Martial Cultivator

The High Priest stood tall and saw far.

Unlike the rest of the demon race, as the strategist of the demons, the High Priest had, over those past years, always taken the human race seriously and treated them with great solemnity.

However, in those earlier years, although the High Priest held this view, he had not placed too much importance on it, because the human side had indeed not produced anyone particularly worthy of attention.

Until one day, a man named Chen Che came from that tall, imposing city, traveling to the icy, snowy desolate north, and then continued into the demon domain, standing by the Onan River, gazing at the demon royal city that was barely visible.

What did this meant?

In the days that followed, the High Priest could not stop thinking about that day. Only then did he realize that it meant that the human race, long oppressed by the demons and barely able to breathe, had finally lifted their heads. On that day, they began to look northward and started to develop a new kind of feeling toward the demon race.

In a sense, this could be summed up in one word:

Looking North.

From that day onward, the High Priest began to treat the human race with greater seriousness. He started to feel some concern and thus pushed for a confrontation between the young human prodigies and the young demon prodigies. Naturally, his initial intention was to crush the human talents, leaving the human race with no visible future.

But in the end, he saw something else.

He saw that young martial artist shining brilliantly, not yielding at all in front of the demon prodigies, and even in front of Autumn, showing no weakness.

This gave rise to many concerns. Then, all the various conflicts between Chen Chao and the foreign lands were, it’s hard to say that it was not subtly stirred along by the High Priest, but they did not achieve the ideal results either.

He even went to great lengths to orchestrate a “spectator” scheme, letting the clam and the sandpiper fight while he benefited, aiming to separate the Great Liang Emperor from the human world.

In that scheme, the High Priest personally did very little, but his manipulation of human hearts had already reached a masterful level. In his design, the Sword Sect Sect Master would die at the hands of the Great Liang Emperor, the Temple Master of the Infatuation Daoist Temple would also die at the Great Liang Emperor’s hands, and then the Great Liang Emperor himself would die at the hands of His Majesty.

Then the human race would fall into chaos, and Great Liang and the foreign lands would become mortal enemies, constantly exhausting each other.

As the “spectator,” the demon race would naturally profit the most.

Although the plan was not perfect in the end, it still fell within his expectations.

Yet he had not anticipated that before the Great Liang Emperor left the human world, he would forcibly secure several extra years for the human race.

And after those years, the High Priest witnessed the flourishing of the human race.

That young martial artist, in just a few years, had leaped to become the most remarkable martial artist in the world, filling the void left by the Great Liang Emperor’s departure.

The Sword Sect disciple, the sword master or Wild Grass, broke through his realm to become the youngest great sword immortal of the age.

The young temple master of Infatuation Daoist Temple broke through to become a great daoist sage, also the youngest of his age, and possibly the youngest in the entire history of Daoism.

If the human race had only produced a few young powerhouses in recent years, the demon race would not have been particularly afraid or worried.

The problem was that, beyond these young powerhouses, the High Priest had also seen that extraordinarily talented female sword cultivator with nine personal flying swords. In terms of military strategy, she was actually more formidable than any famous human general he had ever encountered.

The combat strength of the border army was growing ever stronger...

The Great Liang Dynasty was becoming increasingly united...

The attitude of the cultivators toward Great Liang was changing. Some were forced by the young martial artist to side with Great Liang, while others sincerely chose to align with it.

All of these changes left the High Priest unable to eat, unable to sleep.

So once again, under his suggestion, today’s court session was convened. Yet as he observed the behavior of these great demons, he also grew very angry.

Why could Great Liang achieve unity from top to bottom? Why couldn’t his own side accomplish the same?

The High Priest furrowed his brows, his expression ugly.

“High Priest...”

A great demon thought for a moment and said, “What High Priest says makes sense, but if we truly fight this way, how many of us must be sacrificed to breach that human Great Wall? Have you considered that?”

The High Priest looked at him, disappointment in his eyes. He said expressionlessly, “To end this once and for all - does that seem insignificant to you?”

The great demon looked into the High Priest’s eyes, unsure what to say. He had never seen the High Priest look like this. Many of the great demons actually did not fully respect the second-ranking figure of the demon race.

Although the High Priest’s cultivation realm was high, his temperament was far too gentle. The demon race respected strength above all -if you were too easy to talk to, others would look down on you.

It was only those ruthless individuals, quick to kill, who truly invoked fear.

“I didn’t mean that...”

The great demon’s aura weakened, unsure how to continue.

Another great demon beside him casually placed a hand on his shoulder and said, “From this lord’s, it’s probably not that extreme.”

A tall, imposing great demon had stepped into the hall at some point, his towering frame radiating a strong aura of killing intent, making anyone near him feel uncomfortable.

“Demon Lord White Jing?!”

Soon, someone recognized the identity of the demon lord and was immediately struck with awe.

Demon Lord White Jing, this was a figure who had become famous among the demons three hundred years ago. In earlier years, a great sword immortal had crossed from the desolate north into the demon territories, killing many great demons and causing severe trouble for several small tribes. Then two demon lords had successively intervened, attempting to kill this audacious great sword immortal within the demon lands, but the final outcome was one dead and one wounded. The incident caused a considerable stir in the demon territories, alerting many demon lords. Yet, due to the pride of the demons, it almost became a battle of attrition with that great sword immortal. Subsequently, four or five of them were defeated in succession. Just as they were seeking the demon emperor’s help, it was Demon Lord White Jing who moved south from his own territory and confronted the great sword immortal.

The two fought fiercely in the desolate north for three full days. In the end, Demon Lord White Jing seized the great sword immortal’s flying sword and personally decapitated him with it, bringing an end to the fiasco that had caused the demons considerable shame.

But Demon White Jing did not stop there. He continued south, clad in a white robe, moving through human lands as if they were deserted, engaging nearly every major human powerhouse of that time, slaying figures like great daoist sages and great bodhisattvas of Buddhism.

Finally, Demon Lord White Jing threw the great sword immortal’s head onto the mountaintop of his own sect, stomped the sect gate to pieces, and then calmly returned north.

At that moment, the human race likely deeply regretted having a great sword immortal wreak havoc in the north.

It was this battle that made everyone remember the name of Demon Lord White Jing, recognized the White Flood Dragon clan, and revealed an extraordinarily talented figure.

For the past three hundred years, Demon Lord White Jing had focused on cultivation, rarely venturing through the demon domain. Yet in the northern demon seas, the White Flood Dragon clan remained the most respected clan.

Because everyone knew that this clan had the remarkable Demon Lord White Jing

But no one knew why, at today’s court session, this reclusive demon lord had suddenly appeared.

The High Priest looked at the demon lord, whose reputation in the demon domain was considerable, and slightly bowed. “Greetings, Demon Lord.”

Demon Lord White Jing smiled. “Jing Zhu, long time no see.”

Hearing this, many great demons froze for a moment before realizing that the High Priest’s real name was Jing Zhu.

Although they now knew the High Priest’s name, they still did not know that he and Demon Lord White Jing had been close friends in their youth. The two had traveled the south together without their respective elders knowing.

The High Priest said, “Demon Lord, do you not agree with moving south?”

Demon Lord White Jing remained silent.

With the appearance of Demon Lord White Jing, many among the demon race who held opposing views felt somewhat reassured. After all, this demon lord was not only of profound cultivation, but also possessed extremely high prestige among the demons. If even he opposed the matter, then pushing it forward would not be so easy.

The situation seemed to become troublesome all at once.

The hall fell silent again.

Until the sound of footsteps rang out.

A figure in emperor robes appeared before everyone.

The great demons all bowed in unison, calling out, “We pay our respects to Your Majesty!”

Only Demon Lord White Jing remained standing where he was, not lowering his head, looking at the demon emperor. The expression on this demon lord’s face was somewhat complicated.

The Demon Emperor glanced at White Jing, then at the High Priest, and said, “We go south. The sooner the better. This is Our will.”

The Demon Emperor had never been one to enjoy pointless words. From the beginning until now, it had always been this way. Once a decision was made, it was to be carried out. The High Priest was responsible for reasoning, while the Demon Emperor only needed to announce his will.

The great demons exchanged looks. In the end, many gazes fell upon Demon Lord White Jing.

Would this demon lord have a different opinion?

He should have one.

The High Priest also looked at him. Their gazes met, and White Jing suddenly laughed. “This lord agrees.”

Many eyes widened.

The High Priest raised an eyebrow.

“This lord naturally believes that the human race has not yet reached such a powerful stage. Our race has existed for generations, how could a measly little human race shake us?”

“But…”

“Since such ants dare to covet our race, they should not exist in this world. They must be exterminated.”

White Jing raised his head and looked toward the Demon Emperor on the throne, smiling as he said, “Your Majesty, the White Flood Dragon clan is willing to serve as the vanguard and exterminate the human race.”

Once White Jing spoke, none of the great demons present dared say anything further. If the Demon Emperor inspired awe purely through cultivation realm, then White Jing truly possessed an incomparable prestige within the demon race.

The great demons exchanged glances, and some began to kneel, expressing their willingness to comply.

After that, the remaining great demons also knelt one after another.

“We are willing to follow Your Majesty’s steps and exterminate the human race!”