Chapter 1 Entering the City

A stretch of land was enclosed by a continuous high wooden palisade, made of wooden stakes nearly two zhang tall driven deep into the ground and linked together, absolutely impenetrable by any beast horde. Within the enormous palisade stood stone houses and wooden huts, where a multitude of men, women, old and young, clad in animal hides, lived.

This was a very ordinary tribe, a tribe with several thousand clansmen.

"My child was captured dozens of li away!" A man in black walked through the mountain forest, heading toward the gate of this tribe. "And this is the nearest tribe."

"Halt."

"Halt."

The main gate of the tribe was closed. On either side of the gate stood two towering arrow towers, each manned by five sturdy warriors in animal hides. They had all drawn their great bows, arrows nocked on the bowstrings, aiming from afar at the approaching man in black.

"Outsider, state your purpose." A warrior on the arrow tower shouted angrily.

The man in black swept his narrow eyes over them as if looking at ants, but he did not stop; he continued walking toward the main gate.

The ten warriors in animal hides on the two arrow towers were enraged...

"Kill him!" Instantly, the ten great bows twanged! Twang! Twang! Twang! Arrows whistled as they shot straight at the man in black. Each arrow could shatter huge rocks and fell tall trees, but when the ten arrows closed in on the man in black, they suddenly burst—bang, bang, bang—

Each arrow exploded, turning to powder.

The man in black continued forward.

"Not good." The ten warriors on the arrow towers were greatly alarmed. One of them quickly grabbed a bullhorn, raised his head, and blew!

"Woo-woo-woo~~~" The deep, penetrating sound of the bullhorn quickly echoed throughout the tribe. Men, women, old, and young swiftly grabbed weapons and assembled. In this land, to survive... whether male or female, old or child, all had to become warriors capable of fighting.

As the tribesmen gathered and charged toward the main gate with roars—

Bang!

The tribe's extremely thick main gate, made of black iron scale wood, burst apart directly, splintering into countless fragments that flew in all directions. Each splinter was more terrifying than the arrows of the tribe's archers. In an instant, dozens of warriors near the gate were killed or maimed, blood everywhere. Yet the warriors showed no fear; instead, they roared and prepared to charge.

"Stop!" A shout rang out.

A white-haired elder in animal hide turned into a blur and dashed to the open ground before the main gate.

The agitated mass of tribesmen halted and looked at the white-haired elder in gray animal hide. He was their tribe's chieftain.

"Great hero, how may the Golden Blade Tribe serve you?" The white-haired elder bowed respectfully. Being able to shatter the gate with mere external qi meant the man was undoubtedly a congenital spirit. And congenital spirits... even in the overlord of this land, the Ji clan, held very high status.

Only then did the man in black leisurely step through the main gate.

"Let me ask you." The man in black glanced at the white-haired elder. "Has a snake demon appeared nearby recently?"

"Snake demon?" The white-haired elder was startled, then quickly nodded. "Yes, a snake demon has been active recently, causing disasters for many small tribes. The surrounding tribes reported it to the Ji clan... and the Ji clan dispatched the Black Arm Guard, who resolved the snake demon menace."

A cold gleam flashed in the narrow eyes of the man in black.

Indeed, it was the Ji clan!

The Ji clan was a behemoth in this land. Even an old demon like him did not wish to provoke them. Earlier, he had suspected that his child 'Red Flame' had been captured by the Ji clan, and now it seemed true.

"Killed or captured?" The man in black continued.

"Captured alive." The white-haired elder quickly replied. "The Black Arm Guard sent by the Ji clan captured the snake demon alive and returned. They should have reached West Prefecture City by now!"

"West Prefecture City?" The man in black's eyes flickered with flames—flames of anger.

West Prefecture City was the most dangerous place for great demons.

It was where the strong of the Ji clan's West Prefecture gathered! Great demons dared not go there. His child had gone there... the chances of rescuing him were very slim.

"Human." The man in black looked at the white-haired elder, his voice icy. "Do you know who I am?"

The white-haired elder's face changed drastically when he heard the address 'human'.

Demon!

And one that could take human form—a terrifying great demon!

"Hoo-oo-oo~~~" The temperature around plummeted. Endless frost began to descend, and even goose-feather snowflakes drifted down. The terrifying cold spread instantly, freezing the strong tribesmen nearby into ice statues, which then shattered into chunks.

"Run!" The white-haired elder's beard and eyebrows were coated with frost. He shouted to the tribesmen behind him, "It's a great demon! Flee, flee!"

"Go!"

"Quick!"

Gritting their teeth in hatred, the tribesmen began to flee in panic. A few maddened tribal warriors howled and charged at the man in black. But as they neared him, the frost on their bodies thickened, and they soon turned into ice statues.

The white-haired elder, his inner energy vigorous, shouted with difficulty, "Do you dare to provoke the mighty Ji clan?"

"Provoke?" The man in black's thick, ink-black hair flew wildly, a red gleam flashing in his eyes. "The snake demon is my child, my most beloved child. I will not only provoke them—I will storm West Prefecture City!"

"Roar~~~"

A sky-shaking roar erupted.

In an instant, the man in black transformed into a massive black serpent coiling in the air. The serpent's two enormous scaled bone wings spread wide, as if blotting out the sky and covering the tribe below. The fleeing tribesmen looked up and were thrown into panic.

"It's a Winged Serpent!"

"The great demon of Winged Serpent Lake!"

Not a single tribal warrior had the will to resist. From birth, they had heard ancient tales of the 'Winged Serpent Lake Great Demon'. They knew how terrifying the Winged Serpent was. Their Golden Blade Tribe could not withstand such a fearsome great demon!

"All must die!"

"You will all die!"

The enormous Winged Serpent, its bone wings spread, looked down from above, its crimson pupils filled with madness. Suddenly, it opened its gaping maw. Hoo~~~ A boundless, biting black wind blew. The black wind scoured even the ground, causing some stone houses to collapse. A vast black wind soon enveloped the surrounding dozen li.

"Heh-heh~~" The tribesmen clutched their throats, their bodies rapidly turning pitch black.

"No." A woman held her child, tears streaming down.

"Great demon, the Ji clan will avenge us!" Even a powerful warrior at the peak of inner strength, holding his breath, found the poison seeping through his skin. In his final moment, he could only roar in unwillingness.

Moments later—

The dwelling place of the Golden Blade Tribe fell silent, not a sound to be heard. All the tribesmen were either frozen into ice statues and fragments or poisoned to death on the ground. The entire settlement and the surrounding dozen li... had become a land of death, even the poisonous insects and beasts all killed.

The enormous Winged Serpent flapped its wings gently in the air, looking down, sensing that all life had perished. Then it swiftly flew high into the sky and disappeared into the distant horizon.

...

Night fell. The cold wind howled. In the distance, the towering, majestic walls of West Prefecture City stretched far into the distance.

"Swoosh!" A black shadow easily evaded the Black Arm Guards patrolling the city wall and quietly slipped into West Prefecture City.

"Where is my child?"

The man in black began to search carefully within West Prefecture City.

The great demon 'Winged Serpent', entering West Prefecture City for the first time, searched for a long time and discovered painfully: "Demons, when captured alive, are all sent to the inner city. The inner city is where the Ji clan clansmen live, heavily guarded. Many congenital spirits live there... I cannot infiltrate."

Sneaking into West Prefecture City was relatively easy.

But infiltrating the inner city?

That was where the Ji clan's West Prefecture clansmen lived. How heavily guarded was such a lair?

"Hoo!"

A moment later.

High above West Prefecture City, the Winged Serpent flew in the sky, using its innate water control ability to quickly form thick mist around it, creating clouds. Hidden by the surrounding clouds, it peered down at the inner city from above, carefully observing every spot.

...

At dawn.

Ji Ning came alone to Dragon Castle. Today was the once-every-three-days cage battle.

"Young master."

"Young master."

The Black Arm Guards and servants in Dragon Castle were all extremely respectful.

Ji Ning's father was the foremost figure of the Ji clan's West Prefecture. Ji Ning himself was such a prodigy, and it had long been rumored... that Ji Ning would be the next prefect. His status was thus evident.

"Arrange the most powerful demon." Ji Ning called out with a smile.

"A powerful demon was just sent in, brought by Commander Meng Yu. It has divine demon blood." A one-armed old man shouted loudly.

"A demon with divine demon blood?" Ji Ning's face lit up. "Good, now I can have a satisfying fight. Hurry and send it into the cage."

"Alright."

The one-armed old man went to make arrangements.

Dragon Castle was divided into two parts: the cage and the beast den. In the beast den lived various demons, all kept captive.

"Roar~~~" A red serpent, bound by iron chains, coiled up, looking at the humans outside the huge cage and letting out a low roar.

"Keep roaring." The one-armed old man snorted coldly. "You've devoured so many people. Today is your death day. Go, open the gate. Release the chains... let it into the cage."

"Yes."

The specially assigned servants went to carry out the orders.

"Rumble~~~" The gate separating the cage and the beast den opened. Light shone in from the distant passage, and the red serpent looked over, letting out roars.

"Release the chains." The one-armed old man ordered.

"Click!"

"Click!"

The locks on the chains quickly unfastened. Feeling the layers of chains loosening, the red serpent couldn't help but move, causing the chains to clatter. When the last lock was undone—bang, clang—the entire chain fell to the ground with a loud crash.

The red serpent gave the one-armed old man a cold glance, then swiftly slithered out of the cave, following the open passage into the cage outside.

In the enormous cage...

A fair-skinned, red-lipped youth in animal hide stood looking at it from afar. The red serpent immediately felt its saliva secreting. Its experience in eating humans told it... the flesh of such a human youth was the tenderest and most delicious.