The copy has 0 error tolerance, and the last words on the ground are all wrong for me.

Chapter 483 Strange Movements in the Demon Realm
The three drank the wine, and a subtle, almost imperceptible bond connected them as one.

Under their constraints, none of the three could break their oaths in the covenant, whether by breaking them voluntarily or by leaking information to instruct others to break their oaths.

However, the "Covenant" is a C-level consumable item with limited effects. It can only restrict Wu Chang's true self, but cannot restrict the main body that is not connected to the true self by cause and effect.

If the artist does anything underhanded, the main body can still strike back with full force without any burden.

After completing the "covenant," the painter felt much more relaxed, which showed that joining the demon race's camp was not without its risks.

In the world instance, destiny ultimately favors the human faction.

The human side comprises the majority of players, along with forces like the Peace Society and the Light Society. Even he cannot contend with them and must find a suitable opportunity to switch sides and return.

Although he was elbowed three times by Wu Chang, which was not a very dignified outcome, it was still much more dignified than having no other choice but to take the initiative to come to him.

Wu Chang and An Rong had been worried about the lack of information about the Demon Realm. Now that the Fire Demon King had joined them, they inquired about the changes in the Demon Realm.

The painter did not shy away from the two men's questions and answered them mostly directly, but there were not many questions he could answer.

Firstly, he originally belonged to the Celestials, making him an anomaly among demons. Although he had pledged his allegiance, he hadn't done enough and hadn't truly integrated into the demon race.

Secondly, he was restricted by faction quests, and there were many issues related to faction quests that he could not elaborate on.

Even so, he still answered several important questions about the Demon Realm.

The first question to answer is the surge in demons within the demon realm.

Just as Wu Chang guessed, the demons did not appear out of thin air, but all came from inside the Heavenly Gate.

The Heavenly Gate was briefly opened, releasing a large number of demons and also modifying some of the demon officers, raising their overall strength by one level.

Next, Wu Chang inquired about the relationship between the four demon kings and the overall movements of the demon race.

He once controlled a ginseng spirit named Hongxin. According to Hongxin, the four demon kings did not like each other very much and even had some personal grudges against each other.

If they are truly a disorganized bunch, even if the Demon King is stronger than the Earth Immortal, he will not be able to deal with the Demon-Slaying Army, which is composed of the elite human cultivators.

Regarding Wu Chang's questions, some of them are related to faction missions, which the artist cannot disclose. He can only reveal that the four demon kings do not interact with each other, but that does not mean they will not cooperate.

The answer was brief, but Wu Chang and An Rong understood the painter's meaning from just that one sentence.

The four demon kings do not interact with each other and would rather fight than meet. However, they will cooperate with each other.

There is only one reason: above the Four Demon Kings, there is an even more powerful being who can control the Four Demon Kings.

Wu Chang looked at the painter and continued to ask:
"How will your cooperation proceed? Our Fire Demon-Slaying Army has already arrived at the gates of Xinwu City, and we haven't seen any other demon kings send reinforcements. Are they just going to sit idly by and watch the Fire Demon King's inheritance land fall?"

The battle at Calabash Mountain has now ended. Neither the Wind Demon King nor the Fire Demon King received any other demons' support from either side from the start to the end of the battle.

The beings behind the Four Demon Kings either don't care enough about their existence, considering them dispensable, or they are powerless to help them.

Wu Chang's question was rather pointed, and the painter thought for a long time before figuring out how to answer it while avoiding the requirements of the task.

He said:
“The demon race is different from humans; they do not have a clear plan of action.”

"From the perspective of the Humanity Alliance, the activation of the Ziwei Exorcising Array is a signal that a great war has begun. But perhaps the time for cooperation between the demon kings has not yet come; in the demon realm, they do not think so."

"For the demons, nothing that is happening right now is important. The four demon kings have not even been required to guard the land of the demon king's inheritance to the death."

"I'm not sure if there's some kind of scheme involved, but I can remind you of one thing."

Wu Chang asked, "What is it?"

The painter said in a matter-of-fact tone:
"No matter what happens, don't be the first to make a move or reveal your hand."

"Anyone who can stand above me without matching strength would have been eliminated by me long ago."

Wu Chang and An Rong exchanged a glance, both lost in thought.

The painter's reminder indirectly answered Wu Chang's question: the existence of the Heavenly Gate meant that the Four Demon Kings were not being taken seriously enough.

The painter's strength has reached the level of a normal low-ranking god. When facing a weak low-ranking god like the Tiger Fang Girl, with the help of props and skills, he can crush her.

However, when facing what lay beyond the Heavenly Gate, he still wasn't confident he could defeat it.

Judging from the painter's style of doing things, Wu Chang had no doubt that if the painter had the opportunity, he would not be in Xinwu City at this moment, but in Tianmen.

The painter must have also probed the things inside the Heavenly Gate and had some understanding of their strength.

After learning about Wu Chang and An Rong's strength, he advised them not to make the first move, which showed that the guys in Tianmen were indeed quite troublesome.

After the most important information was given, what remained were some insignificant details.

For example, the humanoid demon king that appeared around Shuanghu City was the painter. To become a demon king, one must have a corresponding place of inheritance. Unless there is a fifth place of inheritance, there will be no fifth demon king.

He couldn't say when he went to Twin Lakes City, which was obviously related to his faction mission.

As for the matter of transforming from human to demon, the painter mentioned that he was not the only player who joined the demon faction; other players also chose this faction, but none of them reached the level of a demon king.

From the painter's words, it can be inferred that within the Human Alliance of Zhenyue City, there exists a force belonging to the demon race. They know that the Celestials are not as selfless as the outside world claims, and that their journey from the overseas immortal mountains is solely to deal with the demon race.

They were also selecting celestial beings, attempting to transform them into demons.

However, Wu Chang has two identities: one is the leader of the Tang Clan, the mortal enemy of the demon race; the other is the first Heavenly Being, who was recruited by Emperor Zhaoning from the beginning and had no opportunity to come into contact with this secret class.

Since the three were cooperating, while obtaining information from the painter, they also shared some information about the Humanitarian Alliance with him.

For example, the progress of the Ziwei Exorcising Array, the subsequent movements of the Demon-Slaying Army, and so on.

In the end, it was learned that the Fire Demon-Slaying Army had entered the Demon Realm to slay demons and absorb demonic energy.

The painter led them to the backyard of the Firewood Temple, opened a traditional Chinese ink painting depicting mountains, and released twenty demon generals and four or five hundred demon guards from it.

The monsters all had blank stares and behaved docilely, standing still and waiting for instructions from the painter.

The painter pointed to the group of demons and said to the two:
"Most of the demon generals and demon guards in the area I control are here. Without them, it will be very difficult for you to collect enough demon energy outside."

"Kill them all. After you've killed them all, you should be able to gather the blood talismans you need."

Looking at the hundreds of demons before him who had given up resistance and were being slaughtered, Wu Chang patted the painter on the shoulder and said:
"Is this ridiculous? You're too impulsive, bro."

"Can a demon king exert this much control over his demon subordinates?"

Demons of the level of Demon General or higher will develop sentience and wisdom no less than that of ordinary cultivators.

The fact that someone would abandon all resistance and willingly obey any command simply because of a painter's order seems to exceed the power of rank suppression.

Just as Wu Chang had thought, the painter said:

"Of course not, they've all been afflicted by my Glazed Fire. As long as the Glazed Fire remains within them, they can't resist. If you need, I can let them return to the Demon-Slaying Army with you."

Wu Chang clicked his tongue, thinking to himself that the Fire Demon King's legacy was practically tailor-made for the painter.

The painter is a dark-hearted person, a born bad seed, who enjoys manipulating people's hearts and stirring up emotions.

Previously, he could easily cause unrest in Wanghai City by simply relying on his own efforts.

Now, combined with the Yin Fiend Fire that the Fire Demon King specializes in attacking the soul, he can already imagine that the current painter entering the Realm of Reason will definitely give the Light Society a major headache.

Under the painter's command, hundreds of high-level demons lined up in neat rows, following behind Wu Chang and An Rong, preparing to leave Xinwu City with them and return to the Fire Demon-Slaying Army.

Wu Chang asked, "What are your plans for the future?"

The painter snapped his fingers, and a dozen paper figures folded into the shape of young girls emerged from the Huomu Temple. Their movements were so natural that they were indistinguishable from real people.

More importantly, each of them contains a strong demonic aura and fire-elemental energy, making them not only suitable as servants but also for combat as for ordinary demon guards.

He said:
"I have achieved my goals, it's time for me to leave."

"After you take over Xinwu City, you must send people to guard the city and prevent the people in the city from dying out."

Wu Chang looked at the painter in surprise. This was quite different from the painter's style in Wanghai City. He said:
"I didn't realize you actually cared about the people of Xinwu City."

The painter glanced at Wu Chang and shook his head slightly, saying:
"The reason why Huomu Temple can become the place of the Fire Demon King's succession is because it gathers the faith of the city people. If they die, it will be very troublesome."

"So we can neither let them die, nor let them leave."

Wu Chang clicked his tongue. Sure enough, this was the right taste.

Outside Xinwu City, the members of the Fire Demon-Slaying Army waited outside the black and white smoke, eagerly awaiting the return of He Ping and the Earth Immortal.

But before they could find peace and the earth immortal, they first saw a vast array of demonic creatures emerging from the black and white smoke.

The demons were incredibly powerful, with at least twenty demon generals possessing the skill level of ranked players. Even the Fire-type Demon-Breaking Army, with its large number of ranked players, would struggle to cope with such a force.

Not to mention the hundreds of powerful demons that would later blot out the sky. Under the organization of the Taichang Temple officials and the command of Leng Shan and Jian Xing, the group formed a battle formation to prepare for the approaching horde of demons.

However, the expected charge of the monsters did not materialize. Although the monster horde moved quickly, they did not exude any murderous intent.

Moreover, as the monsters appeared, the black and white smoke formed from the fire began to dissipate, revealing Wu Chang and An Rong at the forefront of the monster horde.

As they approached the Fire-Character Demon-Slaying Army, Wu Chang waved to the group and said:

"Relax, don't be so tense, they are all helpers that we invited."

Jianxing swallowed hard, looked at the demons hundreds of meters away who were as quiet as pets, and asked:

"What are they here to help with?"

Wu Chang shrugged, pinched behind him, and activated the spatial distortion, instantly crushing the neck of a demon.

He said, "Help us fill the demon-suppressing blood talisman."

The monsters that Wu Chang and An Rong brought back, although they gave up resisting, were still incredibly powerful. Even without resistance, it would be extremely difficult to defeat them using only physical defense.

Furthermore, since killing them doesn't bring any extra contribution, in the eyes of players, slaying monsters becomes a thankless and arduous task, and few players are willing to do it.

Apart from Wu Chang.

Of the hundreds of demons, more than half were killed by Wu Changzai. His lord-level spatial magic could penetrate the defenses of most demons. If he encountered one that was truly exceptional and whose energy could not penetrate, he would simply throw a punch to shatter its head.

He didn't get annoyed by the hundreds of mechanical repetitions of killing; on the contrary, he seemed to enjoy it. This made the players wonder if Peace was an antisocial genocide, and whether his true nature was far more dangerous than he appeared.

Wu Chang's enthusiasm for killing demons was not simply because he enjoyed killing, but because he absorbed the life force of these demons as he killed them.

When he explored the Wind Demon King's territory before, he had already stacked his strength attribute to 500, reaching the bottleneck of the Desolate Realm.

A single attribute of 500 points is the upper limit in the entire Desolate Realm, but thanks to his title of "Violator," he vaguely sensed that there was still room for improvement.

He hadn't killed enough demons in Calabash Mountain before, and absorbing their life force hadn't shaken his bottleneck. Now, with hundreds of powerful demons before him, if it weren't for the bottleneck of the Desolate Realm, he could easily increase his power to over 700.

With the surge of vital energy, he felt the solid bottleneck of the desolate realm constantly loosening, and by the end, even fine cracks had appeared.

If it is given some stronger stimulation, it can break through the bottleneck.

To break through the final step, simply inhaling life force and accumulating power is no longer enough; a powerful impact on the bottleneck is necessary.

For example, the transformation of the Strife Knight.

As Wu Chang obtained the vital energy he needed, the charging of the Demon-Suppressing Blood Talisman was also completed.

The demons gathered by the painters are not limited to fire-attribute demons, so the demonic energy provided by this group of demons is of higher quality than that of the demons who gathered at Calabash Mountain and wanted to become the Wind Demon King.

In the end, the twenty demon generals used only twelve to fill all the demon-suppressing blood talismans carried by the Fire Demon-Breaking Army.

Killing the remaining eight demon generals would be a waste, so Wu Chang sent them back to Xinwu City as reserve food to protect the safety of the city's residents.

This scene left the Fire-Character Demon-Slaying Army members completely stunned.

Peace and Anrong brought the monsters back, making them willingly slaughtered. It could also be said that they subdued the monsters, rendering them unable to resist.

Why not let the remaining demon generals go and let them defend the city themselves? What kind of operation is that?
What methods did Heping and Anrong use, and what did they do in Xinwu City?
For a moment, everyone, including Jianxing and Lengshan, looked at the two with curiosity.

The two had no intention of revealing their collaboration with the painter in front of everyone, so they pretended not to understand the gazes of the crowd. They neither allowed the crowd to enter Xinwu City nor offered any explanation, and directly commanded the Fire-Character Demon-Slaying Army to return the way they came.

To fully activate the Ziwei Exorcising Array, ten thousand demon-suppressing blood talismans filled with demonic energy are needed.

To ensure that nothing went wrong, the Taichang Temple left a sufficient reserve, preparing four thousand demon-suppressing blood talismans for each demon-slaying army.

Wu Chang's Wind and Fire Demon-Slaying Army had gathered eight thousand of them.

Their two teams first returned to Dongshan Lake, and a portion of their forces brought back the demon-suppressing blood talisman, which was full of demonic energy, to Shuanghu City. Then, the two demon-slaying armies dispersed and joined up with the water and earth demon-slaying armies to complete the final accumulation.

After collecting all the Demon-Suppressing Blood Talismans and returning to Dongshan Lake, and then joining up with the other two Demon-Slaying Armies, it took a total of four days.

Unlike the Demon-Slaying Army, whose forces of wind and fire were overwhelmingly powerful, the Demon-Slaying Army led by Lü Changgeng and Gu Zhihan lacked strong Celestial beings in their ranks, and the two of them did not demonstrate overwhelming strength, leading them to adopt a more conservative strategy.

In four days, Tao Xian's Earth-Character Demon-Slaying Army only managed to accumulate seven hundred Demon-Suppressing Blood Talismans, and also suffered the loss of more than one hundred cultivators and players.

Lu Changgeng had other plans. He misappropriated a large amount of demonic energy to fill the Tiangang Sword. In four days, the Water-Character Demon-Slaying Army had accumulated even fewer Demon-Suppressing Blood Talismans, only a mere five hundred.

Upon first seeing the two groups of people, Lü Changgeng and Gu Zhihan assumed they had encountered some difficulties and had come to ask the two for help.

Upon learning that the other party had gathered four thousand demon-suppressing blood talismans in just two days, and that his demon-slaying army had suffered no casualties, both men showed disbelief. They repeatedly confirmed the information before daring to believe that they had heard it.

At first, they didn't believe it, but after witnessing the wind and fire demon-slaying armies crushing demons and harvesting demon-suppressing blood talismans, the members of the water and earth demon-slaying armies began to doubt their own existence.

That's not right. You monsters don't behave like this when you fight us.

If the price of failure weren't death, they would have suspected these monsters were putting on an act.

In chaotic times, might makes right.

After demonstrating their strength, Wu Chang and An Rong naturally took over control of the team.

Gu Zhihan was unconcerned about An Rong's power grab and actively assisted him from the sidelines.

Lu Changgeng was dissatisfied with Wu Chang's true form, but seeing Tang Sect Leader kill one demon general with one spear, he dared not voice his dissatisfaction. He could only secretly play the emotional card, asking Wu Chang to leave more demonic energy to fill the Heavenly Gang Demon-Slaying Sword for the sake of the entire cultivation world.

Before meeting the painter, Wu Changding would not have given Lü Changgeng any face. Lü Changgeng had the Guangming Society behind him, and the more help Wu Changgeng received, the more things the Guangming Society could do.

However, after learning from the painter that there was a very troublesome situation in Tianmen and that it was best not to be the first to stick his neck out, he set his sights on Lü Changgeng.

On the Humanitarian Alliance side, Emperor Zhaoning and Lü Changgeng each had their own thoughts. Emperor Zhaoning's level was clearly higher than Lü Changgeng's. Although he was plotting a conspiracy, he kept it to himself.

In comparison, Lü Changgeng appeared impatient and lacked ability.

In the matter of opening the Heavenly Gate, he handed over all the initiative to the immortals, and unknowingly, Emperor Zhaoning figured out his situation. At the same time, unlike Emperor Zhaoning, he did not possess the fortune of the human race and control the Ziwei Exorcising Array.

If one had to choose a leader to stand out, Lü Changgeng would undoubtedly be the most suitable.

In order to convince Lü Changgeng that he was capable of standing out, Wu Changgeng fully cooperated with his actions, even spending an extra day to first fill the thirty Heavenly Gang Demon-Slaying Swords that Lü Changgeng carried before distributing the demonic energy to the Demon-Suppressing Blood Talisman.

This action greatly changed Lü Changgeng's opinion of Wu Chang's true form.

Wu Chang's true form had already made Lü Changgeng look at him differently. Seeing how cooperative he was, Lü Changgeng changed his address from "Sect Leader Tang" to "Brother Tang" in their conversation, becoming exceptionally affectionate.

After collecting the demon-suppressing blood talismans, and thinking that since they were already there, they went to the territories of the Water Demon King and the Earth Demon King to greet them.

When they arrived, they discovered that the two demon kings had already fled, leaving behind only their own place of inheritance.

The Demon King is not dead. If he wants to force his way into the Land of Inheritance, he must use the Ziwei Exorcising Array to further break through the Demon Realm.

After several unsuccessful attempts, the group had no choice but to return home.

An Rong and Gu Zhihan worked closely together and were the first to return to Shuanghu City.

Wu Chang's main body was delayed in the Demon Realm for an extra day in order to help Lü Changgeng gather the demonic energy needed for the Heavenly Gang Demon-Slaying Sword. On the eighth day of the Ziwei Exorcising Demon Formation, the two teams finally returned to Shuanghu City with four thousand full Demon-Suppressing Blood Talismans.

Even though Lu Changgeng delayed the process, the time it took to collect all the Demon-Suppressing Blood Talismans was still far less than the one month that the Demon-Breaking Army had initially anticipated.

Not only did they only use a quarter of the time, but they also collected a full 16,000 demon-suppressing blood talismans.

Seeing such a great harvest, Emperor Zhaoning disregarded any auspicious date and directly ordered the Demon-Slaying Army to return to Zhenyue City to prepare the Ziwei Exorcising Array.

As Emperor Zhaoning's most trusted celestial being, Wu Changzhen was responsible for collecting the demon-suppressing blood talismans.

With 16,000 demon-suppressing blood talismans in hand, he did not rush to send them to the Court of Imperial Sacrifices. Instead, he took out the Omniscient Crystal and combined it with the Ziwei Exorcising Array to deduce Emperor Zhaoning's true intention in condensing the demon-suppressing blood talismans.

Activating the Demon-Suppressing Blood Talisman requires the essence of one's origin, which made him feel from the very beginning that there might be a trap in this blood talisman.

That's why, when he killed the old tortoise, he didn't personally convert the demon-suppressing blood talisman, but instead gave it to the players.

Initially, his suspicions were limited to inspiration, and since completing the Kaiyang Immortal Fate mission required the Ziwei Exorcising Evil Array, he did not stop it before.

Now that all the blood talismans have been collected and are under his control, he needs to investigate their contents.

Whether to pretend ignorance and hand the blood talismans directly to Emperor Zhaoning; or to use them as bargaining chips to negotiate with Emperor Zhaoning; or to simply break off relations and seize all the demon-suppressing blood talismans for themselves, depends on the Omniscient Crystal's answer.

The omniscient crystal pondered for only a moment before providing its answer.

"The Demon-Suppressing Blood Talisman needs to absorb the players' blood essence. Its purpose is to borrow the power stored in their blood essence and the players' luck when the Ziwei Exorcising Array is fully activated."

Wu Chang pressed further, "How much power can the Demon-Suppressing Blood Talisman borrow from the player through its essence blood?"

The Omniscient Crystal replied, "The amount of essence blood is scarce, and it can only condense its form, not its spirit. If the gap cannot be bridged, one can only borrow one percent of the player's own power."

(End of this chapter)