Primordial Era: A brick knocks Hongyun unconscious, and he seizes the throne at the start.

Longevity Hill, the backyard of Wuzhuang Temple.

Lu Chen lay with his legs crossed under the ginseng fruit tree, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, watching the tragedy unfolding on the desolate land reflected in the water mirror before him.

In the water mirror image, the demon army swept across the East China Sea like locusts.

They did not attack cities or plunder land; they only killed humankind.

It wasn't ordinary killing; it was torture—extracting souls and refining spirits, drawing blood and tempering bones, forging all the fear, pain, and resentment of the human race before death into blood-red demonic sword embryos.

"The Witch-Slaying Sword..." Lu Chen spat out a blade of grass, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

In the original story, in order to forge the Witch-Slaying Sword, which was specifically designed to counter the physical bodies of the Witch Clan, the Demon Clan slaughtered hundreds of millions of humans, using their essence, blood, and souls as materials to forge the most ferocious weapon in the primordial world.

Now, this tragedy has unfolded ahead of schedule.

Because of the first war between the Witch and the Demon, the Witch Clan displayed combat power far exceeding the Demon Clan's expectations—especially the incomplete Dutian Shensha Formation, which was able to withstand the Zhou Tian Xing Dou Formation, which made Di Jun and Tai Yi feel a sense of crisis.

Therefore, they need to speed up the forging process of the Witch-Slaying Sword.

Humans became the most readily available and effective "materials".

"My Lord, are we really not going to do anything about this?" Yan Chen stood aside, looking at the humans in the water mirror whose souls were being extracted and refined, his fists clenched until they turned white.

"Of course we should manage it," Lu Chen stood up, brushing the dust off his backside, "but not now."

He looked toward the direction of the demon camp in the water mirror—there, blood energy soared to the sky, and resentment condensed into solid black clouds, indicating that at least three million humans had been slaughtered.

"Rushing out to save them now would be like going head-to-head with the entire Demon Clan Heavenly Court." Lu Chen shook his head. "We don't have that kind of strength yet."

"That……"

"When the humans are almost all dead," Lu Chen said calmly, "when Di Jun thinks he has enough materials and lowers his guard, then we'll make our move."

Yan Chen was taken aback: "But back then, didn't the human race already..."

"Most of them are dead, but not all of them." Lu Chen grinned. "Guess why the demon race only slaughtered the humans on the shores of the East Sea, and didn't go after other places?"

Yan Chen pondered, "Because the coast of the East Sea is closest to the Demon Clan's Heavenly Court?"

"That's only one aspect." Lu Chen walked to the water mirror, ran his finger across the surface, and the scene switched to various parts of the prehistoric land. "Look, the human tribes at the foot of Buzhou Mountain are secretly protected by the Wu tribe; the human tribes on the outskirts of Kunlun Mountain are occasionally glanced at by the Three Pure Ones; even in the barren western lands, Jieyin and Zhunti have secretly gathered a group of believers."

He paused, his voice low: "The only ones truly abandoned are these three million humans on the shores of the East Sea—they are too far from the Witch Clan, too far from the sacred sites, too far from any potential protectors. That's why the Demon Clan dares to slaughter them with impunity."

Yan Chen understood: "So what we need to save is this group of 'abandoned' humans?"

"Not only that." A glint flashed in Lu Chen's eyes. "What I want to save is the 'seed of fire' for humanity."

He took something out of the Qiankun Diagram—the fist-sized essence of the Nine Heavens Breath Soil (the remaining half).

"When Nuwa created humans, I secretly kept twelve drops of the purest human essence blood." Lu Chen took out a small jade bottle. "With this mound of Breath Soil, I can create another batch of 'Innate Humans,' and they will be even stronger than those created by Nuwa."

Yan Chen's eyes lit up: "Like the Twelve Zodiac Stars?"

"They're a little weaker than the Twelve Earthly Branches, but they're still at least Earth Immortals." Lu Chen nodded. "More importantly, these people carry an 'anti-demon' will—their souls were snatched back from the Soul Refining Array of the Witch-Slaying Sword, and their hatred for the demon race is etched into their bones."

"But Venerable One, won't Nuwa notice if I do this?" Yan Chen worried. "After all, it's the origin of the human race..."

"So what if she noticed?" Lu Chen laughed. "Nuwa is in a terrible predicament right now—on one hand, the human race she created is being slaughtered, and on the other hand, the demon race's Heavenly Court is too powerful to turn against. If I step in to save them now, she'll be more than grateful to me."

He put away the Breath of Earth and the jade bottle: "Let's go, it's time to get to work."

The two concealed their presence and used brick magic to head straight for the shores of the East China Sea.

The demon clan's main camp, the core of the Soul Refining Array.

The souls of three million humans are imprisoned here, their wails shaking the heavens and earth. Their life essence is extracted and infused into crimson sword blanks; their souls are torn apart and merged into the resentful runes within the swords.

Emperor Jun personally oversaw the formation, while Taiyi protected the outer perimeter. The ten demon saints led a million demon soldiers to completely surround the area.

"Only three hundred thousand more souls are needed for the main sword of the Witch-Slaying Sword to take shape." Di Jun looked at the blood-red giant sword that had already materialized in the formation, a look of satisfaction flashing in his eyes. "At that time, no matter how strong the physical bodies of the Witch Clan are, they will not be able to withstand the sharpness of this sword!"

Taiyi frowned: "Brother, I feel there's something wrong with this Soul Refining Array—the resentment of those souls is too strong, so strong that it's a bit... abnormal."

"It's good that it's unusual." Di Jun didn't take it seriously. "The stronger the resentment, the stronger the restraint on the Wu Clan's physical body. This is a secret technique obtained from the Blood Sea and the Styx River, so there won't be any problems."

Taiyi was about to say something when his expression suddenly changed: "Someone has broken into the formation!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than a gap suddenly exploded on the east side of the great formation!

A wisp of green smoke drifted in, and within it, a blurry figure could be vaguely seen—it was Hunyuanzi (Self-Corpse)!

"Who dares to trespass on the demon race's grand formation!" Taiyi roared, as the replica of the Chaos Bell descended upon him!

Hunyuanzi did not resist directly, but raised his hand and threw out dozens of talismans - all of which were "disruption talismans" that Lu Chen had refined before.

The talisman exploded, turning into a dense fog, which contained various disturbances such as temporal and spatial turbulence, the reversal of the five elements, and the confusion of cause and effect! Although it could not harm Taiyi, it caused a brief period of chaos in the entire Soul Refining Array!

Just that moment of chaos!

At the core of the grand formation, Lu Chen himself quietly appeared.

He held a Chaos Brick in his left hand, a Qiankun Diagram in his right, and a morning bell around his neck; he was armed to the teeth.

"receive!"

The Qiankun Diagram unfolded, transforming into a sky-covering scroll that enveloped the three million imprisoned human souls!

"How dare you!" Di Jun roared in fury, unleashing a horizontal slash with his Demon-Slaying Blade!

The blade was pitch black, tearing through space, swallowing even the light in its path! This strike contained the full power of Emperor Jun at the peak of Quasi-Saint level, coupled with the Slaughtering Witch Blade's ability to restrain living beings, enough to severely injure someone of the same level!

But Lu Chen was prepared.

The morning bell tolls!

"clang--!"

Time and space froze, and the sword flash slowed down by a fraction of a second!

In that instant, the Qiankun Diagram had collected all three million souls!

"Walk!"

Lu Chen activated his full brick-escape technique, transforming into a dark light as he prepared to flee.

"Stay here!" The Taiyi Chaos Bell descended, and a million demon soldiers formed a net that stretched across the heavens and earth!

They were about to be surrounded—

Lu Chen suddenly grinned, took out a small bell from his pocket, and shook it gently.

"Ring ring—"

The bell rang crisply, but it had no power.

But Taiyi's expression changed instantly.

That's... Little Golden Crow's protective bell!

The little golden crow that Yuan Feng sacrificed himself to become has been sleeping deep inside the Sun Star since Lu Chen rescued it. This bell is a companion spirit treasure that the little golden crow was born with, and only the golden crow bloodline can activate it.

At that moment, as the bell rang, the Golden Crow bloodline within Taiyi resonated slightly, slowing its movements by half a beat!

In that split second, Lu Chen had already escaped the great formation and disappeared into the horizon.

"Chase!" Di Jun roared.

But it was too late.

Lu Chen's Brick Escape technique was known for its speed, and with the acceleration of the Morning Bell and the Chaos Brick breaking through the air, he had already escaped a million miles in just a few breaths, completely disappearing from the demon race's perception range.

The demon camp was in complete disarray.

With the Soul Refining Array broken and three million souls stolen, the forging progress of the Witch Slaughtering Sword's main blade has been reduced by 30%!

"Lu! Chen!" Di Jun roared to the sky, his voice filled with endless resentment, "I will fight you to the death!"

Meanwhile, in a hidden valley somewhere in the primordial wilderness.

Lu Chen released three million souls, used the Three Lights Divine Water to cleanse their resentment, and then used the Nine Heavens Breath Soil to reshape their physical bodies.

Of course, not all of them were rebuilt—he retained the purest 300,000 souls and combined them with the original blood essence of the human race and the Breath Soil to recast 3,000 "Innate Avengers".

These "Avengers" start at the peak of the Earth Immortal realm and possess the innate talent of "Demon Slayer"—doubling their damage against demons.

Lu Chen sent the remaining 2.7 million souls to the underworld for reincarnation and tampered with the underworld's register to ensure they could be reborn in a safe place in their next life.

Having done all this, Lu Chen looked at the three thousand "Avengers" kneeling on the ground and slowly spoke:

"From this day forward, you will be called the 'Torchbearer'. You have only one mission—to survive, to become stronger, and then to take revenge on the demon race."

"But remember, revenge isn't suicide. Until you're absolutely certain, play it safe."

Three thousand Avengers responded in unison.

Lu Chen nodded and sent them into the inner world of the Qiankun Diagram—where time flows differently; one year outside is equivalent to a hundred years inside, enough time for them to grow.

He finally breathed a sigh of relief after doing all this.

"My Lord, we've really offended the demon race this time," Yan Chen said with a wry smile.

"We've already offended them enough, one more time won't make a difference." Lu Chen shrugged. "Besides, didn't we leave a 'gift'?"

He looked towards the direction of the demon clan's camp.

He secretly buried a drop of "Chaotic Demon God's Resentful Blood" into the blade blank of that Slaughtering Witch Sword—the same type as the one in Emperor Jun's Slaughtering Witch Blade.

When the Witch-Slaying Sword is forged, and the two ferocious weapons clash...

"Hehe." Lu Chen grinned, picked up the brick, and said, "Let's go back to Wuzhuang Temple to continue our 'nominal' duties."

"This scene is still going on."