The Star River Era! The Dimensional Freedom Demon

A week later.

Ji Chen successfully subdued all the beast kings along the coast, centered on the East China Sea.

With absolute ruthlessness, he showed everyone around him who truly held the truth.

Ji Chen stood tall and imposing in the sky.

Below, a giant frost tortoise and a strange bird with flames encircling its body and dazzling plumage took the lead, followed by thirteen beast kings of different shapes, all bowing their heads. Behind them, countless giant beasts from all over the mountains and plains prostrated themselves like a tide.

Looking from the sky, the outlines of the mountains were covered by the writhing herds of beasts, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Countless beast heads surged and churned, stretching from mountains to wilderness. The low, labored breathing and friction sounds converged into a suppressed tsunami, and even the air trembled slightly from this immense vitality.

No need for formalities.

Ji Chen's gaze swept over the two seemingly innocuous words, yet they caused the surging tide of beasts to pause, and thousands of heads drooped even lower, as if the entire mountain range had shrunk by an inch.

"I've heard that any non-human being that breaks through the limitations of its original species and gains intelligence and extraordinary abilities is a demon!"

His voice, like rolling thunder, clearly drowned out the breaths of all the beasts and echoed across the land: "We are the 'demon'!"

"In the past, humankind divided the world among various nations. Now, the world has undergone tremendous changes, and the order of things has shifted. Humanity's retreat and even its reduction to a mere prey is no longer worthy of ruling this land. This magnificent world should rightfully be ruled by us!"

"Therefore, today I, Youda, have received the mandate of Heaven and followed the opportune time to establish a kingdom in the East Sea. There are no demons or monsters, and all who respect the laws of my demon kingdom are my people."

"...Those with intelligent speech are demons, and demons do not eat each other; those who are of low intelligence and do not know how to be educated are beasts, and demons can eat them all..."

At this moment, the huge pot, the size of a lake, beneath Ji Chen's feet quietly began to emit billowing steam.

Those were all fourth-tier beast kings who had rebelled and died during Ji Chen's conquest.

Inside the crystal-clear pot, chunks of lean and fatty meat simmered and rolled, the broth bubbled and glistened with oil, and the aroma of the meat filled the air, spreading for miles.

"Today, my Demon Kingdom is established. Everyone can eat and drink to their heart's content. I, the King, will pay the bill."

Roar--

ow~~

The beasts cheered, their shouts shaking the heavens.

The enormous sound waves caused the rocks to tremble and even shook the birds that were flying by.

Seeing how effective his speech was, Ji Chen couldn't help but feel a little smug, even though he knew that fear played a significant role.

With a wave of his giant claw, Ji Chen caused the beast horde below to surge towards the carnivorous lake like a floodgate being opened.

With such a huge amount of meat, it's naturally difficult to control the cooking time.

Only a small portion of the meat could be considered acceptable; the majority was still raw or undercooked.

However, this suited the tastes of the beasts perfectly. For many evolved mutated beasts, the slightly fishy, ​​raw taste of flesh and blood was more appealing than fully cooked meat.

As they evolve, the taste buds of mutant beasts also become more developed in the process.

Even in the chaotic wilderness, there are already many mutated beasts that have begun to explore the production of cooked food by roasting it with flames or marinating it with special plant juices.

But no matter what, it takes time to adapt to the transition from raw to cooked food.

"Your Majesty, now that our Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons has been established, what are we to do in the future? Please make the arrangements."

Just then, a strange bird with crimson feathers shimmering with flames approached.

This strange bird possessed a powerful aura. Although its size was only that of an ordinary beast king, its strength was that of the strongest being in the demon kingdom besides Ji Chen, and its evolution level had reached the fifth rank.

Even Ji Chen had a lot of trouble subduing it, and when it went all out, it had the power to burn the sky and boil the sea.

"Akaha."

Ji Chen nodded slightly to show his approval.

"Now that my Demon Kingdom is newly established and its reputation is not yet established, in order to demonstrate its power and attract new demons, I hereby grant you the position of Flying General, who will lead the swift demons of the Demon Kingdom to conquer the rebellious neighboring tribes."

Chi Yu remained unmoved. With its strength, it was naturally second only to one demon and above all others in the demon kingdom.

However, there is still one thing it doesn't understand about the conquest.

"Then, Your Majesty, what about the border regions we conquer? We can simply kill the mindless ones, but what about the intelligent ones that can communicate with us?"

Ji Chen glanced at Chi Yu in surprise.

"Didn't I just say that those who refuse to be educated are also beasts? If they don't submit, what's the point of talking about boundaries? Just boil them alive!"

Akabane was stunned.

It had just been quite moved by Ji Chen's declaration of nation-building, thinking it was a sign of a new era and that these demons would usher in an unprecedented order.

But Ji Chen's explanation at this moment shattered its delusions.

Making it realize the so-called distinction between monsters and beasts may have some merit, but more often than not, it's just a boundary between friend and foe.

King Yoda, the peerless beast who pioneered the establishment of a kingdom by other races... the Demon King was ultimately savage and bloodthirsty.

At the same time, Ji Chen's actions also unconsciously enlightened its fighting mindset.

Struggle, perhaps, is also politics.

That is, to propose positive concepts, seize the right to interpret positive concepts, and denounce enemies as heretics.

Perhaps with its current strength, it won't encounter a time to use these abilities, but as the demon kingdom grows stronger, it's foreseeable that it will face adversaries in the future.

Ji Chen naturally never expected that his words would actually activate the Crimson Feather talent, let alone the mental storm raging within it.

Seeing that Chi Yu had retreated with a thoughtful expression, Ji Chen didn't think much of it and simply summoned the Frost Giant Turtle.

"Long live the King!"

The old tortoise didn't hold back either, immediately kneeling and bowing.

"Alright, now that the Demon Kingdom has been established, how can we continue to live under the open sky and in the wilderness as before?"

Ji Chen's gaze fell on the Frost Giant Turtle, which, if he hadn't seriously injured it, would most likely have already broken through to the fifth rank.

"From this day forward, I hereby appoint you as the Turtle Prime Minister of the Demon Kingdom. You shall first select a demon beast skilled in construction to build palaces and halls here that are worthy of the grandeur of the Demon Kingdom."

The Frost Giant Turtle's old face scrunched up; this sounded like trouble.

And judging from the king's expression, this is not the end of it.

Sure enough, Ji Chen continued:

"Once you've finished with all this, you'll have to take on the responsibilities of being the Prime Minister of the Demon Kingdom. You'll need to build up your team to handle the affairs of the Demon Kingdom. In the future, I'll mostly need to entrust you with the affairs of the Demon Kingdom, big and small."

The Frost Giant Turtle's small eyes darted around, and it suddenly realized that this was a bad situation.

There's no need for it to go out and fight; it just needs to stay here and put in some effort. Why not?

"By the way, while I'm gone, you need to keep the demons in the country in check and prevent them from causing trouble. If there's anything you don't understand, you can consult with that black gorilla who used to follow me."

The Frost Giant Turtle was not surprised that Ji Chen was going out.

Ji Chen repeatedly told it and Chi Yu that there were powerful enemies overseas, and that intelligent races were rising in the deep sea.

Therefore, it is perfectly normal for Ji Chen, who is skilled in land, sea, and air warfare, to be busy gathering intelligence on his competitors.

But it still did everything it was supposed to do.

"Your Majesty is the supreme ruler of all demons, the foundation of the demon kingdom. How can you casually venture out and risk your life? Why not let this old tortoise go ahead and scout the way? If we encounter danger, my tortoise shell can still protect me..."

Ji Chen was too lazy to listen to its tugging.

If this task were actually given to this old turtle, I'm afraid this slippery old turtle would just find a spot to bury itself and start dawdling.

"You can't do it, and neither can Akabane. Not to mention the deep sea, the guy on the other side of the ocean could kick your turtle shell around like a football."

The Frost Giant Turtle was taken aback by Ji Chen's serious tone, as if it could see danger in Ji Chen's simple description, and immediately fell silent.