Primordial Era: Starting with slaughtering all the gods and Buddhas in the sky

At this rate, to gather 20,000 karma points to exchange for the "Ancient Body Forging Scripture," we would have to wipe out all the demonic beasts within a radius of several hundred miles.

Moreover, as the killing continues, the surrounding stench of blood grows stronger, which may attract the attention of a terrifying being.

"What exactly is the logic behind the system's decision-making?"

Huang Chen pulled out a piece of dry, hard jerky from his pocket and tore into it with force, his brain working at a rapid pace.

"I got two thousand points for killing that black water crocodile demon."

"Killing that black-clad cultivator resulted in a huge amount of loot dropping."

"But these wolves and spiders together only number a little over a hundred."

He slowed down his chewing.

"The difference lies in... intelligence?"

Ironback wolves and fire spiders, though fierce, are ultimately just wild beasts that hunt according to their instincts.

They eat people, just as people eat pigs and sheep, for survival. In the eyes of Heaven, this kind of "evil" is utterly irrational.

The Blackwater Crocodile Demon is a demon race that has gained sentience! It knows how to kill and devour living beings for the sake of cultivation.

It is subjective evil! It is a crime committed knowingly!

"Looks like if you want to get rich quick, you'll have to find someone with a government job."

Huang Chen swallowed the last bite of jerky, and the irritation in his eyes dissipated.

Killing wild monsters is pointless; you have to kill demons that have gained sentience!

"Since there are demonic beasts appearing in this area, it means that there must be a demonic territory nearby."

Huang Chen straightened up and stopped aimlessly searching for wild animals. Instead, he began to observe the traces around him.

Among the messy animal prints on the ground, there were occasionally some unusual marks.

Those were... marks left on the ground like those left by a spear dragging on the ground.

Wild beasts don't use weapons; only demons do.

Huang Chen's spirits lifted, and he followed the faint scratch mark, making his way into the depths of the jungle.

The further you go, the taller and more twisted the surrounding trees become, their bark displaying an abnormal charred black color, as if they had been burned.

The temperature in the air gradually rose, carrying a pungent sulfur smell.

We walked about five or six miles.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the bushes ahead.

It wasn't human language, but a sharp, grating, demonic language, like two pieces of pig iron rubbing together.

Huang Chen's heart skipped a beat. He immediately held his breath, activated his breath concealment technique, and pressed himself against a moss-covered boulder, only revealing his eyes to peer out.

Just a few dozen meters away, on a wildlife trail, three small figures were seen swaying as they walked towards them.

They are three bipedal creatures.

It is less than 1.5 meters tall, with a huge rat head, and a few bristles around its mouth tremble with its movements.

They wore simple leather armor, carried rusty iron forks, and their small, beady eyes revealed cunning and cruelty.

Rat Demon!

Moreover, they are low-level demon soldiers who have fully transformed into human form and are able to use tools!

Behind them, two huge sacks were being dragged.

The sack dragged along the ground, occasionally wriggling, and made dull thuds from inside, as if it contained something alive.

"Squeak... This time the goods... are not bad."

The rat demon at the front stopped, poked at the sack behind it with its pitchfork, and made indistinct noises.

"Your Majesty... will definitely like it... Squeak!"

The other rat demon sniffed greedily, then stuck out its long tongue and licked its lips: "I want... an ear... just one..."

"You're asking for it!" The leader of the rat demons kicked it in the rear. "This is... a birthday gift for Lord Blackscale! If a piece of flesh is missing... I'll skin you alive!"

Birthday gift?

Lord Blackscale?

These two words instantly allowed Huang Chen, who was hiding in the shadows, to grasp the key information.

This is an organized demon race squad, and if I'm not mistaken, the "goods" they're talking about...

Just then, the sack being dragged on the ground suddenly began to struggle violently, and a very faint but desperate human voice came from inside:

"Help...help me..." It was a woman's voice.

These three rat demons are not strong; at most, they are at the early stage of Qi Refining. Killing them would be a piece of cake.

But killing them would cut off the trail.

Where are they going to send these people?

Who is "Lord Blackscale"? How many more humans are still being captured there?

If we act now, we can only save one or two people in the sack.

If you want to save more people and accumulate more karma...

You have to cast a long line to catch a big fish.

Huang Chen took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the killing intent in his heart.

He watched as the three rat demons, cursing and swearing, picked up their sacks again and headed towards a secluded ravine deeper into the jungle.

"Lead the way, you beasts."

Huang Chen silently recited the mantra, his figure hanging far behind them.

This path was extremely well hidden, with thorny brambles growing on both sides. If it weren't for these rat demons, ordinary people would never have discovered that there was another path here.

As they went deeper, the fluctuations of spiritual energy in the surroundings became more pronounced, but this spiritual energy was mixed with a nauseating stench of blood.

That was the lingering resentment that had accumulated after the tragic deaths of countless lives.

It took about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

The view ahead suddenly opened up.

It was a valley surrounded by cliffs, with two huge stone pillars at the entrance, covered with dried skulls, some human and some of the wild animals.

Deep in the valley, flickering firelight could be faintly seen.

Heart-wrenching cries, accompanied by the rampant laughter of the demonic beast, drifted intermittently on the wind.

"Please... spare my child..."

"ah!!"

The piercing scream stabbed into Huang Chen's eardrums like a sharp thorn.

He stopped and hid behind a dead tree, his gaze piercing through the night as he stared at the valley that resembled the entrance to hell.

The system panel flashed wildly in front of him, with alarming red warning messages.

[Warning: High concentration of resentment detected ahead!]

[A large number of sinful creatures have been detected gathering!]

[Temporary quest triggered: Clear out the Blackscale Demon Cave.]

[Mission Description: A den of filth and demons, where countless humankind suffers atrocities. As the host of a divine-level merit-based killing system, you must stop the killing with killing and purify the world!]

Looking at the task issued by the system, Huang Chen slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

This deal is going to be big.

"Since you like to eat so much, then tonight you can eat your fill."

The air inside the cave was so thick it was suffocating, mixed with the smell of rotting flesh and blood, the stench of excrement, and a strange fluctuation of spiritual energy.

The ground beneath my feet was slippery and muddy, whether from puddles or dried bloodstains, I couldn't tell.

Ahead, the rat demon scout's humming tune echoed through the empty tunnel, sounding particularly jarring.

"I'm really lucky today, hehe..."

The rat demon muttered to itself, its footsteps making a "pat-pat" sound in the silence.

Huang Chen followed silently, clinging to the rock face.

After descending for about a thousand meters, the view suddenly opened up ahead.

The blinding red light mixed with the eerie green flames illuminated the underground space, making it resemble a ghostly realm.

Huang Chen hid behind a huge stalactite and looked down.

This is hardly a cave dwelling.

This is clearly a hell on earth built on mountains of corpses and seas of blood!

This is a huge underground cavern, with its surrounding rock walls inlaid with sparkling minerals that emit an alluring aura.

It's a spirit stone vein!

However, it was neither puppets nor demon soldiers that mined these spirit stones.

It is people.

Hundreds of humans.

They were poorly clothed, emaciated, and covered with crisscrossing whip marks and festering sores.

The heavy shackles dragged on the rocks with a harsh scraping sound.

"Snapped!"

A crisp crack of a whip rang out in the empty cave.

"Hurry up! You bunch of useless trash!"

A three-zhang-tall saber-toothed boar demon with two huge tusks was wielding a barbed leather whip, lashing it fiercely at an old man carrying a load of ore.

The whip pierced the flesh, drawing a string of beads of blood.

The old man screamed and staggered to the ground, the spirit stones in his basket rolling all over the ground.

"Spare...spare my life..."

The old man lay on the ground, his voice as faint as a candle flickering in the wind.

"Spare me?"

The saber-toothed boar demon grinned maliciously, raised its massive, millstone-like foot, and stomped heavily on the old man's back.

Click.

The sound of bones cracking was clearly audible.

The old man spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs, twitched twice, and then stopped moving.

The pig demon spat out a mouthful of phlegm, bent down, grabbed the old man's corpse, and tossed it like trash into a deep pit at the edge of the cave.

There, piles of white bones and undecayed corpses lay everywhere.

Several enormous demonic rats immediately darted out of the shadows, scrambling for the still-warm corpse, making chilling chewing noises.

Huang Chen's veins bulged, and killing intent surged in his chest. His gaze passed over the ordinary demon soldiers and overseers and landed on a high platform in the center of the cave.

There was a huge tiger skin spread out there.

A man dressed in blue scale armor with a sinister face was leaning back in a tiger-skin chair.

He held a wine glass made from a human skull, and crimson wine dripped down his chin.

The man had narrow eyes with vertical pupils, and occasionally a forked tongue would flick out. He exuded an extremely cold and oppressive aura.

Huang Chen narrowed his eyes slightly, and with a thought, a semi-transparent panel, visible only to him, floated above his retina:

[Target: Azure Python Demon General]

[Cultivation Level: Early Stage of Refining Spirit and Returning to Emptiness]

"Refining the Spirit to Return to Emptiness..."

Judging from the degree of refinement of its aura, this demon has a profound foundation, and its strength is even slightly greater than that of the black-clad cultivator it killed earlier.

Moreover, there are many demon soldiers here.

A head-on confrontation is unwise.

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out in one corner of the mine.

"Stop! He's just a child!"

A roar as loud as a bell rang out.

Huang Chen's gaze sharpened, and he turned to look.

A middle-aged man with an unusually burly build was seen protecting a thin boy of only seven or eight years old behind him.

The man had a full beard and a hideous scar across half of his left eye.

His bare upper body was muscular and covered with old and new scars, yet it still exuded a rock-like hardness.

Two jackal demon soldiers were brandishing whips, baring their teeth.

"Dude, are you looking for trouble?"

One of the jackal demons said menacingly, "This little brat is slacking off. The king said that those who slack off will be killed without mercy!"

The man, known as "Old Iron," did not back down an inch.

He straightened his chest, and in his bloodshot eyes burned an indomitable flame.

"He's only seven years old! How can he carry that?"

Lao Tie's voice was hoarse, but every word was firm and resolute: "If you want to fight, fight me! I'll do his work for him!"

"Hey, you scoundrel, you're actually pretty loyal?"

The jackal demon sneered and swung his whip down suddenly.

Snapped!

The whip, imbued with demonic power, lashed fiercely into Lao Tie's chest.

The skin and flesh were torn open, revealing the bone beneath.

Old Tie grunted, his body swayed, but he remained rooted to the spot like a nail, not taking a single step back.

The boy behind him cried loudly in fright, clinging tightly to Lao Tie's tattered trouser leg.

"Don't cry!"

Old Tie gave a low shout, not turning around, but staring intently at the demon soldiers before him: "Human men shed blood, not tears! Stand tall!"

This scene sent a jolt through Huang Chen, who was lurking in the shadows.

In this purgatory shrouded in despair, there are still people whose spines have not been broken.

Although the man called Lao Tie did not have any spiritual energy fluctuations, his spirit and energy were stronger than many so-called cultivators.

He's a promising talent.

If we can rescue him and train him, he will surely become a fierce general.

Looking at that old man who remained standing despite the whipping, and at the compatriots whose numb eyes were stirred by his actions...

Huang Chen's gaze swept quickly across the cave. To annihilate all the demons here, he had to first cut off their chances of calling for help, then create chaos, and finally carry out a decapitation strike.

Their gaze fell upon the top of the cave, where a huge animal-hide war drum hung, next to which stood a simple watchtower, atop which stood two eagle demons wielding powerful crossbows.

Once the battle begins, the two eagle demons can not only shoot and kill slaves from their high vantage point, but also sound the war drums immediately, attracting nearby patrols.

The "eyes" and "throat" must be removed first.

Like a gecko, Huang Chen silently crawled along the dark rock wall toward the watchtower at the top of the cave.

Below, the rat demon that had led the way earlier had reached the foot of the Azure Python Demon General's platform and was bowing and scraping as it reported something.

The Azure Python Demon General listened casually, but his gaze swept coldly over Old Tie, who was being beaten.

"That human..."

The Azure Python Demon General put down his wine cup, licked his lips with his slender tongue, and said in a high-pitched, shrill voice, "Your bones are quite hard. I love gnawing on hard bones."

It slowly stood up, stretched its neck, and made a "crackling" sound.

"Bring him here. I'm going to skin him alive and see what color his bones are."

Several demon soldiers immediately rushed towards Lao Tie with sinister smiles, roughly pinned him to the ground, and were about to drag him away.

"Let me go! Let me go!"

Old Tie struggled desperately, but he was, after all, just a mortal and had been starving for a long time; he was no match for these demon soldiers.

The little boy he was protecting cried out and lunged at the demon soldier's leg, but was kicked seven or eight meters away, crashing heavily into a rock and losing consciousness.

"Little stone!"

Old Tie's eyes widened in fury, and he let out a desperate roar.

The surrounding slaves stirred, some gripping their pickaxes tightly, a struggle flashing in their eyes.

But seeing those gleaming demonic blades, they shrank back in fear.

Just then.

A sudden change occurred.

In the darkness at the top of the cave,

Two headless eagle demon corpses fell from the sky like torn sacks, crashing onto the hard rock with two muffled thuds and turning into two pools of flesh.

Immediately afterwards, a dark shadow fell from the sky like a meteorite.

Boom! The ground trembled violently, and dust billowed up.

As the smoke and dust cleared, Huang Chen slowly straightened up.

His hands were empty, without weapons or any protective aura. His fists were covered in the eagle demon's viscous brain matter and blood, which dripped down between his fingers.

Huang Chen raised his head, looking past the stunned and dumbfounded demons, and locked his gaze directly onto the Azure Python Demon General on the high platform.

"I want to peel off your skin too, and take a look."

On the high platform, the Azure Python Demon suddenly narrowed its previously nonchalant vertical pupils, a strange sense of absurdity welling up in its heart.

No spiritual power? A mortal?

But what's with this suffocating sense of oppression? This person standing there looks like an ancient ferocious beast wearing human skin!

"Playing tricks!"

The Azure Python Demon suppressed the tremor in his heart, roared fiercely, and the demonic energy behind him surged, transforming into a huge azure python phantom, its tongue snarling menacingly: "Kill him! Chop him into mincemeat!"

"kill--!"

Dozens of demon soldiers came to their senses and, brandishing their rusty swords, axes, and spears, surged toward Huang Chen like a tidal wave.

Huang Chen stomped his foot on the ground.

Crack! The rock beneath their feet shattered instantly.

Without using any movement techniques or supernatural abilities, relying solely on the terrifying explosive power of his physical body, he charged headlong into the horde of demon soldiers like a cannon shot, accompanied by a sharp whistling sound.

"die!"

A wolf demon brandished a long sword and slashed fiercely at Huang Chen's neck.

when!

The sound of metal clashing against metal rang out.

A slash powerful enough to split a monument struck Huang Chen's neck, yet sparks flew everywhere, leaving not even a white mark. Instead, the impact caused the wolf demon's tiger's mouth to split open, and the long sword flew out of its hand.

A novice sorcerer's body, with skin of copper and bones of iron, impervious to all magic!

Before the wolf demon could even show a look of terror, Huang Chen's large hand had already gripped its head like an iron clamp.

Use all five fingers to exert force.

puff!

It's like crushing a ripe watermelon, with red and white contents scattering everywhere.

Huang Chen casually swung the headless wolf corpse as a weapon, and the enormous force smashed the three little demons who pounced on him, breaking their bones and sending them flying more than ten meters away with screams.

The three-zhang-tall saber-toothed boar demon overseer was wielding a huge spiked club, roaring as he launched a sneak attack from the side, smashing it hard into Huang Chen's back.

"Go to hell!"

boom!

A loud bang.

The spiked club slammed solidly into Huang Chen's back.

However, Huang Chen's figure only swayed slightly.

He slowly turned around and looked at the pig demon whose face was full of disbelief.

"So weak?"

Before he finished speaking, his right fist slammed out like a battering ram.

The air was compressed to its limit by this punch, producing a piercing explosion.

boom!

The punch landed squarely on the pig demon's fat belly.

The terrifying force instantly pierced through the boar demon's massive body, causing the leather armor on its back to explode and spray out a cloud of blood mist.

Before the pig demon could even scream, it was sent flying like a kicked ball, crashing hard into the rock wall and embedding itself in it. It was clear that it was going to die.

Blood splattered, landing on Lao Tie's face not far away; it was warm and salty.

Old Tie stared blankly at the scene, at the young man who, with his bare hands and flesh and blood, charged through the demon horde as if it were nothing.

This is... true power!

My heart, which had been numb, began to pound violently under the impact of this primal and ferocious force.

Being set ablaze is the indomitable wildness in the human race's bones.

"Fellow countrymen!"

Old Tie suddenly broke free from the dazed demon soldiers escorting him, snatched the blood-stained pickaxe from the ground, raised it high, and roared furiously:

"See that?! Demons are made of flesh too! They can die!"

"Those who don't want to die, fight to the death!"

This roar, like a spark falling onto the long-dried grassland, instantly ignited a raging fire.

The fear and anger that had been suppressed for so long finally erupted at this moment.

"Let's give it our all!"

"Kill these beasts! Bite them to death!"

The people who were previously numb now had a crazy glint in their eyes.

They picked up stones, pickaxes, and even used their teeth and fingernails to pounce on the demon soldiers around them like mad dogs.

The entire mine instantly descended into chaos, filled with deafening shouts of battle.

And in the heart of this chaotic, bloody chaos.

Huang Chen had already broken through the demon soldiers' blockade, stepping over the broken flesh and severed limbs scattered on the ground, and walked step by step to the foot of the high platform.

The black animal hide he wore was gone, revealing a muscular upper body with veins coiling like writhing dragons, and occasionally, dark red totem phantoms would appear.

Huang Chen grinned and beckoned to the Azure Python Demon General with his finger.

"Your turn. Come down and face your death."