarnation; "Ling" is the acquired component, encompassing memory, emotion, self-awareness, and learned experience.

"Ling-zhi" differs from "Hun-zhi"; the former rarely enters reincarnation but dissipates alongside Hun-zhi when it enters reincarnation or naturally fades.

"Ling-zhi" represents a person's existence in the mortal world—its value is unquestionable, even constituting the entirety of "conscious awareness."

Yet it is precisely these strongly individualized "Ling-zhi" that cause the subject's mental breakdown and trigger the "soul rejection reaction."

If so, then simply filter out these "wastes"!

Like desulfurizing iron ore.

After years of accumulated research and tireless exploration, perhaps drawing on experiences from the Illusory Realm, the "Professor" hidden within the Wan Ren Mountains finally succeeded in separating Ling from Hun.

He first subjected Rhenean slaves to repeated torture via rat-human methods, destroying their personalities until they went mad…

This process was equivalent to pre-treating ore: before entering the smelter, a steel mill must crush the ore.

This step was indispensable.

That's why survivors said those who feigned madness to die were sent back to their cells and beaten again.

Eligible offerings were sent to the altar for further processing—a process no different from smelting ore… but Luo Yan could no longer bear to read further.

Too cruel.

Death is but an instant; even awakening as a undead is merely another reincarnation.

Yet this assembly-line slaughter, grinding even personality into the blood-soaked mill, would shock even demons.

The hell described in the Holy Scripture was right here…

Through this inhuman method, the Professor successfully stripped away the "Ling-zhi" containing memory and emotion, retaining only the purest "Hun-zhi."

But this was still not perfect.

The manuscript noted that Hun-zhi density varied by body part, and individual Hun-zhi differed slightly.

Many factors limited the final product's purity, drastically reducing the artificial Holy Water's effectiveness in raising "soul rank."

Luo Yan turned the manuscript to its final page.

The handwriting there was sloppy—clearly the experimenter's own, and it held a crucial clue.

Worse still—

From the scribbled notes, he gradually sensed a twisted excitement.

【Adults have too high a loss rate… Ling-zhi impurities are hard to fully filter… we need purer raw materials…】

【…I should have thought of this sooner! We can obtain far more efficient material at the source—just process it before it sees light…】

Luo Yan's expression hardened slightly; a dread stirred in his heart.

Arakdo had mentioned nothing of this—they'd merely wandered the outer areas, never delving here, never reading these incomprehensible notes.

As if to confirm his worst suspicion, a knight assigned to scout the surrounding area burst out from a stone door nearby.

His face was even paler than when he'd vomited, as if he'd seen the hell of the Holy Scripture.

"Your Highness! You… you must come see the next room."

Ai Lin's heart leapt; she didn't dare delay, hurrying after the knight, while Luo Yan tucked away the notes and followed.

As they passed through the heavy stone door and entered the next room, the sight before them froze everyone's breath.

"These beasts…" Teresa's voice trembled.

The environment here was utterly unlike the bloody filth outside.

No nauseating stench—instead, the air was dry and warm; thick, relatively clean animal hides lined the floor, and fresh food and clean water piled in the corner.

Yet this unnatural "favor" carried a chill deeper than death.

Behind several low wooden fences, over a hundred girls of varying ages were imprisoned—some mature, some young.

Most had vacant expressions and unfocused eyes, clearly drugged for long periods, half-asleep.

But the most horrifying sight: each of them had a swollen abdomen…

Judging by gestation time, they hadn't been brought here recently—they'd clearly been "farmed" here for a long time.

If the previous room was a livestock farm, this was a production facility.

Yet strangely, no infant cries echoed here; no child was visible; no swaddling clothes existed.

Ai Lin stared blankly ahead, her pupils dull as if broken, her sword trembling in her grip.

"…What are they doing?"

Even on the brutal battlefield of Dusk Province, even facing thousands of corpses, she had never felt such despair and helplessness.

Luo Yan stood silently behind her, hesitating long before deciding to tell her what he knew.

Hiding it was meaningless now.

If these records could be found in this cave, the mages' research clearly didn't begin with the Winter Moon Fire—it had likely been ongoing long before Huang Tong Pass crumbled.

Ten years?

Twenty years?

He didn't know; perhaps only Shengxi knew.

"…According to the Soul School's theory, the human spirit divides into 'Ling-zhi' and 'Hun-zhi.' 'Ling' is the sum of acquired memory, emotion, and self-awareness. 'Hun' is innate life energy—the part that enters reincarnation."

In modern terms, the former is software, the latter hardware… but explaining this would only confuse Ai Lin further.

But Ta Fu would understand.

"So?" Ai Lin turned, staring straight into Colin's eyes, pleading silently—for a different answer.

But she was doomed to disappointment.

The evil here far exceeded the Demon King's expectations.

"…Newborns, or those not yet born, have no 'Ling' formed—or it's extremely weak. But their 'Hun' is no different from adults', and requires less time."

"For these mages obsessed with ultimate purity, they are flawless raw material—free of impurities."

"Holy Water uses Hun-zhi as its base, Ling-zhi as its impurity."

"On a path we never imagined, they've forged a shortcut to the abyss…"