Chapter Thirty-Four: Seek a Realm, Slay a Realm!

When Yu Daoyi regained consciousness, he found himself once again enveloped in that gray-black void—hazy, everything around him shrouded and indistinct. He glanced about for a moment, then, with unruffled calm, sat cross-legged upon the ground.

I’ve been here before. I know this place well.

Countless questions flickered through his mind. To pull me in here without so much as a greeting—fine, but then to remain utterly silent? In my old world, someone spying like this would’ve been caught and “Aluba’d” in no time!

Clearly, this was the handiwork of the tattered book nestled between his brows. The first time this had happened was after he cultivated the Ancient Demon’s Nine Transformations and broke through, truly stepping onto the first transformation’s path. Yet, for all that, he still hadn’t figured out how to use this body-forging art—the instruction manual was right in his mind, but he just couldn’t make use of it...

So haughty! Even more so than my own brother!

He’d tried countless times to reach out to it with his feeble spiritual sense, but it always acted as if it couldn’t care less.

Gray mist churned around him, unchanged from his first visit. Suddenly, a slash of brilliant light tore through the haze, the world before him opening abruptly—dazzling sunlight so intense he could barely keep his eyes open, icy winds lashing his face.

Squinting against the glare, he realized with a start that he was suspended in midair. Below him stretched one formation after another, all poised for battle. Every face was grim, eyes sharp as blades, expressions heavy with tension, as if confronting a dire foe.

The ranks were orderly, composed; their black battle armor gleamed under the sun. At the head of the army, a banner stood tall—a military standard, emblazoned with a single, ancient character: Summer.

The flag snapped in the wind, and what Yu Daoyi saw was the chilling, disciplined might of the army. Not a single sound rose from the troops; the silence itself was terrifying. By the roughest count, their numbers exceeded a million.

Only then did Yu Daoyi realize he was floating above it all.

A sudden uproar filled his ears. He turned—another flash of blinding light, catching him off guard.

My titanium dog eyes have been blinded twice today.

Shaking off the daze, his gaze landed upon wave after wave of monstrous beasts. Roars thundered through the air, shaking the sky and earth, so deafening they seemed to shatter stone and pierce clouds. Countless demon beasts waited, coiled to strike—a demon army.

At its head stood a hulking, minotaur-like figure, waving a massive banner, several stories high, upon which a single, blood-red character was scrawled: Demon.

The air trembled, the clouds swirled; the atmosphere was overwhelming, world-altering.

As Yu Daoyi stared at that demon character, an inexplicable rush of blood and passion surged through him, his heart ablaze with heroic fervor.

The beasts’ roars and shrieks hammered his eardrums, his own blood pounding in response. Unlike the human army, this demon force numbered less than a hundred thousand—far fewer than the human side. Yet their aura alone seemed to suppress the million-strong host before them. Every beast’s face radiated excitement, as though they held the enemy in utter contempt.

The blinding sunlight faded, and Yu Daoyi looked up to see clouds rolling in, darkening the sky until not a single ray of sun remained. Bitter winds scoured the land, dust and mist billowed, and the two starkly different banners whipped in the gale.

Yu Daoyi felt a surge of excitement—he half wished for a bucket of popcorn. That odd little mind of his couldn’t help but think: this is like a full 4D surround-sound movie.

Never in his former life had he witnessed such a spectacle. Yet, apart from the two armies and the darkened heavens, there was nothing else here; all stood upon that same gray void as before. Wherever this earth-shattering battle would take place, it existed only in this strange space.

Suddenly, his gaze locked on the leader of the demon army—a broad-shouldered, imposing figure, whose languid bearing struck a chord of memory: this was one of the two he’d glimpsed the first time he’d entered this void. Scanning the field, he didn’t see that strange young man from before, and he breathed a slight sigh of relief—the memory of their last encounter still sent an uneasy chill through him.

The burly demon reclined lazily on a sedan chair made from beast pelts, one leg crossed over the other, eyes half-closed in a doze. Beside him, two masked beauties, scantily clad and alluring, massaged his shoulders with gentle hands, while below, four towering, muscular demon beasts bore the chair on their backs.

The four porters wore expressions of fanatic devotion, as if to carry their lord was the highest honor imaginable.

Such indulgence! To Yu Daoyi, ever the bystander, the whole scene was like a steaming plate of pickled fish: sour, amateurish, and ultimately... a salted fish.

With a languid wave, the man on the sedan brought silence to the tens of thousands of demon soldiers—even the heavy breathing faded away.

“Have you made up your mind?” a lazy voice drifted from the sedan.

Across the field, the opposing general sat tall and proud atop his horse, bearing a mien of unyielding resolve.

His eyes flashed like icy stars, brows as dark as lacquer, chest broad and imposing—an aura of invincibility. Astride a black warhorse, he rode out from the ranks.

“Insolence!” he barked coldly.

“I’m just asking for a single person from your side. Why make such a fuss? I’m not one for senseless slaughter.” The demon lord lounged on his sedan, utterly unconcerned by the million-strong army before him.

“Let’s keep things simple. You give me the person, I withdraw my troops. We’ll stay out of each other’s way. How about it?” He smiled contentedly, enjoying the ministrations of the beauties at his side.

“My people will never yield to a demon! The answer is no! If you want her, come and take her!” the human leader replied coldly from atop his steed, his eyes steely.

“No need to be so certain. What if she herself is willing to follow me? Why not call her out and let us discuss this calmly?” the demon lord suggested, voice still languid.

“She is not of our kind—her heart must differ. There is nothing to discuss!” the human general shot back.

After that, the demon lord fell silent, and the demon army once again stirred restlessly.

“I never intended for this to escalate,” the demon lord finally spoke, after a long pause. “It’s not that I’m unwilling, but she dislikes it. If she doesn’t want something, I will not force it.”

“But if she refuses, no one can compel her.”

“If you wish to know why, I’ll tell you plainly here and now.”

He rose from his sedan, a glint of cold light flashing in his eyes. The clear black-and-white of his gaze shifted, golden vertical pupils emerging, cold and sharp. His entire bearing changed, his aura swelling, chilling to the bone.

“Because I say so.”

“Because I say so! If you refuse to hand her over today, not one of you will leave alive!”

“Not only that—if I still can’t find her after killing you all, I’ll raze city after city, realm after realm—”

“Until rivers run red with blood, and corpses carpet the land—I will stop at nothing!”

Whoa—damn, so domineering! Yet, even as these words shook him, Yu Daoyi’s first regret was: where’s my popcorn?

Jaw slack, Yu Daoyi stared in awe—a single man threatening the annihilation of millions, all for one person.

Even, if need be, to slaughter the world.

“So—are you ready?”

Like a demon lord from the deepest abyss, he uttered the most terrifying words the world had ever heard. His golden eyes blazed in the demon army, standing atop the sedan, gaze fixed unflinchingly on the enemy.

To him, all else in the world was as nothing—compared to her.