206: The Demon Lord's Past Blood Sea Demon Fetus

“Emperor?”

Li Chengqian almost burst out laughing upon hearing those two words from Zhonglou’s mouth.

The Emperor of the Divine Realm? The “bird Emperor” he spoke of, could it be the Jade Emperor?

This worldview was truly getting bigger and more chaotic. However, a little chaos was good; chaos made things interesting, and it was easier to fish in troubled waters.

He could now basically confirm that his previous life as Emperor Gouchen, General Fei Peng from the Immortal Sword world, and Demon Supreme Zhonglou, definitely belonged to the same mythological system.

It was just that, for some unknown reason, his Emperor Gouchen seemed even more formidable than that Heavenly Emperor. A single word could suppress the Demon Supreme who had wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace—the prestige was simply off the charts.

“So that’s how it is…”

Li Chengqian nodded profoundly, a look of “I remember now” on his face.

“I do indeed have some impression of the events of that year. Your Heart-Nature was arrogant, your Sharpness too sharp; if not tempered, you would eventually bring about your own destruction. Suppressing you was not to punish you, but to… save you.”

Even Li Chengqian himself felt a bit disgusted by these words.

But there was no helping it; didn’t all leaders have to be good at painting a grand vision and appealing to sentiment?

Sure enough, after hearing these words, Zhonglou was moved to tears. His eyes, burning with flames, were filled with admiration and gratitude.

“Your Emperor’s intentions were profound! Zhonglou… Zhonglou was foolish, only after ten thousand years do I understand your deep meaning!”

Look, look at his level of Comprehension Ability!

Li Chengqian was overjoyed inside, but on the surface, he maintained the calm and detached demeanor of a master.

“It is good that you understand.”

He waved his hand, signaling Zhonglou not to be overly formal.

“However, I am rather curious.” Li Chengqian’s tone shifted, and a probing look appeared in his eyes, “I only know that you are the Supreme of the Demon Realm, but I do not know how you, from among those myriad demons, managed to stand out and ultimately ascend to that position.”

This was a question he had wanted to ask for a long time.

A person’s past best reflected his character and abilities.

He wanted to know what kind of caliber this new subordinate he had taken in truly was. And what kind of place was the Demon Realm he spoke of.

Zhonglou was startled when Li Chengqian asked about his past, then a complex expression appeared on his handsome, sinister face.

It was a mixture of arrogance, cruelty, and a hint of… loneliness.

He was silent for a moment, as if sifting through memories steeped in blood and fire.

Below the city wall, all the factions that had not yet dispersed pricked up their ears.

They were equally curious.

What kind of unknown past did this Demon Supreme, who had shaken heaven and earth upon his emergence, possess? And what kind of sight was the so-called “Demon Realm”?

This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hear an ancient demon god personally recount his origins!

The Master in the back mountain of the academy even quietly refilled his teacup, preparing to be a qualified listener.

Xu Weixiong in Tingfeng Courtyard also “watched” this scene with great interest. She was equally curious about this Demon Supreme named Zhonglou. Knowing oneself and one’s enemy ensures victory in every battle. She needed to understand the weight of every card in Li Chengqian’s hand.

Under the gaze of all, Zhonglou finally spoke.

His voice was no longer filled with the fanaticism and reverence it had before, but became low and hoarse, as if carrying the chill from the depths of the nine netherworlds.

“To the Emperor, my past is nothing worth mentioning.”

“I do not have a prominent birth, nor am I a descendant of any demon god.”

“If I must trace my origins, I… am merely a puddle of defiled flesh and blood, born in the Sea of Blood of the Demon Realm.”

Flesh and blood?

This answer stunned everyone.

Including Li Chengqian.

He had imagined many possibilities, such as Zhonglou being the son of an ancient demon god, or having obtained some astonishing Legacy.

But he never expected such a beginning.

“The Demon Realm is different from the Divine Realm and the Human Realm.” Zhonglou’s voice pulled everyone back from their shock.

“There is no order, no Law, no benevolence, no mercy. There is only the most primitive, most pure… survival of the fittest.”

“At the lowest level of the Demon Realm, there is a boundless Sea of Blood. It is a place formed by the corpses, resentments, and remnant souls of all creatures who have died in battle in the Demon Realm over countless eons. It is a forbidden zone for life, and also… the starting point of everything.”

“I was born there.”

“I had no name, no thoughts, no form. I was just a conscious aggregate of flesh and blood, which I call… a Demon Fetus.”

“In the Sea of Blood, there are countless billions of Demon Fetuses like me. Our only instinct is to devour.”

“Devour everything around us that can be devoured. Other Demon Fetuses, remnant souls in the Sea of Blood, and even the Sea of Blood itself…”

Zhonglou’s narration was flat, devoid of any emotion.

But to the ears of the crowd, it was no less than a series of thunderclaps.

They seemed to see a terrifying tableau.

An endless purgatory made of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, countless ugly flesh-and-blood Demon Fetuses wriggling within it like maggots, devouring and slaughtering each other. There was no light, no hope, only eternal, bloody struggle for survival.

Daoist Qingwei and the Shu Mountain Disciples turned pale as they listened.

They cultivated the Human Dao, emphasizing tranquility and non-action, and slaying demons and devils. They had always believed that demons were purely evil.

But now they realized that in such an environment, not becoming evil meant they simply couldn't survive!

“That… that’s too tragic, isn’t it?”

Tang Xuejian, hiding behind Xu Changqing, muttered softly.

Although she was headstrong, her Heart-Nature was not bad. She couldn't imagine a life being born in such a desperate environment.

Xu Changqing said nothing, only silently clenched his fists. He recalled the scattered records of the Demon Realm in his sect’s ancient texts, which described it with only four words—a purgatory of living beings.

He hadn't understood it before, but now, he seemed to grasp it somewhat.

On the city wall, Li Chengqian’s expression also grew solemn.

He wasn't sympathizing with Zhonglou, but analyzing.

From a puddle of rotten flesh, relying on devouring, he had climbed step by step to the position of Supreme of the Demon Realm.

How terrifying must this guy’s willpower be?

And how cruel must the battles he had experienced have been?

Li Chengqian looked at Zhonglou before him, and for the first time, truly regarded him as a… top-tier “weapon.”

A peerless fierce weapon forged from the Sea of Blood, tempered countless times, and filled with endless Battle Intent!

“Interesting.”

Li Chengqian’s heart, far from feeling any discomfort, instead surged with a strong excitement.

Such a subordinate would be truly satisfying to use!

“Continue.” Li Chengqian spoke indifferently, his voice betraying no emotion.

He wanted to know how this peerless fierce weapon was sharpened.

Zhonglou seemed oblivious to the increasingly fervent thoughts in Li Chengqian’s mind. He remained immersed in his own memories, continuing to recount that dark origin in his low, hoarse voice.

“In the Sea of Blood, there was no concept of time. It might have been a hundred years, or a thousand; I don’t know.”

“I only knew that I was constantly devouring. At first, it was by instinct. Later, when I had devoured enough fragments of remnant souls, I began to have a vague consciousness, and started to learn to think.”

“I understood the first and only Law of the Sea of Blood—to survive, you must become stronger than others. And the fastest way to become stronger is to devour beings stronger than yourself.”

Zhonglou’s words once again shocked the listeners below.

This Law was extremely simple and crude, yet also chillingly real.

Qin Qiong and Cheng Yaojin, these military generals who had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, felt this most deeply. Wasn't it the same on the battlefield? If you weren't strong enough, ruthless enough, you would be the one to die. It was just that the Demon Realm had taken this Law to its most extreme, most naked form.

“I began to consciously choose my targets for devouring,” Zhonglou continued.

“Weak Demon Fetuses could only provide negligible power; no matter how many were devoured, it was only an accumulation of quantity, unable to bring about a qualitative change. I began to set my sights on those Demon Fetuses that had also devoured many of their kind and had already become quite massive.”

“That was my first true ‘battle’ in my life.”

“I no longer simply rushed forward to tear and bite; I learned to lurk, to observe the opponent’s weaknesses, and to set simple traps, such as using the giant skeletons floating in the Sea of Blood as cover to launch a surprise attack.”

“I felt the threat of death for the first time, and I also tasted… the sweetness of victory for the first time.”

“When I completely devoured that Demon Fetus, which was several times larger than me, I could clearly feel an unprecedented power surge into my core. My consciousness became clearer, and my ‘body’ became more solid.”

“From that moment on, I understood. Battle was not just for survival, but for… evolution!”

Evolution!

This word, spoken from Zhonglou’s mouth, brought a strange sense of shock to everyone.

They had always thought that cultivation was about perceiving heaven and earth, absorbing Spiritual Qi, and improving step by step.

But in the Demon Realm, cultivation was achieved through such bloody and cruel battles and devouring.

This was a completely different Dao!

The Master in the back mountain of the academy, holding his teacup, paused slightly.

A glint flashed in his half-awake eyes.

“Interesting, truly interesting,” he murmured. “Isn’t this the most primitive ‘Dao’? All things compete, the fittest survive. It’s just that it discards all pretense, pushing the concept of ‘struggle’ to its extreme.”

“Teacher, this… this is too barbaric.” Ning Que, listening nearby, clicked his tongue in amazement.

“Barbaric?” The Master smiled. “Child, when you are starving to death, and there is a piece of meat in front of you, will you first consider whether this meat conforms to propriety, or will you swallow it whole?”

Ning Que was stunned by the question, then fell silent.

The Master looked in the direction of Chang’an City, his gaze deepening.

“This Demon Supreme is not barbaric. He merely understood the meaning of ‘survival’ earlier and more profoundly than any of us. Li Chengqian releasing him and bringing him under his command… this Move is truly both dangerous and brilliant.”

On the city wall, Li Chengqian, listening to Zhonglou’s narration, was also filled with emotion.

“This guy is simply a born hunter, a born warrior.”

He secretly evaluated in his heart.

In such a desperate environment, not only was he not driven mad, but he was able to comprehend the Law of battle and evolution from it, and put it into practice.

This kind of Heart-Nature and Comprehension Ability is simply at a Prodigy level.

“What happened next?” Li Chengqian asked, his interest completely piqued.

“Later, I became obsessed with this rapid evolution brought about by battle and Devour.” For the first time, a fervent flame ignited in Zhonglou’s eyes—the desire for power belonging to a strong individual.

“I was no longer satisfied with being a king in the Sea of Blood. I could feel that above this Sea of Blood, there was an even vaster and more dangerous world.”

“I began to try to swim upwards.”

“The waters of the Sea of Blood are filled with corrosive power and the curses of countless resentful souls. The higher one goes, the greater the pressure. For countless years, no Demon Embryo has ever successfully left the Sea of Blood. They were either crushed by the pressure midway, or dragged back to the seabed by stronger resentful souls and torn to shreds.”

“All Demon Embryos born in the Sea of Blood will forever be trapped in this desperate cage until they are devoured by other kin or decay on their own. This is the second Law of the Sea of Blood, or rather… a curse.”

“But I didn’t believe it.”

As Zhonglou said this, a wild and arrogant curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.

“I don’t believe anything can trap me, Zhonglou, forever!”

“I spent over a thousand years devouring all the powerful existences I could find in the Sea of Blood, tempering my Demonic Body to an unprecedented level.”

“Then, I began that journey to break free from the cage.”

“I swam upwards, constantly upwards. The terrifying pressure wanted to crush me, so I resisted it with even greater power! Countless resentful souls wanted to tear me apart, so I devoured them one by one, turning them into my own power!”

“It was a lonely, endless battle. I don’t know how long I swam, only that my power was rapidly depleting, and my consciousness began to blur.”

“Just as I was about to give up, about to be dragged back into the abyss by the Sea of Blood…”

“I saw… light.”

“It wasn’t the warm light of the Divine Realm, but a dark red light, filled with a brutal and murderous aura.”

“I used my last ounce of strength and rushed out.”

“Boom—!”

“The moment I burst out of the Sea of Blood, for the first time, I saw the true sky of the Demon Realm.”

“It was a sky forever shrouded in dark red clouds. In the sky, there was no sun, only nine blood-colored moons of varying sizes, emitting an ominous glow.”

“And for the first time, I possessed a true ‘form’.”

Zhonglou stretched out his hand and looked at his slender yet powerful palm.

“I was no longer a squirming mass of flesh; I had limbs, a head, and… a beating heart.”

“At that moment, I, Zhonglou, truly became an independent, living being.”

Although his voice was calm, everyone could feel the boundless pride of breaking free from fate and gaining new life!

When Zhonglou uttered the words, “I truly became an independent, living being,” everyone present fell into a strange silence.

A Demon Embryo born from the mud of the Sea of Blood, relying on endless slaughter and devouring, broke free from the shackles of fate, saw the sky for the first time, and possessed a form for the first time.

This story was full of gore and cruelty, yet it carried an indescribable sense of tragedy and heroism.

Especially the young Shu Mountain Disciples, their hearts surged with emotion as they listened.

They had grown up on Shu Mountain, listening to their elders tell stories of slaying demons and devils, and upholding justice. While those stories were admirable, they always felt somewhat distant and unreal.

But now, they were hearing the story of a strong individual, how he rose from the humblest dust, step by step, relying on his own strength, defying Heaven to change his fate and becoming the Dominator of his own destiny!

This intense impact caused their understanding of the word “Demon” to waver for the first time.

It turned out that Demons were not all inherently evil.

They also had their own pasts and their own struggles.

Daoist Qingwei keenly noticed the change in his Disciples’ mentality. He sighed inwardly but did not speak to stop them.

He knew that it was better to guide than to block.

This era had changed. The appearance of Li Chengqian and Zhonglou’s allegiance were like two huge stones thrown into the calm waters of “the world,” stirring up unprecedented colossal waves.

Old concepts and orders were being relentlessly swept away.

If Shu Mountain clung to its old, black-and-white thinking, it would sooner or later be eliminated by this new era.

Perhaps, letting these young Disciples listen more, see more, and think more, was not a bad thing.

Above the city gate, Li Chengqian looked at Zhonglou’s disdainful demeanor and was quite satisfied.

“A good story.” He nodded, giving a positive evaluation, “So, after leaving the Sea of Blood? How did you, step by step, come before Us?”

Li Chengqian knew very well that leaving the Sea of Blood was just graduating from the Novice Village (newbie village).

The real challenge was just beginning.

The Demon Realm was not a benevolent place.

A newcomer who had just crawled out of the Sea of Blood, even if he possessed considerable strength, would find it extremely difficult to gain a foothold in that land.

“The lands of the Demon Realm are even vaster and more dangerous than the Sea of Blood.” Zhonglou’s thoughts returned once again to that ancient land.

“When I first left the Sea of Blood, I was like a naked infant exposed before a pack of hungry jackals.”

“Although I possessed great power, I knew nothing about this world. I didn’t know its rules, its power divisions, or even how to effectively use the power within me.”

“Soon, I encountered my first enemy on the Demon Realm continent.”

“It was a patrol team composed of hundreds of low-level Demon Race members. Their leader was an existence known as a ‘Demon General’.”

A smile, tinged with a hint of nostalgia, appeared on Zhonglou’s face.

“Thinking back now, that Demon General was pitifully weak. But at the time, he seemed to me an unprecedentedly powerful foe.”

“He didn’t just bite instinctively like the Demon Embryos in the Sea of Blood. He knew how to use weapons, how to coordinate battle formations, and even some crude Demonic Path Spells.”

“That battle was extremely difficult for me.”

“For the first time, I understood what ‘coordination’ meant. Those hundreds of low-level Demon Race members, under his command, moved as a single entity, advancing and retreating in order, attacking and defending systematically. I had brute strength, but I was constrained everywhere, and several times I was almost severely wounded by them.”

“I was covered in wounds, and the Devilish Qi in my body was completely depleted. Just when I thought I was going to die at the hands of these ‘ants,’ the devouring instinct from the Sea of Blood within me was re-ignited.”

“I abandoned all superfluous movements, and in the most primitive and effective way, I charged into their battle formation, grabbed one, and directly used my teeth to tear open his body, devouring his flesh and blood and his Demon Core!”

As Zhonglou said this, he stuck out his tongue and subconsciously licked his lips, as if still savoring the taste from back then.

This action made Tang Xuejian below feel a wave of nausea, almost making her vomit.

“Too… too disgusting…” She complained softly to Xu Changqing.

Xu Changqing also frowned deeply. Although he was a cultivator of the Dao and had a firm will, he also felt some discomfort hearing such a bloody description.

He couldn’t understand how a person could commit such barbaric acts.

However, martial generals like Cheng Yaojin and Yuchi Gong listened with shining eyes.

“Good fellow! Ruthless enough! Direct enough!” Cheng Yaojin slapped his thigh and cheered softly, “On the battlefield, that’s how it should be! What kind of Move or routine? Whatever can kill the opponent is a good Move!”

Qin Qiong, though silent, nodded in agreement.

He could imagine how tragic the situation was at that time.

A blood-soaked Demon God, under the siege of enemies, abandoned all techniques and reverted to his most primitive beastly instincts, launching his final counterattack in the most brutal way.

That fearless madness made one’s scalp tingle just thinking about it.

“My actions completely destroyed their Battle Intent.” Zhonglou’s voice carried a hint of inherent ruthlessness.

“They might not be afraid of death, but they were afraid of being devoured alive by a monster in that manner.”

“The battle formation broke. They began to flee.”

“And that arrogant Demon General, after seeing me devour his subordinates one by one as food, finally put down his ridiculous pride and turned to run.”

“How could I let him escape?” Zhonglou sneered, “He was my first ‘teacher,’ who taught me what a battle formation was. Naturally, I had to give him the most solemn ‘thank you gift’.”

“I caught up to him, and in his terrified and desperate eyes, I bit off his neck with one bite, devouring his Demon Core, along with his power, his memories, and everything he had, completely.”

“At that moment, I truly understood the Law of the Demon Realm continent.”

“Power can be plundered.”

“Status can be replaced.”

“As long as you are strong enough, you can have everything!”

“After I devoured that Demon General, those low-level Demon Race members who had scattered and fled gathered around me again. They didn’t think of avenging their former leader; instead, they knelt before me and swore allegiance to me with the most ancient ritual of the Demon Realm.”

“From that moment on, I, Zhonglou, was no longer a wild boy who had crawled out of the Sea of Blood.”

“I became a new Demon General in this land.”

“I had my own name, my own territory, and my own… first batch of subordinates.”