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

The moment the Demon-Slaying Order was issued, the entire primordial world trembled!

Those golden decrees, like wildfire, instantly ignited the passion and longing that had been dormant for countless eons in the hearts of all the cultivators in the prehistoric world. Innate spiritual treasures! Innate spiritual treasures! Innate treasures that ordinary cultivators might never even see in their entire lives, were now within their grasp!

"What's the point of staying in seclusion! Come out and slay the demons!"

"I've been stuck at the peak of the Great Luo realm for 30,000 years, and all I've been missing is a suitable innate spiritual treasure! Now the opportunity is right in front of me, so no one can stop me!"

"Team up! Team up! Demon-hunting squad recruiting cultivators of Taiyi Golden Immortal level and above! Slay Heavenly Demons, and the merits will be split equally!"

"This humble Daoist is willing to offer a superior-grade acquired spiritual treasure to recruit three Golden Immortal Daoist friends to join us in hunting down Great Luo Heavenly Demons. Merit will be distributed according to contribution!"

In an instant, throughout the primordial world, ancient monsters who had been in seclusion for countless eons, reclusive powerful cultivators, and even some ancient villains who had long since vanished, all emerged from their seclusion. Their goal was singular—the Heavenly Demon! Merit! Innate spiritual treasures!

Those celestial demons who had been eroded and transformed by the Rahu demon seed and were hiding in the shadows faced annihilation before they could even wreak havoc on the prehistoric world.

On the shores of the East Sea, a Heavenly Demon King, fresh from the body of a Golden Immortal cultivator, opened its blood-red maw, preparing to devour nearby races to replenish its energy. Its body was shrouded in inky black demonic energy, emanating a nauseating stench of decay and malice, and its scarlet eyes were filled with bloodthirsty madness.

However, before it could make a move, a loud shout came from the sky—

"You wicked creature! Prepare to die!"

A dazzling golden sword light, like a thunderclap from the heavens, crashed down from the clouds! The sword light was so fast and so fierce that it seemed to cleave the heavens and earth in two!

The Demon King was shocked and hurriedly spat out a mouthful of pitch-black demonic energy, which transformed into a huge demonic shield to defend himself. However, the golden sword light was unstoppable, cleaving the demonic shield in two with a single strike. Its momentum did not diminish, and it directly split the Demon King in two from head to toe!

"Awooo—!!!"

The Heavenly Demon King let out a shrill scream, and his enormous demonic body collapsed with a crash, turning into a thick cloud of black mist that was about to dissipate into the world.

However, the one who drew the sword was clearly prepared. With a wave of his hand, a purple-gold gourd flew out, its mouth aimed at the black mist, and with a sudden inhale—all the demonic energy was sucked into the gourd, not a single drop left.

"Hehe, the first Golden Immortal Heavenly Demon, 10,000 merit points!" The cultivator put away his gourd, a satisfied smile on his face. He was a rogue cultivator at the peak of the Taiyi Golden Immortal realm, stuck at this level for tens of thousands of years, unable to break through due to the lack of a suitable innate spiritual treasure. Now, with the Demon-Slaying Order issued, he immediately emerged from seclusion.

"At this rate, killing a hundred Golden Immortal Heavenly Demons can earn me a low-grade innate spiritual treasure! If I'm lucky enough to encounter a Taiyi Heavenly Demon, I'll be rich!"

He licked his lips, his eyes gleaming with excitement, and with a flash, he chased after the next fluctuation of demonic energy.

Everyone Hunts Demons

Similar scenes were playing out simultaneously across various parts of the prehistoric world.

A city that was once occupied by demons is now shrouded in smoke and fire. A demon-hunting team of dozens of cultivators is fiercely fighting a group of demons within the city. Swords flash, spells roar, and demonic energy clashes with spiritual energy, leaving the entire city riddled with holes.

"On the left! There are three celestial demons on the left!"

"Leave it to me!" A burly man roared, wielding a huge battle axe. Like a war god descending to earth, he cleaved the three-headed earth demons and the houses beneath their feet into dust with a single blow!

"Good! Brother, you're awesome!"

"Stop talking nonsense! There's another peak Golden Immortal on the second floor! Anyone want to take it?!"

"I'll go!" A female cultivator in white rose gracefully, her long sword swirling in mysterious patterns, the sword light as white as snow, carrying a chilling aura, aiming straight for the head of the Golden Immortal Demon!

In no time at all, the demons in the city were wiped out. The captain of the demon-hunting team tallied the spoils, a satisfied smile spreading across his face: "Not bad, this battle yielded 32,000 merit points! Let's continue! Next location!"

……

Deep within a mountain, a lone swordsman faced off against a Great Luo Heavenly Demon. The Great Luo Heavenly Demon stood a hundred feet tall, its body covered in jet-black scales, with a pair of curved horns atop its head, radiating an overwhelming ferocity. It opened its mouth and spewed forth a torrent of black demonic flames like a waterfall, melting rocks and turning vegetation to ash in its wake!

The swordsman neither dodged nor evaded, but simply slowly drew the long sword from his back.

It was a long sword that was entirely silver-white, with faint starlight flowing across its blade, as if it contained the power of an entire galaxy.

"Star Slash!"

The swordsman let out a low shout and unleashed a sword strike!

At that moment, the world lost its color! A dazzling silver sword light, as if descending from the Milky Way, carrying the righteous energy to annihilate all evil, collided violently with the pitch-black demonic flame!

"boom--!!!"

A terrifying shockwave swept in all directions, causing all the mountains within a hundred miles to collapse and the earth to crack, as if the end of the world had arrived!

As the smoke cleared, a massive sword wound pierced from the head to the chest of the Great Luo Heavenly Demon's enormous body. Dark demonic blood cascaded down like a waterfall. It let out a defiant roar, and its massive body crashed to the ground, transforming into a dense cloud of black mist.

The swordsman sheathed his sword, took out his gourd to collect the demonic energy, and a trace of fatigue appeared on his face, but more so, excitement: "One Great Luo Heavenly Demon, one million merit points! I'm one step closer to obtaining a low-grade innate spiritual treasure!"

The little devils behaved themselves.

The Demon-Slaying Order had an immediate and noticeable effect.

In just a few decades, the number of Heavenly Demons in various parts of the prehistoric world has decreased dramatically. Those Heavenly Demons who were once arrogant and domineering, causing chaos everywhere, are now like stray dogs, hiding here and there, fearing that they will be discovered by those wolf-like cultivators.

The entire prehistoric world was in chaos, with cultivators everywhere slaying demons.

Some cultivators who had been invaded by their inner demons and were on the verge of complete corruption actually managed to suppress their inner demons with their strong willpower after learning about the Demon-Slaying Order, and obediently hid away.

It's not that they don't want to continue their evil deeds, it's just that these people are too crazy. If they were discovered to be capable of becoming demons themselves, they would chop themselves up and exchange their merits for it in no time.

The cultivators of the prehistoric world are now all blinded by rage. They see the Heavenly Demon as if it were a moving innate spiritual treasure, wishing they could skin it alive, tear it apart, and grind its bones to dust! Let alone deliberately exposing themselves, even if they hide billions of feet underground, they might still be found by those powerful beings who are proficient in divination!

"They've gone mad! They've all gone mad!" A Taiyi Heavenly Demon, hiding deep underground, huddled trembling in a narrow cave, not daring to even breathe. It had witnessed firsthand how the arrogant Daluo Heavenly Demon on the neighboring mountain had just shown its face and boasted, only to be surrounded and beaten to death by seven or eight Quasi-Saints in less than three breaths, its demonic energy completely devoured!

"This is unbearable!" Another demon, hiding billions of miles underground, was on the verge of tears. "We are demons! We should be the ones instilling fear in the human world! How come we're the ones being chased and beaten now?!"

……

However, the impact of the Killing Order goes far beyond that.

The real highlight is the craze for exchanging Heavenly Court merits.

The merit exchange office set up by the Heavenly Court became the busiest place in the prehistoric world.

Every day, countless cultivators line up, carrying gourds, jade bottles, and treasure jars filled with demonic energy, to exchange for merit points. The celestial officials at the exchange point are extremely busy, checking the purity and level of the demonic energy while recording merit points in the jade register and distributing corresponding spirit crystal rewards.

"The low-grade innate spiritual treasure 'Azure Frost Sword' has been exchanged for one million merit points. Congratulations, fellow Daoist, this sword is yours!"

An elderly Taiyi Golden Immortal, his hair white as snow, received the longsword, its blade gleaming with a pale blue, cold light, with trembling hands, tears streaming down his face. He had been stuck at the peak of the Great Luo realm for ten thousand years, unable to break through to the Quasi-Saint realm because he lacked a suitable innate spiritual treasure for severing his corpse. Now, thanks to the merits he had accumulated over decades of hunting demons, he had finally achieved his wish!

"Thank you, Heavenly Court! Thank you, Your Majesty the Heavenly Emperor!" The old man, holding the Azure Frost Sword, bowed deeply towards the direction of the Lingxiao Palace, then turned and left. He needed to refine the sword as quickly as possible to break through to the Quasi-Saint realm!

Similar scenes play out at the exchange counter every day.

A rogue cultivator at the early stage of Quasi-Saint level used his accumulated merits over decades to exchange for a superior-grade innate spiritual treasure, the "Purple Thunder Hammer." Holding the Purple Thunder Hammer, feeling the power of the Great Dao of Thunder contained within, he laughed loudly, "With this treasure in hand, my combat strength will increase by at least 30%! If I encounter that Quasi-Saint Heavenly Demon again, I will surely annihilate him!"

A young True Immortal cultivator used the merits he accumulated from hunting dozens of Earth Immortals and Heavenly Demons to exchange for a bottle of "Four-Rank Golden Pill." He consumed it on the spot, and his aura surged, breaking through three minor realms in succession, directly stepping into the Profound Immortal realm! The surrounding cultivators all cast envious glances at him.

"A fourth-grade Golden Elixir! That's a pill from the Heavenly Court's Pill Department! It's said that just one pill can allow a cultivator below the Golden Immortal level to break through a major realm!"

"It's a pity it's too expensive; one bottle costs 100,000 merit points... I'd have to kill a thousand Earth Immortals and Heavenly Demons to earn that much!"

"Stop complaining! You'd be better off killing a few more Heavenly Demons! I heard another Great Luo Heavenly Demon has recently appeared in Beiju Luzhou. A million merit points are enough to exchange for a low-grade innate spiritual treasure!"

"Really? Let's go! Don't let anyone beat us to it!"

"Go away, are you stupid? With your abilities, you'd probably be slapped to death before you even see anyone."

……

Meanwhile, Rahu was hiding deep within Mount Ling, his face ashen.

He originally thought that by sowing demonic seeds and corrupting the cultivators of the primordial world, he could quickly amass a massive army of celestial demons. At that time, he would lead this army to confront the Heavenly Court head-on and overthrow Xuanbao's rule in one fell swoop.

However, the ideal is full, and the reality is very skinny.

Once the Demon-Slaying Order was issued, the Heavenly Demons he had painstakingly cultivated became "mobile merit packs" in the eyes of the prehistoric cultivators. Before those Heavenly Demons had a chance to grow and strengthen, they were hunted down and wiped out by the swarming cultivators. Of the demon seeds he sent out, less than one in ten survived, and those that did return were mostly low-level creatures, utterly incapable of posing any real threat.

What frustrated him even more was that many of the cultivators corrupted by the demonic seed managed to suppress their inner demons with their strong willpower after learning about the Demon-Slaying Order. Some even went to the Heavenly Court for help. The Heavenly Court is now full of talented people, and eliminating these low-level demons is a piece of cake.

"Useless! A bunch of useless trash!" Luo Hou slammed his fist into the stone table in front of him, his eyes blazing with fury. "That brat Xuanbao is nothing but a mere junior, yet he dares to humiliate me like this!"

Jieyin and Zhunti stood aside, silent as cicadas in winter.

They could feel Rahu's anger, an anger like a volcano about to erupt, so oppressive it was suffocating.

"Senior, please calm down," Jieyin said, forcing a smile. "That Heavenly Emperor is a cunning brat. His issuance of the Demon-Slaying Order did catch us off guard. But Senior, there's no need to worry too much. Although he has the Demon-Slaying Order, as long as we lie low for a while and wait for the storm to pass..."

"Infiltrate?" Luo Hou whirled around, his eyes flashing with a chilling light. "You want me to hide like a rat?"

Jieyin trembled under his sharp gaze and quickly lowered his head: "This junior dares not."

Luo Hou took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the anger in his heart. He knew that Jieyin was right. At present, the demon-hunting enthusiasm of the prehistoric cultivators was at its peak, and if he rashly made a move, he might very well attract the siege of the Heavenly Court and those fanatical cultivators. Although he was not afraid, he did not want to make an enemy of the entire prehistoric world before his strength had been restored.

"That brat Xuanbao... does have some tricks up his sleeve." Luo Hou slowly sat down, a dangerous glint in his eyes. "However, does he think he can stump me like this? Heh... naive."

He raised his hand, and a jet-black demonic seed condensed once more in his palm. This seed was more solid and more profound than before, as if it contained the power of an entire world.

"Since low-level demonic seeds are easily detected, I will plant higher-level demonic seeds." Luo Hou's lips curled into a cold smile. "These demonic seeds will lie dormant deep within the cultivator's Dao heart, showing no abnormalities under normal circumstances. They will only erupt at crucial moments..."

"At that time, I'll see how that brat, the Heavenly Emperor, handles it!"

However, Luo Hou was unaware that his plan had already been discovered by Xuan Bao.

Although Xuanbao did not personally take action, his Netherworld Heavenly Dao clone, after refining the Primordial Purple Qi and controlling one-tenth of the Primordial Heavenly Dao's authority, reached an unprecedented level of perception of the Primordial World.

And don't forget that Xuanbao possesses over 3000 Great Dao Laws, including the Demonic Path. Xuanbao has some understanding of the Demonic Path's methods; they are nothing more than manipulating people's hearts.

In fact, Xuanbao could have directly led his people to overthrow Mount Ling and destroy the current Rahu. However, considering that the prehistoric world was facing the possibility of being counterattacked by the Chaos Demon God at any time, and that Rahu's meddling could accelerate the prehistoric world's growth, Xuanbao had always let it go.

After all, civilization develops most rapidly only during times of war, and the primordial world needs to accelerate its pace of becoming stronger.