171: Collecting rent from the Demon King's house

Inside the valley, the sound of the wind ceased.

Ye Chenfeng's words were like an invisible shackle, fastening onto the Divine Soul of every demonic cultivator.

Ghost Fiend and Moon Consort knelt at the very front, their heads buried deep, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

Behind them, the hundreds of demonic cultivators who had just surrendered didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

Fear is the best form of order.

Ye Chenfeng's gaze swept across the scene without a hint of emotion.

"Ghost Fiend."

He spoke, his voice not loud.

Ghost Fiend's body stiffened abruptly, and he scrambled forward a few steps, almost crawling.

"Se... Senior, this lowly one is here."

"You, lead the way."

Ye Chenfeng's command was concise and clear.

"Yes! Yes!"

Ghost Fiend felt as if he had been granted a great amnesty and immediately scrambled up from the ground, his originally hideous face now covered in a fawning smile.

He turned around and harshly berated the group of Seven Fiends Valley Disciples behind him, who were also still in shock.

"What are you all standing there for! Hurry up and clear the path for Senior!"

Moon Consort also understood, organized the Disciples of the Joyful Union Sect, and silently followed on the flank of the procession.

Thus, a bizarre army led by an Eastern Region Sword Cultivator and composed of Western Region Devil Heads set out in a grand manner.

They marched toward the center of the Demon Tablet World.

Beneath their feet was shattered earth, and above their heads were three crimson blood moons.

This world had no vitality, only endless slaughter and death.

Along the way, they encountered several more groups of short-sighted demonic cultivators.

Those people, seeing this massive group, did not retreat; instead, their eyes gleamed with greed.

In their eyes, this was merely a group of "points" that could be devoured at will.

"A bunch of rabble! Kill them! Plunder all their opportunities!"

A demonic cultivator wielding a giant axe, with a cultivation level at the Late True Immortal stage, charged forward with his men while laughing wildly.

This time, Ye Chenfeng didn't even open his mouth.

Zhao Wuyou merely gave a bored yawn.

Ghost Fiend glanced at Ye Chenfeng's calm profile, and a shiver ran through his heart.

He understood that this was his second test.

"Disciples of the Seven Fiends Valley, hear my command!"

He let out a roar, his voice turning sharp with fear.

"For Senior! Kill them all!"

Moon Consort also gave an order at the same time.

"Disciples of the Joyful Union Sect, form a Formation! Charm their Divine Souls!"

The desire for survival is the best catalyst.

These newly surrendered demonic cultivators erupted with unprecedented ferocity.

They were not fighting for honor.

They were fighting for their own lives.

The battle was bloody and brief.

The group of demonic cultivators that charged up didn't even make it within a hundred feet of Ye Chenfeng before they were torn to pieces by this pack of crazed "guides."

Blood dyed Ghost Fiend's face red.

He wiped it away and looked back at Ye Chenfeng, the smile on his face looking worse than a crying expression.

Ye Chenfeng nodded, considering it an acknowledgment.

The heavy stone hanging in Ghost Fiend's heart finally dropped halfway.

He knew he had survived for the time being.

The army continued forward.

Two hours later, the scene ahead began to turn eerie.

The chaotic battlefield disappeared.

Replacing it was a stretch of land covered in countless profound Formation runes.

Those runes shimmered with faint light, forming massive, interlocking Formations.

A strange rhythm permeated the air.

It was as if countless abacuses were being flicked at the same time.

"This is..."

Gongsun Yan's elegant brows furrowed slightly; she felt a hint of a familiar aura from these Formations.

"Third Senior Brother."

Ye Chenfeng's tone carried a hint of helplessness.

They bypassed a small hill piled high with the skeletal remains of giant beasts.

The scene before them made all the demonic cultivators stop in their tracks.

In the middle of a vast basin, a giant trapping Formation covering a ten-mile radius was slowly operating.

Hundreds of Demonic Path prodigies, with cultivation levels at least in the True Immortal Realm, were like flies caught in a spiderweb, darting left and right within the Formation but unable to escape.

And in the center of the great Formation.

On a high platform piled with various Magic Treasures and weapons.

A slightly plump young man dressed in purple-gold Daoist robes was holding a glittering golden abacus, looking spirited and triumphant.

It was indeed Wang Duojin.

"Next! From the Black Fiend Sect! Yes, you!"

Wang Duojin flicked the abacus beads, his voice echoing throughout the area.

"According to our guild's assessment, your personal net worth is approximately eight hundred thousand High Grade Immortal Stones!"

"I'll give you two choices now!"

"One, sign this 'Myriad Dao Merchant Guild Thousand-Year Labor Contract' and become a worker for our guild. Room and board included, and we'll even pay for your social security and housing fund!"

"Two, we'll help you liquidate your assets—in the physical sense!"

Inside the Formation, the demonic cultivator from the Black Fiend Sect shrieked in rage but was suppressed by the Formation's power and could not move.

"Eldest Senior Brother! Fourth Junior Brother! Fifth Junior Sister!"

Wang Duojin finally saw them, and a smile instantly bloomed on his face.

He leaped down from the high platform and reached Ye Chenfeng in a few flashes.

"You've finally arrived!"

"Look! These are all the territories I've conquered for our Sect!"

He pointed at the group of furious demonic cultivators in the Formation, as if showing off his collection of treasures.

"This..."

Even with Ye Chenfeng's steady Heart-Nature, he was somewhat speechless seeing this scene.

"Third Junior Brother, what are you doing?"

"Business expansion, Eldest Senior Brother!" Wang Duojin said as if it were a matter of course.

"Didn't Old Demon Black Flame want to use us as sacrifices? I figured we can't just be sacrifices for nothing."

"I decided to pull the rug out from under him!"

"I used the Formation Plate given by Revered Master to set up a 'Stellar Dragon-Trapping Formation' here, catching all the 'prime assets' that passed by!"

"Instead of letting them kill each other and go to waste, it's better to convert them all into productivity for our Sect!"

"Look, I've already had them sign seventeen thousand-year labor contracts! If we take them back to the Sect, our mines and herb fields won't be short of hands!"

Listening to Wang Duojin's plausible-sounding nonsense.

The corner of Zhao Wuyou's mouth twitched.

Gongsun Yan covered her mouth and chuckled.

Only Third Senior Brother could come up with such a bizarre idea as conducting "recruitment" on a battlefield.

"Eldest Senior Brother, I have a major discovery!"

Wang Duojin put away his smile, his expression becoming serious.

"I pried some information out of a fellow who refused to sign the contract."

"This Demon Tablet World is essentially a Pill Furnace for Old Demon Black Flame!"

"The true core is in the Central Demon Palace!"

"That old devil's Immortal Lord-level Incarnation is in the demon palace, waiting for us to mostly die off so he can activate the final sacrificial Formation, merge with the 'myriad soul demonic heart', and help him break through to the Immortal King Realm!"

"myriad soul demonic heart!"

Ye Chenfeng's eyes flickered slightly.

That heart, which he had tampered with.

"He thinks we are the fish."

A cold sneer played on the corner of Ye Chenfeng's lips.

"He doesn't know that the owner of the pond has already changed."

Just then.

"Rumble—"

The entire Demon Tablet World shook violently without any warning!

In the distance.

That Central Demon Palace, standing like a demon god.

Suddenly erupted with blood-red light that soared into the sky!

That blood-light dyed the three blood moons red!

An aura far exceeding all previous pressures, even surpassing the scope of a Profound Immortal, swept across the entire world like a tsunami!

That aura was ancient, evil, and filled with an endless thirst for blood and Souls.

A voice, as if coming from the depths of the Nine Nether Abyss, resounded directly in the depths of everyone's Souls, exploding like thunder.

"The appetizers are almost finished..."

"Now..."

"It's time for the main course."