Primordial Era: I am a treasure trove, full of magical treasures.

Just as Xuanbao was heading towards the human race, things turned out exactly as he had predicted.

Above the nine heavens, in the Heavenly Court, the Lingxiao Palace.

The atmosphere was oppressive and suffocating. Di Jun sat high on the Heavenly Emperor's throne, his face ashen. Below him, the demon saints stood on either side, each with a grim expression.

"The western ley lines... were actually repaired by that brat Xuanbao." The Ghost Chariot Demon Saint's voice was hoarse with disbelief. "Three streams of merit descended simultaneously, benefiting the primordial world... My demon race has become a laughingstock!"

"It's more than just a laughing stock!" Ji Meng, the Demon Saint, gritted his teeth. "That Xuanbao has gathered boundless merit and prestige, and the Three Religions, the Witch Clan, and even the Western Religion and all races have all been grateful for it. Now, the public opinion in the prehistoric world all say that our demon race is cruel and narrow-minded, going against the will of Heaven, blocking the stars, and hindering the great cause of restoration! The fortune of our demon race... is already teetering on the brink of collapse."

"What's even more hateful is that merit!" Yingzhao Demon Saint's eyes were filled with regret and resentment. "With such a vast amount of merit, if we had obtained it, what would have prevented our demon race from prospering? How hateful! How hateful!"

The demon saints chattered amongst themselves, the hall filled with resentment and frustration. A thousand-year plan had come to naught in a single day, benefiting others instead. What terrified the demons even more was that, as a result of this incident, Xuanbao's reputation soared, and he was poised to become a saint at any moment. Meanwhile, the demon race was firmly nailed to the pillar of shame for its "cruelty and tyranny," its fortunes damaged, and its people scattered.

"Enough!" Di Jun shouted coldly, silencing the clamor of the demons. He slowly opened his eyes, golden flames leaping in his pupils, containing suppressed rage and icy coldness.

"It's too late for regrets now that things have come to this." Di Jun's voice was icy. "Xuan Bao has become a major threat to our demon race. However, he is currently accumulating merits and his fortune is at its peak. Moreover, he is secretly protected by the saints. We cannot confront him head-on for the time being."

"Your Majesty, are we just going to let him grow stronger?" Donghuang Taiyi gripped the Chaos Bell tightly, his eyes filled with a murderous intent that was almost tangible.

"To grow powerful?" Di Jun's lips curled into a cruel smile. "He thinks that by restoring the West and accumulating merit, he can rest easy? What a joke! How can the grand scheme of things in the primordial world be reversed by mere merit? Whoever controls the primordial world is the true protagonist of heaven and earth! The Witch Clan... is the greatest enemy of my demon race!"

His gaze swept over the assembled demon saints: "Do you all know why I spared no expense to seal off the celestial sphere?"

The demon saints were taken aback.

"It's not just to hinder Xuanbao, but also to buy time to refine something," Di Jun said slowly. "Something that can break the true form of the Witch Clan and secure victory for our Demon Clan!"

"What is it?" The demon saints perked up.

Di Jun did not answer directly, but looked outside the hall: "Come in."

The palace doors opened silently, and a figure entered. It was the brocade-robed "envoy" who had appeared in the secret chamber of Yan City earlier. He stepped into the palace and respectfully bowed to Emperor Jun and Donghuang Taiyi: "Your subject, Qin Yuan, pays respects to Your Majesty and Your Majesty Donghuang."

Qin Yuan, one of the Ten Great Demon Saints, is skilled in concealment, tracking, and soul-stealing, and often carries out secret missions for the Heavenly Court.

"Did you bring the things?" Di Jun asked.

Qin Yuan presented the black jade box with both hands: "Your Majesty, this is the latest batch of 'Blood Essence Soul Jade,' made from the essence blood of human souls, totaling three hundred pieces. Experiments have shown that the resentment and blood energy of the human souls contained within have a strange restraining effect on the bloodline of the Witch Clan."

Di Jun took the jade box, took out a dark red crystal, and a wisp of true solar fire ignited at his fingertip, scorching the crystal.

"laugh--"

The crystal did not melt; instead, the faint soul sealed within emitted a silent shriek, and a strange wave filled with resentment, unwillingness, and fear spread out. When that wave touched a bronze pillar used for testing in the hall, which was tainted with the aura of the witch clan, fine black cracks appeared on the surface of the bronze pillar, as if it were being corroded by an invisible force!

"It really works!" Ghost Chariot Demon Saint's eyes lit up.

"Humans... are born with a Dao body. Although weak, their soul origins are in harmony with the Heavenly Dao, and their blood contains the potential for creation." Di Jun gazed at the crystal in his hand and said slowly, "The Witch Clan does not cultivate the primordial spirit, relying only on their physical body and bloodline. They seem powerful, but in reality, they have their flaws. This 'Blood Essence Soul Jade,' which contains the resentment and essence of human souls, can stir up the restlessness deep within their bloodline, defile their true body, and weaken their combat power."

He looked at the assembled demon saints, his voice resolute: "What I intend to forge is no ordinary spiritual treasure, but a deadly weapon specifically designed to subdue the Witch Clan—the 'Witch-Slaying Sword'! To forge this sword, one must gather the life essence and blood of billions of human souls, condensing boundless resentment and malevolence. Once forged, the true forms of the Witch Clan will be as fragile as paper before it! At that time, the annihilation of the Witch Clan will be imminent!"

"The Sword of Slaughtering Witches!" The demon saints breathed heavily, their eyes burning with fanaticism.

The Demon Saint, still somewhat lucid, asked, "However, the amount of human soul essence and blood required to forge this sword is enormous. Yet, humans were created by the Goddess Nuwa and are connected to the Three Pure Ones. If we truly do that, won't it displease the Saints? How will our demon race face then?"

Di Jun was also unwilling after hearing this, but he could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger in front of the sage. His eyes were cold. "It must be done in secret. We must not alert the Wu Clan too early, nor let the sages find out. Especially Xuan Bao... This person is deeply connected with the fate of the human race. If he knows that his clan has been slaughtered to make swords, he will stop at nothing to stop it."

"Your Majesty, rest assured!" Qin Yuan, the Demon Saint, bowed and said, "I have secretly controlled dozens of human tribes, enticing them with promises of profit and longevity, causing them to secretly abduct humans and refine 'Blood Essence Soul Jade.' Currently, we can obtain tens of thousands of Soul Jade each month, scattered across various regions, making them difficult to detect. Given time, once enough are accumulated, we can begin forging swords!"

"Very good." Di Jun nodded. "You are in full charge of this matter. The other demon saints will cooperate and keep it a secret. As for the sealing of the Zhou Tian Star Array... maintain it for now. Firstly, it can conceal the secrets of heaven, and secondly, it can continue to hinder Xuan Bao and restrain his energy."

He gazed into the void outside the palace, his eyes blazing with golden light: "Xuanbao, you think you've won this round? Little do you know, the true calamity has only just begun. Once the 'Slaying Witch Sword' is complete, the Witch Clan will be destroyed, and the primordial fortune will all belong to my Demon Clan. At that time… merit? prestige? I will let you know that before absolute power, all are illusory!"

"Your Majesty is wise!" the demon saints shouted in unison, and the hall was filled with murderous intent.

……

The Great Wind Tribe is a large human tribe.

Xuanbao stood beneath the altar in the tribe, gazing up at his own stone statue and the lingering milky-white power of his vows.

Nidhogg, in his black robes, stood by and whispered, "Master, the direction that demonic aura just now departed was northeast, seemingly heading towards the Heavenly Court. Should we give chase?"

Xuanbao slowly shook his head: "There's no need to alert them for now."

He reached out, his fingertips touching the base of the stone statue. The power of his vows flowed through his fingertips like warm water, carrying with it countless of humanity's most basic prayers and hopes—for favorable weather, for the safety of his family, for the protection of the strong, for the prosperity of his people…

However, deep within this power of will, Xuanbao caught a faint yet undeniably real lingering echo of fear and despair. It was as if many voices, in their final moments, were uttering mournful cries that failed to materialize into the power of will.

"What are the demons doing sneaking around in human territory?" A cold glint flashed in Xuanbao's eyes as he recalled the hidden demonic energy in the tribe and the sense of decline and disorder emanating from the Kongtong Seal.

"Michael, you will lead the Holy Spirit Clan to secretly patrol the main human settlements, focusing on cases of unusual disappearances, the theft of essence, blood, and souls, and determining whether they are related to the demon race. Remember, only investigate, do not take action, and report to me immediately if you find anything," Xuanbao instructed.

"Yes, Master!" Michael accepted the order, and with a flicker, he turned into black smoke and disappeared.

Xuanbao stood alone in front of the altar, gazing at his own stone statue, remaining silent for a long time.

The abnormal fortune of the human race, the covert infiltration of the demon race, and the oppressive feeling of an impending storm... all of these seem to be connected in some way.

"The Witch-Slaying Sword..." Xuanbao murmured to himself, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. Although he didn't know the specifics of the demon race's plan, combining the original timeline from his previous life with the clues at hand, eliminating all the impossibilities, what remained, however impossible, was the truth.

If so...

Xuanbao looked up at the sky above, which was blocked by the Star Array and appeared particularly dark and oppressive. He then looked towards Buzhou Mountain, the ancestral land of the Wu Clan.

"The aura of calamity is indeed getting stronger." He sighed softly, his figure gradually fading away and disappearing into the bustling crowd.

The Great Wind Tribe remains bustling, and the human race continues its hustle and bustle. But beneath the surface, undercurrents are stirring. A colossal conspiracy targeting the human race, one that will also drastically alter the balance of power among the liches, is quietly unfolding.

And how will Xuanbao, who has noticed something amiss, respond?

The wind came from the north, carrying the biting chill of Mount Buzhou. It blew across the streets of Yan City, swirling up a few withered leaves, which then fell silently into the damp ditches along the street.

……

Several days later, at the border between the west and the east, there was a secluded valley rarely visited by people.

Xuanbao stood with his hands behind his back by the stream, with Nidhogg, in his black robes, standing silently behind him. The three thousand Holy Spirit Warriors had already dispersed and hidden among the surrounding mountains and forests, their auras concealed like stubborn rocks and withered trees.

As dusk settled, a streak of pure white light swept down from the northern horizon, landing as Michael kneeling on one knee. The Holy Spirit Clan leader's expression was solemn, and his pure white wings were stained with an almost imperceptible aura of darkness—traces left only by places long steeped in resentment and bloodshed.

"Father God," Michael said in a deep voice, "I have led the Holy Spirit Clan to inspect seventy-three major settlements of the human race over five days, and now I report the results of the investigation."

Xuanbao turned around, his gaze calm: "Speak."

"Upon investigation, it has been found that in the eastern and northern parts of the human race, a total of forty-nine large tribes and twenty-four medium-sized settlements have experienced abnormal population disappearances over the past three months." Michael took out a crystal jade slip and activated it with holy light. Immediately, a map of light and shadow covering most of the human race's territory appeared on the jade slip. On the map, dozens of red dots were distributed like scars, a shocking sight.

"Most of the missing persons are young men and women, and some are children. They usually disappear on the nights of the new moon and full moon, or during chaotic times when people gather for tribal sacrificial ceremonies. There are often very faint traces of demonic energy left at the scene of the disappearance, but they are treated with special methods, and even ordinary Golden Immortals would hardly be able to detect them unless the Holy Light is naturally sensitive to the power of impurity."

Michael pointed to several densely packed red dots on the map: "These eleven areas have the most serious disappearances. Among them, the three large tribes of 'Black Stone,' 'Flame Mountain,' and 'Chasing Water' have each lost more than two thousand people in the past three months. My subordinates infiltrated and investigated and found that the leaders, priests, or guard commanders of these tribes all showed signs of being controlled by sorcery—not possession, but rather the use of secret methods to corrupt their souls, subtly changing their nature, causing them to either turn a blind eye to the disappearances of their tribesmen, deliberately conceal the truth, or even actively cooperate with the process."

A cold glint flashed in Xuanbao's eyes: "How do we cooperate?"

"Under the guise of recruiting miners, conscripting laborers, and selecting 'celestial children' to send to 'blessed immortal mountains for cultivation,' they gather able-bodied men and children, then have lurking demons abduct them using soul-capturing artifacts and spatial techniques." Michael's voice suppressed a hint of anger. "I once followed a group of 'selected' children and saw them being sent to a Taoist temple called 'Qingyun Temple.' Beneath the temple was a teleportation array leading directly to a desolate mountain three thousand miles away. The heart of the desolate mountain had been hollowed out, revealing a blood pool soul-refining array set up by the demons!"

He paused, then continued, "The blood pool is now overflowing with the remnants of ten thousand people's blood essence, and its resentment is palpable. At the center of the array, more than three hundred dark red crystals float, which are the 'Blood Essence Soul Jade' that Father God showed us earlier. I dared not alert them, but using the Holy Light Secret Technique to observe from afar, I saw that the souls sealed within those crystals were all human, and their resentment was so deep that they were almost transformed into vengeful ghosts."

"Over three hundred..." Xuanbao closed his eyes, calculating with his fingertips. When he opened them again, his eyes were icy cold. "Each Soul Jade requires the essence and blood of at least a hundred people to condense. Three hundred pieces would be thirty thousand people. And this is only one stronghold. The total number of missing people from the forty-nine tribes should be..."

"According to my subordinates' compilation of both official and clandestine population records from various tribes," Michael said in a deep voice, "the total number of people registered in March for 'natural deaths,' 'failure to return from travel,' and 'migration' across the forty-nine tribes has reached over 57,000. However, the actual number of missing persons is likely much higher—many small settlements and hunting groups have no one registered at all, and their fate remains unknown. My conservative estimate is that the actual number of missing persons is between 80,000 and 100,000!"

"Eighty thousand to one hundred thousand..." Xuanbao slowly repeated the number, his voice eerily calm.

The burly man in black robes, who was actually Nidhogg, couldn't help but let out a low growl. The surrounding temperature plummeted, and fine ice crystals condensed on the surface of the stream. Although he was trying to destroy the black dragon, he also felt contempt for such insidious acts of slaughtering weak creatures and stealing their souls through cunning magic.

"What is the demon race after?" Michael looked up at Xuanbao. "If it were merely for food, there would be no need for such elaborate preparations, nor for refining a soul into jade. The resentment and bloodlust within that soul jade seem to have undergone special refinement, possessing an extremely strong targeted and corrosive effect on a certain being..."

Xuanbao did not answer directly. He looked up at the sky, where the stars sealed by the Zhou Tian Star Array remained dim. After a long while, he slowly said, "The Wu Clan does not cultivate the primordial spirit; their physical bodies are powerful, and their bloodline power originates from Pangu. Their weakness lies in the agitation and contamination of certain specific powers deep within their bloodline."

Michael's pupils contracted: "Father God, are you saying... the demon race created this item to deal with the witch race?"

"The Witch-Slaying Sword." Xuanbao uttered three words, and a cold wind seemed to sweep across the world. "It requires the life essence and blood of billions of human souls as its material, and the gathering of boundless resentment and evil, to forge a ferocious weapon specifically designed to counter the true form of the Witch Clan. Once this sword is completed, the physical bodies that the Witch Clan is so proud of will be as fragile as paper before it."

Michael gasped, "Billions of humans... wouldn't that mean a massacre of humanity?!"

"Master, should we act immediately to eliminate those traitors controlled by the demon race and destroy their strongholds?" The holy flames burned in Michael's eyes. The Holy Spirit race felt an immense disgust and anger at such evil deeds that harmed living beings and desecrated souls.

"Purge? Of course we must purge." Xuanbao shook his head, his gaze distant. "But not now, and we can't take action ourselves. Let the human race handle its own internal affairs."