77: Chapter 77 The Heavenly Dao is Dead! Demonic Energy Runs Rampant!

The morning after handing over power.

Leader Li Zizai did not look back; instead, he took over a hundred old brothers who had signed death warrants and stepped onto the main highway leading to the capital of the Great Li Dynasty without hesitation.

This was not an ordinary prisoner rescue; it was a high-profile, one-way journey to seek death.

They changed their usual guerrilla and dormant tactics, beginning to strike proactively and recklessly.

Leader Li Zizai's goal was extremely clear.

To make a big enough commotion that those high-and-mighty demons could not ignore.

He specifically targeted core Blood Tribute transport convoys escorted by elite armored soldiers of the Great Li Dynasty and accompanied by low-level Demon Slaves.

These convoys carried "superior blood materials" that had been carefully selected, which were rations highly valued by the demons.

On the main highway, yellow sand filled the sky.

"Kill!"

Accompanied by a deafening roar.

Leader Li Zizai, like a fierce tiger descending from the mountain, was the first to charge into the defensive formation of the Great Li Dynasty.

Within just three days, continuous beacon fires were lit along the main highway leading to the capital.

Leader Li Zizai and his men raided five core Blood Tribute convoys in a row, saving nearly ten thousand Mortal, killing over a thousand Great Li armored soldiers, and even dozens of Demon Slaves.

The heads of the Demon Slaves were arrogantly stacked into a pyramid, piled up at the most conspicuous intersection of the main highway.

Such reckless and arrogant actions were like a loud slap, fiercely striking the faces of the demons ruling this land.

The livestock in the pen had not only bitten through their chains but even killed the sheepdogs, challenging the master's majesty.

This made those high-and-mighty demons, who viewed Mortal as pigs and sheep, feel unprecedented rage and humiliation.

Just seven days later.

The raiding party led by Leader Li Zizai, while ambushing the sixth Blood Tribute convoy, ran into an insurmountable wall.

Above the canyon, the originally clear sky darkened without warning.

A demon at the middle stage of the Foundation Establishment Stage had personally taken action!

Faced with absolute crushing strength, Leader Li Zizai's raiding party was instantly defeated.

They didn't even have the opportunity to activate the "Mortal Self-Severing Method" before being killed in one blow by that demon.

And the leader, Li Zizai, was captured alive.

...

Great Li Dynasty, capital city.

Inside the dark and cold underground water prison.

Leader Li Zizai was suspended in mid-air by iron chains, his entire body covered in wounds.

The demons' interrogation methods were extremely cruel.

They spent three days and three nights trying to pry the hiding place of the Resistance Army's main force from Leader Li Zizai's mouth.

But Leader Li Zizai only sneered, saying nothing.

"Your bones are quite hard."

A demon wearing a black robe with dark gold trim stood before the rack, looking coldly at the dying Leader Li Zizai.

This was the most powerful demon entrenched within the Great Li Dynasty's jurisdiction, at the late stage of Golden Core, named Xue Du.

"Do you think that if you don't speak, I have no way to deal with those crawling insects?"

Xue Du snorted coldly.

"Mere Mortal daring to dream of resistance is simply the biggest joke in the world."

"I will use your life to tell all the ants in the world what the outcome of resistance truly is."

Xue Du turned around and issued a decree to the few subordinates at the Foundation Establishment Stage behind him.

"Half a month from now, set up the Nine Nether Demon Fire formation in the capital's central square."

"Execute this person with the ultimate punishment, burning his soul with Demon Fire for seven days and seven nights."

"Order the three hundred thousand troops stationed in the capital to drive all the millions of Mortal inside and outside the capital to the square."

"I want these pigs and sheep to see with their own eyes how their leader wails and begs for mercy in extreme pain, and in the end, not even a trace of his soul will remain!"

This was a move to destroy their hearts.

The high-ranking demons wanted to use the most cruel public execution to completely crush the tiny spark of resistance that had just risen in the hearts of the Mortal.

But when Leader Li Zizai, who was hanging on the rack, heard this decision.

On his face, covered in blood and filth, a grim and tragic smile slowly spread.

He had succeeded.

With his broken body, he had fulfilled his wish and exchanged it for a stage where millions of Mortal could watch at the same time.

...

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye amidst an extremely oppressive atmosphere.

Great Li Dynasty capital, central square.

This was an open-air execution ground so vast it was suffocating.

The ground of the square was paved with huge dark red stones, a color that could not be washed away after being soaked by generations of blood sacrifices.

At this moment, the surroundings of the square and the dozens of main roads extending outward were packed with millions of Mortal.

Three hundred thousand fully armed dynasty armored soldiers formed an airtight iron curtain around the crowd.

Above the high platform.

Nine black bronze pillars engraved with complex demon patterns stood in a ring.

Leader Li Zizai's joints were pierced through by four thick, barbed iron chains, suspending him in the very center of the nine bronze pillars.

The clothes on his body had long since become tattered rags, and there was not an inch of intact skin on his entire body.

Dark red blood dripped from his toes onto the stone platform below, which was engraved with the formation.

Outside the bronze pillars.

Dozens of demons at the Foundation Establishment Stage hovered in mid-air with cold expressions.

"The time has come."

In mid-air, a demon at the late stage of Foundation Establishment who was presiding over the punishment announced with an icy voice.

"Resisting the Heavenly Mandate, bewitching Mortal."

"Today, we bestow the punishment of burning the soul with Nine Nether Demon Fire, as a warning to others!"

There was no superfluous nonsense.

The demon formed a seal with one hand and pointed sharply at the high platform below.

"Boom!"

The nine black bronze pillars instantly lit up with blinding blood-red light.

Following that, clumps of dark green flames, still emitting an aura of extreme cold and corrosion, rose up from the bottom of the formation.

This was by no means an ordinary flame.

The Nine Nether Demon Fire specifically targeted the soul.

Being burned by this kind of flame, the physical body would not immediately turn to ashes, but the soul would endure the extreme pain of a thousand cuts.

Every second was longer than going through the eighteen levels of hell.

The Demon Fire instantly engulfed Leader Li Zizai's body.

Dozens of demons showed cruelty and mockery.

They were all waiting.

Waiting for this Mortal leader who dared to provoke the Immortal Masters to let out shrill screams in extreme pain.

Waiting for him to collapse, beg for mercy, and fawn in front of millions of people.

However.

Ten breaths passed.

Thirty breaths passed.

The dark green Demon Fire crazily licked Leader Li Zizai's body, burning his flesh until it was charred and withered.

But in the center of the high platform, aside from the sound of the flames burning.

Dead silence.

Not a single sound of screaming came out.

The demons in mid-air frowned slightly.

"The bones are indeed hard."

The demon presiding over the punishment snorted coldly and changed the hand seal.

"Increase the heat, let's see how long he can hold on!"

The fire of the Demon Fire suddenly rose by several feet, completely submerging Leader Li Zizai.

Just when everyone thought Leader Li Zizai had been burned to the point of being unable to make a sound.

A sudden change occurred.

Inside the Demon Fire.

Leader Li Zizai slowly lifted his face, which had been burned beyond recognition.

Not only did he not scream.

Instead, with a terrifying perseverance, at this moment, he used a martial arts secret technique that burned vital energy to produce sound.

He gathered the last trace of vital energy remaining in his body into his chest.

Then, he suddenly opened his mouth.

"The Heavenly Dao is Dead! Demon Qi Runs Rampant!"